Effect of heparin on lipoprotein profile during parenteral fat infusions

Long-term administration of Intralipid to infants raises the potential risk of cumulative hyperlipemia. The elimination of lipoproteins from the blood during 3 hours of Intralipid infusion (0.33 grams per kilogram per hour) was investigated in five term infants during two infusion periods without and with heparin. A single intravenous injection of heparin (100 micron per kilogram) preceded the period of Intralipid infusion. During the nonheparin periods levels of triglycerides (L-particles) rose progressively to 1320 +/- 133 milligrams per 100 milliliters plasma, whereas during the heparin periods levels rose more moderately and peaked at 636 +/- 197 milligrams per 100 milliliter plasma (p less than 0.001-0.05). The study suggests that the heparin effect is still apparent for a period of 6 hours and repeated bolus injections may keep triglyceride levels at approximately normal concentrations during constant Intralipid infusion (0.166 grams per kilograms per hour).

Selection at the alcohol dehydrogenase locus of Drosophila melanogaster: effects of ethanol and temperature

Drosophila melanogaster larvae were subjected to 10 generations of selection on 6% ethanol at 17, 25, and 30 degrees C. For each temperature there was a significant (P less than 0.01) increase in the frequency of the Adh isoallele. Controls with no ethanol showed no change in the frequency of the AdhF isoallele. Larvae subjected to stronger selection on 8% ethanol confirmed the results. When adults of various ages were subjected to 16 and 32 degrees C, the ADHF isoenzyme retained its twofold advantage in activity over ADHS regardless of the temperature. The same result was obtained with larvae at 16 and 35 degrees C. Although some effect of temperature was demonstrated, it was concluded that the effect was not strong enough for temperature to be a selective factor under the conditions studied. However, ethanol is a strong selective factor for laboratory populations.

Relapsing fever in Cape Town. A case report

A 19-year-old male member of the South African Defence Force presented in Cape Town with fever soon after returning from service in northern South West Africa. The typical clinical features of relapsing fever were confirmed by the finding of spirochaetes on stained blood smears. A case report and short review of a disease which has not been reported previously in Cape Town is presented.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia subtypes in Israel: the Sheba medical center experience

During the period from 1978 to 1981, 52 patients with ALL were diagnosed and treated at the Chaim Sheba Medical Center. Using standard cell markers to subtype the blasts, 49 of the patients could be classified: 16 were found to be T-cell ALL, 10 common ALL, five null ALL, four pre-B and 14 were partially characterized as non-B, non-T. Analysis of the series revealed two distinctive features: high prevalence (30%) of T-cell ALL among both Jews and Arabs and a high proportion, two-thirds, of high risk patients due to high initial WBC counts, unfavourable age or T-cell characteristics. The minimal incidence of ALL among the Gaza Strip Arab children during the study period is 4:100,000, which is close to the incidence in the Western world. During previous years the leukemia incidence in the Gaza Strip was very low while the most common lymphatic malignancies were Burkitt tumor and other non-Hodgkin lymphomas.

Effect of levamisole, thymic humoral factor and indomethacin on e-rosette formation of lymphocytes in Hodgkin's disease

The percent of E-rosette forming cells in the peripheral blood of 60 patients with Hodgkin's disease was significantly lower than in control subjects: 46.4 +/- 12.3 vs. 62. 4 +/- 12.5. Preincubation of the mononuclear cells with levamisole, thymic humoral factor (THF) or indomethacin restored E-rosette formation to normal levels. When monocytes were removed from the mononuclear cell preparations prior to incubation, levamisole and THF retained their activity, whereas indomethacin was inactive. These results suggest a direct effect of levamisole and THF on lymphocytes in Hodgkin's disease, whereas indomethacin requires the mediation of monocytes, similarly to its reported effects on other cellular immune responses in Hodgkin's disease.

Between and within listener variability in response to CID W-22 presented in noise

Two studies were conducted wherein college students with normal hearing sensitivity listened to CID W-22 recordings (Technisonics Studios) mixed with white noise. Four-word discrimination scores were obtained from each listener. In one study, a speech-to-noise ratio of approximately +1 dB was used whereas +7 dB was used in the other. Large standard deviations and low correlations indicate that the use of background noise with this clinical word discrimination test is associated with a relatively large amount of response variability and unreliability. These results suggest that the performance score obtained from a single list of CID W-22 presented in noise may not be a reliable indicator of a listener's true discrimination ability and therefore clinical interpretation of a listener's performance should be made with caution.

Splenic abscess in infancy--diagnosis by ultrasonography

Splenic abscess is a rare entity in children, and definite diagnosis is seldom made before operation. A case of splenic abscess in a high-risk infant is reported. An accurate diagnosis has been made preoperatively by ultrasonography. Characteristic sonographic findings are described.

[Isolation of a carbon dioxide-dependent strain of E. coli from the urine of a patient with chronic pyelonephritis (author's transl)]

Since anaerobic culture techniques were introduced into bacteriological routine laboratories reports increase about Enterobacteria, which doesn't grow under normal culture conditions. We recently isolated a carbon-dioxide dependent strain of E. coli, which didn't grow aerobically even on optimized culture mediums. Though the species was at first isolated in an anaerobic jar further investigation showed optimal growth in an atmosphere containing 20 per cent oxygen enriched with (10 per cent) carbon dioxide. There are some indications that the mutant developed under chemotherapy. A serological grouping wasn't possible.

[In vitro testing of newer cephalosporins (author's transl)]

The spectrum of activity of the newer cephalosporins is considerably wider and includes a number of gram-negative bacteria. Test results using cephalothin as 'class disc' of a class of antibiotics is therefore no longer valid for the newer members. Like cefazoline, all of the above-mentioned antibiotics are more effective against Escherichia coli. Cefuroxin and cefoxitin also display increased effectiveness against Klebsiella, as do cefoxitin against Serratia and indolpositive Proteus species, and cefamandole and cefuroxime against Enterobacter. Cefotaxim is superior to all other agents, as was also demonstrated in our own inhibition zone tests; in addition cefotaxim is effective against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Since the various pathogens do not exhibit a uniform pattern of resistance to these antibiotics, the four new agents should for the time being be tested independently of cephalothin and cefazoline.

Interaction of peanut agglutinin with normal human lymphocytes and with leukemic cells

The interaction of peanut agglutinin (PNA) with human thymocytes, peripheral blood lymphocytes, and peripheral blood cells of various types of leukemia was investigated by using fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated PNA. The majority of human thymocytes (60-80%) bind the lectin. The major subpopulation of thymocytes that is PNA-positive was separated from the PNA-negative cells by differential agglutination with the lectin. The two thymocyte subpopulations were tested in the mixed lymphocyte reaction and with the phytohemagglutinin of Phaseolus vulgaris. The poor response of the PNA-positive thymocytes to these stimuli indicates that these thymocytes are functionally immature. The fluorescein isothiocyanate-PNA-binding test with peripheral blood lymphocytes of leukemic patients revealed that in most acute leukemias the PNA receptor is exposed on the blastic cells, whereas in most cases of chronic leukemia the peripheral blood lymphocytes are PNA-negative. The validity of PNA as a marker of immature blood cells and its potential clinical application are discussed.

[An epidemic caused by serratia marcescens in an intensive-care unit for premature and other newborns (author's transl)]

An epidemic caused by Serratia marcescens occurred in intensive care unit of the Children's clinic in Essen, with three deaths. Although there was good sensitivity of the strain to gentamicin in vitro, there was no noticeable clinical improvement when it was administered. But cotrimoxazole, given systemically and locally, and colistin locally cured the disease.

Time dependent effects produced in chicks after prenatal injection of methylmercury

Methylmercury dicyandiamide (0.05 to 10 mg/kg eff) injected into the volk sac of fertilized chicken eggs prior to incubation produced a dose related decrease in the percentage of chicks hatched (90-57% of control). With dosage fixed at 0.5 or 5.0 mg/kg egg and injections made on Days 0, 7 or 14 of incubation, hatches were 90, 68 and 75%, respectively, for the low dose and 63, 13 and 18% for the high dose. In contrast to results obtained from chicks hatched from eggs injected on Day 0 of incubation, chicks hatched from eggs injected with 0.5 or 5.0 mg MMD/kg on Day 7 or 14 were not different from controls in a detour learning situation. Administration of 14-C methylmercury revealed maximal brain radiolabel in embryos injected on Day 0 to be 10% that seen with eggs injected on Day 7 but twice that seen with eggs injected on Day 14. We tentatively conclude that a period of maximal sensitivity to the behavior effects exists prior to Day 7 and that the mechanisms of embryolethality is different from that producing the functional deficits.

Effect of levamisole on E-rosette-forming cells in vivo and in vitro in Hodgkin's disease

Incubation in vitro of lymphocytes from patients with Hodgkin's disease with 40 mug per milliliter of levamisole resulted in a rise in the number of E-rosette-forming cells from 33.6 +/- 12.5 per cent (mean +/- S.D.) to 56.7 +/- 14.6 per cent. The drug had no effect on normal lymphocytes. Ten patients with Hodgkin's disease treated six months previously with levamisole were restudied. The positive skin tests to PPD, candida and mumps persisted. However, the E-rosette-forming cells decreased to the pretreatment levels (34.7 +/- 6.4 per cent). Readministration of 150 mg of levamisole for three days raised the number of E-rosette-forming cells to 54.1 +/- 5.6 per cent. This effect was observed for at least two months. However, the drug had no effect in vitro as long as the in vivo effect persisted. These results demonstrate a clear immunologic effect of levamisole in Hodgkin's disease and indicate that the low number of E-rosette-forming cells is not due to a real T-cell depletion.

The distribution of B and T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of patients with Hodgkin's disease

The distribution of thymus-dependent (T cells) and bone marrow-derived lymphocytes (B cells) was studied in 74 patients with Hodgkin's disease and 33 normal controls. A T cell deficit was found in untreated patients as well as in long-term survivors in remission. Therapy slightly enhanced the T cell depletion in Hodgkin's disease patients. Concomitant with this finding was slight increase of B cells.

The equivalence of United States census data for persons of Russian stock or descent with American Jews: an evaluation

While the U.S. Bureau of the Census has had a long-standing policy of abstaining from enumerating the religious beliefs or backgrounds of the American people, at least two-thirds of the Jewish population of the United States has been enumerated in decennial censuses and sample surveys in the guise of persons of Russian stock or origin. This has come about through the migration policy of the old Russian Empire and the statistical categories utilized by American immigration authorities and by the U. S. Bureau of the Census for immigrants and their children. Comparisons between the returns from an ethnic survey and a survey on the religious composition demonstrate the close congruence between persons of Russian stock or descent and American Jews on the national level.

Galactose oxidase-induced blastogenesis of human lymphocytes and the effect of macrophages on the reaction

Treatment of human lymphocytes with neuraminidase and galactose oxidase induced extensive blastogenesis. A less pronounced effect was observed after treatment of the cells with galactose oxidase alone. Macrophage-depleted human lymphocytes had a markedly reduced blastogenic response after treatment with neuraminidase and galactose oxidase. Incubation of the purified lymphocytes on macrophage monolayers markedly enhanced their response to neuraminidase and galactose oxidase. Furthermore, a stimulation of thymidine incorporation into purified untreated lymphocytes was noted after incubation of the cells on neuraminidase and galactose oxidase-treated macrophage monolayers.