A film projecting system as a diagnostic and training technique for eye movements of cerebral palsied children

Films are presented for tracking on a translucent screen after reflection from a galvanometer driven mirror. A wave function generator produces picture displacements of amplitude and velocity capable of stimulating selectively (or simultaneously) the saccadic and smooth pursuit systems. This audiovisual signal permits prolonged eye movement recording and training sessions because of increased motivation and alertness. Optokinetic and vestibulo-ocular reflexes can also be tested. An infra-red photoelectric device monitors the horizontal component of eye movement. Records provide the necessary information for syndrome definition and training progress evaluation. Preliminary results show the technique to be perfectly suitable for the diagnosis of functional disorders and sensory-motor training of the cerebral palsied child's oculomotor system.

The Proton Microprobe: A Powerful Tool for Nondestructive Trace Element Analysis

A proton microprobe capable of focusing proton beams with energies up to 6 million electron volts to a spot size of 2 x 2 square micrometers has been used for chemical analysis of small grains of minerals in lunar samples by proton-induced x-ray emission. The proton microprobe is preferable to the electron microprobe for analyzing trace elements whose concentrations are below the detection limit of the latter and for analyzing objects with numerous major and trace elements with a wide range of atomic numbers. Application of the proton microprobe to biological samples is feasible.

Modification of problem interation in mother-child dyads by modeling and behavior rehearsal

Eighteen mother-child dyads who previously had reported difficulties in solving problems were assessed behaviorally in situations in which they attempted to resolve conflicts. Half the dyads then were given two treatment sessions that consisted of modeling and rehearsal designed to improve their skills in resolving problem situations. In the pretest assessment a number of significant correlations between mother and child responses were found. Notably, when mothers blamed or used direct arbitrary power with their children, the children in turn emitted oppositional behaviors, but when the mothers made tentative proposals, their children reciprocated with positive responses. In the posttest assessment, treatment mothers employed the expression of feelings to their children as a conflict resolution strategy significantly more often than did control mothers. There was also a tendency for the treatment children to acquiesce less to their mothers' demands than did control children in the problem situations.

7,N,N-Trimethyltryptamine: a selective inhibitor of synaptosomal serotonin uptake

7,N,N-Trimethyltryptamine (TMT) was synthesized and evaluated as an inhibitor of synaptosomal biogenic amine uptake in rat forebrain homogenates. In addition to inhibiting 3H-serotonin uptake (IC50 = 0.4 micrometer), TMT appears to be quite selective and is much less potent in blocking either 3H-norepinephrine or 3H-dopamine uptake (IC50 = 180 micrometer and 61 micrometer, respectively).

Influence of diet on leg uptake of glucose during heavy exercise

Four young men each performed three treadmill walks to exhaustion at 70% of their respective O2 uptake maxima. Each walk followed 3 days consumption of either a normal mixed (M), high fat and protein (F-P), or high carbohydrate (CHO) diet. The fractional use of carbohydrates for energy during the initial 1/2-hr of work was significantly reduced following the F-P diet as compared with the M or CHO diets (P less than 0.005), averaging 38.2% (F-P), 69.9% (M), and 71.9 (CHO). Carbohydrates energy production was negatively correlated with blood levels of both free fatty acids ( r = -0.62, P less than 0.05) and beta-OH-butyrate (r = - 0.79, P less than 0.005). Work time to exhaustion was closely correlated with the fractional usage of carbohydrates for energy (r = 0.86, P less than 0.001). The femoral arteriovenous blood glucose difference was directly related to the pre-work dietary carbohydrate fraction, with the 30-min work means 0.25 mM (F-P), 0.34 mM (M), and 0.52 mM (CHO). Estimation of leg arteriovenous O2 difference indicated that leg uptake of blood-borne glucose provided approximately 23 +/- 10% (F-P), 30 +/- 8% (M), and 46 +/- 13% (CHO) of the legs' aerobic substrate during the first 30 min of work. These results provide further evidence for the shift from noncarbohydrate to carbohydrate energy sources during exercise as the carbohydrate fraction of the diet is elevated.

Hypopigmented sarcoidosis in the negro. Report of eight cases with ultrastructural observations

The dermatological aspects of eight negro patients with hypopigmented sarcoid lesions are described. Light microscope histochemical studies in patients did not reveal the mechanism of the hypopigmentation. However, electronmicroscopy of lesions in two patients showed melanocytes undergoing changes resembling those observed in other acquired hypopigmentary conditions. It is suggested that in these disorders, melanocytes react morphologically in a similar non-specific manner, whatever the prime pathological process.

A comparison of membrane fracture faces of fixed and unfixed glycerinated tissue

Fixed (glutaraldehyde, 3%) and unfixed specimens of rat buccal epithelium, striated muscle, and liver, were cryoprotected with glycerol, freeze-fractured, and replicated without sublimation. A comparison of fracture faces of general plasma membranes, nuclear membranes, mitochondrial membranes, and membranes of rough endoplasmic reticulum revealed no significant differences as between fixed and unfixed material. Apart from some membranes of liver endoplasmic reticulum, there was no evidence of aggregation or redistribution of intramembranous particles in the unfixed material. The results demonstrate that chemical prefixation of tissues for freeze-fracture is not always necessary, or even desirable, and that glycerol may not be as deeply or directly implicated in particle aggregation as previously thought. Fixation with glutaraldehyde alters the cleaving behaviour of plasma membrane at desmosomes and tight junctions, but not at gap junctions.

Dioxygenated metabolites of cannabidiol formed by rat liver

The metabolism of cannabidiol (CBD) was studied in vitro using a 10 000 g supernatant from rat liver. After removal of unchanged CBD and its monohydroxylated metabolites, a polar fraction remained from which ten dioxygenated metabolites were isolated. Mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy were used to identify the following metabolites: 6,7-dihydroxy-CBD, 1 inch,7-dihydroxy-CBD, 3 inch,7-dihydroxy-CBD, 4 inch,7-dihydroxy-CBD, 5 inch,7-dihydroxy-CBD, 2 inch,6-dihydroxy-CBD, 3 inch,6beta-dihydroxy-CBD, 4 inch, 6beta-dihydroxy-CBD (tentative), 3 inch-hydroxy-6-oxo-CBD, and 4 inch-hydroxy-6-oxo-CBD. The abundance of isolated dihydroxy metabolites reflected the quantity of monohydroxy metabolites that was previously found. In both series, 7-hydroxylation occurred to the greatest extent. Side chain hydroxylation occurred predominantly at C-4 inch and to a lesser degree at C-3 inch. Trace amounts of metabolites were hydroxylated at C-1 inch,-2 inch, or 5 inch.

Identification of monohydroxylated metabolites of cannabidiol formed by rat liver

Cannabidiol (CBD) was metabolized in vitro by rat liver enzymes. Unchanged CBD and eight monohydroxylated metabolites were isolated and positively identified. As previously reported, 7-hydroxy-CBD was the major metabolite. The second most abundant metabolite was 6alpha-hydroxy-CBD; whereas only a trace amount of 6beta-hydroxy-CBD was found. In addition hydroxylation occurred in all positions of the pentyl side chain, 4 inches-hydroxy-CBD being most abundant. 3 inches-Hydroxy-CBD was formed in half of the yield of 4 inches-hydroxy-CBD, while 1 inches-, 2 inches-, 5 inches-hydroxy-CBD were each formed in approximately one fourth of the yield of 4 inches-hydroxy-CBD.

Freeze-fracture replication of cultured Pityrosporum orbiculare

Skin scrapings from a patient with Pityriasis versicolor were plated on a bile salt medium containing 10% glycerol (for cryoprotection) and Pityrosporum orbiculare was harvested for freeze-fracture replication. Resting and budding cells were senn. The overall pattern of indentation of the plasma membrane towards the cytoplasm was well revealed as a spiral arrangement of major indentations with minor ones disposed more or less at right angles. Hexagonally-arranged particles were not observed. Mitochondria were elongated with constrictions at intervals, and the fracture face of the limiting membrane directed towards the exterior exhibited linear arrays of particles. An unusual type of organelle was also present, viz: a membrane-limited vesicle with regularly-spaced depressions or "dimples".