Extreme pyrexia

Twenty-eight cases of extreme pyrexia seen in a five-year period were analyzed retrospectively. All of the patients had temperatures between 41.1 C (106 F) and 42.2 C (108 F) with a mean maximum temperature of 41.4 C (106.6 F). Infection, thermoregulatory defects, or a combination thereof accounted for fever in these patients. There was little evidence of direct tissue damage caused by fever, and standard therapy with aspirin or acetaminophen, vigorous surface cooling, and volume expansion was generally sucessful. Mortality could be related to the extreme pyrexia in only 7% (2) but an additional 21% (6) of these patients later died from serious underlying diseases.     

Binding of thiopental to plasma proteins: effects on distribution in the brain and heart

Thiopental-14C (30 mg and 10 muCi/kg) was injected intravenously into rats 36-48 hours following bilateral nephrectomy and one minute after pretreatment with sulfadimethoxine (30 mg/kg, iv). Control groups of normal and sham-operated animals were used. The distributions of radioactivity in plasma, brain, and heart 1, 5, and 30 minutes after injection were examined. Uremic and sulfonamide-pretreated rats showed significantly higher levels of 14C in brain and heart and more free thiopental in plasma at each time than did control animals. There was a significant correlation between the free thiopental in plasma and total drug concentrations in the brain and heart. Uremic rats bound less thiopental in plasma compared with controls in spite of normal total plasma protein and albumin concentrations. It is concluded that reduced protein binding of thiopental leads to accelerated distribution and increased drug concentrations in the brain and and heart.     

Performance of solid alkaline fuel cells employing anion-exchange membranes

For the performances of solid alkaline fuel cells (SAFCs) using anion-exchange membranes (AEMs), anion-exchange membranes were prepared via chloromethylation and amination of polysulfone and membrane-electrode assemblies (MEAs) were fabricated using the AEMs as an electrolyte, the ionomer binder prepared by the AEMs and Pt/C and Ag/C electrocatalysts as an anode and a cathode, respectively. Anion-exchange membranes were aminated by a mixing amine agent of trimethylamine (TMA) as a monoamine and various diamines such as N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylmethanediamine (TMMDA), N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylethylenediamine (TMEDA), N,N,N′,N′-tetramethyl-1,3-propandiamine (TMPDA), N,N,N′,N′-tetramethyl-1,4-butanediamine (TMBDA) and N,N,N′,N′-tetramethyl-1,6-hexanediamine (TMHDA). Amination using various diamines enabled to investigate the effect of the length of alkyl chain of the diamines on membrane properties such as ion conductivity and thermal characteristics. The AEMs aminated by the amination agent of mixing TMA and TMHDA (with longer alkyl chain) showed better hydroxyl ion conductivity and thermal stability than those aminated by a diamine. The H₂/air SAFC performance of the MEA with 0.5 mg cm⁻² Pt/C at the anode and the cathode, respectively, was comparable to one with 0.5 mg cm⁻² Pt/C at the anode and 2.0 mg cm⁻² Ag/C at the cathode, i.e., approximately 28–30 mW cm⁻² of the peak power density range.     

Allelopathic effects ofPinus densiflora on undergrowth of red pine forest

Correlation between the distributional frequency of undergrowth species of red pine forest and their germination and growth effected by pine extracts and leachates was found. It was made clear by germination and growth tests that pine toxic substances inhibit the germination and growth of low frequency species more than high frequency species in a red pine forest and that these substances are contained in descending concentration in fresh and fallen leaves, roots, pine forest soil, and pine rain. The concentration of pine toxic substances in extracts or leachates was affected by extracting or leaching within a given period of time, requiring a few hours for extracts or a few days for leachates. The amount of dry weight inhibition of the undergrowth treated by pine leachates was expressed as a growth inhibition index (GII) for the comparison of tolerance in various species. GII is a relative value (%) of the test groups against the control and it is an exponential function of the amount of pine toxic substances affecting the dry weight of the undergrowth. The substances were analyzed by paper and gas chromatography. Benzoic acid and 11 phenolic acids were identifed by gas chromatography. Benzoic acid was considered to be a key factor of allelopathy in the red pine forest.     

Sustained, synchronous oscillations in discharge of sustaining fibers of crayfish optic nerve

1. The regularity of the sustaining fiber (SF) steady-state discharge increases with the intensity of a uniform field of illumination. 2. In a high levels of illumination SFs exhibit a highly periodic or rhythmically bursting steady-state discharge. 3. The period of the burst cycle is independent of the light intensity and the mean firing rate. 4. Multimodal interspike-interval histograms in which successive modes decline exponentially suggest that the discharge arises from a regular input. 5. In conditions of uniform illumination, the regular input must be common to all or several SFs since the period of the burst cycle of simultaneously monitored SFs are the same and cross-correlations indicate that the SFs burst in approximate synchrony. 6. It is proposed that the common, regular input is a network of presynaptic elements exhibiting recurrent lateral inhibition. Evidence supporting this hypothesis is that following a brief light pulse to the inhibitory surround, SFs exhibit cycles of silence and bursting, phase-locked to the stimulus but with a period equal to the steady-state burst-cycle period. 7. Furthermore, lateral inhibitory influences are common to several or all SFs as indicated by the close similarity in response time course of two SFs subjected to a common inhibitory stimulus. 8. The response of the lateral pathways to sinusoidally modulated illumination is highly selective to frequencies near the burst-repetition rate. The excitatory pathways exhibit frequency modulation or entrainment over a wide range of input frequencies. 9. The intersustaining burst cycle phase is under partial visual stimulus control (position and intensity) and the possibility of phase coding in the SF ensemble is discussed.     

Uptake and metabolism of nicotine by the isolated perfused rabbit lung

In order to investigate the possibility of pulmonary first-pass metabolism of nicotine inhaled in tobacco smoke, the absorption and disposition of 14C-nicotine were studied in an isolated perfused rabbit lung preparation after nicotine administration directly into the perfusing blood and tobacco smoke administration via in the inspired tracheal air. After administration into the perfusing medium, the rate of nicotine metabolism was first-order and dose-independent at the two doses studies (0.1 and 1.0 mg) but lung metabolic clearance was quite low (3 ml/min) relative to whole body clearance (140 ml/min) measured by administering 14C-nicotine to intact rabbits. Accumulation of nicotine by lung was not extensive (13-23% of the dose administered). After administration of tobacco smoke from 14C-nicotine-spiked cigarettes, absorption of nicotine was rapid but the rate of metabolism was markedly reduced compared to the studies in which drug was administered in the perfusing medium. This reduction in the rate of metabolism was apparently caused by some component of tobacco smoke but was shown to be unrelated to the level of carbon monoxide in the perfusate. The slow clearance of nicotine by rabbit lung (which is further reduced after smoke administration) compared to a high pulmonary blood flow rate makes unlikely the possibility of significant first-pass lung metabolism in smokers.