Pre-sowing magnetic treatments of tomato seeds increase the growth and yield of plants.

The effects of pre-sowing magnetic treatments on growth and yield of tomato (cv Campbell-28) were investigated under field conditions. Tomato seeds were exposed to full-wave rectified sinusoidal non-uniform magnetic fields (MFs) induced by an electromagnet at 100 mT (rms) for 10 min and at 170 mT (rms) for 3 min. Non-treated seeds were considered as controls. Plants were grown in experimental plots (30.2 m(2)) and were cultivated according to standard agricultural practices. During the vegetative and generative growth stages, samples were collected at regular intervals for growth rate analyses, and the resistance of plants to geminivirus and early blight was evaluated. At physiological maturity, the plants were harvested from each plot and the yield and yield parameters were determined. In the vegetative stage, the treatments led to a significant increase in leaf area, leaf dry weight, and specific leaf area (SLA) per plant. Also, the leaf, stem, and root relative growth rates of plants derived from magnetically treated seeds were greater than those shown by the control plants. In the generative stage, leaf area per plant and relative growth rates of fruits from plants from magnetically exposed seeds were greater than those of the control plant fruits. At fruit maturity stage, all magnetic treatments increased significantly (P < .05) the mean fruit weight, the fruit yield per plant, the fruit yield per area, and the equatorial diameter of fruits in comparison with the controls. At the end of the experiment, total dry matter was significantly higher for plants from magnetically treated seeds than that of the controls. A significant delay in the appearance of first symptoms of geminivirus and early blight and a reduced infection rate of early blight were observed in the plants from exposed seeds to MFs. Pre-sowing magnetic treatments would enhance the growth and yield of tomato crop.

Design and tests of a portable mini gamma camera.

Design optimization, manufacturing, and tests, both laboratory and clinical, of a portable gamma camera for medical applications are presented. This camera, based on a continuous scintillation crystal and a position-sensitive photomultiplier tube, has an intrinsic spatial resolution of approximately 2 mm, an energy resolution of 13% at 140 keV, and linearities of 0.28 mm (absolute) and 0.15 mm (differential), with a useful field of view of 4.6 cm diameter. Our camera can image small organs with high efficiency and so it can address the demand for devices of specific clinical applications like thyroid and sentinel node scintigraphy as well as scintimammography and radio-guided surgery. The main advantages of the gamma camera with respect to those previously reported in the literature are high portability, low cost, and weight (2 kg), with no significant loss of sensitivity and spatial resolution. All the electronic components are packed inside the minigamma camera, and no external electronic devices are required. The camera is only connected through the universal serial bus port to a portable personal computer (PC), where a specific software allows to control both the camera parameters and the measuring process, by displaying on the PC the acquired image on "real time." In this article, we present the camera and describe the procedures that have led us to choose its configuration. Laboratory and clinical tests are presented together with diagnostic capabilities of the gamma camera.

[Oat-cell carcinoma of the tongue: report of a case]. / Carcinoma microcítico de lengua. A propósito de un caso.

We present a case of oat cell carcinoma of tongue in a 76 year old man with a squamous carcinoma of lung.

Synthesis and structure-activity relationships of a new model of arylpiperazines. 5. Study of the physicochemical influence of the pharmacophore on 5-HT(1a)/alpha(1)-adrenergic receptor affinity: synthesis of a new derivative with mixed 5-HT(1a)/d(2) antagonist properties.

In this paper we have designed and synthesized a test series of 32 amide arylpiperazine derivatives VI in order to gain insight into the physicochemical influence of the pharmacophores of 5-HT(1A) and alpha(1)-adrenergic receptors. The training set was designed applying a fractional factorial design using six physicochemical descriptors. The amide moiety is a bicyclohydantoin or a diketopiperazine (X = -(CH(2))(3)-, -(CH(2))(4)-; m = 0, 1), the spacer length is 3 or 4 methylene units, which are the optimum values for both receptors, and the aromatic substituent R occupies the ortho- or meta-position and has been selected from a database of 387 substituents using the EDISFAR program. The 5-HT(1A) and alpha(1)-adrenergic receptor binding affinities of synthesized compounds VI (1-32) have been determined. This data set has been used to derive classical quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR) and neural networks models for both receptors (following paper). A comparison of these models gives information for the design of the new ligand EF-7412 (46) (5-HT(1A): K(i) = 27 nM; alpha(1): K(i) > 1000 nM). This derivative displays affinity for the dopamine D(2) receptor (K(i) = 22 nM) and is selective versus all other receptors examined (5-HT(2A), 5-HT(3), 5-HT(4) and Bz; K(i) > 1000 nM). EF-7412 (46) acts as an antagonist in vivo in pre- and postsynaptic 5-HT(1A) receptor sites and as an antagonist in the dopamine D(2) receptor. Thus, EF-7412 (46) is a derivative with mixed 5-HT(1A)/D(2) antagonist properties and this derivative could be useful as a pharmacological tool.

First pharmacophoric hypothesis for 5-HT7 antagonism.

In order to make the first contribution to the elucidation of essential structural features for 5-HT7 antagonism, a set of thirty 5-HT7 antagonists were selected from the literature. A pharmacophore model was built using Molecular Modeling studies with Catalyst program. The information contained in this model was validated with new synthesized compounds.

Alendronate induces antinociception in mice, not related with its effects in bone.

The antinociceptive effect of alendronate was studied. The bisphosphonate was i.p. administered and two tests were carried out: acetic acid in mice and formalin test in rats. In the acetic acid test, alendronate induced a dose-dependent antinociceptive effect that was statistically significant for the doses of 10, 20 and 40 mg/kg, and could be detected 48 hr after its administration. In the formalin test, however, alendronate, at the doses of 10 and 20 mg/kg, did not modify the pain score nor the number of flinches, when it was administered either 30 or 60 min before the test. However it must be noted that doses inducing analgesic effect are close to those inducing toxicity.

[Prediction factors for lymph node involvement in carcinoma of the larynx]. / Factores de predicción de la invasión ganglionar en el carcinoma de laringe.

A series of 60 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx who underwent surgery of the primary tumor and elective bilateral neck dissection were reviewed to determine the importance of certain clinical and pathological features as risk factors for lymph node metastasis. Tumor location, extension to the vallecula and to the pyriform sinus, T stage, histological grade, palpable lymph nodes, laryngeal motility, and macroscopic aspects were studied. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that T stage, tumor location, and palpable lymph nodes were the most important predictors of lymph node metastases.

[Correlation of lymph node status with survival in cancer of the larynx]. / Correlación del estado ganglionar con la supervivencia en el cáncer de laringe.

A histopathological study of regional lymph nodes was made in 50 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx in order to evaluate their prognostic significance for survival. Factors related with poor prognosis were presence and number of lymph node metastases and capsule rupture. The presence and grade of sinus histiocytosis was related with survival. In multivariate analysis, the presence of five or more metastatic nodes had an independent influence on survival.

[Biological markers of alcohol abuse in patients with carcinoma of the larynx]. / Marcadores biológicos del alcohol en pacientes con carcinoma de laringe.

In a total of 85 patients with laryngeal carcinoma, four markers of alcohol abuse were analyzed. The Ggt and VCM were disturbed. We found no correlation between tumor location, lymph node metastases, T stage, and histological grade.

Synthesis and structure-activity relationships of a new model of arylpiperazines. 3.1 2-[omega-(4-arylpiperazin-1-yl)alkyl]perhydropyrrolo- [1,2-c]imidazoles and -perhydroimidazo[1,5-a]pyridines: study of the influence of the terminal amide fragment on 5-HT1A affinity/selectivity.

A series of new arylpiperazine derivatives 2, which are devoid of the terminal amide fragment present in related 5-HT1A ligands, was prepared and evaluated for affinity at 5-HT1A and alpha 1 receptors. All the compounds 2 demonstrated high affinity for the 5-HT1A receptor and moderate affinity for alpha 1 receptor binding sites. Structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies suggest that there is influence of electronic factors on the no-pharmacophoric part of the alpha 1 receptor site. However there is no influence of electronic interactions on the stabilization of the 5-HT1A receptor-ligand complex.

[Analysis of 1,000 hysterectomies. Technical simplifications and reflections. ISSSTE hospitals]. / Análisis de 1,000 histerectomías. Simplificaciones técnicas y reflexiones. Hospitales del ISSSTE.

1,000 hysterectomies are reported by the author in a space of 20 years in four hospitals of ISSSTE. Some clinic-pathological parameters were analyzed, morbi-mortality, etc. The obtained results are informed using a simplification on the surgical techniques. The most frequent symptoms were menstrual disorders, and the most frequent diagnosis was myomatosis with (61.2%) average age between 35-45 years old. All were total hysterectomies, intrafascial 92.6% and abdominal 74.8%. Attention is called upon the fact that 7.2% of the patients presented pelvic congestion post tubaric occlusion and the association of adenomyosis. The overall morbidity was 12.2% being urosepsis the most frequent. Mortality was in one case of giant interligamentary myoma and DIC. Blood transfusion was needed just in 4.2%. We think that the surgical simplification here announced offer more safety, less morbidity, less bleeding and brief surgical time. More over, a critical analysis was made about use and abuse of this kind of surgical intervention.

Lethal paralytic shellfish poisoning in Guatemala.

An outbreak of paralytic shellfish poisoning occurred in Champerico, on the Pacific coast of Guatemala, July-August 1987. Of 187 people affected with characteristic neurologic symptoms, 26 died. A case study implicated a species of clam, Amphichaena kindermani, harvested from local beaches as the vehicle of the neurotoxins (saxitoxins). Children less than 6 years old had a higher fatality rate (50%) than people greater than 18 years of age (7%). The minimum lethal dose for 1 child was estimated to have been 140 mouse units of toxin/kg body weight; thus children may be more sensitive to the saxitoxins than are adults. This is the first large outbreak of paralytic shellfish poisoning recognized in Guatemala.

Fecal contamination of shanty town toddlers in households with non-corralled poultry, Lima, Peru.

We used direct observer techniques to measure the frequency with which toddler-aged children were contaminated by poultry feces in homes in a peri-urban shanty town in Lima, Peru. The mean number of fowl was 5.4 (SD 3.1), with 10.0 (SD 10.7) poultry defecations per 12 hours. Toddlers' hand contact with poultry feces occurred a mean of 2.9 (SD 3.0) times/12 hours. A mean of 3.9 (SD 4.6) feces-to-mouth episodes per household/12 hours occurred both by direct hand-to-mouth contamination and indirectly by handling soiled objects which were then placed in the mouth. There was a strong correlation between feces-to-hand contamination and feces-to-mouth contamination (r = 0.94). There was also an association between feces-to-mouth contamination and the number of stools deposited in the house (r = 0.66). For each additional chicken stool deposited during the day, there was an average increase of 0.27 in feces-to-mouth episodes. We collected feces from 68 infected chickens and found viable Campylobacter jejuni for up to 48 hours after deposition. Yet, a survey of 108 families demonstrated that free-roaming poultry were often not thought of as a health risk for children. An intervention program to reduce oral-fecal contamination should emphasize that all poultry be corralled and not allowed access into the house.