Radiopharmacology of inhaled 133Xe in skeletal sites containing deposits of Gaucher cells

Gaucher's disease is a lysosomal storage disease in which cells of the reticuloendothelial system accumulate the lipid glucocerebroside. It is characterized by slowly progressive visceral and osseous involvement. One of the latter manifestations includes lipid infiltration of bone marrow. We monitored the rate of inhaled 133Xe uptake and wash-out over diseased and normal metaphyseal and epiphyseal areas of the knee. Twenty-two patients (15 adults, 7 children) with various degrees of previously diagnosed Gaucher's disease were positioned supine under a gamma-camera interfaced to a computer system. All patients rebreathed 133Xe gas from a closed system for 10 min followed by 14 min of wash-out. Digitized images of the lung, liver, spleen, bony sites and soft tissue were obtained at 1 min intervals during the wash-in and wash-out phases. Counts for each ROI were normalized per 100 pixels and plotted as a function (time). Maximum uptake was also calculated by relating the counts/ROI/100 pixels to the 10 min integrated lung count during equilibrium (the administered "dose"). There was essentially no 133Xe uptake in liver and spleen involved with Gaucher's disease. Monophasic uptake and biphasic wash-out curves were observed in the limited investigative population. Skeletal Gaucher deposits released the 133Xe at a greater rate relative to soft tissue.     

Sodium metabisulfite and SO2 release: an under-recognized hazard among shrimp fishermen

Since the introduction of sodium metabisulfite as a food preservative, it has been associated with several idiosyncratic reactions (eg, bronchospasm, oculonasal symptoms, and urticaria/angioedema) in sulfite-sensitive individuals. The pathogenic mechanism of these reactions is not yet understood. We report the case of two crewmen on a shrimp trawler who were found dead in the ship's hold. Their deaths had occurred while they were applying dry sodium metabisulfite, referred to as "shrimp dip" in the shrimping industry. Postmortem examinations showed diffuse pulmonary edema consistent with death secondary to asphyxia. Associated findings were visceral congestion. Although it is possible to measure death from sodium metabisulfite with available records, its potential morbidity cannot be estimated. It is known that sodium metabisulfite can react with acids and water, releasing toxic sulfur dioxide (SO2) gas. In addition, SO2 gas reacts with respiratory tissue forming sulfureous acid, and inducing a pulmonary reaction causing hypoxemia. Furthermore, sodium metabisulfite, compared with sodium bisulfite, has a much greater propensity to release SO2 gas. We conclude that there is a need for improved education regarding the potential side effects of sodium metabisulfite, thus eliminating needless occupational morbidity and mortality.     

Effects of hypothalamic temperature changes on the sweat rate in Macaca mulatta

The concept of cardiac reconditioning centers for the prevention and rehabilitation of coronary patients has been tremendously successful in Germany over the past 20 years. At least 40 such centers are located throughout the country. Physicians, nurses, and physical therapists work closely together in the various facets of the rehabilitation process. The financial backing for these facilities is primarily through governmental and regional insurance companies, whose officials are apparently convinced that in the long run supporting preventive measures is financially sound. Objective data supporting their convictions come from studies such as that of Brusis, who showed that such as that of 1,500 employees was diminished by nearly 70 percent during a two-year period after cardiac reconditioning, as compared to a similar time period before the rehabilitation experience. Subjective benefits, which are extremely difficult to quantitate in meaningful terms, were nonetheless expressed by nearly all the patients with whom I conversed. Perhaps they have experienced the same feelings that Mark Twain did when he observed that "all frets and worries and chafings sank to sleep in the presence of the benignant serenity of the Alps; the Great Spirit of the Mountains breathed his own peace upon their hurt minds and sore hearts and healed them."     

Password memorability and security: empirical results

Users rarely choose passwords that are both hard to guess and easy to remember. To determine how to help users choose good passwords, the authors performed a controlled trial of the effects of giving users different kinds of advice. Some of their results challenge the established wisdom.     

James Bond and citations to his books

This paper investigates two bibliometric problems: the listing of books in a specialist area (ornithology) and the determination of the citation pattern to individual authors, who often re-issue their books in later editions. James Bond, a Philadelphia ornithologist, who specialised in the birds of the West Indies, is used as an example of a naturalist whose long career led to many journal articles and enduring scientific fame through a well-known book. He also attained some unexpected notoriety through the use of his name by a popular novelist. Methods for the evaluation of his book and associated bird checklists in comparison with other similar works are presented on the basis of their citations. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The eye of Eila Hopper Ross

In 1936, when Eila Hopper Ross (nee Hopper) was putting the final stroke of paint on her six-foot oil canvas of a life model at the Ontario College of Art, she had not dreamed that in the year to follow she would embark upon a life's career of anatomical study and attention to intricate detail in her own work as a medical illustrator. Though she had early aspirations herself of going into medicine--having been raised in a medical environment with her father, Dr. David Alexander Hopper, regularly receiving pharmaceutical literature with impressive illustrations--Hopper Ross was not aware of medical illustration as a profession. It was Maria Wishart, then director of the Medical Art Service Unit at the University of Toronto, who saw Hopper Ross' final exhibition at the Ontario College of Art and recommended she consider a career in medical art. As a result, Hopper Ross studied for two years (1937-1939) in the Department of Art as Applied to Medicine at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland under the direction of Professor Max Br?del.     

A regulatory role for recombinase activating genes, RAG-1 and RAG-2, in T cell development

Effects of etoposide (VP-16) and cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C) on the cell cycle of HL-60 and THP-1 cells were studied by flow cytometry using the bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU)/DNA assay technique to investigate the efficacy of VP-16 for monocytic leukemia cells. VP-16 inhibited the proliferation of THP-1 cells more strongly than that of HL-60 cells at any concentrations used at 24 and 48 hr. VP-16 arrested HL-60 and THP-1 cells in the G2/M phase and reduced them in the G0/G1 and early S phase at higher concentrations. There was no significant difference in the percentage of G2/M phase cells at the same concentration between both cells. However, reduction in the G0/G1 and early S phase cells was more marked in THP-1 than HL-60 cells significantly. On the other hand, Ara-C perturbed the cell cycle of HL-60 cells more than that of THP-1 cells at 24 and 48 hr. These results suggest that the effects of VP-16 on the cell cycle may be more intense in THP-1 than HL-60 cells, and support the efficacy of VP-16 for treating monocytic leukemia in vivo.     

Multiobjective and multi-physics topology optimization using an updated smart normal constraint bi-directional evolutionary structural optimization method

To date the design of structures using topology optimization methods has mainly focused on single-objective problems. Since real-world design problems typically involve several different objectives, most of which counteract each other, it is desirable to present the designer with a set of Pareto optimal solutions that capture the trade-off between these objectives, known as a smart Pareto set. Thus far only the weighted sums and global criterion methods have been incorporated into topology optimization problems. Such methods are unable to produce evenly distributed smart Pareto sets. However, recently the smart normal constraint method has been shown to be capable of directly generating smart Pareto sets. Therefore, in the present work, an updated smart Normal Constraint Method is combined with a Bi-directional Evolutionary Structural Optimization (SNC-BESO) algorithm to produce smart Pareto sets for multiobjective topology optimization problems. Two examples are presented, showing that the Pareto solutions found by the SNC-BESO method make up a smart Pareto set. The first example, taken from the literature, shows the benefits of the SNC-BESO method. The second example is an industrial design problem for a micro fluidic mixer. Thus, the problem is multi-physics as well as multiobjective, highlighting the applicability of such methods to real-world problems. The results indicate that the method is capable of producing smart Pareto sets to industrial problems in an effective and efficient manner.     

The wabush mines fire

How could a five-million-dollar fire occur in a seemingly low hazard industry? The author discusses one such fire and examines the lessons learned from it. It takes careful study to determine if well-known fire protection principles are being violated.