Effects of absorbable suture materials on intracellular regeneration processes in animal experiments

The influence of various absorbable suture materials on the intracellular regeneration processes in the rat's kidneys was studied up. Nephrotomy and suturing, using conventional and original suture materials were conducted in the animals. The RNA and protein biosynthesis inhibition on 14-30 days after chromic catgut implantation were revealed using radionuclide method. The most active course of biosynthesis was observed while using suture material manufactured from biofil and porcine material.     

冶金材料仪器分析方法国内外标准的进展

列出了三百多条ISO、JIS、ASTM、GB等有关冶金材料仪器分析方法的现行标准,评述了仪器分析方法标准的现状、特点和发展。近年来ISO、JIS、ASTM紧跟分析技术的发展,冶金材料仪器分析方法标准的制修订取得了很大的发展。我国在钢铁、铁合金、有色金属、矿石等领域亦制定了众多仪器分析和痕量成分分析的方法标准,其分析元素、采用方法多于相应的国际和国外标准。发挥我国优势分析技术,积极参与钢铁、铁矿石领域ISO分析方法标准制修订工作,取得不俗成绩。对仪器分析方法标准的制修订、国际标准的采用、积极参与国际标准制修订、仪器分析方法标准的应用等问题进行了讨论并提出了有益的建议。     

The animal experiments controversy.

Argues that C. R. Gallistel (see record 1982-00065-001) misrepresents the Research Modernization Act and presents the issue as "to experiment or not to experiment." He overlooks the crucial and controversial issues concerning the establishment of humane conditions of experimentation. Gallistel also fails to argue for the moral desirability of animal experiments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

关于仪器分析用标准样品均匀性初检的探讨

仪器分析用标准样品中存在的成分不均匀主要是由铸造过程中形成的宏观偏析造成的,预测铸锭中可能存在的宏观偏析,是标准样品均匀性初检的前提和基础。在分析和讨论均匀性初检基本概念的基础上,按铸造、成形工艺将仪器分析用标准样品分成4类:铸锭-锻轧型、连铸-锻轧型、多支铸锭型和多支铸锭-切割型。在凝固过程中溶质原子再分配理论的指导下,对不同铸造工艺形成的宏观偏析特点进行了分析、研究,提出了均匀性初检应重点关注的偏析类型,为制定均匀性初检取样方案提供了依据。     

Particle engulfment and pushing by solidifying interfaces: Part II. Microgravity experiments and theoretical analysis

Results of the directional solidification (DS) experiments on particle engulfment and pushing by solidifying interfaces (PEP), conducted on the space shuttle Columbia during the Life and Microgravity Science (LMS) Mission, are reported. Two pure aluminum (99.999 pct) 9 mm cylindrical rods, loaded with about 2 vol pct 500μm-diameter zirconia particles, were melted and resolidified in the microgravity (μg) environment of the shuttle. One sample was processed at a stepwise increased solidification velocity and the other at a stepwise decreased velocity. It was found that a pushing/engulfment transition (PET) occurred in the velocity range of 0.5 to 1 μm/s. This is smaller than the ground PET velocity of 1.9 to 2.4 μm/s. This demonstrates that natural convection increases the critical velocity. A previously proposed analytical model for PEP was further developed. A major effort to identify and produce data for the surface energy of various interfaces required for calculation was undertaken. The predicted critical velocity for PET was 0.775 μm/s.     

Small intestine transplantation--current status of animal experiments

We compared the sensitivity and specificity of recently proposed general dementia, vascular dementia, and Alzheimer's disease criteria using the DSM III-R as the 'gold standard' among 61 elderly African American patients. There were 10 patients with vascular dementia, 20 with Alzheimer's disease and 31 controls. Comparison of the sensitivity and specificity of the various criteria showed that with few exceptions, the results were similar. Additional studies of this kind among different populations, and among mild dementia patients, are needed to cross-validate the results.     

A flexible PC-based physiological monitor for animal experiments

We have developed a flexible physiological monitoring and analysis system for physiological studies in which data are obtained over extended periods. Our system uses low-cost personal computer hardware to concentrate data from existing multiple monitoring devices. All monitored parameters are displayed on a single screen and recorded in a single file. The system automates the process of physiological record keeping by providing continuous displays of vital signs. In addition, audible and visual alarms are produced when vital signs are outside of acceptable ranges, prompting the experimenter to take corrective actions. The central element of the system is a program running in a dedicated manner on an IBM PC-compatible computer. The program is written in the C language and makes use of a graphics library to display traces and analysis results in real time on any standard display for the PC. This program assigns the analog channels of an A/D board to particular physiological parameters by initially reading a configuration file, which also describes the alarm conditions and analysis routine for each parameter. All hardware specific code is isolated into well-defined modules. The program is both highly flexible with regard to different sets of parameters and highly portable for different experimental and computer environments.     

Revealing animal experiments in general psychology texts: Opening Pandora's box.

Comments on M. Domjan's and J. E. Purdy's (see record 1995-45383-001) study of leading introductory psychology textbooks. Their results indicate that with the exception of principles of conditioning and learning, the contributions of animal research to psychology were not explicitly acknowledged. The 3 remedies recommended by Domjan and Purdy to correct the inadequate portrayal of animal experiments in general psychology textbooks are discussed in terms of the questions and challenges they raise for teachers and students of general psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Volatile flavour of wine: correlation between instrumental analysis and sensory perception

The aroma of wine consists of 600 to 800 aroma compounds from which especially those, typical for the variety, are already present in the grapes. There are significant varietal differences between the aromagrams ('fingerprint patterns'). Thus the amount of some flavour compounds ('key substances') shows typical dependence on the variety. Especially monoterpene compounds play an important role in the differentiation of wine varieties. The German white wines can be differentiated into three groups only by quantitative determination of 12 monoterpenes ('terpene profile'). These groups are: 'Riesling type', 'Muscat type' and 'Silvaner-Weissburgunder type'. Such 'terpene profiles' are also useful for the separation of real Riesling wines from others called Riesling (e.g. Welschriesling, Kap Riesling, Emerald Riesling) but not produced from grapes of the variety Riesling. Including further components and by means of statistical methods (discriminant analysis) even the different varieties within the mentioned groups for instance the 'Riesling'-group (e.g. Riesling, Kerner, Ehrenfelser, Bacchus, Müller-Thurgau) can be separated from each other. An analytical characterization of the neutral ('Silvaner-type') grape varieties Silvaner, Rul?nder (Pinot gris), Weissburgunder (Pinot blanc) is also possible with about 20 compounds (e.g. monoterpenes, alcohols). Computing at the same time free and glycosidically bound aroma components (monoterpenes, alcohols, norisoprenes) in discriminant analysis the characterization of the neutral grape varieties can be considerably improved. To identify compounds causing 'off-flavours' sniffing technique is the method of choice. The off-flavour is pinpointed during gas chromatographic separation of the complex aroma mixture by effluent sniffing. Once allocated, the chemical nature of the off-flavours is elucidated by spectroscopic methods. Substances contributing to the green pepper taint, the strawberry note, moussiness, corkiness, etc. in wine could be found in this way.     

Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans infection (animal experiments)

During a certain period of the course of infection in white mice inoculated intraperitoneally with the pure culture of a proteolysing strain of Candida albicans, Staphylococcus aureus and C. albicans both, were isolated simultaneously from the peritoneal abscesses, especially those adhering to the stomach, duodenum, pancreas and the upper part of small intestine. This concommitant occurrence of the two pathogens was further corroborated by histopathological examination which revealed large number of staphylococci present in the close neighbourhood of Candida cells, usually in the center of the granulomata caused by the fungus. In view of the facts that the proteolytic end-products of C. albicans can offer a good substratum for the growth of S. aureus and the latter may be isolated from the intestinal tract of apparently healthy mice, possibly as a constituent of the transient microflora, the co-existence of these two important aetiologic agents of endogenous infections as encountered during this study appears to be of great clinical interest. Furthermore, these observations also demonstrate the importance of controlling the bacterial flora of mice for pure mycological studies.     

Original article (II): materials and methods

We experienced five patients with prostate cancer with disseminated intravascular coagulation syndrome (DIC) at the first presentation at Gunma University Hospital and affiliated institutions between 1991 and 1997. Their average age was 68 years, average DIC score at the first presentation was 10 and prostate specific antigen (PSA) level was more than 700 ng/ml. All of them had multiple bone metastases. The therapy for DIC and hormonal therapy for prostate cancer were simultaneously started at the first presentation before prostate needle biopsy, but all patients died. The average number of days from the start of DIC to death was 685 days. The patients initially showed a good response to therapy, but their conditions soon aggravated. The prognosis was extremely poor, but some proper therapies lead to the prognosis which was equal to that of prostate cancer in Stage D2 without DIC.     

Technical note: Application of the Box-Cox data transformation to animal science experiments

In the use of ANOVA for hypothesis testing in animal science experiments, the assumption of homogeneity of errors often is violated because of scale effects and the nature of the measurements. We demonstrate a method for transforming data so that the assumptions of ANOVA are met (or violated to a lesser degree) and apply it in analysis of data from a physiology experiment. Our study examined whether melatonin implantation would affect progesterone secretion in cycling pony mares. Overall treatment variances were greater in the melatonin-treated group, and several common transformation procedures failed. Application of the Box-Cox transformation algorithm reduced the heterogeneity of error and permitted the assumption of equal variance to be met.     

Cumulation NOx in foodstuffs and raw materials of animal origin

Using single and multislice functional MRI at high field strength (4 T) we studied cerebellar activation in 12 subjects making a series of alternating wrist flexion and extension movements against constant inertial loads. Three spatial patterns of activation were observed: (i) parasagittal bands of activity localized primarily in the ipsilateral intermediate and lateral zones of the cerebellar hemispheres, (ii) medio-lateral bands which in some subjects followed the contour of individual folia and (iii) fragmented regions of activation covering extensive areas of the cerebellum. Bilateral activation of the cerebellum was observed in all subjects with measurable activity. Mean statistically significant activation intensity ranged from 2.34 to 13.54% above baseline.     

Autonomic neuropathy: clinical and instrumental findings

A good staging system should be able to accurately reflect the natural history of a malignant disease, to express the extent of the disease at the time of diagnosis, and stratify patients in prognostically distinctive groups. The staging system for prostate cancer, as it is today, fails to fulfill these requirements. Approximately one third of the patients who undergo surgery for complete excision of prostate cancer in fact do not have a localize disease. The incidence of tumor at the inked margin may reach 30% for T1 stage and up to 60% for clinical T2b prostate cancer according to comparison with pathologic examination of resected specimen. Several concepts have been recently proposed as a means of improving the accuracy of the available staging system. In this paper, we review current aspects of clinical and pathological staging of prostate cancer, and the importance of these new concepts on the early stages of prostate cancer.