H] Tryptamine and 3H-water as diffusible internal standards for measuring brain extraction of radio-labeled substances following carotid injection

Urinary amino acid excretion was determined in 31 leukemic patients and 29 normal individuals by rapid gas chromatographic analysis of 16 amino acids as their N-acetyl-n-propyl esters. The leukemic patients were concurrently undergoing, or had recently completed, chemotherapy. It was found that aspartic acid, threonine, and serine were of significance in distinguishing between patients "on" therapy and those "off" therapy. Patients with advanced disease have the greatest aminoaciduria, although both the normal and leukemic populations have wide individual ranges. Within both populations, men excrete a greater variety and quantity of amino acids than women. It is concluded that analysis of urinary amino acids represents a history of complex metabolic events, which is potentially useful for evaluating patient response to chemotherapy in leukemia.     

Family centered maternity care: its relationship to perinatal regionalization and neonatal intensive care

For several months prior to birth a major portion of a family's attention, conversation, thought, and often worry, is directed toward the idea of a new child. This prolonged attention and anticipation contribute to making childbirth an emotionally charged experience. In psychological terms, it is therefore a critical period of peak motivation for learning, and a time to peak susceptibility to reinforcement. Theory, reason, and scientific evidence indicate thng with childbirth and early postpartum experiences, can significantly affect subsequent parental behaviors, the child's central environment influence. Evidence strongly suggests that these parental attitudes and behaviors so crucial to the child's ultimate well-being are learned rather than derived instinctually, and therefore they are malleable and can be taught, directed, and corrected. Through education and reinforcement it is possible to encourage parental behaviors and child interactions which are products of feelings of control, competence, accomplishment, understanding, and caring. Similarly we can recognize and work toward replacing attitudes, feelings, and behaviors that express fear, worry, and insecurity about the child. Over the past 50 years major changes have occurred in the practice of obstetrics and newborn pediatrics. Other major changes will necessarily occur as we move toward perinatal regionalization. Changes instigated solely on physiologic data can have unrecognized collateral effects on the psychological component of the childbirth experience. All concerned health care personnel, especially obstetricians and pediatricians, can insist that the importance of desirable mother-father-child interactions be recognized and that practices fostering them be afforded a high priority. I would like to endorse a comment from a recent article by Richmond concerning the advent of behavioral pediatrics by adding that behavioral obstetrics is also "an idea whose time has arrived".     

Subclavian venogram as a guide to lead implantation

Melatonin synthesis in retinal photoreceptors is stimulated at night by a circadian oscillator and suppressed acutely by light. To identify photoreceptor mechanisms involved in the acute suppression of melatonin synthesis, an action spectrum was measured for dark-adapted Xenopus laevis eyecups at night. Intensity-response curves at six wavelengths from 400 to 650 nm were parallel, suggesting that a single photopigment predominates in melatonin suppression. Half-saturating intensities at 400, 440, 480, and 533 nm were not significantly different from one another, at 1-2 x 10(8) quanta cm(-2) s(-1). Significantly higher intensities of 580- and 650-nm light were required for melatonin suppression. These results indicate a predominant role for the principal green-absorbing rods in acute regulation of retinal melatonin synthesis in response to light, and argue against an important role for the red-absorbing cones. Higher than expected sensitivity at short wavelengths suggests that photoreceptors sensitive to blue and/or violet light may also contribute to melatonin suppression.     

Percutaneous radiologic drainage of pancreatic abscesses

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of our study was to review and report the patient selection, techniques, and results of percutaneous drainage of pancreatic abscesses by retrospective review. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty-nine patients (46 men and 13 women) with a mean age of 44 years old had 80 pancreatic abscesses that were drained percutaneously under radiologic guidance (CT, n = 77; sonography, n = 2; and fluoroscopy, n = 1). Abscesses had a wide spectrum of causes, with alcoholic pancreatitis being most common, trauma second most common, and gallstones third. Ten patients had undergone surgery for pancreatic necrosis or abscess. Patients with pancreatic pseudocysts, necrosis, or acute fluid collections were excluded from this study. RESULTS: Of the 59 patients, 51 (86%) were cured with percutaneous drainage and antibiotic therapy. Of the patients who were not cured with percutaneous drainage, seven required surgery and one underwent repeat percutaneous drainage. In the 59 patients, complications included non-life-threatening bleeding in three patients. Ten of 59 patients (17%) had fistulas that spontaneously formed into the gastrointestinal tract. The duration of catheterization ranged from 4 to 119 days, with a mean duration of 33 days. The rate of mortality at 30 days after completion of percutaneous drainage was 8% (5 of 59). CONCLUSION: Percutaneous drainage was an effective therapy for this defined group of patients with pancreatic abscesses. Factors leading to the relatively high success rate described in this study likely included selection of patients; catheters of adequate size, number, and location; careful follow-up with appropriate catheter manipulations; and an integrated, cooperative approach whereby surgeons were willing to permit drainage to effect its benefits, rather than operating prematurely.     

The binding motifs for Ac transposase are absolutely required for excision of Ds1 in maize

A reverse genetic system for studying excision of the transposable element Ds1 in maize plants has been established previously. In this system, the Ds1 element, as part of the genome of maize streak virus (MSV), is introduced into maize plants via agroinfection. In the presence of the Ac element, excision of Ds1 from the MSV genome results in the appearance of viral symptoms on the maize plants. Here, we used this system to study DNA sequences required in cis for excision of Ds1. The Ds1 element contains the Ac transposase binding motif AAACGG in only one of its subterminal regions (defined here as the 5' subterminal region). We showed that mutation of these motifs abolished completely the excision capacity of Ds1. This is the first direct demonstration that the transposase binding motifs are essential for excision. Mutagenesis with oligonucleotide insertions in the other (3') subterminal region resulted in elements with either a reduced or an increased excision efficiency, indicating that this subterminal region also has an important function.     

Improved digital image processing technique to investigate plastic zone formation in steel

An improved digital image processing procedure is developed to extract the size and shape of the plastic zone formation at the tip of a notched metal specimen based on the characteristics of the variation of intensity in a digitized image. The result is compared with the result from finite element analysis, and with that from a previously developed image processing procedure. Comparison shows that this method provides a faster and more accurate result than previously.     

Proteolytic cleavage and activation of PAK2 during UV irradiation-induced apoptosis in A431 cells

Exposure of mammalian cells to ultraviolet (UV) light elicits a cellular response and can also lead to apoptotic cell death. In this report, we show that a 36-kDa myelin basic protein (MBP) kinase detected by an in-gel kinase assay can be dramatically activated during the early stages of UV irradiation-triggered apoptosis of A431 cells. Immunoblot analysis revealed that this 36-kDa MBP kinase could be recognized by an antibody against the C-terminal regions of a family of p21Cdc42/Rac-activated kinases (PAKs). By using this antibody and a PAK2-specific antibody against the N-terminal region of PAK2 as studying tools, we further demonstrated that UV irradiation caused cleavage of PAK2 to generate a 36-kDa C-terminal catalytic fragment and a 30-kDa N-terminal fragment in A431 cells. The appearance of the 36-kDa C-terminal catalytic fragment of PAK2 matched exactly with the activation of the 36-kDa MBP kinase in A431 cells upon UV irradiation. In addition, UV irradiation also led to activation of CPP32/caspase-3, but not ICH-1L/caspase-2 and ICE/caspase-1, in A431 cells and the kinetics of activation of CPP32/caspase-3 appeared to correlate well with that of DNA fragmentation and of cleavage/activation of PAK2, respectively. Moreover, blockage of activation of CPP32/caspase-3 by pretreating the cells with two specific tetrapeptidic inhibitors for caspases (Ac-DEVD-cho and Ac-YVAD-cmk) could significantly attenuate the extent of cleavage/activation of PAK2 induced by UV irradiation. Collectively, the results demonstrate that cleavage and activation of PAK2 can be induced during the early stages of UV irradiation-triggered apoptosis and indicate the involvement of CPP32/caspase-3 in this process.     

Reducing pregnancy and induced abortion rates in China: family planning with husband participation

OBJECTIVES: This study assessed the effectiveness of a family planning intervention with and without husband's participation in reducing pregnancy and abortion rates in Shanghai, China. METHODS: In this 3-arm randomized trial among 1800 nonsterilized married women, educational interventions targeting both spouses and targeting the wife only were compared with usual family planning care. RESULTS: Among women not using intrauterine devices (IUDs), the intervention with husband's participation had an effect in reducing pregnancy rates (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 0.36, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.12, 1.1) and abortion rates (adjusted OR = 0.29, CI = 0.09, 0.94) compared with control subjects, and a significant effect in reducing pregnancy rates (adjusted OR = 0.29, CI = 0.10, 0.85) and abortion rates (adjusted OR = 0.24, CI = 0.07, 0.77) compared with wife-only subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Family planning interventions involving husbands may reduce pregnancy and abortion rates among non-IUD users.     

Induction of neutralizing antibody in mice by immunization with recombinant 56 kDa protein of Orientia tsutsugamushi

Anti-oriential antibody inhibits Orientia tsutsugamushi attachment to, and penetration of, host cells. However, O. tsutsugamushi antigens that induce the production of a neutralizing antibody have not been identified. The authors immunized mice and rabbits with the recombinant 56 kDa protein of O. tsutsugamushi fused to the maltose binding protein of Escherichia coli (MBP-Bor56) and analysed their effect on O. tsutsugamushi attachment to or penetration of L929 cells. O. tsutsugamushi attachment and penetration were measured by using an indirect immunofluorescent antibody assay (IFA). O. tsutsugamushi growth in L929 cells was determined by [3H]thymidine uptake assay. By IFA, we observed a 96% reduction of attachment or penetration of O. tsutsugamushi treated with rabbit anti-MBP-Bor56 sera. [3H]thymidine uptake showed that mouse anti-MBP-Bor56 sera caused a 91% reduction in O. tsutsugamushi growth, when compared to mouse anti-MBP sera. These results suggest that the 56 kDa protein of O. tsutsugamushi plays an important role in O. tsutsugamushi attachment to or penetration of cells.