Carcinoma of the gallbladder

Gallbladder carcinoma is the fourth commonest gastrointestinal malignancy. Its growth is insidious and the majority of cases are advanced at the time of diagnosis. The recognized radiological features occur only in those with advanced disease. Cholecystectomy may be curative when carcinoma is confined to the gallbladder but the place of extensive surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy is unproven.     

The proliferative T-lymphocyte response to streptokinase

Purified streptokinase was found to initiate a proliferative T-lymphocyte response. The response was characterized by dose-response and kinetics investigations. Streptokinase did not initiate any response when tested on T lymphocytes from newborns, thus indicating that the proliferative T-lymphocyte response to streptokinase in vitro is an antigen stimulated activation of T lymphocytes from individuals previously sensitized in vivo. Of healthy individuals, 40% (16 out of 40 tested) showed a significant proliferative response to streptokinase. Methylprednisolone, cyclosporin A, theophyllamine and verapamil all inhibited the streptokinase-stimulated proliferative T-lymphocyte responses in a dose-dependent manner.     

Localization of epileptogenic foci using a simple reference-subtraction montage to document small interchannel time differences

We present a modified EEG montage that detects small interchannel time differences and assists in localizing the epileptogenic focus. Regions with apparently synchronous epileptic discharges are displayed simultaneously in referential and subtraction derivations. The subtraction derivation is a bipolar configuration of two regions of interest that are not necessarily adjacent. The referential derivation reveals the polarity, voltage, and morphology of the two discharges, and the subtraction derivation detects asynchrony; the combined reference-subtraction derivation thus indicates the region that is activated first.     

Dissociative anesthesia and striatal neuronal electrophysiology.

Compared with results obtained in locally anesthetized, paralyzed rats, the dissociative anesthetic ketamine did not alter either the number of spontaneously active striatal neurons or the basal firing rate of striatal neurons; 90% of these cells exhibited the type I striatal neuron waveform. Chloral hydrate anesthesia suppressed both the occurrence and the firing rate of spontaneously active type I cells, but did not alter the activity of type II striatal neurons. Cortical stimulation preferentially activated type II cells in paralyzed rats and in chloral hydrate-anesthetized rats. Thus, under dissociative anesthesia it is possible to study spontaneously active type I striatal neurons. However, a method of activation such as cortical stimulation is necessary to study type II striatal neurons.     

Ubiquitin in motor neuron disease: study at the light and electron microscope.

Several neurodegenerative diseases, including motor neuron disease (MND), are characterized by formation of abnormal cytoskeleton-derived inclusions which contain ubiquitin (Ubq). We have studied the distribution of Ubq in 26 cases of MND with light and electron microscopic immunocytochemistry. Ubiquitin-positive inclusions were found in neurons of anterior horns in most cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) but were not present in other forms of MND. Ubiquitin immunoreactivity was observed in 10-15 nm intraneuronal filaments, which were not stained by antibodies to neurofilaments, and on dense bodies of dystrophic neurites throughout the neuropil of anterior horns and pyramidal tracts. Data analysis showed a trend toward lower percentage of Ubq-positive neurons in cases with longer duration of illness or lower number of neurons. A high percentage of Ubq-positive inclusions occurred in cases with an aggressive clinical course, suggesting that ubiquitination takes place at early stages of the disease.