A series of 10 617 calculi were analyzed by stereomicroscopy and infrared spectroscopy. This first study of French calculi was compared with large series in the literature. That the frequency of pure calculi was the lowest ever observed can be related to the methodology routinely used in our laboratory, which includes microsampling. We described more than 70 components among the 10 617 calculi. The overall sex ratio male to female patients was high (2.27) and increased over the period 1981-1993. Calcium oxalate was the most frequent component (86.48%), followed by calcium phosphate (79.75%) and purines (18.64%). We found a low occurrence of "infection" stones. The sex ratio was related to stone composition and differed according to the main component. For instance, calcium oxalate dihydrate (COD) was more frequent in men than in women, with a sex ratio of 4.97 versus 2.57 for calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM). On the contrary, calcium phosphate was more frequent in female patients (sex ratio 0.72 versus overall ratio). The high frequency of COD calculi (23.17%) suggests that hypercalciuria is particularly frequent in French patients susceptible to stone formation. For each main component, a specific profile was observed in relation to the sex and age of the patients with stones.

Four flavanones (pinostrobin, pinocembrin, sakuranetin and naringenin), one dihydroflavonol (7-methyl aromadendrin) and one flavone (hispidulin) have been isolated from Artemisia campestris L. ssp. glutinosa Gay and identified by spectroscopic methods. Artemisia campestris L. sous-espèce glutinosa Gay est une Composée Anthémidée largement répandue sur les sables du littoral méditerranéean et abondante dans certaines régions d'Espagne et d'Italie. Dans le cadre d'une étude chimiotaxonomique du genre Artemisia Tourn., nous nous sommes intéressés à l'analyse des flavonoïdes, composés jamais décrits, à notre connaissance, dans cette espèce d' Artemisia. Les sommités fleuries d' Artemisia campestris sous-espèce glutinosa, séchées et pulvérisées, sont dégraissées à l'ether de pétrole et épuisées par le chloroforme. Le fractionnement de l'extrait chloroformique, par chromatographie sur colonne de silice, et la purification de certaines fractions conduisent à l'isolement de six génines flavoniques, à l'etat pur. L' étude des spectres UV, des spectres de masse et des spectres de RMN [1,2] et la comparaison avec des échantillons authentiques permettent de proposer, pour ces flavonoïdes, les structures de la pinostrobine [3], de la pinocembrine [4], de la sakuranétine, de la naringénine [5] (flavanones), de la méthyl-7-aromadendrine, [6, 7] (dihydroflavonol) et de l'hispiduline [8, 9] (flavone); quatre de ces génines sont méthylées. Parmi ces flavonoïdes, la pinostrobine n'a jamais été décrite, à notre connaissance, dans la famille des Composées; la pinocembrine, la sakuranétine et la naringénine ont déjà été signalées chez quelques Astéracées et Eupatoriées [10], et l'hispiduline dans la tribu des Anthémidées ( Santolina chamaecyparissus L.) [8]. Seule, la méthyl-7-aromadendrine semble décrite, à ce jour, dans le genre Artemisia Tourn. [7].

We conclude that in patients who have undergone mitral valve repair, postoperative infusion of hypertonic saline solutions increases left ventricular preload and left ventricular ejection fraction. The use of these hypertonic solutions may be of interest in patients with valvular cardiomyopathy. A titrated dose and a low rate of infusion may substantially improve the safety.

Extraction and isolation Stem bark of G. kola (360 g) was milled to a coarse powder which was exhaustively extracted with MeOH. 4 g of the crude extract (total 51 g) was submitted to CCD separation with the biphase system H20 : cyclohexane : EtOAc: EtOH 20: 17: 11:8. Pure compound 2 (Kr = 1.15; 0.41 g) was obtained together with a mixture of 3 and 5, which, after a further purification by CCD using the biphase system 1-120: acetone: cyclohexane : EtOAc 10: 10:8:7, gave 3 (K. = 0.77; 0.34 g) and 5 (Kr = 0.65; 0.28 g). Compounds 2 and 3 were identified as GB-i and GB-2, respectively, by comparison with the spectral data in the literature (3).