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.     

Antigenic activity of angiotensin II and its fragments

The antigenic activity of angiotensin and its seven fragments has been studied in cross-reaction with specific antibodies, elicited to angiotensin and its fragments: C-terminal hexapeptide and middle tetrapeptide. It has been found that all the fragments studied possess certain affinity for antibodies elicited to angiotensin, C-terminal hexapeptide and middle tetrapeptide. The middle tetrapeptide was identified to be the immunologically active centre of the angiotensin molecule.     

羧基化改性煤的离子交换性能

对马来酸酐改性制成的长焰煤加合物的阳离子交换性进行研究,并同氧化煤和工业吸附剂作了对比,表明其亲质子基团的解离范围宽(pK3.6～6.5)。从水溶液中吸附多价金属阳离子的能力取决于阳离子交换剂的表面性质:该加合物对Cr、Fe、Pb的吸附活性高于КБ-4阳离子树脂。     

Urinary excretion of vanilmandelic acid in the glossalgia syndrome

Under observation there were 78 patients aged 41 to 70 years suffering from the glossalgia syndrome, as well as 25 clinically healthy subjects. An activation of the sympathoadrenal system was revealed in the patients. This was ascertained on the basis of the data on vanillylmandelic acid excretion with the urine. The excretion of that acid is known to be dependent on the intensity of the paraesthesias, the duration of the ailment and the character of concurrent visceral diseases. The results obtained are regarded as evidences of the participation of the vegetative nervous system in the mechanism of the glossalgia syndrome development.     

Strategic questions for consumer-based health communications

Using the consumer-oriented approach of social and commercial marketers, this article presents a process for crafting messages designed to improve people's health behaviors. The process, termed consumer-based health communications (CHC), transforms scientific recommendations into message strategies that are relevant to the consumer. The core of CHC is consumer research conducted to understand the consumer's reality, and thereby allowing six strategic questions to be answered. The immediate result of the CHC process is a strategy statement--a few pages that lay out who the target consumer is, what action should be taken, what to promise and how to make the promise credible, how and when to reach him or her, and what image to convey. The strategy statement then guides the execution of all communication efforts, be they public relations, mass media, direct marketing, media advocacy, or interpersonal influence. It identifies the most important "levers" for contact with the consumer. Everyone from creative specialists through management and program personnel can use the strategy statement as a touchstone to guide and judge the effectiveness of their efforts. The article provides a step by step illustration of the CHC process using the 5 A Day campaign as an example.     

A quantitative evaluation of the glycogen content of the hepatocytes from different lobular ares of the normal human liver and in chronic hepatitides of different etiologies

Investigation of glycogen function in hepatocytes of different liver lobule zones is particularly important in understanding glycogen metabolism in humans and animals in norm and pathology. The present study was done to investigate glycogen contents in hepatocytes of different lobule zones of human liver in norm, and in patients with chronic hepatitis of viral or alcohol etiology. Quantitative analysis of glycogen content in hepatocytes of portal and central lobule zones was conducted on slices of human liver (the material of series live punctional biopsies) stained using a quantitative variant of PAS-reaction (Kudryavtseva et al., 1970, 1974). The measurements were done by image analyzer , which allows to make jointly cytophotometric analysis of substance in cells and definition of cell localization in tissue. The results showed clear differences of glycogen contents in different lobule zones in normal liver and in liver during chronic viral and alcohol hepatitis. Glycogen contents in hepatocytes of portal lobule zone were significantly higher than in the central lobule zone in patients with chronic viral hepatitis. Opposite data were obtained in patients with chronic alcohol hepatitis. Significantly higher glycogen contents were found in hepatocytes of the central liver lobule zone. Possible mechanisms of such a phenomenon are discussed . Thus, if glycogen contents in hepatocytes may be taken as an indicator of liver chronic damage degree (as has been shown elsewhere: Kudryavtseva, 1987; Kudryavtseva et al., 1988) the pattern of distribution of hepatocytes with different glycogen content in the liver lobule can be used as an indicator of etiology of chronic hepatitis. The obtained data seem to be important and actual, particularly for diagnostic of subclinical and symptomless forms of these diseases. Further investigation is required to find out reasons and mechanisms of this phenomenon.