Spectral analysis of thioacetamide-induced electroencephalographic changes in rats.

Thioacetamide (TAA) is widely used as a model of hepatic encephalopathy (HE). The aim of our study was to investigate the effects of TAA on electroencephalographic (EEG) changes in rats and to compare them with human HE. Male Wistar rats were divided into groups: (1) saline-treated group and (2) TAA-treated groups: TAA(300) (300 mg/kg), TAA(600) (600 mg/kg), and TAA(900) (900 mg/kg). Daily dose of TAA (300 mg/kg) was administered intraperitoneally once (TAA(300)), twice (TAA(600)), or thrice (TAA(900)) in subsequent days. EEG changes were recorded about 24 h after the last dose of TAA. Absolute and relative power density in alpha bands were significantly higher in TAA(300) versus control group. In TAA(300), absolute beta power density was higher and relative beta power density was lower versus control group. Absolute alpha, theta, delta, and relative theta power were significantly lower, while relative power in delta band was significantly higher in TAA(900) versus control group (p < 0.01). In conclusion, decrease in EEG voltage with an increase in delta relative power, which correspond to the EEG manifestations of severe HE in humans, was observed in TAA(900) group. Electrical activity in TAA(300) group correlates with mild HE in humans.

Dose enhancement effect of anticaner drugs associated with increased temperature in vitro.

AIM: To evaluate in vitro the influence of elevated temperature (42 degrees C for 60 min) on the action of anticancer drugs doxorubicin, vinorelbine, carboplatin, ifosfamide, etoposide, oxaliplatin, docetaxel and gemcitabine. METHODS: HeLa tumor cell cultures, 24h after seeding, were incubated for 60 min with different concentrations of chemotherapeutical drugs at a temperature of 37 degrees C or 42 degrees C. 48 h later the number of viable cells in the flasks were counted using trypan-blue exclusion on a hemacytometer. RESULTS: Hyperthermia alone caused only 10-20% growth inhibition of cell culture. All the chemotherapeutic drugs used demonstrated a dose enhancement effect at elevated temperature. Thermal enhancement ratio for cell proliferation for oxaliplatin, vinorelbine, carboplatin and ifosfamide exceeded 4, for doxorubicin and gemcitabine exceeded 2. Thermal enhancement ratio for cell death did not exceed 1.4. CONCLUSION: Synergism of hyperthermia and chemotherapeutical drugs was clearly demonstrated for oxaliplatin, vinorelbine, carboplatin, ifosfamide and to a lesser extent for doxorubicin and gemcitabine. Enhancement of the cytostatic effect of anticancer drugs by hyperthermia was more prominent than their cytotoxic effect.

[Role of adjuvant chemotherapy in the treatment of medulloblastoma in children]. / Rol' ad"iuvantnoi khimioterapii v lechenii medulloblastomy u detei.

A retrospective review was carried out to evaluate the results of treatment (1989-1998) of 81 children, aged under 15, with primary medulloblastoma. Thirty-three patients received surgery and postoperative craniospinal radiotherapy; 48--adjuvant chemotherapy (VCR 1.5 mg/m2, i.v., 1 day; CCNU 75 mg/m2, per os, 1 day; cisplatin 80 mg/m2 or carboplatin 400 mg/m2, i.v., 1 day). Overall 9-year survival was 37 +/- 0.8%. This index in the adjuvant chemotherapy group was 59 +/- 0.8%, without chemotherapy--22 +/- 0.8%.

A response to Nicholas F. Skinner's "The Hess, et al. study of pupillary activity in heterosexual and homosexual males: a re-evaluation".

Specific aspects of the original study, its replicability and the soundness of the methodology in appreciating individual differences are commented on.

Induction of parental behavior in Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica).

The Japanese quail is a precocial species, and because of its relatively rapid development, sexual maturation in about 40 days after hatching, and prolific breeding capacity, it promises to become an organism well suited for avian research. One stumbling block has been the inability to induce, with any consistency, parental behavior in laboratory stocks. The study reported herein demonstrates a method for establishing a self-perpetuating population under seminaturalistic conditions. In addition, given the limitions of finite space, chick mortality appears to have been mostly density dependent, thus indicating that the increase in the size of the population is circumscribed in part by population density.