Umbilical endometriosis associated with large umbilical hernia. Case report.

Umbilical endometriosis is a rare condition, usually following laparoscopic and surgical procedures involving the umbilicus.Spontaneous umbilical endometriosis occurring without any previous abdominal or uterine surgery is extremely rare. The maximal depth of penetration of the umbilical endometriosis described is up to fascial level. There have been only two cases of endometriosis reported arising within umbilical hernia. The authors report a case of a patient with spontaneous umbilical endometriosis associated with a large umbilical hernia, treated by surgical excision and mesh repair of the abdominal wall. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first described case of the association of umbilical endometriosis with a large umbilical hernia that requires prosthetic mesh repair of the abdominal wall defect.

[Sense organs on palps and fore tarsi of gamasid mites (Parasitiformes, Rhinonyssidae), parasites of the nasal cavity of the great tit, the rock dove, and the Eurasian coot].

The main sensory organs (the palpal organ and the tarsal sensory complex) were examined by scanning electron microscopy method in parasites of the nasal cavity of the great tit Parus major (Ptilonyssus sairae, Ptilonyssus pari), the rock dove Columba livia (Mesonyssus melloi), and the Eurasian coot Fulica atra (Rallinyssus caudistigmus). It was shown that differences in the topography of sensilla within the tarsal complex correspond to the taxonomic relations between species and genera, whereas differences in the structure of the palpal organ are not associated with the taxonomy and, probably, reflect ecological peculiarities of parasitism.

Fluorescence properties of native and photooxidised proteinase K: the X-ray model in the region of the two tryptophans.

The fluorescence properties of proteinase K are described and related to the X-ray model refined at 1.48 A resolution. Upon excitation of proteinase K at 295 nm the fluorescence is determined by the two tryptophan residues, Trp-8 and Trp-212. The tryptophans are partly buried just below the surface of the molecule. Neither Trp is in a highly hydrophobic environment, suggesting that this cannot be the explanation for the fluorescence at 330 nm: formation of exiplexes with adjacent peptide bonds would seem to be the more likely cause. Trp-8 is located in a 'cavity', close to an internal cluster of water molecules. The contribution of Trp-8 to the total indole emission is 60% and that of Trp-212 is 40%. The tryptophan fluorescence quantum yield is constant in the pH range 3-9. The fluorescence spectrum resulting from the simultaneous excitation of the tyrosyl and tryptophyl residues at 280 nm is dominated by the indole fluorophores: 61% of the light absorbed by the tyrosyl side chains is transferred to the two indole rings. Iodide and caesium are not efficient quenchers of the proteinase K tryptophan fluorescence, which is explained by restricted access of the ions to the somewhat buried Trp side chains and by electrostatic repulsion of caesium ions. Acrylamide quenching proceeds via both a dynamic and a static process and the data show homogeneity of the indole fluorescence arising from fluorophores in similar environments. The activation energy for the thermal deactivation of the excited tryptophans is 54 kJ mol-1. This value is substantially higher than those found for other proteinases from microorganisms and arises from the thermostability of proteinase K. Photooxidation of proteinase K in the presence of proflavine follows the kinetics of a first order reaction. The two tryptophans differ in their photoreactivity, Trp-212 being considerably more reactive.

Comparative characterization of the substrate-binding subsites in subtilisins DY and Carlsberg by fluorescence and kinetic studies.

Peptide chloromethanes with the general formula dansyl-(Ala)n-Phe-CH2Cl where n = 0, 1, 2, 3 and dansyl fluoride were used to investigate the substrate-binding sites A and B in subtilisins DY and Carlsberg. Kinetic evidence for the introduction of the dansyl group at the subsites S2, S3, S4 and S5 were obtained. Fluorescence experiments showed that the micro-environment of these subsites is quite apolar. However, some differences in their accessibility to external reagents can be revealed in fluorescence quenching experiments. Efficient singlet-singlet radiationless energy transfer from the single Trp 113 to the dansyl group selectively bound at the respective subsites was observed and intramolecular distances between the chromophores were determined. The values calculated for the pairs Trp 113 plus Dns at S2, Trp 113 plus Dns at S4 and Trp 113 plus Dns at S5 are practically identical (1.7-2.0 nm) for the two enzymes. Conclusions on the shape of the substrate-binding sites in subtilisins DY and Carlsberg are drawn. The mutual spatial orientation of the donor (Trp 113) and acceptor (Dns at Sn) dipoles is also elucidated.

Physical scales in the Wigner-Boltzmann equation.

The Wigner-Boltzmann equation provides the Wigner single particle theory with interactions with bosonic degrees of freedom associated with harmonic oscillators, such as phonons in solids. Quantum evolution is an interplay of two transport modes, corresponding to the common coherent particle-potential processes, or to the decoherence causing scattering due to the oscillators. Which evolution mode will dominate depends on the scales of the involved physical quantities. A dimensionless formulation of the Wigner-Boltzmann equation is obtained, where these scales appear as dimensionless strength parameters. A notion called scaling theorem is derived, linking the strength parameters to the coupling with the oscillators. It is shown that an increase of this coupling is equivalent to a reduction of both the strength of the electric potential, and the coherence length. Secondly, the existence of classes of physically different, but mathematically equivalent setups of the Wigner-Boltzmann evolution is demonstrated.

[Effect of specific vaccinal antigens and preparations on general resistance in growing experimental and domestic animals]. / Prouchvane vliianieto na niakoi spetsifichni vaksinalni antigeni i preparati vurkhu obshtata ustoichivost u opitni i domashni podrastvashti zhivotni.

Studied was the effect of some viral and bacterial antigens as well as of a preparation obtained by Filatov's method (modified by the author) on the general resistance in growing laboratory and domestic animals. It was found that in infantile albino mice the best protection against challenge with Escherichia coli and Pasteurella avicida was provided through the treatment with a biostimulator and a killed culture of a strongly proteolytic, unidentified strain of the 'T3' bacterium. The vaccines against Newcastle disease, hog cholera+erysipelas, and anthrax were shown to have a weaker action. It was also established that the treatment of fattening calves and sucking pigs with a biostimulator raised the general resistance of animals. This was demonstrated with the higher resistance to diseases caused by occasionally pathogenic organisms, the better general state, and the higher weight gain. Sucking pigs treated twice with a biostimulator at an interval of twelve days showed 13.27 per cent lower mortality rate as compared with the controls.

[Bacterial intestinal microflora of patients with a constipation syndrome]. / Prouchvane na bakterialnata chrevna mikroflora pri bolni s konstipatsionen sindrom (KS).

The authors studied the bacterial intestinal microflora (BIMF) according to Henel method in 28 patients with constipation syndrome. The following was found: --Normal ratio of BIMF in one patient; --Reduced percentage participation of anaerobic lactobacteria in 18 patients; --Increased number of Escherichia coli in 3 patients; --Proteus was over 100 000 in 1.0 feces in 6 patients or in 27 out of 28 patients dysbiosis was found. The authors explained the disturbances of the normal BIMF with the retention of feces in the large intestine, providing conditions for mass bacterial proliferation.

[Sources of cattle infection with atypical mycobacteria and the frequency of their isolation from healthy slaughter animals in Cienfuegos Province, Cuba]. / Iztochnitsi za infektirane na govedata s atipichni mikobakterii i chestota na izoliraneto im ot zaklani zdravi zhivotni v provintsiia Sienfuegus v Kuba.

Studied were a total of 322 samples of water, feed, and grass vegetation with soil from a region where there were records of unspecific tuberculin reactions with cattle. Investigations were also carried out on viscera and lymph nodes of 120 slaughtered cattle. It was found that the atypical acid-fast mycobacteria were widely spread in some regions of Cuba: 42.5% were found in grass samples, 37.5%--in soil samples, 35.0%--in water ones, and 9.6% in feed samples. Atypical mycobacteria were isolated in 35.0% of the cases with internal organs and lymph nodes of slaughtered healthy animals. Established were as many as ten species of such bacteria, prevailing being M. aquae B, M. aquae A, M. smegmatis, and M. phlei. Suggested is the preparation of an allergen from selected strains of atypical mycobacteria to carry out differential tuberculin tests where suspected tuberculin reactions were recorded in the practice.

[Effect of fenitrothion (Agria-1050) and phosalone (Agria-1060) on the immunological reactivity of sheep]. / Vliianie na fenitrotiona (Agria-1050) i fozalona (Agria-1060) vurkhu imunologichnata reaktivnost na ovtse.

Studied was the effect of the preparations phenitrothion (Agria-1050) and phosalon (Agria-1060) on the immunologic reactivity of sheep through following up the phenomena of agglutination and phagocytosis at the injection of a Salm. gallinarum antigen. An unknown property of these preparations was established, consisting in the stimulation of some defense immunobiologic processes in the body of animals, at their application in minimum doses per os, simultaneously with the injection of a bacterial antigen. Phenitrothion applied orally to sheep at the rate of 50 mg per kg body mass daily, seven times in the course of sixty days, with the injection of a suspension of a killed Salmonella gallinarum culture (containing 10(7) microbial cells per 1 cm3-3 cm3 i/v, and 5 cm3 four days later, s/c per animal) stimulated agglutinin production, increasing it from 9 to 17 times; it raised the phagocytic number by 2.5 to 3 times, and the phagocytic index--by 1.7 to 2.14 times. With control animals the increase was 3-4, 1.4-1.5, and 1.10-1.19 times, respectively. Phosalon applied to sheep in following the same pattern at the rate of 13 mg per kg body mass led to a rise of the agglutinintiter from 22 to 26 times; the phagocytic number was raised by 2.6 to 4.3 times, and the phagocytic index--by 1.6-2.3 times.

[Role of atypical mycobacteria in the occurrence of nonspecific tuberculin reactions in cattle]. / Roliata na niakoi atipichni mikobakterii za poiava na nespetsifichni tuberkulinovi reaktsii pri govedata.

Bacteriologic investigations were carried out with a total of 295 cattle of the Holstein-Zebu breed that responded positively to tuberculin. Mycobacterium bovis was isolated from 66 animals, and 12 species of atypical mycobacteria were isolated from 94 animals. Parallel studies were comparatively made of the intradermal reaction test and the bacterial findings. Three groups of calves were infected with various atypical mycobacteria, and their response was followed up with the use of the avian and the bovine type of tuberculin on the 100 th day of infection. It was found that the unspecific tuberculin response of cattle in Cuba were not uncommon, and the best proportion of such reactions were shown to be due to the involvement of atypical mycobacteria. The investigated cattle with a positive response to bovine tuberculin at a single intradermal test were harbouring M. bovis in 66 cases (22.3 per cent), atypical mycobacteria in 94 cases (32.1 per cent), and Actinomyces bovis in 7 cases (2.3 per cent). In 128 of the cases (43.3 per cent) both the morphologic and the bacteriologic findings were negative. The cases with a stronger response at the single intradermal tuberculin test in which the skin fold enlarged over 6.5 mm corresponded to a larger extent to the actual specific infection in the animals than to an infection caused by atypical mycobacteria, however, this could not be absolutely stated for all animals. Following a muscular as well as an oral infection of calves with atypical mycobacteria the allergic response was enhanced from the 40 th up to the 100 th day, the positive reaction to avian tuberculin becoming stronger than to bovine tuberculin.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[Experimental studies of the changes in the wall of the large intestine and in the parenchymatous organs in stasis of the large intestine]. / Eksperimentalni prouchvaniia vurkhu promenite v debelochrevnata stena i v parenkhimnite organi pri zasto56I V DEBELOTO CHERVO.

The authors carried out experimental studies on 23 dogs to examine changes, which occurred in the wall of the anastomosed ileum and the large intestine as well as in some organs after performing traversed anastomoses. The results were evaluated on the basis of clinico-experimental observations, on the changes in laboratory indices (complete blood picture, proteinogram, ionogram, blood urea and cholesterol), in microflora and in bioelectrical, activity. They examined ionic absorption in the large intestine excluded from the passage. An analysis was made on the pathologo-histological finding in the colon, anastomised ileum, liver and spleen, kidneys, heart, pancreas. The authors come to conclusions, useful to the physicians performing large intestine surgery.

[Effect of tuberculin and levamisole on the immune response after vaccinating calves against para-influenza and Salmonella infections]. / Vliianie na tuberkulina i levamizola vurkhu imunniia otgovor pri vaktsinatsiia na teleta sreshtu parainfluenchna i salmonelna infektsiia.

Studied was the effect of tuberculin and levamizole on the immune response following vaccination of calves against parainfluenza and Salmonella infections. It was found that in calves that had colostrum antibodies against parainfluenza the immunogenic stimulation with the two agents first led to a drop of the total protein and of the antibody titer of the blood serum; in later periods the antibody titer grew severalfold. The stimulation with tuberculin and levamizole in the case of Salmonella infection substantiated more abrupt humoral immune response as against the case of animals that were not stimulated. More effective was the stimulation when lemvamizole was applied on the 7th day following vaccination. It was established that both tuberculin and levamizole stimulated the phagocytic activity of the blood of calves vaccinated against a parainfluenza virus and did not influence essentially the same activity in calves vaccinated against Salmonella infection. The amount of erythrocyte-rosette forming cells (E-POK) also remained visibly unchanged by the effect of tuberculin and levamizole with the use of the two vaccines.

Long-term low-dose cyclosporine therapy for severe psoriasis: effects on renal function and structure.

BACKGROUND: The effectiveness of cyclosporine in the treatment of severe psoriasis is well known. OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the efficacy and toxicity of systemic cyclosporine in patients with severe psoriasis, observing short-term (12 weeks) and long-term (3 to 5 years) effects. METHODS: To further elucidate efficacy and safety, 42 patients with severe psoriasis were treated initially with cyclosporine 5 to 6 mg/kg per day for 12 weeks. A subset of 14 patients continued maintenance treatment for 3.5 years to study the long-term effects of cyclosporine on renal function and structure. Renal biopsies were performed after 2.5 years and 3.5 years of treatment. Renal histologic findings were correlated with renal function. RESULTS: By weeks 8 and 12, 64% (n = 27) and 86% (n = 36) of patients, respectively, were rated clear or almost clear of the psoriasis. However, a subpopulation of 15 patients did not respond to 5 mg/kg daily but improved when the dose was increased to 6 mg/kg daily. Clearance or near clearance was achieved in 67% of this subpopulation after 4 weeks. For the 29 patients whose glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was measured, mean GFR fell by 7% from baseline to week 4 (p < 0.05). This change was reversible when dosage was reduced by 1 mg/kg per day in each of these patients. Patients older than 45 years of age experienced significant elevation of mean diastolic blood pressure and had reduced GFR and increased serum creatinine. After 2.5 years, of the 14 patients who continued maintenance treatment, two had biopsy specimens that showed moderate interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy. The remainder showed only minimal to mild structural damage. After 3.5 years of cyclosporine treatment, repeat renal biopsy specimens revealed slight increases in structural changes in nine subjects. These changes correlated with increasing age and drug-induced hypertension. CONCLUSION: We conclude that 5 mg/kg of cyclosporine daily is usually an effective initial dose for psoriasis. Patients who do not respond will often benefit from elevation of the dose to 6 mg/kg daily. Older patients experience cyclosporine-induced hypertension and changes in renal function and structure more frequently than do younger patients.