Growth of a rifampicin-resistant strain of a proteolytic psychrotroph,Pseudomonas fluorescens,in raw and ultra heat-treated milk

Pseudomonas fluorescens UQM2490, resistant to 250 μg rifampicin/ml, was derived from P. fluorescens JC1, a proteolytic psychrotroph isolated from raw milk. Growth of UQM2490 was followed in raw and ultra heat-treated milk, by viable counting on rifampicin-containing agar medium. The growth curves obtained demonstrate slower growth in raw milk than in treated milk and the variation in growth with change in inoculum level. Generation times in ultra heat-treated milk ranged from 9.5 to 14.1 h compared with 9.6 to 33 h in raw milk.     

Implementing nurse sensitive outcomes into care planning at a long-term care facility

This article describes one long-term care facility's efforts to implement standardized language in the care planning process. Federal regulations for long-term care mandate the use of a uniform comprehensive assessment tool. Eighteen Resident Assessment Protocols (RAPs) are identified for data collection. Computer databases were revised for care planning. Appropriate North American Nursing Diagnosis Association (NANDA) diagnoses were linked to each RAP. Nursing-Sensitive Outcomes (NOCs) were linked to each NANDA as goals. Nursing Interventions Classifications (NICs) were linked to NANDA diagnosis and NOC outcomes as approaches. The databases are illustrated, and frequently used NANDAs and NOCs are identified.     

Multiresidue determination of pesticides in apples and pears by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

This paper describes a rapid, specific and sensitive multiresidue method for the routine analysis of several classes of pesticides used for the treatment of apples and pears, involving a rapid extraction procedure at pH 4.5 with a mixture of acetone-dichloromethane-hexane (50:20:30, v/v/v) and gas chromatography coupled to mass-selective detection, in order to achieve quantitative analysis down to their respective maximum residue limit. Extraction recoveries were between 55 and 98%. Limits of detection and limits of quantitation ranged respectively, from 0.01 to 0.05 mg/kg and from 0.02 to 0.1 mg/kg. Intra-assay relative standard deviation was less than 19% for all compounds. An excellent linearity was observed from these LOQs up to 500 mg/kg. Intermediate (inter-assay) precision and accuracy were satisfactory. The method has been applied to many fruit samples intended for commercialisation.     

Thoracoscopic treatment of mediastinal cysts in children

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: The development of thoracoscopic surgery has made many procedures possible, including the treatment of mediastinal cysts in children. The authors report their experience with this procedure between 1992 and 1997. METHODS: Surgery was performed on 22 children aged from 1 month to 9 years (median, 27 months), weighing 5 to 49 kg (median, 12.5 kg). Diagnosis was made by antenatal ultrasound scan in six cases (27%), with a chest x-ray performed for respiratory symptoms in 14 cases, and with a chest x-ray performed for positive tuberculin intradermoreaction in two cases. Decision to resect the cyst was determined by thoracoscopy in 21 of the 22 cases, and by open surgery in one case only (subcarinal compressive cyst with left lung distension and a mediastinal shift). RESULTS: Eighteen of the 21 (86%) cases were treated successfully by thoracoscopy. In three cases of bronchogenic cysts, we performed an associated thoracotomy because the dissection was too difficult and dangerous. In three cases, a small part of a common wall between the cyst and the bronchus was not removed. The pathological diagnosis was bronchogenic cysts in 15 cases (71%), pleuropericardiat cysts in three cases (14%), esophageal duplication in two cases (10%), and cystic hygroma in one case (5%). Two postoperative complications were observed: one esophageal wound and a case of recurrent pneumothorax after chest tube removal. Patients were discharged after 2 to 11 days (median, 3 days). Follow-up was uneventful. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment of mediastinal cyst by thoracoscopy is feasible in most cases. Compressive cysts with lung distension and mediastinal shift remain a contraindication. If the cysts have a common wall with the bronchus or esophagus, or if they are subcarinal, the dissection may be difficult and dangerous, and thoracotomy may be preferable.     

Love potions and the ointment of witches: historical aspects of the nightshade alkaloids

BACKGROUND: Nightshade plants (Solanaceae) have been utilized as hallucinogenic drugs since antiquity in nearly every culture. The Solanaceae alkaloids, atropine and scopolamine, were the active substances in ointment of witches and medieval anesthetics, and in modern poisons. They are still currently used as hallucinogenic drugs. In poisonings, a dosage- and substance-dependent clinical picture occurs, with central and peripheral symptoms. Hallucinations are predominant in the middle dose range, which explains the drugs' earlier utilization for religious and prophetic purposes. Respiratory depression and arrest at high doses confirm the use of scopolamine as a lethal poison. Despite this, the nightshade alkaloids were utilized in clinical medicine in the 19th century. This is an overview of the cultural history of the nightshade alkaloids.     

Clear lens extraction and implantation of negative-power posterior chamber intraocular lenses to correct extreme myopia

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effectiveness, predictability, and safety of clear lens extraction to correct extreme myopia. SETTING: Clinica de Nuestra Se?ora de la Concepción, Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Madrid, Spain. METHODS: This retrospective study comprised 26 eyes of 17 highly myopic patients who had clear lens extraction and implantation of a negative-power posterior chamber intraocular lens (IOL). The IOL power was calculated using the SRK/T formula. Analyzed were visual and refractive results and intraoperative and postoperative complications. Follow-up was at least 12 months in all cases. RESULTS: Uncorrected visual acuity improved in all cases, with 80.77% of eyes achieving 20/100 or better and 42.30%, 20/40 or better. Best spectacle-corrected visual acuity (BSCVA) improved in 23 eyes (88.46%). The percentage of eyes achieving a BSCVA of 20/100 or better increased from 73.07% preoperatively to 92.30% postoperatively and the percentage achieving 20/40 or better, from 23.07 to 73.07%. Of the 26 eyes, 76.91% were within 1.00 diopter (D) of refractive error and 96.16% were within 2.00 D. No intraoperative complications occurred. Although postoperatively 3 eyes (11.53%) developed choroidal detachment and 5 (19.23%) had an intraocular pressure greater than 25 mm Hg, all had a favorable outcome. Four eyes (15.38%) developed posterior capsule opacification and had a neodymium:YAG laser posterior capsulotomy 6 months postoperatively. No retinal detachments were observed. CONCLUSION: Clear lens extraction with negative-power IOL implantation using the SRK/T formula had good effectiveness, acceptable predictability, and a low morbidity in eyes with extreme myopia over a short follow-up. A longer follow-up with more cases is needed to assess the safety of the procedure.     

Enantioselective synthesis and pharmacology of 11-hydroxy-(1'S,2'R)-dimethylheptyl-delta 8-THC

An enantioselective synthesis of the (1'S,2'R)-dimethylheptyl cannabinoid side chain has been developed and employed in the synthesis of 11-hydroxy-(1'S,2'R)-dimethylheptyl-delta 8-THC (3). Pharmacology, in vivo and in vitro, indicate (3) to be one of the most potent traditional cannabinoids known.     

Delta opioid peptide [D-Ala2,D-leu5]enkephalin blocks the long-term loss of dopamine transporters induced by multiple administrations of methamphetamine: involvement of opioid receptors and reactive oxygen species

Delta opioid peptide [D-Ala2,D-leu5]enkephalin (DADLE) can prolong organ preservation and increases myocardial tolerance to ischemia. Our study examined the protective property of DADLE against methamphetamine- (METH) induced dopaminergic terminal damage in the central nervous system. Because the neurotoxicity of METH involves reactive oxygen species, we also examined if DADLE might be an antioxidative agent in vitro. DADLE at 2 and 4 mg/kg (i.p.), given 30 min before each METH administration (5 or 10 mg/kg, i.p., four injections in a day at 2-hr intervals), dose-dependently blocked the METH-induced long-term dopamine transporter loss. The opioid antagonist naltrexone blocked this action of DADLE in both aspects of striata but tends not to affect the effects of DADLE in the nucleus accumbens. DADLE did not alter changes in body temperature induced by METH. The reduction of striatal dopaminergic content and tyrosine hydroxylase activity caused by METH, however, were not blocked by DADLE. In vitro, DADLE was approximately equipotent to glutathione in inhibiting both superoxide anion formation induced by xanthine oxidase and hydroxyl radical formation evoked by ferrous/citrate complex. DADLE was only slightly less potent than glutathione in inhibiting the iron/ascorbate-induced brain lipid peroxidation. These results suggest that DADLE can protect the terminal membranes of dopaminergic neurons against METH-induced insult but not the loss of dopaminergic content and tyrosine hydroxylase activity and that this action of DADLE might involve opioid receptors as well as the sequestration of free radical.     

Conceptus, progesterone, and breed effects on uterine protein secretion in swine

This experiment consisted of the following treatment-breed groups: 1) White crossbred gilts, 2) White crossbred gilts treated with progesterone (200 mg/d in corn oil given on d 2 and 3 after estrus), and 3) Chinese Meishan gilts. Pregnant and nonpregnant gilts (n=3 to 6) from each treatment-breed combination were assigned to be slaughtered on d 10, 11, 12, 13, and 15. At slaughter each uterine horn was flushed with 20 mL of minimal essential medium. Uterine flushings were assayed for total protein, acid phosphatase, uteroferrin, retinol-binding protein, and oxytocin. Uterine flush total protein was increased by progesterone treatment, was unaffected by pregnancy status, and was less in Meishans. Similar patterns were found for retinol binding protein and uteroferrin, except that uteroferrin was greater in pregnant than in nonpregnant gilts. Oxytocin was greater in pregnant than in nonpregnant gilts, was not influenced by progesterone treatment, and was similar in Meishan and in White crossbred gilts. These results indicate that the conceptus does not influence secretion of either total protein or retinol binding protein during pregnancy and that the onset of secretion of these uterine proteins may be controlled by progesterone. The presence of the conceptus is associated with increased uteroferrin and oxytocin production. The decreased secretion of uterine proteins in Meishan gilts may partially explain the slower embryonic development that has been reported for this breed.