Cardenolides from the methanolic extract of Nerium oleander leaves possessing central nervous system depressant activity in mice

OBJECTIVE: To identify characteristics associated with provision of bystander CPR in witnessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrest cases. METHODS: An observational, prospective, cohort study was performed using cardiac arrest cases as identified by emergency medical services (EMS) agencies in Oakland County. MI, from July 1, 1989, to December 31, 1993. All patients who sustained a witnessed arrest prior to arrival of EMS personnel were reviewed. RESULTS: Of the 927 patients meeting entry criteria, the 229 patients receiving bystander CPR were younger: 60.9 +/- 14.7 vs 67.9 +/- 14.7 years (p < 0.01). Most (76.6%) cardiac arrests occurred in the home. In a multivariate logistic model, only the location of arrest outside the home was a significant predictor of receiving bystander CPR [odds ratio (OR) 3.8; 99% CI 2.5, 5.9]. Arrests outside the home were associated with significantly improved outcome, with 18.2% of out-of-home and 8.2% of in-home victims discharged from the hospital alive (OR 2.5; 99% CI 1.4, 4.4). CONCLUSION: Patients who have had witnessed cardiac arrests outside the home are nearly 4 times more likely to receive bystander CPR, and are twice as likely to survive. This observation emphasizes the need for CPR training of family members in the authors' locale. This phenomenon may also represent a significant confounder in studies of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and resuscitation.     

Empirically and Theoretically–Based Models for Predicting Brominated Ozonated By–Products

During water treatment, ozonation of waters containing bromide ion producesboth organic and inorganic disinfection byproducts. Bromide ion concentrations in U.S. waters range from 0.01 to 2 mg/L (Krasner, 1989). Bromoformand dibromoacetic acid (DBAA) are the major organic byproducts and bromateion is the major inorganic byproduct derived from ozonation. Bromoform is a known carcinogen and the existence of bromate ion in water supplies also is of public health concern (Lykins, 1986). Bromate ion causes renal failure and hearing loss in laboratory animals and in human beings (Kruithof, 1992). The provisional guideline for bromate ion as proposed by the World Health Organization is 25 pg/L and may be exceeded in water treatment processesusing ozone. Also draft drinking water regulations in the U.S. will specify a maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 10 µg/L for bromate ion and a bestavailable treatment (BAT) of pH adjustment.     

Potent bicyclic lactam inhibitors of thrombin: Part I: P3 modifications

Peptidomimetic inhibitors of general structure 1 have been prepared. Optimization of the binding affinities of these compounds through variation of the P3 hydrophobic residue is described. Selected substituted bicylic lactams displayed interesting pharmacological profiles both in vitro and in vivo.     

Carbohydrates of rapeseed: A review

Graded extraction of oil-free, dehulled, rapeseed cotyledon meal with boiling aqueous ethanol, hot water, hot ammonium oxalate and finally sodium hydroxide yielded a series of fractions. The composition, identification and structural evaluation of the various products is presented and the results compared with those obtained from other seeds.     

Intraclass correlation estimates in a school-based smoking prevention study. Outcome and mediating variables, by sex and ethnicity

Most school-based smoking prevention studies employ designs in which schools or classrooms are assigned to different treatment conditions while observations are made on individual students. This design requires that the treatment effect be assessed against the between-school variance. However, the between-school variance is usually larger than the variance that would be obtained if students were individually randomized to different conditions. Consequently, the power of the test for a treatment effect is reduced, and it becomes difficult to detect important treatment effects. To assess the potential loss of power or to calculate appropriate sample sizes, investigators need good estimates of the intraclass correlations for the variables of interest. The authors calculated intraclass correlations for some common outcome variables in a school-based smoking prevention study, using a three-level model-i.e., students nested within classrooms and classrooms nested within schools. The authors present the intraclass correlation estimates for the entire data set, as well as separately by sex and ethnicity. They also illustrate the use of these estimates in the planning of future studies.     

Wild type mumps viruses circulating in China establish a new genotype

By analysing the nucleotide sequence of the SH genes of five mumps virus strains derived from the clinical specimens collected during the 1995/96 mumps epidemic in China a new genotype has been established. The circulating viruses showed divergence ranging from 0.8-4.5% at the nucleotide level and 3.5-12.3% at the amino acid level. In addition, a more rational approach has been taken in proposing genotype groupings to MuV strains.     

Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Heat Transfer in a Tall Vertical Concentric Annular Thermo-siphon at Constant Heat Flux Condition

The present work deals with the numerical and experimental analyses to study the detailed behavior of the thermally induced flow of water in an open vertical annulus, circulating through a cold leg forming a closed loop thermo-siphon. Spatio-temporal behavior of fluid flow is also studied for variety of heat fluxes. The annuli in the present study have a radius ratio of 1.184 and aspect ratio (length to annular gap) equal to 352. The objective of the present work is to quantify the effect of heating on design parameters such as liquid and wall temperatures, mass flow rate, and heat transfer coefficient. Experiments have also been conducted on a similar system with water at constant heat flux of 1 kW/m², 2.5 kW/m², 5 kW/m², 7.5 kW/m², 10 kW/m², 12.5 kW/m² and 15 kW/m². For numerical purpose, a two-dimentional solver has been developed for direct numerical simulation of the essential thermally induced flow dynamics The numerical solution was thus performed for Rayleigh numbers ranging between, 4.4 × 10³ and 6.61 × 10⁴ which correspond to the given heat flux, respectively.