[Ultrastructure of the intracellular development of bacteriophage phi C 31]

The intracellular development of the bacteriophage phi C31 in thermally induced cultures of the lysogen Streptomyces coelicolor 01 changes remarkably its cell structure. At 10 min post-induction, a big number of mesosomes are shown by the cells. At 30 min post-induction, the cytoplasm contains capsids which are still empty. At the end of the latent period mature virions are shown and immediately after, cell lysis occurs through the tip of germinative tubes. In old cultures (10 h or more) no viral progeny is detected. However, when the amino acid glycine is added to the culture medium, new virions are seen, but in smaller number than in germinating cultures. These results seem to indicate that the lysis happens at the tip of the germinative tubes probably because this is an area weakened by the preferential growth that takes place on it.

[Emphysematous cystitis]

Emphysematous cystitis constitutes an uncommon clinical radiological entity. (Approximately 160 cases in the literature). We offer five cases of emphysematous cystitis, all of which occurred in women aged 60-80 (X = 74.2). All of them except one proved to be known diabetics and the glycemia figures at the time of being attended were above the limits of normality. In no case was pneumaturia observed, and the main symptoms displayed were those of the cystitis type together with pain in the hypogastrium and macroscopic hematuria. Simple abdomen radiology was the diagnosis procedure in all cases. The treatment applied permitted the favourable evolution and resolution of the process.

[Results of surgery and percutaneous transluminal angioplasty in renovascular hypertension]

The results of the treatment with surgery and percutaneous transluminal angioplasty of the renal artery were evaluated in 63 adult patients of both sex, from 16 to 60 years old with renovascular hypertension due to fibromuscular dysplasia in 48 and to atherosclerosis in 15. The stenosis of the renal artery was unilateral in 47 patients and bilateral in 16. The surgical procedures more used were the aorto-renal bypass with saphenous vein in 22 patients and unilateral nephrectomy in 16. From 41 patients treated with surgery, the arterial hypertension was cure or improved after one year in 30 (73.1%). From 22 patients treated with angioplasty, cure or improved was obtained in 17 (77.2%). Satisfactory results were obtained in patients with fibromuscular dysplasia and unilateral stenosis, and poor results in atherosclerosis and bilateral stenosis, with both methods. It is concluded, that surgery and angioplasty are satisfactory therapeutic methods in the renovascular hypertension, principally when is unilateral and due to fibromuscular dysplasia.

A prospective study of a rapid method for diagnosing cytomegalovirus infections in immunosuppressed patients

A rapid assay is described for detection of cytomegalovirus in peripheral blood lymphocytes. It consists of an indirect immunofluorescence technique for detection of cytomegalovirus antigens by means of a monoclonal antibody directed against early viral coded proteins. This assay was compared with the conventional cell culture system. Patients transplanted between December 1986 and May 1988 were studied, and of 27 patients identified, two were excluded due to early graft failure. A total of 320 blood specimens obtained were studied, and from 12 patients cytomegalovirus was isolated in at least one specimen by conventional cell culture (in total 25 specimens). Results were available with the new technique within 6 h, whereas the cell culture took an average of 13 days to develop the typical cytopathic effects changes. Sensitivity and specificity compared with that of viral isolation in conventional cell culture was 92% and 95%, respectively. This technique provides an accurate and rapid diagnosis of cytomegalovirus infections, and allows specific antiviral therapy to be started earlier.

[Liaison psychiatry: a new perspective on mental health in Latin America]

The situation of Mental Health in Latin America is analyzed. Urgently creating a system able at handling the psychiatric disease increase in the years to come is a conclusion this paper strongly aims at. The beginning of Psychiatry is reviewed, and the importance of Psychiatry at the General Hospital is outlined as well as its rapprochement toward the community, which led to a better control and prevention in the field of Mental Health. A definition of Psychiatry is proposed, as a branch of Medicine which stands in between mental hospitals and communities. Active teamwork, coupled with the physician's work and the tasks other members of the health personnel are engaged in, has led to a more integrated approach onto the ill thus benefiting not only patients but also the whole community.

Preliminary x-ray investigation of an orthorhombic crystal of hevein

Hevein, a small protein from the latex of Hevea brasiliensis, has been crystallized by the vapor diffusion method using 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol and CaCl2 as the precipitant agents. The crystals are orthorhombic space group P21212 with a = 21.88, b = 31.90, and c = 51.24 A and one molecule in the asymmetric unit. The crystals are quite stable to x-rays and suitable for a high resolution three-dimensional structure determination.

The effect of rifampicin on the development of the Streptomyces bacteriophage phi C31

The production of phi C31 progeny virus was inhibited by rifampicin when it was added at any time before 20 minutes after induction of the thermoinducible lysogen Streptomyces coelicolor 01. The inhibition was gradually lost as the antibiotic was being added later on until the end of the latent period, which lasts about 45 minutes. This effect was not due to resistance of transcription to rifampicin but to accumulation of intracellular virions from around 20 minutes postinduction. When a rifampicin-resistant lysogen was induced in the presence of the antibiotic, no inhibition of RNA synthesis was detected, although a smaller population of progeny than in control cultures without rifampicin was obtained. Two possible explanations of this fact are discussed.

Anatomic surgical dissection of the extraparotid portion of the facial nerve

The direction followed by the facial nerve branches beyond their emergence from the ventral, cephalic, and caudal borders of the parotid gland up to the facial muscles has been studied by several anatomists, but no consistent description of them has been given so far. This research, based on the dissection of 30 hemifaces, studies the characteristics of those branches using three points of reference: the intertragal notch, the palpebral lateral commissure, and the labial commissure. Tables showing average length and number of branches have been computed with a statistical level of confidence of 99 percent. No fixed common pattern suitable to represent the distribution of branches of the facial nerve in a model was found, but as a rule, these branches run beneath the superficial musculoaponeurotic system (SMAS) in their path below the zygomatic arch, and approximate emergence points have been identified. In the opinion of the authors, such points may be of more surgical relevance than a theoretical pattern of arborization.

Single- and combination-antibiotic therapy for experimental endocarditis caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

The efficacy of fosfomycin in combination with vancomycin or gentamicin was evaluated in experimental endocarditis caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. After 5 days of therapy, both combinations proved to be highly effective since all rabbits had sterile vegetations.

Effect of fagaronine on chromosome breaks and loss in Drosophila melanogaster

Fagaronine, a potent antileukemic agent, was shown to induce chromosome breaks and loss in sperm of Drosophila melanogaster.