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The article discusses a study which evaluated the stress on dogs and their handlers during animal-assisted therapy in a prison program using questionnaires and measurement of the dogs' saliva cortisol concentrations before and after sessions. The dog-assisted program was conducted in a specialized unit in Harima Rehabilitation Program Center in Japan, collection and monitoring of saliva cortisol, and the association of dogs' stress levels and their handlers' own stress levels.

The Pyroemissive Imager is a direct-view far-infrared (8-14 μm) imaging device. The basic concept of operation is that a thin pyroelectric wafer, when subjected to infrared radiation on one surface, modulates photoemission from the opposite surface. The modulated photoelectrons are focused onto a phosphor for direct-view imaging, or a suitable storage target for indirect viewing by means of electronic scanning. The basic concept and the results to date are described in this paper.

We report seven cases of hypopituitarism all having a history of breech delivery, asphyxia at birth, and syringomyelia. A small pituitary gland was found on MRI or CT in six cases, invisible pituitary stalk on MRI in five cases, and type 1 Arnold-Chiari malformation in six cases. A constellation of these abnormalities are best explained by traction of brain and spinal cord of the subjects exerted during breech delivery and further support the primary role of birth trauma in the genesis of “idiopathic hypopituitarism”.

We report an 8-year-old girl with lysimuric protein intolerance and immunological abnormalities including impaired function of lymphocytes, the presence of LE cells, antinuclear antibodies, and hypergammaglobulinaemia. These abnormalities have not been reported before and may be due to an amino acid imbalance or protein malnutrition in cells or tissues. The coincidence of a pre-stage of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and LPI is not excluded.

Recently, Vamos et al. (1981) reported that the clinical features in the neonatal onset form of multiple sulphatase deficiency (MSD) were much more pro nounced than those of the usual type of MSD. The activities of arylsulphatases A, B and C in the patient's cultured skin fibroblasts were greatly reduced. This paper characterizes the biochemical features of neonatal MSD and distinguishes this disorder from typical MSD.

The magnetic resonance in an 8-year-old boy with hypopituitarism and cervical syringomyelia are presented. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain clearly demonstrated syringomyelia in the cervical spinal cord and transection of the pituitary stalk, findings identical to those reported in the literature. Both disorders have been seen in association with a difficult labor, so we suggest that this is not a chance finding.