Modification of the 137Cs, 90Sr, and 60Co transfer to wheat plantlets by NH4+ fertilizers

Inorganic fertilizers are used as agricultural countermeasures intended to inhibit the soil to plant transfer of radionuclides after a radioactive fallout. Two NH₄⁺ fertilizers, diammonium phosphate (DAP) and NPK, were applied to soil contaminated with a mixture of radionuclides to analyze whether they modify the transfer of ¹³⁷Cs, ⁹⁰Sr, and ⁶⁰Co and stable elements (K, Na, Ca, and Mg) to wheat plantlets grown under controlled laboratory conditions. DAP introduced NH₄⁺ in the soil, which can increase ¹³⁷Cs transfer, while NPK also introduced K⁺, which can decrease it. The application of DAP increased the accumulation of ¹³⁷Cs in wheat plantlets with increasing application rate, so did the ¹³⁷Cs/K in plantlets. Regarding the NPK application, the ¹³⁷Cs increased in all treatments, but at maximum rate, the available K introduced by the fertilizer was probably able to partially satisfy the nutritional requirements of the wheat plantlet and the ¹³⁷Cs decreased relative to the recommended rate. The ¹³⁷Cs/K ratio in plantlet decreased with increasing NPK rates. The transfer of ⁹⁰Sr increased with increasing DAP rate and only at the maximum NPK rate. The ⁶⁰Co transfer only increased at the maximum application rates for DAP and NPK. These modifications should be considered when using these fertilizers as agricultural countermeasures.

Changes of the cellular immunity tests during the evolution of Hodgkin's disease

To detect the changes of cellular immunity which occur at the same time as the pathological process and to find out the possible biologic indicators with prognostic value, a study was carried out on 140 patients with Hodgkin's disease (HD) in different clinical periods: onset, under therapy (cytostatics and/or irradiations), remission, after splenectomy and under immunotherapy. The study of cellular immunity included the determination of lymphocytes subpopulations by the rosette tests and their functional estimation by tests of blastic transformation to mitogens and antigens. Though the values obtained presented a wide dispersion, the rosette tests showed variations in correlation with the clinical stage, therefore with the severity of disease. It was observed that therapy and splenectomy change the cellular immunity tests. The only test with a certain prognostic value was found to be the in vitro lymphocyte response to PPD which became positive after therapy, particularly in the group of patients who showed good response to treatment. A dynamic follow-up of the cellular immunity tests might give an indication on the mechanisms of production of the immune deficit in HD.

[Mechanism of production of porcelain gallbladder]

An observation is presented, of a case, of particular demonstrative value, of "porcelain gall-bladder", in which the authors were able to evidence the intervention of three local pathogenic factors: chronic inclavation of a stone in the bladder neck and obliteration of the cystic duct (which eliminated from the physiological viewpoint the gall-bladder); a chronic inflammation of the wall and ischaemia of the entire organ following the previous obliteration of the cystic artery. These factors are only in exceptional circumstances met in the same patient and this explains the rarity of this complication of biliary lithiasis.