太阳黑子活动与沙鼠鼠疫流行

本根据１９０１￣１９９３年内蒙古北部荒漠草原区长爪沙鼠鼠疫疫源地的人间鼠疫和动物鼠疫流行资料。分析了太阳黑子活动与鼠疫流行的关系。结果发现：人间鼠疫流行的起始年和动物鼠疫大流行的高峰与太阳黑子活动高峰相一致。其间的８次鼠疫流行均处在太阳黑子活动的高峰期。参考国际太阳活动２２黑子周的预报结果，该地区下一次动物鼠疫大流行可能出现在２１世纪初的２０００￣２００２件间。     

Sympathoinhibitory effects of atrial natriuretic peptide in rats with heart failure

BACKGROUND: It has been suggested that a blunted sympathoinhibitory response to atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) may contribute to the elevation of sympathetic activity seen in heart failure. METHODS AND RESULTS: Experiments were performed in anesthetized rats 6 to 9 weeks after coronary ligation to induce heart failure. Responses to intravenous injections of ANP (4 microg/kg) did not differ between the sham-operated (n = 11) and heart-failure (n = 7) rats. Before sinoaortic denervation, ANP decreased mean arterial pressure (MAP) by 8 mm Hg in both the heart-failure and sham rats, renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA) by 9% to 10% in both groups, and heart rate (HR) by 12 to 13 beats/min in both groups. After baroreceptor denervation, ANP decreased MAP by approximately 22 mm Hg, RSNA by 14%, and HR by 16 beats/min in both the heart-failure and sham rats. After vagotomy, there was no longer a significant decrease in RSNA or HR in response to ANP. CONCLUSION: The sympathoinhibitory effects of ANP are maintained in heart failure. This suggests that the elevated sympathetic activity observed in heart failure cannot be attributed to a blunting of the response to ANP.     

Melatonin and 5-methoxytryptophol (5-ML) in nervous and/or neurosensory structures of a gastropod mollusc (Helix aspersa maxima): synthesis and diurnal rhythms

Daily patterns of melatonin and 5-methoxytryptophol (5-ML) concentrations and of aryl alkylamine N-acetyltransferase (AA-NAT) and hydroxyindole-O-methyltransferase (HIOMT) activities have been measured in the cerebroid ganglions, visceral ganglions, and ocular tentacles of the gastropod mollusc Helix aspersa maxima. Melatonin concentrations are very low in all the studied structures, except a small peak at the end of the night in the cerebroid ganglions. 5-ML, which is quite undetectable in the cerebroid and visceral ganglions, shows clear daily variations in the ocular tentacles with low values in the middle of the light period and high values during the night. These results are opposite to what is known on daily variations of 5-ML in vertebrates. AA-NAT activity was not detected, while the presence of an HIOMT-like activity supports the hypothesis that 5-ML is synthesized in the ocular tentacles. The temporal relationships existing between the 5-ML rhythm in the ocular tentacles and the hemolymph suggest that 5-ML could be released in the general circulation. These preliminary results suggest that 5-ML could be an informative molecule involved in adaptative processes in the snail and they reinforce the hypothesis that the different 5-methoxyindoles could be implicated in the integration of environmental information.     

Influence of the spleen on the blood distribution of the leukocytes producing colony-stimulating activity (CSA) in man

Summary The colony-stimulating activity (CSA) produced by the blood leukocytes has been studied before and after epinephrine administration in ten normal, 15 splenomegalic, and seven splenectomized subjects through a double layer agar culture system.A significant increase of mean values of the CSA per milliliter produced by blood monocytes has been observed after epinephrine administration in the groups of normal and of splenomegalic subjects. In the group of splenectomized subjects the baseline mean value of CSA per milliliter of blood was higher than those observed in the other groups, but it did not show any increase after epinephrine infusion.The CSA produced by 10⁶ blood leukocytes was similar in all three groups of subjects, and it was not similarly modified by epinephrine administration.Our results seem to indicate that the leukocytes producing CSA are distributed within two rapidly exchangeable blood compartments, the spleen representing an important section of the marginal compartment of blood monocytes.Supported by a grant of the Italian National Research Council (CNR) no. 79.03277.04-Pos. 115.2235.     

长QT间期扭转型室性心动过速发病机制探讨

狗静脉注射氯化铯(CsCl)所致的多形性室性心动过速(室速)基本符合长QT间期扭转型室速(TdP)的特点。右室心内膜单相动作电位(MAP)记录表明,CsCl可诱发早期后除极电位(EAD),TdP发作与EAD密切相关,硫酸镁(MgSO_4)可使EAD消失,TdP也获控制,提示TdP为EAD触发活性所致。Cs~ 为细胞膜K~ 通道阻滞剂,延长复极时间,增加内向Na~ /Ca~(2 )流,由此产生EAD,而Mg~(2 )为细胞膜K~ 通道激动剂,因此,Mg~(2 )对Cs~ 具对抗作用。     

Cancer procoagulant in acute lymphoblastic leukemia

In a previous study we characterized cancer procoagulant (CP), a 68 kd cysteine proteinase which directly activates coagulation factor X in various subtypes (from M1 to M5) of acute non-lymphoblastic leukemia (ANLL). The aim of this study was to determine whether CP is also expressed by acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cells. Blasts from 25 ALL patients were extracted and tested for their procoagulant properties. 16 samples (64%) shortened the recalcification time of normal human plasma, and 9 (36%) did not. 8 of the 16 active samples showed properties compatible with CP, i.e. independence from factor VII in triggering blood coagulation and sensitivity to cysteine proteinase inhibitors. Selected samples also cross-reacted with a polyclonal antibody raised against purified CP. The specific activity of CP in ALL extracts was significantly lower than in most ANLL types previously studied (all but M4). These finding indicate that CP can be a property of the lymphoid phenotype although its expression may be lower than in the myeloid phenotype.     

Variation in Survival After Cardiopulmonary Arrest in Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories in the United States

BackgroundIn-hospital cardiac arrest during cardiac catheterization is not uncommon. The extent of variation in survival after cardiac arrest occurring in the cardiac catheterization laboratory (CCL) and underlying factors are not well known.ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to identify the factors associated with higher survival rates after an index cardiac arrest in the CCL.MethodsWithin the GWTG (Get With The Guidelines)–Resuscitation registry, patients ≥18 years of age who had index in-hospital cardiac arrest in the CCL between January 1, 2003, and December 31, 2017, were identified. Hierarchical models were used to adjust for demographics, comorbidities, and cardiac arrest characteristics to generate risk-adjusted survival rates (RASRs) to discharge for each hospital with ≥5 cases during the study period. Median OR was used to quantify the extent of hospital-level variation in RASR.ResultsThe study included 4,787 patients from 231 hospitals. The median RASR was 36% (IQR: 21%) and varied from a median of 20% to 52% among hospitals in the lowest and highest tertiles of RASR, respectively. The median OR was 1.71 (95% CI: 1.52-1.87), suggesting that the odds of survival for patients with identical characteristics with in-hospital cardiac arrest in the CCL from 2 randomly chosen different hospitals varied by 71%. Hospitals with greater annual numbers of cardiac arrest cases in the CCL had higher RASRs.ConclusionsEven in controlled settings such as the CCL, there is significant hospital-level variation in survival after in-hospital cardiac arrest, which suggests an important opportunity to improve resuscitation outcomes in procedural areas.     

Risk of infection in hospitalised children with systemic lupus erythematosus: a 10-year follow-up

The objective of this study was to investigate infection and sepsis in hospitalised children with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Between 1991 and 2000 we reviewed 72 episodes of suspected infection in 42 children with SLE from all hospitalised children with SLE at a medical center in Taiwan. Data comprised clinical and laboratory characteristics of SLE at the time of infection. Infections were identified and categorised as minor or major. A total of 125 patients (110 girls, 15 boys) were admitted 557 times. Forty-two patients had infections, giving an infection rate of 33.6%. There were a total of 72 infections including 20 proven infections; 61 cases of these were minor infections and 11 cases of these were major infections (10 cases were sepsis). Four patients died because of sepsis. By univariate analysis, major infection (sepsis) was significantly associated with a high SLE disease activity index score, lower complement levels and higher anti-DNA titres. In conclusion, our data confirm that infection is common in hospitalised children with SLE. Sepsis, most frequent in major infections, is associated with disease activity and causes significant mortality. These facts should be borne in mind when children with SLE are hospitalised.