Synthesis and Characterisation of Some New Ferrocenyl- and Ferrocenylalkynyl-[60]Fullerene Compounds

We report the synthesis and characterisation of a series of ferrocenylfullerene compounds, and some new ferrocene derivatives required as intermediates. The new fullerene species are Fc-[60]fullerene, (8); Fc-C=C-[60]fullerene, (10); Fc-C=C-C=C-[60]fullerene, (12); and (η-C₅H₄SiBu₃)Fe(η-C₅H₄)-[60]fullerene, (14).     

Cotrel-Dubousset instrumentation. Results in 52 patients

Fifty-two posterior spinal fusions were performed for pediatric idiopathic, congenital, and neuromuscular scoliotic curves. Cotrel-Dubousset instrumentation was used in all patients. Nine had prior anterior spinal releases and fusions. The patterns were mixed, with a predominance of right thoracic curvatures. The average preoperative curve measured 60.6 degrees, with correction to 29. Seven patients required revision surgery, and 17 wore orthoses after operation. There were 17 complications in this group, including hook pullout, prominent hardware, infection, pseudarthrosis, and two cases of broken Cotrel-Dubousset instrumentation rods. Fatigue failure of this instrumentation, secondary to pseudarthrosis, has not been reported previously, and these two cases are presented in detail. The operative morbidity and difficulty were increased in the larger idiopathic curves and in neuromuscular and congenital scoliosis. Cotrel-Dubousset instrumentation is an overall excellent tool for the multiplanar correction of scoliosis and is amenable to revision surgery.     

Posterodorsal amygdaloid lesions in rats: long-term effects on body weight

Bilateral lesions in the most posterodorsal aspects of the amygdala in female rats resulted in immediate and dramatic weight gains on a standard lab chow diet. The rate of weight gain returned to normal by Day 20, but the difference in body weight between animals with amygdaloid lesions and those with sham lesions was maintained for the duration of the study (60 days). Because rats with posterodorsal amygdaloid lesions have also been found to be hyperinsulinemic, it is hypothesized that the lesions result in a similar, though smaller, version of the syndrome that follows lesions of the ventromedial hypothalamus.     

Caring for dying children: nurses' experiences

Interviews with 25 nurses in this grounded theory study show that when nurses recognized that a child's death was inevitable, they struggled with both grief distress and moral distress. Their distress occurred within the context of the nurse-patient relationship. Nurses employed a range of strategies to manage their distress. Several conditions facilitated or constrained nurses' strategies, and resulted in far-reaching implications both professionally and personally.     

Using data from the 1991 census

The 1991 census for England and Wales provides a substantial amount of data on demography, ethnicity, housing tenure, employment status, and other social factors for geographical areas ranging in size from enumeration districts upwards. Many in the health service and in the academic community are making use of the data in the 1991 census. However, users of census data need to be aware of the problems and limitations of these data, which include the format of the data, data modification and suppression, sampling error, and underenumeration. An important innovation of the 1991 census was that the census form included a question on the postcode of respondents; this allowed the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys to produce a postcode-enumeration district look up table which overcomes many of the problems previously encountered in trying to assign postcodes to enumeration districts. The new look up table also includes the grid reference of postcodes, and this will improve the geographical referencing of census data.     

E1A second exon requirements for induction of target cell susceptibility to lysis by natural killer cells: implications for the mechanism of action

Recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) at a dose of 1 to 300 micrograms/kg/day was administered intravenously to rats daily for 13 weeks. Serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity increased dose-dependently with leukocytosis. Most of the increased leukocytes were segmented neutrophils, and neutrophil alkaline phosphatase (NAP) scores were elevated markedly. Serum ALP activity correlated very well with the segmented neutrophil counts, and the coefficient of correlation was more than 0.97 in both sexes. Pathological examinations revealed splenomegaly and a marked increase in neutrophils in the red pulp of the spleen. In the spleen, phagocytosis of neutrophils by macrophages was observed. These data indicate that the increased ALP was of neutrophil origin. Serum ALP activity may be increased by the direct release of ALP from the high number of neutrophils into the blood, or by the leakage of ALP into the blood mainly from the spleen where many neutrophils are pooled and destroyed by the macrophage system.     

A preliminary study of parental stress and child behaviour in families with twins conceived by in-vitro fertilization

This paper reports on a preliminary study of parenting quality, parental stress and child behaviour in families with twins conceived by in-vitro fertilization (IVF) in comparison with families with naturally conceived twins. No differences were found between the types of family in parenting quality or child behaviour. However, parents whose children were conceived by IVF reported greater stress associated with parenting than parents with naturally conceived twins.     

Rainbow smelt population responses to species invasions and change in environmental condition

Invasive species can cause major disruptions in native food webs, yet the impact of species introductions and whether they will become invasive appears to be context-dependent. Rainbow smelt and alewife co-exist as invasive species in the Laurentian Great Lakes and as native species on the Atlantic coast of North America, but in Lake Champlain rainbow smelt is the dominant native forage fish and alewife are invasive. Alewife became abundant by 2007, providing an opportunity to explore the dynamics of these two species in a system where only one is invasive. We used data from a 28-year forage fish survey to compare demographics of rainbow smelt populations in three basins of Lake Champlain with different volumes, nutrient levels, and predator abundances. Rainbow smelt catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) remained constant in the large, deep Main Lake before and after alewife invaded, but decreased in the two smaller basins. Declines were primarily a result of increased age-0 and age-1 mortality. Predation by top piscivores, system productivity, and competition for resources alone could not explain the patterns in CPUE across the basins. The mechanisms that allow alewife and rainbow smelt to co-exist could be related to system volume and oxythermal habitat availability, and may explain why the two species do not negatively affect each other in the Great Lakes. Summer hypoxia in the smaller basins could force individuals into smaller habitat volumes with higher densities of competitors and cannibalistic adult rainbow smelt. Habitat availability may mediate the impact of invasive alewife on native rainbow smelt.