Quantitative observation by enzyme cytochemistry of human rectal adenocarcinoma cells killed by LAK cells

Activity of succinic dehydrogenase(SDH)and acid phosphatase(AcPase)of effector-target cells during the process of LAK cells killing HR8348 cells was estimated by enzyme cyto-chemistry technique.SHD positive granules and AePase gray level were assayed with MIAS-300image analyser.The results showed:(1)After cocultivation of effector and target cells for vari-ous times,the activity of AcPase of HR8348 cells was apparently higher than that of the controlgroup,and it increased following prolonged coincubation.SDH activity of target cells increasedmarkedly within 30 and 60 rain cocultivation,but became low after 90 min treatment.(2)Ac-Pase content within LAK cells at 60,90,120,180 and 240 rain cocultivation was significantlyhigher than that of control group(P<0.01).The phenomenon of high AcPase and SDH activitywithin effector-target cells indicates that the function of the two types of cells was in an activestate.At the early stage of effector-target combining,the increase of SDH with HR8348 cellsmay be related to defensive function of the target cells.Higher AcPase activity of target cells in-dicates the activation of lysosomal enzyme which serves as the material basis for autolysis of thecells.     

Analysis of the degree of precision of a computer-assisted dietary survey method

A computer-assisted method for the registration of food intakes in real time according to a concise and simple procedure was subjected to a series of controls in order to assess precision. The method employs the 'portion' of a composite dish as unit of measure. The constancy of the portion was tested. The results show that the recipes of the diet of a subject may be stored and utilized in deferred time without loss of precision: data to be recorded in real time are then very limited. The length of period of analysis was also studied. The time of investigation should not be shorter than two weeks to obtain precise information on the feeding habits of an individual subject, whereas for a group of subjects the diary of a single day provides information of sufficient precision.     

Investigating stress effect patterns in hospital staff nurses: Results of a cluster analysis

A comprehensive and reliable assessment of work stress, burnout, affective, and physical symptomatology was conducted with 260 hospital nurses. As previous attempts to categorize nursing stress and burnout by ward type have yielded inconsistent results, an alternative method for grouping nursing stress effects was sought. Cluster analysis was chosen as it offers a statistically sound means of delineating natural groupings within data. Sets of questionnaires measuring burnout, work stressors, and physical and emotional symptomatology were sent to all staff nurses at a large university hospital. Of 709 nurses employed there, a total of 260 nurses returned completed questionnaire packets. These nurses were separated into two equal groups using random sampling procedures. Cluster analysis of this data revealed groupings which were based on nursing stressors (particularly workload and conflict with physicians), social support, and patient loads. These cluster-analytic findings were replicated on both samples, and validated using data not used in the original cluster analysis. Results suggest that the effects of stress have more to do with the characteristics of the work environment and overall workload than with the degree of specialization on the unit. Results also suggest that intraprofessional conflict (i.e. with other nurses) is less psychologically damaging than is interprofessional conflict (i.e. conflict with physicians). Findings are discussed with respect to the burnout process and possible interventions.     

Le traitement du signal en électromyographie: mise au point

Automatic analysis of electromyography (EMG) signals, first operated in 1950 with analogic machines, steeply expanded from 1980 when fast computers and worthwhile programs became available. On-line measurement of response area and latency, averaging of low amplitude waves, fast sorting of motor unit potential shape parameters, computation of the “jitter” between two muscle fibers, turns/amplitude and spectral analysis of interferential pattern records, are some examples of programs currently offered in modern EMG machines. Other techniques are still reserved for research purposes: scanning EMG, decomposition of nerve and muscle compound potentials, measurement of the threshold and firing rate of motor units, trace analysis using tracking models. Finally, the credit for artificial intelligence systems (knowledge based systems, fuzzy logic, neuronal networks) is still not clearly stated.     

Sources of P300 attenuation after head injury: Single-trial amplitude, latency jitter, and EEG power

Single trial amplitude, latency jitter, and electroencephalographic (EEG) power were examined as sources of the group difference in averaged P300 amplitude among 15 traumatically brain injured and 20 control individuals in an auditory oddball paradigm. Mean amplitude of the individual trials was highly correlated with the amplitude of the averaged P300, with little additional unique variance attributable to latency jitter or EEG power. The group difference in P300 amplitude was also explained by the mean amplitude of the single trials. These results support the robustness of the event-related potential averaging technique within the paradigm used.     

A solitary plasmacytoma of donor origin arising 14 years after kidney allotransplantation

Summary Allotransplantation of solid organs transfers passenger leucocytes which may give rise to a state of persistent microchimaerism. In this report we describe the case of a patient who developed a solitary plasmacytoma in a transplanted kidney more than 10 years after allografting. The diagnosis was established on the basis of the presence of a monoclonal IgG kappa peak in the serum, and light chain proteinuria, the plasmacytoid features of tumour cells including cell surface expression of IgG, kappa light chains, CD20, CD38 and CD56, the absence of lytic bone lesions and a normal bone marrow biopsy, and the disappearance of the monoclonal IgG peak after graft nephrectomy. A donor origin of the tumour was established by HLA DNA typing of tumour, tumour-free kidney tissue, and peripheral blood leucocytes, respectively.     

An alternative method for significance testing of waveform difference potentials

Guthrie and Buchwald (1991) proposed an ad hoc procedure for assessing the statistical significance of waveform difference potentials that may arise in a variety of psychophysiology research contexts. In our paper, an alternative method is presented and demonstrated that has fewer underlying assumptions than does the Guthrie-Buchwald test and may, therefore, produce better results in some situations. In particular, the test proposed here (a) is distribution free, (b) requires no assumption of an underlying correlation structure (e.g., first-order autoregressive), (c) requires no estimate of the population autocorrelation coefficient, (d) is exact, (e) produces p values for any number of subjects and time points, and (f) is highly intuitive as well as theoretically justifiable. This procedure may be used to carry out multiple comparisons with exact specification or experimentwise error, however, this test is based on permutation principles and may require large amounts of computer time for its implementation.     

人食管不典型增生上皮与原位癌的计算机纹理分析研究

采用计算机图象纹理分析和相关点阵检测技术,对人食管正常粘膜、不典型增生上皮及原位癌的不同纹理特征进行了观察。观察样品为常规病理切片,用计算机图象分析系统检测了组织的纹理特征。对受检图象建立了三种灰色分层关系矩阵,同时计算了8种纹理测度。结果显示,在重度不典型增生上皮和原位癌之间,其纹理测度和相关点阵检测数据均有显著性差异(P<0.05)。全部测量数据经计算机多元逐步判别分析,其正判率达90%以上。本研究结果表明,计算机纹理分析方法可正确地判别食管癌前病变和原位癌的组织结构异型性。提示本技术在食管癌的早期诊断方面具有肯定的实用性价值。     

无名异接骨冲剂对骨痂局部骨形态发生蛋白含量的影响

为探讨无名异接骨冲剂加速骨折愈合的作用机理，选用５５只新西兰大白兔，随机选择５只作为正常组；另５０只在无菌条件下造成双桡骨标准骨折模型。将５０只骨折兔随机平均分为实验组和对照组，实验组用无名异接骨冲剂每天４ｇ／ｋｇ溶于２０ｍｌ蒸馏水中分早晚两次灌胃；对照组用２０ｍｌ蒸馏水灌胃。于骨折后第１，２，３，４及５周用断颈法每次每组处死５只兔，取骨痂进行抗骨形态发生蛋白（ＢＭＰ）单克隆抗体免疫组化染色，并用ＣＭＩＡＳ型图像分析仪对ＢＭＰ含量进行定量分析。结果发现：实验组骨折局部ＢＭＰ含量明显高于正常组（Ｐ＜０．０１）；第１，２周实验组明显高于对照组（Ｐ＜０．０１）；实验组ＢＭＰ高峰出现在第２周，而对照组出现在第３周。认为，无名异接骨冲剂能促进成骨细胞合成ＢＭＰ，使ＢＭＰ峰值提前，从而加速骨折愈合。