[Haplotypes of the beta-globulin locus in Czechs and Slovaks with beta-thalassemia and structurally variant hemoglobins]. / Haplotypy beta-globinového lokusu Cechu a Slováku s beta-talasemiemi a strukturními variantami hemoglobinu.

In 29 Czech and Slovak families with the most frequent and newly identified beta-thalassaemic alleles and with some structural haemoglobin variants (Hb E, Hb Haná, Hb Santa Ana) haplotypes of the beta-globin locus of alleles with these mutations were identified. In most instances haplotypes I and V were involved which were found in 57% of the patients. The bond of the most common beta-thalassaemic mutation: IVS-I-1, IVS-I-110, CD 39 (C-T), IVS-II-745, IVS-I-6 with alleles with the same haplotypes as in the mediterranean region suggests a mediterranean origin of these mutations. In Hb Santa Ana a hitherto not described haplotype was identified (-(+)-(-)-(+3), indicating a de novo origin of the mutation. Also in newly identified beta-thalassaemic mutations in CD 7/8 (+G), in CD 38/39 (-C) and in HbE and Hb Haná de novo development is probable.

Mechanical effect of vocalization on human brain and meninges.

Vibrations of human skull, as produced by loud vocalisation, exert a massaging effect on the brain and facilitate elution of metabolic products from the brain into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). In addition, these vibrations, through their effect on arachnoid villi, speed up the flow of CSF from the subarachnoid space into the blood within the superior sagittal sinus and lacunae lateralis. In this way, the speed of renewal of CSF is increased, which again contributes to a faster cleaning process of the brain. The most important feature of human evolution is enlargement of the brain. This by itself would not be enough. The Neandertals had a brain 15% larger than we have, yet they did not survive in competition with modern humans. Their brains were more polluted, because their massive skulls did not vibrate and therefore the brains were not sufficiently cleaned. In the evolution of modern humans the thinning of cranial bones was important. In addition, the chin remained jutting out of the face as in no other hominids, in order to maintain the distance from the chin to the hyoid bone equal to the distance from the latter to the styloid process. This situation facilitates transmission of laryngeal vibrations onto the skull base via the mandible.

Carcinoidal tumor of the kidney.

Two cases of primary renal carcinoidal tumor are reported. One was discovered in a 32-year-old pregnant woman. The other tumor was retrospectively diagnosed 3 years after nephrectomy in a 65-year-old woman who was hospitalized with a metastatic lesion in her lumbar spine. Both tumors are compared with 5 other cases previously reported in the literature, and hypotheses about the cause of renal localization of this tumor are reviewed.

A comparison of the open and closed methods of anastomosis for colostomy closure.

A transverse colostomy was performed in dogs and, later, closed by resection and anastomosis. Half the anastomoses were done by the open and half by the closed method. The anastomoses were evaluated by barium enema series and by gross and microscopic examination. All anastomoses functioned well, but barium enema series showed great variation in the lumina diameter. Results of histologic studies revealed evidence of more inflammation and reaction about the open method.

The time at which infected postoperative wounds demonstrate increased strength.

It was again shown in this study that laparotomy wounds purposely infected with a known inoculum of live gram-negative bacteria exhibited greater tensile strength than did those in the normal control group. The organisms used were Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The phenomenon was not present during the first ten days after wounding but was quite evident in wounds tested at 14 and 21 days. By histologic examination, there was evidence of much more new collagen in the wounds that exhibited increased strength.

A study of the critical bacterial inoculum to cause a stimulus to wound healing.

Results of previous work have shown that wounds infected with gram-negative bacteria may be stronger than uninfected wounds. The inoculum in these studies was about 2 X 10(7) organisms. Laparotomy wounds were swabbed with inocula of from 10(2) to 10(9) organisms, Escherichia coli. Only with inocula of 10(6) or greater were all parts of all wounds infected by gross inspection. All wounds inoculated with 10(7) organisms, or more, were significantly stronger than the wounds of the control group on the 14th day. A smaller inoculum--10(3) to 10(6)--also resulted in stronger wounds, but not consistently so.

Primary gastric choriocarcinoma: case report with review of world literature.

A case is herin reported of a primary gastric choriocarcinoma occurring in an elderly woman associated with very high titers of circulating chorionic gonadotropin. Unlike the majority of previously reported cases, in which adenocarcinomatous components were present, the tumor in this case was purely trophoblastic. The clinicopathologic findings of the previously reported cases are summarized, along with the various theories of histogenesis.

Accelerated healing in infected wounds.

The effect of a standardized infection of pure and mixed cultures of gram-negative bacteria and a gram-positive coccus was studied in laparotomy wounds of rats. The infections were significantly stronger than in the control group wounds in 14 of 15 comparisons. This increased strength could not be correlated with an increased wound content of collagen. Results of histologic studies showed a vigorous inflammatory response which probably was responsible for the increased strength. There was a suggestion in our data to support the concept that certain bacteria evoke the proper inflammatory response to result in stronger wounds, while others provoke too little or too much inflammation.

Angiostrongyliasis cantonensis (eosinophilic meningitis, Alicata's disease).

Angiostrongyliasis is an infectious disease caused by nematode parasites of the genus Angiostrongylus. The rat lung worm Angiostrongylus cantonensis, primarily a parasite of rodents, is largely responsible for human cases of eosinophilic meningitis, or meningoencerphalitis, which occurs on many Pacific islands and in Southeast Asia. The disorder, which frequently occurs in epidemic extent, is caused by invasion of the central nervous system by developing larvae of the parasite. The infection is most frequently due to ingestion of food containing the infective, third-state, larvae. Meningitic and ocular forms of the disease have been recognized. The disease has been described or referred to under a variety of synonyms. The terms eosinophilic meningitis, eosinophilic meningoencephalitis, and epidemic eosinophilic meningitis were first used to describe the disease before its etiology was known. These terms, however, lack specificity, because the eosinophilic meningitic syndrome may accompany many other parasitic as well as nonparasitic diseases of the central nervous system. Nevertheless, they are still being widely used, since in most cases only the epidemiology of the disease points to the etiologic role of A. cantonensis. Direct clinical or laboratory evidence of the etiologic agent is usually not established because reliable tests are not yet available. The term angiostrongylosis, or angiostrongyliasis, if used without the adjective, also may give rise to confusion, since the same term is applied to the pulmonary infection of dogs by A. vasorum and might be used for infection by any other Angiostrongylus species. Even the term cerebral or ocular angiostrongyliasis may prove in the future to have similar disadvantages. The scientifically correct term angiostrongyliasis cantonensis has been used recently. It is sufficiently specific and formed in analogy to the names of other parasitic diseases of man, like schistosomiasis japonica, schistosomiasis mansoni, schistosomiasis haematobia. For the murine infection, as well as for the disease produced experimentally in animals, the term angiostrongylosis cantonensis ought to be reserved because of the preferential use by veterinarians of the ending osis for designation of pathological changes produced in animals by parasites. After the recent discovery of A. costaricensis, another rat parasite causing human disease in Costa Rica, it becomes necessary to distinguish between angiostrongyliasis cantonensis (eosinophilic meningitis) and angiostrongyliasis costaricensis (intra-abdominal eosinophilic granulomatosis). A potential disadvantage of these terms may be encountered in case of a systemic revision or reclassification of the parasite. This has happened at intervals. A. cantonensis was named Pulmonema cantonensis by its discoverer and later was described under the name Haemostrongylus ratti.