CORRELATION OF SKIN POTENTIAL AND SKIN RESISTANCE MEASURES

Simultaneous measurements of skin potential (SP) and skin resistance (SR) obtained from 20 male and 20 female adult subjects during 2 sessions held 2 to 9 days apart were used in studying (1) the correlation of change measurements and prestimulus level in the two measures, and (2) the amount of correlation between SP and SR using both simple difference and residual change scores in which the regression of poststimulus values on initial level (prestimulus) has been controlled. Correlations within Ss and correlations among Ss showed large individual variability, correlation differences between males and females, and high correlation between SP and SR change scores. Although the law of initial value (LIV) seemed to have little applicability to the measurement of electrodermal responses, the results underscored the need to control for contamination of change measures by initial level regardless of direction.     

Retrospective analysis of antiretroviral HIV treatment success based on medical history or guided by the reverse hybridisation LiPA HIV genotyping system

The changes in viral load and CD4(+) count at 3 and 6 months in a group of 166 HIV-infected patients was evaluated. The new therapy was chosen based on the medical history procedures for 70 patients, and in 96 patients it was guided by the partial or complete result of the line probe assay (LiPA) HIV RT and Protease resistance tests. The absolute difference from the baseline of the log viral load at 3 and 6 months was significantly different between the two groups when adjusted for baseline viral load (P < 0.0001) and stayed significant when intention-to-treat analysis was carried out (P < 0.001). The absolute difference of the CD4(+) count was not significantly different when adjusted for baseline CD4(+) (P = 0.854, 3 months; P = 0.06, 6 months). The proportion of patients with a viral load 相似文献   

Cardiovascular patterns associated with threat and challenge appraisals: a within-subjects analysis

Previous studies demonstrated distinct cardiovascular patterns associated with threat and challenge appraisals for groups of participants. We extend these results by assessing whether appraisals continue to be associated with these cardiovascular response patterns within an individual as appraisals change. Participants completed four verbal mental arithmetic tasks for which they made appraisals before and after each task. Cardiac reactivity and total peripheral resistance (TPR) were calculated for the first and last minutes of each task, and the number of responses and percent correct were measured for each task. In line with our prediction, pretask appraisals were related to some task-related cardiac responses across the four tasks. In addition, task-related cardiovascular reactivity and behaviors both influenced appraisals following the task. Our findings suggest that an idiographic analysis of appraisals, cardiovascular physiology, and task-related behaviors provides a richer understanding of the appraisal process and reveals sex differences deserving further assessment.     

The juxtaglomerular apparatus in malignant hypertension of man

Summary Investigation of the behaviour of the renal Juxtaglomerular apparatus in 19 patients with malignant hypertension has shown that in kidneys fixed immediately after operation the Juxtaglomerular granulation index is twice as high as in autopsy kidneys. The formation of renin by the epitheloid cells begins with the appearance of osmiophilic substances in the region of the endoplasmic reticulum. The first stages of granule formation are small rhomboid particles in the Golgi cisternes, which aggregate to form bigger round or polymorphic granules in the Golgi area.In pathological conditions the substances synthesized may be set free and become active locally as a result of fibrinoid necrosis of the vascular wall. The rate of production is increased firstly by forcing rhe production of active agents in the preexistent epitheloid cells, secondly by transformation of the so-called bivalent cells and finally, by cell division.In accelerated hypertension the production of renin also takes place in nephrons whose glomeruli, tubules and macula densa, are damaged. There is a correlation between blood pressure elevation and the Juxtaglomerular granulation index.

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Zusammenfassung Untersuchungen über das Verhalten des juxtaglomerulären Zellkomplexes der Niere bei 19 Patienten mit maligner Hypertonie haben folgendes ergeben: In operativ gewonnenen und sofort fixierten Nieren ist der juxtaglomeruläre Granulationsindex doppelt so hoch wie in Nieren aus dem Sektionsgut. Die Reninbildung der epitheloiden Zellen beginnt mit dem Auftreten osmiophiler Substanzen im Bereich des endoplasmatischen Reticulums. Kleine rhomboide Gebilde in Golgizisternen sind Vorstufen von reifen Sekretgranula, die sich im Golgifeld zu größeren runden oder vielgestaltigen Sekrettropfen zusammenlagern.Unter pathologischen Bedingungen können infolge fibrinoider Gefäß- wandnekrosen Sekretsubstanzen lokal frei und lokal wirksam werden. Vermehrte Arbeitsleistung erfolgt zunächst durch Forcierung der Sekretproduktion in den präexistenten epitheloiden Zellen, sodann durch Transformierung sogenannter bivalenter Zellen und schließlich durch Zellneubildungen.Reninproduktion findet bei akzelerierter Hypertonie auch in solchen Nephronen statt, deren Glomerula und Tubuli samt Macula densa strukturell geschädigt sind. Es besteht eine Korrelation zwischen Höhe des Blutdruckes und Höhe des Granulationsindex.

     

Two Autopsy Cases of Primary Leiomyosarcoma of the Liver Superiority of Muscle-specific Actin Immunoreactivity in Diagnosis

Two autopsy cases of leiomyosarcoma of the liver in a 49-year old female and 63-year-old male are reported. Both of the liver tumors showed electron microscopically dense patches in the cytoplasm and intermediate junctions between the tumor cells, suggesting a smooth muscle cell origin, irrespective of their different histological features. The nature of both tumors was confirmed by positive immunoreactivity for muscle-specific actin in the tumor cells, whereas desmin immunoreactivity was labile in both cases, showing a higher diagnostic value of the former compared with the latter in these leiomyosarcomas. Both cases, showed extensive distant metastases in spite of an evident difference in their mitotic indices, indicating that this index is not reliable for judging the metastatic potential of these tumors. Acta Pathol Jpn 41: 461–465, 1991.     

A Direct Comparison of the Skin Conductance and Skin Resistance Methods

The purpose of the present study was a direct comparison between simultaneous recordings of skin conductance and skin resistance. Sixty male students received a series of 30 white noise stimuli, while measures were taken continuously from four sites on the palmar surfaces of the fingers. Evaluations were made for response amplitudes, recovery, and for an approximate area measure. Magnitude of reactions and reliabilities were compared using ANOVA procedures. Behavioral concordances were estimated as correlations with the subjects' ratings of stimulus intensities. Conductance and resistance measures do not differ in amplitude, in area, or in strength of their reliabilities and behavioral concordances. No differences in any respect are found between sites. Skin conductance yields significantly (p < .01) shorter recovery times than skin resistance, which is discussed in terms of membrane permeability change.     

Prediction models for insulin resistance in the polycystic ovary syndrome

Women with the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have a high prevalence of insulin resistance, with consequent increased risk of metabolic diseases later in life. An early metabolic screening would therefore be of clinical relevance. By using stepwise regression analysis on several variables obtained in 72 women with PCOS, we constructed simple and reliable mathematical models predicting insulin sensitivity, as measured by the euglycaemic hyperinsulinaemic clamp. The normal ranges of insulin sensitivity were calculated from 81 non-hirsute, normally menstruating women with normal ovaries, and similar body mass index (BMI) and age as the women with PCOS. Measured variables included BMI, waist and hip circumferences, truncal-abdominal skin folds, circulating concentrations of gonadotrophins, androgens, sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), triglycerides, total cholesterol and cholesterol subfractions, fasting insulin, C-peptide and free fatty acids. The three best prediction models included waist circumference, together with insulin (model I: R(2) = 0.77), serum triglycerides (model II: R(2) = 0.65), and the subscapularis skin fold (model III: R(2) = 0. 64). Using reference limits for insulin sensitivity obtained in the 81 normal pre-menopausal women, the models identify insulin resistant women with PCOS. These simple and inexpensive models are potentially useful in clinical practice as an early screening in women with PCOS.     

Characterization of the translocated chromosome using fluorescencein situ hybridization and random amplified polymorphic DNA on twoTriticum aestivum—Thinopyrum intermedium translocation lines resistant to wheat streak mosaic or barley yellow dwarf virus

Fluorescencein situ hybridization (FISH) was used to determine the breakpoint of the translocation chromosome in two bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) germplasm lines withThinopyrum intermedium chromatin carrying resistance to either wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV) or barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV). In addition, genome-specific random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were used to ascertain the genomic sources of theTh. intermedium chromosomes carrying the WSMV or BYDV resistance. CI17766, a WSMV-resistant wheat germplasm line derived from induced homoeologous pairing by using theph1b mutant, had a translocation chromosome composed of the complete 4AL and about 45% of proximal 4AS from wheat, and the entire 4ES ofTh. intermedium. The BYDV-resistant translocation line, TC14, derived from tissue culture, had a very short distal segment of 7StL fromTh. intermedium terminally attached to 56% of the proximal 7DL. These observations indicate that translocations in these wheat germplasm lines did not involve centromeric breaks and fusion but were a result of homoeologous chromosome recombination.accepted for publication by J. S. (Pat) Heslop-Harrison     

Characterisation of macrolide-non-susceptible Streptococcus pneumoniae colonising children attending day-care centres in Athens, Greece during 2000 and 2003

Nasopharyngeal Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates colonising young children are representative of isolates causing clinical disease. This study determined the frequency of macrolide-non-susceptible pneumococci, as well as their phenotypic and genotypic characteristics, among pneumococci collected during two cross-sectional surveillance studies of the nasopharynx of 2847 children attending day-care centres in the Athens metropolitan area during 2000 and 2003. In total, 227 macrolide-non-susceptible pneumococcal isolates were studied. Increases in macrolide non-susceptibility, from 23% to 30.3% (p <0.05), and in macrolide and penicillin co-resistance, from 3.4% to 48.6% (p <0.001), were identified during the study period. The M resistance phenotype, associated with the presence of the mef(A)/(E) gene, predominated in both surveys, and isolates carrying both mef(A)/(E) and erm(AM) were identified, for the first time in Greece, among the isolates from the 2003 survey. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis of the isolates from the 2000 survey indicated the spread of a macrolide- and penicillin-resistant clone among day-care centres. The serogroups identified most commonly in the study were 19F, 6A, 6B, 14 and 23F, suggesting that the theoretical protection of the seven-valent conjugate vaccine against macrolide-non-susceptible isolates was c. 85% during both study periods.     

Electrolyte Medium Effects on Measurements of Palmar Skin Potential

Two experiments with 12 subjects each compared skin potential recordings taken simultaneously with four different electrolytes. These were polyethylene glycol, hydrated agar (at a site presoaked with water), fresh agar (i.e., not presoaked), and Unibase. The glycol controlled epidermal hydration at a minimal level, while presoaking produced a high level of hydration at the hydrated agar site. Fresh agar and Unibase represented normal recording conditions for these two electrolytes which have been recommended as “standard” for electrodermal measurements. This design permitted a comparison of two standard electrolytes with each other and with recordings from hydrated and unhydrated sites. These comparisons were made for both monophasic negative SPRs and positive SPRs and the prestimulus levels associated with each. The results replicated previous studies in showing a large effect of epidermal hydration on skin potential measurements. Recordings with agar and Unibase did not differ significantly. The effects of hydration were interpreted in terms of a reduction in the resistance of the stratum corneum and of alterations in the functioning of the dermal and epidermal membranes as a result of blockage of the sweat gland pore. In the light of this interpretation, it was suggested that both agar and Unibase substantially alter the functioning of the sweat glands under some conditions, and neither may be entirely suitable for skin potential measurements.