[Effects of calcium on the course of strontium toxicosis]. / Vliianie kal'tsiia na techenie strontsievogo toksikoza.

Chronic intake of Sr for 20 days by chickens caused in them a delay in body mass increase and symptoms of rickets in spite of complete provision with vitamin D. There were low levels of Ca, P, enhanced activity of alkaline phosphatase in the serum, inhibited mineralization of bone tissue, reduced levels of vitamin D-dependent calcium-binding protein, Sr accumulation in various tissues. Enrichment with Ca of the chickens ration diminished the above signs of Sr toxicosis. It is suggested that a protective effect of Ca in chronic Sr toxicity may be due to more active discrimination of Sr against Ca in intestinal assimilation of these cations.

[Experience in treating metabolic osteopathies with 1 alpha-hydroxyvitamin D3 (oksidevit)]. / Opyt lecheniia metabolicheskikh osteopatii 1 al'fa-gidroksivitaminom D3 (oksidevitom).

The action of 1 alpha-hydroxycholecalciferol (oxydevit) was estimated in 204 patients with renal osteodystrophy, osteoporosis of varying etiology, osteomalacia because of malabsorption, congenital rickets-like diseases. The drug was shown to be highly effective in the treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism in uremia, steroidal and senile osteoporosis. The treatment involved replacement therapy.

[Treatment of severe postmenopausal osteoporosis]. / Lechenie tiazhelogo postmenopauzal'nogo osteoporoza.

The paper is concerned with the results of therapy of a severe form of postmenopausal osteoporosis in 5 patients using the combination of estrogens, 1-alpha-hydroxycholecalciferol and calcitonin. The treatment with the above drugs was accompanied by marked improvement of the general status. It was characterized by an increase in daily calcium excretion with urine, normalization of the concentration of calcium, inorganic phosphorus and serum alkaline phosphatase activity. A conclusion was made that the combined use of estrogens and 1-alpha-hydroxycholecalciferol produced a more marked clinical effect than each drug separately.

Emergency centers in Israel: A small community organizes to cope with war related crises*.

This paper focuses on community-wide emergencies caused by war-related events in Lebanon at the beginning of June 1982. Mobilization for the "Peace for Galilee" campaign began on Friday, 4th June. Overnight, families were disrupted, husbands and sons were in danger, and within 24 hours there were notifications of casualities and deaths. Families in crisis became a widespread phenomenon. In Herzlia, as in many other communities, a new service - the Emergency Center - emerged under the auspices of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the Municipality. The authors describe this process of getting organized, the populations served, how the Center was staffed, the role of citizen volunteers, and the types of interventions used to help vulnerable families as well as soldiers home on leave. Stress is placed on the unique type of short-term co-operation achieved between social workers of the local Department of Social Welfare, the staff of the Department of Community Services (especially its Volunteer Bureau), the local liason officer of the Israel Defence Force, the municipal government, and public-spirited volunteers. Mention is made of conditions which made possible the activation of such a service within hours, of the Center's capacity to serve all segments of the population, and of how it was deactivated within a few weeks when the emergency ended. On the basis of lessons learned from this experience, the paper ends with a number of specific recommendations. The authors hope that such innovative forms of crisis-intervention will become part of the helping technology widely available at the community level in future years.