Two previous studies investigating double-stranded DNA titers in patients with familial Mediterranean fever uncovered conflicting results, in order to testify the reproducibility of the results revealed by one of these studies a high prevalence and correlation of double-stranded DNA antibodies with disease activity. We searched these antibodies using a commercially available enzyme immunoassay and also screened the fluorescent antinuclear antibodies by using substrate slides prepared with HEp-2 cell line to see whether there would exist any kind of antinuclear antibodies whatever. According to the cut-off value obtained by adding three standard deviations to the mean of healthy controls (n=36) there was not any statistically significant increase in double-stranded DNA values of patients with active disease (n=21). The percentage of fluorescent antinuclear antibodies in FMF group, healthy controls and lupus patients taken as positive controls (n=19) were 23.8%, 8.3%, 100%, respectively. The fluorescence intensity was extremely weak in negative controls and in FMF patients except one and could be defined as 'trace' when compared to that of lupus patients which was brightly luminescent. So, the prevalence of double-stranded DNA antibodies have not increased and there was not any significant difference between the percentage of fluorescent antibodies of FMF group and that of negative controls, although it appeared relatively high. This may be the result of female preponderance of our subjects, nonspecific binding of conjugate and subjective nature of assay deciding in borderline situations.

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The effects of acute and chronic treatment with morphine and stadol on the functional activity of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) system in the rat were studied by investigating their effects on the secretion of adrenocorticotrophin (ACTH) by the pituitary gland and corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) by the hypothalamus. Acute injection of morphine or stadol (3.5 mg/100 g body weight i. p.) caused a rise at 5 and 25 min followed by a fall at 90 and 120 min in the concentrations of ACTH in the plasma and adenohypophysis and in hypothalamic CRH content. It appears that, in the rat, the response of HPA system to acute morphine or stadol administration could change depending upon the time of courses. In addition chronic morphine or stadol administration (0.5 mg/100 g body weight i. p. daily) for a period of 7 days have little effect on plasma and adenohypophysis ACTH concentration and hypothalamic CRH content. This may indicate that drug tolerance might have developed. Conversely, repeated daily doses of morphine or stadol (2 mg/100 g body weight i. p.) for 7 days cause a significant lowering of plasma and pituitary ACTH concentrations and hypothalamic CRH content. These data suggest that the affect of both drugs is dose related. Overall, the present results are consistent with an increased release of pro-opiomelanocortin-derived peptides after acute morphine or stadol treatment for a short-term, and with a decreased release of these peptides in chronic treatment. However, the results indicate that morphine and stadol change HPA activity by acting on specific receptors in the hypothalamus and raise the possibility that opioid peptides and their receptors in the physiologically important in the control of the secretion of CRH.

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The series of investigations have been carried out on the effect of the entomopathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana on the various developmental stages of Phthorimaea operculella. Both first and second instar larvae were more susceptible than the third of fourth instars. The infected prepupae and pupae resulted in marked decreases in the emergence and longevity of moths, deposited eggs and their egg hatchability. An obvious increase in the pupal duration was observed and the resulting malformed adults were also recorded. The latent were markedly obvious, specially in high doses of B. bassiana.

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The distribution of aluminum within the sub-cellular fractions of rat liver was investigated. The majority of the aluminum was bound to nuclei and mitochondria. The aluminum content of nuclei and mitochondria was 5.2 and 4.9 g per gram protein respectively. Lysosomes, cytosol and microsomes contained 3.75, 1.12 and 0.86 g aluminum per gram protein, respectively. In the nuclei the majority of aluminum was in the non-DNA compartment of nucleoprotein and SDS-PAGE showed that histones could bind aluminum. The relationship between aluminum toxicity and neurological disorders in chronic renal failure maintained on hemodialysis has been discussed.

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From this review, it is very clear that vitamin A ingested as a provitamin (carotenoid) from vegetable food or as retinol palmitate from animal sources, can play a vital role in human nutriture. It is important for cell growth and cell differentiation, its deficiency leads to metaplasia of the respiratory, gastrointestinal and genitourinary tracts. An appreciable quantity of this vitamin in the diet is essential. It was observed that vitamin A in dehydrated foods is readily destroyed in the presence of oxygen, moisture, sunlight, mineral matter and temperature which lead to deficiency of vitamin A in the diet of most of the Asian populations. Therefore, an appropriate amount of vitamin A must be fortified to the staple diet according to the RDA level in order to avoid various serious complications in man, particularly among preschool children and pregnant women.

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Dentists and dental technicians are exposed to noise of various sound levels while working in dental offices or laboratories. The amount of noise that the dental practitioner is exposed to is over the limit of risk of hearing loss. The equipment used in laboratory environment emits characteristic noises that are potentially hazardous to the ear and may cause acoustic trauma. It also has some physiological and psychological undesirable effects on human beings. In this study, we evaluate the possibility of the hearing loss of 25 dental technicians working under these conditions. Their age ranged between 20-35. There are differences existing between the normal group and the technicians in the range of 125-8.000 Hz. hearing threshold. This difference is statistically significant (p<0.001).

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The effects of pre-anesthetic dose of ketamine (10 mg per kg) on acquisition of short-term memory in rats with damage of mesolimbic serotonergic system has been investigated. Chemical lesion of serotonergic neurons in the median raphe nucleus was performed by ibotenic acid. The rats injected ketamine (10 mg per kg i. p.) or vehicle (1 ml per kg i. p.) prior to learning were tested after changes in locomotor activity disappeared. Short-term memory was studied using a two compartment single trial passive avoidance chamber for 180 s. In rats with lesion of median raphe nucleus, the pre-anesthetic dose of ketamine produced a significant decrease reduction of acquisition latencies and percentage of animals without amnesia syndrome compared to naive and sham-operated animals-treated with ketamine. These result suggest that deficits in serotonin release of mesolimbic system attenuates amnesic effects of ketamine on short-term memory.

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Colles' fracture is a common type of injury. In order to improve hand, wrist and elbow functions appropriate rehabilitation program should be applied soon after the orthopedic intervention. In the present study, physical treatment was given to 55 patients with Colles' fracture. The treatment procedure consisted of physical exercise and paraffin application. We compared pretreatment and post-treatment degrees of flexion, extension, radial and ulnar deviation, supination and pronation of the wrist. We achieved satisfactory results following physical therapy of the wrist. Rehabilitation program is of utmost importance in Colles' fracture so it should be applied soon after the orthopedic manipulation.

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Most surgeons prefer the closed internal anal sphincterotomy for correction of chronic anal fissure. This operation however is quite difficult to perform using the standard scalpel. We therefore designed and built a new, sickle shaped incisive part of instrument to achieve this operation in a complete manner and with much less trauma to the surrounding tissues.
It is thought that using this new scalpel (BOSNIA SCALPEL) will make the procedure easier and reduce postoperative complications. The operation will at the same time be less time consuming and much safer.

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