Chlorophenoxyacid herbicides induce microsomal cytochrome P-450 IVA1 (P-452) in rat liver.

Induction of the cytochrome P-450 mixed-function oxidase and specifically the cytochrome P-450 IVA1 isoenzyme by seven phenoxyacid herbicides in rat liver have been studied. Liver microsomes from rats orally treated with the herbicides at 3 dose levels showed a significant increase in total cytochrome P-450 content with 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T) being the most potent inducer. Benzphetamine N-demethylation, as a marker of cytochrome P-450b (P-450 IIB1) activity, was not affected by any of the herbicides studied, whereas cytochrome P-450c (P-450 IA1), as assayed by ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylation activity, was significantly increased (up to 2.

[Sonographic imaging of the mobility of the tongue in the newborn infant with cleft jaw and palate].

In newborn with cleft lip and palate malformation real time ultrasound examinations of the position and volubility of the tongue were performed. By comparative studies before and after putting in an orthopaedic appliance, the function and effectivity of this prosthesis can be demonstrated.

Long latency EMG responses in hand and leg muscles: cerebellar disorders.

Electromyographic responses to stretches of hand muscles (first dorsal interosseus) and leg muscles (triceps surae, tibialis anterior) were investigated in patients with cerebellar disorders of different locations. Stimuli consisted of short dorsiflexions of the index finger during background force and in tilting (toe up) of a movable platform on which the subject stood. The most important findings were increased long latency responses in upper and lower extremities.

Medium and long latency EMG responses in leg muscles: Parkinson's disease.

Short, medium, and long latency EMG responses to muscle stretch from triceps surae and anterior tibialis muscles were recorded in normals and in 33 patients with Parkinson's disease. The latencies of all EMG responses except short latency were normal in patients with Parkinson's disease. The integrals of the medium latency responses in the stretched triceps surae muscle were significantly increased in patients.

Role of visual and static vestibular influences on dynamic posture control.

Postural stabilization in altered visual and vestibular conditions was investigated in humans subjected to fast transient disturbances and during sinusoidal movement of the standing support. Visual inputs were varied by applying stroboscopic illumination, stabilizing the visual surround in respect to head movements, inducing apparent body movement in pitch by continuously moving stripe patterns up or down and by eye closure. Static vestibular input was modified by bending the head forwards or backwards, or to the right or left shoulder (eyes closed).

Development of postural control in children: short-, medium-, and long latency EMG responses of leg muscles after perturbation of stance.

Short (SL), medium (ML), and long (LL) latency EMG responses of leg muscles were recorded after perturbation of stance by means of a sudden toe-up tilt of a movable platform. 56 healthy children varying in age between 14 months and 15 years were investigated. All three responses were present when children were able to stand on the recording platform.

Characteristic alterations of long-loop "reflexes" in patients with Friedreich's disease and late atrophy of the cerebellar anterior lobe.

Sudden tilting of a platform around the axis of the human ankle joint causes a regular pattern of short and medium latency EMG responses in the stretched triceps surae muscle and a long latency response in its antagonist, the anterior tibial muscle. This paper reports alterations of these EMG responses in 41 patients with cerebellar lesions. Patients with anterior lobe atrophy exhibited normal latencies of all EMG responses, but an increase in duration and amplitude of the long latency response.

The significance of delayed long-loop responses to ankle displacement for the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.

The present study compares the results of sensory evoked potentials after stimulation of the tibial nerve with measurements of short (M1), medium (M2) and long-loop latency (M3) responses of leg muscles in 42 patients suffering from multiple sclerosis. EMG responses were elicited by a movable platform which was tilted in pitch toe-up around the subject's ankle joint. The short latency response of the triceps surae muscle was nearly always normal in latency.

Quantification of postural sway in normals and patients with cerebellar diseases.

Posturography was performed in 41 patients with cerebellar diseases by means of a force measuring platform using an on-line computer program which calculated sway path, sway area, antero-posterior and lateral sway components and the amount of visual stabilization. Postural ataxia was quantitatively studied in 8 patients with spinal ataxia (Friedreich's), 6 patients with vestibulocerebellar lesions, 11 patients with anterior lobe atrophy, 7 patients with hemispheral cerebellar lesions, and 9 patients with a disease affecting all parts of the cerebellum. Patients with lesions of the cerebellar hemispheres could not be separated from normals by means of posturography.

Improvement of ataxia in alcoholic cerebellar atrophy through alcohol abstinence.

Postural instability was measured and short, medium and long latency EMG responses to angular displacement of the ankle were recorded from leg muscles in a group of 17 alcoholics who presented with clinical signs of cerebellar atrophy of the anterior lobe. Recordings were performed twice (average interval 18.5 months) to determine the effects of continued drinking versus abstinence on the signs of the cerebellar damage.

Early stabilization of human posture after a sudden disturbance: influence of rate and amplitude of displacement.

The functional role of short-, medium- and long-latency responses for the maintenance of upright posture was investigated in twenty healthy subjects standing on a platform which could be rotated in pitch around the subject's ankle joints. Tilting the platform toe-up evokes a stretch reflex in the triceps surae muscle (TS, latency 55-65 ms) and at higher speeds and amplitudes of platform displacement a medium-latency response (latency 108-123 ms). Both responses functionally destabilize posture, since they enforce the induced backward displacement of the body.

A new method for the simulation of electric fields, generated by electric fish, and their distorsions by objects.

Among the many species of fishes endowed with electric organs Mormyriformes and Gymnotoidei are known to emit and receive electric signals for the purposes of intraspecific communication and recognition of objects. Models which have been proposed for this electro-sensory system generally assume steady-state conditions. On the other hand, the very character of the signals itself and the idea that the cerebellum might be working as a clock point to the importance of the signal dynamics.

Mechanisms of postural ataxia after intake of alcohol.

The effect of an acute intoxication with alcohol on the stability of stance was examined in 12 healthy subjects. They drank 11 of wine within 1 h. The resulting blood alcohol concentrations ranged between 0.