No persistent effect of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor treatment in Milan hypertensive rats despite regression of vascular structure.

Milan hypertensive rats were treated, from ages 4 to 24 weeks, with the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, perindopril, in doses of 1.5 mg/kg per day or 0.4 mg/kg per day. Controls were untreated Milan hypertensive rats. At age 24 weeks, a mesenteric biopsy was taken, from which two resistance vessels were taken out and mounted on a myograph for structural and functional analysis. Thereafter, treatment was withdrawn and the blood pressure of the rats was followed until age 36 weeks. Perindopril treatment had a dose-dependent effect on blood pressure as well as on both structural (media thickness, media: lumen ratio) and functional (estimated pressure against which vessels could contract) parameters of the resistance vessels. However, when treatment was withdrawn, blood pressure rose to (low-dose perindopril group) or above (high-dose perindopril group) control levels. The results contrast with previous studies using spontaneous hypertensive rats (SHR) where, using the same protocol, blood pressure remains low after withdrawal of treatment with ACE inhibitors, including perindopril, although the effect on resistance vessel parameters is similar. The results show that the persistent effect of ACE inhibitor therapy which has been seen in SHR is not a general feature of genetic hypertension. Furthermore, these results raise doubts as to whether the persistent effect seen in SHR is due to a general effect of ACE inhibitor treatment on vascular structure.     

High school football injuries: field conditions and other factors

This study was conducted to identify factors that were associated with injuries during 59 varsity high school football games in 1987. For each injury, medical personnel recorded data on the type and body location of each injury, player position, specific player activity at the time of injury, the quarter of the game, the week of the season, playing field conditions, and ambient air temperature. We found injury frequencies, types, body locations and seasonal and game quarter distributions similar to previous reports. This study demonstrated a previously unreported association between playing field condition and injury rate.     

An occipito-temporal syndrome in adolescents with optimally controlled hyperphenylalaninaemia

Summary The study included 16 adolescents with optimally controlled hyperphenylalaninaemia (McKusick 26160), of whom six did not require treatment according to conventional criteria. All except the two patients with lowest median serum phenylalanine level throughout childhood (most values at 200–300 µmol/L) had white matter abnormalities detectable with magnetic resonance imaging. The lesions were particularly prominent in the watershed regions between the posterior and middle cerebral arteries. In most patients with moderate or severe hyperphenylalaninaemia frontal white matter lesions were present as well. Normal proton magnetic resonance spectra indicated that the lesions were stable. Occipital EEG abnormalities were frequent, and deficient performance on a pattern-recognition test was a characteristic neuropsychological finding. Serum phenylalanine levels at about 300 µmol/L or below throughout childhood and early adolescence may be required to avoid lesions. The present study demonstrates the limitations of even an optimally controlled dietary regimen in hyperphenylalaninaemia.     

Anulus fibrosus in bulging intervertebral disks

In this investigation the association of radial tears of the anulus fibrosus and bulging of the intervertebral disk was studied. An index of disk bulging was measured in sagittal anatomic sections in 149 lumbar disks from 31 cadavers. The indexes of disk bulging were correlated with stages of disk development and the presence of an annular tear. The largest disk-bulging indexes were always associated with radial tears of the anulus. Eighty-four percent of the disks with radial tears had disk-bulging indexes greater than 2.5 mm. Most normal adult disks had an index of less than 2.5 mm. The results challenge the concept that the anulus fibrosus is intact in bulging disks, although ruptured in herniated disks.     

Zyanidvergiftung

Intoxications with cyanide are rare; most of the observed cases are suicides – often committed by persons with professional access to cyanides. Because a variety of different cyanides are used in the industry, they are produced on a large scale and are therefore easier to access than would be expected. Because the signs of cyanide poisoning are nonspecific, such intoxications can be overseen – during the initial emergency room visit as well as during the autopsy. Diagnosis of cyanide intoxication is generally based on 3 observations: evidence from the scene, almond-like odor in the stomach or organs (persons present at autopsy are at risk of poisoning), dark-red color of intestines, particularly the stomach. Under special circumstances, one or all of these signs can be missing. During the interpretation of analytical results, the possible degradation and/or formation of cyanide between death and autopsy, as well as between sampling and analysis, must be considered.     

痛

黑暗!黑暗!!黑暗!!!这样的世界看不到半点光明。孤独的舞者终究还是孤独地倒下,然后又孤独地消失。黑暗呀,为什么老是缠绕着我?一声“妈妈”划破了天际,却也突不出黑暗的包围。谁来应我一声呀,妈妈,你在哪里呀?我的心在不停地挣扎,告诉自己:“不怕,不怕。”可这是在黑暗里呀,周     

Increased automatic spreading activation in healthy subjects with elevated scores in a scale assessing schizophrenic language disturbances

BACKGROUND: Previous studies on semantic priming have suggested that schizophrenic patients with language disturbances demonstrate enhanced semantic and indirect semantic priming effects relative to controls. However, the interpretation of semantic priming studies in schizophrenic patients is obscured by methological problems and several artefacts (such as length of illness). We, therefore, used a psychometric high-risk approach to test whether healthy subjects reporting language disturbances resembling those of schizophrenics (as measured by the Frankfurt Complaint Questionnaire subscale 'language') display increased priming effects. In addition, the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire was used to cover symptoms of schizotypal personality. Enhanced priming was expected to occur under conditions favouring automatic processes. METHODS: One hundred and sixty healthy subjects performed a lexical decision semantic priming task containing two different stimulus onset asynchronicities (200 ms and 700 ms) with two experimental conditions (semantic priming and indirect semantic priming) each. RESULTS: Analyses of variance revealed that the Frankfurt Complaint Questionnaire-' language' high scorers significantly differed from low scorers in three of the four priming conditions indicating increased automatic spreading activation. No significant results were obtained for the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire total and subscales scores. CONCLUSIONS: In line with Maher and Spitzer it is suggested that increased automatic spreading activation underlies schizophrenia-typical language disturbances which in our study cannot be attributed to confounding variables such as different reaction time baselines, medication or length of illness. Finally, results confirm that the psychometric high-risk approach is an important tool for investigating issues relevant to schizophrenia.     

New X-linked syndrome with apraxia, ataxia, and mental deficiency: clinical, cytogenetic and neuropsychological studies in two Danish families.

In 2 unrelated families 9 males presented with ataxia, apraxia, and neuropsychological abnormalities or mental deficiency, inherited as an X-linked recessive syndrome with partial clinical expression in obligate female carriers. The symptoms were present in early childhood and were non-progressive. Additional findings in 2 males were congenital "club-feet" and generalized seizures. The affected males were 13-62 years old at the time of our examination. Chromosome abnormalities including fragile X fra(X) could not be demonstrated in any case. Results of metabolic screenings were also normal. The clinical picture with X-linked recessive inheritance distinguishes this syndrome from previously described inherited hereditary ataxias.     

Metacarpal bone measurements in renal transplant recipients, in corticosteroid-treated patients with polymyalgia rheumatica and in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism

Quantitative radiological measurements on the second left metacarpal bone were carried out in 23 patients with primary hyperparathyroidism, 22 corticosteroid-treated patients with polymyalgia rheumatica and 40 renal transplant recipients treated with prednisone and azathioprine. Women with primary hyperparathyroidism and corticosteroid-treated women showed significantly decreased mean values of metacarpal bone compared to normal controls, probably due to a higher bone resorption than formation at the endosteal surface. Bone loss was more pronounced in corticosteroid-treated women than in women with primary hyperparathyroidism, partly due to age difference. In renal transplant recipients, bone loss took place during the initial period after renal transplantation, probably due to increased endosteal bone resorption. During this period a periosteal new bone formation took place in female renal transplant recipients. The quantitative radiological measurements make it possible to determine whether bone loss is due to a higher ratio of bone resorption than of bone formation at the periosteal and/or endosteal surface.