Subgingival microbial profile of Papillon-Lefèvre patients assessed by DNA-probes

The prevalence of 18 selected bacterial species was assessed by means of "checkerboard" DNA-DNA hybridisation in a group of 12 Saudi-Arabian adolescents with Papillon-Lefèvre syndrome. A total of 36 tooth sites were investigated. The patients exhibited severe periodontal disease with deep pockets. All 12 patients harboured the putative bacterial pathogens P. intermedia, F. nucleatum, P. micros and S. intermedius while T. denticola, B. forsythus, P. nigrescens, E. corrodens, S. noxia and C. rectus were recovered from 11 patients. P. gingivalis was recovered from 9 patients and 18 sites while corresponding figures for A. actinomycetemcomitans were 8 and 19, respectively. A number of the investigated species (B. forsythus, T. denticola, P. intermedia, C rectus) reached high levels (> or =10(6) cells) in more than 1/2 of the patients. On the other hand, bacteria such as A. actinomycetemcomitans and P. gingivalis were infrequently encountered at high levels in these subgingival samples. In conclusion, the analysis failed to demonstrate a PLS-specific profile of the subgingival infection, since the bacterial composition of the sampled sites closely resembled that characterising deep pockets in adult periodontitis patients.     

Dietary factors influence the recovery rates of Helicobacter pylori in a BALB/cA mouse model

We have identified a number of type I and type II keratins in the zebrafish Danio rerio by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, complementary keratin blot-binding assay and immunoblotting. These keratins range from 56 kDa to 46 kDa in molecular mass and from pH 6.6 to pH 5.2 in isoelectric point. Type II zebrafish keratins exhibit significantly higher molecular masses (56-52 kDa) compared with the type I keratins (50-48 kDa), but the isoelectric points show no significant difference between the two keratin subclasses (type II: pH 6.0-5.5; type I: pH 6.1-5.2). According to their occurrence in various zebrafish tissues, the identified keratins can be classified into "E" (epidermal) and "S" (simple epithelial) proteins. A panel of monoclonal anti-keratin antibodies has been used for immunoblotting of zebrafish cytoskeletal preparations and immunofluorescence microscopy of frozen tissue sections. These antibodies have revealed differential cytoplasmic expression of keratins; this not only includes epithelia, but also a variety of mesenchymally derived cells and tissues. Thus, previously detected fundamental differences in keratin expression patterns between higher vertebrates and a salmonid, the rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss, also apply between vertebrates and the zebrafish, a cyprinid. However, in spite of notable similarities, trout and zebrafish keratins differ from each other in many details. The present data provide a firm basis from which the application of keratins as cell differentiation markers in the well-established genetic model organism, the zebrafish, can be developed.     

Effects of a startling acoustic stimulus on reaction time in different parkinsonian syndromes

BACKGROUND: The functional assessment of the startle circuit is usually done by analyzing the acoustic startle response (ASR). However, a startling acoustic stimulus (SAS) also induces changes in the excitability of neural structures that can be demonstrated by studying the SAS-induced change in the behavior of certain neurophysiologic responses. OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects induced by an SAS on voluntary reaction time in patients with parkinsonian syndromes (StartReact effect) and to compare the results with those obtained in a group of age-matched healthy volunteers. METHODS: Twelve patients with idiopathic PD (IPD), seven patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), seven patients with multisystem atrophy (MSA), and seven healthy age-matched control volunteers performed a simple visual reaction time task and received SAS together with the "go" signal in random trials. RESULTS: Baseline reaction time was significantly slower in PSP patients than in control subjects and MSA patients. The SAS induced a significant shortening of the reaction time in control subjects and in patients with IPD and MSA, but not in patients with PSP. The percentage of reaction time shortening with regard to the baseline values also differed significantly between PSP patients and the other groups of subjects. The StartReact effect was consistent throughout the experiment and showed reduced habituation with repeated testing. CONCLUSIONS: The results are consistent with an abnormal function of the startle circuit in patients with PSP and agree with previous studies using the ASR. The reduced habituation of the StartReact effect favors its clinical applicability in the assessment of differences between patients with parkinsonian syndromes.     

Nursing records for discharge. Report of the nursing history

The quality of care within our health care system depends upon an active and dynamic communication which bridges the different levels of care (primary and hospital) and will permit a continuity of services between the distinct parts. To insure this success, the authors propose an outpatient nursing record that will follow the patient upon his or her discharge. This record, to be called the "Discharged Patient Report", will be directed to other medical professionals so that they can be informed of previous treatments that the patient has received. Included in the report will be items such as; the previous nursing interactions that were used on the patient, how problems were resolved, possible other solutions, and health care information given to the patient. Using the report in this way will give us a great tool to know our patients and better understand how to serve them.     

Detection of IgM against the dengue++ virus in whole blood absorbed on filter paper]

Thirty-four sheep were submitted to surgery substituting the native ACL with the central third of the patellar tendon, ten enter this study. The purpose was to find a possible relationship between tissue pO2 and healing processes considering also the biomechanical and histomorphological aspects of the grafts. Four of them were sacrificed under general anaesthesia after 6 months, and six after 1 year in order to perform tissue pO2 measurement and an analysis of microvessel density on specimens of the normal ACL and the graft. Our data showed higher pO2 values of the autografts after 6 months. After 1 year the data was comparable to those of native ACL. This was confirmed by a microvessel count of the histological specimens and the data was in relationship to biomechanical and histomorphological analysis. Tissue pO2 can be observed and recorded in "in vivo" ACL, and patellar tendon used as graft, with no injury to their integrity. The monitoring system might be considered as an experimental tool for indirect controls of the anterior cruciate substitutes.     

Demonstration of the feasibility of emergency department immunization against influenza and pneumococcus

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the feasibility of systematic immunization against influenza and pneumococcus in a public emergency department. METHODS: This was a demonstration project conducted from October 21, 1996, through December 2, 1996, at Cook County Hospital, an inner-city hospital with a 1996 adult ED census of 120,449. Seventy-eight percent of patients are uninsured; 92% are people of color; 73% deny having a primary physician. Only 15% have emergency complaints. Nurses received standing orders that all nonemergency adult patients meeting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria for high risk should be offered immunization against influenza and pneumococcus at triage. Cash prizes were offered to nurses appropriately immunizing the most patients. The date of immunization was entered into the computerized patient registration system, available to all providers within the county system. From November 4 through November 18, an extra nurse was assigned to triage to test for improvement in immunization rates. A time-motion study determined the time required per immunization on the basis of a convenience sample of 8 nurses drawn from all 3 shifts. RESULTS: Only 3% of identified high-risk patients reported previous pneumococcal immunization. Despite extreme variation in nurse performance, 2,631 patients (24% of patients triaged) were screened, and 716 high-risk patients were identified (27% of patients screened). A total of 1234 patients were immunized against influenza, and 241 patients were appropriately immunized against pneumococcus. Sixty-one percent of high-risk patients with no contraindication to influenza immunization were immunized against influenza. Thirty-five percent of high-risk patients not previously immunized against pneumococcus were immunized against pneumococcus. Immunizations per shift per triage nurse varied from 0 to 24. Median time for all activities related to immunization was 4 minutes (range, 2 to 10 minutes). There was no increase in immunization rates with the addition of an extra nurse at triage (95% confidence interval for odds ratio, .929 to 1.153). CONCLUSION: Systematic immunization against influenza and pneumococcus is both needed and feasible in a public ED. "Buy-in" by nurses is variable. Increased staffing alone does not improve immunization rates.     

Analytical and clinical performance of an automated immunoassay system (Immulite) for estradiol in serum

Mouse strains congenic for individual quantitative trait loci (QTLs) conferring hypnotic sensitivity to ethanol were constructed by backcrossing genotypically selected ILS x ISS N2 individuals to either inbred Long Sleep (ILS) or inbred Short Sleep (ISS) mice. We used a novel "speed congenic" approach in which N2 mice were genotyped for markers flanking each of the five originally identified QTLs. Genotypic selection for ISS regions at four of the five QTLs, and for ILS/ISS at the fifth QTL, allowed rapid fixation of the genetic background. We call this strategy "QTL-Marker-Assisted Counter Selection" or QMACS. By the N4 generation, phenotypic assessments showed that in some sublines the QTL had not been captured; these sublines were discarded and positive lines split to create new replicate sublines. One QTL, on Chromosome (Chr) 8, was not confirmed. At the N8, virtually all sublines on the remaining QTLs retained the phenotypic difference between heterozygotes and ISS homozygotes. Small numbers of interim congenics were produced at the N6 and later generations in which the ILS QTL was made homozygous on the ISS background; as expected, these congenic mice showed an increased sleep time. For later backcrosses (after the N4), the parents were selected on the basis of phenotype as well as genotype. The parent-offspring correlation over all QTLs was significant, supporting the use of phenotypic selection in congenic construction.     

Stray Light Rejection in Rotational Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Spectroscopy by use of a Sodium-Seeded Flame

A common experimental problem with rotational coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS) is undesired spectral interference that is due to stray light from the primary laser beams. Also, for the most developed approach, dual-broadband rotational CARS, practical measurements often suffer from stray light interference from the narrow-band laser, inasmuch as the CARS signal is produced inherently in the spectral vicinity of the narrow-band laser beam. An optical filter does not provide a sufficiently sharp transmission profile, thus leading to signal loss and spectral distortion of the rotational CARS signal. An atomic filter consisting of a sodium-seeded flame is presented here as a solution to the problem, and its usefulness was demonstrated in dual-broadband rotational CARS experiments.     

Analysis of interferograms with a spatial radial carrier or closed fringes and its holographic analogy

It is well known that an interferogram can be demodulated to find the wave-front shape if a linear carrier is introduced. We show that it can also be demodulated if it has many closed fringes or a circular carrier appears. A basic assumption is that the carrier fringes are of a bandwidth adequate to contain the wave-front distortion. This phase determination, called here demodulation, is made in the space domain, as opposed to demodulation in Fourier space, but the low-pass filter characteristics must be properly chosen. For academic purposes a holographic analogy of this demodulation process is also presented, which shows that the common technique of multiplying by a sine function and a cosine function is equivalent to holographically reconstructing with a tilted-flat wave front. Alternatively, a defocused (spherical) wave front can be used as a reference to perform the reconstruction or demodulation of some closed-fringe interferograms.     

Design of product as source of variance in composition of meat-based infant beikosts

The influence of both the design of the product (formulated raw ingredients) and type of product (on the meat type formulated base) on the mineral composition, crude protein (CP), protein digestibility (PD), total dietary fiber (TDF) and phytic acid (FA) contents of meat-based infant beikosts was studied. The product design was the main factor determining the CP, TDF, Ca, Na and K contents, while the type of product was the main factor determining the PD, FA, Zn, Fe and Mn contents. High K and Mn levels were related to high TDF contents. CP and Zn showed a significant relationship but the CP Fe relationship was not significant.