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Notes: Summary The effects of low and high NaCl diets on plasma glucose and insulin responses to glucose ingestion were investigated in 15 patients with essential hypertension. Oral glucose (75 g) tolerance tests were carried out while patients were taking diets with low (2 g/day) and high (20 g/day) NaCl content. Fasting plasma glucose and insulin levels were both significantly lower during ingestion of the high NaCl diet (p〈0.05). After glucose ingestion, the incremental areas under the two hour plasma glucose and insulin curves were significantly smaller during ingestion of the high NaCl diet (glucosep〈0.005 and insulinp〈0.025). These findings that low NaCl diets increase the glycemic response to glucose loads suggest that use of NaCl restriction for the treatment of essential hypertension may not always be desirable.

Notes: Summary This study was undertaken to elucidate morphological changes in the synaptic area of the Purkinje cell dendritic spines when granule cells were decreased in number. The mice were injected s. c. with 30 mg/kg b. w. of cytosine arabinoside on days 2, 3, and 4, and on days 7, 8 and 9, and were designated as group I and group II, respectively. The mice injected with saline on days 2, 3, and 4 served as control. The cerebella of the mice in each group were examined by electron microscopy on days 30, 60, and 90. Using photographs thus obtained, the synaptic length and area of Purkinje cell dendritic spines which participated in synapses with axons of granule cells were measured by computer. In the controls, these spines did not increase significantly either in synaptic length or in spine area in the duration from 30 to 90 days after birth. In the 90-day-old mice belonging to group I and group II, however, they increased by about 20% in the synaptic length and by about 35% in the spine area as compared to those in age-matched control. The elongation and enlargement show that the synaptic surface on the spine spreads to compensate for synapses lost by reduction in number of granule cells in experimental groups.

Notes: Summary This study was undertaken to elucidate the relationship between the time of destruction of the external granular layer and subsequent cerebellar abnormalities. Mice were injected s. c. with 30 mg/kg body weight (b. wt.) of cytosine arabinoside on days 2, 3, and 4, on days, 4, 5, and 6, on days 7, 8, and 9, and on days 10, 11, and 12, and designated as group I, II, III, and IV, respectively. In group I, disarrangement of Purkinje cells and heterotopic granule cells in the molecular layer were observed on all lobes of cerebellum. Heterotopic granule cells were seen on all lobes in group II, whereas disarrangement of Purkinje cells was observed only in the region from the anterior to middle lobes. In group III, heterotopic granule cells were limited to the area from anterior to middle lobes, but there was no disarrangement of Purkinje cells. Group IV cerebellum did not show abnormal cytoarchitecture. Golgi-Cox studies showed abnormal arborization of Purkinje cells in each experimental group. They were arbitrarily classified into inverted Purkinje cells, lying Purkinje cells, T-shaped Purkinje cells, and poorly arborized Purkinje cells. The earlier the postnatal treatment the more severe were the abnormalities of Purkinje cell dendrite. According to the electron-microscopic study, some glomerular synaptic complexes, which are normally confined to the internal granular layer, were observed even in the molecular layer in groups I, II, and III. Some of the Purkinje cell dentritic spines did not make synapses with parallel fibers in any of the experimental groups. The results indicate that severity of abnormal arborization of Purkinje cells is dependent on the period of destruction of the external granular layer. Formation of heterotopic granule cells was dependent on the destruction of the external granular layer up to day 10 after birth.

Notes: Summary Chromosome analysis of lymphocytes in a phenotypically normal male with azoospermia showed a mosaicism 45,X/46,X,r(Y). Seven other cases from the literature are discussed.

Notes: Summary Clinical and cytogenetic studies are reported in two infants with a stable ring G chromosome. Identification of the abnormal chromosomes was performed by the G-banding and the Q-banding methods.

Notes: Summary a 22/22 Robertsonian translocation has been identified in a woman with recurrent abortions by a Giemsa banding technique. Cytogenetic studies of the embryonic tissue derived from one of her spontaneous abortions have demonstrated that the aborted fetus had a 46,XX,-22,+t(22q22q) karyotype.

Notes: Summary 1. Experiments were performed in cats anesthetized with nitrous oxide to study the effects of INC lesions on responses of vestibular nuclear neurons during sinusoidal rotations of the head in the vertical (pitch) plane. Responses of neurons in the INC region were recorded during pitch rotations at 0.15 Hz. A great majority of these neurons did not respond to static pitch tilts, and they seemed to respond either to anterior or to posterior semicircular canal inputs with a peak phase lag of 140 deg (re head acceleration). 2. Responses of vestibular nuclei neurons in intact cats were recorded during pitch rotations at the same frequency (0.15 Hz). Neurons that seemed to respond to vertical semicircular canal inputs showed peak phase lags of 90 deg relative to head acceleration, whereas neurons that responded to static pitch tilts showed peak phase shifts near 0 deg. These results indicate that responses of neurons in the INC region lag those of vestibular neurons by about 50 deg, suggesting that the former neurons possess a phase-lagging (i.e. integrated) vestibular signal. 3. Responses of vestibular neurons in cats that had received electrolytic lesions of bilateral INCs 1–2 weeks previously were recorded during pitch rotations at the same frequency (0.15 Hz). Neurons that presumably responded to vertical semicircular canal inputs showed a peak phase lag of 60 deg relative to head acceleration, a significant decrease of the phase lag compared to normal, whereas responses near 0 deg were unchanged. Gain values of individual cells also significantly dropped from 2.07 ± 0.67 spikes · s−1/deg · s−22 (mean ± SD; normal cats) to 1.27 ± 0.68 spikes · s−2/deg · s−2 (INC lesioned cats) at 0.15 Hz. When responses of vestibular neurons were studied during pitch rotations in the range of 0.044–0.49 Hz in these cats, a large decrease of the phase lag was observed at lower frequencies, whereas the slopes of phase lag curves of vestibular neurons in intact cats were rather flat. 4. Procaine infusion into the bilateral INCs not only resulted in a decrease of 20–50 deg in the phase lag in responses of vestibular neurons that had lagged head acceleration by 90–140 deg before procaine infusion, but also dropped the gain of the response to rotation by an average of 31%, whereas responses of neurons that had showed phase shifts near 0 deg were not influenced consistently. Simultaneous recording of the vestibular neurons and the vertical vestibuloocular reflex (VOR) indicated that the phase advance and gain drop of vestibular neurons occurred earlier than those of the VOR. These results exclude the possibility that the change in dynamic response of vestibular neurons after procaine infusion is due to depression of general brain stem activity that may lead to the phase advance of the VOR, and suggest that the decrease of the phase lag and gain drop in responses of the vestibular neurons was caused by removal of the phase-lagging, feedback signal coming from the INC to the vestibular nuclei.

Notes: Summary To study the neural basis for the regulation of vestibulocollic reflexes during voluntary head movements, the effects of stimulation of the precruciate cortex near the presylvian sulcus (neck area of the motor cortex) and the frontal eye fields (FEF) on vestibular neurons were studied in cerebellectomized cats anesthetized with α chloralose. Neurons were recorded in the medial and descending vestibular nuclei and antidromically identified from C1. Stimulation of the FEF and precruciate cortex fired 29 and 13% of neurons that did not exhibit spontaneous activity. About 80% of spontaneously discharging neurons were influenced by stimulation of either of the two. Stimulation of the precruciate cortex or FEF suppressed or facilitated labyrinthine evoked monosynaptic activation of vestibulospinal neurons, suggesting that the frontal cortical neurons have the properties to regulate the vestibulocollic reflexes.

Notes: Summary Interstitiospinal neurons were activated by antidromic stimulation of the spinal cord ventromedial funiculus at C1 and C4 in cerebellectomized cats under chlor alose anesthesia. Neurons responding only to C1 were classified as N cells and those responding both to C1 and C4 were classified as D cells, as in previous experiments (Fukushima et al. 1980a). Vestibular branching interstitiospinal and reticulospinal neurons were also identified as in the previous experiments. Stimulation of the ipsilateral pericruciate cortex evoked firing in 31% of N cells, 41% of D cells and 35% of vestibular branching neurons, while stimulation of the contralateral cortex excited 6% of N cells, 29% of D cells and 14% of vestibular branching neurons. Response latencies ranged from 2 to 15 ms after the effective pulse. By measuring the thresholds of activation of these neurons while changing the depth of the stimulating electrodes, and by mapping the cortical areas, it was shown that the lowest threshold areas were in the frontal eye fields and the anterior sigmoid gyrus near the presylvian sulcus (Area 6). Stimulation of the latter area often evoked neck or shoulder muscle contraction. Stimulation in the deep layers of the ipsilateral superior colliculus evoked firing in about 20% of interstitiospinal neurons and about 42% of vestibular branching neurons, with typical latencies 2–3 ms after the effective pulse, while stimulation of the contralateral superior colliculus was rarely effective. N cells and D cells responded similarly. Thresholds for activation were high in the intermediate tectal layers and declined as the electrodes entered the underlying tegmentum. This suggests that the superior colliculus is not the main source of synaptic inputs to these neurons. Low threshold points were found above the deep fiber layer when stimulating electrodes were inserted into the pretectum. Stimulation of the C2 biventer cervicis nerve excited about 8% of N cells, 18% of D cells, and 15% of vestibular branching neurons bilaterally with typical latencies around 10 ms. Similar results were obtained when C2 splenius nerves were stimulated. The fibers responsible for such excitation are probably group II, since stimuli stronger than 1.8 times threshold of the lowest threshold fibers were needed to evoke excitation. Response decrement was often observed when stimuli were repeated at 1/s, while no such decrement was observed at the rate of 1/3 s. When the convergence of cortical and labyrinthine excitatory inputs was studied, 36% of interstitiospinal neurons received single inputs either from the pericruciate cortex or from the labyrinth, 22% of neurons received convergent excitation from both and the remaining 42% did not respond to either stimulus. Although vestibular branching neurons rarely received labyrinthine inputs, they frequently showed convergence of excitation to stimulation of the frontal cortex, superior colliculus and vestibular nuclei.