Seasonality and growth in tropical freshwater ectotherm vertebrates: Results from 1-year experimentation in the African gray bichir, giraffe catfish, and the West African mud turtle.

Growth in ectotherm vertebrates is strongly rhythmed by seasonal variation in environmental parameters. To track the seasonal variation in ancient times in a continental and tropical context, we aim to develop a method based on the use of the growth rate of fossil ectotherm vertebrates (actinopterygians and chelonians) influenced by seasonal environmental fluctuations they experienced in their lifetime. However, the impact of environmental parameters on growth, positive or negative, and its intensity, depends on the taxa considered, and data are scarce for tropical species.

[Medical practices and expectations of general practitioners in relation to hepatitis C virus infection in the Auvergne region].

Aims: To determine the medical practices and expectations of general practitioners concerning screening and management of hepatitis C in the Auvergne region.

Methods: A survey was sent by mail to 250 general practitioners. They were then contacted by telephone interviews.

Role of non-parenchymal liver cells in ischaemia-reperfusion liver injury: protective effects of muramyl dipeptide.

It has been suggested that non-parenchymal liver cells play a central role after ischaemia and reperfusion of the liver. Male Lewis rats were subjected to 90 min of warm liver ischaemia. Four groups were constituted: group 1, no treatment; group 2, muramyl dipeptide treatment, activation of Kupffer cells; group 3, dextran sulphate injection, Kupffer cell blockade; and group 4, gadolinium chloride administration, Kupffer cell blockade.

Sedimentation rate and serum thymidine kinase activity: prognostic factors in squamous cell head and neck cancer.

Identification of prognostic factors in squamous cell head and neck cancers involves analysis of highly diverse clinical and biological parameters. This study analyzed the prognostic value of clinical variables (age, sex, tumor site, stage) and biologic parameters (squamous cell carcinoma antigen [SCC], serum thymidine kinase activity [TK], fibrin, sedimentation rate [SR]) at the time of diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (oral cavity, oropharynx, hypopharynx) in 189 patients. Among the clinical variables investigated, UICC stage III-IV disease (p < .

Cholescintigraphic study of effect of somatostatin analog, octreotide, on bile secretion and gallbladder emptying in normal subjects.

The objective of the study was to investigate the effects of a single intravenous injection of the somatostatin analog octreotide on hepatic bile secretion and gallbladder emptying with a quantitative scintigraphic technique. Twelve healthy volunteers received, in a double-blind randomized fashion, either octreotide, 100 micrograms intravenously, or placebo. Ten minutes later, [99mTc]PBIDA was administered intravenously (50 microCi/kg) (time = 0) followed, 60 min later, by the ingestion of a standardized fatty meal.

Role of nonparenchymal liver cells in guinea pig to rat hepatic xenotransplantation.

This work was undertaken to investigate the role of nonparenchymal liver cells in a discordant model of hepatic xenografting. Three experimental groups were established: in group 1 guinea pig to Lew rat liver xenotransplantations were performed; in group 2 both donor and recipient were treated with dextran sulfate, a known inhibitor of the reticuloendothelial system phagocytic function; in group 3 both donor and recipient were injected with muramyl dipeptide, a synthetic immunomodulator stimulating the monocyte/macrophage axis. Survival time was assessed and xenoantibody titers 30 min before and after the intervention, Kupffer cell activity 30 min after transplantation, histology and immunoglobulin and complement deposits of the grafted liver were evaluated too.

[Evaluation of the "squamous cell carcinoma antigen" as marker of epidermoid cancer of the anal canal].

The authors studied the value of Squamous Cell Carcinoma Antigen (SCC) in squamous carcinoma of the anal canal in 66 patients. Assays were made at the time of diagnosis, before any treatment and during follow-up. A total of 353 assays were made.

Prognostic value of total cathepsin D in breast tumors. A possible role in selection of chemoresistant patients.

Evaluation of prognostic factors for breast cancers is important for therapeutic decisions both at the time of surgery and during postoperative surveillance. In 1979, H. Rochefort described an induced protein with a molecular weight of 52,000 Daltons identified as procathepsin D.

Assessment of "squamous cell carcinoma antigen" (SCC) as a marker of epidermoid carcinoma of the anal canal.

We measured squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC) in epidermoid carcinoma of the anal canal in 66 patients. Samples were taken at diagnosis, before treatment, and during follow-up; 353 samples were analyzed. The positive threshold was taken as 2 ng/ml.

Protective effects of prostaglandin E1 on normothermic liver ischemia.

Effects of treatment with prostaglandin E1 (PgE1) on normothermic liver ischemia were studied in male Lewis rats. Animals were subjected to 90 min of warm liver ischemia. Two groups of rats were constituted: group A (no treatment) and group B (PgE1 treatment).

[Should systematic bone scintigraphy be carried out on breast cancer patients with small tumors?].

Bone metastases are frequent in the evolution of breast cancer. Bone scan is the best method for early detection. At initial presentation the frequency of bone metastases is low, and it is usefulness to recommend this exam except for old people or patients with risks factors.

[Specificity and indications of bone scan in non-neoplastic bone and joint disease in children. A study of seventy cases].

We studied 70 bone scans in pediatric patients to define the indications of this procedure in non-neoplastic disease. Sensitivity of bone scans in infections proved outstanding except in children under one year of age. Eighty-nine per cent of children with pain and fever and a positive bone scan had either an infection or osteochondritis.

[Value of urinary time in bone scintigraphy in the evaluation of renal function. Apropos of 57 cases of cancer of the prostate].

Intravenous urography (IVU) and bone scintiscan imaging (BSI) are essential investigations during initial evaluation of prostate cancer. A study compared data provided by these two exploratory procedures in evaluation of renal function. Concordance was high (86%) between IVU and urinary images during BSI.

[Effects of chromocarb diethylamine and prednisolone in experimental uveitis induced by clove oil in rabbits].

Clove oil injection in the anterior chamber of the rabbit eye produces an uveitis and a disruption of the blood-ocular barrier which can be evaluated by the leakage of 125I-radiolabelled rabbit serum albumin (RSA) administered intravenously. In the normal rabbit eye the amount of RSA in the aqueous humor is quite small. The disruption of the blood-ocular barrier by clove oil injection increases the RSA level in the anterior chamber of the eye.

[Dyspnea with hypoxemia in a case of cirrhosis with portal hypertension].

Following insertion of a Leveen's valve after surgical portocaval anastomosis, a male patient with alcoholic cirrhosis developed dyspnoea with hypoxaemia. An interstitial syndrome was present in the lower lobes. Other findings were: polycythaemia (Hb 20 g/100 ml), subnormal spirometric values, decrease in CO transfer capacity, normal pulmonary compliance, absence of intracardiac shunt and pulmonary arterial hypertension and absence of bronchial or alveolar lesions on a surgical lung biopsy.

[Changes in free and total thyroid hormones and reverse T3 in adult male rats during fasting].

The serum levels of thyroid hormones (T3, F.T3, RT3, T4 and F.T4), cholesterol and triglycerides were measured in a population of adult male rats subjected to experimental fasting.

Labelled dyes, a new 125I-indomonocarbocyanine and 125I-BSP, in the exploration of experimental cholestasis and steatosis in the rat.

A new dye, an indomonocarbocyanine labelled with radioactive iodine, was studied in normal rats and in rats with experimental diseases. After i.v.

Radioimmunoassay of serum thyroglobulin. Technique and clinical results.

A radioimmunoassay technique using a double antibody procedure for human serum thyroglobulin (HTg) is described. Only antigen labeling with iodine-125 is performed extemporaneously, the other reagents being purchased commercially. Quality criteria were: sensitivity (2 microgram/l), interassay reproducibility (coefficient of variance, C.

[Comparative study of ultrasonography and scintigraphy in liver metastases detection (author's transl)].

The sensitivity and specificity of ultrasonography and scintigraphy for detecting the presence of liver metastases were compared in 250 patients with cancer. In the 80 cases with metastases, the sensitivity of ultrasonography was 95%, that of scintigraphy being 75%. In 170 cases without metastases the specificity of ultrasonography was 96%, that of scintigraphy being 92%.