An unusual presentation of Trichophyton violaceum infection

Red cell and haemoglobin values in 44 women with a typical picutre of anorexia nervosa showed that 20.5% presented a picture of true anaemia. Blood iron was low, sometimes very low, with a mean value of 66 mg 0/0. Clotting parameters: PTT, TT, PT, circulating platelets and TEG were normal. This finding serves to explain the low incidence of haemorrhage and the ready haemostasis noted in this disease, in spite of the considerable food deficit.     

Distortions in infant electrocardiograms caused by inadequate high-frequency response

Frank lead ECG's from infants were studied for frequency content by introducing low-pass filters of 50, 75, 100, and 150 150 Hz bandwidths before obtaining computer measurements. Results indicated that a minimum bandwidth of 100 Hz is required to avoid amplitude error of 10 per cent or greater. This bandwidth requierement is essentially the same as that required for adult ECG's despite the fact that infant QRS durations are usually about half those of adults. Although the average infant ECG spectrum is likely to contain higher frequencies than the average adult ECG spectrum, duration values for Q, R, and S waves overlap in these populations to such an extent that bandwidth requirements are practically identical.     

Bases of surgical treatment of bilateral suppurative processes in the lungs

In dogs subjected to gravitational overloadings (+Gx) according to a special training schedule the wall structure of the main arteries (carotid, humeral, femoral and aorta) was studied by histological methods. The amount of catecholamines (adrenaline and noradrenaline) in the venous blood plasma and in the adrenal tissue was the index of the sympathoadrenal system condition. It was demonstrated that in trained animals the tolerance threshold to continuously increasing overloadings (+Gx) rose. It was accompanied by an elevated amount of catecholamines in blood and the adrenals In the walls of the main arteries studied a moderate hyperelastosis and a slight collagenization of the adventitia was noted. All parts of the microcirculatory bed were moderately dilated, which favoured a better blood outflow. The data obtained demonstrate adaptational changes, which can be interpreted as indices of training and reliability of the organism.     

Medial calcinosis of M?nckeberg. A review of the problem and a description of a patient with involvement of peripheral, visceral and coronary arteries

Massive medial calcific deposits (M?nckeberg's calcinosis) are described in the peripheral and visceral arteries, and similar but small-sized deposits in the coronary arteries of a 41 year old woman with diabetes mellitus. Although observed by roentgenogram fairly commonly during life in the muscular arteries of the legs in middle-aged men, medial calcinosis infrequently involves the visceral arteries and has never, to our knowledge, been documented in the coronary arteries. Although it may be associated with intimal atherosclerosis, medial calcinosis, per se, does not obstruct the lumens of the arteries and, therefore, does not lead to symptoms or signs of limb or organ ischemia. The cause of medial calcinosis remains a mystery, but it appears to affect people with diabetes more frequently than those without.     

Punctate pressure sensitivity: effects of skin temperature

The dependence on skin temperature of tactile sensitivity to punctiform (hair) stimulation of the finger tip came under study in five subjects. Their data show that punctate sensitivity is relatively stable over a wide range of thermal environments. On the average, some elevation of touch threshold occurred at a skin temperature of 20 degrees C (i.e., about 10 degree below normal), but severe loss of sensitivity first occurred at 10 degrees C. A small but possibly insignificant loss appeared at skin temperatures of 40 and 43 degrees C. The relatively stable behavior of the punctate threshold between about 20 and 40 degrees C contrasts with that of the vibrotactile threshold, which, at least for high frequencies, depends strongly on the skin temperature.     

Lymphocytes' cytotoxicity towards cells of human lymphoblastoid lines in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus

A research study and discussion of antiinterferon immunoglobulin in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus, and its possible value in the treatment of allergic diseases, autoimmune diseases and other diseases where it is presumed there may be an autoimmune genesis.     

Hematopoiesis in dogs irradiated with protons in lethal doses with screening of the bone marrow]

The paper presents the results of a 6-year investigation of hemopoiesis of dogs which were exposed to double irradiations (with a 1.5-month interval) with protons at a dose of 350 rad when different parts of the body (head, chest, abdomen, pelvis) were shielded. Throughout the entire period the dogs showed moderate leucopenia and by the end of the investigation insignificant anemia. The dogs irradiated with shielded abdomen displayed disturbances in bone marrow hemopoiesis, whereas other dogs exhibited relative, although transient, normalization. All the dogs showed a significant decrease of erythropoiesis and a relative stability of leucopoiesis as well as a significant elevation of the number of reticulocytes, monocytes and plasmocytes 5.5 year after irradiation.     

NMR studies of caldesmon-calmodulin interactions

The binding of the calcium-regulatory protein calmodulin (CaM) to caldesmon (CaD) contributes to the regulation of smooth muscle contraction. Two regions of caldesmon have been identified as putative calmodulin-binding domains. We have earlier reported on the binding of one of these domains to calmodulin (Zhang & Vogel (1994) Biochemistry 33, 1163-1171). Here we have studied the binding of CaM to synthetic peptides of CaD which contain: (1) both the first and second CaM-binding domains; (2) the second CaM-binding domain; and (3) the sequence between the first and second CaM-binding domains. Two-dimensional transferred nuclear Overhauser enhancement proton NMR measurements as well as circular dichroism studies of a 22-residue peptide NKETAGLKVGVSSRINEWLTK, which contains the second CaM-binding domain, show that only the C-terminal half of the peptide becomes alpha-helical upon binding to CaM. Somewhat surprisingly, the shorter 9-residue peptide SRINEWLTK was sufficient to form a 1:1 complex with CaM; this peptide appears to bind as a 3(10)-helix. Proton-carbon-13 correlation NMR titration studies with specifically labeled [methyl-13C]methionine CaM were used to study the participation of the hydrophobic regions in both domains of the dumbbell shaped CaM in peptide binding. Binding of a 54-residue CaD peptide containing both CaM-binding domains affects all the 8 Met residues in the two hydrophobic domains of CaM (only Met 76 in the linker region of CaM is not involved), while binding of the second CaM-binding domain of CaD influences principally Met 51, 71, and Met 124, 144. Simultaneous binding to CaM of two peptides comprising the first and the second CaM-binding domains also caused changes to all Met residues except Met 76. Taken together, these data demonstrate that both CaM-binding domains of CaD can bind simultaneously to the two hydrophobic regions of CaM.