Dissolving intravenous cyclosporin A in a fat emulsion carrier prevents acute renal side effects in the rat

A sterile oral rehydration solution can be produced by immersing in water a semi-permeable cellulose tube containing glucose and salts. Osmotically-driven ultrafiltration excludes all microbes and particulate matter even when the immersion water contains 45 x 10(6) cfu/ml of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 25 x 10(7) cfu/ml of Staphylococcus aureus or 20 x 10(7) cfu/ml of Escherichia coli. Solutions of consistent composition can be obtained by having a standard amount of glucose-electrolytes in a cellulose tube of appropriate dimensions and immersing this in a fixed volume of water for a minimum period of time. The method is simple, inexpensive, low-technology and requires no external source of power. It has potential for producing sterile solutions for injections and intravenous use in situations with very limited and simple resources, in emergencies and during natural disasters. Further studies are now needed to determine whether the method can be adapted to provide the large quantities of oral rehydration fluid needed in field conditions.     

Comparisons of studies on diabetic complications hampered by differences in GHb measurements

OBJECTIVE: To compare glycated hemoglobin (GHb) values of the relationship between glycemic control and complications of diabetes from laboratories involved in long-term studies (Steno, Oslo, Stockholm, Diabetes Control and Complications Trial, and Link?ping.) RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Blood samples were collected from 25 subjects selected to represent the clinically relevant measurement range. Fresh whole-blood samples were distributed and analyzed within 4 days of sample collection. Pretreatment of samples and analyses of GHb were performed according to the routine method of each study's central or reference laboratory. Results from each laboratory were compared with the group mean, i.e., the mean of all results for each sample. RESULTS: Regression analyses with the group mean values as independent variables and results from each laboratory as dependent variables showed that Oslo's result had a slope significantly different from the group mean. Laboratories used by the DCCT, Oslo, and Steno studies gave, on average, 0.4, 0.4, and 0.7% higher HbA1c readings than the group mean, respectively, while HbA1c results from Link?ping and Stockholm were, on average, 0.6 and 1.0% lower, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: There were large differences in GHb values among laboratories participating in studies of diabetic complications. The present data offer a guide to the comparison of results from the studies and underscores the need for standardization of GHb measurements.     

Histological indications of a progressive snorers disease in an upper airway muscle

The etiology of upper airway collapsibility in patients with snoring and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) remains unclear. Local muscular abnormalities, including neurogenic lesions, could be a contributory factor. The aim of this study was to histologically evaluate the hypothesis of a progressive snorers disease. Biopsies of palatopharyngeal muscle were obtained from 21 patients with habitual snoring and different degrees of upper airway obstruction (10 patients with OSA) and 10 nonsnoring control subjects. Morphological abnormalities, including neurogenic signs (e.g., type grouping), were blindly quantified. The degree of abnormality was significantly increased in patients compared with control subjects. The individual score of abnormalities was significantly correlated to the percentage periodic obstructive breathing but not to oxygen desaturation index. Analyses of the individual fiber-size spectra demonstrated a significantly increased number of hypertrophied and/or atrophied fibers in patients compared with controls. The subjects were also divided into three groups according to their type of nocturnal breathing, i.e., nonsnorers, patients with < 20%, and patients with > or = 45% obstructive breathing. These groups correlated significantly with the degree of abnormality and pathological fiber-size spectra. In conclusion, these results support the hypothesis of a progressive local neurogenic lesion, caused by the trauma of snoring, as a possible contributory factor to upper airway collapsibility.     

Different ventilatory approaches to keep the lung open

From a total of 62,858 autopsy files kept over a 30-year period (1961-1990), all cases that met the following criteria were extracted: (a) main tumor masses in the peritoneum with no evidence of origin from any adjacent organ; (b) histologic features suggestive of serous ovarian carcinoma; (c) ovaries definitely recognizable as having either no tumorous involvement or tumor confined to the surface and cortex of the ovaries; and (d) in patients with a history of abdominal operations, availability of slides and reports. From 670 stages III and IV serous carcinomas of the ovary, we retrieved 57 cases (8%) of serous surface papillary carcinoma (SSPC) of the peritoneum. All SSPCs occurred in women with an age range from 47 to 84 years (median 66 years). Eight cases (14%) were grade I, 36 (63%) were grade II, and 13 (23%) were grade III. Histologically, four cases (7%) resembled malignant epithelial mesothelioma in major parts of the tumor, and in one case endometrioid differentiation of the tumor was conspicuous. Additional histochemical and immunohistochemical examinations were performed in 30 cases of SSPC. In 14 cases (47%) neutral mucosubstances were identified by periodic acid-Schiff positivity after diastase predigestion, and in 16 cases (53%) acid mucosubstances were identified by alcian blue staining. In one of these cases the alcian blue-positive substances were abolished under predigestion by testicular hyaluronidase. Tumor cells stained positive for cytokeratin (100% of the cases), B72.3 (90%), Ber-EP4 (83%), CD 15 (57%), placental alkaline phosphatase (53%), CA 125 (43%), vimentin (23%), and carcinoembryonic antigen (10%). The survival rates at 1 year for SSPC (0%) were significantly shorter (p = 0.03) in comparison with stages III and IV ovarian carcinomas (34%). Problems of definition and differential diagnosis of SSPC are discussed.     

Bronchial inflammation in chronic bronchitis assessed by measurement of cell products in bronchial lavage fluid

BACKGROUND: Bronchial inflammation in chronic bronchitis has not been characterised as well as in asthma. The present study was undertaken to assess whether a characteristic pattern of bronchial inflammatory markers could be found in patients with chronic bronchitis. METHODS: Bronchoscopy with bronchial lavage was performed in 42 patients with chronic bronchitis and in 13 healthy controls. Twenty three of the patients had non-obstructive chronic bronchitis and 19 had chronic bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Eighteen of the patients with bronchitis had recurrent infective exacerbations and 24 did not. Intrabronchial bacterial cultures were taken with a protected specimen brush. RESULTS: Increased activity of neutrophils, fibroblasts, and eosinophils was found in the patients with chronic bronchitis as assessed by the levels of myeloperoxidase (MPO) and interleukin-8 (IL-8), hyaluronan, and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP), respectively. The levels of tryptase did not differ from the controls. High correlations were found between the levels of MPO and IL-8, as well as ECP and IL-8. No differences were found between the patients with COPD and those with non-obstructive chronic bronchitis. CONCLUSIONS: Recruitment and activation of both neutrophils and eosinophils seem to be a characteristic of chronic bronchitis. This activation is associated with IL-8. The patients with intrabronchial cultures of Streptococcus pneumoniae had the highest individual levels of MPO, ECP, and IL-8 of all subjects in the study, indicating that colonisation with S pneumoniae could promote bronchial inflammation.     

Identification of protein vaccine candidates from Helicobacter pylori using a preparative two-dimensional electrophoretic procedure and mass spectrometry

Helicobacter pylori is an important human gastric pathogen for which the entire genome sequence is known. This microorganism displays a uniquely complex pattern of binding to complex carbohydrates presented on host mucosal surfaces and other tissues, through adhesion molecules (adhesins) on the microbial cell surface. Adhesins and other membrane-associated proteins are important targets for vaccine development. The identification and characterization of cell-surface proteins expressed by H. pylori is a prerequisite for the development of vaccines designed to interfere with bacterial colonization of host tissues. However, identification of membrane proteins is difficult using a traditional proteomics approach employing 2D-PAGE. We have used a novel approach in the identification of microbial proteins that employs a rapid preparative two-dimensional electrophoretic separation followed by mass spectrometry and database searches. No pre-enrichment of bacterial membranes was required. The entire process, from sample preparation to protein identification, can be completed in less than 18 hours, and the presence of proteins can be monitored after both the first- and second-dimensional separations using mass spectrometry. We were able to identify 40 proteins from a detergent-solubilized H. pylori preparation; over one-third of these were membrane or membrane-associated proteins. A functionally characterized low-abundance membrane protein, the Leb-binding adhesin, was found in this group. The use of this rapid 2D electrophoretic separation in proteomic studies of H. pylori is expected to speed up the identification of expressed virulence proteins and vaccine targets in this and other microbial pathogens.     

A direct comparison of the machining performance of a variax 5 axis parallel kinetic machining centre with conventional 3 and 5 axis machine tools

The current trend within the Tool and Die manufacturing sector is to machine components directly from hardened material using high speed 5-axis machining. This has been driven by the increasing requirements for cost competitiveness and lead-time reduction. Significant research effort has been applied to the optimisation of the process with factors such as tooling and machining strategies being considerably improved. However, the underlying structures of the machine tools used have remained unchanged and still consist of a serial kinematic chain. One of the standard justifications for the development of machines designed around parallel kinematic chains is that they should exhibit inherently greater stiffness, have higher axis accelerations and be capable of generating significantly higher cutting forces than conventional serial machines. This suggests that they should be ideally suited to the direct manufacture of tools and dies from hardened material.The comparison of different machine tool types is a complex and difficult process, particularly when their structures are fundamentally different. This paper describes an approach used to compare the performance of three very different types of machines. The technique uses two parameters; surface finish and geometric accuracy to assess the relative performance of different machine tools when cutting hardened material. The method is used to compare a serial kinematic 5-axis machining centre, a serial kinematic 3-axis machining centre and a parallel kinematic 6-axis machining centre.The results of the comparison are presented in this paper and show that all the machine tools performed to an equal standard for materials with a hardness of 54HRc but for very hard materials, 62HRc, the parallel kinematic machine out performed the serial machine tools.     

Identification of the Aggregation-sex Pheromone of the Cerambycid Beetle <Emphasis Type="Italic">Phymatodes pusillus</Emphasis> ssp. <Emphasis Type="Italic">pusillus</Emphasis> and Evidence of a Synergistic Effect from a Heterospecific Pheromone Component

The longhorn beetle Phymatodes (Poecilium) pusillus ssp. pusillus is a rare, elusive species that is included on Red Lists of threatened species. Previously, 1-hexanol and 1-butanol were reported as putative components of the aggregation-sex pheromone of this species, but behavioral assays to confirm this have not been performed. In this study, we undertook a comprehensive examination of P. p. pusillus to verify the presence of a pheromone. Adult beetles were reared from colonized wood and used for headspace sampling. Analyses by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry revealed that two compounds were present in large quantities in the extracts of males, but absent in extracts from females. Male and female antennae showed repeatable responses to the two compounds in electrophysiological recordings. Using synthetic standards, we were able to identify the compounds as 1-hexanol and 2-methyl-1-butanol. A field bioassay demonstrated that the two compounds were unattractive when applied singly, but elicited significant attraction of female and male beetles when applied in blends of different ratios. We also found that the species exhibited significant attraction to a blend of 3-hydroxy-2-hexanone and 2-methyl-1-butanol, which is the aggregation-sex pheromone of at least two closely related and sympatric species. The presence of the heterospecific component 3-hydroxy-2-hexanone synergized a response to 2-methyl-1-butanol. The pheromone of these species may function as a host cue for P. p. pusillus as the three species have similar phenology and substrate demands. The aggregation-sex pheromone of P. p. pusillus can be used for population monitoring and as a tool to study the general ecology and conservation requirements of this rare species.