Morbidity pattern, health care utilization and per capita health expenditure in a rural population of Tamil Nadu

This retrospective analysis intends to evaluate by histeroscopy the endometrial findings in a group of 63 patients in post-menopausal treated with tamoxifen for breast cancer. Our patients assumed tamoxifen for a different period between 6 and 120 months. Patients have been divided in two groups: I) patients undergoing hysteroscopy because of some clinical symptoms; II) patients who undergoing hysteroscopy as a routine examination. The most important observation of this work is the correlation between the presence of negative endometrium and low risk hyperplasia (LRH) associated to: symptomatology and duration of therapy. In the group of asymptomatic patients the LRH is found only after 3 years of treatment, while in the group of symptomatic patients, LRH is present within the first two years of treatment; beyond this period high risk hyperplasia (HRH) and endometrial carcinoma have been diagnosed. We also observed a higher incidence of endometrial polyps in this population than among the non treated group and among the symptomatic patients. From these data we conclude that hysteroscopy follow-up has to be performed in the group of patients treated with tamoxifen and that it would be necessary to have a hysteroscopy before the beginning of therapy and that this one has to be repeated once a year through the treatment. Obviously the symptomatic patients have to undergo hysteroscopy as soon as possible as a higher incidence of HRH and endometrial carcinoma has been detected in this group of patients.     

High-temperature oxidation of materials

The high-temperature oxidation of a wide variety of materials has been investigated, viz: group I-VIII metals and their alloys; refractory compounds involving carbides, nitrides, borides, and silicides of the group IV-VI transition metals, and materials based on them; and composite materials for various applications. The basic laws and mechanisms of interaction of these materials with gaseous media have been determined. Heat resistance vs composition relationships for various types of binary systems have been defined, based on studies carried out over a broad range of temperatures (500–1600°C), concentrations of second component (0–100%), and an oxidation time of 10 hours. The redistribution of alloying elements during oxidation has been studied, and its effect on oxygen solubility, heat resistance, phase composition and morphology of the scale, and structure of the scale—alloy interface clarified. The definitive role of metal — ion diffusion in the oxidation behavior of titanium and zirconium, and the catastrophic oxidation of zirconium and its alloys, has been demonstrated. Alloying group IV metals with elements of higher valency produces a reduction in oxygen solubility due to the increase in electron concentration, and a reduction in the extent of scaling. The relationship of the heat resistance vs composition diagrams to the phase diagrams of the binary systems has been elucidated.Institute of Materials Science, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kiev. Translated from Poroshkovaya Metallurgiya, Nos. 7/8(380), pp. 121–128, July–August, 1995.     

Identification of a RAPD marker linked to progressive rod-cone degeneration in dogs

1. Tammar Wallaby embryonic blood has been shown to have three alpha-like and two beta-like globin chains in its four haemoglobin components and partial sequences of several chains have been determined. 2. The major embryonic beta-like chain (epsilon) is similar to other mammalian embryonic beta-like chains on the basis of sequencing its first 60 amino acids. 3. There is another embryonic beta-like chain present in one haemoglobin component. It was designated omega and, in its first 54 amino acids, it has features that are more like avian globins than mammalian globins. 4. The one alpha-like embryonic globin sequenced has mammalian rather than avian characteristics. 5. A provisional phylogenetic tree of beta-like globins has been determined. The Tammar epsilon-globin forms a monophyletic group with marsupial and other mammalian embryonic globins; the omega-globin forms a monophyletic group with bird adult and embryonic globins.     

The problem of Caesarean section (author's transl)

The Caesarean sections at the Universit?ts-Frauenklinik Innsbruck from January 1st, 1969 to December 31st, 1974 have been surveyed. Related to the total number of 12 579 deliveries 627 Caesarean sections have been performed. Two 3-year-intervals have been compared: 1969-1971 (group I) without and 1972-1974 (group II) with modern practices of prenatal supervision. There was a high significant increase of the section rate in group II (5,8% versus 4,1% which has been related to the increasing number of mainly fetal indications. The maternal morbidity didn't rise with the increasing section rate. A significant decrease in total infant mortality rate and mortality rate at vaginal deliveries has been found with the increasing incidence of Caesarean sections; whereas the number of depressed infants (Apgar score less than 7) was increased in group II. The reasons therefore have been discussed. The rise of the number of Caesarean sections in group II performed because of breech presentation (14,2% versus 6,2%) was correspondent with a statistically significant decrease in the mortality rate from 11,7 to 4,1%. A Caesarean section rate between 7% and 10% seems to be the limit at least in our hospital--the total infant mortality rate cannot be reduced by further increasing the section frequency: the infant mortality rate possibly could be lowered by a better and more wide spread prenatal care especially by taking more care for prematurity and by intensifying the perinatal period.     

Concentration of lipids and lipoproteins in serum of pregnant women with primary hypertension

The tests have been conducted on 44 women in 3rd trimester of pregnancy. 30 of them were the women with a normal course of pregnancy, and 14 were the ones with the primary hypertension. The blood serum has been tested for the concentration of triglycerides, phospholipids, total cholesterol, HDL and LDL- cholesterol, alpha, beta and pre-beta lipoprotein fractions. The results have been calculated statistically. It has been found that the increase in the concentration of triglycerides (p < 0.001), and the beta lipoprotein fraction (p < 0.004) was essentially higher in the women with the primary hypertension in 3rd trimester of complicated pregnancy in comparison to those values observed in the healthy pregnant women. At the same time a lower concentration of alpha lipoproteins (p < 0.02) has been observed in the group of the pregnant with the primary hypertension. Differences between the concentration of other parameters have not obtained statistical significance.     

Sleep apnea syndrome in patients with diabetes. Effectiveness of treatment for respiratory assistance at night with continuous positive airway pressure

The group of 30 patients with OSA and diabetes type I or II has been examined. After the first test with MESAM 4, 5 patients with considerable nocturnal desaturation and heart rate disorders during sleep have been found. All diabetes type II. Two polisomnographic studies (the first diagnostic polisomnography and the second study for the settlement of treatment with CPAP) have been performed in the patients. After 6 months of applying CPAP all the patients have been examined again. The apnoea index was decreased (from 87.5 to 11.2) and a better control of both systemic arterial pressure and glycaemia, saturation > 80% has been obtained.     

A neuropsychological study of prefrontal lobe function in the positive and negative subtypes of schizophrenia

The symptoms of schizophrenia are frequently divided into positive and negative subtypes. It has been suggested that the negative symptoms are similar to those seen with prefrontal lobe cortical dysfunction. Several neuropsychological investigations of that hypothesis have been carried out, but none have directly compared a negative symptom group with a positive symptom group on the same test battery. In the present study, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS; Kay, Fiszbein, & Opler, 1987) was used to distinguish two groups of 20 patients with schizophrenia with predominant positive or negative symptoms. A battery of 7 neuropsychological tests considered capable of isolating prefrontal lobe dysfunction was administered. A significant group difference was noted on 6 of the tests; the negative symptom group performed much worse than the positive symptom group. The results of this study support the hypothesis that a relationship exists between the negative symptoms of schizophrenia and prefrontal lobe dysfunction.     

An integrated YAC clone contig for the WAGR region on human chromosome 11p13-p14.1

Digestive and nutritional alterations are a common occurrence after pancreatic resections. The authors report the results of a multiparametric evaluation performed in a group of 26 patients submitted to total or cephalic pancreatectomy. Patients were divided into two groups according to the surgical procedure; group A (n = 13) included gastroresected patients and group B (n = 13) included those submitted to pylorus-sparing pancreatic resection. Subclinical digestive and absorptive impairment has been found in 61.5% of group A patients; the nutritional status was clinically poor in four cases from the same group. Digestive alterations have also been found in 69.2% of group B cases, but nutritional status was always satisfactory in the whole group. The more positive results obtained with the pylorus-sparing technique encourage wider adoption of this procedure.     

Experimental investigation of the thermodynamics of Fe-Nb-C austenite and nonstoichiometric niobium and titanium carbides (T = 1273 to 1473 K)

The thermodynamics of Fe-Nb-C austenite and nonstoichiometric binary niobium carbide and titanium carbide in the temperature range of 1273 to 1473 K has been investigated using a dynamic gas equilibration technique. Methane-hydrogen mixtures have been used for fixing carbon potentials, and the carbon contents have been determined as dynamic weight changesvia a sensitive Cahn microbalance. The niobium-carbon interactions, similar to the titaniumcarbon interactions, are manifested as a minimum in the niobium carbide solubility in austenite, as increased amounts of dissolved carbon with niobium additions, and as the variation of solubility limit of the carbide with carbon content at high carbon levels. The results on the isoactivity measurements in the ternary Fe-Nb-C have been analyzed using the modified Wagner formalism, and the ternary interaction parameter ε _C ^Nb has been evaluated. The solubility of niobium carbide in Fe-Nb-C in austenite has been determined as the deflection in the variation of carbon content with Nb additions at constant carbon activity. The dissolution free energy of body-centered cubic (bcc) Nb in face-centered cubic (fcc) Fe has also been determined from the solubility data. Rational correlation between the dissolution free energies of transition metal solutes in fcc Fe and the group number in the Periodic Table has been shown to exist. A correlational relationship between the ternary interaction parameter and the free energy of formation of carbides has been established. These relationships are utilized in the assessment, as well as the systematization of thermodynamic data. The results on the activity-composition relationship in the binary niobium and titanium carbides have been analyzed using the sublattice-subregular model proposed by Hillert and Staffansson, [2] and the interaction parameters in the model were determined. The thermodynamic calculations based on this model and our experimental results were carried out, and very good agreement between experimental and calculated results was obtained. K. BALASUBRAMANIAN, Formerly with McMaster University,     

An in vitro assay for detection of glomerular binding IgG autoantibodies in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

The deposition of anti-dsDNA antibodies in the glomerulus is believed to play a critical role in the pathogenesis of nephritis in SLE. However, an absolute correlation between serum levels of anti-dsDNA antibodies and renal disease has not been found. Recently a glomerular binding assay (GBA) has been developed to detect IgG binding to isolated rat glomeruli. We have used the GBA to study sera from four groups of SLE patients: (A) + anti-dsDNA antibodies, active nephritis; (B) - anti-dsDNA antibodies, active nephritis; (C) + anti-dsDNA antibodies, no nephritis; and (D) - anti-dsDNA antibodies, no nephritis. The serum anti-dsDNA antibodies in group A and group C patients could not be distinguished on the basis of isotype, charge, or cross-reactivity with histones. Nevertheless, the mean intensity of glomerular immunofluorescence was significantly higher in group A than in the three other patient groups and distinguished between patients with serum anti-dsDNA antibodies who had nephritis and those without clinically apparent nephritis. GBA reactivity was unaffected by DNase treatment of sera, but was partially inhibited by preincubation with dsDNA. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that some anti-dsDNA antibodies cross-react with glomerular components and that the presence of this cross-reactivity is associated with, and may be responsible for, the development of nephritis. In addition, we have identified a group of SLE patients with renal disease and typical renal histopathology and immune deposits who do not have serum anti-dsDNA antibodies or antibodies that directly bind to glomeruli in the GBA. The mechanism of renal immune deposition in these patients remains to be determined.     

Isothermal section at 1070 K of the phase-equilibrium diagrams for {Tb,Dy, Ho}-Cr-B systems

The systems {Tb, Dy, Ho}-Cr-B have been studied by means of x-ray analysis. isothermal sections at 1070 K have ben plotted. Previously known borides of the YCrB₄ type structure (space group Pbam) have been confirmed: TbCrB₄, DyCrB₄, and HoCrB₄. A new compound Ho₃CrB₇ with a Er₃CrB₇ type structure (space group Cmcm): a=0.3422 (1), b=1.5714 (5), c=0.9304 (4) nm, R=0.12 has been obtained for the first time. The coordinates of the atoms and their temperature parameters are refined.Lvov University. Translated from Poroshkovaya Metallurgiya, No. 5, pp. 48–50, May, 1993.     

Trimethoprim resistance plasmids: transferability and incompatibility groups (author's transl)

Over a three year period, 119 strains of enterobacteria isolated from patients have been found resistant to trimethoprim (TMP) and sulfonamides (Su); 11 strains were resistant to TMP only. MIC of TMP were between 32 and 2048 microng/ml. Three groups of strains are described: (1) thymineless variants (2 strains); (2) TMP resistance non-transferable into Escherichia coli K12 (95 strains); (3) TMP resistance transferable into E. coli K12 (33 strains). TMP marker and Su marker have been transferred independantly from 13 strains; they were cotransferred from 20 strains. The incompatibility group of 31 plasmids has been determined: 10 belong to the fi+ type, group FII; 21 belong to the fi--type, group 6, group 7, group 10, group N and group I1. Epidemiological implications of such a wide range of incompatibility groups among a small number of plasmids specifying TMP resistance are discussed.     

Social loafing and group evaluation.

Recent work (e.g., S. Harkins; see PA, Vol 75:20027; K. Szymanski and Harkins; see PA, Vol 75:7410) has suggested that social loafing occurs because participants' outputs cannot be evaluated by the experimenter, by the coactors, or by the participants themselves. This analysis had focused on the output of the individual, but in loafing research, participants work together to produce a group product. However, in this prior work participants have been unable to make anything of this group product, because no standard of comparison has been made available. Several recent formulations (e.g., G. Goethals and J. Darley, 1987) have suggested that the potential for group evaluation could motivate performance. Testing this hypothesis in 2 experiments, 1 using an optimizing task and the other a maximizing task, we found that providing a standard that allowed the "group" to evaluate its performance eliminated the loafing effect. The implications of these findings for current theories of group evaluation are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

关于安钢集团实施资本运营的几点认识

以“华菱现象”为切入点，提出安钢实施资本运营的重要性，以及安钢实施资本运营需要注意的几个问题，对安钢集团如何更快更好地发展进行了初步探讨。     

Conformational studies of paclitaxel analogs modified at the C-2' position in hydrophobic and hydrophilic solvent systems

The conformations of two paclitaxel analogs modified at the C-2' position, 2'-deoxypaclitaxel and 2'-methoxypaclitaxel, were studied in hydrophobic and hydrophilic solvent systems by a combination of NMR spectroscopy, CD measurements, and molecular modeling. Both analogs have hydrophobic and hydrophilic conformations that resemble those of paclitaxel itself in the same media. Since the two have diminished biological activities in a number of bioactivity assays and the hydrogen-bonding capability of the 2'-hydroxyl group has been eliminated, we postulate that this group is involved in hydrogen bonding with tubulin and plays an important role in molecular recognition. The results of this study are in agreement with our earlier report on paclitaxel 2'-acetate, an analog in which the 2'-hydroxyl group hydrogen-bonding capacity has also been eliminated.     

The use of group contingencies for behavioral control: A review.

Two types of group contingencies have been developed to control academic and disruptive behavior in the classroom, in which reinforcement is dependent on (a) a selected individual's or (b) the entire group's performance. Comparisons of group and individual contingencies have generally reported them to be equally effective, with some suggestion that individual Ss characteristics may be of importance. The sociometric status of target S is reportedly affected by group consequences; in 2 experiments, Ss increased in popularity, whereas in 1 report they showed a decline. Other studies have shown an increase in cooperative behavior on an academic task involving group-contingent reward. Absence of or noncontingent reinforcement does not usually produce behavioral control, although a combination of instructions and feedback without extraneous reward has been partially effective. Future research is needed on the interrelation of group contingencies and S characteristics, combinations of group and individual contingencies, and the effects of feedback, instructions, and contingent and noncontingent extraneous reward. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Knowledge and perceptions of medical abortion among potential users

Great advances in surgical techniques, perfusion technology and cardiac anesthesia have made heart surgery safer. However, the mayor advance over the past 15 years has been in the field of myocardial protection. Much remains to be done in this field and there is not complete agreement about the different methods of myocardial protection. At the Institute of Cardiac Surgery of Parma a research is developing to concern three different cardioprotective strategies, of which preliminary results are showing. Three groups of patients with the same clinical, surgical, anesthesiological features, who underwent cardiac surgery have been selected. In patients of group A intermittent cold hyperkalemic crystalloid cardioplegia has been used, in those of group B intermittent cold blood cardioplegia and in those of group C intermittent cold blood cardiolegia associated a warm glucose blood cardioplegic reperfusion before aortic unclamping. In all patients enzyme levels (CPK; CPK-MB; LHD; SGOT; SGPT) were measured 12, 24, 72, 120 hours postoperatively; data were collected, also, on spontaneous return to sinus rhythm, perioperative myocardial infarction and the need or not for inotropic agents. All data at first and then those of patients who underwent only coronary rivascularization (75% of patients) were statistically analyzed (one-way Fischer's test). It appears that the use of antegrade cold intermittent blood cardioplegia with reperfusion is more optimal for myocardial protection, how show lower levels of CPK-MB especially in the first postoperative period. In group C remains greater spontaneous resumption of normal sinus rhythm compare to group A and this suggests a best preservation of cellula-integrity and function with use of blood cardioplegia.