Effect of dietary fat on X-ray-induced mammary cancer in Sprague-Dawley rats

We studied the effect of dietary fat levels on the induction of mammary cancer by 350 rads total-body X-radiation given to noninbred albino Sprague-Dawley rats at 50 days of age. Compared to rats on a low-fat (LF) diet (5% lard), rats on a high-fat (HF) diet (20% lard) from 30 days of age had more tumors, with a higher multiplicity of carcinomas per rat. LF-fed groups exhibited a longer median tumor latency period thatn did HF-fed groups. A similar trend toward more tumors with an earlier time of death was seen in rats given single iv doses of 50 mg 1-methyl-1-nitrosourea/kg and fed an HF diet as compared to an LF diet.

The prostatic carcinoma in laboratory animals: a bibliographic survey from 1900 to 1977

This survey was performed in relation to a study of the role of endocrine glands in rodents that develop prostatic cancer. It is our belief that the data synthesized here can save much tedious work and time, and provide accurate information for investigators in the field of experimental and clinical prostatic cancer.

A natural outbreak of transmissible murine colonic hyperplasia in A/J mice

Transmissible murine colonic hyperplasia was diagnosed in 6-month-old A/J mice kept under standard laboratory conditions. Bacterial cultures revealed the presence of Citrobacter freundii (4280). Clinical signs included rough coats, feces adhering to the anus, slight dehydration and rectal prolapses. A nonclotting sanquinous intestinal fluid and gross colonic thickening were frequently seen at necropsy. Morbidity was approximately 50%; mortality approximately 25%. Tetracycline appeared to be effective in controlling the disease.

A case of fibrous hamartoma of infancy

An instance of fibrous hamartoma of infancy (FHI) in the perianal region of an 8-mo-old infant, a hitherto unreported location, is described. The majority of the reported cases occur in the torso and upper extremities. The differential diagnostic features which aid differentiating FHI from other conditions is discussed. Although the tumor may recur after excision, a conservative surgical management appears adequate since all reported cases ultimately have proven to have an excellent prognosis.

Are there schizophrenics for whom drugs may be unnecessary or contraindicated?

This study reports that there are schizophrenics who do relatively well long term without the routine or continuous use of antipsychotic medication. Specially selected young males undergoing an acute schizophrenic episode were followed, after hospitalization, for up to three years. While hospitalized they were assigned randomly to either placebo or chlorpromazine treatment. Many unmedicated-while-in-hospital patients showed greater long-term improvement, less pathology at follow-up, fewer rehospitalizations and better overall function in the community than patients who were given chlorpromazine while in the hospital. Factors related to post-hospital outcome were good premorbid history and short-lived paranoid characteristics. Considerations which may have an effect on the successful management of acute schizophrenic patients not on medication are mentioned. The findings underline the need for further study of how to utilize antipsychotic medication more selectively in the treatment of schizophrenia.

Sensitivity to musical denotation and connotation in organic patients

Musical segments convey at least two kinds of meaning: The "real-world" events referred to by lyrics and by occasions of performance constitute musical denotation: the formal expressive patterns suggested by such constituents as pitch, timbre, and intensity constitute musical connotation. To ascertain sensitivity to these musical facets among brain-injured patients, tests assessing appreciation of musical denotation and connotation were administered to unilaterally brain-injured subjects in the United States and Italy. On the musical denotation test, right hemisphere patients excelled on items where knowledge of lyrics was required; in contrast, anterior aphasics surpassed both posterior aphasics and right hemisphere patients on items where acquaintance with lyrics was unnecessary. On the musical connotation test, right hemisphere patients performed relatively better in matching sound patterns to temporally-sequenced designs than to gestalten; these patients also performed better than left hemisphere patients on a number of other dimensions. The relatively high performance of posterior aphasics on the connotation test, along with the lack of correlation between connotative and denotative scores received by aphasic patients, suggest a behavioral and neurological dissociation between the two forms of musical sensitivity.

Intraductal "noninfiltrating" carcinoma of the breast

We are reviewing 40 patients with noninvasive intraductal carcients; 10% developed oppostie breast cancer of the invasive variety. Twenty-one patients underwent radical mastectomy in which one patient was found to have a positive axillary node. The 19 remaining patients had total mastectomy alone. No recurrence of death attributed to intraductal carcinoma was found in 39 patients available for follow-up.

Unstable angina pectoris: national cooperative study group to compare medical and surgical therapy. I. Report of protocol and patient population

A preliminary report is presented of a prospective randomized trial conducted by eight cooperative institutions under the auspices of the National Heart and Lung Institute to compare the effectiveness of medical and surgical therapy in the management of the acute stages of unstable angina pectoris. To date 150 patients have been included in the randomized trial, 80 assigned to medical and 70 to surgical therapy; the clinical presentation, coronary arterial anatomy and left ventricular function in the two groups are similar. Some physicians have been reluctant to prescribe medical or surgical therapy by a random process, and the eithical basis of the trial has been questioned. Since there are no hard data regarding the natural history and outcome of therapy for unstable angina pectoris, randomization appears to provide a rational way of selecting therapy. Furthermore, subsets of patients at high risk may emerge during the process of randomization. The design of this randomized trial is compared with that of another reported trial. Thus far, the study has shown that it is possible to conduct a randomized trial in patients with unstable angina pectoris, and that the medical and surgical groups have been similar in relation to the variables examined. The group as a whole presented with severe angina pectoris, either as a crescendo pattern or as new onset of angina at rest, and 84 percent had recurrence of pain while in the coronary care unit and receiving vigorous medical therapy. It is anticipated that sufficient patients will have been entered into the trial within the next 12 months to determine whether medical or surgical therapy is superior in the acute stages of unstable angina pectoris.

Comprehension and appreciation of humorous material following brain damage

The effects of brain damage on cognitive and affective status have been assessed separately; however, a dearth of information exists about the interaction of these facets in the brain-damaged patient. Because appreciation of humour involves both cognitive and affective dimensions, an investigation of response to humorous materials should yield information relevant to this issue. In addition, a study of response to humour in aphasic patients can reveal the extent to which appreciation of humour is dependent upon an intact language system. Accordingly a test of humour, in which an individual chose the "funniest" of four cartoons, was administered to a population of brain-damaged and control patients. Ability to detect the most humorous cartoon was impaired in all brain-damaged patients, more in severe than in mild aphasics, but there was no significant difference between patients with left and right hemisphere lesions in their overall performance on the test. A different order of difficulty across items, and a different profile of "mirth" responses to the items did, however, correlate with site of lesion. Right hemisphere patients tended either to laugh throughout or, more frequently, not at all; they often confabulated answers to made impossible inferences; and they performed better on items with captions. Their cognitive reactions appeared "dissociated" from their affective responses. In contrast left hemisphere patients performed better on the captionless items and behaved in a manner which more closely approximated normal subjects in their humorous reactions, their order of item difficulty, and their explanations. All brain-damaged patients found it relatively easier to locate the humorous cartoons when the members of a set differed appreciably from one another. These results provide information about the altered cognitive and affective states of brain-damaged patients, the impairment of cognitive operations in aphasic patients, and the respective "life-spaces" of left and right hemisphere injured patients.

The women's liberation movement: its impact on marriage

The author discusses marriages in which a basically insecure husband plays a god-like role and his wife, who initially worshipped him, matures and finds her situation depressing and degrading. With support from the women's liberation movement, many women have found the courage and conviction to challenge such situations. The challenges often bring the husbands' repressed feelings of inadequacy to the surface, which leads to increased turmoil and finally to requests for professional help, first by the wife and later by her husband. During counseling both become more open and develop as individuals. As a result their marriage improves.

Clinicopathologic correlations. De subitaneis mortibus. VI. Two young soldiers

Special studies of the heart were conducted at necropsy of two young soldiers who had died suddenly and unexpectedly. In the first case there was extensive myocarditis, an atretic main left coronary artery, special large interarterial anastomoses including the sinus node artery, old fibrosis in the His bundle and recent hemorrhages in the internodal pathways. In the second case there was a markedly narrowed atrioventricular (A-V) node artery with disruptive fibrosis of the left and right bundle branches, and lacunar faults in the central fibrous body near the A-V node. These dissimilar findings are discussed relative to the pathophysiological basis of sudden death.

Phenothiazine effects on auditory signal detection in paranoid and nonparanoid schizophrenics

The differential effects of phenothiazine medication on auditory signal detection performance were compared in two types of schizophrenic subjects and in normal subjects. With increasing phenothiazine dosage a decrease in efficiency of signal detection performance occurred among nonparanoid schizophrenics and an increase in efficiency occurred among paranoid schizophrenics. These and related findings were interpreted in terms of differences in neuropsychological response and information processing characteristics in the two types of schizophrenics. The primary deficit in information processing in nonparanoid schizophrenics may be related primarily to their hypersensitivity to sensory stimuli, whereas in paranoids it may be related primarily to their impaired focusing of attention. Phenothiazines appear to decrease sensitivity to stimuli in nonparanoids but increase the ability to focus attention in paranoids. The possibility of treatment regimens which take into account the differential effects of phenothiazine medication was suggested.

Differences between correlates of perceptual style and Petrie task performance in chronic and acute schizophrenics

Acute schizophrenics open to perceptual stimuli are receptive to emotional stimuli and are intellectually able. Conversely, chronics maintaining active internal lives are inattentive to external stimuli. The Petrie procedure appears uncorrelated with the Silverman KFA. Overestimation after Petrie large-stimulus interpolation relates to passive behavior; overestimation after small-stimulus interpolation relates to good intellectual and psychological functioning among all, and among chronics to behavioral and conceptual expansiveness.

Stimulus sensitivity and stimulus intensity control

Previous research had suggested a relationship between averaged cortical evoked response (AER) characteristics and the perception of stimulus intensity. In this study a systematic relationship was hypothesized between AER characteristics and performance on traditional sensory threshold procedures. Averaged evoked responses to light flashes and performances on a battery of psychophysical tasks were measured in 20 normal volunteers. Ss with one AER pattern were sensitive to low-intensity stimulation; Ss with another AER pattern exhibited the opposite response tendency. These findings were interpreted in terms of a theoretical construct regarding a stimulus-intensity control mechanism in the central nervous system.

A paradigm for the study of altered states of consciousness

“When man experiences that certain sequences of mental events lead to behavior which has, as a matter of fact, survival value, he calls such mental facts ‘right’. It would be better, however, if instead of this word some neutral symbol were being used for those particular events; because the word ‘right’ leads to the unfortunate notion that some combinations of mental facts are intrinsically better than others. …”

Rates of saccadic eye movement and size judgments of normals and schizophrenics

Saccadic eye movements during fixation of a target image and size estimations were studied in nonschizophrenic and schizophrenic Ss. The results on rate of saccadic movement were quite different in those who overestimated the sizes of the standard disc. Nonschizophrenics who over-estimated had unusually low rates of saccadic movement; schizophrenic Ss who over-estimated had unusually high rates of saccadic movement, especially when they were older patients who had been hospitalized for 12 to 20 yr. No difference in rates of saccadic movement were found between nonschizophrenic and schizophrenic Ss who under-estimated the standard stimuli. The high rate of saccadic eye movements in over-estimating schizophrenics can be compared to the similar result in normals who have been given LSD-25.

Infra-red method for assessment of small and large eye movements in clinical experiments

Problems in measuring eye movements are briefly reviewed and a simple, inexpensive technique is presented for counting either the number of small eye movements during fixation or the number of small plus large eye movements during visual search. Details are given for building the system, which reflects infra-red light from the corneal-scleral margin of the eye to a photocell. The methods of operation and analysis of data are presented and the strengths and weaknesses of the technique are summarized. Examples of its use in particular experiments are presented.

Anxiety and response stereotypy: an experimental critique

Studies of the relationship between the level of anxiety and degree of response stereotypy have reported findings which not only contradict one another but in varying degrees are inconsistent with both clinical and drive theory. The clinical expectation is that anxiety and response stereotypy are positively related, whereas drive theory predicts a negative relationship when response choices are equipotent. A study is reported wherein Ss were required to randomize choices regarding the outcomes of an “unbiased” coin. The essential feature of this task is that Ss must maintain a set for randomness. The results indicated: (1) high anxious Ss were more stereotyped than low anxious Ss, (2) the anxiety-stereotypy relationship depended upon the length of the response sequence analyzed, and (3) upon the temporal stage of the task (i.e., first vs second half). It was concluded that the drive-theory model is not applicable to measures of response stereotypy derived from binary choice tasks. An alternative hypothesis was presented which takes account of both experimental manipulations of drive level and changes in response stereotypy in terms of individual differences in attention responsiveness.

Structure of 9,9,10,10-Tetrachloroanthracene

The crystal structure of 9,9,10,10-tetrachloroanthracene has been determined by x-ray analysis. The structure is characterized by dovetailed packing of crystallographically independent molecules. The anthracene skeletons are planar, and the molecules have approximately D(2h) symmetry. Bond distances and angles are summarized and the stereochemical implications of the results are discussed.