Abstract: The invention provides a dynamic external fixator, including an elongate body having an axial bore accommodating, in a first portion thereof, at least part of a first member of a universal joint and, in a second portion thereof, a linear guide element, a first arm having an end portion carrying the second member of said universal joint. The arm is provided with a plurality of apertures for the traversing therethrough of bone pins. There is also provided a second arm integral with, or fixedly attached to, a member of the guide element and provided with a plurality of apertures for the traversing therethrough of bone pins, and a spring accommodated in the axial bore of the body and bearing, on the one hand, against the first member of the universal joint and, on the other, at least indirectly, against the guide element, thereby opposing forces acting on the second arm.

Abstract: A probe for examining viscoelasticity and anisotrophy of an area of an external layer of a living or artificial tissue, comprises an assembly (34) including at least one group of piezoelectric spaced-apart transducers (78,80,82), each having a surface contact making edge, wherein one of said transducers operates as a transmitter and at least one other transducer operates as a receiver, and wherein said assembly is movable both axially, as well as angularly; means for effecting the controlled axial movement (22,24) of said assembly; means for controlling the contact pressure (24) to be exerted by the transducers on the surface of an area of a tissue to be examined, and means for effecting angular movement of said assembly (18,20) at a selected axial displacement.

Abstract: The present invention concerns novel pharmaceutical compositions for the atment of cancer, either by inhibition of the tumor metastatic tendency or alternatively by inhibiting formation of new blood vessels (angiogenesis) and thus depriving the tumor from its blood source. The active compound in the pharmaceutical compositions of the invention is a fragment of the Thrombin B-chain comprising the sequence Arg-Gly-Asp in an exposed orientation, or modified thrombin in which the naturally cryptic Arg-Gly-Asp sequence has been modified so that it is in an exposed orientation.

Abstract: A method of imaging of an object. A plurality of image datasets, for example a real part and an imaginary part of a magnetic resonance image, are acquired, and are transformed separately to a transform space and filtered. The filtered datasets are inverse transformed and recombined nonlinearly to produce the final image. The preferred transformation is a wavelet transformation. Noisy transform coefficients are suppressed by thresholding.

Abstract: The invention relates to DNA constructs comprising an exogenous DNA sequence encoding a therapeutic protein product or itself a therapeutic product, DNA sequences derived from SV40 for replication and packaging of said construct into pseudovirions, and a DNA sequence encoding one or more regulatory elements sufficient for the expression of said therapeutic protein in a mammalian cell operatively linked thereto. The therapeutic product integrated into the DNA constructs of the invention can be a protein selected from the group consisting of enzymes, receptors, structural proteins, regulatory proteins and hormones. Of particular interest are .beta.-globin, P-glycoprotein and apolipoprotein A-I. Specific DNA constructs are plasmids pSO6.beta.-9, pSO6.beta.-1, pSO41, pSM1, and pSAIc. The invention also relates to SV40 pseudovirions containing a DNA construct according to the invention, which are capable of infecting and being expressed in mammalian cells.

Abstract: The invention provides a composition for attenuating neovascularization crising administering a pharmaceutically effective amount of a compound of formula I: ##STR1## wherein: n=1 or 2; R.sub.1 is a member of the group consisting of hydrogen, halogen, nitro, benzo, lower alkyl, phenyl and lower alkoxy;R.sub.2 is a member of the group consisting of hydroxy, acetoxy, and lower alkoxy, andR.sub.3 is a member of the group consisting of hydrogen and lower alkenoxy-carbonyl;as an active ingredient therein, in combination with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

Abstract: The invention provides a composition for attenuating mesangial cell proliation, comprising an amount of a compound of formula 1: ##STR1## wherein: "n=1 or 2"R.sup.1 is a member of the group consisting of hydrogen, halogen, nitro, benzo, lower, alkyl, phenyl and lower alkoxy;R.sub.2 is a member of the group consisting of hydroxy, acetoxy, and lower alkoxy, andR.sub.3 is a member of the group consisting of hydrogen and lower alkenoxy-carbonyl;effective to attenuate mesangial cell proliferation and the physiologically acceptable salts thereof.

Abstract: An assay for diagnosing the presence or absence of certain malignancies and their grade and prognosis which comprises a) performing in situ hybridization of a tissue of the patient to be examined with a probe derived from the H19 gene and b) evaluating the results diagnosing the presence or absence of such malignancy and its severity. The probe used is derived from the H19 gene by a) subcloning at a suitable site in a plasmid, b) producing antisense RNA by transcription with a polymerase and c) labeling suitable fragments of the H19 RNA, such that after the hybridization, a signal for the diagnosis and establishment of the severity is produced. Suitable labels are radioactive or fluorescent labels, or color change reagent. Kits are provided for effecting such assays.

Abstract: A method of protecting a mammal from the detrimental effects of irradiation is disclosed. The method comprises administering an effective amount of a substantially crude Dunaliella algae preparation to the mammal.

Abstract: A method of treating osteoporosis is disclosed by administering orally a single daily dosage of phosphate in the evening in an amount, e.g., about 10 mg/kg body weight or less which is effective to raise serum parathyroid hormone levels of the subject being treated.

Abstract: A method for treating an injury of a liver of a subject with a composition featuring a pharmaceutically acceptable amount of an IL-6/sIL-6R complex, preferably Hyper-IL-6. The composition is administered to the subject such that the injury to the liver is treated.

Abstract: A composition for the treatment of diabetes and a method of use thereof. composition includes an immunoregulator, preferably Linomide, and a .beta. cell proliferative agent, preferably reg protein. The composition has been shown to be effective in both inhibiting the progression of diabetes, and reversing the course of the disease, in the NOD mouse model.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method and kit for the prediction of the response of a patient suffering from superficial bladder carcinoma to treatment with bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), by calculating the inducibility of the Interleukin-2 (IL-2) gene of the patient in a sample of peripheral blood mononuclear (PBM) cells from the patient receiving BCG. The method includes the steps of culturing at least two aliquots of PBM from the patient where the cells in a first aliquot are cultured in the presence of an inducing agent for inducing expression of the IL-2 gene and the cells in the second aliquot are cultured in the absence of the inducing agent. The extent of expression of the IL-2 gene is quantitatively determined for each aliquot. The ratio of the extent of the expression of the IL-2 gene in the first aliquot to the extent of the expression of the IL-2 gene in the second aliquot is calculated, the ratio providing a measure of the inducibility of the IL-2 gene.

Abstract: The invention provides an anti-fibrotic composition, comprising an amount a compound of formula I: ##STR1## wherein: n=1 or 2R.sub.1 is a member of the group consisting of hydrogen, halogen, nitro, benzo, lower alkyl, phenyl and lower alkoxy;R.sub.2 is a member of the group consisting of hydroxy, acetoxy, and lower alkoxy, andR.sub.3 is a member of the group consisting of hydrogen and lower alkenoxy-carbonyl;effective to inhibit collagen type I synthesis as active ingredient therein.