Early child-care selection: variation by geographic location, maternal characteristics, and family structure

More than half of all U.S. infants and toddlers spend at least 20 hr per week in the care of a nonparent adult. This article uses survival analysis to identify which families are most likely to place their child in care and the ages when these choices are made, using data from a national probability sample of 2,614 households. Median age at first placement is 33 months, but age varies by geographic region, mother's employment status during pregnancy, mother's education level, and family structure (1 vs. 2 parents, mother's age at 1st birth, and number of siblings). Controlling for these effects, differences by race and ethnicity are small. Implications for studies of child-care selection and evaluations of early childhood programs are discussed.     

Reading epilepsy: report of five new cases and further considerations on the pathophysiology

Liposomes, microscopic lipid vesicles consisting of concentric phospholipid bilayers enclosing discrete aqueous spaces, have been investigated extensively as carries for drugs in attempts to achieve selective deposition and/or reduced toxicity. Liposomes radiolabeled with gamma emitters (67Ga, 111In and 99mTc) have been used for imaging purposes. Liposomes as formulated in the past, are rapidly taken up by cells of the mononuclear phagocyte system, primarily those located in liver and spleen. However, it has been shown during the last two decades that the in vivo behavior of liposomes can be modulated by modifying their formulation. The size and the lipid composition have a major influence on the blood clearance rate, hepatic uptake and splenic uptake of liposomes. The development of long circulating liposomes, in particular coating of the bilayer with polyethyleneglycol (PEG) resulted in liposomes that oppose recognition by the MPS, thus displaying even longer circulatory half-lives. By carefully adjusting the liposomal formulation, the in vivo characteristics of liposomes can be tailored such that they become suitable vehicles for imaging various pathological processes in vivo. Liposomes have been proposed for tumor imaging, for infection imaging and as blood pool markers. Here, the factors that determine the in vivo behavior of liposomes and the current status of liposome-based radiopharmaceuticals are reviewed.     

Antibodies against transforming growth factor-beta 1 suppress intimal hyperplasia in a rat model

Intimal hyperplasia is induced by therapeutic vascular interventions and often results in clinically important narrowing of the vascular lumen. Examination of the role of TGF-beta 1 in a rat carotid artery injury model confirmed the presence of a previously reported increase in TGF-beta 1 mRNA in the media of injured arteries. Administration of neutralizing anti- TGF-beta 1 antibodies significantly (P < 0.05) reduced the size of the intimal lesions that developed after carotid balloon injury. A control antibody had no effect. The intimal/medial area ratio was also reduced in the anti-TGF-beta 1 group relative to controls (P < 0.01). Immunohistochemical staining showed that two TGF-beta 1-induced extracellular matrix components, EDA + fibronectin and versican, were greatly increased in the untreated neointimal lesions, but were almost completely absent from the lesions of the anti-TGF-beta 1-treated animals. We conclude that TGF-beta 1 is causally involved in the development of intimal hyperplasia, and that anti-TGF-beta 1 agents may be useful in achieving at least partial control of this condition.     

Systemic lupus erythematosus in three ethnic groups: II. Features predictive of disease activity early in its course. LUMINA Study Group. Lupus in minority populations, nature versus nurture

OBJECTIVE: To determine the factors associated with disease activity in patients with recent-onset (< or =5 years) systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who were of Hispanic, African-American, or Caucasian ethnicity. METHODS: Incident and prevalent cases of SLE, as defined by the American College of Rheumatology criteria for SLE, among the 3 ethnic groups were identified in Alabama (The University of Alabama at Birmingham) and Texas (The University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center and The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston). Variables from the sociodemographic, clinical, immunologic, immunogenetic, behavioral, and psychological domains were obtained using validated instruments. Disease activity was ascertained with the Systemic Lupus Activity Measure (SLAM). Stepwise domain regressions with SLAM score as the dependent variable were performed. Final ethnic-specific and overall regression models were obtained by entering variables that were retained in the domain regressions. RESULTS: SLAM scores at study entry were higher in the African Americans (mean +/- SD 12.6 +/- 6.9) and Hispanics (11.0 +/- 6.2) than in the Caucasians (8.5 +/- 3.7) (P < or = 0.001). The final overall regression model (R2 = 28%) for higher SLAM score included the following variables: African-American ethnicity, lack of private health insurance, abrupt disease onset, presence of anti-Ro antibodies, absence of HLA-DRB1*0301, higher levels of helplessness, and abnormal illness-related behaviors. CONCLUSION: Socioeconomic, immunologic, immunogenetic, behavioral, and psychological variables were all predictive of disease activity early in the course of SLE, irrespective of ethnic group. However, there remain ethnic group differences in disease activity that were not explained by these factors.     

Langerhans' cell histiocytosis and juvenile xanthogranuloma of the orbit. Clinicopathologic, CT, and MR imaging features

The clinical, radiologic, and histopathologic features of two main disorders of the orbit are discussed. Group I, Langerhans cell histiocytosis (histiocytosis X, Class I), is caused by proliferation of X histiocytic Langerhans' cells. Group II is juvenile xanthogranuloma, and Class II is related to the proliferation of non-X histiocytic (monocyte-macrophage) cells. The two diseases are of unknown cause and differ in their clinical, radiologic, and histopathologic features.     

Synthesis and biological activities of phenyl piperazine-based peptidomimetic growth hormone secretagogues

A new class of potent, orally active phenyl piperazine-based GH secretagogues have been discovered from attempts to mimic the arrangement of the phenyl substituent in the spiroindanyl piperidine and spiroindoline sulfonamide privileged structures of 4 and 1, respectively. The best of these compounds, 18 (EC50 = 2.8 nM) is nearly as potent as MK-0677 for releasing GH from rat pituitary cells.