Dietary Tryptophan Reverses Alcohol-induced Impairment of Facial Recognition But Not Verbal Recall

The present study demonstrates that alcohol-induced memory impairment can be attenuated by pretreatment with an oral tryptophan supplementation. These results provide support for the role of a brain serotonin deficit in this impairment and highlight the impact a dietary manipulation can have on a complex behavioral process.     

The effect of menstrual cycle on blood alcohol levels and behavior

To determine whether the behavioral effects of alcohol were altered by menstrual cycle phase, 10 women between the ages of 21 and 24 who reported regular menstrual cycles of 28-31 days participated in three experimental sessions, the dates of which coincided with the flow, midcycle and premenstrual phases of their cycles. In each session, the effects of alcohol (.65 g/kg) were measured on memory for words, standing steadiness, coding vigilance and blood alcohol level (BAL). The following measures were obtained in each of three testing rounds: baseline, the ascending limb of the BAL curve and the descending limb of the BAL curve. Peak BALs of 83 +/- 2 mg/d1 were obtained. On coding vigilance, the subjects were observed to perform better during the flow phase of their cycle than they did in either the midcycle or premenstrual phase. No significant phase by alcohol effects were obtained, however. These results suggest that neither the pharmacokinetics of alcohol nor certain behaviors affected by alcohol were affected by menstrual cycle phase. These results are generally consistent with previous research, and they question the logic of excluding women subjects from studies on the effects of alcohol on behavior, at least for the variables used in this study.     

Analysis of three-dimensional sinter shrinkage of copings made from alumina in an innovative direct shaping process.

The three-dimensional (3D) evaluation and comparison of free-form-surfaces is a complex problem [Dent. Mater. 8 (1992) 49; J. Dent. Res. 76 (1997) 1799; Dent. Mater. 16 (2000) 145; J. Prosthet. Dent. 70 (1993) 457; Dent. Mater. 19 (2003) 19]. However, it is essential in order to analyze the sinter shrinkage of dental ceramic-restorations where isotropic and linear shrinkage is desired for accurate fit on the prepared teeth. In this article, we examine the 3D sinter shrinkage in general and for nine copings from alumina in particular. Using various scaled CAD-models in an iteration scheme, each model was compared to the filtered point cloud of the coping, determining the surface-cloud difference. The magnitude of deviations from linear sinter shrinkage was investigated. Furthermore, a new fabrication process for ceramic-restorations is introduced.     

Investigations of Platelet Function in Whole Blood with BAPA as Anticoagulant

BACKGROUND: Citrate anticoagulation of blood results in non-physiologically low calcium concentration and rapid deterioration of platelet viability. Benzylsulfonyl-D-Arg-Pro-4-amidinobenzylamide (BAPA) as anticoagulant maintains the physiological calcium level and seems to retain platelet function (PF) over a time period of at least 24 h. We evaluated PF in BAPA-anticoagulated peripheral whole blood (WB) between 0.5 and 30 h after blood collection. METHODS: In WB from 21 healthy volunteers (15 women, 6 men, age range 19-57 years) platelet aggregation (PA) was determined by impedance method and ATP release by luminometry. Platelet response was tested by ADP (10 and 20 μmol/l) and collagen (1 and 2 μg/ml) between 0.5 and 30 h after blood collection. RESULTS: Parameters of ADP-induced PA showed stable values until 6.5 h after blood collection followed by a significant decline. PA in response to collagen was stable up to 25 h of storage. ATP release induced by collagen displayed a continuous, significant decrease over time. CONCLUSION: Preservation of platelet response in BAPA-anticoagulated blood depends on the applied agonist showing that collagen-induced PA is more stable compared to ADP known as a weak agonist in WB.     

Reticulum cell sarcoma with cardiac metastasis: Report of two cases with ante-mortem diagnosis of one

Two cases of reticulum cell sarcoma involving the heart and stomach are reported. Both cases were explored surgically and inoperable disease was found. They were treated with palliative supervoltage roentgen therapy with only temporary improvement. At autopsy, widespread disease was found, with metastasis to the heart. The cardiac involvement was diagnosed during life, in one case, on the basis of physical, electrocardiographic, and radiographic evidence.