Use of pooled time series in the study of naturally occurring clinical events and problem behavior in a foster care setting.

Pooled time series is an underused analytic technique with the potential to increase researchers' ability to exploit clinical data. This article demonstrates the value of pooled time series by analyzing the behavior of youths in a specialized foster care treatment setting in response to a naturally occurring clinical event: changes in the number of youths living together in a treatment foster care setting. Pooled time series moves beyond typical clinical analyses with an increased capability of controlling statistically for complex within-S effects and with a clinically useful measure of effect size. The complexity of the intra-S data made it virtually impossible to determine the relevant significance (i.e., clinical meaning) of the clinical event by the use of standard n?=?1 visual analysis procedures or standard statistical methods (e.g., chi square). After things such as autocorrelation and individual time trends were statistically controlled, each additional youth increased the number of problematic behaviors by one behavior per youth per day on the Parent Daily Report. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prevalence of artificial hip implants and use of health services by recipients

Intraneural injection of 10-20 x 10(6) viable Mycobacterium leprae into the sciatic nerve of normal, unsensitized, Swiss white mice gives rise to a tuberculoid type of granulomatous response in 2 weeks. The same dose of viable M. leprae when injected into the sciatic nerves of unsensitized immunosuppressed mice (T200 x 5R) elicited a macrophage response. When macrophages were systemically immobilized using an intraperitoneal injection of silica quartz dust in normal mice, the lesion produced was of the lepromatous type, suggesting a role for the macrophage in the induction of the tuberculoid type of granulomatous response. In all of these in situ experiments, M. leprae failed to enter the Schwann cells.     

Gel-entrapment of perfluorocarbons: a fluorine-19 NMR spectroscopic method for monitoring oxygen concentration in cell perfusion systems

Oxygenation is a major determinant of the physiological state of cultured cells. 19F NMR can be used to determine the oxygen concentration available to cells immobilized in a gel matrix by measuring the relaxation rate (1/T1) of perfluorocarbons (PFC) incorporated into the gel matrix. In calcium alginate gel beads without cells the relaxation rate (1/T1) of the trifluoromethyl group of perfluorotripropylamine (FTPA) varies linearly with oxygen concentration, with a slope of 1.26 +/- 0.15 x 10(-3) s-1 microM-1 and an intercept of 0.50 +/- 0.04 s-1. During perfusion with medium equilibrated with 95%/5% O2/CO2, changes in PFC T1s indicate that the average oxygen concentration was reduced from 894 +/- 102 microM in the absence of cells to 476 +/- 65 microM and 475 +/- 50 microM in the presence of 0.7 x 10(8) EMT6/Ro and RIF-1 murine tumor cells per milliliter of gel, respectively. The presence of 0.2 microliters of FTPA/ml of gel had no effect on the energy status of the cells as indicated by 31P NMR spectra. To calculate oxygen gradients within the beads from the average PFC T1 of the sample, a mathematical model was used assuming that oxygen is the limiting nutrient for cell metabolism and that the cellular oxygen consumption rate is independent of oxygen concentration. Data for EMT6/Ro cells were fit using experimentally determined perfusion parameters together with literature values for cell volume and oxygen consumption rate.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Association of age and body weight with periodontal disease in North American dogs

Thirteen hundred and fifty dogs were examined under anesthesia at veterinary hospitals in the USA and Canada. Periodontal health was recorded in detail. Teeth were frequently absent (particularly lower third molar, upper and lower first premolars, and incisor teeth). Calculus was most extensive on the upper fourth premolar and molar teeth. Missing teeth, mobility of remaining teeth, extent of calculus and gingival inflammation, and furcation exposure and attachment loss all were more common in small dogs compared with larger dogs, and in order dogs compared with younger dogs.     

Oxygen mass transfer calculations in large arteries

Parkinsonism is characterised by overactive glutamatergic transmission in the cortico-striatal and subthalamo-medial pallidal pathways. Local blockade of glutamatergic transmission in these pathways can alleviate parkinsonian symptoms. The effectiveness of the treatment, however, is often limited by the simultaneous appearance of unwanted side-effects. These side-effects, including ataxia and dissociative anaesthesia, are particularly problematic when N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonists are used. In an attempt to overcome these problems we have attempted to manipulate excitatory amino acid (EAA)-mediated neurotransmission indirectly by targeting the NMDA receptor associated modulatory sites. We review evidence which demonstrates that antagonists for both the NMDA associated glycine and polyamine sites can reverse parkinsonian symptoms when injected intra-cerebrally in both MPTP-treated and bilateral 6-OHDA lesioned marmosets without eliciting unwanted side-effects. We further review preliminary data which suggest that ifenprodil, a polyamine site antagonist, has striking anti-parkinsonian actions in the marmoset. Potential mechanisms of action underlying these effects are discussed in terms of NMDA receptor subtypes and the neuroanatomical locus of action. The anti-parkinsonian efficacy of intra-striatally administered EAA antagonists leads us to question the view of dopamine acting in the striatum as a simple neuromodulator.     

Routine Highway Bridge Inspection Condition Documentation Accuracy and Reliability

Routine inspection is the most common form of highway bridge inspection to satisfy the requirements of the National Bridge Inspection Standards. The accuracy and reliability of documentation generated during these inspections are critical to the allocation of Department of Transportation construction, maintenance, and rehabilitation resources. Routine inspections are typically completed using only the visual inspection technique and rely heavily on subjective assessments made by bridge inspectors. In light of this, and given the fact that visual inspection may have other limitations that influence its reliability, the Federal Highway Administration initiated an investigation to examine the reliability of visual inspection as it is currently applied to bridges in the United States. This paper will summarize results from this study related to the accuracy and reliability of routine inspection documentation. A number of important conclusions were developed from the experimental study. Generally, it was found that all structural condition documentation is collected with significant variability. Specifically, 95% of primary element condition ratings for individual bridge components will vary within two rating points of the average and only 68% will vary within one point. Documentation generally collected to support condition ratings also has significant variability as exemplified by the number and types of field notes and photographs taken by inspectors. With respect to the use of element-level inspections, it was found that element usage was generally consistent with the Commonly Recognized Element Guide. However, there is significant variability in the condition state assignments of those elements and in some cases the condition states are not applied correctly to particular elements.     

Connections to cerebellar cortex (Larsell's HVI) in the rabbit: A WGA-HRP study with implications for classical eyeblink conditioning.

Conditioned eyeblink responses are presumably learned in the cerebellum and relayed to motoneurons by way of the red nucleus. Projections from the red nucleus to cerebellar cortex (Larsell's lobule HVI) could be important for shaping temporally adaptive features of the conditioned response. Rabbits that had pipettes containing wheat germ agglutinated horseradish peroxidase (WGA-HRP) implanted unilaterally into HVI showed retrograde labeling of neurons within subregions of the contralateral red nucleus implicated in eyeblink conditioning by lesioning and recording studies. Retrogradely labeled neurons were also observed in the pontine nuclei, inferior olive, and spinal trigeminal nucleus pars oralis. Projections to HVI provide a possible neural substrate for implementing time-derivative computational models of learning in the cerebellum. Time-derivative models are capable of describing the timing and topography of conditioned responses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Outpatient group treatment of chronic pain: Effects of spouse involvement.

Evaluated the efficacy of outpatient group treatment of chronic pain and the effect of spouse involvement in treatment in chronic pain patients ranging in age from 23 to 69 yrs who were randomly assigned to couples group treatment (n?=?17), patient-only group treatment (n?=?14), or waiting-list controls (n?=?12). 29 Ss had low back pain; the remaining Ss reported pain in the knee, arm, leg, hip, head, and phantom limb. The Ss completed the MMPI—168 and measures of health-related psychosocial and physical dysfunction and marital satisfaction. Results indicate that the 16-hr cognitive-behavioral program produced reductions in pain, somatization, spouse-observed pain behavior, physical and psychosocial dysfunction, spouse-rated dysfunction, and utilization of health care resources. Depression was not affected by treatment. Spouse involvement did not facilitate response to treatment on any variables. Also, Ss in the individual condition only showed improved marital satisfaction. All treatment gains were maintained at 3-mo to 7-mo follow-ups. Results indicate that brief outpatient treatment can significantly ameliorate chronic pain problems, and spouse involvement is not essential for a positive response to treatment. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)