The role of Killing and Killing-Yano tensors for studying the geodesic motion of the particle and the superparticle in a curved background is reviewed. Additionally the Papadopoulos list [74] for Killing-Yano tensors in G structures is reproduced by studying the torsion types these structures admit. The Papadopoulos list deals with groups G appearing in the Berger classification, and we enlarge the list by considering additional G structures which are not of the Berger type. Possible applications of these results are outlined.
The influence of pretreatment of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus with sub-MICs of the new beta-lactam antibiotic imipenem on phagocytosis and killing by murine peritoneal macrophages and...Full Text Available
Phagocytosis and intracellular killing of two strains of Escherichia coli and a Staphylococcus saprophyticus by polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) in pooled sterile urine at three osmolalities (800,...Full Text Available
These studies have addressed firstly the effect of single small doses of x-ray upon murine hematopoietic stem cells to obtain a better estimate of the D/sub q/. It is small, of the order of 20 rads. Secondly, a dose fractionation schedule tht does not kill or perturb the kinetics of hemopoietic cell proliferation was sought in order to investigate the leukemogenic potential of low level radiation upon an unperturbed hemopoietic system. The studies reported herein show tht 1.25 rads every other day decrease the CFU-S content of bone marrow by the time 40 rads are accumulated. Studies on the effect of 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 rads 3 times per week are under way. Two rads 3 times per week produced a modest decrease in CFU-S content of bone marrow after an accumulation of 68 rads. With 3.0 rads 3 times per week an accumulation of 102 rads produces a significant decrease in CFU-S content of bone marrow. Dose fractionation at 0.5 and 1.0 rad 3 times per week has not ...
ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to investigate the effect of cigarette smoking on clinical parameters and signs anemia of chronic disease in chronic periodontitis patients.Full Text Available
... Question Chronic fatigue: Can natural remedies boost my energy? Are there any natural remedies that reduce chronic ... AN01764 ">Chronic fatigue: Can natural remedies boost my energy? Guidelines for sites linking to MayoClinic.com ...
...Advances in Chronic Kidney Disease-The purpose of Advances Chronic Kidney Disease is to provide in-depth, scholarly review articles about the care and mana ... Advances in Chronic Kidney Disease - Elsevier Home Products User Resources About Us Support & Contact Elsevier Websites Advanced Product ...Search Browse Journals Advances in Chronic Kidney Disease Advances in Chronic Kidney Disease Additional Information Related Publications Editorial Board Journal Online e- Alert Readers ...year: 6 Tips Title This is my tip content Visit Advances in Chronic Kidney Disease Online! The purpose of Advances Chronic Kidney Disease is ...
Chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) remains an enigmatic medical condition. Creation of the (NIH) Chronic Prostatitis Collaborative Research Network (CPCRN) funded by...Full Text Available
Reference is made to Cheng and Leblond (Amer. J. Anat.; 141:537 (1974)) who used tritiated thymidine to kill cells synthesising DNA in the crypts of the small intestine. Amongst their findings was that very low doses caused measurable cell killing and that the killing was not random throughout the crypt but occurred selectively at the crypt base where stem cells are presumably located. It is here reported that the presence of hypersensitive cells at the base of the crypts can be demonstrated after whole-body X- or gamma-irradiation, and the time sequence for the production and loss of the killed cells is described together with their dose-response relationship. The studies were conducted on mice. The data were expressed as surviving rather than killed cells, and it was established that the crypt are amongst the most sensitive of mammalian cells. The mechanism by which these ...
...On Friday night, we killed, plucked & butchered two chickens. As you do. To be accurate, the wonderful John B and my ...John did the killing, then my John's animals,chicken feathers,feathers,recycling,reusing How can I reuse or recycle chicken feathers? | ...About Archives Suggest an item Contact How can I reuse or recycle chicken feathers? By louisa on 26 Apr 2010 | 7 ...On Friday night, we killed, plucked & butchered two chickens. As you do. To be accurate, the wonderful John B and my ...
Concentrations of ammonia and the chlorine stabilizer, cyanuric acid, which could be expected in swimming pools decreased the rate of kill by chlorine of the potential pathogen, Pseudomonas...Full Text Available
... USS Cole, on 9 October 2000, in Aden, Yemen, killing ... and complex interior, it can be attacked by a ... Though there has not been an attack on this ...
... defense's weapons are Space-based kinetic-kill vehicles ... I ti I obtained by dividing the weapons as ... of the optimal weapon-arge assigntments and ...
Veterinarians and farmers employing multivalent killed vaccines in lactating dairy cows have reported transient losses in milk production. Few studies have quantified this loss. In this report, effects...Full Text Available
An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to compare Brucella melitensis major outer membrane proteins (MOMP) and whole-cell heat-killed antigens (HK) in measuring antibrucella immunoglobulin G...Full Text Available
In a significant percentage of examined cases of fulminant hepatitis, subacute hepatitis, chronic aggressive hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and chronic persistent hepatitis, Australia (hepatitis-associated)...Full Text Available
The aim of the study was to determine whether children with chronic benign pain are in contact with their general practitioner (GP) more frequently than those without chronic benign pain. A random sample...Full Text Available
BackgroundNonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are commonly used to treat postoperative and chronic pain. Animal studies suggest these drugs act in part by blocking...Full Text Available
In a prospective study, patients with the diagnosis of chronic ethmoid sinusitis were evaluated microbiologically by using biopsy specimens of the ethmoid sinus mucosa. Microbiology cultures were performed...Full Text Available
Due to the use of a limited number of species and subchronic exposures, current ecological hazard assessment processes can underestimate the chronic toxicity of environmental contaminants resulting...Full Text Available
In contrast to the increasing availability of information pertaining to the care of children with chronic kidney disease (CKD) from large-scale observational and interventional studies, epidemiological...Full Text Available
Chronic benign pain is commonly associated with chronic fatigue and depression. Depression and chronic fatigue syndrome are also associated with each other and often include pain. Psychologic factors are prominent in these conditions, and they may share neurobiologic factors as well. Management requires separately addressing each component of patients' distress and usually includes physical rehabilitation, education, administration of nonhabituating medications and often counseling. Depression may be a favorable prognostic sign, as it suggests a treatable condition and provides incentive for recovery. PMID:1876618
... Fuels", Paper AIAA-91-2451, 27th AIAA/SAE/ASME ... to-surface ballistic missiles than space-based space-to ... an effective hit-to-kill weapon without the ...
BackgroundRifampin is a key drug in antituberculosis chemotherapy because it rapidly kills the majority of bacilli in tuberculosis lesions, prevents relapse and thus enables 6-month...Full Text Available
The phagocytic and killing abilities of heifer mammary gland macrophages (M phi) and neutrophils were evaluated after exposure to recombinant bovine interferon-gamma (rBoIFN-gamma) stimulation in vitro....Full Text Available
Over 250 adults and children were exposed to chlordane when the wooden building surfaces and soil around an apartment complex were sprayed in 1987. Two hundred-sixteen adults had neurobehavioral functions...Full Text Available
This chapter summarizes research progress in development of phytoremediation technologies. Some soils have become contaminated by trace elements enough to kill plants, inhibit soil organisms, and/or threaten wildlife, humans or the environment. Traditional remediation by dig and haul methods are v...
Purpose of reviewSevere congenital neutropenia (SCN) is a primary immunodeficiency in which lack of neutrophils causes inadequate innate immune host response to bacterial...Full Text Available
Protective innate immunity to the nematode Strongyloides stercoralis requires eosinophils in the parasite killing process. Experiments were performed to determine if an extract of S....Full Text Available
Periodontal diseases are infections of the tissues supporting the dentition. Recognition that relatively specific microfloras are associated with distinct clinical forms of periodontal disease has prompted...Full Text Available
BackgroundOne virulence property of Borrelia burgdorferi is its resistance to innate immunity, in particular to complement-mediated killing. Serum-resistant B....Full Text Available
Rhesus monkeys were infected with strains of Schistosoma mansoni from Puerto Rico, St Lucia, Brazil, and Tanzania. Monkeys were killed 11-14 weeks after exposure to 600-650 cercariae....Full Text Available
Mice were killed 7, 11, 19, and 27 weeks after infection with strains of Schistosoma mansoni from Puerto Rico, Brazil, St Lucia, and Tanzania. The percentage recovery of adult worms...Full Text Available
The Avi-3 antigen, which is found only in Mycobacterium avium culture sonic extracts, is species specific and results in strong skin test activity in guinea pigs sensitized with heat-killed M. avium....Full Text Available
BackgroundThe use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is on the increase globally with a high prevalence in children and adults with chronic illnesses. Many studies have...Full Text Available
ObjectivesUse of prescription opioids for chronic pain is increasing, as is abuse of these medications, though the nature of the link between these trends is unclear....Full Text Available
Recommended treatment of chronic hepatitis B with interferon-α and/or nucleos(t)ide analogues does not lead to a satisfactory result. Induction of HBV-specific T cells by therapeutic...Full Text Available
BackgroundMost studies on children with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)/myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) have been undertaken in tertiary care and little is known about their management...Full Text Available
Introduction:Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major public health problem. It imparts a substantial economic burden on individuals and society. Acute exacerbations...Full Text Available
Chronic pain patients who show aberrant drug-related behavior often are discontinued from treatment when they are noncompliant with their use of opioids for pain. The purpose of this study was...Full Text Available
Pain caused by chronic pancreatitis is medically intractable and resistant to conventional interventional or surgical treatment. We report a case of spinal cord stimulation (SCS) for intractable pain...Full Text Available
Little is known about how sociodemographic factors relate to children’s chronic pain. This paper describes the pain, health, and sociodemographic characteristics of a cohort of children...Full Text Available
BackgroundAlthough symptoms of sleepiness and fatigue are common among adults with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), little is known about the prevalence of these symptoms...Full Text Available
BackgroundSeverely disabling chronic pain in the adult population is strongly associated with a range of negative health consequences for individuals and high health care costs,...Full Text Available
Objective To determine whether a centralised telephone intervention reduces the incidence of death or admission for worsening heart failure in outpatients with chronic heart failure.Design...Full Text Available
The authors’ objective was to analyze the impact of respiratory impairment on the risk of physical functional limitations among adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)....Full Text Available
We investigated the role of early portal hypotensive pharmacotherapy in preventing the development of portal-systemic shunting in a portal hypertensive model of chronic murine schistosomiasis induced...Full Text Available
Background and objectives: The objective of this study was to describe the prevalence of ocular fundus pathology in the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) study, a multicenter, longitudinal study...Full Text Available
Background and objectives: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with impaired physical activity. However, it is unclear whether the associations of physical activity with mortality are modified...Full Text Available
ObjectiveTo identify patient-care practices related to an increased prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among chronic hemodialysis patients.Full Text Available
Opioids have been regarded for millennia as among the most effective drugs for the treatment of pain. Their use in the management of acute severe pain and chronic pain related to advanced medical...Full Text Available
Objectives To understand the perspectives of people with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as their illness progresses, and of their informal and professional carers,...Full Text Available
A Legionella-like organism, strain 1677-MI-H, was isolated from the bronchoscopy washings of a patient with pneumonia who had a 2-year history of progressive, chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The growth...Full Text Available
PurposeTo describe ocular findings for a 34-year-old man with chronic solar retinopathy using high-speed ultrahigh-resolution (UHR) optical coherence tomography (OCT).Full Text Available
Chronic colonization of the human stomach by Helicobacter pylori, a Gram-negative bacterium, is the major cause of chronic gastritis, peptic ulcers and gastric cancer. Recent...Full Text Available
BackgroundIn patients with Stage 5 Chronic Kidney Disease who require renal replacement therapy a major decision concerns modality choice. However, many patients defer the decision...Full Text Available
Inclusion of family members in the assessment of patients with chronic pain can improve outcomes. Family functioning can be assessed in four basic areas: boundaries, power, communication, and intimacy....Full Text Available
BackgroundChronic rotator cuff pathology (CRCP) is a common shoulder condition causing pain and disability. Physiotherapy is often the first line of management for CRCP yet there...Full Text Available
BackgroundHepatitis B and C is common in Pakistan and various risk factors are attributable to its spread.One thousand and fifty consecutive male cases suffering from chronic...Full Text Available
XMRV or xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related retrovirus, a recently discovered retrovirus, has been linked to both prostate cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Recently, the teams of Drs....Full Text Available
BackgroundUntil now only limited research has been done on the prevalence of chronic pain in primary care. The aim of this investigation was to study the health care utilisation...Full Text Available
ObjectivePersons with chronic or recurrent pain frequently visit the emergency department (ED), yet little research examines this experience. We conducted this national survey to...Full Text Available
The effect of potential risk factors for chronic lymphatic leukaemia was evaluated in a case-referent study encompassing 111 cases and 431 randomised referents, all alive. Information on exposure was...Full Text Available
Chronic autoimmune or pathogen-induced immune reactions resulting in lymphoid neogenesis are associated with development of malignant lymphomas, mostly extranodal marginal zone B-cell lymphomas (MZBCLs)....Full Text Available
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a contagious, fatal prion disease of deer and elk that continues to emerge in new locations. To explore the means by which prions are transmitted with high efficiency...Full Text Available
BackgroundChronic non-specific musculoskeletal pain (CNSMSP) may develop in childhood and adolescence, leading to disability and reduced quality of life that continues into adulthood....Full Text Available
BACKGROUND:The value of other health care professionals is increasingly being recognized to compensate for the shortage of physicians in Canada. Chronic cough is one of the most...Full Text Available
The two categories of anti-albumin antibodies (AAA), namely precipitins (AA-P) and agglutinins (AA-Aggl), were investigated in 260 patients with morphologically diagnosed chronic liver diseases (CLD)....Full Text Available
Background. Erythropoietin deficiency and anemia occur in Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and may be treated with Erythropoietin Stimulating Agents (ESAs). The optimal hemoglobin,...Full Text Available
ContextWhile opioids are increasingly used for chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP), we know little about opioid dosing patterns among individuals with CNCP in usual care...Full Text Available
MRI plays an increasingly important role for assessment of patients with chronic liver disease. MRI has numerous advantages, including lack of ionizing radiation and the possibility of performing...Full Text Available
BackgroundParents of chronically ill children are at risk for a lower Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL). Insight in the dynamics of factors influencing parental HRQoL is necessary...Full Text Available
OBJECTIVES: Although the tricyclic antidepressant amitriptyline is extensively used in the prophylactic treatment of chronic tension-type headache, only few studies have investigated the efficacy of...Full Text Available
Five methods of personality assessment are evaluated to provide guidance for the psychological treatment of patients with chronic back pain. Patient pain drawings, pentothal pain studies, stress score...Full Text Available
The xenotropic murine leukaemia virus-related virus (XMRV), a gammaretrovirus, was discovered in prostate cancer tumours by Virochip technology in 2006. It was subsequently detected in chronic fatigue patients in 2009. The association between XMRV and chronic fatigue has proved to be controversial. No study has confirmed these findings and many have refuted them. Here, we present the evidence for our contention that XMRV is not a human pathogen. PMID:21978843
Abstract An increase in chronic disease prevalence is contributing to health care cost growth and decreased quality of life in industrialized nations worldwide. Inadequate management of chronic diseases is a leading cause of hospitalizations and, thus, avoidable expenditures. In this study, we evaluated the impact of nurse-delivered care calls, the primary intervention of a proactive chronic care management (CCM) program, in a population aged 65 and older in Germany. In this analysis, hospital admission rates were evaluated among program enrollees who were diagnosed with diabetes, heart failure, coronary heart disease, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The Intervention group comprised those members who participated in care calls (n?=?13,486), whereas the Comparison group included e...
The treatment of chronic pain conditions continue to present a challenge to the medical field. Physical therapy treatment needs to approach the management of chronic pain differently than the approach used to resolve acute pain. Patients with chronic pain often have many factors that have perpetuated the pain condition. These factors, as well as pain itself, influence their ability to reactivate and perform functional daily activities. Physical therapists can begin to address some of the factors, including fear and deconditioning, by building confidence and body awareness in a self-care model including a slow graduated reactivation program. There is evidence that patients with chronic pain conditions have altered motor control that may be influencing reoccurrences and possible flares of pa...
Ethnopharmacological relevance: Extracts of the roots of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (Labiatae) have been widely used to relieve fever related to bacterial infection and inflammatory diseases in traditional Korean medicine and have been reported to be effective in brain diseases. These experiments were conducted to examine the effects of oral administration of Scutellaria baicalensis extracts on the rescue of memory impairments induced by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion or chronic lipopolysaccharide (LPS) infusion. In addition, the underlying mechanisms of these effects were investigated. Materials and methods: In the first experiment, chronic cerebral hypoperfusion was induced in male Wister rats by bilateral common carotid artery occlusion (BCCAo). Daily administration of Scutellaria b...
ALLEYNE G., HANCOCK C. & HUGHES P. (2011) Chronic and non-communicable diseases: a critical challenge for nurses globally. International Nursing Review58, 328-331 Background:- Chronic and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are a growing and enormous challenge that faces countries across the world. Low- and middle-income countries are disproportionately affected. Contributory factors:- Three risk factors - tobacco use, poor diet (including excessive alcohol intake) and lack of physical activity - contribute to four major chronic diseases - cardiovascular, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes and some cancers, which are responsible for over 50% of deaths worldwide. Potential solutions:- International governmental and non-governmental agencies are becoming increasingly concerned and ...
A continuous, subsurface Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary section, including the boundary clay within an 87 cm thick lignite, has been recovered from a core hole near Wood Mountain, Saskatchewan, Canada. The lignite-encompassed clay layer with geochemical anomaly indicates that peat deposition was continuous across the boundary. Core data indicate that, locally, a pre-boundary, conifer-dominated swamp was abruptly replaced by an angiosperm-dominated, herbaceous wetland. Sudden extermination of the dominant forest elements indicates mass kill at the level of the boundary and supports the theory of extraterrestrial impact accompanied by catastrophic destruction. Devastation of the standing vegetation may have been caused by one or more of the killing agents predicted to have accompanied impact, including freezing temperatures caused by atmospheric dust, acid rain, thermal pulse, and shock waves. There is no evidence supporting wildfires as a ...
There is a plethora of new silver-containing dressings on the market today. Various manufacturers attempt to show that their dressings are the most efficacious and therefore should be preferentially employed by health care workers based on the results of their in vitro tests. However, there have been no studies that clearly identify which tests are appropriate for comparison purposes. The purpose of this study was to determine which in vitro test is most appropriate for evaluating the antimicrobial efficacy of silver-containing dressings. This was done by testing seven silver-containing dressings and two non-silver-containing topical agents against 17 clinically relevant microorganisms using zone of inhibition assays and time-kill kinetic assays in complex media. The results for the two assays were then correlated to determine whether the methods generated similar results. It was determined that the two methods do not correlate at all. This is most likely a result ...
Two dogs were given 3.0 mCi/kg body weight of "1"0"6Ru-"1"0"6Rh and two were given 4.0 mCi/kg. At 5 days after treatment, one dog from each dose level was colectomized. The dog given the larger dose but not surgically treated was killed in extremis due to acute lower bowel injury at 18 days. The other dog, given 3.0 mCi/kg but not surgically treated, was killed in a moribund condition at 145 days after dosing. The rectum had perforated. The colectomized dogs recovered from intestinal injury and showed no radiation damage at the termination of the study.
... This is an amount less that the measurement accuracy of even the best meteorological instruments . So, is it really worth committing to 40 years of drastic carbon emissions reductions (which necessarily involves increasing the cost of hydrocarbon fuels in order to reduce fuel consumption, and force an industry-wide conversion to much more expensive alternative energy sources), all so that after nearly all of us are ...
Food irradiation is the process of exposing food to an ionizing energy to kill harmful bacteria and other organisms and extend shelf-life. It is a safe process and has been approved by some 50 countries worldwide and applied commercially in the USA, Japan, China and several European countries for many years. Trends law regulations and new applications in Europe and another countries has been described. (author)
In this paper we study the enumeration and the construction, according to the number of ones, of particular binary words avoiding a fixed pattern. The growth of such words can be described by particular jumping and marked succession rules. This approach enables us to obtain an algorithm which constructs all binary words having a fixed number of ones and then kills those containing the forbidden pattern.
A higher-dimensional homogeneous spacetime is investigated satisfying the vacuum Einstein equations. It is assumed that the algebra of Killing vectors L admits a non-trivial Levi decomposition L=N+so(3), i.e. that the subalgebras N and so(3) do not commute. It is found that the model behaves in a non-chaotic way and cosmological dimensional reduction inevitably occurs. This model completes all the possible types within the class of higher-dimensional extensions of Bianchi type-IX cosmology.
This report introduces present status on food irradiation at home and abroad in detail. It also introduces the scientific research and application in reducing diseases caused by food borne pathogens, quarantine control of import and export products, grain store and killing insects in traditional Chinese medicine. The report also analyzes the problems in developing food irradiation in China and gives some suggestions
... The male GM mosquitoes mate with normal females to produce larvae that die unless the antibiotic tetracycline is present. In tetracycline's absence an enzyme accumulates to a toxic level, killing the larvae. The developers hope the strategy could be combined with other mosquito control methods to reduce transmission in dengue-prone areas. Ricarda Steinbrecher, a geneticist and co-director of EcoNexus -a UK-based non-profit research organisation -expressed surprise ...
... The male GM mosquitoes mate with normal females to produce larvae that die unless the antibiotic tetracycline is present. In tetracycline's absence an enzyme accumulates to a toxic level, killing the larvae. The developers hope the strategy could be combined with other mosquito control methods to reduce transmission in dengue-prone areas. Ricarda Steinbrecher, a geneticist and co-director of EcoNexus - a UK-based non-profit research organization - ...
A brief article examines the controversy over food irradiation regarding the wholesomeness of irradiated food, its microbiological safety, loss of vitamins and changes in flavour. The benefits of food irradiation are also outlined including the destruction of certain food-borne pathogens and the prolongation of the shelf-life of food by killing pests and delaying the deterioration process. (UK).
Cordycepin has been shown to interfere with a myriad of molecular processes from RNA elongation to kinase activity, and prevents numerous inflammatory processes in animal models. Here we show in a mouse...Full Text Available
Eight rabbits and 24 guinea-pigs were exposed to a silica dust cloud of about 40,000 pp./ml. (0·3-3·0 μ) and killed at four-weekly intervals up to 30 weeks. The guinea-pigs showed...Full Text Available
A higher-dimensional homogeneous spacetime is investigated satisfying the vacuum Einstein equations. It is assumed that the algebra of Killing vectors L admits a non-trivial Levi decomposition L=N+so(3), i.e. that the subalgebras N and so(3) do not commute. It is found that the model behaves in a non-chaotic way and cosmological dimensional reduction inevitably occurs. This model completes all the possible types within the class of higher-dimensional extensions of Bianchi type-IX cosmology. (orig.).
The aim of the study was to determine whether children with chronic benign pain are in contact with their general practitioner (GP) more frequently than those without chronic benign pain. A random sample of children and adolescents aged between 0 and 18 years of age was drawn from the records of ten general practices. According to their responses to a pain questionnaire, subjects were assigned to the chronic benign pain group (n = 95) if they had pain of more than three months' duration, or to the control group (n = 105) if they had pain of less than three months' duration or no pain at all. All the subjects had an average GP consultation rate of 2.6 contacts per year. No significant age and sex differences were found. Chronic benign pain in childhood and adolescence is not related to increased use of healthcare services, suggesting that somatisation does not play a major role in children with ...
A nonlinear relationship between the time of accelerated aging of Lupine seeds and the indices of its survival as well as the single-strand DNA amount in cells from these seeds is established. The character of this relationship is essentially altered in chronically irradiated lupine seeds from the Chernobyl NPP exclusion zone and seems more complicated. The possible role of repair systems in these effects is discussed. The fact that chronic irradiation in low doses can modify the course of senescence in lupine seeds reflects its high biological efficiency comparing with acute irradiation.
In response to an earlier published paper by Fordyce, some assumptions underlying the behavior management paradigm of chronic pain are critically discussed. While operant treatment has proved successful, the conclusion that operant factors play an important role in the development and maintenance of chronic benign pain is debated. Some empirical studies, regularly used to demonstrate this role, are re-evaluated. An alternative theory is proposed for chronic pain behavior, in which the role of a lower tolerance to proprioceptive stimuli, which may include more than just pain stimuli, is emphasized. PMID:3313200
A case of xanthogranulomatous salpingitis (XGS) associated with a large uterine leiomyoma in a 50-year-old woman is presented. Xanthogranulomatous inflammation is an uncommon form of chronic inflammation...Full Text Available
Patients rely on their primary care physician to manage multiple, often chronic medical conditions that require prescription medications. Balancing the risk to benefit of treatments can be challenging...Full Text Available
The pathological effects of lead on the renal, nervous, reproductive, endocrine, and immune systems have been reviewed. Emphasis is placed on reported subclinical effects due to chronic, low-level lead...Full Text Available
In the last decade, there has been an increase in interest in the burden of chronic and disabling health conditions that are not necessarily fatal, such as the mental disorders. This review...Full Text Available
Unlike in normal rabbits, pulmonary rapidly adapting receptors (RARs) in rabbits with chronic mitral regurgitation (MR) do not respond to small changes in extravascular...Full Text Available
BackgroundProvision of consumer information and patient education are considered an essential part of chronic disease management programmes developed for patients with heart failure....Full Text Available
Although previous research suggests that preamputation pain is a risk factor for pain after amputation, little is known about the association between acute postsurgical pain and chronic amputation-related pain. The current prospective study examined the associations of preamputation pain and acute postamputation pain with chronic amputation-related pain. The sample consisted of patients with lower limb amputation (N = 57) who provided both preamputation and postamputation data during a 2-year study period. Preamputation pain intensity and duration were assessed before amputation; acute phantom limb pain (PLP) and residual limb pain (RLP) intensity were assessed on postsurgical days 4 and 5. Acute PLP intensity was the only significant independent predictor of chronic PLP intensity at 6 and...
Paratuberculosis (Johne's disease) is a chronic, wasting, widespread mycobacteriosis of ruminants. It involves extensive mycobacterial shedding, which accounts for the high contagiousness, and ends...Full Text Available
Periventricular white matter injury (PWMI), is the leading cause of chronic neurologic injury among survivors of preterm birth. The hallmark of PWMI is hypomyelination and a lack of mature,...Full Text Available
BackgroundAs long-term nursing home care is likely to increase with the aging of the population, identifying chronic medical conditions is of particular interest. Although need factors...Full Text Available
Numerous reports of chronic renal disease in patients who habitually use phenacetin-containing compounds to excess have aroused considerable controversy over the possible relationship between phenacetin,...Full Text Available
In establishing a chronic haemodialysis unit in Brunei the difficulties encountered were less insuperable than had been expected. Quite unsophisticated patients successfully dialysed unattended in...Full Text Available
Aging is a biological process that affects most cells, organisms and species. Human aging is associated with increased susceptibility to a variety of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease,...Full Text Available
The family physician dealing with gynecologic pelvic pain (acute or chronic) enters at the beginning of the problem as diagnostician, refers the patient to a specialist in the interim, and resumes...Full Text Available
An elderly man receiving chlorambucil for chronic lymphatic leukaemia developed focal fits. The onset and frequency were dose related. There was no evidence of metabolic disturbance or of meningeal...Full Text Available
Lupinus albus L. plants were grown from seeds and irradiated at various stages of development with acute or chronic gamma rays. All plants were greenhouse grown (pre- and post-irradiation) and allowed to proceed through their normal growth cycle. The purpose of these experiments was to establish a Plactochron Index for Lupinus albus L. and to determine the effects of acute and chronic irradiation on development at the macro and microscopic levels. A Plastochron Index was calculated and used as an indirect time scale to evaluate the effects of gamma rays from a common base line. Acute radiation treatment lasted for a period of a few days, whereas chronic treatment was initiated at the seedling stage and lasted for the entire growth season. Vegetative plants were used to study the effects of acute radiation exposure on apical meristem morphology, Plastochron Index, phyllatoxis and gross morphology.
Excessive dietary phosphorus may increase cardiovascular risk in healthy individuals as well as in patients with chronic kidney disease, but the mechanisms underlying this risk are not completely understood....Full Text Available
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) persists as a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease and is characterized by the production of autoantibodies and immune complexes that affects multiple organs....Full Text Available
Opinion statementCritical limb ischemia (CLI), defined as chronic ischemic rest pain, ulcers, or gangrene attributable to objectively proven arterial occlusive disease, is the most advanced...Full Text Available
In general, the etiologic factors of chronic paranasal sinusitis are systemic conditions such as nutrition, predisposition, allergy, and local factors such as nasal anatomic conditions. Among these...Full Text Available
ObjectiveTo describe the prevalence, intensity, and functional impact of the following types of pain associated with upper-limb loss: phantom limb, residual limb,...Full Text Available
Prolonged disability is best understood as an illness that exists independently of the initiating disease. The disabled individual goes through predictable stages of disability before resolution occurs....Full Text Available
OBJECTIVES:To investigate the effect of opioid receptor blockade on the myocardial protection conferred by chronic exercise and to compare exercise training with different strategies...Full Text Available
The liver has enormous regenerative capacity. Following acute liver injury, hepatocyte division regenerates the parenchyma but, if this capacity is overwhelmed during massive or chronic liver...Full Text Available
Acne keloidalis, also known as folliculitis nuchae, is a form of chronic scarring folliculitis characterized by fibrotic papules and nodules of the nape of the neck and the occiput. It particularly...Full Text Available
BackgroundMycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis causes systemic infection and chronic intestinal inflammation in many species including...Full Text Available
The deregulated kinase activity of p210-BCR/ABL oncoproteins, hallmark of chronic myelogenous leukaemia (CML), induces and sustains the leukaemic phenotype, and contributes to disease progression....Full Text Available
Chronic workplace exposure to formaldehyde and solvents at low doses reduced pulmonary function in 280 non-smoker white women working as histology technicians. They were studied during national workshops...Full Text Available
Background: Markers of protein-energy wasting (PEW) and inflammation are common in chronic kidney disease (CKD) and are among the strongest predictors of mortality in dialysis patients.Objective:...Full Text Available
Ocular and urogenital tract infections with Chlamydia trachomatis can progress to chronic inflammatory diseases that produce blindness and tubal infertility. The pathophysiology of these chronic disease...Full Text Available
Chronic and adult-onset GM2 gangliosidoses are neurological disorders caused by marked deficiency of the A isoenzyme of beta-hexosaminidase; they occur in the Ashkenazi Jewish population, though less...Full Text Available
Mutations in full-length HBV isolates obtained from a chronic HBV-infected patient were evaluated at three time points: 1 day, 6 months, and 31 months. While 5 nucleotides variation, and an 18 bp...Full Text Available
In the past few months, there has been public discussion relating to a new perspective on blood safety and specifically upon measures to prevent or discourage donation by individuals with a diagnosis of myalgic encephalopathy-chronic fatigue syndrome. This reflects an intriguing interplay between science, public health and public concern and illustrates some of the difficulties of making decisions in the face of uncertainty and inadequate information.
Brine from active oil wells seeped through the soil of a forested site in north-western Pennsylvania and killed all vegetation in its path, leaving the affected area unproductive and unsightly. After the brine source was eliminated, herbaceous plants, shrubs and forest tree seedlings became established and developed rapidly. Establishment began in the first year and by Year 4 the site had developed into a healthy young forest. Results show that Allegheny hardwood forest sites damaged by brine water will rapidly revegetate once the brine water discharge is stopped if there is a seed supply and if the area is fenced to exclude deer. 3 figs., 12 refs.
Control of human filarial infections currently depends on chemotherapeutic strategies predominantly directed at microfilariae. Doxycycline therapy in an extended daily dose regimen sterilizes and kills adult stages, but the utility of this drug for routine field use remains an issue of concern. No macrofilaricidal drugs with efficacy after one or two doses are available for use, delaying the achievement of the elimination or eradication of onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis. Moxidectin, a macrocyclic lactone, is currently in clinical trials for onchocerciasis. A few other drugs that have already been approved for use in veterinary practice or in human medicine for other indications are available for investigation. Early drug discovery pipelines are poorly populated and the process of ...
The microbial safety of foods cooked in microwave ovens was investigated. The mechanisms of microwave destruction of microorganisms were examined. Effects of time and temperature on microorganisms in different food systems were described. Studies showed that: microwave heating of food is more ''''food dependent'' than conventional heating; recommended microwave treatment time for some foods may not destroy high levels of bacteria; use of microwaves in combination with conventional heating methods results in more uniform heating of foods and destruction of bacteria; and microwaves exert different killing effects on individual bacterial species. (78 references, 2 tables)
Adult and newborn rats were exposed to "2"3"9PuO_2 aerosols of four different size distributions. Rats of both ages were killed at intervals between 1 hr and 60 days postexposure. There were marked age- and particle-related size differences in deposition, although retention was similar throughout. The differences in deposition are attributable to relatively greater deposition of larger particles in the upper respiratory tracts of newborns.
Radioimmunochemical assay was used to study the hypophyseal and peripheral hormones activity in 60 patients with chronic alcoholism, stage II. A correlation has been established between the patient's age and prolactin and FSH concentrations, as well as between the duration of the recent hard drinking and the concentrations of prolactin, testosterone, FSH and interstitial cell stimulating hormone. It has been shown that the manifestation of the alcoholic abstinent syndrome depended on the prolactin concentration. The test sensitivity estimated by the prolactin level rise and the testosterone level reduction reached 92.3%. The specificity of the changes detected comprised 25%. A conclusion has been made that the disorders noted in the patients with chronic alcoholic intoxication can be used as an objective test in the alcoholism diagnosis. PMID:3936321
Clinical and hormonal indices of androgenic activity were compared in 118 males chronically intoxicated with alcohol. The population was divided into two groups with respect to their clinical and hormonal androgenic indices: 76 patients with (Group 1), and 46 patients without (Group 2) androgenic insufficiency. Distinct signs and syndromes of alcohol addiction were shown to correlate with the extent of cross-regulation impairment within hypothalamo-hypophyseo-gonadal system. This was particularly derived from comparison of clinical picture of chronic alcohol intoxication and hormone activity in the groups. Conventional therapy failed to restore the neuroendocrine indices that was apparently due to inhibition of cross-regulation links in the hypothalamo-hypophyseo-gonadal system at several stages of alcohol addiction. PMID:3223149
In vulnerable individuals, exposure to stressors can result in chronic disorders such as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), major depressive disorder (MDD), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The extended amygdala is critically implicated in mediating acute and chronic stress responsivity and anxiety-like behaviors. The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), a subregion of the extended amygdala, serves as a relay of corticolimbic information to the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) to directly influence the stress response. To investigate the influence of the corticosteroid milieu and housing conditions on BNST function, adult C57Bl/6J were either acutely or chronically administered corticosterone (CORT, 25mg/kg in sesame oil) or vehicle (sesame oil) or were g...
Abstract While substantial attention has been paid to the issue of sexual dysfunction in men on chronic dialysis, less is known about this problem in women with end-stage renal disease. We sought to assess sexual dysfunction in women on chronic dialysis and determine whether patients discuss this problem with their providers and receive treatment. We prospectively enrolled women receiving chronic hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis in Pittsburgh, PA. We asked patients to complete the 19-item Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) to assess sexual function and a 5-item survey that assessed whether patients had discussed sexual dysfunction with their providers and/or received treatment for this problem in the past. We enrolled 66 patients; 59 (89%) on hemodialysis and 7 (11%) on peritoneal dial...
17 patients with chronic aortic dissection were examined by MRI. In 12 patients, comparison between gradient echo sequences and SE sequences was possible. Gradient echo sequences, unlike SE sequences, permitted evaluation of flow in the true and false lumen, reliable differentiation between thrombus and flowing blood and clear delination of the intimal flap. An additional comparison between transoesophageal ultrasound and MRT in 15 patients showed significant advantages in favour of MRI. In three patients MRI was able to detect more proximal origins of the dissection. Moreover, MRI allowed evaluation of the major aortic branches and their relation to the dissection; this was not possible with ultrasound. MRI plays an important role in the follow-up of chronic aortic dissections. (orig.).
Acute {gamma}-irradiation of rats at doses of 100 and 270 Gy stimulates lipid synthesis and changes the lipid composition of liver cell organelles. The content of cholesterol and cholesterol esters in microsomes increased at 100 Gy and decreased at 270 Gy, with total phospholipid content remaining unchanged. The lipid content in mitochondria decreased considerably 1 h after irradiation at 270 Gy. This change was significantly less pronounced 47 h later. Under chronic {gamma}-irradiation (0.129 Gy/day), cholesterol and cardiolipin in mitochondria increased. The changes in lipid content caused by acute irradiation are presumed to be related to activated synthesis of lipids in the liver. The modification of the lipid content of mitochondria observed in chronically irradiated rats may indicate that energy-metabolizing liver cell systems are involved in the adaptation to irradiation.
Chronic mesenteric arterial ischemia is an uncommon condition associated a high morbidity and mortality. It is most Commonly caused by atherosclerotic occlusive disease. Patients may suffer epigastric or periumbilical postprandial pain ten to thirty minutes after eating. A case of chronic mesenteric artery stenosis, the diagnosis was performance with colonoscopy and biopsy. We present a case report of a patient with chronic mesenteric ischemia. Mesenteric arteriography was performed and documented estenosis of the mesenteric superior artery. Then percutaneous arteriography with angioplasty and implant of stent was performed. The patients became completely asymptomatic and normal colon mucous is observed in control colonoscopy. The purpose of this report is to present the case endoscopy, clinic and radiological features and to describe the percutaneous angioplasty and implant of stent. We believe that angioplasty treatment ...
Twenty-two out of 31 patients with chronic renal failure and secondary hyperparathyroidism who underwent parathyroidectomy before operation underwent non-invasive image diagnosis of parathyroid glands by computed tomography (CT), scintigraphy with /sup 201/TlCl and /sup 99m/TcO/sup 4 +/, and/or ultrasonography. CT visualized 39 of 45 parathyroid glands (86.7%), weighing more than 500 mg. Scintigraphy with a subtraction method using a computer performed the diagnosis in 19 of 27 glands (70.4%). Ultrasonography detected 21 of 27 glands (77.8%). Image diagnosis was also useful in the postoperative follow-up study. The non-invasive image diagnosis of parathyroid glands in patients with chronic renal failure is thus valuable for 1) definite diagnosis of secondary hyperparathyroidism, 2) localization, and 3) diagnosis for effectiveness of conservative treatment.
Nano-sized silica is a promising material for disease diagnosis, cosmetics and drugs. For the successful application of nano-sized material in bioscience, evaluation of nano-sized material toxicity is important. We previously found that nano-sized silica particles with a diameter of 70nm showed acute liver failure in mice. Here, we performed histological analysis of major organs such as the liver, spleen, lung, kidney, brain and heart in mice, chronically injected with 70-nm silica particles for 4weeks. Histological analysis revealed hepatic microgranulation and splenic megakaryocyte accumulation in these 70-nm silica particles treated mice, while the kidney, lung, brain and heart remained unaffected. Thus, liver and spleen appear to be the major target organs for toxicity by the chronic a...
Maternal stress during pregnancy, particularly that combined with low socioeconomic status (SES), has been linked to an increased risk for impaired behavioural and emotional development and affective disorders in children. In animal models, acute periods of prenatal stress have profound effects on hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) function and behaviour. However, few studies have determined the impact of chronic exposure to stress in animal models. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of chronic maternal stress (CMS) during the 2nd half of pregnancy and nursing on growth, locomotor behaviour and HPA axis function in juvenile guinea pig offspring. Pregnant guinea pigs were exposed to a random combination of variable stressors every other day over the 2nd half of gestat...
To evaluate the role of chronic inflammation in the development of gallstones and biliary tract cancer, we examined the risk associated with 62 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), including...Full Text Available
Objective:The identification of biological markers in order to assess different aspects of COPD is an area of growing interest. The objective of this study was to investigate whether...Full Text Available
In a "nutrition transition", the consumption of foods high in fats and sweeteners is increasing throughout the developing world. The transition, implicated in the rapid rise of obesity and diet-related...Full Text Available
Background:Tobacco smoking is the most important risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) development. Inhaled cigarette smoke can induce tumor necrosis factor-α...Full Text Available
Toxicity and potential carcinogenicity studies of boric acid were investigated in mice to verify in a second rodent species that this was a noncarcinogenic chemical. Earlier chronic studies in rats...Full Text Available
Background and objectives: The severity of anemia at which to initiate erythropoiesis-stimulating agent (ESA) treatment in nondialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients is unclear. Risk of mortality,...Full Text Available
Pain is necessary for survival but chronic pain is disabling and causes significant health and economic problems. This study provides an understanding of the future for spinal cord stimulation. Stimulation by means of chronically implanted electrodes, was carried out in 200 patients with pain of varied benign organic etiology. In 177 of them, pain was confined to the failed back syndrome. Most patients were referred by a Pain Management Service. 226 epidural implants were used: 80 unipolar, 59 Resume, 12 bipolar, and 75 quadripolar. Patients were followed for periods of 6 months to 12 years, with a mean follow-up of 44 months. 84 patients (42%) were able to control their pain by stimulation alone, 22 patients (11%) needed occasional analgesic supplements along with their stimulation program. Pain secondary to failed back syndrome, multiple sclerosis, peripheral vascular disease, sympathetic dystrophy and diabetic neuropathy responded favorably. ...
Cryoanalgesia (the use of cold to provide anesthesia or analgesia) is the oldest anesthetic and analgesic still in current clinical use. Its intraoperative use in providing postoperative analgesia for...Full Text Available
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a multi-system disease characterized by persistent hyperglycemia that has both acute and chronic biochemical and anatomical sequelae, with Type-2 DM representing the most common...Full Text Available
Chronically elevated interleukin-6 (IL-6) affects lipid and lipoprotein metabolism. Individuals genetically predisposed to higher IL-6 secretion may be at risk of dyslipidemia, especially during the...Full Text Available
Chronic heart failure (HF) is a cardiovascular disease of cardinal importance because of several factors: a) an increasing occurrence due to the aging of the population, primary and secondary prevention...Full Text Available
Fetal growth restriction (FGR) is an adverse pregnancy outcome associated with significant perinatal and paediatric morbidity and mortality, and an increased risk of chronic disease later in adult life....Full Text Available
Patient-centered interdisciplinary health care for children with chronic medical disorders represents an evolution from the traditional “stop and go” treatment for acute illnesses. This...Full Text Available
Background and objectives: While many patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) have impaired physical and psychologic well-being, less is known about these health domains in patients with advanced...Full Text Available
The blood beryllium lymphocyte proliferation test (BeLPT) is a modification of the standard lymphocyte proliferation test that is used to identify persons who may have chronic beryllium disease. A major...Full Text Available
While research has shown that patients’ beliefs about their pain are related to pain adjustment and treatment outcomes, little is known about the beliefs of their significant others....Full Text Available
Dental caries continues to be a common chronic disease among various population groups. Patient care can be improved with detection at the earliest stage. However, current techniques do not...Full Text Available
The development of central neuropathic pain varies among patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). The factors contributing to the development and perpetuation of segmental pain (at-level allodynia)...Full Text Available
Background and objectives: The relationship between serum potassium (SK) and mortality in chronic kidney disease (CKD) has not been systematically investigated.Design, setting, participants,...Full Text Available
ObjectivesThe updated Rome III criteria for pediatric functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) include new FGID categories and changes to the Rome II criteria...Full Text Available
We designed a multicenter study to compare tobramycin/clindamycin to imipenem/cilastatin for intra-abdominal infections. We included the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II) index...Full Text Available
Lifetime exposure to physical activity is an important construct for evaluating associations between physical activity and disease outcomes, given the long induction periods in many chronic diseases....Full Text Available
BACKGROUND:Canadian chronic pain prevalence estimates range from 11% to 66%, are affected by sampling and measurement bias, and largely represent urban settings.OBJECTIVES:To...Full Text Available
Chronic neurogenous pain is often an extremely difficult condition to manage. In the orofacial region, trauma from injury or dental procedures may lead to the development of severe neuralgic pains and...Full Text Available
Background. Detection of subjects with early chronic kidney disease (CKD) is important because some will progress up to stage 5 CKD, and most are at high risk of cardiovascular morbidity...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe long latent stage seen in syphilis, followed by chronic central nervous system infection and inflammation, can be explained by the persistence of atypical cystic and...Full Text Available
BACKGROUND:Reports indicate that characteristics of older adults with chronic pain may be different than those of younger persons.OBJECTIVE:To study...Full Text Available
Paediatric palliative care is a holistic approach aimed at addressing the complex issues related to the care of children and families facing chronic life limiting illnesses. The needs of children are...Full Text Available
We present a rare case of pagetoid reticulosis arising in a five year old white boy. He had a history of a large chronic erythematous, scaly patch on his left buttock that had shown intermittent...Full Text Available
Acute inflammation is important for tissue repair; however, chronic inflammation contributes to neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and occurs when glial cells undergo prolonged...Full Text Available
Gastrointestinal perforations are conservatively managed at endoscopy by through-the-scope endoclips and covered self expandable stents, according to the size and tissue features of the perforation....Full Text Available
Background and objectives: Blacks are over-represented among dialysis patients, but they have better survival rates than whites. It is unclear if the over-representation of blacks on dialysis is due...Full Text Available
Retroviruses are well known pathogens of mammals, birds and fish. Their potential to induce cancer in chickens was already described almost 100 years ago and murine retroviruses have been a subject...Full Text Available
Nearly every drug may cause changes to ocular tissues through a variety of mechanisms. Medication overdoses, drug–drug interactions but also chronic administration of medications at...Full Text Available
Telbivudine is a novel nucleoside drug recently approved for the treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis B. Its nonclinical safety was evaluated in a comprehensive program of studies, including...Full Text Available
BackgroundAlthough considerable progress has been made in the treatment of chronic kidney disease, compromised quality of life continues to be a significant problem for patients...Full Text Available
Breath analysis is a powerful noninvasive technique for the diagnosis and monitoring of respiratory diseases, including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Nitric oxide...Full Text Available
Background: Squamous differentiation/squamous metaplasia is often associated with endometrial adenocarcinoma and benign lesions, such as endometrial hyperplasia and chronic endometritis....Full Text Available
Liver fluke disease is a chronic parasitic inflammatory disease of the bile ducts. Infection occurs through ingestion of fluke-infested, fresh-water raw fish. The most well-known species that cause...Full Text Available
Although management of warfarin is challenging for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), no prospective studies have compared response to warfarin among patients with minimal, moderate, and severe...Full Text Available
Patent medicine vendors (PMVs) are a ubiquitous feature of the informal health sector in Nigeria. A previous study on healthcare-seeking behaviour of persons with chronic cough in southern Nigeria found...Full Text Available
Serial studies of iron transport in patients on maintenance dialysis showed normal or raised values in almost all subjects and a transient increase soon after the start of dialysis in three. These...Full Text Available
BackgroundWe have recently reported successful treatment of patients with chronic pain syndromes using human pooled intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) in a prospective, open-label...Full Text Available
Background The scale-up of treatment for HIV and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in developing countries requires a long-term relationship with the...Full Text Available
Objective:To assess the efficacy of facet joint infiltrations for pain relief in 44 selected patients with chronic nonradicular low back pain (LBP).Materials...Full Text Available
During the past decade idiopathic venous thromboembolism has become a separate entity, a chronic illness which has required prolonged anticoagulation and other prevention strategies to avoid recurrences....Full Text Available
Of 868 patients admitted with pancreatitis between 1971 and 1976, coexisting hyperbilirubinemia was noted in 125 (14%). The patient population was primarily composed of alcoholics (84%) with chronic...Full Text Available
Ethnopharmacological relevanceHLXL is a traditional Chinese medicine that has long been used in folk medicine for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases....Full Text Available
In order to maintain stable functionality in the face of continually changing input, neurones in the CNS must dynamically modulate their electrical characteristics. It has been hypothesized that in...Full Text Available
The tea polyphenol (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) has been studied for chronic disease preventive effects, and is marketed as part of many dietary supplements. However, case reports have...Full Text Available
For many years, epidemiological studies have demonstrated a strong link between chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and the development of primary hepatocellular carcinoma (PHC). Other hepatocarcinogens...Full Text Available
BackgroundHepatitis C virus is a major cause of chronic liver diseases which can lead to permanent liver damage, hepatocellular carcinoma and death. The presently available treatment...Full Text Available
BackgroundEpidemiological studies showed that physical exercise, specifically moderate lifelong training, is protective against cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Most experimental...Full Text Available
Lumbar epidural anesthesia is useful in a variety of chronic benign pain syndromes, including lumbar radiculopathy, low back pain syndrome, spinal stenosis, and vertebral compression fractures. Given...Full Text Available
The article describes the caregiving responsibility to provide food for chronically ill family members and the meanings attached to food and eating when ill created stress for family caregivers. The...Full Text Available
In the paper six cases of facial osteomyelitis as a complication of chronic sinusitis in hemophiliac-AIDS patients are reported. Osteomyelitis was suggested by an increasing of erythrocyte sedimentation rate. The diagnosis was confirmed by a positive {sup 99m} Tc MDP scintigraphy. The patients were submitted to clinical treatment. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate and 67-gallium citrate scans were used in the follow-up of the therapy. Three patients had negative gallium after three weeks of organism-specific antibiotic therapy; in two patients the gallium scintigraphy remained positive. One patient did not undergo the radionuclide scan for this clinical conditions. These results suggest that MDP scans showed higher sensitivity and specificity in detection of bone disease in chronic sinusitis. Gallium scans appeared to be valuable tool in the follow-up of the infection. There are no reports in the literature of osteomyelitis as a complication ...
BackgroundAt least some forms of breast cancer are increasingly being viewed as a chronic illness, where an emphasis is placed on meeting the various ongoing needs of people living...Full Text Available
Alternatives for developing chronic exposure limits for noncancer effects of trichloroethylene (TCE) were evaluated. These alternatives were organized within a framework for dose-response assessment--exposure:dosimetry...Full Text Available
Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the colon with a high incidence of colon cancer. Dysplasia is a precursor to carcinoma and a predictor of malignant potential; epithelia...Full Text Available
BackgroundObesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States. It is implicated in the development of a variety of chronic disease states and is associated with increased...Full Text Available
The effects of Escherichia coli endotoxin on lung mechanics, hemodynamics, gas exchange, and lung fluid and solute exchange were studied in 12 chronically instrumented unanesthetized sheep. A possible...Full Text Available
In chronic kidney disease, fibroblast dysfunction causes renal fibrosis and renal anemia. Renal fibrosis is mediated by the accumulation of myofibroblasts, whereas renal anemia is mediated by the reduced...Full Text Available
Total health care expenditure in 2006 was $2.1 trillion. This figure is estimated to double within the next few years as the cost of treating diabetes and other chronic conditions continues to rise....Full Text Available
For the evaluation of the kidney impairment, serum creatinine concentrations or glomerular filtration rates are mainly used, and the conditions of solitary or transplanted kidney and chronic dialysis...Full Text Available
BackgroundChronic wasting disease (CWD) of cervids is a prion disease distinguished by high levels of transmissibility, wherein bodily fluids and excretions are thought to play an...Full Text Available
A review of the literature on chronic inhalation studies in which rats were exposed to mineral fibres at known fibre number concentrations was undertaken to examine the specific roles of fibre length...Full Text Available
Lymphocytes from patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), a chronic autoimmune disease, have recently been shown to have decreased surface expression of MHC class I antigens. Since...Full Text Available
BackgroundLeukocyte telomere length (LTL) is an emerging marker of biological age. Chronic inflammatory activity is commonly proposed as a promoter of ...Full Text Available
Post amputation pain can be debilitating for patients and families. Chronic pain is a common phenomenon after lower extremity amputation, occurring in up to 80% of this population. The purpose of this...Full Text Available
Objectives. The inescapable relationship between chronic inflammation and carcinogenesis has long been established. Our objective was to investigate COX-2 and NF-κB...Full Text Available
Diabetic pregnancies are characterized by chronic metabolic insults, including iron deficiency, that place the developing brain at risk and for memory impairment later in life. A behavioral...Full Text Available
Objective: Hamstring injuries can be quite debilitating and often result in chronic problems. Eccentric muscle actions are often the last line of defense against muscle injury...Full Text Available
The mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular regulated kinase (MAPK/ERK) pathway plays a key role in mediating estrogen actions in the brain and neuronal sensitization during inflammation....Full Text Available
BackgroundMultiple sclerosis (MS) is the endpoint of a complex and still poorly understood process which results in inflammation, demyelination and axonal and neuronal degeneration....Full Text Available
Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the single most common cause of death in the developed world, responsible for about 1 in every 5 deaths. The morbidity, mortality, and socioeconomic importance...Full Text Available
The regulation of gene expression in the brain reward regions is known to contribute to the pathogenesis and persistence of drug addiction. Increasing evidence suggests that the regulation of gene transcription...Full Text Available
The effects of sennosides on colonic motility were investigated in eight conscious dogs chronically fitted with two strain gauge transducers in the proximal colon, an intracolonic silicone catheter...Full Text Available
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most critical global health issues. With frequent association of viral liver disease, HCC is highly complex, harboring both cancer and chronic liver disease....Full Text Available
Studies on alcoholic liver injury mechanisms show a significant inhibition of the proteasome activity. To investigate this phenomenon, we isolated proteasome complexes from the liver of rats...Full Text Available
Of 400 patients with brucellosis, 104 (26%) had arthritis, of whom 96 could be followed up. The systemic disease in the 96 patients was acute in 54 (56%), subacute in 24 (25%), and chronic in 18 (19%)....Full Text Available
Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus causes severe encephalitis with serious sequelae in humans. The disease is characterized by fever and debilitating encephalitis that can progress to chronic illness...Full Text Available
Coasts are exposed to chronic or accidental pollutions by hydrocarbons. The aim of this study is to show the importance of the microbial layers (stratified sedimentary systems) in the biodegradation of the hydrocarbons. (A.L.B.)
Autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) is a rare cause of recurrent acute pancreatitis or chronic pancreatitis in middle-aged patients, and is characterised by a marked infiltration of lymphocytes and plasma...Full Text Available
Recent studies suggest that calcium influx via L-type calcium channels is necessary for psychostimulant-induced behavioral sensitization. In addition, chronic amphetamine upregulates subtype...Full Text Available
The objective of this retrospective field study was to associate the type and smell of discharge, the size of the uterus, the ovarian and treatment status, and the time to diagnosis of animals with...Full Text Available
Chronic arsenic exposure has been suggested to contribute to diabetes development. We performed a systematic review of the experimental and epidemiologic evidence on the association of arsenic and type...Full Text Available
beta-Endorphin-like immunoreactivity in human ventricular cerebrospinal fluid was measured with a specific radioimmunoassay. The subjects were undergoing a surgical procedure for relief of chronic intractable...Full Text Available
BackgroundPostnatal glucocorticoid therapy in premature infants diminishes chronic lung disease, but it also increases the risk of hypertension in adulthood. Since glucocorticoid...Full Text Available
ObjectiveThe purpose of this study is to identify the factors affecting the failure of trials (<50% pain reduction in pain for trial period) to improve success rate of spinal...Full Text Available
Since the establishment of the National Toxicology Program (NTP), there have been gradual changes in strategies to evaluate the overall toxicity of chemicals as well as their carcinogenic potential....Full Text Available
BackgroundChronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease are major causes of morbidity and mortality that are seen far more commonly in the aged population. Interestingly, kidney...Full Text Available
BackgroundIn recent years, the protozoan Tritrichomonas foetus has been recognised as an important cause of chronic large-bowel diarrhoea in purebred cats in many...Full Text Available
Hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) is an inflammatory lung disease caused by repeated inhalation of aerosolized antigens. With chronic exposure to an inhaled antigen, patients are at risk of...Full Text Available
ii) Flammability: (iii) A capacity to oxidise: (iv) Corrosiveness: (v) Toxicity (including chronic ...an explosion or fire: (d) For substances with corrosive properties: (i) To reduce the ...likelihood of any unintended corrosion:(ii) To control the adverse effects of any corrosion:
Over the years, nurses, doctors and scientists have sought ways of assessing the impact of pain on patients. While many of the instruments devised have been extremely useful in identifying the nature and intensity of pain, defining the effect it has on people's lives and perceptions has proved much more problematic. Based on the work she carried out with patients suffering from chronic benign pain, Karen Rose explores one aspect of these effects--the feeling of isolation. By using a four-step anthropological approach to identify the impact of pain, she argues, nurses can arrive at a realistic and accurate assessment of how patients are coping. PMID:7947167
Botulinum neurotoxin is produced by the bacterium, Clostridium botulinum. The neurotoxin inhibits acetylcholine at the neuromuscular junction, thus interfering with overall muscular contraction. Botulinum neurotoxin is commonly used for the following medical conditions: cervical dystonia, upper limb spasticity, blepharospasm, strabismus, and hyperhydrosis. However, the use of botulinum neurotoxin was recently approved for the prophylaxis of headaches in adults with chronic migraines. The proposed mechanism of botulinum neurotoxin is no longer solely limited to the inhibition of acetylcholine. There are new mechanisms emerging that involve inhibition of proinflammatory agents and neuropeptides involved in chronic pain. Consequently, there is a disruption of the overall sensory feedback loop...
A 37-year-old military mechanic presented to our institution with a chronic history of a slowly enlarging left elbow antecubital fossa mass. There was no history of other chronic illness or trauma. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and excisional biopsy revealed fatty villi and synovial inflammation within the left bicipitoradial bursa, consistent with lipoma arborescens. Four years later the patient presented with a 6-month history of swelling at the antecubital fossa of the opposite elbow. Diagnostic computed tomography and MRI examinations were performed. The surgical and pathologic findings confirmed the imaging diagnosis of lipoma arborescens at the right bicipitoradial bursa. (orig.)
Abstract Silver-impregnated wound dressings continue to be routinely used for the management of infected wounds, or wounds that are at risk of becoming infected. The ability of antimicrobials that have been incorporated into wound dressings to kill microorganisms within the dressing requires appropriate evaluation using in vitro models. In vitro models that have been exploited for this purpose have included the corrected zone of inhibition and the log reduction assay. However, these and other related culturable-based assays are purported to have poor correlation with the overall microbicidal barrier activity of an antimicrobial wound dressing. This is because culturable-based methods only retrospectively indicate bacterial cell death and do not take into account viable but nonculturable st...
In the present study, chloroform, aqueous, (polyethylene glycol/propylene carbonate) PEG/PC extracts were made from coconut, onion, garlic, fig, date tree, chicory, ananas, and cistrose. These extracts were tested in vivo and in vitro on their anthelmintic activity against cestodes (Hymenolepis diminuta, H. microstoma, Taenia taeniaeformis) and trematodes (Fasciola hepatica, Echinostoma caproni). In all in vitro tests, the target parasites died. It turned out that the treatment of mice and rats with a combination of onion and coconut extracts (with PEG/PC) eliminated all cestodes from their final hosts. In addition, the same composition was effective against the intestinal fluke E. caproni, but not against the liver fluke F. hepatica in the final host, while both worms were killed in vitro...
Background The 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) infected over 8000 people and killed 774. Transmission of SARS occurred through direct and indirect contact and large droplet nuclei. The World Health Organization recommended the use of household disinfectants, which have not been previously tested against SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV), to disinfect potentially contaminated environmental surfaces. There is a need for a surrogate test system given the limited availability of the SARS-CoV for testing and biosafety requirements necessary to safely handle it. In this study, the antiviral activity of standard household products was assayed against murine hepatitis virus (MHV), as a potential surrogate for SARS-CoV. Methods A surface test method, which involves drying an amo...
The most advanced frontier of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is represented by the use of an HLA-partially matched relative as donor. In this type of transplantation, donor-derived natural killer (NK) cells, which are alloreactive towardtoward recipient cells, significantly contribute to the eradication of leukemia blasts. Alloreactive NK cells may also kill host dendritic cells and T lymphocytes, thus preventing graft-versus-host disease and graft rejection, respectively. Sophisticated strategies of adoptive infusion of T-cell lines/clones specific for the most life-threatening pathogens (namely cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, Aspergillus and Adenovirus) have been envisaged, and successfully tested in a few pilot trials, to protect the recipient in the...
Bark beetles that colonize living conifers and their microbial associates encounter constitutive and induced chemical defenses of their host. Monoterpene hydrocarbons comprise a major component of these allelochemicals, and many are antibiotic to insects, fungi, and bacteria. Some bark beetle species exhaust these defenses by killing their host through mass attacks mediated by aggregation pheromones. Others lack adult aggregation pheromones and do not engage in pheromone-mediated mass attacks, but rather have the ability to complete development within live hosts. In the former species, the larvae develop in tissue largely depleted of host terpenes, whereas in the latter exposure to these compounds persists throughout development. A substantial literature exists on how monoterpenes affect b...
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is the most lethal form of diffuse lung fibrosis, killing approximately half of those affected within 2-3 years of diagnosis. Until recently, no therapies had been shown to have an impact on disease progression. The Clinical Studies Assessing Pirfenidone (Esbriet) in IPF: Research of Efficacy and Safety Outcomes (CAPACITY) program comprised two almost identical double-blind placebo-controlled studies assessing the effects of pirfenidone on change in forced vital capacity, the primary end point, over a 72-week period. One of these studies was positive, matching in magnitude the benefit seen in two previous positive Japanese studies. The other study did not meet its primary end point but positive trends were consistent in this and a number of secondary end point...
Various control procedures have been suggested for reducing foodborne infectious diseases. Receiving considerable attention is irradiation. This report estimates the medical and wage (or productivity) benefits associated with prevention of five human diseases transmitted by beef, pork, and chicken. (These diseases can also be transmitted by other vectors, such as eggs, milk, and pets. But these sources are not included in the analysis.) All of these foodborne infectious diseases - salmonellosis, campylobacteriosis, trichinosis, tapeworm, and toxoplasmosis - could be significantly reduced by irradiating meat and poultry. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just approved irradiation of pork to prevent trichinosis (50FR 29658-59) and is considering approval of irradiation of chicken to kill Salmonella. 22 references.
Greenman J, Thorn RMS, Saad S, Austin AJ. In vitro diffusion bed, 3-day repeat challenge `capacity' test for antimicrobial wound dressings. Int Wound J 2006;3:322-329. Abstract The aim of this study was to develop an in vitro wound infection model that allows the comparison of the bacterial kill rate of antimicrobial wound dressings over the course of 3 days, with renewed microbial challenges each day, under realistic wound-like conditions. A test bed model of a moderately exuding wound was constructed from a hydrogel containing releasable foetal calf serum (FCS), and cellulose discs dosed with test microbes (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) suspended in 50% FCS applied at the interface between the test dressing and the hydrogel test bed. Freshly prep...
Abstract: The cane toad (Bufo marinus), a large, toxic, American anuran, was introduced to Australia in 1935. Populations of many of Australia's reptiles (snakes, varanid lizards, crocodiles) and carnivorous mammals (dasyurid marsupials) have declined because these predators are killed by the toad's powerful toxins. In contrast to these well-studied species, little is known about the cane toads impacts on Australian birds. We reviewed published and unpublished data on behavioral interactions between Australian avian predators and cane toads and collated distributional and dietary information to identify avian taxa potentially at risk from cane toad invasion. Cane toads are sympatric with 172 frog-eating bird species in Australia, and an additional 8 bird species overlap with the predicted ...
After mathematicians and physicists had learned that the structure of physical space was not necessarily Euclidean, it became conceivable that the global topological structure of space was non-trivial. In the context of the late 19th century debates on physical space this speculation gave rise to the problem of classifying spaces of constant curvature from a topological point of view. William Kingdon Clifford, Felix Klein and Wilhelm Killing, the latter of whom devoted a substantial amount of work to the topic in the early 1890s, clearly perceived this problem as relevant for both mathematics and natural philosophy (i.e., physics or cosmology). To some extent, a cosmological interest may even be found among those authors who restated the space form problem in more modern terms in the early 20th century, such as Heinz Hopf.
One proposed solution to the problem of ballast-mediated aquatic invasions involves chemically treating ballast water to kill key target organisms. Here, we examine the efficacy of three commercially available ballast water biocides using vegetative microalgae, dinoflagellate resting cysts and bacteria as test organisms. Chemicals tested were the ballast water biocides SeaKleen and Peraclean Ocean, and the chlorine dioxide biocide Vibrex. Results demonstrate that the applicability of each of the three chemical biocides as a routine ballast water treatment is limited by factors such as cost, biological effectiveness and possible residual toxicity of the discharged ballast water (assessed on the basis of impact on motility of vegetative marine microalgae). Of the three biocides tested, Perac...
Endophytes are microorganisms that live within healthy plant tissues, and include fungi and bacteria. They can be mutualists, comensals or even latent pathogens. Presence of these endosymbionts may affect host physiology, for example by consuming products of photosynthesis (endophytes are heterotrophs) or producing toxic metabolites. In this work two fungicides were used to eliminate fungal endophytes from seedlings of guarea guidonia. light saturated photosynthesis (Amax) was measured in endophytefree plants and compared with control plants. Each fungicide killed different fungal endosymbionts. phomopsis was more susceptible to benomyl while colletotrichum was more susceptible to propiconazole. Although suggestive, values of Amax were not significantly different for each treatment compared with control plants. No prediction can be made at this point about the final outcome of a given plantendophytic fungi interaction
Several old and new observations suggest the existence in Crohn's disease of a phagocytic disorder of macrophages related to impaired bactericidal activity of host cells or to the presence of invasive bacteria that have developed strategies to counteract macrophage killing. It was recently reported that disordered macrophage cytokine secretion underlies impaired acute inflammation and bacterial clearance in Crohn's disease. Secretion of proinflammatory cytokines by CD macrophages was impaired in response to E. coli or specific Toll-like receptor agonists. In addition, major advances in the etiology of Crohn's disease came from the existence of polymorphism in NOD2 and autophagy-related susceptibility genes (ATG16L1 and IRGM) in patients and from the identification of the presence of adhere...
A new method for determining the year of birth, the year of death, and hence, the age at death, of post-bomb and recently deceased elephants has been developed. The technique is based on Accelerator Mass Spectrometry radiocarbon analyses of small-sized samples extracted from along the length of a ge-line of an elephant tusk. The measured radiocarbon concentrations in the samples from a tusk can be compared to the {sup 14}C atmospheric bomb-pulse curve to derive the growth years of the initial and final samples from the tusk. Initial data from the application of this method to two tusks will be presented. Potentially, the method may play a significant role in wildlife management practices of African national parks. Additionally, the method may contribute to the underpinnings of efforts to define new international trade regulations, which could, in effect, decrease poaching and the killing of very young animals.
Abstract: Decomposition and insect colonization of pig (Sus scrofa L.) carcasses were observed over a 42 day period inside and outside a house in a suburban region of Edmonton, Alberta. Three freshly killed pig carcasses were placed outdoors on grass and three carcasses were placed in separate rooms inside a house in a suburban residential area. The carcasses were examined and sampled regularly. Outside carcasses were colonized rapidly by Calliphora vicina (R D), Lucilia sericata (Meigen), Lucilia illustris (Meigen), Eucalliphora latifrons (Hough), Cynomya cadaverina (R D), Phormia regina (Meigen), and Protophormia terraenovae (R D). There was a delay of 5 days before inside carcasses were first colonized but all species except E. latifrons and L. illustris readily colonized at this time. ...
Abstract Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which infects not only B cells, but also T cells and natural killer (NK) cells, is associated with multiple lymphoid malignancies. Recently, the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib was reported to induce apoptosis of EBV-transformed B cells. We evaluated the killing effect of this proteasome inhibitor on EBV-associated T lymphoma cells and NK lymphoma cells. First, we found that bortezomib treatment decreased the viability of multiple T and NK cell lines. No significant difference was observed between EBV-positive and EBV-negative cell lines. The decreased viability in response to bortezomib treatment was abrogated by a pan-caspase inhibitor. The induction of apoptosis was confirmed by flow cytometric assessment of annexin V staining. Additionally, cleavage o...
Varroa destructor is an ectoparasitic mite that affects colonies of honey bee Apis mellifera worldwide. In the last years, substances of botanical origin have emerged as natural alternative acaricides to diminish the population levels of the mite. In the present work, the bioactivity of propolis from different geographical locations of Pampean region from Argentina on V. destructor was evaluated. Fourteen propolis samples were organoleptic and physicochemically characterized and, by means topical applications, their activity was tested on mites. All propolis had a homogeneous composition and the bioactivity levels against mites were comparable among the different propolis samples. The percentage of mites killed by the treatments ranged between 60.5% and 90% after 30?s of exposure. Thus, V....
ObjectiveInjury is the leading cause of death among American youth, killing more 11-year-olds than all other causes combined. Children with symptoms of externalizing behavior disorders such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and conduct disorder (CD) may have increased risk. Our aims were to determine: (1) whether increasing symptoms of ADHD and CD associate positively with injuries among a community sample of fifth graders; and (2) whether symptoms of ADHD and CD have a multiplicative rather than additive association with injuries among the sample. MethodsData were collected from 4745 fifth graders and their primary caregivers participating in Healthy Passages, a multisite, community-based study of pediatric health risk behaviors and health outcomes. The primary outcome wa...
We present two applications of CR-39 to estimate biological effects of heavy ion irradiation. The accurate measurement of fluence of ions using CR-39 is indispensable to calculate the action cross sections for biological effects. Ions with 6 MeV/n at the Medium Energy Beam Course, HIMAC (NIRS) were extracted to the air, and degraded with the air. DNA and living cells were irradiated by ions with various specific energies at several air columns along with the Bragg curve. DNA strand breaks and cell killing were measured and the results were converted to the action cross sections using the fluence measured with CR-39 at the irradiation positions. Another example of the application of CR-39 is to identify whether the ions with a specific energy pass through the cell or stop within the cell. (author)
This paper offers a conceptually straightforward method for the calculation of stresses in polarisable media based on the notion of a drive form and its property of being closed in spacetimes with symmetry. After an outline of the notation required to exploit the powerful exterior calculus of differential forms, a discussion of the relation between Killing isometries and conservation laws for smooth and distributional drive forms is given. Instantaneous forces on isolated spacetime domains and regions with interfaces are defined, based on manifestly covariant equations of motion. The remaining sections apply these notions to media that sustain electromagnetic stresses, with emphasis on homogeneous magnetoelectric material. An explicit calculation of the average pressure exerted by a monochromatic wave normally incident on a homogeneous, magnetoelectric slab in vacuo is presented and the concluding section summarizes how this pressure depends on the parameters in ...
The authors have studied the distribution of H-3 labelled schistosomicidal drug in mice by autoradiography. The H-3-labelled substances were found in liver and kidney and in successfully decreasing amounts in brain, lung, heart, fat, testis, pancreas and spleen. In various cells the silver granules were present mainly in the cytoplasms but a few in the nucleus. After administration of this labelled schistosomicidal drug, the mice were killed and studied in groups successively at 4, 8, 24 hrs. No difference in the distribution of silver granules were observed. This fact indicated that, this drug was rapidly absorbed and highly concentrated with a long duration of reservation in liver. All of these favours the schistosomicidal effect of the drug. As this drug was highly concentrated in the cytoplasm of liver cells, that might provide a pathophysiologic basis for the explanation of jaundice in the clinical practice. Moreover, the appearance of toxic reaction in ...
A large proportion of patients may develop chronic pain following cancer treatments such as surgery, radiotherapy, or chemotherapy. These patients can experience significant levels of physical and psychological morbidity. Our aim was to investigate a cognitive-behavioral pain management program (PMP) for cancer patients with chronic treatment-related pain. Thirteen patients (1 man, 12 women; mean age 52 yrs) completed the study, 9 of whom had a history of breast cancer and had received extensive medical treatment, including surgery. A combination of physical and psychological techniques were adapted from previous work in chronic benign pain and implemented by two therapists. Interventions included education, relaxation, exercise training, and goal setting. A variety of outcomes were examined to assess general fitness, psychological distress, coping success, activities of daily living, and pain report. The median number of ...
The dominant shrubs were sagebrush and spiny hopsage; the herbs were dominated by cheatgrass and Sandberg bluegrass. Spiny hopsage appeared to be vulnerable to burning and also to damage by off-road vehicular traffic. It appears to have little or no ability to reproduce through seedlings; once the existing plants are killed they are not likely to be replaced, even if seed-producing plants are nearby. The only pure stand of spiny hopsage known to exist on the Hanford Site is on and near study plot 2H. Sagebrush, like spiny hopsage, is killed by burning and by heavy vehicles. Sagebrush is capable of reproducing via seeds, indicating that it is an inherently aggressive species with a capacity to reestablish itself if parent plants are in the vicinity to act as seed sources. Alien, annual plants, especially cheatgrass, were a major contributor to the herbaceous canopy cover in plots 3S, 4S, and 5S. However, native perennial grasses, especially ...
Consensus principles from radiation biology were used to describe a generic set of nonlinear, first-order differential equations for modeling of toxicity-induced compensatory cell kinetics in terms of sublethal injury, repair, direct killing, killing of cells with unrepaired sublethal injury, and repopulation. This cellular model was linked to a probit model of hematopoietic mortality that describes death from infection and/or hemorrhage between {approximately} 5 and 30 days. Mortality data from 27 experiments with 851 doseresponse groups, in which doses were protracted by rate and/or fractionation, were used to simultaneously estimate all rate constants by maximum-likelihood methods. Data used represented 18,940 test animals distributed according to: (mice, 12,827); (rats, 2,925); (sheep, 1,676); (swine, 829); (dogs, 479); and (burros, 204). Although a long-term, repopulating hematopoietic stem cell is ancestral to all lineages needed to ...
Purpose: To determine the value of MRI in the preoperative evaluation of chronic paranasal sinusitis and to compare the results with CT and intraoperative findings. Method/Materials: 42 patients with clinical signs of chronic paranasal sinusitis underwent MRI after CT evaluation on one day, with subsequent functional endoscopic sinus surgery on the next day. Coronary CT was obtained with 5-mm slices and table-feed in the prone position, while MRI was performed in the supine position with coronary T_2-TSE+pd and coronary and transverse HASTE, each with 5-mm slice thickness. Aquisition time in MRI was less than 8 minutes. Two radiologists reviewed the CT and MRI scans for signs of sinusitis and detection of anatomical landmarks. The results were correlated with the intraoperative findings. Results: MRI offered no artifacts of dental work and showed more often high quality pictures than CT. CT and MRI demonstrated a good correlation in the ...
The effect of chronic administration of phenobarbital on the binding of phorbol-12,13-dibutyrate (({sup 3}H)PDBu), an activator of protein kinase C (PKC), was examined in rat liver microsomes. A significant increase in the number of binding sites was observed in microsomes of Fisher 344 rats. However, no change appeared in liver cytosol binding of PDBu. Consequently, a translocation process of PKC is unlikely. The increase in ({sup 3}H)PDBu binding in liver microsomes is significant 24 h. after one injection of phenobarbital and reaches its maximum in 2 days. In other strains of rats (ACI and lean Zucker), significant differences were found in the increase of ({sup 3}H)PDBu binding in microsomes. Fisher 344 were the most sensitive, lean Zucker rats, the least sensitive. Those results parallel the pentoxy-resorufin O demethylase activity in the microsomes of the same animals. EC{sub 50} values for inhibition of ({sup 3}H)PDBu binding by pentobarbital were determined ...
Systemic and splanchnic hemodynamics of the chronic bile duct-ligated rat were characterized by radioactive microspheres. Conscious and pentobarbital sodium-anesthetized, bile duct-ligated and sham-operated rats had cardiac output and regional organ blood flows determined. The conscious bile duct-ligated rat compared with the sham-operated showed a hyperdynamic circulation with an increased cardiac output and portal tributary blood flow. Pentobarbital sodium anesthesia induced marked hemodynamic changes in both sham-operated and bile duct-ligated rats. The latter group was especially sensitive to its effects; thus, comparison of cardiac output and portal tributary blood flow between anesthetized bile duct-ligated and sham-operated rats showed no significant differences. The authors conclude that the rat with cirrhosis due to chronic bile duct ligation is an excellent model for hemodynamic investigations but should be studied in the conscious ...
The gene expression of beta(1)-adrenergic receptor (beta(1)AR) and stimulatory G-protein Gsalpha in ventricle after chronic treatment with doxorubicin (DOX) in rat was investigated. The rats were treated with DOX in a dose of 2.5 mg/kg once a week for 5 weeks, the cumulative dose being 12.5 mg/kg. Two weeks after the last injection, the positive inotropic effect of isoproterenol was noticeably decreased in left atrial muscle preparations isolated from DOX-treated rats. Northern blot hybridization showed that the mRNA transcripts of beta(1)AR and Gsalpha, important signal transduction elements for regulating heart rate and contractility, were significantly decreased in the ventricle of DOX-treated rats. Thus, chronic treatment with DOX decreases the gene expression levels of myocardial beta(1)AR and Gsalpha. PMID:15353854
The function of the hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal system has been studied in 118 males with different stages of alcoholism. Comparison with the control group has shown decreased levels of interstitial cell stimulating hormone (ICSH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and testosterone, and elevated concentrations of prolactin (Prl). Differences in the parameters of hormonal activity expressed in a varying degree of a decrease in FSH, ICSH, and testosterone, and a Prl elevation are related to change in mutual regulatory influences between the gonads and hypothalamo-pituitary complex. The most informative parameters were concentrations of Prl and testosterone (considering elevation in the former and reduction in the latter hormone) and the ratio of their concentrations. Difference of these parameters in each group (corresponding to the stages of alcoholism) may be used as an additional diagnostic criterion of chronic alcohol intoxication. PMID:3434080
Purpose To examine the reliability and validity of the Japanese-language version of the PedsQL? Multidimensional Fatigue Scale and to investigate the agreement between child self-reported fatigue and parent proxy-reported fatigue. Methods The Japanese-language version of the PedsQL? Multidimensional Fatigue Scale was administered to 652 preschoolers and schoolchildren aged 5?12 and their parents, and to 91 parents of preschool children aged 1?4. Results Internal consistency reliability was 0.62?0.87 for children and 0.81?0.93 for parents. Known-group validity was examined between a group of healthy samples (n?=?530) and chronic condition sample (n?=?102); the chronically ill group reported a significantly higher perceived fatigue problem. Correlations between child self- and parent proxy r...
The effects of repeated low-level nerve agent exposure on animal performance and lethality are a major concern of USAF Medical Research. This concern has generated interest in the role that pretreatment drugs such as pyridostigmine may play during simultaneous exposure to soman. This role was investigated by recording lethality, weights, symptoms, and cholinesterase (ChE) inhibition in rats chronically exposed to 4 levels of soman (32, 39, 48 or 59 micrograms/kg/day) while simultaneously receiving 10.0 milligrams/kg/day pyridostigmine, 1.0 milligrams/kg/day pyridostigmine, or vehicle via an osmotic pump. No effect (either protective or detractive) was found in the soman-poisoned animals due to the presence or absence of pyridostigmine. However, rat blood biochemistry is different from that of the primate, warranting further study in the primate before extrapolation to man.
Abstract Background- Pemphigus vulgaris is a chronic disease not currently curable. Physical involvement and the impact of chronic therapies can lead patients to changes in psychological and relational areas. Objectives- To provide a measure of psychological distress, dysfunctional investment in one's appearance, and their relationship. Methods- Self-administered questionnaires (ASI, HADS) were given to 74 pemphigus inpatients. Results- Strong associations between psychological distress and dysfunctional investment in one's appearance were observed [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 7.36, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.20-45.11; OR 5.38, 95% CI 0.81-35.87, respectively, for appearance stereotyping and body-image vulnerability], together with a perceived high disease severity (OR 6.03, 95% CI 1.9...
Summary This third paper, in a three-part CE series on the preventions of infection in patients with chronic kidney disease, focuses on surveillance and auditing of healthcare-associated infections within the renal care environment. The last decade has seen an increased awareness of the threat to patient safety from healthcare-associated infection (HCAI) and the emergence of multi-drug resistance organisms. Effective HCAI prevention strategies include adequate governance structures, access to expert advice, adherence to standard and transmission-based precautions, minimising the use of invasive medical devices, and surveillance. Surveillance data can be collected using outcome (e.g. infection) and/or process (e.g. hand hygiene compliance audit) measures. Establishing a surveillance program...
We investigated the presence of XMRV in a cohort of Quebec patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). DNA was purified from activated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and PCR was used to detect XMRV gag and env in 72 patients. Anti-XMRV antibodies were searched in sera of 62 patients by Western blot analysis. Attempts to detect XMRV antigens was made, using immunofluorescence with Gag anti-p30 antiserum on activated PBMC from 50 patients. Plasma viremia was measured by RT-PCR on 9 subjects. Finally, detection of infectious virus in 113 CFS subjects was made by co-culture of PHA+IL-2 activated PBMC with human LNCaP carcinoma cells, and by infecting the same susceptible cells with plasma, using a reverse transcriptase (RT) assay as a readout in both experiments. No detection of ...
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is considered to be one of the most common malignancies worldwide, and the most common one in Africa and Asia. Over the last decade, a rising incidence of up to 10-15/100,000 per population has been seen in the Western world, with an estimate of 250,000 deaths and more than a million worldwide per year. By the year 2010, the World Health Organization expects that HCC will be the leading cause of cancer mortality surpassing lung cancer. This increasing incidence is most likely related to an increasing prevalence of chronic hepatitis C (HC) and B (HB) virus infections and other diseases inducing chronic inflammation (Befeler and Di Bisceglie 2002; Llovet et al. 2003).
Exposure to urban air pollution is an independent risk factor for increased cardiovascular diseases. Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of vascular dysfunction and cardiovascular diseases. This study has been designed to determine whether inhalation of urban air induces HSP70 expression in the lung and blood as well as the association of HSP70 and air pollution-induced vascular dysfunction. Apolipoprotein E (Apo-E) deficient mice were exposed to diesel exhaust (DE) either acutely (3 days, 200 or 400 g/m3 for 6 h/day) or chronically (7 weeks, 200 or 400 g/m3 for 6 h/day). HSP70 was measured in the lung using immunohistochemistry, and in the plasma by ELISA. Abdominal aorta rings were used to determine vascular functional responses. Chronic DE-exposure incr...
XMRV or xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related retrovirus, a recently discovered retrovirus, has been linked to both prostate cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Recently, the teams of Drs. Shyh-Ching Lo and Harvey Alter discovered the presence of sequences closely related to XMRV in the blood of 86.5% of patients with CFS [1]. These findings are important because since the initial discovery of XMRV in CFS, several studies have failed to find XMRV in specimens collected from CFS patients. While the current study also did not find XMRV in CFS, Lo et al. did detect sequences that belong to polytropic mouse endogenous retroviruses (PMV), which share considerable similarity with XMRV. Criteria for future studies that will help bring greater clarity to the issue of retroviral sequences in CFS are proposed below. PMID:21994623
Objective Multiple sclerosis (MS) and its animal counterpart experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) have a major inflammatory component that drives and orchestrates both diseases. One particular group of mediators are the prostaglandins (PGs), which we have previously shown, through quantitation and pharmacological intervention, to be closely involved in the pathology of MS and EAE. The aim of the current study was to determine the expression of the PG-generating cyclooxygenase (COX) enzymes and the profile of PGE2 and PGD2, in selected central nervous system (CNS) tissues, with the development of the chronic relapsing (CR) form of EAE. In particular, the work investigates the possible relationship between the expression of COX isoenzymes and PG levels during the neurological phas...
It is uncertain if downregulation of ?-adrenoceptor signaling pathway is promoted by an enhanced adrenergic tone at an early stage of cardiac disease, or it develops secondary to detrimental local myocardial changes in advanced heart failure. We examined the integrity of ?-adrenoceptor signaling pathway upon chronic infusion of isoproterenol, a ?-adrenoceptor agonist, at a dose producing no structural left ventricular (LV) remodeling and systolic dysfunction. Subcutaneous isoproterenol infusion (400??g?kg?1?h?1 over 16?days) to guinea pigs using osmotic minipumps produced no change in cardiac weights, LV internal dimensions, myocyte cross-sectional area, extent of interstitial fibrosis, and basal contractile function. Isolated, perfused heart preparations from isoproterenol-treated guinea ...
The possible long term effects of chronic radiation exposure have been studied. Rats were given tritiated drinking water (3#mu#Ci/ml) before pregnancy, during pregnancy and threafter, continuously through 5 generations. The brains were studied at 30 and 120 days postnatally. Significant decreases in weight, DNA and protein contents of specific parts of the brain were found, the most pronounced decreases being in the diencephalon. The decreases in protein content were more pronounced than the decreases in DNA content; the decreases were also more pronounced at 30 days than at 120 days, and more pronounced in the fifth generation than in previous generations. An attempt was made to explain these complex phenomena on the basis of known periods of proliferation of various brain cells, damage to mothers themselves in each generation, and damage and repair of nucleic acids caused by radioactivity.
Background. The `RISchio CArdiovascolare nei pazienti afferenti all' Area Vasta In Dialisi (RISCAVID) study is an observational and prospective trial including the whole chronic haemodialysis (HD) population in the northwest part of Tuscany (1.235 million people). The aim of the study was to elucidate the relevance of traditional and non-traditional risk factors of mortality and morbidity in HD patients as well as the impact of different HD modalities.Methods. A total of 757 HD patients (mean age 66 +- 14 years, mean dialytic age 70 +- 76 months, diabetes 19%) were prospectively followed up for 30 months and all-cause mortality, cardiovascular (CV) mortality and non-fatal CV events (acute myocardial infarction and stroke) were registered. At the time of the enrolment, demographic, clinical...
Abstract Recent reports showed many patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) harbor a retrovirus, xenotropic murine leukemia-related virus (XMRV), in blood; other studies could not replicate this finding. A useful next step would be to examine cerebrospinal fluid, because in some patients CFS is thought to be a brain disorder. Finding a microbe in the central nervous system would have greater significance than in blood because of the integrity of the blood-brain barrier. We examined cerebrospinal fluid from 43 CFS patients using polymerase chain reaction techniques, but did not find XMRV or multiple other common viruses, suggesting that exploration of other causes or pathogenetic mechanisms is warranted. Ann Neurol 2011;
Hormone levels were examined in the venous blood in 54 men suffering from stage 2 alcoholism and in 30 normal subjects, using a radioimmunochemical assay. The alcoholics were found to have a statistically significant increase in prolactin and a decrease in testosterone. A definite ratio in the secretion of these hormones differing from that in the control group was elucidated. This ratio (prolactin-testosterone index) is proposed as a diagnostic test of alcoholism. PMID:6441404
B6C3F1 mice chronically exposed to 3,3′,4,4′-tetrachloroazobenzene (TCAB), a contaminant of dichloroaniline-derived herbicides, developed a number of neoplastic and nonneoplastic...Full Text Available
Chronic HTLV-I (human T cell lymphotropic virus type I) infection may cause adult T cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL), a disease with dismal long-term prognosis. The HTLV-I transactivator, Tax, initiates...Full Text Available
Atopic eczema is a chronic skin condition affecting between 5% and 20% of children aged up to 11 years at one time or other. Research suggests that prevalence is increasing and various environmental...Full Text Available
The effect of in vitro and in vivo administration of ethanol on the binding of "3"5S-t-butyl-bicyclophosphorothionate ("3"5S-TBPS) to cortical brain membranes of C57B1 mice was investigated using KCl (100 mM) containing assay media. The in vitro addition of ethanol produced a dose-dependent inhibition of basal "3"5S-TBPS binding. In the presence of chloride ions, GABA and pentobarbital had a biphasic action (stimulation followed by inhibition) on "3"5S-TBPS binding, whereas diazepam only stimulated the binding. Ethanol reduced the stimulatory effects of GABA and pentobarbital in a dose-dependent manner, but had no effect on the enhancement of "3"5S-TBPS binding produced by diazepam. "3"5S-TBPS binding to cortical brain membranes was inhibited by the putative Cl"- channel blocking agent DIDS. This inhibitory action of DIDS was significantly, and dose-dependently reduced by ethanol (#<=# 100 mM ethanol). Chronic ethanol ingestion in vivo, which produced tolerance ...
BackgroundThere are several known factors that cause ischemic heart disease. However, the part played by air pollution still remains something of a mystery. Recent attention has...Full Text Available
Effect of single and chronic irradiation on factors of hamsters natural immunity such as complement, lysozyme and antibodies in norm and in the cestode invasion has been investigated. Significant phase changes in the complement activity level, lysozyme content and specific antibodies tite have been shown to occur in hamster blood under the influence of ionizing radiation. Cestode invasion in irradiated host organism increases the negative effect of ionizing radiation on the hamster immyne system.
Daily exposures of adult beagle dogs to inhaled radon daughters plus uranium ore dust, with and without concurrent cigarette smoking, for 2 to 5-1/2 yr have produced massive pulmonary fibrosis and severe emphysema. The cumulative exposure doses are similar to those associated with a 5-fold or greater increase in death rate of uranium miners due to chronic respiratory insufficiency, including pneumoconiosis, pulmonary fibrosis, and emphysema.
Mucociliary transport so critical in nasal, paranasal sinus, and middle ear physiology is impaired in chronic sinsusitis and otitis media by factors such as increased mucus viscoelasticity, decreased ciliary area, and primary or secondary ciliary immotility. We reviewed the pathophysiology of primary ciliary dyskinesia, otitis media with effusion, chronic sinusitis, and allergic rhinitis in terms of mucociliary transport. Subjects with primary ciliary dyskinesia may experience recurrent middle ear infection, chronic airway infection, predominantly lower-lobe bronchiectasis, male sterility, or situs inversus. Primary ciliary dyskinesia is sometimes difficult to diagnose in cases without situs inversus. Nasal nitric oxide concentration in such patients decreases, although why is unclear. Mutations may involve dynein arm intermediate chain 1 (DNAI1) or dynein arm heavy chain 5 (DNAH5). Mucociliary clearance decreases more in ...
We have recently shown that viable Borrelia burgdorferi organisms induce a chronic infection associated with arthritis and carditis in severe combined immunodeficiency (scid) mice but not in immunocompetent...Full Text Available
AimsThe prevalence and importance of liver function test (LFT) abnormalities in a large contemporary cohort of heart failure patients have not been systematically evaluated.Full Text Available
A brief tutorial on the health effects of ionising radiation is presented. The distinction between somatic and genetic health effects is explained. The two types of somatic health effects, i.e., acute and chronic effects, are discussed, as well as the concepts of ''deterministic'' and ''stochastic'' (also called ''probabilistic'') health effects. The possibility of cancer caused by DNA damage is discussed. The document ends with the definition of some key radiation terms.
By polymerase chain reaction with arbitrary primer (AP-PCR), the possibility of transmission of genome instability to somatic cells of the offspring (F_1 generation) from male parents of mice exposed to chronic low-dose #gamma#-radiation was studied. Male mice 15 days after exposure to 10-50 cGy were mated with unirradiated females. Biopsies were taken from tale tips of two month-old mice progeny for DNA separation. Primer in the AP-PCR was 20-mer oligonucleotide flanking the micro-satellite locus Atplb2 on chromosome 11 of the mouse. Comparative analysis of individual fingerprints of AP-PCR products on DNA-templates from the offspring of irradiated and unirradiated male mice revealed an increased variability of micro-satellite-associated sequences in the genome of the offspring of males exposed to 25 and 50 cGy. DNA-fingerprints of the offspring of male mice exposed to chronic irradiation doses 10 and 25 cGy. 15 days before fertilization (at ...
The utilization of health care services in children and adolescents with chronic benign pain was studied in a Dutch population sample of 254 chronic pain sufferers aged 0-18 years. Children and adolescents who had reported chronic pain (continuous or recurrent pain >3 months) in our previous prevalence study were asked to keep a 3-week diary on their pain and to fill out questionnaires on background factors, health care use and the impact of pain. Parent ratings were used for children aged 0-11 years, self-report was used in adolescents (12-18 years). In a 3-month period, in 53.4% of the cases medication was used for pain, and general practitioners and specialists were consulted for pain in 31.1% and 13.9% of subjects, respectively. Physiotherapists, psychologists and alternative health providers were visited by 11.5, 2.8, and 4.0%, respectively. In the preceding year, 6.4% had been hospitalized due to pain. The most ...
Nonthyroidal illness syndrome (NTIS) is a state of low serum 3,5,3′ triiodothyronine (T3) that occurs in chronically ill patients; the degree of reduction in T3 is associated...Full Text Available
HCV-Ag-specific TH17 cells secrete IL17, a cytokine involved in autoimmune diseases and regulated by IL10 and TGF-b. 5–12% of patients with chronic HCV infection have hypothyroidism. We evaluated...Full Text Available
Wolsung nuclear power plant has experienced four occasions of reactor shutdown owing to heavy water leaks since its commercial operation. Among these heavy water leaks, only one case was acute and brought about reactor shutdown but the other cases listed below were chronic and repaired after manual reactor shutdown. (author). 4 tabs., 10 figs.
Summary20 years ago, in 1987, Edelson and co-workers published their first report on the effectiveness of a new procedure, called extracorporeal photochemotherapy (ECP), in patients...Full Text Available
Background:Timely access to publicly funded health services is a priority issue across the healthcare continuum in Canada. The purpose of this study was to examine wait list management...Full Text Available
BackgroundStudies of chronic health effects due to exposures to particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters ≤ 2.5 μm (PM2.5) are often limited by sparse...Full Text Available
BackgroundHepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is the leading cause of chronic hepatitis which progresses to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) afflicting > 170 million people worldwide....Full Text Available
Parathyroid hormone (PTH) is used clinically in osteoporotic patients to increase bone mass by enhancing bone formation. PTH therapy is not uniformly effective at all skeletal sites and “lifestyle”...Full Text Available
The past three years of work for the Air Force Office of Scientific Research has resulted in the development of a congenic mouse model of JP-8 jet fuel exposure, the role of substance P in the JP-8 jet fuel-induced lung injury process, and development of ...
Bovine paratuberculosis is caused by infection of young calves with Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis. In some of the chronically infected cows the long asymptomatic...Full Text Available
1. It is not possible to give a threshold value for the dose - nor for genetic neither for somatic late effects. 2. The linear dose-effect exprapolation is not conservative in the sense of 'fying on the safe side'. 3. There has been found no relative reduction of the effects at chronic radiation exposure in man. 4 The numbers given by authorities and utilities for damage rates per rem received, that are called upper limits, are by far too low. (orig./HP).
The tapeworm Spirometra mansonoides infects man worldwide, particularly in Asian countries. Rarely, the central nervous system is involved; such a case is presented here. In the total of 12 reported cases, including the case described, the worm presented clinically as a mass suspicious for neoplasm or chronic abscess cavity. Surgical removal was invariably curative in each case. Although infrequent, the possibility of tapeworm infection should be entertained in the evaluation of intracranial masses in patients who have visited exotic locales. PMID:2191089
The three mammalian transforming growth factor (TGF)-β isoforms (TGF-β1, TGF-β2, and TGF-β3) differ in their putative roles in radiation-induced fibrosis in intestine...Full Text Available
Computed tomography was performed on 5 patients with chronic cerebral paragonimiasis. CT showed solitary or multiple, amorphous, round, or oval calcifications, and ventricular enlargement in all 5 cases. A large low-density area is also found in 4 of the 5 cases. These CT findings are compatible with previously reported findings of simple X-ray films of the skull, pneumoencephalography, and pathological studies. (author).
Ileal dysgenesis is an uncommon condition of unknown etiology occurring in the distal ileum in the region of the vitelline duct. The CT appearance of this lesion, although not previously described to our knowledge, is characteristic. We report a patient with ileal dysgenesis who had an abdominal CT scan to evaluate chronic iron deficiency anemia and protein-losing enteropathy. Recognition of this lesion by pediatric radiologists is important; so that surgical treatment, which is simple and effective, can be initiated quickly. (orig.)
Late somatic and genetic radiation effects are imperfectly understood, particularly in the human species. However the available information is sufficient to draw reasonably precise risk estimates in man for many types of damage by means of scientifically justifiable procedures and with the necessary caution. This overall absolute risk of major somatic and genetic damage may be set at around 10"-"4/rad of chronic whole-body doses.
Automatic weapons such as machine guns and submachine guns are found in the German-speaking region only in special army and police units and appear accordingly rarely in homicides, suicides and accidents. In the following, the findings in two cases of death with the use of machine and submachine guns are presented. The first case was a fatal accident during shooting on a training area (current machine gun of the German army, calibre 7.62 x 51 mm), the second case was a killing during a physical conflict (submachine gun MP 40 from World War II, calibre 9 x 19 mm). In the case with the machine gun autopsy disclosed typical entry holes corresponding to the calibre, but unusually large exit wounds with tissue bridges in the wound ground, measuring 4 x 2.5 cm in diameter. By contrast, the second case (submachine gun) showed "normal" entry and exit wounds. The differences are mainly caused by deviating ballistic data of the ammunition used. They are discussed against the ...
The radiosensitivity of spermatogonial stem cells of C3H/HeHx101/H F[sub 1] hybrid mice was determined by counting undifferentiated spermatogonia at 10 days after X-irradiation. During the spermatogenic cycle, differences in radiosensitivity were found, which were correlated with the proliferative activity of the spermatogonial stem cells. In stage VIII[sub irr], during quiescence, the spermatogonial stem cells were most radiosensitive with a D[sub 0] of 1.4 Gy. In stages XI[sub irr]-V[sub irr], when the cells were proliferatively active, the D[sub 0] was about 2.6 Gy. Based on the D[sub 0] values for sensitive and resistant spermatogonia and on the D[sub 0] for the total population, a ratio of 45:55% of sensitive to resistant spermatogonial stem cells was estimated for cell killing. When the present data were compared with data on translocation induction obtained in mice of the same genotype, a close fit was obtained when the translocation yield (Y; in % abnormal ...
The preparation of neem oil microemulsion and its acaricidal activity in vitro was developed in this study. In these systems, the mixture of Tween-80 and the sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) (4:1, by weight) was used as compound surfactant; the mixture of compound surfactant and hexyl alcohol (4:1, by weight) was used as emulsifier system; the mixture of neem oil, emulsifier system and water (1:3.5:5.5, by weight) was used as neem oil microemulsion. All the mixtures were stired in 800rpm for 15min at 40^oC. The acaricidal activity was measured by the speed of kill. The whole lethal time value of 10% neem oil microemulsion was 192.50min against Sarcoptes scabiei var. cuniculi larvae in vitro. The median lethal time value was 81.7463min with the toxicity regression equations of Y=-6.0...
Biofumigation with Muscodor albus was investigated to control four fungal decay pathogens (Phytophthora erythroseptica, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Botrytis cinerea and Penicillium expansum) and four bacterial pathogens (Erwinia carotovora pv. carotovora, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Escherichia coli, Listeria innocua) in controlled atmosphere conditions (regular air (20.8% O2+0.03% CO2), high CO2 (20.8% O2+15% CO2) or low O2 (1% O2+0.03% CO2)). In vitro experiments involved 48h exposure to M. albus at 3degreeC or 20degreeC, in vivo experiments involved 72h exposure to M. albus at 3degreeC. In vitro biofumigation with M. albus in regular air at 20degreeC killed all the pathogens. Bacterial growth was best controlled by M. albus at 20degreeC regardless of atmospheric conditions whereas fungal gro...
Gas-insulated systems employing SF/sub 6/ are utilized in a variety of applications in power delivery systems. Because electric arcs, sparks or corona can decompose SF/sub 6/ into by-products having chemical properties different from SF/sub 6/, environmental concerns arise regarding inadvertent human exposures to electrically-decomposed SF/sub 6/. Biological assays in our laboratory using mammalian cell culture systems have revealed that SF/sub 6/, spark-decomposed under specific experimental conditions, can produce cell death. Chemical analysis of spark-decomposed SF/sub 6/ has identified the major decomposition pathways and by-products. Biological testing of individual by-products or by-product mixtures has indicated that these major decomposition products may not account for the majority of the cell killing effects seen in our assays. Further experiments have suggested that S/sub 2/F/sub 10/ may be produced and accumulate under our specific decomposition ...
We study the spin dependence of accretion onto rotating Kerr black holes using analytic techniques. In its linear regime, angular momentum transport in MHD turbulent accretion flow involves the generation of radial magnetic field connecting plasma in a differentially rotating flow. We take a first principles approach, highlighting the constraint that limits the generation and amplification of radial magnetic fields, stemming from the transfer of energy from mechanical to magnetic form. Because the energy transferred in magnetic form is ultimately constrained by gravitational potential energy or Killing energy, the spin dependence of the latter allows us to derive spin-dependent constraints on the success of the accreting plasma to expel its angular momentum. We find an inverse relationship between this ability and black hole spin. If this radial magnetic field generation forms the basis for angular momentum transfer in accretion flows, accretion rates involving ...
The ability of Yersinia pestis to forestall the mammalian innate immune response is a fundamental aspect of plague pathogenesis. In this study, we examined the effect of Ail, a 17-kDa outer membrane protein that protects Y. pestis against complement-mediated lysis, on bubonic plague pathogenesis in mice and rats. The Y. pestis ail mutant was attenuated for virulence in both rodent models. The attenuation was greater in rats than in mice, which correlates with the ability of normal rat serum, but not mouse serum, to kill ail-negative Y. pestis in vitro. Intradermal infection with the ail mutant resulted in an atypical, subacute form of bubonic plague associated with extensive recruitment of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN or neutrophils) to the site of infection in the draining lymph node and the formation of large purulent abscesses that contained the bacteria. Systemic spread and mortality were greatly attenuated, however, and a productive adaptive immune ...
Radiation defects produced by helium implantation were used to shape profiles of palladium (Pd) and platinum (Pt) atoms in-diffusing (for 20 min at temperatures 600-800 deg. C) either from surface silicide (Pd_2Si, PtSi) or implanted layers. Results show that this procedure allows a strong localization of substitutional Pd and Pt at the depth where the damage produced by helium peaks. This results in local reduction of carrier lifetime by an almost ideal recombination centers - the acceptor level of substitutional Pd (E _c - 0.22 eV) or Pt (E _c - 0.23 eV). While optimum conditions for Pt in-diffusion are about 700 deg. C, Pd gives the best results already at lower temperatures (600 deg. C) where it also exhibits higher peak solubility. Both methods were used for optimization of turn-off properties of high power PiN diodes. The devices, where the lifetime was killed locally by Pd and Pt, exhibited similar trade-off between the static and dynamic parameters as the ...
A cohort of singleton black human females exposed to diagnostic x-ray in utero and controls matched by parity, hospital of birth and birthdate have been followed to ages 25 to 30 years in Baltimore, Maryland. The search for possible effects of prenatal irradiation has focused on health, growth, development, and reproductive experience of exposed and control women. This paper reports findings related to reproductive experience. From an original data set of 1458 matched exposed-control pairs of women, questionnaire responses were received from 1109 exposed and 1124 control women including 852 each from pairs in which both the exposed and control woman responded. After careful search for alternative explanations of the findings, the authors concluded that females exposed in utero to low doses of x-ray (probably 1 to 5 rads) had significant increases in their rates of early onset of menses, births at age 15 years or less, numbers of living children, stillbirths, and sterilizing operations ...
A tick/rickettsial survey in various parts of Switzerland revealed the presence of a new, hitherto undescribed spotted fever group rickettsia ("Swiss agent") in up to 11.7% of I. ricinus collected off vegetation. Infection in ticks was found to be generalized with rickettsiae developing intracellularly and occasionally also intranuclearly. As a result of massive growth in ovarial tissues, including the germinative cells, the rate of transovarial and filial infection was 100%. The "Swiss agent" appears to be nonpathogenic for guinea pigs, domestic rabbits, and Swiss mice, but in male meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) it produces a microscopically detectable infection in the tunica vaginalis. The rickettsia grows well in tissue culture systems including chick embryo fibroblast, Vero, and vole tissue cells, when inoculated via yolk sac into 5-day-old hens' eggs, it kills 100% of the embryos after 5 to 7 days. Antigenic relatedness of the "Swiss agent" to ...
Natural sunlight induces a genotoxic response in cultured CHO cells pre-treated with shale oil retort process water. Near ultraviolet light (NUV) component of the solar spectrum is the apparent radiation responsible for photoactivation. Cultured human skin fibroblasts are acutely sensitive to the genotoxic effects of photoactivated process water. The mutagenic potential of photoactivated process water in human cells is the same as that witnessed for an equivalent killing dose of the potent skin carcinogen FUV. DNA repair processes are involved in modulating genotoxic effects of this photo-induced process. The exact magnitude of the potential health-related and environmental risks resulting from photoactivation of retort process waters and other oil shale by-products is unassessed at this time. Our demonstration that a significant rate of mutation occurs in cultured human cells exposed to high dilutions of process waters and fluences of NUV comparable to that ...
Escherichia coli B and K-12 are equally susceptible to the bacteriostatic effects of aerobic paraquat, but they differed strikingly when the lethality of paraquat was evaluated. E. coli B suffered an apparent loss of viability when briefly exposed to paraquat, whereas E. coli K-12 did not. This difference depended on the ability of the B-strain, but not the K-12 strain, to retain internalized paraquat; the B strain was killed on aerobic tryptic soy-yeast extract plates during the incubation which preceded the counting of colonies. This difference in retention of paraquat between strains was demonstrated by delayed loss of viability, by growth inhibition, and by cyanide-resistant respiration after brief exposure to paraquat, washing, and testing in fresh medium. This difference was also shown by using ({sup 14}C)paraquat. This previously unrecognized difference between E. coli B and K-12 has been the cause of apparently contradictory reports and should lead to some ...
A suspension of bone marrow cells from femurs of female (CBA . C57B1)F1 mice was exposed to 2450 MHz CW microwaves in a specially designed waveguide exposure system. The temperature of the suspension rose, during exposure to microwaves, from 20/sup 0/C to 45/sup 0/C, and at an interval within 20/sup 0/C to 45/sup 0/C the number of haemopoietic stem cells (CFUs) was determined by the spleen exocolony method. The time of exposure of bone marrow cells to each temperature studied was 20 s. Control suspensions of bone marrow cells were exposed to a water bath temperature. There were no significant effects of the CFUs with the water bath temperature, while after exposure to microwaves the number of spleen colonies was elevated with a nadir at the temperature of 37/sup 0/C. With a microwave-induced increase of the temperature above 41/sup 0/C the number of CFUs in the bone marrow suspension decreased. The increase in the number of colonies was related to the rise in the seeding rate of the ...
A system and method for installing a fluid flow controller and telescoping spools beneath an offshore bottom supported drilling rig rotary table is disclosed. Upper and lower telescoping spools are provided for initially connecting a Diverter/BOP convertible fluid flow controller between structural casing in the well and a permanent housing beneath the drilling rig rotary table. Clamp means are provided for clamping the rig vent line to an opening in the housing wall of the fluid flow controller during drilling of the borehole through the structural casing in preparation for setting and cementing the conductor casing. In that mode, the system is adapted as a diverter system. After the well is drilled for the conductor casing and the conductor casing is cemented and cut off at its top, a mandrel is fitted at the top of the conductor casing to which the lower end of the lower spool may be connected. The system may be used in this configuration as a diverter system, or after removal of ...
WR-2721 (S-2-(3-aminopropylamino)ethylphosphorothioic acid) has been demonstrated to be cytotoxic to stem spermatogonia in the mouse. Five and 10 injections of 300 mg/kg killed sufficient numbers of stem cells to reduce sperm production 56 days after treatment by 16 and 43%, respectively. Single injections of 300 or 400 mg/kg of WR-2721 given 15 min after irradiation produced negligible toxicity to stem cells as measured by counts of repopulated tubules; 600 mg/kg reduced stem cell survival by 47%. Four daily injections of 300 mg/kg given 4, 3, 2, and 1 days prior to irradiation reduced stem cell survival by about 60%. The cytotoxic effects of WR-2721 on testicular stem cells at least partially explains the reduced protection factors observed in the testis with low doses of radiation and during fractionated treatments involving multiple injections of drug.
No-carrier-added astatine radionuclides produced in the {sup 7}Li-irradiated lead matrix were separated from bulk lead nitrate target by complexing At with insulin, followed by dialysis. The method offers simultaneous separation of At from lead as well as its complexation with insulin. The At-insulin complex might be a potential radiopharmaceutical in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. The stability of At-insulin complex was checked by dialysis against deionized water and Ringer lactate (RL) solution. It has been found that the half-life of At-insulin complex is about {approx}12 h, when dialyzed against deionized water and is only 6 h, when dialyzed against RL solution having the same composition as blood serum. The 6 h half-life of this Insulin-At complex is perfect for killing cancer cells from external cell surfaces as the half-life of internalization of insulin molecule inside the cell is 7-12 h.
No-carrier-added astatine radionuclides produced in the "7Li-irradiated lead matrix were separated from bulk lead nitrate target by complexing At with insulin, followed by dialysis. The method offers simultaneous separation of At from lead as well as its complexation with insulin. The At-insulin complex might be a potential radiopharmaceutical in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. The stability of At-insulin complex was checked by dialysis against deionized water and Ringer lactate (RL) solution. It has been found that the half-life of At-insulin complex is about #approx#12 h, when dialyzed against deionized water and is only 6 h, when dialyzed against RL solution having the same composition as blood serum. The 6 h half-life of this Insulin-At complex is perfect for killing cancer cells from external cell surfaces as the half-life of internalization of insulin molecule inside the cell is 7-12 h.
The photobiology of mouse melanocyte lines with different pigment genotypes was studied by measuring colony-forming ability after irradiation. The cell lines were wild-type black (melan-a) and the mutants brown (melan-b) and albino (melan-c). Four lamps emitting various UV wavelengths were used. These were germicidal (UVC, 200-280 nm), 82.3% output at 254 nm, TL01 (UVB, 280-320 nm), 64.2% at 310-311 nm, FS20, broadband with peak output at 312 nm and Alisun-S (UVA, 320-400 nm), broadband with peak output at 350-354 nm. Appropriate filtration reduced the contaminating UVC to nonlethal levels for the longer waverange lamps. It is clear from these studies that, in pigment cells, monochromatic results cannot predict polychromatic responses and that cell death from solar irradiations is a complex phenomenon that depends on more than DNA damage. (author).
The work scope of 'Biological Research for the Radiation Protection' had contained the research about ornithine decarboxylase and its controlling proteins, thioredoxin, peroxiredoxin, S-adenosymethionine decarboxylase, and glutamate decarboxylase 67KD effect on the cell death triggered ionizing radiation and H_2O_2(toxic agents). In this study, to elucidate the role of these proteins in the ionizing radiation (or H_2O_2)-induced apoptotic cell death, we utilized sensesed (or antisensed) cells, which overexpress (or down-regulate) RNAs associated with these proteins biosynthesis, and investigated the effects of these genes on the cytotoxicity caused by ionizing radiation and H_2O_2(or paraquat). We also investigated whether genisteine(or thiamine) may enhance the cytotoxic efficacy of tumor cells caused by ionizing radiation (may enhance the preventing effect radiation or paraquat-induced damage) because such compounds are able to potentiate the cell-killing or cell ...
The research on the therapy of brain tumors and others by the thermal neutron irradiation using research reactors is to kill tumor cells by accumulating boron at a tumor part, and using {alpha} particles and {sup 7}Li generated by {sup 10}B(n, {alpha}){sup 7}Li reaction of thermal neutrons, which is known as boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). In Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, the medical irradiation facility was installed in the thermal neutron column of the JRR-2, and as of March, 1994, 22 cases of irradiation have been carried out. In order to monitor the variation of thermal neutron flux during irradiation, the real time measurement using a simultaneous monitor is carried out, but there is the variation of measured values in the Si semiconductor, p-n junction detector possibly due to its direction dependence. The experiment was carried out to quantity the direction dependence of the detector by using the neutron radiography facility at the JRR-3M. Si ...
Typically, plant-pollinator interactions are recognized as mutualistic relationships. Flower visitors, however, can potentially play multiple roles. The floral nectar in Croton suberosus has been proposed to operate as a reward for predators, especially the wasp Polistes instabilis (Vespidae), which kills herbivorous insects, while the plant has been thought to be mainly wind-pollinated. In this study, we reassessed the pollination mode of C. suberosus and the possible role of its flower visitors. Pollinator exclusion experiments demonstrated that C. suberosus should be considered a strictly entomophilous species. Inflorescences of C. suberosus were visited by a diverse entomofauna involving 28 taxa belonging to six orders; however, wasps and bees were the only visitors that carried C. suberosus pollen. The visitation rate of wasps was approximately four times that of bees. This observation, combined with the fact that the small size of bees makes effective contact ...
Purpose: The lifelong persistence of foreign bodies within the arteries may contribute to restenosis. Thus,biodegradable devices might decrease recurrence rates. Methods: Eleven polyhydroxybutyrate biodegradable stents and 13 tantalum stents were implanted into the iliac arteries of New Zealand white rabbits for up to 30 weeks. After killing the animals,the specimens were harvested, fixed in formalin, processed in paraffin,and stained. Results: Polyhydroxybutyrate instigated intense inflammatory and proliferative reactions with an increase in collagen (2.4- to 8-fold vs native segments), thrombosis and in-stentlumen narrowing (375.5-606.6 mm vs 655.6 #+-# 268.8 mm in native segments). The elastic membranes were destroyed in all specimens. The tantalum stents increased the in-stent lumen progressively (769.7 #+-# 366.6 mm vs 1309.9 #+-# 695.3 mm),penetrated the external elastic membrane, and increased mural collagen content (6- to 8.6-fold vs native segments). ...
A novel single-chain immunotoxin was constructed by combining a CD33-specific single chain Fv (scFv) antibody fragment with an engineered variant of Pseudomonas exotoxin A (ETA). The variant toxin carries the KDEL peptide at its C-terminus, a cellular peptide mediating improved retrograde transport to the endoplasmic reticulum. The purified recombinant fusion protein induced potent apoptosis of the human myeloid cell lines U937, HL-60 and THP-1. Up to 98% of U937 cells were eliminated after treatment for 72 h with a single dose of 500 ng/ml (c. 7 nmol/l). Killing was antigen-specific and occurred by apoptosis. A control protein, consisting of a CD19-specific scFv antibody fragment fused to the ETA-KDEL toxin, failed to induce death of the CD19-negative cell lines U937, HL-60 and THP-1. The CD33-ETA toxin also mediated apoptosis of fresh patient-derived acute myeloid leukaemia cells from bone marrow and peripheral blood. The pronounced antigen-restricted ...
Pattern and model makers are skilled tradespersons who may be exposed to hardwoods, softwoods, phenol-formaldehyde resin-impregnated woods, epoxy and polyester/styrene resin systems, and welding and metal-casting fumes. The relationship of respiratory symptoms (wheezing, chronic bronchitis, dyspnea) and pulmonary function (FVC% predicted, FEV1% predicted, FEV1/FVC% predicted) with interview-derived cumulative exposure estimates to specific workplace agents and to all work with wood, plastic, or metal products was investigated in 751 pattern and model makers in southeast Michigan. In stratified analyses and age- and smoking-adjusted linear and logistic regression models, measures of cumulative wood exposures were associated with decrements in pulmonary function and dyspnea, but not with other symptoms. In similar analyses, measures of cumulative plastic exposures were associated with wheezing, chronic bronchitis, and dyspnea, but not with ...
This report presents the results obtained from the application of the accident consequence assessment code, called OSCAAR, developed in Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute to the Iput dose reconstruction scenario of BIOMASS Theme 2 organized by International Atomic Energy Agency. The Iput Scenario deals with {sup 137}Cs contamination of the catchment basin and agricultural area in the Bryansk Region of Russia, which was heavily contaminated after the Chernobyl accident. This exercise was used to test the chronic exposure pathway models in OSCAAR with actual measurements and to identify the most important sources of uncertainly with respect to each part of the assessment. The OSCAAR chronic exposure pathway models almost successfully reconstructed the whole 10-year time course of {sup 137}Cs activity concentrations in most requested types of agricultural products and natural foodstuffs. Modeling of {sup 137}Cs downward migration in soils is, ...
Astrocyte dysfunction is implicated in course of various age-related neurodegenerative diseases. Chronic injection of D-galactose can cause a progressive deterioration in learning and memory capacity and serve as an animal model of aging. To investigate the involvement of astrocytes in this model, oxidative stress biomarkers, biochemical and pathological changes of astrocytes were examined in the hippocampus of the rats with six weeks of D-galactose injection. D-galactose-injected rats displayed impaired antioxidant systems, an increase in nitric oxide levels, and a decrease in reduced glutathione levels. Consistently, western blotting and immunostaining of glial fibrillary acidic protein showed extensive activation of astrocytes. Double-immunofluorescent staining further showed activated astrocytes highly expressed inducible nitric oxide synthase. Electron microscopy demonstrated the degeneration of astrocytes, especially in the aggregated area of synapse and ...
The present study was performed to evaluate the antihypertensive effects of honokiol in vivo in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). The effects of honokiol were investigated by determination of the blood pressure, vascular reactivity, oxidative parameters, and histologic change in the aorta. Long-term administration of honokiol (400 mg/kg/d) to SHR decreased systolic blood pressure significantly. Honokiol (200, 400 mg/kg/d) enhanced the aortic relaxation in response to acetylcholine after 49-d treatment, but had no significant effects on the relaxation to sodium nitroprusside. The oral administration of honokiol significantly increased the plasma level of NO(2(-))/NO(3(-)), but decreased the level of malondialdehyde in liver of SHR compared with the control vehicle. In addition, SHR administered honokiol showed significant reductions in the elastin bands and media thickness in the aorta. These results suggest that chronic treatment with honokiol exerts an ...
CT and MRI of acquired abnormalities of the inner ear and cerebello-pontine angle present themselves with very typical findings. The imaging should be adapted to the pathology looked for and either CT or MRI should be used alone or in combination.CT, especially high resolution CT (HRCT), provides an excellent bone contrast, while MRI has a much superior soft tissue contrast. Acute inflammatory changes of the inner ear are solely depicted by contrast-enhanced MRI. HRCT excellently depicts osseous changes of the inner ear and cerebellopontine angle such as chronic ossifying labyrinthitis occurring after acute labyrinthitis, otosclerotic or traumatic changes. Tumorous changes not yielding to bony changes are best delineated by MRI. Posttraumatic hemorrhage and chronic fibrotic changes within the labyrinth are depicted by MRI, only. In conclusion HRCT and MRI are excellent methods to delineate acquired abnormalities of the inner ear and ...
Brain MRI was carried out in patients with chronic liver diseases. No abnormal findings were recognized in patients with chronic viral hepatitis, while 59.2% of cirrhotics showed a symmetrically strong signal in basal ganglia on T1 weighted image in MRI. This finding significantly related with lowered Fischer`s ratio of serum amino acid, increased levels of serum phenylalanine, tyrosine and hyaluronic acid, prolonged prothrombin time and decreased platelet counts in the peripheral blood. Overt hepatic encephalopathy was observed in 6 of 34 patients with the strong signal in MRI during follow-up period, while none of patients without that finding developed hepatic encephalopathy. These results have indicated that the strong signal in basal ganglia on MRI appears in cirrhotic patients with severe liver dysfunction, and it is an useful index in the early diagnosis of latent hepatic encephalopathy. An improvement of this MRI finding was not ...
Preliminary psychometric properties of a new instrument, Angie/Andy Cartoon Trauma Scales (ACTS), are presented. Angie/Andy features a cartoon-based methodology, measuring trauma-related sequelae of prolonged, repeated abuse. A sample of 208 children comprised intrafamilial trauma, extrafamilial trauma, combined trauma, and nontrauma groups. Angie/Andy demonstrated high internal consistency, with coefficient alphas from 0.70 to 0.95. The three trauma groups scored significantly higher than the nontrauma group on all scales (p's < 0.0001). Generally, the most severely traumatized group scored significantly higher than the less severely traumatized groups. The number of types of violence exposures correlated with Angie/Andy scores from 0.55 to 0.74. The frequency and severity of trauma exposure correlated with Angie/Andy scores from 0.44 to 0.56. The Angie/Andy parent version correlated with a standardized parent scale from 0.71 to 0.81. Parent/child agreement was significant. ...
Studies of the effectiveness of operant, relaxation, cognitive, and multimodal behavioural approaches to the treatment of chronic benign pain other than headache were evaluated. In general, the quality of the studies was poor, and most investigations lacked appropriate and adequate control conditions, outcome measures, and/or follow-ups. While outcome reports for all four behavioural treatments have been mainly positive, few data were found which conclusively demonstrate that any of the approaches are effective or that they are the treatment of choice. The data do, however, imply that behavioural approaches may help patients lead more normal and productive lives. Specifically, the literature suggests that: (1) the operant method leads to increased activity levels and decreased pain and drug intake, (2) the relaxation approach results in decreased EMG levels and some pain reductions, (3) the cognitive techniques are speculative at this time, and (4) the multimodal ...
After some observations about the tests of the research exposed in the literature, authors illustrate the tests for 142 patients divided into 5 groups: a) patients affected with acute viral hepatitis; b) patients affected with praegressa acute viral hepatitis; c) relatives of patients with acute viral hepatitis; d) volunteers; e) patients affected with chronic uraemia under dialisis periodic treatment. After the testing control, authors, conclude with an hipotesis: a possible epidemic function of faeces, urine saliva, in the passage of the acute viral hepatitis. PMID:488577
The language used by chronic benign pain patients to characterize their pain complaint was analyzed to determine the best predictor of psychiatric disturbance. Using the 78 adjectives provided by the McGill Pain Questionnaire, the number of affective descriptors used was the best predictor of psychiatric disturbance. Addition of sensory descriptors either to augment the total number of descriptors used (magnitude) or as a pattern of sensory greater than affective or sensory less than affective failed to increase predictive strength. PMID:6877847
1. Chronic exposure of male Microtus pennsylvanicus to photoperiods with 8, 10 and 12 hr of light per day results in gonadal regression, molt to winter pelage and significant reductions in body weight and food consumption relative to voles kept on photoperiods with 13 and 14 hr of light per day. 2. A precise critical daylength is observed in this species as exposure to photoperiods with 12 or fewer hours of light per day results in complete gonadal involution, seasonal molt and loss of body weight. 3. Pinealectomy abolishes all short-photoperiod induced responses in this species. PMID:2573458
The utilization of nuclear medicine bone scanning examinations early in the diagnostic process allows physicians to render prompt and correct treatment in urgent or difficult athletic cases. Bone scanning should be performed for athletic injuries whenever (1) x-rays are normal but bone or joint pain persists; (2) x-rays are positive but it cannot be determined if the findings are acute or chronic; (3) soft-tissue injuries present and x-rays are not useful; and (4) bone pain or joint impairment present without a history of trauma.89 references.
Innate immune responses are regulated by microorganisms and cell death, as well as by a third class of stress signal from the nervous and endocrine systems. The innate immune system also feeds back, through the production of cytokines, to regulate the function of the central nervous system (CNS), and this has effects on behaviour. These signals provide an extrinsic regulatory circuit that links physiological, social and environmental conditions, as perceived by the CNS, with transcriptional 'decision-making' in leukocytes. CNS-mediated regulation of innate immune responses optimizes total organism fitness and provides new opportunities for therapeutic control of chronic infectious, inflammatory and neuropsychiatric diseases.
Dyspnea is the most distressing symptom experienced by those suffering from advanced stages of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Activity-related dyspnea in COPD is multifactorial but is associated with increased central neural drive, impaired dynamic respiratory mechanics and abnormal respiratory muscle function. Each of these components can potentially be targeted for pharmacotherapy. Recent advances in the pharmacotherapy of COPD include the development of new long-acting bronchodilators which, when combined, provide sustained improvements in dyspnea. Additionally, novel applications of older therapies such as opiates, furosemide, helium-oxygen, and statins show early promise as dyspnea-relieving interventions in COPD. Effective pharmacological manipulation of the affective ...
An overview of current concepts on neuroinflammation and on the dialogue between neurons and non-neuronal cells in three important infections of the central nervous systems (rabies, cerebral malaria, and human African trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness) is here presented. Large numbers of cases affected by these diseases are currently reported. In the context of an issue dedicated to Camillo Golgi, historical notes on seminal discoveries on these diseases are also presented. Neuroinflammation is currently closely associated with pathogenetic mechanisms of chronic neurodegenerative diseases. Neuroinflammatory signaling in brain infections is instead relatively neglected in the neuroscience community, despite the fact that the above infections provide paradigmatic examples of alterations o...
Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is frequently used for relief of chronic benign pain resistant to conservative therapies. Clinical practice suggests, at least in patients with failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS), the possibility that SCS significantly improves motor performances. We present here the case of a 41-years-old female patient with FBSS, who showed a clear improvement in muscle strength after SCS, persisting at 6-months follow-up. We speculate that the electrical stimulation of posterior columns could potentiate the caudal, segmental spinal reflexes resulting in a facilitation of motoneurons activation. PMID:16175150
Lumbar epidural anesthesia is useful in a variety of chronic benign pain syndromes, including lumbar radiculopathy, low back pain syndrome, spinal stenosis, and vertebral compression fractures. Given the increased number of epidural nerve blocks being performed, some have reported unexplained complications of a transient or permanent nature and with varying degrees of severity. However, no case has been reported of a broken epidural needle tip retained in the lumbar facet joint area. This represents the first reported case presentation of foraminal stenosis developing in a patient after a retained epidural needle tip. PMID:21286465
The three mammalian transforming growth factor (TGF)-? isoforms (TGF-?1, TGF-?2, and TGF-?3) differ in their putative roles in radiation-induced fibrosis in intestine and other organs. Furthermore, tissue specificity of TGF-? action may result from temporal or spatial changes in production and/or activation. The present study examined shifts in the cell types expressing TGF-? mRNA relative to TGF-? immunoreactivity and histopathological injury during radiation enteropathy development. A 4-cm loop of rat small intestine was locally exposed to 0, 12, or 21-Gy single doses of x-irradiation. Sham-irradiated and irradiated intestine were procured 2 and 26 weeks after irradiation. Cells expressing the TGF-?1, TGF-?2, or TGF-?3 transcripts were identified by in situ hybridization with digoxigenin-labeled riboprobes. Intestinal wall TGF-? immunoreactivity was measured using computerized image analysis, and structural radiation injury was assessed by quantitative histopathology. Normal ...
Taconite tailings and their component asbestiform minerals in Lake Superior water had no demonstrable effect on the chronic toxicity of cadmium to the flagfish, Jordanella floridae. Maximum acceptable toxicant concentrations determined in life cycle tests, where effects on survival, growth, reproduction, and bioconcentration were used as endpoints, were between 3.3 to 7.4, 3.0 to 6.5, and 3.4 to 7.3 micrograms cadmium/liter at 0.004, 0.08, and 0.95 mg/liter taconite tailings concentrations, respectively.
Acquired cystic kidney disease (ACKD), also known as acquired renal cystic disease (ARCD,) occurs in patients who are on dialysis for end-stage renal disease. It is generally accepted that ACKD develops as a consequence of sustained uremia and can first manifest even before dialysis is initiated while the patient is still in chronic renal failure. The role of immune suppression, particularly in transplant recipients, in the development of ACKD, is still under investigation. The prevalence of ACKD is directly related to the duration of dialysis and the risk of cancer is directly related to the presence of cysts. Herein we review the current understanding of the pathophysiology and imaging implications of ACKD. (orig.)
Regular physical activity (PA) decreases the risk of several chronic diseases including some cancers, type II diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease; however, the majority of US adults are not meeting the recommended levels to experience these benefits. To address this public health concern, the underlying mechanisms for behavior change need to be understood, translated and disseminated into appropriately tailored interventions. The Transtheoretical Model (TTM) provides a framework for both the conceptualization and the measurement of behavior change, as well as facilitating promotion strategies that are individualized and easily adapted. The purpose of this manuscript is to present the constructs of the TTM as they relate to PA behavior change. We begin with a brief synopsis of rec...
This article describes the design and implementation of an online diabetes self-management intervention for a sample of inner-city African Americans with diabetes. Study participants were randomly assigned to the treatment (26) and control (21) conditions. The results indicate that treatment group participants were more likely to achieve positive outcomes in terms of lowered hemoglobin A1c and body mass index measurements than were control group members. These findings support the development of telehealth interventions to promote effective chronic disease management in medically underserved communities.
The authors hypothesized that acute respiratory responsiveness to ozone predicts chronic lung injury from repeated exposure to ozone-containing air pollution. They tested this hypothesis in 164 middle-aged nonsmoking residents of an ozone-polluted community who underwent lung-function measurements during 1986 and 1987 (i.e., time 3). The time-3 study was a follow up of more comprehensive studies conducted in 1977--1978 (time 1) and in 1982--1983 (time 2). In contrast to the apparent rapid (i.e., {approx} 60 ml/y) decline in lung-function measurements between times 1 and 2, their subjects showed little change in forced vital capacity (FVC) or forced expired volume in 1 s (FEV{sub 1.0}) between times 2 and 3, and they experienced a normal decline between times 1 and 3. A subgroup (n = 45) underwent 2-h laboratory ozone exposures to 0.4 ppm ozone, accompanied by intermittent exercise, and they experienced mild acute reductions in FEV{sub 1.0} and FVC, but there was ...
The effects of different exposure concentrations of palladium (Pd) on relative metallothionein (MT) response and bioaccumulation were investigated in zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha). The mussels were exposed to 0.05, 5, 50, and 500 ?g/L Pd2+ for 10 weeks under controlled temperature and fasting conditions. Relative MT contents were assessed by a modified Ag-saturation method, which allows to discriminate between MT bound to Pd (Pd-MT) and MT bound to unidentified metals (Ag-MT). Determination of metal contents resulted from atomic absorption spectrometry following a microwave digestion. For unexposed mussels and mussels exposed to 0.05 ?g/L Pd no metal accumulation could be detected. All other exposure concentrations resulted in detectable Pd accumulation in mussels with final tissue concentrations of 96 ?g/g (500 ?g/L), 45 ?g/g (50 ?g/L), and 9 ?g/g (5 ?g/L). Compared with initial levels Pd-MT concentrations at the end of the exposure period were 600 (500 ?g/L), 160 (50 ?g/L), ...
The purpose of the paper is to investigate whether high-resolution CT (HRCT) can detect the subjects with massive emphysematous destruction in a group of patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and therefor be of help in selecting the candidates to surgical lung volume reduction. Have been examined 40 former smokers with severe COPD (FEV_1#<=#40% of the predicted value, with no major improvement after inhalation of bronchodilators). The emphysema extent score was significantly correlated with the hematocrit value and Tiffeneau index (p<2) in all the 40 patients. The severity of bronchial obstruction was the same in bronchitis and dyspnoeic patients. The subject with chronic bronchitis had milder emphysema (mean extent 35% versus 47% in the dyspnoeic subjects) and a higher frequency of bronchial involvement. A decrease in FEV_1 was significantly correlated with emphysema extent (p<1) in dyspnoeic, but not in ...
Our long-term goal is to enable highly productive plant species to extract, resist, detoxify, and/or sequester toxic heavy metal pollutants as an environmentally friendly alternative to physical remediation methods. We have focused this phytoremediation research on soil and water-borne ionic and methylmercury. Mercury pollution is a serious world-wide problem affecting the health of human and wild-life populations. Methylmercury, produced by native bacteria at mercury-contaminated wetland sites, is a particularly serious problem due to its extreme toxicity and efficient biomagnification in the food chain. We engineered several plant species (e.g., Arabidopsis, tobacco, canola, yellow poplar, rice) to express the bacterial genes, merB and/or merA, under the control of plant regulatory sequences. These transgenic plants acquired remarkable properties for mercury remediation. (1) Transgenic plants expressing merB (organomercury lyase) extract methylmercury from their growth substrate and ...
Cockayne syndrome (CS) is a rare autosomal recessive disease, which shows diverse clinical symptoms such as photosensitivity, severe mental retardation and developmental defects. CS cells are hypersensitive to killing by ultraviolet (UV)-irradiation and defective in transcription-coupled repair. Two genetic complementation groups in CS (CS-A and CS-B) have been identified. We analyzed mutations of the CSA gene in 5 CS-A patients and identified 3 types of mutations. Four unrelated CS-A patients (CS2OS, CS2AW, Nps2 and CS2SE) had a deletion including exon 4, suggesting that there is a founder effect on the CSA mutation in Japanese CS-A patients. Patient CS2SE was a compound heterozygote for this deletion and an amino acid substitution at the 106th glutamine to proline (Q106P) in the WD-40 repeat motif of the CSA protein, which resulted in a defective nucleotide excision repair. Patient Mps1 had a large deletion in the upstream region including exon 1 of the CSA gene. ...
Gas-insulated systems employing SF/sub 6/ are utilized in a variety of applications in power delivery systems. Because electric arcs, sparks or corona can decompose SF/sub 6/ into byproducts having chemical properties different from SF/sub 6/, environmental concerns arise regarding inadvertent human exposures to electrically-decomposed SF/sub 6/. Biological assays in our laboratory using mammalian cell culture systems have revealed that spark-decomposed SF/sub 6/ produces cell death, and the extent of cell killing increases with increasing spark energy. Chemical analysis of spark-decomposed SF/sub 6/ has identified the major decomposition pathways and byproducts, but biological testing of individual or byproduct mixtures has indicated that these major decomposition products do not contribute, in a significant fashion, to the cell lethality seen in our assays. Further experiments have suggested that S/sub 2/F/sub 10/ may be produced under our decomposition ...
The resistance of several packaging materials to penetration by 4 species of rice insect pests was determined. Five insects of adult or larval stage were confined in pouches made from 9 different packaging materials with or without irradiated rice. It was observed that both adults and larvae of species Tribolium castaneum Herbst., Sitophilus zeamais L., Oryzaephilus surinamensis L. and Cocyra cephalonica Stainton, were incapable of penetrating pouches made from white polyvinychloride of 0.175mm thickness, low density polyethylene of 0.130mm thickness and 0.150mm thick low density polyethylene. However, penetrations marks were found in pouches made from hard paper with a thickness of 0.155mm, clear polivinylchloride of 0.130mm thickness, low density polyethylene of 0.085mm thickness, low density polyethylene 0.100mm thick, high density polyethylene of 0.06mm thickness and 0.080mm thick polypropylene. Tribolium castaneum could be considered as a weak penetrator whilst Cocyra cephalonica ...
Diethyldithiocarbamate (DDTC), a chelating agent, is an active metabolite of disulfiram (Antabus) and is used in the rubber industry. The effect of DDTC on the tissue distribution of "2"0"3Pb was studied in rats. Two groups of rats were given an i.v. injection of 100 #mu#Ci "2"0"3Pb (28.6 nmol/kg b.wt.) as lead acetate. After 10 min one group received 2 mmol/kg b.wt. of DDTC as an i.p. injection. Rats were killed 4 and 72 h after injection of "2"0"3Pb and tissue concentration and excretion of "2"0"3Pb was determined by gamma counting. The brain concentration of "2"0"3Pb in DDTC-treated rats was nine times higher than in controls after 4 h and 14 times higher after 72 h. Treatment with DDTC also increased the lead concentration in fat about seven times at both survival intervals. On the other hand, uptake of "2"0"3Pb in bone was reduced by treatment with DDTC and at 4 h also kidney and blood had a lower concentration of "2"0"3Pb in DDTC-treated rats compared to ...
To assess the influence of a live attenuated oral vaccine against porcine post-weaning colibacillosis (PWC) induced by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) on mucosal lymphoid cell CD45 isoforms expression, experimental group of weaned pigs (n=6) was immunized orally with F4ac+ non-ETEC strain (day 0) and challenged with F4ac+ ETEC strain 7 days latter. Non-immunized ETEC-infected pigs (n=6) served as control. All pigs were killed on post-challenge day 7. The small intestine was excised for isolation of jejunal lamina propria (JLP) and ileal Peyer's patch (IPP) lymphocytes and immunohistochemical studies. The results obtained by immunophenotyping of isolated cells show that the proportion of CD45RA+ and CD45RC+ JLP, but not IPP, cells were higher in the non-ETEC-immunized ETEC-infected pigs versus non-immunized infected. Additionally, while CD45RA+ JLP cells increased only slightly, the expression of CD45RC isoform on the JLP cells was significantly higher ...
The long-term durability of bonds between adhesive resins and dentin is of significant importance for the longevity of bonded restorations. We carried out an in vivo one-year study to evaluate the durability of resin-dentin bonds in the oral cavity, as well as to test the hypothesis that the adhesive interface would show morphological changes in vivo over time. Very shallow saucer-shaped dentin cavities were prepared in 12 intact teeth of one Japanese monkey (Macaca fuscata) under general anesthesia. The cavities were restored with Clearfil Liner Bond II and Clearfil Photo Posterior resin composite. The teeth were extracted at three different times: immediately, and 180 and 360 days after placement of the restorations. One day after the monkey was killed, specimens of the three time periods were subjected to the micro-tensile bond test at a crosshead speed of 1 mm/min. The surfaces of the failed bonds were observed under a field emission scanning electron ...
We have observed significant differences in the response to ionizing radiation of two closely related human cell lines, and now compare the effects on these lines of both low and intermediate LET radiation. Compared to TK6, WTK1 has an enhanced X-ray survival, and is also more resistant to cell killing by {alpha}-particles. The hprt locus is more mutable in WTK1 than in TK6 by both X-rays and {alpha}-particles. WTK1 is also more mutable by {alpha}-particles than by X-rays at the hprt locus. X-ray-induced mutation at the heterozygous tk locus in WTK1 is about 25 fold higher than in TK6, while {alpha}-particle-induced mutation is nearly 50 fold higher at this locus. Also, the slowly growing tk- mutants, which comprise the majority of spontaneous and X-ray-induced tk- mutants of TK6, were not induced significantly by {alpha}-particles. Previously, we showed that TK6 has a reduced capacity for recombination compared with WTK1, and therefore, these results indicate that ...
Structural and functional alterations in hepatocytes of the European eel, Anguilla anguilla, following a 4-week-exposure to 5, 50, and 250 micrograms/liter dinitro-o-cresol (DNOC) were investigated by means of electron microscopy and biochemistry and compared to liver pathology in eels exposed to the chemical spill into the Rhine river at Basle in November 1986. Whereas phenological parameters (growth, condition factor) are unaffected, ultrastructural and biochemical alterations are detectable at greater than or equal to 50 and 5 micrograms/liter DNOC, respectively. Structural modifications include: rounding-up of the nuclei; fractionation and reduction of the rough endoplasmic reticulum; proliferation of the smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER), mitochondria, peroxisomes, and lysosomes; bundles of rod-shaped SER profiles; annulate lamellae; membrane whorls within mitochondria; crystallization of the peroxisomal matrix and glycogen bodies; glycogen depletion and lipid augmentation. ...
Exposures from most natural and artificial sources, with the exception of those from medical radiology, are received at average dose rates of only a few microsieverts a day. Such risks as may be caused by these exposures are most unlikely to be determined with precision directly by epidemiological studies of populations exposed at these low rates. They may, however, be reliably inferred from the observed risks of exposure to rather larger doses delivered at higher dose rates in the light of the increasing knowledge of the phenomena involved in the initial cellular damage, the extent to which such damage is incorrectly repaired, and the processes which intervene between the genetic or other harm to cells and the likelihood of its final expression in inherited abnormality, in cancer development, or in defective foetal or embryonic growth. Current studies are of great importance, therefore, in examining the circumstances in which coding sections of the chromosomal DNA may be incorrectly ...
For most cells there exists an optimum cooling rate. Both supraoptimal rates and suboptimal rates can be very damaging. The optimal rate varies enormously from less than or equal to 1/sup 0/C/min for mammalian preimplantation embryos to greater than or equal to 800/sup 0/C/min for the human red cell. Death at supraoptimal rates is the result of the formation of intracellular ice and its recrystallization during warming. Intracellular ice occurs when cells are cooled too rapidly to allow them to equilibrate by the osmotic withdrawal of intracellular water. The definition of too rapid depends chiefly on the size of the cell and its permeability to water. Death at suboptimal rates is a consequence of the major alterations in aqueous solutions produced by ice formation. The chief effects are a major reduction in the fraction of the solution remaining unfrozen at a given temperature and a major increase in the solute concentration of that fraction. Presumably, slow freezing injury is a ...
Radiation chimeras in the early phase after bone marrow transplantation are a good model to study the efficiency of the body's nonspecific defense system represented by macrophages (M phi), polymorphonuclear cells (PMN), and NK cells. These cell types are present in large numbers in spleen and liver at that time, whereas the specific immune system represented by T and B cells is functionally deficient. We previously reported enhanced activities in vitro of M phi (and PMN) from recipient animals in an early phase after allogeneic bone marrow transfer. We here demonstrate that these activities result in enhanced spontaneous resistance against Listeria monocytogenes in vivo: CFU of L. monocytogenes in spleen and liver 48 h after infection were about 1 or 2 to 4 log steps less than in untreated control mice of donor or host haplotype. This enhanced resistance decreased over the 4-mo period after marrow transfer. Preactivated M phi were identified as the most important effector cells. ...
Previous in vitro studies have demonstrated that Ho:YLF laser is capable of inducing physical and chemical changes on dental surfaces treated for caries prevention. The temperature in the pulp chamber was in vitro evaluated to as a function of the power and frequency of the laser irradiation. The purpose of this work is to verify the occurrence of pulp inflammation after Ho:YLF laser irradiation using different parameters in rabbits' teeth. The premolars and molars of ten rabbits (NZB) were divided in two groups according to the irradiation energy values of a Ho:YLF laser prototype operating at 2.065{mu}m wave length, frequency of O,5Hz and pulse length of 250{mu}s. An group A teeth were irradiated with using ten pulses of 334mJ/pulse of a Ho:YLF laser prototype operating at O.5Hz, and group B, with 512mJ/pulse. Animals were killed by transcardiac perfusion and the samples were prepared for histopathological analysis. The in vitro temperature monitoring ...
The aim for deterministic control of the interactions between macroions in aqueous media has motivated widespread experimental and theoretical work. Although it has been well established that like-charged macromolecules can aggregate under the influence of oppositely charged condensing agents, the specific conditions for the stability of such aggregates can only be determined empirically. We examine these conditions, which involve an interplay of electrostatic and osmotic effects, by using a well defined model system composed of F-actin, an anionic rod-like polyelectrolyte, and lysozyme, a cationic globular protein with a charge that can be genetically modified. The structure and stability of actin-lysozyme complexes for different lysozyme charge mutants and salt concentrations are examined by using synchrotron x-ray scattering and molecular dynamics simulations. We provide evidence that supports a structural transition from columnar arrangements of F-actin held together by arrays of ...
Excitotoxicity plays a major role in various neurological disorders. In this study, we explored the behavioral and neurotoxic effects of intraventricular NMDA administration in mice. After NMDA injection, acute seizures were followed by impairments in locomotor activity, motor performance on a rotarod, and climbing ability. Mice killed 1 day after NMDA administration showed increased synaptosomal reactive oxygen species ROS production and calcium concentration and decreased mitochondrial membrane potential, mitochondrial reductase activities, and neuronal membrane Na+, K+ -ATPase and mg2+ -ATPase activities. One and 3 days after excitotoxic injury, Golgi stains showed that dendritic length and spine density were significantly decreased in neurons of the hippocampal dentate gyrus. Some mice received honokiol, tea polyphenol plus memantine, and honokiol plus memantine prior to NMDA treatment; the occurrence of generalized seizures was attenuated, seizure scores were ...
Apoptosis is a pattern of cell death involving nuclear pycnosis, cytoplasmic condensation, and karyorrhexis. Apoptosis induced by continuous irradiation with gamma rays (externally given by a 137Cs source) or with beta rays (from tritiated water injected ip) was quantified in the crypts of two portions of mouse bowel, the small intestine and descending colon. The time-course change in the incidence of apoptosis after each type of radiation could be explained on the basis of the innate circadian rhythm of the cells susceptible to apoptotic death and of the excretion of tritiated water (HTO) from the body. For 6-h continuous gamma irradiation at various dose rates (0.6-480 mGy/h) and for 6 h after injection of HTO of various radioactivities (0.15-150 GBq per kg body wt), the relationships between dose and incidence of apoptosis were obtained. Survival curves were then constructed from the curves for dose vs incidence of apoptosis. For the calculation of the absorbed dose from HTO, the ...
Background and Purpose: Total-body irradiation (TBI) is an important part of the conditioning regimen for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in patients with hematologic malignancies. The results after treatment with various TBI regimes were compared, and dose-effect relationships for the endpoints relapse incidence, disease-free survival, treatment-related mortality, and overall survival were derived. The aim was to define requirements for an optimal treatment schedule with respect to leukemic cell kill and late normal-tissue morbidity. Material and Methods: A literature search was performed. Three randomized studies, four studies comparing results of two or three TBI regimens, and nine reports with results of one specific TBI regimen were identified. Biologically effective doses (BEDs) were calculated. The results of the randomized studies and the studies comparing results of two or three TBI regimens were pooled, and the pooled relative risk (RR) was ...
Background and Purpose: Total-body irradiation (TBI) is an important part of the conditioning regimen for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in patients with hematologic malignancies. The results after treatment with various TBI regimes were compared, and dose-effect relationships for the endpoints relapse incidence, disease-free survival, treatment-related mortality, and overall survival were derived. The aim was to define requirements for an optimal treatment schedule with respect to leukemic cell kill and late normal-tissue morbidity. Material and Methods: A literature search was performed. Three randomized studies, four studies comparing results of two or three TBI regimens, and nine reports with results of one specific TBI regimen were identified. Biologically effective doses (BEDs) were calculated. The results of the randomized studies and the studies comparing results of two or three TBI regimens were pooled, and the pooled relative risk (RR) was ...
There are over 4,500 petroleum platforms in the north-central Gulf of Mexico. Explosives are commonly used to remove platforms and have the potential to kill nearby sea turtles. From June 1988-June 1990, the authors used aerial surveys to study turtle density and the spatial relationship between turtles and platforms offshore of Louisiana. They sighted 316 turtles most of which (92%) were loggerheads. Seventy-eight percent were sighted just east of the Mississippi River offshore of the Chandeleur Islands. East of the river, turtle densities ranged from 0.92 (winter) to 4.83 turtles/100 sq km (spring). West of the river, annual densities ranged from 0.11-0.50 turtles/100 sq km. East of the river, three statistical tests indicated that turtles were generally closer to platforms than expected by chance alone. West of the river, turtles were randomly located with respect to platform locations. Before explosives are used, current mitigation measures require that no ...
This paper reported on the number of seabirds impacted by the Terra Nova floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, which released 160,000 litres of crude oil after it struck the Grand Banks, an area located approximately 340 km east of St. John's, Newfoundland. An area of approximately 340 km{sup 2} was impacted by the spill, which occurred at a time when large numbers of dovekies and murres inhabit the region. After the spill, both vessel-based and helicopter-based surveys were conducted in order to estimate seabird densities in the immediate region. Densities were then compared to other data from similar time periods. The number of birds at risk was estimated base on seabird densities noted from on-vessel surveys. A mean density of 3.46 murres per km{sup 2} and 1.07 dovekies per km{sup 2} were recorded. Mean density increased when birds in flight were also considered. Density estimates were similar to data previously reported. The scenarios yielded a mean of ...
Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) is a promising binary treatment modality for high-grade primary brain tumors (glioblastoma multiforme, GM) and other cancers. BNCT employs a boron-10 containing compound that preferentially accumulates in the cancer cells in the brain. Upon neutron capture by {sup 10}B energetic alpha particles and triton released at the absorption site kill the cancer cell. In order to gain penetration depth in the brain Fairchild proposed, for this purpose, the use of energetic epithermal neutrons at about 10 keV. Phase I/II clinical trials of BNCT for GM are underway at the Brookhaven Medical Research Reactor (BMRR) and at the MIT Reactor, using these nuclear reactors as the source for epithermal neutrons. In light of the limitations of new reactor installations, e.g. cost, safety and licensing, and limited capability for modulating the reactor based neutron beam energy spectra alternative neutron sources are being contemplated for wider ...
It is expected that the progressive increase of tropospheric trace gases such as CO{sub 2} and O{sub 3} will have a significant impact on agricultural production. The single and combined effects of CO{sub 2} enrichment and tropospheric O{sub 3} on grain quality characteristics in soft red winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) were examined in field studies using 3 m in diam. open-top chambers. Wheat cultivars {open_quotes}Massey{close_quotes} (1991) and {open_quotes}Saluda{close_quotes} (1992) were exposed to two CO{sub 2} concentrations (350 vs. 500 {mu}mol CO{sub 2} mol{sup {minus}1}; 12 h d{sup {minus}1}) in combination with two O{sub 3} regimes (charcoal-filtered air vs. ambient air + 40 {plus_minus} 20 nmol O{sub 3} mol{sup {minus}1}, 7 h d{sup {minus}1}; Monday to Friday) from late March until maturity in June. Grain quality characteristics investigated included: test weight, milling and baking quality, flour yield, protein content, softness equivalent, alkaline water retention ...
A new method of administration of an opioid was recently registered: fentanyl transdermal (brand name: Durogesic), intended particularly for the indication range 'pain in cancer'. Fentanyl is lipid-soluble so that deposition in the skin takes place and the biological half-life is approximately 20 hours after removal of the plaster. It is safe to start on a basis of an equianalgesic conversion of 100:1 in relation to oral morphine, although this may entail some risk of fentanyl under dosage. The dose adjustment time is 12-24 hours before a constant fentanyl level is reached; therefore, after attaching the first sticking plaster, the original morphine dose should be continued for another 12 hours. In addition, the patient may, if necessary, be given supplementary morphine preferably as a short-acting drug. There seems to be no clear indication for transdermal fentanyl either in neuropathic pain or in chronic benign pain. PMID:9221362
Forty-one patients were treated with epidural neurolysis using 50 % ethyl alcohol 2 ml. Thirty eight patients were suffering from cancer pain and three patients were complaining of chronic benign pain. Alcohol block was repeated 2.3 times (mean) in the same patient. Thirty patients were followed after the treatment. Forty-seven percent of the patients reported 70 % or greater pain relief and 20 % of the patients reported about 50 % pain relief. Duration of pain relief was from 9 days to 203 days with a mean duration of 54 days. Adverse effects were reported 43 % of the patients. There is no miserable adverse effect. Adverse effect reported most was pain with epidural injection of drugs after the alcohol block had been performed. PMID:8544293
Background.There are no suitably powered epidemiological studies of `transient azotaemia' (TA). The objective of this study was to describe the epidemiology of TA and its independent association with hospital mortality. We hypothesized that TA would be associated with an independent increase in the risk of death. Methods.We retrospectively studied all patients admitted to a university-affiliated hospital in Australia between January 2000 and December 2002. Patients were excluded if they were <15 years old, were on chronic dialysis, had kidney transplant or if their length of hospital stay was <24 hours. We defined TA as rapidly recovering acute kidney injury (AKI) (return to no-AKI risk, injury, failure, loss, end stage (RIFLE) class within 72 hours of onset). We performed descriptive and ...
Summary Background Pemphigus vulgaris and pemphigus foliaceus are rare, potentially life-threatening, autoimmune disorders characterized by antibodies to epidermal adhesion molecules. Clinical characteristics are painful chronic erosions of mucous membranes and of the skin. There are only few published studies on the impact of the disease on the health status (HS) of patients with these conditions. Objectives To assess the impact of disease on the HS of patients with pemphigus. Methods Fifty-eight patients enrolled at the Bullous Skin Diseases Unit of IDI-IRCCS in the period January-June 2006 were assessed for their HS using the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item short form health survey (SF-36) questionnaire and for anxiety and depression using the Institute for Personality and Ability Testin...
Three adolescents (ages 14-17) with emotional and behavioral disorders displayed chronic disruptive behavior in their self-contained classrooms at a self-contained alternative school. A descriptive functional behavioral assessment was conducted for each student. Data from file review, structured interviews, and direct observations were used to identify the functions of their disruptive behaviors. Then, function-based interventions were systematically constructed for each student and implemented for an extended period (nearly 6 weeks) within the most problematic situation in their classrooms. The interventions improved each student's behavior and the effects maintained during follow-up and generalized to instruction in a nonintervention classroom. Social validity data comparing the interventions to baseline practices revealed the function-based intervention had moderately higher social validity among teachers and substantially higher social validity among students. ...
In spite of the improved imaging techniques currently available, mortality for pancreatic cancer is still high, and pancreatics is often diagnosed only in its advanced stages. The authors investigated the value of different imaging techniques - i.e., US, CT, and ERCP - for an early diagnosis, when a more effective (curative?) treatment can be suggested. Fifty-six cases of pancreatic cancer and 36 cases of chronic pancreatitis were evaluated. The results indicate that ERCP, with the help of statistical methods, is superior to US and CT not only in evaluating early neoplastic or inflammatory lesions, but also for their differential diagnosis. In the letter case, ERCP can sometimes be used as a valid alternative to fine-needle aspiration biopsy.
Reduced systems such as brain slices offer a powerful approach to study the physiology of auditory neurons in great detail. However, when studying auditory nuclei in reduced systems such as brain slices, especially highly active auditory brain stem nuclei, one has to be aware that the unphysiological lack of activity in the reduced system compared to the in-vivo situation has a number of important effects on the neurons under investigation, and thus on the data that are measured. Most importantly, the lack of chronic activity in the slice preparation has important effects on the properties of short-term plasticity of the synapses. The main purpose of this article is to discuss how spontaneous activity in auditory neurons, or the lack thereof, can affect the data measured.
In Kanazawa, Japan, air pollution from a Mn treatment factory was found to affect local junior high school students, who showed reduced respiratory function relative to their exposure to Mn. The use of Mn as an antiknock ingredient in automobile fuels has recently been introduced, placing the general population at risk of chronic low-level exposure. There are few animal studies on the effects of compounds other than manganese chloride (MnCl{sub 2}). In the case of environmental pollution by Mn, the differing physiological effects of the various chemical forms of Mn must be considered. The present study therefore examined the differences in the effects of several Mn compounds on the physiology and behavior of mice by short-term oral administration.
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has been used for relieving chronic pain in patients that have been through other existing options. The septum has been one of the targets for such treatment. The purpose of this study was to determine the inhibitory effect of electrical stimulation in the medial septum diagonal band of broca (MSDB) on neuronal activity in the spinal cord of rats anesthetized with sodium pentobarbital. While unilaterally stimulating the MSDB, wide dynamic range neurons in the lumbar region of the spinal cord were recorded in response to graded mechanical stimulation of the hind paws (brush, pressure, and pinch). Stimulation was at 1, 5, 10, and 20V, at 100Hz, and 0.1ms duration. Significant bilateral reduction was observed in response to pressure (ipsilaterally: 0.90+/-0.05, 0....
Human exposure to environmental chemicals is most correctly characterized as exposure to mixtures of these agents. The metals/metalloids, lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and arsenic (As), are among the leading toxic agents detected in the environment. Exposure to these elements, particularly at chronic low dose levels, is still a major public health concern. Concurrent exposure to Pb, Cd, or As may produce additive or synergistic interactions or even new effects that are not seen in single component exposures. Evaluating these interactions on a mechanistic basis is essential for risk assessment and management of metal/metalloid mixtures. This paper will review a number of individual studies that addressed interactions of these metals/metalloids in both experimental and human exposure studies with...
MRI findings in 13 patients with monolateral parotid tumor were compared with US, sialographic and CT findings. MRI did not allow an accurate diagnosis in 2 patients with diffuse chronic parotitis. MRI was superior to CT in 1 case in defining the intraglandular site of the lesion, and in 2 patients in showing the extraglandular involvement. MRI proved to be superior to CT thanks to its contrast resolution and to multiplanar imaging. MRI high contrast resolution made it possible to demonstrate neoplastic lesions of 4 mm in diameter. The lesion has low signal intensity on T1-weighted images and high signal intensity on T2-weighted. Parotid tumors cannot be characterized by signal intensity alone: only morphology allows to discriminate between benign and malignant lesions. To conclude, US is a screening method, while MRI is helpful in detecting multifocal lesions and in evaluating the tumor extent.
Radon measurements were carried out in Kozlu, Karadon and Uzulmez underground coal mines of Zonguldak bituminous coal basin in Turkey. Passive-time integrating method, which is the most widely used technique for the measurement of radon concentration in air, was applied by using nuclear etched track detectors (CR-39) in the study area. The radon concentration measurements were performed on a total of 42 points in those three mines. The annual exposure, the annual effective dose and lifetime fatality risk, which are the important parameters for the health of workers, were estimated based on chronic occupational exposure to the radon gas, which is calculated using UNCEAR-2000 and ICRP-65 models. The radon concentrations at several coal production faces are higher than the action level of 1000 Bq m{sup -3}. It is suggested that the ventilation rates should be rearranged to reduce the radon concentration.
The Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, is the most important shrimp species in volume in world aquaculture. However, in recent decades, outbreaks of diseases, especially viral diseases, have led to significant economic losses, threatening the sustainability of shrimp farming worldwide. In 2004, Brazilian shrimp farming was seriously affected by a new disease caused by the Infectious myonecrosis virus (IMNV). Thus, disease control based on rapid and sensitive pathogen detection methods has become a priority. In this study, a specific quantitation method for IMNV was developed using real-time PCR with SYBR Green chemistry and viral load of the principal target tissues of chronically infected animals was quantified. The quantitative analysis revealed that mean viral load ranged from ...
Penile rehabilitation therapy following radical prostatectomy is a much debated topic. Erectile dysfunction is still a significant contributor to postoperative morbidity following radical prostatectomy, despite meticulous nerve-sparing technique. Secondary smooth muscle changes in the penis have been identified as the underlying causes of penile atrophy, veno-occlusive dysfunction, and fibrosis. Initial observations that intracavernous injection therapies used on a regular basis postoperatively resulted in improvements in the return of spontaneous erectile function led to the development of penile rehabilitation protocols. Chronic dosing of PDE-V inhibitors is now commonly used by urologists after radical prostatectomy. Despite the current enthusiasm of penile rehabilitation therapy, current scientific evidence with clinical trials is still limited. PMID:19255627
Two experiments used the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) to examine the affective dimension of pain in patients whose pain was secondary to malignancy. In experiment I, segregating groups of cancer patients on the basis of extreme scores (high versus low) on the MPQ failed to produce segregation on independent measures of affect and infirmity. This outcome contrasts with earlier work with chronic benign pain patients. Experiment II compared cancer pain patients matched with benign pain patients on intensity of pain report on the affective dimension of the MPQ. Cancer pain patients reported a reliably higher affective loading to their pain. These data suggest that cancer pain patients employ different criteria than benign pain patients in selecting affective pain descriptors. Possible explanations for this difference are discussed. PMID:7070825
Asthma, affecting as many as 400 million individuals worldwide, is one of the most prevalent chronic health condition in the United States. With an increasing number of patients with asthma and the frequent inability of conventional lifestyle modification and therapy to effectively control the problem, nutritional and dietary therapies are being sought. This study was undertaken to investigate the efficacy of the purple passion fruit peel (PFP) extract, a novel mixture of bioflavonoids, on asthma symptoms. Patients with asthma were studied in a 4-week randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial with oral administration of PFP extract (150 mg/d) or placebo pills. The effects of PFP extract were evaluated by assessing the clinical symptoms of asthma and spirometry tests. Most clinical...
Chronic exposure to uranium compounds such as UO{sub 2} and U{sub 3}O{sub 8} led to the development of a methodology, based on the recommendation of ICRP, involving four main steps: the measurement of the uranium concentration and the particle size distribution at the workstation, the assessment of physico-chemical properties of the compound, the study of in-vitro solubility using a chemical test and the monitoring of workers. Results and comments on UO{sub 2} and U{sub 3}O{sub 8} are given. (author)
Abstract Despite reduced sympathetic activity below the level of a spinal cord injury (SCI), venoconstriction during autonomic dysreflexia increases venous return to the heart. Here, contractions of isometrically mounted tail veins from rats with spinal transection at T4 performed 8???10 weeks earlier are compared with those from sham-operated rats. After SCI, lumen diameter was reduced by ?30% and the contractions evoked by electrical stimulation of the perivascular axons were larger than control. This augmentation of neurovascular transmission was not associated with enhanced sensitivity to ?-adrenoceptor agonists or to adenosine-5?-triphosphate (ATP) although contractions to depolarization with K+ were larger after SCI. The percentage reduction in nerve-evoked contraction after SCI prod...
Spondylarthritides (SpA) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are idiopathic, chronic inflammatory disorders. Although they are very distinct and well-defined entities, there is clinical and genetic evidence supporting some degree of overlap between the pathogenesis of the two. Subclinical gut inflammation is present in up to two thirds of all SpA patients and can evolve into IBD. This subclinical gut inflammation has been shown to be strongly associated with joint inflammation, providing a clue for a common pathophysiologic background. Despite extensive research progress in the field over the past few years, many questions remain unanswered. In this paper, we focus on the clinical, genetic, and pathophysiologic overlap of SpA and IBD. Furthermore, we discuss some of the targets that may i...
Recent improvements in cell purification and transplantation techniques have contributed to the identification of cell populations known as tumor-initiating cells (TIC). This discovery has led to the -cancer stem cell hierarchy- concept, which holds that tumors are organized as a hierarchy of malignant tissues sustained by such TIC. However, this concept remains controversial. In this review, we examine recent advances in cancer stem cell research that have been generated from studies of Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome-positive leukemia. The abnormal Ph chromosome, which arises from a translocation creating the BCR-ABL1 fusion gene, is most commonly associated with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) and precursor B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). Examination of the pathophysiology ...
A noninvasive method is described for estimating local cerebral blood flow (LCBF) and local partition coefficients by means of computed tomographic scanning during inhalation of 30% stable xenon gas in oxygen. Time-dependent xenon concentrations in arterial blood and brain tissue during the wash-in and washout phases are used to calculate partition coefficients and LCBF values by means of a least-squares curve-fitting analysis. Control values for partition coefficient and LCBF obtained from control subjects with minor head trauma in the chronic stage were compatible with those in several past reports, and reproducibility was satisfactory. The theoretic grounds underlying this new method of curve-fitting analysis are discussed.
A noninvasive method is described for estimating local cerebral blood flow (LCBF) and local partition coefficients by means of computed tomographic scanning during inhalation of 30% stable xenon gas in oxygen. Time-dependent xenon concentrations in arterial blood and brain tissue during the wash-in and washout phases are used to calculate partition coefficients and LCBF values by means of a least-squares curve-fitting analysis. Control values for partition coefficient and LCBF obtained from control subjects with minor head trauma in the chronic stage were compatible with those in several past reports, and reproducibility was satisfactory. The theoretic grounds underlying this new method of curve-fitting analysis are discussed.
The aim of this review is to evaluate the role of inflammatory spine disease in patients with chronic back pain. The contribution of imaging modalities for the diagnostic evaluation of back pain is discussed. A systematic literature search based on the classification of seronegative spondyloarthropathies and rheumatoid arthritis was performed. The results of this search and the experiences in a large collective of rheumatological patients are analyzed. The prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis (1-2%) is comparable to that of spondyloarthropathies (1.9%). The etiology of these entities is not fully elucidated. Magnetic resonance imaging is increasingly used for early detection and surveillance of therapy with TNF-#alpha# antagonists. Bone marrow edema, which is only detectable with MRI, represents an early sign of inflammation. Therapy with TNF-#alpha# antagonists is based on clinical and laboratory criteria, and signs of inflammation in MRI. MRI is useful for ...
Health risks associated with inhalation of mineral dusts have been identified to a great extent through epidemiology studies, but also have been assessed by conducting subchronic and chronic inhalation studies typically on rodents. However, in vivo studies are softly, time-consuming, requiring complex technologies, and may not yield information on cellular and molecular mechanisms of response. As a result, the use of in vitro cell culture systems has played an important role in studying the toxicology of mineral dusts and providing insight into action mechanisms. This article reviews selected in vitro approaches that are used to investigate the cytotoxic and inflammatory properties of mineral particles and fibers. In addition key findings as they relate to understanding the toxicology of mineral dusts are presented. 165 refs., 1 fig., 5 tab.
Summaries are included of research contracts which expired prior to Dec. 31, 1960. The contracts were concerned with investigations of: electrophysiological responses of biological systems in nerve cells to irradiation with small doses of ionizing radiations; the mode of the protective action of certain sulfhydryl compounds against radiation effects on the synthesis of deoxyribonucleic acid, using tritium-labeled thymidine; development of a bubble chamber method of monitoring and dosimetry for Low fast neutron fluxes; effects of incorporated radioisotopes on the stability of genetic materials; interrelation of root and leaf absorption of radioisotopes in herbaceous plants; uptake of radioactive wastes by lowland rice from soils contaminated by irrigation water, and decontamination of the rice; and comparison between mutation rates induced by acute and chronic gamma irradiations. (B.O.G.)
PurposeTo characterize the morphology of outer retinal holes caused by solar maculopathy, using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). DesignThis study is an observational case series. MethodsThe SD-OCT findings of 3 patients (6 eyes) with chronic solar maculopathy are presented. ResultsSD-OCT demonstrates a characteristic appearance of partial-thickness hole(s) in the outer retina at the fovea. In 3 of 6 eyes, there is 1 hole directly beneath the umbo. In the remaining 3 eyes, there are multifocal holes spread across the fovea. Holes in more restricted layers, as had been previously reported with time-domain OCT, were not seen. In addition, advanced visualization of SD-OCT data demonstrates a hyperreflective ring around the outer retinal hole. ConclusionsSD-OCT can be used...
Gonadal hormones modulate neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus differentially in male and female adult rodents. Neurogenesis is comprised of at least two components: cell proliferation (the production of new cells) and cell survival (the number of new neurons that survive to maturity). Previous studies have found sex differences in the level of cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus only when comparing females in a high estrogen state to males. This review focuses on the effects of acute and chronic levels of estrogens or androgens on hippocampal neurogenesis in the adult male and female rodent. Evidence is also reviewed for the co-localization of androgen receptors and estrogen receptors (ER) with markers for cell proliferation or immature new cell survival. Briefly, evidence suggests that ...
Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae is associated with chronic non-progressive pneumonia of sheep and goats. As with many other mycoplasmas involved in animal diseases, protective immune responses have not been achieved with vaccines, even though antibody responses can be obtained. This study focuses on characterizing the interaction of M. ovipneumoniae with ovine PBMC using carboxy-fluorescein-succinimidyl-ester (CFSE) loading and flow cytometry to measure lymphoid cell division. M. ovipneumoniae induced a strong in vitro polyclonal suppression of CD4^+, CD8^+, and B blood lymphocyte subsets. The suppressive activity could be destroyed by heating to 60^oC, and partially impaired by formalin and binary ethyleneimine treatment that abolished its viability. The activity resided on the surface-exposed m...
Therapeutic decisions are quite clear-cut for asymptomatic gallstone disease and acute cholecystitis. However, the appropriate therapeutic course for older patients with chronic cholecystitis may be less obvious. Watchful waiting may be reasonable for patients with mild and infrequent symptoms. For healthy patients, cholecystectomy is recommended if symptoms are becoming more frequent and severe. Laparoscopy may reduce the complication rate and be safely performed even in those with underlying medical illness. Oral dissolution therapy can be attempted for qualifying symptomatic patients who are at poor surgical risk or who refuse surgery. Shock wave lithotripsy and contact dissolution therapy show some promise but are currently experimental. PMID:8339941
Measuring HPA axis activity is the standard approach to the study of stress and welfare in farm animals. Although the reference technique is the use of blood plasma to measure glucocorticoid hormones (cortisol or corticosterone), several alternative methods such as the measurement of corticosteroids in saliva, urine or faeces have been developed to overcome the stress induced by blood sampling itself. In chronic stress situations, as is frequently the case in studies about farm animal welfare, hormonal secretions are usually unchanged but dynamic testing allows the demonstration of functional changes at several levels of the system, including the sensitization of the adrenal cortex to ACTH and the resistance of the axis to feedback inhibition by corticosteroids (dexamethasone suppression t...
Summary There is a current popular recognition that cigarette smoking is deleterious to health. Although this is very clearly the case for physical health, the situation regarding mental health is, however, rather more complicated. This piece concentrates on the role of smoking in schizophrenia: it is important to consider why schizophrenia, exceptionally amongst the severe and enduring mental illnesses, is associated with increased cigarette consumption. People who suffer from schizophrenia consequently have a greater risk of the complications to physical health caused by this addiction and clearly, it is important to understand why this occurs. Numerous investigators have found that both neuroleptic-naive, first-onset schizophrenics, together with chronic sufferers of the illness, consum...
The anticonvulsant drugs carbamazepine, phenobarbital, trimethadione, valproic acid and ethosuximide at pharmacologically relevant concentrations inhibit (/sup 3/H)diazepam binding to astrocytes in primary cultures but have much less effect on a corresponding preparation of neurons. Phenytoin as well as pentobarbital (which is not used chronically as an anticonvulsant) are equipotent in the two cell types. The convulsants picrotoxinin and pentylenetetrazol, the convulsant benzodiazepine RO 5-3663 and the two convulsant barbiturates DMBB and CHEB similarly inhibit diazepam binding to astrocytes but have little effect on neurons. On the basis of these findings it is suggested that these convulsants and anticonvulsants owe at least part of their effect to an interaction with the astrocytic benzodiazepine receptor, perhaps by interference with a calcium channel.
A historical perspective is given of the current paradigm that does not explicitly protect the environment from radiation, but instead, relies on the concept that if dose limits are set to protect humans then the environment is automatically protected as well. We summarize recent international questioning of this paradigm and briefly present three different frameworks for protecting biota that are being considered by the U.S. DOE, the Canadian government and the International Commission on Radiological Protection. We emphasize that an enhanced collaboration is required between what has traditionally been separated disciplines of radiation biology and radiation ecology if we are going to properly address the current environmental radiation problems. We then summarize results generated from an EMSP grant that allowed us to develop a Low Dose Irradiation Facility that specifically addresses effects of low-level, chronic irradiation on multiple levels of biological ...
BackgroundMore than 11 million Americans live with chronic lung disease; in search for an alternative to donor organs, we attempted to regenerate lungs based on perfusion decellularized lung scaffolds that can be transplanted similar to a donor organ. MethodsCadaveric rat lungs were decellularized by detergent perfusion. Resulting scaffolds were mounted in bioreactors and seeded with endothelial and fetal lung cells. Biomimetic organ culture was maintained for 7 days. Resulting bioartificial left lungs were transplanted in orthotopic position after left pneumonectomy in rats. Cadaveric left lung transplants and pneumonectomies served as controls. Blood gas analyses, compliance testing, and fluoroscopies were performed on postoperative days 1, 7, and 14. Lungs were removed for final analysi...
The article examines the limits and challenges small powers face when they adjust to systemic changes. Specifically, this article discusses the Philippines' conduct of a diplomatic strategy of equi balancing between the USA and China. In this strategy, the Philippines enhances and deepens its security relations with its strategic ally, the USA and at the same time, obtains economic assistance and politico diplomatic concessions from East Asia's emergent power, China. The Philippines' diplomatic gambit, however, is restrained by its formal alliance with the USA and its chronic territorial dispute with China over the Spratly Islands. At present, several developments are undermining Manila's efforts in playing this balancing game with Washington and Beijing. These are: the Philippines' passiv...
The possible long-term effects of chronic radiation exposure have been studied. Rats were given tritiated drinking water (3 #mu#Ci/ml) before and during pregnancy and thereafter continuously through five generations. The brains were studied at 30 and 120 days postnatally. Significant decreases in weight and DNA and protein contents of specific parts of the brain were found, the most pronounced decreases being in the diencephalon. The decrease in protein content were more pronounced than the decreases in DNA content; the decreases were also more pronounced at 30 days than at 120 days, and more pronounced in the fith generation than in previous generations.
Abstract Introduction.- There are no studies on the sexual function of male patients with Behet's disease (BD), but it is probable that male sexual dysfunction may be seen in this chronic condition. Aim.- The aim of this study was to assess the effect of BD on male sexual function and psychiatric status, and to examine the relationship between sexual function and depression in this population. Methods.- Patients with a diagnosis of BD for at least one year were included in the study. The patients' age, educational level, and duration of disease were recorded. A healthy control group was selected with highly similar characteristics to the patient group. The sexual functions of the patient and the control groups were assessed using the International Index of Erectile Functions (IIEF), and th...
Effect of Abdominal Active Can on DFTs. Introduction: Many patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) have older lead systems, which are usually not replaced at the time of pulse generator replacement unless a malfunction is noted. Therefore, optimization of defibrillation with these lead systems is clinically important. The objective of this prospective study was to determine if an active abdominal pulse generator (Can) affects chronic defibrillation thresholds (DFTs) with a dual-coil, transvenous ICD lead system. Methods and Results: The study population consisted of 39 patients who presented for routine abdominal pulse generator replacement. Each patient underwent two assessments of DFT using a step-down protocol, with the order of testing randomized. The distal right ...
A destructive spondyloarthropathy is reported in four patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis for chronic renal disease. In a separate investigation a controlled, prospective radiographic study of the cervical spine revealed this spondyloarthropathy in 4 (15%) of 26 long-term dialysis patients. A single disk level was involved in three patients, and two disc levels were involved in one patient. This spondyloarthropathy correlated with the duration of dialysis but not with the radiographic evidence of renal osteodystrophy or severity of laboratory abnormalities associated with hyperparathyroidism. Three of these four patients also had discovertebral erosions or destruction involving the lumbar spine. Cervical spine flexion views revealed evidence of ligamentous laxity or instability in three (12%) dialysis patients, all with vertebral resorption and disc space narrowing. It is postulated that this instability may contribute to the development of cervical ...
Summary Objective To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of an educational outreach intervention to improve primary respiratory care by South African nurses. Methods Cost-effectiveness analysis alongside a pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial, with individual patient data. The intervention, the Practical Approach to Lung Health in South Africa (PALSA), comprised educational outreach based on syndromic clinical practice guidelines for tuberculosis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia and other respiratory diseases. The study included 1999 patients aged 15 or over with cough or difficult breathing, attending 40 primary care clinics staffed by nurses in the Free State province. They were interviewed at first presentation, and 1856 (93%) were interviewed 3 months late...
Aims The aim of this study is to examine the dose?response relationships between age, ?lifestyle factors?? (body mass index, tobacco smoking, sports), and symptomatic knee osteoarthritis in a population-based case?control study. Additionally, the study aims to investigate the mode of interaction between body mass index (BMI) and physical workload (occupational kneeling/squatting and lifting/carrying of loads) with respect to the risk of symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. Methods In five orthopedic clinics and five practices, 295 male patients aged 25?70 with radiographically confirmed knee osteoarthritis associated with chronic complaints were recruited. The control group comprised 327 male control subjects. In a structured personal interview, body weight at different ages, body height, cumu...
ABSTRACT To date the effect of silver-containing wound dressings on biofilms, known to be present in chronic wounds, has not been determined or documented. In this current study, we aimed to determine the antimicrobial effect of a silver-containing dressing on biofilms grown in a chambered slide model. Before the addition of a wound dressing onto a 24-hour biofilm, composed of either Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter cloacae, Staphylococcus aureus, or a mixed bacterial community, a fluorescent dye was applied. This enabled the viability of sessile bacteria to be monitored in real-time, using a rapid form of confocal laser scanning microscopy over a contact time period of 48 hours. By analyzing all the three-dimensional data generated from the confocal time-lapse sequences, 90% of all se...
Since the publication by the International Commission on Radiological Protection of revised recommendations which set out some general principles for intervention, some ideas have emerged which address interventions in the case of chronic exposure from contaminated lands. In the past there have been interventions proposed or carried out to rehabilitate land contaminated during the era of atmospheric nuclear weapon testing. Some of these interventions are reviewed in the context of these ideas and it is concluded that, by and large, reasonable outcomes have been achieved. The concept of a 'generic action level' (an effective dose of the order of 10 mSv#centre dot#a"-"1 to representative individuals in the critical group) may be useful in future to aid decision makers in determining whether intervention is appropriate. (author)
Abstract Alcohol drinking is highly prevalent in many cultures and contributes to the global burden of disease. In fact, it was shown that alcohol constitutes 3.2% of all worldwide deaths in the year 2006 and is linked to more than 60 diseases, including cancers, cardiovascular diseases, liver cirrhosis, neuropsychiatric disorders, injuries and foetal alcohol syndrome. Alcoholism, which has been proven to have a high genetic load, is one potentially fatal consequence of chronic heavy alcohol consumption, and may be regarded as one of the most prevalent neuropsychiatric diseases afflicting our society today. The aim of the integrated genome research network -Genetics of Alcohol Addiction--which is a German inter-/trans-disciplinary life science consortium consisting of molecular biologists,...
The present study describes pathologic findings and immunohistochemical diagnosis of canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) in 22 dogs who died naturally in the Aegean region of Turkey. At necropsy, lymphadenomegaly, hepatosplenomegaly, hepatic, and nephrosclerotic lesions were conspicuous. Histopathologically, chronic inflammatory reactions of the spleen, lymph nodes, bone marrow, liver, and skin were marked findings. Cytological and histological examinations showed macrophages loaded with Leishmania amastigotes in these organs. Immunohistochemistry revealed that immunolabeling of amastigotes and/or parasite antigen, especially in the lymph nodes, spleen, bone marrow, liver, and skin, and occasionally, in the kidneys, intestines and lungs. Our laboratory results showed that immunohistochemis...
Abstract Imatinib mesylate is the first of a novel group of drugs that specifically target protein tyrosine kinases, which are central to the pathogenesis of human cancer. It has been approved for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia and gastrointestinal stromal tumor and has been found efficacious in other neoplastic diseases. Nilotinib and dasatinib, a second-generation of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), were developed in response to findings of emerging imatinib resistance or intolerance to the drug. Cutaneous reactions are the most common nonhematologic side effect of these drugs, and their management is challenging especially in the absence of alternative anticancer agents. The present review focuses on the clinical characteristics and the hypothesized molecular pathogenesis o...
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a chronic neurobehavioral disorder afflicting adults worldwide. This article is an update on the evidence supporting medications for adult ADHD, with particular emphasis on cardiovascular implications. Relevant clinical literature was sought using PubMed searches, with an emphasis on new reports from April 2009 to April 2011. This review describes the efficacy and general tolerability of stimulant and nonstimulant medications for adults with ADHD as seen in contemporary clinical trials. Cardiovascular response to medications for ADHD is primarily seen in heart rate and blood pressure elevations, while less is known about the etiology of rare cardiovascular events or long-term sequelae. Further research is indicated to delineate clinical an...
The aim of this study was to observe both the clinical signs and symptoms of wounds at risk of infection, that is critically colonised (biofilm infected) and antimicrobial-performance of an ionic silver alginate/carboxymethylcellulose (SACMC) dressing, in comparison with a non silver calcium alginate fibre (AF) dressing, on chronic venous leg and pressure ulcers. Thirty-six patients with venous or pressure ulcers, considered clinically to be critically colonised (biofilm infected), were randomly chosen to receive either an SACMC dressing or a non silver calcium AF dressing. The efficacy of each wound dressing was evaluated over a 4-week period. The primary study endpoints were prevention of infection and progression to wound healing. The SACMC group showed a statistically significant (P = ...
Gastrointestinal lymphomas are almost exclusively of a non Hodgkin's type. The Western form is characterized by a higher incidence of stomach location (50 %), a MALT type (mucosa associated lymphoid tissue) (40 %), a B-cell type (90 %), and a high grade (55 %). Chronic infection with Helicobacter pylori is an important risk factor. Mediterranean lymphomas form a particular clinical and pathological entity with diffuse involvement of the small bowel and are frequently being associated with a chronic malabsorption disorder. Eradication of Helicobacter pylori in early lymphomas, and the use of tetracyclines in early Mediterranean lymphomas, have been shown to induce durable remissions. For more advanced gastric lymphomas, treatment usually consists of anthracycline-based chemotherapy followed by involved field radiotherapy. Surgery is usually reserved for complications such as perforation or bleeding, or in some selected cases for salvage after ...
Full text: The general population is daily exposed to chronic, low doses of ionizing radiation (IR) from both natural and artificial sources. The biological consequences of acute, high dose IR exposure can be readily determined; however, the nature and significance of low dose, low dose-rate IR effects are still the subject of debate. Confounding the issue, are the phenomena collectively referred to as the Radiation-induced Bystander Effect (RIBE). The RIBE describes a collection of in vitro observations that suggest the presence of a soluble, transmissible factor(s) released from irradiated cells that can induce a biological response in un-irradiated cells. The induction, nature and magnitude of the RIBE varies between cell culture systems, radiation sources and end-points measured. Efforts to confirm the presence of the RIBE in vivo have been confined to in vivo-like culture systems and limited work with tumour and bone-marrow transplantation models. Validation ...
Retroviruses are well known pathogens of mammals, birds and fish. Their potential to induce cancer in chickens was already described almost 100 years ago and murine retroviruses have been a subject of study for 50 years. The first human retroviruses, HTLV and HIV, were discovered more than 30 years ago, surprising researchers and physicians by the profound differences in the diseases they cause. HTLV-1 is able to induce, after decades of infection, lymphomas/leukemia or neuroimmune disorders whereas untreated HIV infection leads almost inevitably to AIDS. The recently described XMRV (xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus) appeared to possess many of the features known for HTLV and was regarded by some to be the third human retrovirus. However, recent publications by Knox et al. [1] and Paprotka et al. [2] have shed new light on this gammaretrovirus. Knox and colleagues clearly demonstrate that XMRV is absent in patients belonging to a chronic fatigue ...
Iron overload has been described in patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis. The present study was undertaken to evaluate a rapid, noninvasive method for determination of skin iron by the technique of diagnostic x-ray spectrometry (DXS). Thirty-five patients receiving chronic hemodialysis treatment entered the study and were compared with 25 normal controls. Since pathological skin iron deposition occurs mainly at the dermal-epidermal junction in the basal cells of the epidermis, measurements were made in the thenar eminence representing mainly epidermal tissue (FeE), and in the forearm representative mainly of dermis (FeD). The mean +/- SD FeE iron concentrations were equivalent to 14.5 +/- 8.8 and 18.2 +/- 10.2 parts per million wet weight tissue (ppm) and both were significantly higher than in normal controls in which they averaged 9.2 +/- 2.5 ppm (P less than 0.005) and 10.2 +/- 3.2 ppm (P less than 0.001), respectively. There was ...
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has sponsored several studies to identify and quantify, through the use of models, the potential health effects of accidental releases of radionuclides from nuclear power plants. The Reactor Safety Study provided the basis for most of the earlier estimates related to these health effects. Subsequent efforts by NRC-supported groups resulted in improved health effects models that were published in the report entitled {open_quotes}Health Effects Models for Nuclear Power Plant Consequence Analysis{close_quotes}, NUREG/CR-4214, 1985 and revised further in the 1989 report NUREG/CR-4214, Rev. 1, Part 2. The health effects models presented in the 1989 NUREG/CR-4214 report were developed for exposure to low-linear energy transfer (LET) (beta and gamma) radiation based on the best scientific information available at that time. Since the 1989 report was published, two addenda to that report have been prepared to (1) incorporate other scientific information ...
A transplant experiment was conducted to determine whether standard metabolic rate (SMR) of a freshwater shrimp (Palaeomonetes paludosus) would be affected by exposure to trace element-enriched coal combustion waste (coal ash). Shrimp were transplanted into replicate cages in a coal ash-polluted site and a reference site for 8 months. The coal ash-polluted site was characterized by elevated sediment concentrations of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Se compared to sediments in the reference site. After 8 months in the study sites, shrimp in the polluted site appeared to have accumulated As, Cd and Se from the habitat, but there were on differences in survival between the study sites. However, mean SMR of shrimp (measured as O{sub 2} consumption at rest) held in the polluted site was 51% higher than mean SMR of shrimp held in the reference site. The elevation in SMR indicates that the energetic costs of maintenance are greater for shrimp chronically exposed to the ...
Protocol changes and options contained within US Environmental Protection Agency whole effluent toxicity tests represent variables that have the potential to affect bioassay performance and interpretation of results. Variables evaluated in this study include: the change in allowable age in the Pimephales promelas acute bioassay from up to 90 d to a maximum of 14 d, age-specific acute responses of P. promelas among the allowable ages of 1 to 14 d, change in the chronic growth endpoint definition from final mass to biomass, differences between hemacytometer and fluorometer measurements in the Selenastrum capricornutum protocol, and options for statistical interpretation of species sensitivity in multiple test/species screening bioassays. Clear age-related sensitivity and precision differences were observed in acute responses of P. promelas. Results obtained using the younger age classes were typically more variable in studies of both 1- to 14-d-old and 14- to ...
In view of the anticipated increased use of atomic energy in industry, the possible long-term effects of chronic radiation exposure were studied in five generations of rats. Female rats (F_0) were given tritiated drinking water ("3HOH;3#mu#Ci/ml) from adolescence (60 days) until and throughout pregnancy. A separate study showed that the maximum radioactivity in the urine is reached in 30 days, and in the blood in 42 days. In the newborns, the highest specific activity was in the nucleic acid fraction, but total radioactivity was mainly due to the water (body fluids) compartment. No signs of radiation illness or increase in cataract formation in the mothers were observed. The food and water intake and body weight changes before pregnancy were normal. The course and the outcome of pregnancy were also normal. However, 60% of the newborns (F_1) exhibited hematomas, edemas, and subdural hemorrhages, which disappeared at 30 days of age. Bollod analysis of the F_1 ...
To determine the effects of ammonium chloride (NH4Cl) dosage and swimming exercise training during 4 weeks on bone metabolic turnover in rats, seven-week-old female 24 Wister-Kyoto (WKY) rats were investigated by bone status including bone mineral density (BMD) and biomechanical markers from blood and urine. Twenty-four rats (initial weight: 191.2+/-7.6 g) were randomly divided into four groups: baseline (8 weeks old) control group (n=6, BC), 4-week control group (n=6, Con), 4-week swimming exercise loading group (n=6, Swim) and 4-week chronic NH4Cl dosage group (n=6, Acid). All rats were fed an AIN93M diet (Ca: 0.5%, P: 0.3%), and both Con and Swim groups were pair-fed by feeding volume of the NH4Cl dosage group. The acid group only received 0.25 M NH4Cl distilled water ad libitum. At the end of the experimental period, rats were sacrificed with blood drawn and femur and tibia were removed for analysis of bone mineral density (BMD) by dual energy X-ray ...
Full text: Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a complex disorder characterised by profound fatigue and neuropsychiatric dysfunction. Previous studies with cerebral perfusion SPECT (rCBF) scans were performed with inhomogeneous patient populations and were not analysed with Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM). We have used SPM to study subjects with moderate CFS based on the Fukuda criteria, who were not on medication and not depressed, compared to age matched control subjects. An apparent bimodal age distribution has been observed in CFS. Subjects were therefore divided into two age groups: 16-35 or under 35 (17 CFS, 11 control) and 36-61 or over 35 (15 CFS, 15 control). HMPAO brain SPECT was acquired on a 3-head camera. After lower window scatter subtraction, reconstruction with attenuation correction (mu=0.15/cm) and editing of facial activity, scans were spatially normalised (affine + 2x3x2 nonlinear) to SPM's anatomical space. SPM statistical analysis yielded ...
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To review the recent literature on the prognostic value of biomarkers of liver fibrosis and impaired liver function in patients with chronic hepatitis C with or without HIV coinfection. RECENT FINDINGS: A combination of standard blood tests seems to be useful in identifying patients at risk of liver-related complications. Findings from studies investigating the validity of the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score in HIV-infected liver transplant candidates are conflicting. Two large studies of HIV/hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfected patients have shown that plasma levels of the fibrosis marker hyaluronic acid are a strong predictor of clinical complications. A smaller study found hyaluronic acid and two other fibrosis tests, aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) and Fib-4, to be independent predictors of mortality when included in models with the MELD or the Child-Pugh-Turcotte scores. SUMMARY: Although the data are ...
Aim: Rheumatoid arthritis is a limiting disease having, among its pathological features, the inflammation of synovial tissue with progressive and later destruction of the articulation. This leads to joint deformation and loss of its function, generating pain and reducing the mobility of the affected articulation. The aim was to evaluate "1"6"6Ho-Hydroxyapatite ("1"6"6 Ho-HA) as potential radiopharmaceutical for the symptomatic treatment of chronic and acute arthritis. Materials and Methods: Holmiun-166 was produced by irradiation of Ho_2O_3 at La Reina Research Reactor, Nuclear Chilean Energy Commission. Hydroxyapatite was in-house synthesized. Its labelling and quality controls follows the internationally accepted procedures. An antigen's arthritis was induced to eight New Zealand rabbits with the "1"6"6 Ho-HA radiochemical being administered thereafter in two dosage modalities (single and double). The compound therapeutic efficiency was evaluated based upon ...
Purpose: To determine the value of MRI in the preoperative evaluation of chronic paranasal sinusitis and to compare the results with CT and intraoperative findings. Method/Materials: 42 patients with clinical signs of chronic paranasal sinusitis underwent MRI after CT evaluation on one day, with subsequent functional endoscopic sinus surgery on the next day. Coronary CT was obtained with 5-mm slices and table-feed in the prone position, while MRI was performed in the supine position with coronary T{sub 2}-TSE+pd and coronary and transverse HASTE, each with 5-mm slice thickness. Aquisition time in MRI was less than 8 minutes. Two radiologists reviewed the CT and MRI scans for signs of sinusitis and detection of anatomical landmarks. The results were correlated with the intraoperative findings. Results: MRI offered no artifacts of dental work and showed more often high quality pictures than CT. CT and MRI demonstrated a good correlation in the ...
Morphine sulfate (MS Contin), a proven analgesic in the treatment of cancer pain and chronic benign pain, seems to be a good analgesic for the treatment of burn pain. MS Contin is morphine sulfate incorporated in a wax cellulose matrix delivery system. This wax cellulose delivery system gives MS Contin its duration of action. Ten patients were enrolled in an open-labeled, nonrandomized study. The study was designed to examine the analgesic efficacy of MS Contin in the burn population. Each patient remained in the study for 6 days. The efficacy of the analgesic regimen was subjectively measured by the visual pain scale. The MS Contin group was retrospectively compared with a group of patients who were given continuous intravenous infusions of morphine. The two groups were matched according to age, burn size, surgical procedures, and hospital stay. The analgesic qualities of MS Contin were comparable to those of continuous intravenous morphine sulfate infusions. MS ...
Fission track analysis (FTA) technique for the determination of "2"3"9Pu excreted through urine has been standardized using blank samples, tracer and "2"3"9Pu spikes. Double stage anion exchange separation protocol has been applied and an average radiochemical recovery of "2"3"9Pu of 18% was obtained. An average track registration efficiency of 11 tracks per #mu#Bq of "2"3"9Pu, irradiated to 0.35x10"1"7 neutron fluence was established. Reagent blank urine samples from 11 controlled subjects were analyzed by FTA and an average of 149#+-#14 tracks was obtained. Minimum detectable activity of 34 #mu#Bq L"-"1 of urine sample was obtained and will be useful for monitoring chronic exposure cases handling MOX fuel.
Recently, various types of allogeneic skin substitutes including cultured epidermal substitute (CES), cultured dermal substitute (CDS), and cultured skin substitute (CSS), which are composed of keratinocytes and/or fibroblasts as the cellular component(s), have been used as biological wound dressings. In our study, the allogeneic CDS was prepared by plating fibroblasts on a spongy collagen. The clinical evaluation was conducted using fresh or cryopreserved allogeneic CDS. In 145 of our clinical cases, 95% (138/145) of various wounds were evaluated as achieving good or excellent results, including 96% (22/23) of deep dermal burns (DDB) and dermal burns (DB), 100% (53/53) of partial-thickness donor wounds, 91% (21/23) of traumatic skin defects, 100% (5/5) of pressure ulcers, 82% (9/11) of chronic skin ulcers, 100% (6/6) of coverage for debrided DB, and 92% (22/24) of coverage for autologous meshed graft. The results obtained in our study suggest that the allogeneic ...
SummaryStudy Objectives: To compare the effect of noninvasive mechanical ventilation (NIV) in severely acidotic with mildly acidotic patients with acute hypercapnic chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD).Design: Comparison of NIV in consecutively enrolled patients with acute hypercapnic COPD with mild (pH 7.25-7.35) or severe (pHPaCO2, duration of NIV treatment, length of stay in hospital and survival.Results (meadian (IQR)): Twenty-nine patients had 36 episodes of acute hypercapnic respiratory failure: Seventeen with pHPaCO2 improve (12 (6-34) vs 12 (4-28)h, respectively, Formula Not Shown ), with similar duration of NIV treatment (60 (35-96) vs 68 (36-48)h, respectively, Formula Not Shown ) and hospital length of stay (8 (7-18) vs 9 (5-17) days, respectively, Formula Not Shown ). Overal...
This study evaluated whether differences in design of 3-dimensional polylactic acid barriers (EPi-Guide and Guidor) would influence hard tissue results in the treatment of Grade II furcations in humans. A multicenter study was conducted, using 40 patients with moderate to advanced bilateral chronic adult periodontitis of the mandibular first or second molars. After flap access, debridement, and root preparation, surgical bone level measurements were taken and membranes were placed on a random basis. Surgical reentry occurred at 1 year. Data collected from all 3 investigative centers were pooled and analyzed using an analysis of variance appropriate for a counterbalancing design. Both barrier materials resulted in significant gains of attachment level and defect reduction. The composite reduction in the vertical component of the osseous defects was greater in the sites treated with Epi-Guide as compared to those treated with Guidor; the difference between barriers ...
The report published in 2003 by the European committee on the risk of irradiation (C.E.R.I.) criticizes a part of the ICRP recommendations relative to the internal contaminations.Consequently, I.R.S.N. wishes to supply its own analysis. The present report points the questions linked to the internal contamination and to the difficulties inherent to the risk incurred after chronic exposure.Consequently it does not treat all the problems of the workers and populations radiation protection. (N.C.)
Quantitative estimates of lung cancer risk from exposure to diesel engine emissions were developed using data from three chronic bioassays with Fischer 344 rats. Human target organ dose was estimated with the aid of a comprehensive dosimetry model. This model accounted for rat-human differences in deposition efficiency, normal particle clearance rates, transport of particles to lung-associated lymph nodes, respiration rates, and lung surface area, as well as high-dose inhibition of particle clearance. Recent evidence indicates that the inert carbon core of the diesel particulate matter is likely to be the primary source of carcinogenicity. The epithelial tissue lining the alveoli and lower airways is the primary target site for induction of lung tumors. Dose was therefore based upon the concentration of carbon particulate matter per unit lung surface area. Unit risk estimates were developed using either a time-to-tumor or a linearized multistage model. The unit ...
Anxiety is a common symptom during ethanol withdrawal contributing to its continuous abuse and alcoholism. Ethanol withdrawal in rats produces an interoceptive discriminative stimulus (IDS) similar to that produced by the anxiogenic drug pentylenetetrazol (PTZ). This stimulus peaks at 12 hours after last dose of ethanol and thereafter the IDS is detected for several days (protracted withdrawal) by sensitization to a probe drug. previously, the authors have shown that during the protracted withdrawal, the IDS is enhanced by GABA receptor antagonists suggesting alteration of brain GABA systems. This report provides further evidence that chronic ethanol alters GABAergic systems. Rats were trained to discriminate PTZ (20 mg/kg, ip) from saline. Diazepam, pentobarbital and phenobarbital blocked the PTZ-IDS dose dependently. Ethanol, 4.5% w/v, was then given in a nutritionally complete diet for a week. On termination of the ethanol diet, rats exhibited signs and symptoms ...
Abstract in english In order to evaluate the presence of specific IgG antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi in patients with clinical manifestations associated with Lyme borreliosis in Cali, Colombia, 20 serum samples from patients with dermatologic signs, one cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sample from a patient with chronic neurologic and arthritic manifestations, and twelve serum samples from individuals without clinical signs associated with Lyme borreliosis were analyzed by IgG Western blot. The (more) results were interpreted following the recommendations of the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) for IgG Western blots. Four samples fulfilled the CDC criteria: two serum specimens from patients with morphea (localized scleroderma), the CSF from the patient with neurologic and arthritic manifestations, and one of the controls. Interpretation of positive serology for Lyme disease in non-endemic countries must be cautious. However these results suggest that ...
Abstract in english We hypothesized that chronic oral administration of the phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor sildenafil could improve the exercise capacity and pulmonary hemodynamics in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) on the basis of previous short-term studies. We tested this hypothesis in 14 subjects with PAH, including seven patients with the idiopathic form and seven patients with atrial septal defects, but no other congenital heart abnormalities. Patients were subjected (more) to a 6-min walk test and dyspnea was graded according to the Borg scale. Pulmonary flow and pressures were measured by Doppler echocardiography. Patients were given sildenafil, 75 mg orally three times a day, and followed up for 1 year. Sildenafil therapy resulted in the following changes: increase in the 6-min walk distance from a median value of 387 m (range 0 to 484 m) to 462 m (range 408 to 588 m; P
Skeletal radiotracer (sup(99m)Tc-HEDP) uptake was quantitated with and without the aid of a computer in 30 chronic dialysis patients with histologic evidence of renal osteodystrophy. Before scintigraphy, elevated soft-tissue activity due to the absence of renal radiotracer excretion was reduced by hemodialysis. The results were compared with those of a normal group and with the results of the biochemical and the bone morphometric studies of these patients. In all patients the radiotracer uptake was elevated, often markedly. In several patients with minimal histologic bone disease, however, soft-tissue activity could not be normalized by hemodialysis although its influence on the quantitative data could be further reduced (but not excluded) by computer evaluation of skeletal radiotracer uptake. Since the latter technique clearly distinguished the majority of the patients from the normals, it appears that computerized quantitative skeletal analysis is a potentially ...
Skeletal radiotracer (sup(99m)Tc-HEDP) uptake was quantitated with and without the aid of a computer in 30 chronic dialysis patients with histologic evidence of renal osteodystrophy. Before scintigraphy, elevated soft-tissue activity due to the absence of renal radiotracer excretion was reduced by hemodialysis. The results were compared with those of a normal group and with the results of the biochemical and the bone morphometric studies of these patients. In all patients the radiotracer uptake was elevated, often markedly. In several patients with minimal histologic bone disease, however, soft-tissue activity could not be normalized by hemodialysis although its influence on the quantitative data could be further reduced (but not excluded) by computer evaluation of skeletal radiotracer uptake. Since the latter technique clearly distinguished the majority of the patients from the normals, it appears that computerized quantitative skeletal analysis is a potentially ...
Penile rehabilitation has been an area of intense study and debate over the last decade. Interest in this topic was stimulated by the observation that erectile dysfunction remained a significant problem after radical prostatectomy despite meticulous nerve-sparing technique. Smooth muscle alterations and fibrotic changes in the penis were identified as the underlying causes of penile atrophy, veno-occlusive dysfunction, and Peyronie's-like changes that were observed after surgery. Initial observations that intracavernous injection therapies used on a regular basis postoperatively resulted in improvements in the return of spontaneous erectile function led to the development of penile rehabilitation protocols. Chronic dosing of oral type V phosphodiesterase inhibitors is now commonly used by urologists after radical prostatectomy despite a lack of convincing evidence from randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials. Use of local therapies to heal the penis may have ...
Xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) was discovered in human prostate tumors and later in some chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) patients. However, subsequent studies have identified various sources of potential contamination with XMRV and other murine leukemia virus (MLV)-related sequences in test samples. Biological and nucleotide sequence analysis indicates that XMRV is distinct from known xenotropic MLVs and has a broad host range and cell tropism including human cells. Therefore, it is prudent to minimize the risk of human exposure to infection by evaluating XMRV contamination in cell lines handled in laboratory research and particularly those used in the manufacture of biological products. Nested DNA PCR assays were optimized for investigating XMRV gag and env sequences in various cell lines, which included MRC-5, Vero, HEK-293, MDCK, HeLa, and A549, that may be used in the development of some vaccines and other cell lines broadly used in ...
Molecular imaging represents a modern research area that allows the in vivo study of molecular biological process kinetics using appropriate probes and visualization methods. This methodology may be defined- apart from the contrast media injection - as non-abrasive. In order to reach an in vivo molecular process imaging as accurate as possible the effects of the used probes on the biological should not be too large. The contrast media as important part of the molecular imaging can significantly contribute to the understanding of molecular processes and to the development of tailored diagnostics and therapy. Since more than 15 years PTB is developing optic imaging systems that may be used for fluorescence based visualization of tissue phantoms, small animal models and the localization of tumors and their predecessors, and for the early recognition of inflammatory processes in clinical trials. Cellular changes occur during many diseases, thus the molecular imaging might be of importance ...
Selective alveolo-bronchography (SAB) has been routinely used to evaluate anatomical changes in the bronchiole and its distal air spaces. A narrowing of the bronchiole and abnormal pooling of contrast medium in the destroyed air space are the prime findings. Since the object of radiography is extremely thin, direct magnification radiography is mandatory to obtain radiologic details. However, the problem with this technique is that radiographic quality varies depending upon the size of the patient and the concentration of contrast medium to be introduced in the lung. This study had two goals. One was to improve the image quality of SAB by Fuji Computed Radiography (FCR). FCR provides radiographs with a good contrast and stable density throughout a wide range of exposure factors which occur in the use of SAB. The other goal was to separately evaluate morphological abnormalities in the outer and inner zones of the lung using X-ray CT. This idea was derived from our observations in ...
We investigated the in vitro phenotypic transformation of human embryo (HE) cells that were repeatedly irradiated (7.5 cGy once a week) throughout their life-span. Irradiation was repeated until the cells had accumulated 195 cGy (equivalent to the 26th passage). Samples of cells were assayed for survival by colony formation, as well as for mutation at the hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (HGPRT) locus and for transformation by focus formation. The life-span (mean number of population doublings) of multiply irradiated cells with a total dose of 97.5 cGy was slightly but significantly prolonged over that of controls. After HE cells had accumulated 195 cGy, the maximum number of divisions increased to 130-160% of the number in non-irradiated control cells. Transformed foci were not observed until cells had accumulated 97.5 cGy, and then increased with the increasing accumulation of radiation. However, no cells showed immortality or expressed a malignant phenotype in vitro. ...
INTRODUCTION: Fatigue is a prominent symptom in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and it has distinctive features; however, there is a need for a robust scale to measure fatigue in COPD. METHODS: At baseline, 122 patients with COPD (forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV(1)) 52%, women 38%, mean age 66 years) completed a pilot fatigue scale covering a pool of 57 items and underwent a range of tests, including indicators of mood and a short general fatigue questionnaire. All patients responded to the 57-item scale and it was readministered to a subset of 30 patients. The pilot scale was first subjected to constructive validated shortening steps and then to a principal components analysis. RESULTS: The Manchester COPD fatigue scale (MCFS) consists of 27 items, loading into three dimensions: physical, cognitive and psychosocial fatigue. Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.97) and test-retest repeatability (r = 0.97, por=16 scores in the Center for ...
Two pilot-scale constructed wetlands (4:1 length:width aspect) were designed for tertiary treatment of refinery effluent. As requirements for removal of contaminants from NPDES effluents become more stringent, cost-effective technological approaches are needed to achieve the necessary treatment levels and be efficient, effective and low maintenance. The fundamental design of these constructed wetlands was based on biogeochemical principles that regulate the fate and persistence of the targeted elements (Cu, Zn, Pb). In order to maximize opportunities to learn more about the internal function of the wetlands, they were built to operate in series or in parallel permitting hydraulic retention times of 24 to 48 hours. The wetlands were lined with {approximately}76 cm of compacted clay as well as a 30 mil polyethylene liner. The hydrosoil selected for use in the constructed wetlands is 74.1% sand, 25.6% silt, 0.3% clay. Based on laboratory studies, this hydrosoil achieves a redox of 250 to ...
The contribution of US, CT and MR imaging was investigated in 25 cirrhotic patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. The following parameters were considered: lesion detection, site and size of the lesion, daughter nodules, location and/or infiltration of intrahepatic vessels, patency of portal vein and collateral vessels, signs of chronic liver disease, steatosis, ascitis, and lymphadenopathy. The results confirm the value of US, which also allowed lesion biopsy in all cases. CT was as accurate as US in detecting the lesion and even superior in demonstranting daughter nodules. MR imaging, with conventional SE and IR sequences, was inferior since it missed 3 lesions due to motion artifacts; more over, a smaller number of daughter nodules was seen than with CT. The authors conclude that, at present, MR imaging cannot replace US and CT; the latter, if combined with artheriography, using either hidrosoluble or liposoluble contrast agents, gives the best results in the ...
SommarioNei Paesi occidentali il rischio di malattie cardiovascolari e notevolmente aumentato negli ultimi decenni. Di pari passo, il miglioramento prognostico delle malattie cardiovascolari, l'invecchiamento e l'aumento della vita media della popolazione generale stanno rivelando un crescente numero di casi di malattia renale cronica d'origine vascolare. E del tutto plausibile pensare che nei prossimi anni il numero di pazienti anziani con malattia vascolare aterosclerotica, che sara inserito nei programmi di dialisi cronica, aumentera rapidamente. Questo fara lievitare in modo drammatico i costi sociali ed economici della dialisi configurando una vera emergenza clinica. In questo scenario epidemiologico, la diagnosi precoce della malattia ischemica cronica del rene e la definizione di nu...
Aluminum toxicity has been implicated in the pathogenesis of a number of clinical disorders in patients with chronic renal failure on long-term intermittent hemodialysis treatment. The predominant disorders have been those involving either bone (osteomalacic dialysis osteodystrophy) or brain (dialysis encephalopathy). In nonuremic patients, an increased brain aluminum concentration has been implicated as a neurotoxic agent in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease and was associated with experimental neurofibrillary degeneration in animals. The brain aluminum concentrations of patients dying with the syndrome of dialysis encephalopathy (dialysis dementia) are significantly higher than in dialyzed patients without the syndrome and in nondialyzed patients. Two potential sources for the increased tissue content of aluminum in patients on hemodialysis have been proposed: (1) intestinal absorption from aluminum containing phosphate-binding gels, and (2) ...
Recent findings that many human chronic diseases are associated with oxidative stresses have instigated the search for dietary antioxidants. Many phytochemicals, particularly phenolic compounds, have been found to possess strong antioxidant activity and reduce the risks of those diseases. Isoflavones, a special phenolic group found in soybean, have been found to act as antioxidants in some model systems. This study investigated the isoflavone content in a unique nonedible tree fruit, Osage orange [Maclura pomifera (Raf.) Schneid], and methods for the extraction, identification, and quantification of the two major isoflavones, osajin and pomiferin, were developed. The ethyl acetate extract contained 25.7% osajin and 36.2% pomiferin, and the two isoflavones were at 9.5 g kg(-1) of fresh Osage orange. Two model systems, FRAP and beta-CLAMS, were used to measure the antioxidant activity of these two isoflavones. Pomiferin was found to be a strong antioxidant in both ...
This report is a survey of the English language literature of radiation biology between 1947 and 1987, for the purpose of compiling a literature base on the effects of radiation on animals, which have yielded results that can expand our knowledge about similar radiation effects on human beings. Articles were sought that reported exposure of adult mammals to external sources of ionizing radiation, having endpoints that included effects on the brain, the spinal cord, and behavior of the gastrointestinal, endocrine, and cardiovascular systems and the hematopoietic and immune systems. Effects of interest were those that occurred within the first 12 months after exposure. The survey does not include articles reporting chronic or long term delayed effects of radiation unless they provided insight into mechanisms of morphological and/or functional derangement. Information presented in the report is divided into subtopics (i.e., Brain-Morphological Changes). The brief ...
Ewing's sarcoma classically presents as a hot spot on bone scan as a result of increased vascularity of the tumor and new bone formation. Purpose We report and analyze an uncommon pattern of a 'cold' lesion in Ewing's sarcoma on bone scan and its pathophysiologic significance. Case report A 15-year-old boy complaining of thigh pain. CT scan evoked Ewing's sarcoma or osteitis. MRI evoked chronic osteitis. Scintigraphy showed a fairly intense and heterogeneous uptake on the femoral lesion and no abnormal uptake elsewhere. Biopsy showed none pathologic pattern. Three months later, a second biopsy concluded to Ewing's sarcoma. Bone scan showed a larger lesion with peripheral intense uptake centered by enlarged 'cold' area in the left femoral diaphysis and no evident bone metastasis. The patient underwent chemotherapy and surgery. Three months later, bone scan showed extensive skeletal metastasis. Conclusion Ewing's sarcoma appears usually as an intense lesion on bone ...
The aim of this study was to observe both the clinical signs and symptoms of wounds at risk of infection, that is critically colonised (biofilm infected) and antimicrobial-performance of an ionic silver alginate/carboxymethylcellulose (SACMC) dressing, in comparison with a non silver calcium alginate fibre (AF) dressing, on chronic venous leg and pressure ulcers. Thirty-six patients with venous or pressure ulcers, considered clinically to be critically colonised (biofilm infected), were randomly chosen to receive either an SACMC dressing or a non silver calcium AF dressing. The efficacy of each wound dressing was evaluated over a 4-week period. The primary study endpoints were prevention of infection and progression to wound healing. The SACMC group showed a statistically significant (P = 0.017) improvement to healing as indicated by a reduction in the surface area of the wound, over the 4-week study period, compared with AF controls. In conclusion, the SACMC ...