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Local skin blood flow (LSBF) using the Walker's deep burn rat model was studied on the first three postburn days using the carbon-14 iodoantipyrine ([ 14 C]IAP) perfusion method. The radioactive [ I4 C]IAP (12.5 μCi) was infused through the femoral vein over a period of 30 seconds and the blood samples were collected by a free flow from the femoral artery at 5-s intervals to evaluate the concentration of the isotope, in the blood. At the conclusion of the infusion, the rats were guillotined and biopsies were obtained from the burned skin, unburned skin from burned rats and skin from sham control rats to assay the isotope in the skin. The LSBF was calculated from the skin tissue and plasma radioactivity data using Jay's equation. The results showed significant decreases of the skin blood flow in the deep burn wound with 4.05 ± 1.16, 5.31 ± 1.32 and 4.77 ± 2.48 ml/100 g/min as compared to the LSBF of unburned skin 10.27 ± 1.49, 12.39 ± 2.05, 14.79 ± 1.85 ml/100 g/min on postburn days 1, 2 and 3 (P < 0.05). The blood flow of the control group skin was 11.5 ± 1.97 ml/100 g/min (P < 0.05). There were also significant differences of LSBF among burn wounds on postburn days 1, 2 and 3 (P < 0.05). Pathological study of the deep burn wound showed that more of the blood flow was in the subcutaneous adjacent areolar tissue, than in the deep reticular dermis, and only a little occurred in the upper reticular dermis occasionally. These results provide a reproducible model to study burn depth by determining LSBF in a deep burn wound.

In order to study the role of calmodulin (CaM) in the cell cycle, RC 3 cells carring the CaM expression vectors which was constructed by joining the CaM cDNA with a plasmid of mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV), were used in this experiment. The CaM expression vectors transcription is regulated by a dexamethasone (DXM) inducible MMTV LTR promoter. Upon addition of DXM, cells have transiently increased CaM mRNA and protein levels. Increased CaM caused a acceleration of proliferation. Flow cytometric analysis showed that progression though G1, G2 and metaphase was accelerated by increase in CaM levels, while treatment with the CaM antagonist trifluoperazine (TFP) blocked cell cycle progression at G1/S boundary and during G2/M and metaphase. The studies have shown that CaM is important in controlling progression at three points in the cell cycle: (1) The G1/S boundary to permit the initiation of DNA synthesis; (2) The G2/M boundary to permit the initiation of mitosis; (3) At the metaphase/anaphase transition of mitosis to permit chromosome segration and the completion of mitosis. This study indicates that the RC 3 cell is a useful experimental cell model for studing the effect of a transient increase of intracellular CaM levels on control of cell cycle.

Quantitative analysis of (l)-ephedrine (l-Ep) and (d)-pseudoephedrine (d-Ps) in plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is described. The newly developed method is based on a precolumn derivatization with 5-dimethyl-aminonaphthalene-1-sulfonyl chloride (DNSC1) in acetonitrile. The diastereomers formed were separated on a reversed phase column by HPLC with fluorescence detection employing 0.6% phosphate buffer (pH 6.5)-methanol (3:8, v/v) as mobile phase. The detection limit of each Ephedra alkaloid stereoisomer was 0.5 ng at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3:1, the linear response to each stereoisomer being 1-800 ng.ml-1. The plasma level profile of l-Ep and d-Ps in guinea pig was investigated by this method. The determination of l-Ep and d-Ps in plasma of a volunteer after oral administration of Xiao Qinglong Heji was also performed.

Irrigation agriculture is the basis of agriculture and rural economic development in China. Realizing the water resource information of irrigated area will make full use of existing water resource and increase benefit of irrigation agriculture greatly. However, the water resource information system of many irrigated areas in our country is not still very sound at present, it lead to the wasting of a lot of water resources. This paper has analyzed the existing water resource monitoring system of irrigated areas, introduced the Multi-Agent theories, and set up a water resource monitoring system of irrigated area based on multi-Agent. This system is composed of monitoring multi-Agent federal, telemetry multi-Agent federal, and the Communication Network GSM between them. It can make full use of good intelligence and communication coordination in the multi-Agent federation interior, improve the dynamic monitoring and controlling timeliness of water resource of irrigated area greatly, provide information service for the sustainable development of irrigated area, and lay a foundation for realizing high information of water resource of irrigated area.

Edge-localized modes (ELMs) are the focus of tokamak edge physics studies because the large heat loads associated with ELMs have great impact on the divertor design of future reactor-grade tokamaks such as ITER. In the experimental advanced superconducting tokamak (EAST), the first ELMy high confinement modes (H-modes) were obtained with 1?MW lower hybrid wave power in conjunction with wall conditioning by lithium (Li) evaporation and real-time Li powder injection. The ELMs in EAST at this heating power are mostly type-III ELMs. They were observed close to the H-mode threshold power and produced small energy dumps (1?2% of the stored energy). Type-III ELMs produced a time-averaged peak heat flux of about 2?MW?m?2 on the target plate, a value which is ?10 times larger than that of ELM-free phases. A few isolated and large type-I-like ELM events were also observed in EAST with an energy loss of up to 5% of the stored energy. Statistically, the ELM frequencies are several hundred hertz and the frequency appears to decrease with q95, the safety factor at 95% of the flux surface. When an ion cyclotron resonance frequency wave was injected during the H-mode phases, the ELM repetition frequency increased immediately. The frequency and amplitude of type-III ELMs can be effectively influenced by puffing impurity argon gas.

Although it has been confirmed that insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) is a kind of autoimmune disease, islet cell autoantibodies (ICAs), insulin autoantibodies (IAA) and anti-GAD-glutamic acid decardaxylase antibodies have been found in the sera of patients with IDDM and immunotherapies have been used in some patients with IDDM, yet the manner in which the dysfunctional immunosystem acts on beta cells and causes damage to them remains to be clarified. Recently, possible involvement of the abnormal production of IL-6 in autoimmune symptoms was suggested in patients with cardiac myxomas, Castleman's disease and rheumatoid arthritis. However reports of IL-6 abnormal production in patients with IDDM are rare. In the present study, we examined whether or not an abnormal expression of IL-6 mRNA was present in mononuclear cells (PBMNCs) of the peripheral blood of patients with IDDM. We devised a highly sensitive, specific and semiquantitative protocol, ie, reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). We have used such an assay to measure the relative expression levels of IL-6 mRNA in PBMNCs from 12 early IDDM patients (duration6 mon, 8.20 +/- 3.85 yr), 29 newly-diagnosed NIDDM patients (54.85 +/- 9.12 yr), 23 normal children (8.20 +/- 3.26 yr) and 12 normal adults (31.92 +/- 11.22 yr). In this assay significantly high expression levels of IL-6 mRNA were found in PBMNCs from patients with IDDM (P0.05). The relative levels were 0.91 +/- 0.19; 0.10 +/- 0.06; 0.43 +/- 0.08; 0.10 +/- 0.07, respectively.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

By using an inducer of differentiation (HMBA) and blockers of signal pathways, the relationship between two second-messenger pathways (DG-PKC, cAMP-PKA) in inducer-mediated MGc80-3 cell differentiation was studied. Cells were treated with HMBA for 24 h, levels of DG decreased by 64.7%, activity of PKC decreased by 28.7%, while levels of cAMP and rate of it's protein binding increased by 62% and 32.6% respectively (after treated for 48 h, the result was more remarkable). PKA-R II distributed in nuclei. H7 (PKC inhibitor) was used to substitute for HMBA to block the DG-PKC pathway. After treatment for 24 h, the levels of DG and activity of PCK both decreased, while the levels of cAMP increased 1.04 times. On the contrary, PKA inhibitor was added while HMBA was used to induce cell differentiation, cAMP-PKA pathway was blocked, levels of cAMP and rate of it's protein binding decreased. But levels of DG and activity of PKC both increased to the levels of control cells. At this time, PKA-R II distributed only in cytoplasm. These results suggest that harmonious relations of the positive and negative regulation of cAMP-PKA and DG-PKC systems in cells during the proliferation and differentiation of cells. It also showed that positive regulation of PI system may play a leading role in MGc80-3 cells. It let to normal regulation of two signal pathway out of control to remain malignant phenotype of these cells.

The levels of tumor-associated antigens (TAAS) corresponded to monoclonal antibodies WLA-2C4 and CL-3 in sera of 57 lung cancer patients, 100 healthy adults and 50 non-tumor disease patients were assayed with SABC-ELISA of immunobinding inhibition test. The threshold values of WLA-2C4 and CL-3 (RBI) were 12% and 36%, respectively. The positive results of lung carcinomas with at least one of the two TAAS were as follows: squamous cell carcinoma 89%; adenocarcinoma 83%; small cell carcinoma 67% and their mean positive rate was 79%. Whereas the positive rate in healthy adults and non-tumor disease patients was only 6%. These results indicate that using monoclonal antibodies WLA-2C4 and CL-3 simultaneously may be helpful to the serological diagnosis of lung carcinoma.

We have studied the ultrastructure of gap junction of rat atrial myocytes of primary culture in situ embedded by ultramicrotomy. We observed a kind of gap junction-associated vesicles (GJAV), a kind of cluster of particles which are surrounded by plasma membrane, and a concatenate GJAV complexes (CGJAVC) in some big clusters. We found that both of GJAV and CGJAVC are very near the plasma membrane at the intercellular space, and at the same time they are usually adjacent the assembled GJ. So we infered that they are the pre-body or midproduct of the assembled GJ probably. This article analysed these observes and probed into the process about how to assemble the gap junction.

Wafer bending measurements have been used to study the glass transition temperature, Tg, of thin coatings of polystyrene and polycarbonate on Si wafers. The observed values of Tg agree with DSC and TMA measurements on bulk samples. The evolution of the substrate curvature has been used to examine the behavior of Tg in thin epoxy films and coatings derived from divinylsiloxane bisbenzocyclobutene, mixed stereo and positional isomers of 1, 3-bis(2-bicyclo[4.2.0]octa-1, 3, 5-trien-3-ylethenyl)-1, 1, 3, 3-tetramethyl disitoxane (CAS 117732–87–3). The dependence of the Tg of the epoxide coatings is studied as a function of the cross-linking. The evolution of the Tg in the benzocyclobutene coating is found to be a monotonie function of the level of conversion of the polymer network.

The serum BGP level was assayed in patients with hyperthyroidism (untreated and remittent cases). The mean serum BGP concentration was 8.7 +/- 2.5 ng/ml in 54 patients with untreated hyperthyroidism, which was significantly higher than normal range (4.8 +/- 1.3 ng/ml P less than 0.01). Serum BGP had a significant positive correlation with the concentration of T3 and T4, while serum AKP had no correlation with circulating thyroid hormone levels. In the patients with hyperthyroidism, serum T3 and T4 decreased significantly after the first month of methimazole treatment, and fluctuated within the normal range since then. Serum BGP did not show significant change during the first six months of treatment, although they were eventually reduced significantly at the end of six months. These results suggest that serum BGP measurement is a valuable marker of bone metabolism alteration during hyperthyroidism.

In order to investigate the distribution and excretion of sterigmatocystin, a carcinogenic mycotoxin, radioactively labelled compound was studied in rats. The highest concentration of radioactivity in serum appeared 3 h after administration of 0.5 microCi/g bw. The half-lives of distribution and excretion were 0.51 h and 43.9 h, respectively. The radioactivity was concentrated mainly in liver, stomach, kidney, duodenum and lung and to a lesser extent in fat, muscle, testis, rectum and bone. By 48 h, 56.4% had been excreted in faeces and 20.1% in urine. Biliary excretion may be the major route of excretion of sterigmatocystin.

PPP (platelet-poor plasma) alone can not stimulate DNA synthesis in Go C3H/10T1/2 cells.50 ng/ml of EGF promoted partial Go cells to enter S phase. However, there was an apparent synergic effect of simultaneous treatment with 50 ng/ml EGF and 5%PPP, their synergic effect to stimulate DNA synthesis in Go cells was the same as 10% calf serum. Taxol can resist the depolymerization of microtubules. After treatment with taxol (10 mumol/L), the progression from Go to S phase in C 3 H 10 T 1/2 cells was inhibited. This inhibition was especially exhibited at early stage of transition from Go to S phase. The result indicated that Go cells can not enter S phase without the depolymerization of microtubules. It showed that DNA synthesis was stimulated by the simultaneous treatment with colcemid (0.1 microgram/ml) and growth factors (50 ng/ml EGF + 5% PPP or 10% Calf serum). But without the stimulation of growth factors, the unique effect of depolymerization of microtubules can not stimulate DNA synthesis. The results present evidence indicating that the depolymerization of microtubules has the potency to elevate DNA synthesis in Go cells stimulated by growth factors. This potency was also appeared at early stage of progression from Go to S phase. We suggest that the depolymerization of cytoplasmic microtubules and synergic effect of growth factors are involved in account for the transition from Go to S phase in C 3 H 10 T 1/2 cells.

We have demonstrated that the distribution of microtubules (MT), microfilaments (MF) and fibronectin (FN) were diminished, while the gene expression of the calmodulin and c-fos enhanced in the transformed C3 H10 T1/2 cells. After treatment with 1 mM db-cAMP for 1 hr. and 2 hrs., there was an early and rapidly reduced in gene expression of calmodulin and c-fos respectively. After db-cAMP treatment for 4-5 days, the number of Capping cells of ConA binding decreased significantly and the cell surface microvilli decreased also. The growth of treated cells was inhibited markedly. By using 4F1 cDNA probe, which is preferentially expressed in G1 phase, we have found that the db-cAMP treated cells were accumulated at G1 phase. Of particular interest is the fact that the distribution of microtubules, microfilaments and fibronectin were recovered after treatment with 1 mM db-cAMP for 6 days. It is suggested that the inhibition of proliferation, alteration of phenotype and recovery of cytoskeleton in transformed cells after treatment with db-cAMP are related to the inhibition of gene expression of calmodulin.

Effects of Ca2+ and calcium antagonists nicardipine (Nic) and chlorpromazine (CPZ) on the proliferation, DNA synthesis and intracellular calmodulin (CaM) levels in cultured rabbit aortic smooth muscle cells were investigated. Maximal response of cell to Ca2+ stimulation occurred in the normal medium with CaCl2 1.4 mmol/L, whereas CaCl2 0.02-0.6 mmol/L, Nic (2.5-40.0 mumol/L) and CPZ (5.0-20.0 mumol/L) inhibited the cell proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner. The additive effects of Nic and CPZ were observed. There was a transient surge of intracellular soluble CaM level at 9h in late G1 phase of the cell cycle just before the initiation of DNA synthesis. Not only the initiation of DNA synthesis but also the CaM surge were prevented by adding Nic or CPZ (20-40 mumol/L) to media. These results suggest that an appropriate extracellular Ca2+ concentration was required for aortic smooth muscle cells to grow normally. Since calcium antagonists influenced the intracellular Ca2+ pool by blockade of calcium channel and they inhibited the CaM function directly by anticalmodulin activity or indirectly through altered intracellular Ca2+ metabolism, intracellular Ca2+ and CaM levels may be involved in the effects of Nic and CPZ on the proliferation and DNA synthesis.

To study the role of Ca2+ fluxes and [Ca2+]i in cell transformation by the v-src gene, ts-RSV LA 90 cells was used in this experiment. Ca2+ fluxes across the plasma membrane was measured with radioisotopes. The relative [Ca2+]i in LA 90 cells loaded Indo-1AM was measured by computer-based Optical Multichannel Analyzer connected with fluorescence microscopy. It was observed that changes in rate of Ca2+ fluxes across the plasma membrane are one of the earliest detectable changes of LA 90 cells transformation. Rates of Ca2+ fluxes in transformed LA 90 cells (40 degrees C) is higher than that in normal LA 90 cells (33 degrees C) and rates of Ca2+ fluxes increased in 25 minutes when LA 90 cells shifted from nonpermissive (40 degrees C) to permissive (33 degrees C) temperature. TMB-8 inhibited increases in rate of Ca2+ efflux induced by pp 60 v-src, and increase in rate of Ca2+ efflux in normal LA 90 cells was stimulated by calf serum. The rate of Ca2+ efflux was related to the changes in temperature. The increase in rate of Ca2+ influx induced by pp 60 v-src could be blocked by verapamil. The rate of Ca2+ influx was not affected by the changes in temperature. The increase in relative [Ca2+]i induced by pp 60 v-src is one of the early events in the transformation process. The level of [Ca2+]i in transformed LA 90 cells was about 2-3 times as much as that in normal LA 90 cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

An isolated working rat heart underwent 40 min of normothermic ceasing perfusion and 25 min of reperfusion. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) or/and mannitol were added to the perfusate 15 min before ceasing perfusion and 15 min after reperfusion. The results indicate that SOD (37,000 IU/L) improved significantly the contractile function of heart and increased the aortic output and coronary flow. Mannitol 0.02 mol/L provided additional benefit. The rat myocardial cells were cultured in the medium for 3 h with hypoxia followed by 2 h of reoxygenation. The content of lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) in the medium was increased and the degree of fluorescence polarization of myocardial cell membrane was raised. SOD was effective in preventing LDH release and decreasing the degree of fluorescence polarization. These results clearly demonstrate that ischemic reperfusion are capable of causing significant myocardial injury, which can be reduced or prevented by administration of oxygen free radical scavenger SOD.

Heavy metal cations Cd2+, Pb2+, and Hg2+ were added to substitute for Ca2+ in culture media to study their effect on the relationship between CaM and the proliferation of cultured rabbit aortic smooth muscle cells (ASMC). It was found that all the heavy metal cations studied stimulated the proliferation of ASMC in varying degrees, increased the CaM content in cells at late G1 stage and decreased the activity of cAMP PDE. These results suggest that the adverse effect of heavy metals may be related to the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and hypertensive disease.

20 cases of congenital choledochal cyst were operated by modified Lilly's method from 1980 to November 1985 in our Hospital. There were 4 males and 16 females. Their ages ranged from 50 days to 15 years with a mean of 5.1 years. All patients had preoperative ultrasonographic examination, barium meal radiography of the gastrointestinal tract or percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography. All had choledochal cystectomy with retention of the outer layer of the posterior wall of the cyst. We modified Lilly's method by injecting normal saline between the outer and inner layer of the choledochal cyst so that the outer layer could be isolated. Reconstruction of the biliary tract was then performed. 2 patients had choledochoduodenostomy and 18 patients had hepaticojejunostomy (1 end to end and 17 end to side). 19 patients had also had cholecystectomy. The post-operative course of the operation was found to be smooth and safe. Patients were followed up for a period from 6 months to 7 years. 3 patients had cirrhosis of liver, 2 of whom died within 8 months. The mortality rate in our series was 10%. The operative treatment and the problems of biliary reconstruction are discussed.

Photoelectron emission by small particles depends on power density at the surface. Lorenz—Mie calculations for spheres indicate that this is anisotropic so there should be corresponding anisotropic angular distribution of photoelectrons which will depend upon particle size and complex refractive index.

Depending on the angle of illumination, electrically large scatterers can support a variety of electromagnetic (EM) phenomena, such as traveling waves, creeping waves, and edge/surface diffraction effects. The electrical size of a body limits the tractability of numerical methods such as the method of moments (MM), and the geometric complexity of an object circumscribes the applicability of optics-derived methods. Hybrid methods incorporating both numerical and high-frequency asymptotic techniques have the potential to substantially enlarge the class of EM scattering problems that can be treated. In this discussion, the current-based hybrid formulation is summarized for classes of two- and three-dimensional scatterers. The use of Ansatz solutions derived from physical optics, the physical theory of diffraction, and the Fock theory is illustrated for perfectly conducting, partially penetrable, and totally coated bodies. For the latter, a generalization rooted in the impedance boundary (Leontovich) condition is used. Complementing these Ansatz solutions, the Galerkin representation is used for regions where the foregoing are computationally or physically intractable. The above cases are illustrated by representative solutions explicating the approach. >

Measurements and theoretical calculations of fluorescent emission from four samples of polystyrene microspheres (diameter 0.92, 1.63, 1.90 and 4.18 microns) containing the same fluorescent dye show a general dependence upon particle size, emission angle, and polarization conditions. However, for the excitation and detection conditions used in flow cytometry, the relative fluorescent intensities measured for the four particle sizes are proportional to the dye content to +10% accuracy, independent of particle size. Accordingly, the central dogma of flow cytometry 'that fluorescence is proportional to cellular dye content' is valid to this accuracy for these solid, highly refractive polymer particles. Most mammalian cells are much less refractive, therefore, should conform more closely to the central dogma.

When flat sperm heads that have been stained to fluorescence are examined in a flow cytometer, unexpectedly, skewed pulse height distributions are obtained despite the apparent homogeneity of the samples. This anomaly has been ascribed to an optical artifact that arises when the cells are oriented in flow. We have extended our model for fluorescent scattering to spheroids and here explore some aspects for oblate spheroids which serve to model sperm heads. Although computational limitations have restricted these studies to oblate spheroids about 1.5 micrometer in diameter and an eccentricity of 0.1, the results clearly show effects of particle size, shape, optical properties and particularly of orientation on the differential scattering cross-sections. This plethora of information contained in the fluorescent signals may suggest further experiments.

On etudie le rayonnement d'antennes fentes sur des corps conducteurs a revetement uniforme. On montre comment choisir une impedance de surface, l'emplacement de la pseudoouverture et les champs de pseudoouverture pour mieux representer le probleme initial

It is pointed out that in fluorescent and Raman scattering by molecules in or near a small particle, large enhancements in the scattered signals are obtained when both the incident and the fluorescent frequencies coincide with eigenfrequencies of the particle. Numerical results are presented for spherical particles with a refractive index 2.2+0.409 x 10/sup -2/i uniformly filled with fluorescent scatterers. The effects are found to be substantial.

Laboratory experiments were performed on four different soils, using 100 cm long columns, to determine the extent of virus movement when wastewater percolated through the soils at various hydraulic flow rates. Unchlorinated secondary sewage effluent seeded with either poliovirus type 1 (strain LSc) or echovirus type 1 (isolate V239) was continuously applied to soil columns for 3 to 4 days at constant flow rates. Water samples were extracted daily from ceramic samplers at various depths of the column for the virus assay. The effectiveness of virus removal from wastewater varied greatly among the different soil types but appeared to be largely related to hydraulic flow rates. At a flow rate of 33 cm/day, Anthony sandy loam removed 99% of seeded poliovirus within the first 7 cm of the column. At flow rates of 300 cm/day and above, Rubicon sand gave the poorest removal of viruses; less than 90% of the seeded viruses were removed by passage of effluent through the entire length of the soil column. By linear regression analyses, the rate of virus removal in soil columns was found to be negatively correlated with the flow of the percolating sewage effluent. There was no significant difference in rate of removal between poliovirus and echovirus in soil columns 87 cm long. The rate of virus removal in the upper 17 cm of the soil column was found to be significantly greater than in the lower depths of the soil column. This study suggests that the flow rate of water through the soil may be the most important factor in predicting the potential of virus movement into the groundwater. Furthermore, the length of the soil column is critical in obtaining useful data to predict virus movement into groundwater.

A 12-year-old boy developed occasional attacks of oculogyric crisis after physical exercises or when tired. Following the initial symptom, progressive Parkinsonian features such as bradykinesia, muscular rigidity, hand tremors in posture, mild dysarthria and disorder of postural reflexes developed. There was no marked diurnal fluctuation o symptoms. Serum ceruloplasmin, copper levels, cranial X-ray CT scan and MRI were normal. Measurement of the plasma levels of L-dopa after single oral administration (300 mg) were normal. The treatment with L-dopa improved the Parkinsonian features excluding the attacks of oculogyric crisis in a few weeks. This case is not identical with juvenile Parkinsonism proposed by Yokochi et al for lack of both crural or truncal dystonia and remarkable response to L-dopa. Oculogyric crisis is known in several patients with severe generalized dystonia, and seldom in patients with Parkinson disease or juvenile Parkinsonism. Oculogyric crisis may be one of focal dystonias confined to extraocular muscles.

Photodynamic effect of HPD plus light on human stomach cancer cells (MGC-803) in the mitotic phase and interphase was studied. The synchronized mitotic cells were selected from the monolayer of asynchronous growing cells by shaking the culture flask. It was found that the killing frequency of HPD photosensitization was markedly different in the mitotic phase and interphase of synchronous growing MGC-803 cells, but a very small difference was found in HPD alone or light alone groups. The results show that, for adhesive cells in the two phases, there was a marked difference in damage pattern and recovery rate of mitosis 36 hr, 60 hr and 108 hr after photoradiation. The tolerance of mitotic cells to HPD plus light was much greater than that of the interphase cells. In the interphase, a great many of nude nuclei were seen and in the mitotic phase, cytokinesis was arrested resulting in many binucleated or multinucleated cells.

From November 1987, 136 children with bacterial liver abscess were encountered. There were 97 males and 39 females and the age ranged from 1-15 years (mean = 8.42 years). The clinical signs and symptoms of liver abscess were confirmed by radiography, ultrasonography, percutaneous transhepatic drainage (PTHD) and radioisotope scanning. 103 children had solitary abscess and the remaining 33 children, multiple abscesses. Of the children with multiple abscesses, 23 had abscesses confined to one lobe of the liver and 10 had involvement of both lobes of the liver. 86 children had culture of liver abscesses done and only 63 (73.2%) yielded positive culture. Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli were the commonest organisms cultured from liver abscesses. 72 cases had drainage of liver abscesses, one of them ended up with hepatic artery ligation. A further 15 cases treated by PTHD survived. Of the remaining 49 cases who had antibiotic therapy, 2 died of septicemia, giving a mortality rate of 1.47%. 36.3% of children with liver abscesses responded to antibiotic therapy. The indication and method for surgical management are discussed. Percutaneous transhepatic drainage (PTHD) of liver abscesses, under the guidance of ultrasonography is found to be safe and effective.