Zinc levels of serum, hair and urine in homozygous beta-thalassemic subjects under hypertransfusional treatment

The concentration of zinc in serum, hair and urine has been examined in 92 homozygous beta-thalassemic and 81 control subjects. The results were not statistically different in the subjects of each group studied (thalassemic and control persons of different ages: 1-12, 12-18, and 18-35 years). In the thalassemic children no statistically significant differences were observed between those normally growing and those with impaired growth. The authors hypothesize that hypertransfusional treatment prevents zinc deficiency in the thalassemic patients.

[Investigation of subjects exposed to mercury nitrate]

Tests have been carried out on 50 ex-workers of a hat-factory who had been exposed to mercury nitrate in order to investigate whether a symptomatological pattern attributable to professional exposure would be still present as a consequence of long term exposure and after a long latency period. Because of the small number of examined workers, the collected data have been compared with those of a control group in order to assess the significance of the results. The incidence of subjective and objective signs has been detected to be higher in female group. The symptoms and objective signs may only partially be included in the chronic hydrargiric pattern described by many Authors. These signs are not so marked as to be expected from heavy hydrargiric chronic poisoning and they include: changes in the oral cavity, psychic erethism and neurologycal signs of sensibility impairment.

Improvement of defective lactation by using oral metoclopramide

An attempt has been made to pharmacologically enhance PRL secretion to improve lactation. Twenty-one puerperal women with past history of defective lactation and PRL levels under the normal range were studied for 4 weeks postpartum. Eleven patients who received orally 20 mg a day of metoclopramide showed persistently elevated basal levels of serum PRL during the four weeks' observation period. These women also had a good milk production and their infants did not need supplements. Ten women receiving placebo, however, showed an abrupt decrease in basal PRL levels, and this decrease persisted despite the continuation. Simultaneously a decline in the milk yield was observed and by the 14th postdelivery day milk production was minimal. The administration of metoclopramide at this moment to this group of poor lactating mothers produced an increase in serum PRL levels which presisted for the rest of the study. Metoclopramide also augmented the milk production so that these women were able to continue breast feeding their infants. Our preliminary results seem to prove that defective lactation associated with low prolactin levels (prolactipenia) can be treated by the manipulation of endogenous PRL secretion through the administration of metoclopramide or drugs which enhance PRL release.

Electromagnetic scattering by a cluster of spheres

A method for studying the scattering properties of a cluster of dielectric spheres is proposed. The vector scattering problem is handled through Debye potentials and a mathematical technique that accounts for multiple scattering effects. The scattered field as well as the scattering and absorption cross sections can be computed without any restriction of principle on the angle of incidence of light and on the radia and refractive indexes of the spheres in the cluster. The resulting expressions take on the well known form when the cluster reduces to a single sphere.