Haemorrhagic nephritis and enteritis of geese: pathomorphological investigations and proposed pathogenesis.

Haemorrhagic nephritis and enteritis of geese as a new disease was first described in Hungary in 1969. The authors identified the causative agent of the outbreaks occurring in 1969 as a polyomavirus by PCR in 2001. In order to study the pathogenesis of the virus, one-day-old goslings were infected with tissue homogenate that tested positive for polyomavirus by PCR. Morphological, light and transmission electron microscopic (TEM) examinations have revealed that goose haemorrhagic polyomavirus replicates in the endothelial cells of the blood vessels and capillaries of diseased birds. Infection causes damage and necrosis of the endothelial cells. The virus was not observed in the parenchymal cells. Oedema and haemorrhages found throughout the body may be due to the dysfunction or functional deficiency of endothelial cells damaged by the virus.

Sonoluminescence and phase diagrams of single bubbles at low dissolved air concentrations.

We studied experimentally the dependence of light emission and phase space boundaries of air bubbles in water on the level of degassing down to low partial pressures of 15 mmHg. We found that the maximum obtainable light intensity increased monotonically by lowering the concentration of dissolved air in water. We also present a new technique to obtain the acoustic pressure (P(a)) and ambient radius (R0) parameters, based on the information provided by the timing of the flashes in the acoustic cycle. Using this technique we give phase diagrams of the bubble in the (R0,P(a)) and (P(a), gas concentration) space, and discuss the parametric dependence of the light intensity. The resulting power-law dependence of the relative intensity normalized by the ambient volume of the bubble on the expansion ratio indicates that more extreme conditions are attainable inside a bubble at dissolved air concentration of 15 mmHg than at 150 mmHg.

[Thoughts on the causes of seasonality of menarche]. / Gedanken über die Ursachen der Saisonalität der Menarche.

The pineal gland plays an important role in the production of melatonin and in the synchronization of the reproduction process in seasonal breeding animals. Changes in the duration of day length are the most important stimulatory factors. In humans the pineal gland may not only have a physiological role in the seasonality of maturation, but also concerning the simultaneously observable changes of serum hormone and serum melatonin levels as well as in regard of changes in hair colour in prepuberal children. Therefore the pineal gland seems to play an important physiological role in the timing of human maturation.

Finding of a bladder stone from the Avar period in southeast Hungary.

In the course of a disinterment of an ancient Avar burial place at Székkutas-Kápolna near Hódmezövásárhely, Hungary, the archaeologist conducting the excavations, Miss Katalin B. Nagy, noticed a lithoid body of oval shape in the pelvis of a skeleton. The find was identified on morphological and chemo-analytical grounds as a bladder stone. In view of its rarity and its palaeopathological interest, it is described in detail. It is also expected to draw the attention of archaeologists to the possibility of similar findings. A brief review of the pertinent literature is given.