Spenic artery aneurysm presenting as left renal mass

A case of splenic artery aneurysm presenting as a left upper quadrant mass represents a diagnostic challenge due to its paucity of clinical signs and symptoms. The condition must be distinguished from urologic pathology. Celiac angiography is necessary for diagnostic confirmation. Surgical resection is advised for most patients.

Esophageal manometrics in patients with angina-like chest pain

Fifty-eight patients with angina-like chest pain had esophageal manometric testing. Forty-three had no evidence of coronary artery disease at the time of referral or at subsequent contact; 15 patients were proven to have coronary artery disease. High-amplitude contraction waves were the most frequently found manometric abnormality (15 patients). Less frequent were increased duration of contractions, achalasia, and diffuse esophageal spasm; the latter was present in only 3 patients. An approach to the interpretation of information obtained during manometry is presented. Using this approach, the esophagus was strongly implicated as the cause of the pain in 20 patients and was suspect in 18 others. Seven patients had results that exonerated the esophagus, and in the 13 remaining individuals, the esophagus was probably not the offending organ.

Neural efficiency analyzer scores of reading disabled, normally reading and academically superior children

Usefulness, under field-testing conditions, of one version of a Neural Efficiency Analygated. The equipment was said to measure efficiency of information processing as reflected in time between alternate EEG falling zero-crossing points. Special emphasis was placed on the difference score, a measure of right-left hemisphere "efficiency" differences. Contrary to earlier reports, no significant differences were found between such scores of groups of reading disabled, normally reading, and academically superior children. Possible reasons for the negative findings are explored.

The effect of tree sprays of calcium, boron, zinc and naphthaleneacetic acid, alone and in all combinations, on the incidence of storage disorders in Merton apples

The effect of four whole-tree sprays at monthly intervals on the fruit mineral element content and on the incidence of storage disorders in Merton apples was investigated for three years. Calcium nitrate, boric acid, zinc nitrate and naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) were applied singly and in all possible combinations. There were no significant treatment interactions, which implied an absence of synergistic or antagonistic effects between spray components. Calcium nitrate was the only compound whose application consistently reduced the incidence of bitter pit and breakdown following cool storage for 4 months. In one year NAA reduced the incidence of these disorders, but it also reduced mean fruit size and increased the concentration of most of the mineral elements, including calcium, in the fruit at harvest. Zinc nitrate sprays had no effect. Boron application promoted the development of core flush in one year and of breakdown in two years, but did not affect the incidence of bitter pit. No relationship was observed between the levels of calcium and boron in the fruit.

Induction of endogenous murine C-type virus in spleen cell cultures treated with mitogens and 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine

In short-term cultures of BALB/c spleen cells, treatment with a combination of 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) and either lipopolysaccharide W. Escherichia coli or concanavalin A resulted in release of C-type virus into the medium. Only lipopolysaccharide induced virus release when given alone. This could be potentiated by a combined treatment with BrdU. In contrast, phytohemagglutinin at mitogenic concentration had no effect with or without BrdU, suggesting that inducibility may vary between various mitogen-responsive spleen cell populations. In AKR mice, spontaneous virus release was detectable in nonstimulated spleen cell cultures. This could be potentiated by lipopolysaccharide, whereas no further increase occurred upon additional BrdU treatment. The induced viruses had C-type characteristics in that they contained reverse transcriptase that could be distinguished from cellular enzymes by template-primer preference experiments. Furthermore, the enzyme activities were particle-associated, banding in isopycnic sucrose gradients at 1.15-1.17 g/cm-3. The presence of C-type viruses was confirmed by electron microscopy.

The use of multivariate analysis in identifying relationships among disorder and mineral element content in apples

The use of principal component analysis, followed by rotation of a reduced number of component axes, and its role in the identification and interpretation of relationships between disorder and mineral content in apple research is described. The relationship among bitter pit incidence, calcium deficiency and mean fruit weight per tree is illustrated by using data obtained on Jonathan apples from potted trees. Principal component analysis must be performed on unstructured data, and emphasis is placed upon the removal of treatment and block effects when constructing the correlation matrix upon which the analysis is performed. The mathematical techniques described are applicable to a wide range of agricultural experimentation.

Progressive systemic sclerosis. "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue"

These discussions are selected from the weekly staff conferences in the Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Taken from transcriptions, they are prepared by Drs. David W. Martin, Jr., Assistant Professor of Medicine, and Kenneth A. Woeber, Associate Professor of Medicine, under the direction of Dr. Lloyd H. Smith, Jr., Professor of Medicine and Chairman of the Department of Medicine. Requests for reprints should be sent to the Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143.

Auditory perception

Auditory perceptual tasks involving the discrimination of fine differences in frequency, duration, or rhythmic pattern were given to a group of sixth form schoolboys. The results indicate that there is a wide range of auditory skills for different individuals, even within a relatively homogeneous group. There are also differences in a person's ability to carry out distinct tasks; there does not necessarily appear to be any correlation between his ability for each task.The findings support observations arising out of consideration of hearing problems in children and adults that pure tone threshold audiometry and its derivatives give an inadequate definition of hearing disorder and a limited understanding of the nature of hearing.

Longitudinal distribution of applied calcium, and of naturally occurring calcium, magnesium, and potassium, in Merton apple fruits

When 45Ca-labelled calcium chloride solution was applied to the skin of young developing Merton apple fruits, activity in the cortex at maturity was highest in the calyx end region where bitter pit lesions most commonly develop. Fruit age at time of application affected the amount of labelled calcium absorbed but not its longitudinal distribution. Following branch injection of labelled calcium chloride solution 8 weeks before harvest, activity in mature fruits was found mostly in the stem end. Leaves and buds accounted for 95% of the recovered activity, and the fruits for 5%, of which about one-quarter was in the calyx half. The same distribution pattern was found following injection of labelled calcium chloride solution into the fruit stem. The concentration of naturally occurring calcium in the cortex of the mature fruit declined steadily from stem end to calyx end. On the other hand, the magnesium concentration was lowest near the stem end and highest at the calyx end. The potassium concentration remained fairly constant along most of the length of the fruit, with a small increase at each end. The findings are discussed with regard to the longitudinal gradient in bitter pit susceptibility within apple fruits, and to the relative effectiveness of tree sprays of calcium, as compared with soil applications, in the control of the disorder. Results suggest that calcium does not have a trace element role in the control of bitter pit.

Alterations in thyroid iodine release and the peripheral metabolism of thyroxine during acute falciparum malaria in man

Previous studies of thyroid function during various infections have yielded conflicting results, but most have suggested an acceleration of peripheral thyroxine (T(4)) turnover during the acute infectious illness. In the present studies, thyroid function was examined by a method allowing simultaneous analysis of both endogenous thyroidal release and peripheral T(4) disposal in normal volunteers after induction of acute falciparum malaria. Subjects received iodide-(125)I, followed in 5-7 days by (131)I-T(4) intravenously. 4 days later, infection was induced by the injection of parasitized red blood cells. Bidaily measurements of serum protein-bound (125)I and protein-bound (131)I, and urinary (125)I and (131)I, together with frequent estimates of serum (127)I-T(4) (Murphy-Pattee) and free T(4) (FT(4)), were made during a control period, during acute illness, and during convalescence. Alterations in the peripheral metabolism of (131)I-T(4) during infection included significant decreases in the fractional disappearance rate for T(4) [(k)], and in the clearance and daily disposal of T(4), all of which returned to control values during convalescence. Total serum (127)I-T(4) increased late in the infected period to become greater during convalescence than either before or during infection, while FT(4) did not increase significantly until convalescence. An analysis of serum (131)I-T(4)/(127)I-T(4) and (131)I-T(4)/PB(125)I ratios confirmed these observations. The slope with time of ratios for urinary (125)I/(131)I, a reflection of thyroidal iodine release, was decreased during infection, but rebounded to control values during the convalescent period. The observed increments in serum (127)I-T(4) concentration in the convalescent phase may reflect in part the slowing of (k), but together with the rising ratios of urine (125)I/(131)I suggests enhanced thyroidal T(4) secretion immediately after the acute illness. Thus, with malarial infection, there appears to be an initial depression followed by a rebound in rates of thyroidal iodine release. In contradistinction to other infections, fractional turnover and daily disposal of hormone is decreased in malaria, perhaps due to hepatic dysfunction and the consequent impairment in cellular deiodinative processes.