(1)H MR spectroscopic imaging measures of the primary motor cortex N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA) concentration and ratio of NAA to creatine, central motor conduction time to the tibialis anterior, and motor unit number estimation significantly differed between ALS, its subsets, and control subjects, suggesting they have potential to provide insight into the pathobiology of these disorders.

Spiral analysis is an objective, easy to administer noninvasive test that has been proposed to measure motor dysfunction in Parkinson disease (PD). We compared overall Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale Part III scores to selected indices derived from spiral analysis in seventy-four patients with early PD (mean duration of disease 2.4 +/- 1.7 years, mean age 61.5 +/- 9.7 years). Of the spiral indices, degree of severity, first order zero crossing, second order smoothness, and mean speed were best correlated with total motor Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) score (all P < 0.01), and these indices showed a gradient across worsening tertiles of UPDRS (P < 0.05). Spiral indices also correlated with UPDRS ratings for the worst side and worst arm scores as well. The domains of bradykinesia, rigidity, and action tremor were correlated with first order crossing, second order smoothness, and mean speed, where as rest tremor was most highly correlated with degree of severity. This suggests that the spiral analysis may supplement motor assessment in PD, although further analysis of spiral metrics, a larger sample and longitudinal data should be evaluated.

Procedures for the dehydration of fructose in non-aqueous solvents using Amberlyst 15 strong acid resins and amine salts as catalysts have been developed to give hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), hydroxymethylfurfural ethers and laevulinate esters with high carbon recoveries. These procedures allow of easy 'scale-up' and recovery of catalyst and solvent.

A product, " Dianin's compound,'' first prepared in 1914 from phenol and mesityl oxide, is shown to be 4-P-hydroxyphenyl-2 : 2 : 4-trimethylchroman (111). Oxidation yields 2 : 2 : 4-trimethylchroman-4-carboxylic acid, and thermal degradation gives phencl and 2 : 2 : 4-trimethylchromen. The latter compound has been synthesised and yields Dianin's compound by addition of phenol.Dianin's compound forms inclusion compounds with over fifty widely differing organic solvents, some inorganic gases, and with iodine. The large, separate cavities in the crystals are defined by six molecules of Dianin's compound, and the ratio of number of molecules of Dianin's compound to the number of included molecules is generally 6 : 1, though a ratio of 3 : 1, i.e., 2 molecules per hole, is found with a number of small molecules.PREVIOUS papers 1, have described inter al. some derivatives of 2'-hydroxy-2 : 4 : 4-trimethylflavan prepared by condensing simple phenols with acetone, and these flavans formed inclusion compounds with a variety of organic solvents.2* The condensation product of phenol with mesityl oxide was studied by Dianin: and he observed that it formed crystalline adducts with certain organic solvents. We have now reinvestigated this substance, which will be referred to as " Dianin's compound " (see a preliminary note by Baker and McOmie 7.Dianin showed that phenol (2 mol.) reacted with mesityl oxide (1 mol.) in presence of hydrogen chloride to give a monohydric phenol, C18H2002, which formed a benzoate and a *

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) findings, particularly TMS amplitude, can objectively discriminate corticospinal tract involvement in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) from controls and assess the progression of ALS. While central motor conduction time and response threshold worsen by less than 2% per month, TMS amplitude decrease averages 8% per month, and may be a useful objective marker of disease progression.