Instruments for sampling and measuring the volume output of urine from grazing female sheep

The technics of T-tube suction drainage of the retroperitoneal space and of prophylactic antibiotics were evaluated each alone and then in combination in a randomized study of 451 private patients undergoing abdominal or vaginal hysterectomy. As compared with results in a control group, suction drainage alone and prophylactic antibiotics alone were equally effective in reducing the incidence of postoperative pelvic infection and febrile morbidity. When the two technics were used in combination, there was further reduction in the incidence of pelvic infection and febrile morbidity. However, these results were not statistically different from those of either technic alone. Date are presented to indicate that hysterectomy is performed in a bacteriologically contaminated operative field and that a contaminated fluid collection routinely accumulates in the retroperitoneal space. It is therefore suggested that hysterectomy be managed as a potentially infected surgical wound.     

The use of clemastine ("Tavegil'') administered parenterally in acute allergic episodes

A case is reported in which anticoagulant therapy for thrombophlebitis and pulmonary embolism produced bilateral massive intrarenal hematomas (pseudotumors). The role of radiologic investigation (nephrotomography, renal scan and selective high dose arteriography) was found to identify and localize the intrarenal hematomata and exclude underlying renal pathology. Although an abnormal kidney is more likely to bleed, this case presentation demonstrates that even carefully monitored anticoagulation within the therapeutic range can induce massive intrarenal hemorrhage in previously normal kidneys. The renal architecture returned to normal on late follow-up examination on simple conservative management.     

Ligation of the brachiocephalic vein and thoracic duct in knife wounds]

Foetal wastage and congenital malformations are not so closely associated with birth order, maternal age and birth interval as is suggested by data pooled across sibships of different sizes. The point could only have been established by data on large numbers of individual sibships. Maternal age, parity and birth interval are convenient but confusing variables to work with. However if they are to be used, it is essential to recognize that if the condition being studied may be associated with fertility of the parents, one needs to ascertain numbers of completed sibships containing affected cases. Incidence rates by age, parity and birth interval imply nothing by themselves.     

Self-formation of sub-60-nm half-pitch gratings with large areas through fracturing

Periodic micro- and nanostructures (gratings) have many significant applications in electronic, optical, magnetic, chemical and biological devices and materials. Traditional methods for fabricating gratings by writing with electrons, ions or a mechanical tip are limited to very small areas and suffer from extremely low throughput. Interference lithography can achieve relatively large fabrication areas, but has a low yield for small-period gratings. Photolithography, nanoimprint lithography, soft lithography and lithographically induced self-construction all require a prefabricated mask, and although electrohydrodynamic instabilities can self-produce periodic dots without a mask, gratings remain challenging. Here, we report a new low-cost maskless method to self-generate nano- and microgratings from an initially featureless polymer thin film sandwiched between two relatively rigid flat plates. By simply prising apart the plates, the film fractures into two complementary sets of nonsymmetrical gratings, one on each plate, of the same period. The grating period is always four times the thickness of the glassy film, regardless of its molecular weight and chemical composition. Periods from 120 nm to 200 microm have been demonstrated across areas as large as two square centimetres.     

Short-time effect of heavy metals upon microbial community activity

Microcalorimetry was applied to assess and compare the toxic effect of heavy metals, such as As, Cu, Cd, Cr, Co, Pb and Zn, on the soil microbial activities and community. About 1.0 g soil spiked 5.0 mg glucose and 5.0 mg ammonium sulfate, the microbial activities were recorded as power–time curves, and their indices, microbial growth rate constant k, total heat evolution Q_T, metabolic enthalpy ΔH_met and mass specific heat rate J_Q/S, were calculated. Comparing these thermodynamic parameters associated with growth yield, a general order of toxicity to the soil was found to be Cr > Pb > As > Co > Zn > Cd > Cu. When soil was exposed to heavy metals, the amount of bacteria and fungi decreased with the incubation time, and the bacterial number diminished sharply. It illustrates that fungi are more tolerant, and bacteria–fungi ratio would be altered under metal stress. To determine the status of the glucose consumed, a glucose biosensor with eggshell membrane was used to measure the remaining glucose in soil sample. Results showed that the time at which glucose was consumed completely was agreed with the microcalorimetric time to a large extent, and depended on the toxicity of heavy metals as well.     

Disruption of neural signaling within the hypothalamic ventromedial nucleus upregulates galanin gene expression in association with hyperphagia: an in situ hybridization analysis

trans-3'-Hydroxycotinine (THOC) has been recognized as the most abundant metabolite of nicotine. In an attempt to assess THOC and cotinine (COT) concentrations during nicotine transdermal therapy, we developed a new quantitative gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method for simultaneous determination of total and free THOC and COT in human urine. The method utilizes the following: (a) hydrolysis of conjugated THOC and COT by beta-glucuronidase; (b) basic extraction of THOC and COT with mixed dichloromethane and n-butyl acetate; (c) derivatization of THOC with bis(trimethylflurosilyl)acetamide; and (d) separation and identification by GC-MS with selective ion monitoring. Lower limits of quantification for the assay were 50 and 20 microg/L for THOC and COT, respectively. The intra- and interassay CVs were 4.4% and 11% for THOC, and 3.9% and 10% for COT at 1000 microg/L. The results from six consecutive 24-h urine collections in 71 subjects administered daily transdermal nicotine doses of 11, 22, and 44 mg showed that, on average, free THOC was 76% of total THOC and free COT was 48% of total COT in all subjects. THOC is the major metabolite of nicotine and constitutes 20% of total nicotine intake at steady state, whereas urinary nicotine and COT excretion were 8% and 17%, respectively. The method is useful for simultaneous determination of free and total THOCand COT and can be used to assess the urinary excretion of these metabolites during transdermal nicotine therapy.