Cardiovascular responses to various autonomic tests in males and females

The results of cardiovascular autonomic reflex tests on 224 healthy, randomly selected subjects were analysed to study possible sex differences in the autonomic responses. The heart rate response to the Valsalva manoeuvre (Valsalva ratio) was greater in females over 50 years than in males of the same age (1.58 ± 0.34 vs. 1.44 ± 0.30,p < 0.05). The heart rate response to deep breathing (E/I ratio) was higher in females under 50 years than in males under 50 years (1.37 ± 0.17 vs. 1.34 ± 0.18,p < 0.001). The diastolic blood pressure response to isometric handgrip was higher in males under 50 years than in females of the same age (p < 0.05). Although there were sex differences in the magnitude of the responses, the effect of age was similar in males and females and accelerated attenuation of the autonomic responses could not be demonstrated with increasing age. It can be concluded that significant sex differences exist in cardiovascular autonomic responses. The implication of such differences need consideration.     

Mental health in the population approaching retirement age. Preliminary findings of the TURVA project

The present paper deals with a Finnish long-term prospective study, the objective of which is to shed light on adjustment to retirement and old age. In this phase, only the preliminary findings of the initial survey carried out in 1982 are available. For the purposes of the study, a random sample of 200 individuals was drawn from among Turku inhabitants born in 1920. Another sample, consisting of 189 persons of the same age, was drawn from rural municipalities in the neighborhood of Turku. An extensive structured psychosocial interview could be conducted with a total of 339 subjects. The research methods used included e.g. the 36-item version of Goldberg's General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Relatively little mental disturbance was revealed in the interview, and no major differences occurred between the urban and the rural sample. Somewhat over one-third of both samples were probable psychiatric cases as defined according to the GHQ.     

Dietary Xylitol Retards the Ovariectomy-Induced Increase of Bone Turnover in Rats

The effects of 10% dietary xylitol supplementation in ovariectomized rats were studied on the degradation of bone organic and inorganic structures. The osseal concentrations of hydroxyproline, pyridinoline, and deoxypyridinoline were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography. Bone resorption was measured in [³H]tetracycline-prelabeled rats by urinary excretion of ³H, and by the amount of ³H preserved in bone. Bone trabeculation was measured by a computer image analyzer from sections stained by the method of von Kossa. The amount of collagen in bone organic fraction was lower in ovariectomized rats as compared with the sham-operated controls. This most likely is partly a consequence of an increased resorption, and partly a consequence of a higher proportion of immature periosteal bone in the ovariectomized animals, leading to a higher ratio of noncollagenous protein to collagen. The number of pyridinium crosslinks was lower in proportion, indicating no selective changes in the structure of collagen. Dietary xylitol significantly retarded the ovariectomy-associated decrease in the relative amount of collagen and the number of its mature crosslinks. Ovariectomy doubled the excretion of ³H and caused a significant decrease in the amount of ³H preserved in bone; both these changes were significantly retarded by the 10% dietary xylitol supplementation. Ovariectomy significantly decreased the volume of bone trabeculae, but this effect was also significantly inhibited by the xylitol supplementation in the diet. In conclusion, these findings suggest a dietary xylitol-induced normalizing effect on the rate of bone turnover in ovariectomized rats. Received: 12 February 1996 / Accepted: 20 August 1996     

Intrascrotal adenomatoid tumors

Adenomatoid tumors are regarded as uncommon neoplasms of the paratesticular tissues, probably of mesothelial origin. The majority of cases reported have involved the epididymis. We report our experience with 8 cases of testicular tumors and 11 of epididymal adenomatoid tumors during a 13-year period, and review the relevant literature. The incidence of adenomatoid tumors relative to all tumors in the testis was 6.9% (8 of 116), exceeding that of Leydig cell tumors, which were previously believed to be the most common benign testicular neoplasms. The adenomatoid tumors included 38% epididymal tumors (11 of 29). The clinical course of the tumors was benign, without recurrences. Local excision is regarded as the treatment of choice for epididymal and testicular adenomatoid tumors.     

The growth of Salmonella in rumen fluid from cattle at slaughter

The pH of the rument contents of cattle was recorded at slaughter; pH ranged from 5.5 to 7.8 and was not correlated with the period from saleyard to slaughter. Volatile fatty acids (VFA) were measured in 43 rumen samples; acetic, propionic and butyric were the major acids present, and the total VFA ranged from 75.9 mM/l for samples between pH 6-7, to 7.1 mM/l for samples of pH 8-9. Ten Salmonella strains belonging to 8 serotypes were grown in these 43 rumen samples. Where acid levels of these samples were high and pH low, most Salmonella sp. were inhibited; as the pH rose (pH 7-8) all Salmonella serotypes grew, some vigorously; as the total acid declined and pH continued to rise, growth of salmonella ceased. Serotypes and strains of the same serotype differed in their ability to grow in rumen contents, particularly when the pH was low.     

Ethanolamine oleate sclerotherapy for hydroceles and spermatoceles: a survey of 158 patients with ultrasound followup.

Sclerotherapy with 5% ethanolamine oleate was used to treat 102 hydroceles in 100 patients and 63 spermatoceles in 58 patients. Scrotal ultrasound examination was performed before the sclerotherapy and at each followup visit. Of the hydroceles 98% were cured completely and 68% were cured after only 1 sclerosant instillation, while 60% of the spermatoceles resolved completely and 33% partially, with 7% failures. No hydroceles recurred during an average followup of 43 months, whereas spermatocele recurred in 4 patients more than 1 year after successful treatment, with a mean followup of 46 months. Approximately half of the patients experienced pain after treatment, 3 had infection and 2 had hematoma. No changes in the structure or size of the testicles were found by ultrasound during followup. Ethanolamine oleate sclerotherapy is a safe, effective and economical form of outpatient therapy that can be recommended as primary treatment for hydroceles in adults and as an alternative to surgery for spermatoceles with 1 to 3 cysts in elderly men in whom fertility is not important.     

Intimacy and mental disorder in late middle age. Report of the TURVA project

This study, which was carried out as part of the TURVA project on psychosocial adaptation in old age, is concerned with the significance of social support to people approaching retirement age. The population consisted of 200 urban dwellers and 189 rural dwellers, who were studied at the age of 62. The subjects were either about to retire in the near future or had already retired, and it was assumed that this event causes a certain amount of stress, which may lead to mental disturbance regardless of the amount of social support available to the individual. Intimate relationship and close friendship served as the measures of social support. Mental disturbances were assessed on the basis of the General Health Questionnaire (36-item version) and the number of psychic and especially depressive symptoms. The prevalence of mental disturbance and depressive symptoms was lowest in those people who lived in a close marital relationship and who also described their spouse as empathic. Psychic symptoms were most common in those people who said their relationship to their spouse was distant and who described them as unempathic. The subjects who were not married fell in-between these 2 groups regardless of whether they had an intimate relationship with someone of the opposite sex. A positive marital relationship seemed to provide a shield against depression, while a negative marital relationship tended to make the individual more vulnerable to depression. The role of a close non-marital friendship depended on the respondent's sex. In women, it was associated with a high prevalence of depressive symptoms.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Tumour DNA ploidy as an independent prognostic factor in breast cancer

We determined nuclear DNA content from 308 archival paraffin-embedded malignant breast tumours and evaluated the survival of the patients by univariate and multivariate statistical analyses. The overall 8-year survival rate of stage I-III breast cancer patients was 74.3% in DNA-diploid and 51.2% in DNA-aneuploid tumours (P less than 0.0001). DNA ploidy had prognostic significance in both node-negative and node-positive breast cancer, primarily in cases with steroid receptor-positive tumours. In a Cox multivariate analysis DNA ploidy (P = 0.001), primary tumour size (P = 0.0007), nodal status (P = 0.04) and the content of progesterone receptors (P = 0.0008) emerged as significant independent prognostic factors, whereas oestrogen receptor status, age and menopausal status of the patients had no significant independent prognostic value. If the histological grade of ductal carcinomas was also included in the Cox model, both grade and DNA ploidy had independent prognostic effect. In conclusion, our results indicate that the analysis of DNA ploidy is a useful adjunct in the assessment of prognosis for breast cancer patients.     

CSF beta-endorphin-like immunoreactivity in delirium

Cerebrospinal fluid beta-endorphin-like immunoreactivity (CSF BLI) was determined for 69 patients who met DSM-III criteria for delirium and for 8 controls. The CSF BLI was significantly lower in the delirious patient group than in the controls (12.5 +/- 3.0 pg/ml versus 15.0 +/- 3.4 pg/ml, p less than 0.05). CSF BLI had no correlation with age or neuroleptic drug dosage, but did have a significant positive correlation with cognitive functioning as evaluated by the Mini-Mental State. Our findings suggest a role for beta-endorphinergic dysfunction in the development of delirium.     

Extensive allelic sequence variation in the J region of the human immunoglobulin heavy chain gene locus

During the initial stages of B lymphocyte differentiation heavy chain variable (VH), diversity (DH) and joining (JH) gene segments recombine to form a functional heavy chain variable region (VDJ) gene. Evidence for genetic polymorphism of the human JH gene segments has been obtained from mature rearranged VDJ sequences. We conducted an analysis of the published rearranged JH gene sequences and found that the JH alleles present in the two published germ-line JH region sequences were rare (approx. 2%) in the rearranged sequences. As an attempt to explain this discrepancy a 2.5-kb strech of DNA containing all the six heavy chain JH region genes and the most 3' DH gene segment, DHQ52, was amplified by the polymerase chain reaction from 39 individuals and analyzed for restriction fragment length polymorphism. Five new JH region haplotypes were found and sequenced. These new haplotypes contained the coding segment alleles that were frequent in antibody genes. Surprisingly, a high number of interallelic differencies in the non-coding sequence was found between the new and the two previously published haplotypes implying that the haplotypes had been separated early in evolution. In this respect the JH locus resembles HLA loci.