Hyperpyrexia in children. Eight-year emergency room experience

In an eight-year period, 100 children were seen in a pediatric emergency room with a temperature of 41.1 C or higher, hereafter called hyperpyrexia. There was a significantly greater occurrence of bacterial meningitis in the hyperpyrexia group, compared to a group of 264 children with temperatures of 40.5 to 41.0 C. Bacteremia and seizures were also more common. Children with hyperpyrexia require careful evaluation, especially of the central nervous system.     

Some personality correlates of the relationships between individuals and organizations.

Used data from the Thematic Apperception Test and nondirective interviews with 39 professionals employed by a consulting firm to study the link between 3 personality dimensions and the individual's perceptions of his relationship with the organization. Results show that individuals with active or high-task orientation perceive a more positive relationship with the organization generally and with specific features of the organization than do passive or low-task peers. Differences along the interpersonal dimension were not significant. Results raise questions concerning more effective matching of individuals and organizations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Management of trace-element nutrition

We describe a 50-year-old Chinese woman who had severe gastrointestinal manifestations from systemic sclerosis complicated by spontaneous pneumoperitoneum in the absence of either visceral perforation or pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis. This is a rare complication of systemic sclerosis; only four other cases have been reported. Recognition of this condition is important so as to avoid unnecessary surgery.     

Carbothermal synthesis of titanium nitride

The growth curves for TiN formed from four anatases and two rutiles by carbothermal reduction in nitrogen at 1090–1230 °C were analysed in terms of several different mathematical models. The results for all samples over the complete temperature range are best described by first-order kinetics. Arrhenius plots show evidence of two lines intersecting at about 1100 °C. Above this temperature, the activation enthalpies for the anatases and rutiles fall in the ranges 278–392 and 263–264 kJ mol^–1 respectively, and the activation entropies are all of negative sign. Below 1100 °C, the activation enthalpies are about 714–971 kJ mol^–1, and the activation entropies are all of positive sign. Comparison of the amounts of TiN formed at long reaction times with thermodynamic calculations of the equilibrium phase composition at each temperature suggests that the reactant powder bed experiences a nitrogen concentration substantially in excess of the stoichiometric requirement; diffusion of the gas phase into the bed therefore appears not to be the rate-limiting step. The first-order kinetics, and their virtual independence of the physical and chemical properties of the reactants probably reflect the complexity of the reaction sequence.     

The newly developed sulfonylurea glimepiride: a new ingredient, an old recipe

Disturbances in insulin secretion and insulin action are both involved in the pathophysiology of type 2 (or non-insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus. The newly developed sulfonylurea (SU) derivative glimepiride has a marked insulin secretory effect both in vitro and in vivo, and is capable of increasing plasma insulin levels with approximately 50% in type 2 diabetes subjects. Glimepiride improves metabolic control comparable but not superior to other (second generation) SU derivatives. Although it has been advocated for once-daily use, maximum effect is presumably achieved by twice-daily dosing. One of the most important side-effects of SU remains hypoglycemia in some patients, which may last for several hours. Although there is some indication that the use of glimepiride leads to fewer hypoglycemic episodes than glibenclamide, the differences reported sofar are not statistically significant.     

Anodal block in F-wave studies

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether F-wave results differ with the anode proximal or distal to the cathode, ie, if clinical anodal block exists. DESIGN: Prospective study of 30 healthy volunteers undergoing nerve conduction and F-wave studies in one median nerve. A needle cathode electrode was used with a surface anode placed alternately proximal and distal to the cathode. The same electromyographer performed all studies with a Dantec Counterpoint machine. RESULTS: F-wave latencies were essentially unaffected by distal versus proximal positioning. Minimum, maximum, and mean F-wave latencies correlated extremely highly (r=.973 to .988). For both F-wave and M-response latencies and amplitudes, differences between mean values obtained using the two methods were extremely small and were neither clinically nor statistically significant. The frequency of elicitation of F-waves may (p < .05) have been slightly (3.5%) lower when the anode was in the distal position. CONCLUSION: Anodal block is not seen in F-wave studies when using needle electrode stimulations. Reversing the stimulator does not seem to be required. Further study with surface stimulating electrodes is underway to confirm results.