Localisation of auditory evoked potentials in man during awakeness and sleep

Auditory evoked potentials after click, speech and musical stimulation during sleep and awakeness were used in order to determine the existence of a topographical dominance of single cortical areas. The results showed a lateralization in awake subjects dependent on the semantic content of the stimulus. During deep sleep the lateralization of the potential was absent and the activity was extremely symmetrically concentrated around the vertex. The findings support the concept of cerebral dominances which has to be more than a pure metaphorical one.

Psychosomatic correlations in chronic pain patients using electroacupuncture

Different reports on the efficacy of electroacupuncture in pain led to a randomized prospective study on 120 patients suffering from long-term chronic pain syndromes of different aetiology taking into account the psychological situation. The collected data included measuring the pulse amplitude difference of the arteria radialis dextra and sinistra oscillographically, pain evaluation by visual analogue scales, blood pressure and heart frequency and psychometrie. Results show that neurotic patients have a higher level of anxiety and that reduction of pain and the equalization of the amplitudes of both arterial curves is higher in anxious patients. The results are highly significant with an alpha value of 0.001.

[Percutaneous recanalization of a renal artery with restoration of renal function]

Percutaneous recanalization and angioplasty was successfully performed in one patient with acute renal failure due to occlusion of a solitary kidney artery. Renal function was completely restored.

Age-dependent changes in the level of a 22 KDa plasma membrane phosphoprotein in developing chick embryo brain

In vitro phosphorylation of brain proteins of developing chick embryos showed a drastic increase in the extent of phosphorylation of a 22 KDa protein from the fourteenth day reaching a peak at seventeenth day of development; the phosphorylation of the 22 KDa protein declined afterwards. Phosphoaminoacid analysis of the 22 KDa protein indicated serine residues as targets of phosphorylation. Isoelectric focusing followed by second dimensional SDS-PAGE indicated that the 22 KDa protein had a pI value of 4.5. Polymyxin B, an inhibitor of Ca2+ and phospholipid dependent protein kinases inhibited the phosphorylation of the 22 KDa protein.

Phosphorylation of brain specific membrane proteins of developing chick embryo

Phosphorylation of plasma membrane proteins in various tissues of chick embryos was investigated during the development. A polypeptide of Mr 22,000 was found to be the major phosphorylated plasma membrane protein in embryonic brain; this protein was absent in embryonic muscle, liver, and gizzard tissues. Extraction of plasma membranes with Triton X-100 (1%) or Nonidet p40 (1%) or sodium deoxycholate (1%) resulted in the solubilization of most membrane proteins including the 22 KDa phosphoprotein suggesting that the 22 KDa protein is a membrane-bound protein. Maximum phosphorylation of the 22 KDa protein by [gamma-32P]ATP was observed at 0.01 mM Ca2+. Higher concentrations of Ca2+ (2.5 mM) inhibited the phosphorylation of the 22 KDa protein whereas 3.5 mM Mg2+ stimulated the phosphorylation.

Generation of leukotrienes by antigen and calcium ionophore A23187 stimuli from a mouse mastocytoma cell line, MMC-16

The generation of leukotrienes and histamine release by the mouse mastocytoma cell line MMC-16 was investigated. These cells produced leukotriene C4 (LTC4) and released histamine upon calcium ionophore A23187 and antigen stimulation. The ionophore also stimulated the biosynthesis of leukotriene B4 (LTB4) by MMC-16. Generation of LTC4 was confirmed by its characteristic UV absorption spectrum, fast atom bombardment-MS, equivalent HPLC retention time with an authentic standard and radioimmunoassay. Leukotriene B4 was characterized by its distinctive UV spectrum and HPLC retention time compared with synthetic material. IgE-mediated LTC4 generation was also observed in a dose dependent fashion with MMC-16 cells passively sensitized with monoclonal IgE specific for ovalbumin. LTC4 biosynthesis was effectively inhibited by the lipoxygenase inhibitor NDGA.

Colonoscopy in inflammatory bowel disease. Diagnostic accuracy and proposal of an endoscopic score

Colonoscopy is used in the differential diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease but its accuracy and the "weight" of the various endoscopic signs have not been assessed. In a prospective study 357 patients with 606 colonoscopies, in whom the endoscopic appearances were those of ulcerative colitis, Crohn's colitis, or indeterminate colitis, were followed-up for an average period of 22 mo. A final, definite, endoscopy-independent diagnosis was reached by means of autopsy, surgery, or histology on biopsy in 71% of patients. Accuracy of colonoscopy was 89%, with 4% errors and 7% indeterminate diagnoses. Errors were more frequent in severe inflammatory activity (9%). The most useful endoscopic features in this differential diagnosis were discontinuous involvement, anal lesions, and cobblestoning of mucosa for Crohn's disease, and erosions or microulcers and granularity for ulcerative colitis. After selecting the endoscopic features with best predictive value, an "endoscopic score" was calculated by means of "likelihood ratios."

A histological study of hepatitis delta virus liver disease

The histopathology of hepatitis delta virus disease was studied in carriers of HBsAg with chronic hepatitis delta antigen-positive hepatitis and in serial biopsies of patients with acute hepatitis delta virus hepatitis that progressed to chronicity. There was no histologic feature distinctive of hepatitis delta virus from other types of viral hepatitis. Biopsy specimens of patients with chronic disease exhibited portal and periportal inflammation with piecemeal necrosis, conforming to a picture of aggressive hepatitis often accompanied by cirrhosis. Characteristic was a marked intralobular infiltration by mononuclear cells and a degenerative eosinophilic change of the hepatocytic cytoplasms conducive to the formation of acidophilic bodies. Liver specimens from patients with hepatitis delta virus hepatitis exhibited aspects of focal, confluent and bridging necrosis. The disease progressed to chronicity irrespective of the original histological features. The expression of intrahepatic hepatitis delta antigen was reduced in the phase of the acute hepatitis but increased in parallel with the development of chronic active liver disease. In late-stage cirrhosis, expression of hepatitis delta antigen was usually low.

Relation of intelligence to ego functioning in an adult psychiatric population

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) IQs and clinical ratings of 10 ego functions in a diagnostically heterogeneous sample of 60 adult psychiatric inpatients were correlated. With severity of pathology statistically controlled, higher intelligence was associated with more adequate ego functioning in several spheres: primary autonomous functions, thought processes, object relations, and mastery-competence. There were also some clinically meaningful differences between the Verbal and Performance IQs in the pattern of correlations. Extending Hartmann's original views, the authors employ an ethological framework to conceptualize intelligence in relation to the ego's role in adaptation, emphasizing that intelligence is an important-albeit neglected-aspect of ego functioning.

Age-dependent changes in the level of a 34 kDa DNA-binding protein in developing chick embryo liver

The relative amounts of a DNA-binding protein of 34 kDa increased during the early stages of development of chick embryo liver. The content of this protein reached a maximum in 18-19-day-old embryonic livers and decreased afterwards in older embryonic and post-natal chick livers. The 34 kDa polypeptide is the major DNA-binding protein (DBP) of embryonic liver and it preferentially binds to single-stranded DNA. The quantity of the 34 kDa DBP was relatively very low in embryonic muscle, heart and brain.

Maintenance, training and functional use of denervated muscles

In the case of cerebral paralyses electrical stimulation can not only maintain the muscles, but may also enable their functional use. In flaccid paralyses, however, the conventional therapy using exponential currents produces rather unsatisfactory results. Only when applying bi-directional currents, were we successful in producing tetanic contractions. At present, some 20 children suffering from different diseases, such as spina bifida, Erb's palsy or a tumour of the cord, perform a daily domiciliary treatment with especially constructed home stimulators. Measurements prove distinct improvements of blood circulation, phosphoric metabolism and of the condition of the affected extremities. First investigations with computer-controlled, multi-channel devices show that by means of these devices the efficiency of training can be improved, the daily time for treatment can be shortened, and the disabled patient can perform the training almost autonomously. The existing experience on simple locomotion chains, and the achieved strengthening of the muscles will gradually enable a functional electrical stimulation of flaccid, denerved muscles and thus extend the radius of action for the disabled patient, for example by gripping, standing upright or walking.

Effect of in vivo electrical stimulation on the carbohydrate metabolism of control and denervation atrophied muscle of dog, Canis domesticus

The standardized programme of electrical stimulation was applied to the control and denervation atrophied muscle of dog, Canis domesticus and the pattern of changes in the carbohydrate metabolism was analysed in the control (C), denervated control (DC), control stimulated (CS) and denervated stimulated (DS) gastrocnemius muscles. The programme of electrical stimulation of the control muscle has elevated glycogenolysis, glycolysis and increased the level of operation of TCA cycle with decreased mobilization of carbohydrates into hexose monophosphate pathway, indicating the setting in of trained condition. Sciatectomy, on the other hand, lowered the level of operation of glycogenolysis and decreased the utilization of carbohydrates through hexose-mono and di-phosphate pathways and TCA cycle. The programme of electrical stimulation applied to the denervated muscle has restored the utilization of carbohydrates through hexose mono and diphosphate pathways and oxidative metabolism indicating the applicability of this programme of electrical stimulation in the treatment of muscular atrophy.

Myogenic differentiation of L6 rat myoblasts: evidence for pleiotropic effects on myogenesis by RNA polymerase II mutations to alpha-amanitin resistance

To assess the functional role of RNA polymerase II in the regulation of transcription during muscle differentiation, we isolated and characterized a large number of independent alpha-amanitin-resistant (AmaR) mutants of L6 rat myoblasts that express both wild-type and altered RNA polymerase II activities. We also examined their myogenic (Myo) phenotype by determining their ability to develop into mature myotubes, to express elevated levels of muscle creatine kinase, and to synthesize muscle-characteristic proteins as detected by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. We found a two- to threefold increase in the frequency of clones with a myogenic-defective phenotype in the AmaR (RNA polymerase II) mutants as compared to control ethyl methane sulfonate-induced, 6-thioguanine-resistant (hypoxanthine, guanine phosphoribosyl transferase) mutants or to unselected survivors also exposed to ethyl methane sulfonate. Subsequent analysis showed that about half of these myogenic-defective AmaR mutants had a conditional Myo(ama) phenotype; when cultured in the presence of amanitin, they exhibited a Myo- phenotype; in its absence they exhibited a Myo+ phenotype. This conditional Myo(ama) phenotype is presumably caused by the inactivation by amanitin of the wild-type amanitin-sensitive RNA polymerase II activity and the subsequent rise in the level of mutant amanitin-resistant RNA polymerase II activity. In these Myo(ama) mutants, the wild-type RNA polymerase II is normally dominant with respect to the Myo+ phenotype, whereas the mutant RNA polymerase II is recessive and results in a Myo- phenotype only when the wild-type enzyme is inactivated. These findings suggest that certain mutations in the amaR structural gene for the amanitin-binding subunit of RNA polymerase II can selectively impair the transcription of genes specific for myogenic differentiation but not those specific for myoblast proliferation.