The biotype and genetic characteristics of an isolate of the cowpox virus causing infection in a child

The study included 138 patients operated on for endo-extracellular pituitary adenomas which extend both intracranially and into the structures of the base of the skull. Operations via transcranial and transsphenoidal access to various tumor sites were performed in 38 patients (a main group), while 100 patients (a control group) underwent one of these operations. Two-stage operations, followed by removal of the suprasellar and basal regions of a tumor, are expedient for enhancing the efficiency of surgical treatment, reducing the incidence of complications associated with traumatic attempts at removing tumor parts hard-to-reach by transcranial or transsphenoidal approaches, as well as at reducing the number of relapses. At the first stage of surgical treatment it is advisable to make an intervention via transcranial access especially in cases of complex configuration of the suprasellar part of a tumor. The recommended interval between transcranial and transsphenoidal surgeries is 3-5 months. Two-stage surgical treatment does not lead to significant structural changes and to the increased number of complications, and to higher mortality rates as compared to one-stage surgery (transcranial or transsphenoidal surgeries alone).     

Determination of antioxidative potential of biological fluids by using semiconductor chemical sensors

A procedure has been developed for determining the concentrations of superoxide anion radical (SOAR) in aprotonic fluids by using semiconductor chemical sensors. SOAR life in pure solutions is 6.3 hours. Supplements of biological fluids (blood, urine, plasma) increase the rate of SOAR death. There is a great difference in the reaction rate of SOAR with biological fluids in apparently healthy and ill individuals. It is suggested that the above procedure opens vistas both for studies of vital activity and for diagnosis of abnormalities.     

A comparison of the efficiency of three anesthesia circle systems

To assess the sensitivity of standard echocardiography in detecting ventricular motion abnormalities in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) without prior myocardial infarction, 56 consecutive patients with a history of angina pectoris were studied during an angina-free period. In the 48 patients with adequate echocardiograms, the amplitude of septal and posterior wall motion in the high, mid, and low left ventricle was determined and used to predict prospectively in a blinded fashion the sites of angiographically-determined CAD. Twenty-eight of 35 patients (80%) with disease of the left anterior descending artery (LAD) had diminished interventricular septal motion (P less than 0.001) and 14 of 27 patients (52%) with disease of posterior vessels had diminished posterior wall motion on echocardiogram. When abnormalties of echocardiographic wall motion were compared with left ventriculography, the results were similar. Echocardiography may aid in predicting the presence and distribution of CAD, especially LAD disease.     

A comparative study of plasma 17beta-oestradiol, progesterone, placental lactogen and chorionic gonadotrophin in abortion induced with intra-amniotic prostaglandin F2alpha

Serial estimations were made in plasma of 17beta-oestradiol (E2), progesterone and human placental lactogen (HPL) in 43 patients and of human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) in 34 patients during mid-trimester abortions induced with intra-amniotic prostaglandin F2alpha (PGF2alpha. Mean plasma concentrations of all the hormones showed a progressive fall after PGF2alpha. There was no relationship between the fall in levels of progesterone, HPL and HCG and the induction-abortion interval, signs of fetal distress or of intrauterine fetal death. Both the control level and the rate of fall of E2 were related to the induction-abortion interval and a rapid decline preceded intrauterine fetal death. The relationships of the progesterone/E2 ratio and the amniotic fluid volume/progesterone ratio to the induction-abortion interval were examined. The variation in the time at which significant falls in the concentration of individual hormones occurred was probably related to their respective half-lives in plasma.     

Prevention of progressive myopia

Changes in sugars and polyols content of fruits and leaves of three cultivar of peach, from fruit set to over maturity, have been studied. Sucrose, glucose, fructose and sorbitol were found both in leaves and in fruits. In fruits, inositol and galactose were also found but only in traces. Redhaven fruits show the greatest total sugars content (sorbitol included) (866 mg/g.d.m.)followed in order by Favorita and Prodigiosa ones (771 and 694 mg/g.d.m.) For Redhaven and Favorita fruits, at harvest matuity, the sugar present in greatest amount was sucrose followed in order by glucose, fructose and sorbitol. On the contrary, in Prodigiosa fruits the order was sucrose, sorbitol, fructose and glucose. In the leaves of three cultivar, the compound present in the greatest amount was sorbitol followed by sucrose, glucose and fructose. The sucrose decrease in leaves during fruit growth could confirm that the disaccharide is the main sugar transported from the leaves to the fruits.