Intensive care of the pregnant diabetic

Over the last 2 years at Metropolitan Hospital Medical Center 245 diabetic women have been seen on the obstetric service. This complication of pregnancy comprises 7.9 per cent of 3,076 deliveries, resulting in an over-all uncorrected perinatal mortality rate of 2.9 per cent. We believe that early detection and strict rigid control of diabetes is the key to improved perinatal outcome. This article presents the classification, diagnosis, and management which have led to these results.     

Optical constants of absorbing films

A new method for the determination of the optical constants of absorbing films supported on a transparent substrate using measured normal incidence R/T and R/T values is presented. Compared to the classical normal incidence photometric methods of deducing the optical constants from the measured R and T values the present method offers a time saving of 50% in experimental measurements and is able to give the optical constants and thickness of the films simultaneously to an accuracy of 2% and 0.5% respectively.     

Brief review of nutrition in rabbits (author's transl)

A practitioner should be aware of the most important items regarding feed and water supply that may by a factor in assessing problems on large commercial units or in fancy breeding. A breif introduction on the function of the digestive tract precedes a discussion of the main causes of nutritional disorders which are frequently lethal. The specific mechanism of recirculation (caecotrophy) causing increased vulnerability to variations in the texture of feeds is stressed. Severe intestinal malfunction is readily induced by contaminated and spoiled feed and/or drinking water. These effects are probably underestimated in comparison with specific diseases. Data on nutritional requirements are also presented to the extent to which they are relevant in this context.     

Perception of solar UVB radiation by phytophagous insects: behavioral responses and ecosystem implications

Most of our present knowledge about the impacts of solar UVB radiation on terrestrial ecosystems comes from studies with plants. Recently, the effects of UVB on the growth and survival of consumer species have begun to receive attention, but very little is known about UVB impacts on animal behavior. Here we report that manipulations of the flux of solar UVB received by field-grown soybean crops had large and consistent effects on the density of the thrips (Caliothrips phaseoli, Thysanoptera: Thripidae) populations that invaded the canopies, as well as on the amount of leaf damage caused by the insects. Solar UVB strongly reduced thrips herbivory. Thrips not only preferred leaves from plants that were not exposed to solar UVB over leaves from UVB-exposed plants in laboratory and field choice experiments, but they also appeared to directly sense and avoid exposure to solar UVB. Additional choice experiments showed that soybean leaf consumption by the late-season soybean worm Anticarsia gemmatalis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) was much less intense in leaves with even slight symptoms of an early thrips attack than in undamaged leaves. These experiments suggest that phytophagous insects can present direct and indirect behavioral responses to solar UVB. The indirect responses are mediated by changes in the plant host that are induced by UVB and, possibly, by other insects whose behavior is affected by UVB.     

Radiation down-regulates replication origin activity throughout the S phase in mammalian cells

An asynchronous culture of mammalian cells responds acutely to ionizing radiation by inhibiting the overall rate of DNA replication by approximately 50% for a period of several hours, presumably to allow time to repair DNA damage. At low and moderate doses, this S phase damage-sensing (SDS) pathway appears to function primarily at the level of individual origins of replication, with only a modest inhibition of chain elongation per se. We have shown previously that the majority of the inhibition observed in an asynchronous culture can be accounted for by late G1cells that were within 2-3 h of entering the S period at the time of irradiation and which then fail to do so. A much smaller effect was observed on the overall rate of replication in cells that had already entered the S phase. This raised the question whether origins of replication that are activated within S phase per se are inhibited in response to ionizing radiation. Here we have used a two-dimensional gel replicon mapping strategy to show that cells with an intact SDS pathway completely down-regulate initiation in both early- and late-firing rDNA origins in human cells. We also show that initiation in mid- or late-firing rDNA origins is not inhibited in cells from patients with ataxia telangiectasia, confirming the suggestion that these individuals lack the SDS pathway.     

Bladder neck competency at rest in women with incontinence

PURPOSE: We determine the presence of an open bladder neck during video urodynamic studies and relate that finding to the presence of stress urinary incontinence. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients presenting with urinary incontinence, voiding dysfunction or pelvic floor prolapse underwent video urodynamics. With the patient upright and after 200 ml. contrast material had been instilled into the bladder the bladder neck was viewed to determine if it was open or closed. At that point the abdominal leak point pressure was measured. RESULTS: Of 102 women, average age 56.5 years (range 31 to 82), 13% had an open bladder neck and demonstrable stress incontinence on video urodynamics with an average abdominal leak point pressure of 45 cm. water (range 26 to 90). Of those with stress incontinence on urodynamics 23% had an open bladder neck. No continent patient had an open bladder neck. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of an open bladder neck with the bladder filled to 200 ml. correlates strongly with the presence of stress incontinence.