Iron superoxide dismutase protects against chilling damage in the cyanobacterium synechococcus species PCC7942.

A strain of Synechococcus sp. PCC7942 lacking functional Fe superoxide dismutase (SOD), designated sodB-, was characterized by its growth rate, photosynthetic pigments, inhibition of photosynthetic electron transport activity, and total SOD activity at 0 degrees C, 10 degrees C, 17 degrees C, and 27 degrees C in moderate light. At 27 degrees C, the sodB- and wild-type strains had similar growth rates, chlorophyll and carotenoid contents, and cyclic photosynthetic electron transport activity.

Hot-water epilepsy in an adult: ictal EEG, MRI and SPECT features.

Reflex epilepsy constitutes a rare form of epileptic seizures. We observed a 20-year-old man who presented with seizures induced by immersion in hot water. The trigger stimulus was specific.

[Value of X-ray computed tomography of the brain in controlled carotid surgery].

The usefulness of computerized tomography (CT) in elective carotid surgery was evaluated in a prospective study of 402 patients who had a surgical operation on one or two atheromatous arteries and were explored by pre and post-operative CT of the brain. Pre-operative CT scans revealed an ischaemic lesion in 22 per cent of asymptomatic patients and in 29 per cent of patients who had experienced a transient ischaemic accident. Abnormal pre-operative CT scans were associated with a statistically significant increase in per-operative electroencephalographic changes, but there was no significant increase in post-operative neurological complications.

[Unilateral paralysis of saccades caused by pontine tuberculoma].

A unilateral lesion of the paramedian pontine reticular formation results in an ipsilateral laterality paralysis with abolition of all saccadic movements directed to the side of the lesion. It is generally accepted that the oculocephalic reflex alone enables the eyes to be deviated beyond the median line of the affected side. In the present case of a paramedian pontine tuberculoma, a paralysis of laterality in accordance with the above mentioned opinion was observed initially.