Abstract: The invention is concerned with the use of certain fatty acids and inhibitors of an enzyme in effecting modifications to the lipid structure of cell membranes. The invention also relates to the formulation of pharmaceutical compositions and medicaments and to such products per se; to the treatment of a variety of clinical and veterinary disorders associated with a lowering of the saturation index of cell membranes, including malignancies, viral disorders and AIDS; and to the use of the active materials of the invention in the relief of pain.The active principals in the present invention are saturated fatty acids having from 12 to 28 carbon atoms in the alkyl chain, e.g. stearic acid, or pharmaceutically acceptable derivatives thereof; and inhibitors of the enzyme .DELTA.-9 desaturase, e.g. sterculic acid and malvalic acid or pharmacologically active derivatives or analogues thereof.

Abstract: In a decoder suitable for use in a paging receiver of the type responsive to a transmission which includes a preamble sequence followed by batches each containing a synchronization word followed by a plurality of address and/or message words, the decoder is operative to detect a single synchronization word. Thereafter, the decoder is powered up to search in its specific frame in each batch by means of a clock which has been synchronized with the transmission and which provides the timing for searching in the specific frame of all subsequent batches.The clock may have coarse and fine modes of timing control, the coarse mode being applicable when initial bit synchronization is being attained, and the fine mode being applied subsequently to reduce the risk of the clock drifting out of synchronization.