Using qualitative methods to develop contextually relevant measures and preventive interventions: an illustration

Qualitative methods were used to develop a contextually relevant quantitative measure of parenting stress and inform the design of family-focused interventions aimed at preventing adolescent mental and behavioral health problems. The study focused on the experiences of low-income one- and two-parent families representing three ethnic groups (Mexican, African, and European Americans) living in low-income neighborhoods in a large Southwestern city. This report describes the place of this study in a broader program of prevention research, the qualitative methods and data analysis procedures employed, and how the results were used to develop a new measure of parenting stress and inform future program design. The report also includes reflective comments on the methods used and lessons gained.     

Preliminary results of treatment of solid tumors in children with non-standard radiotherapy]

Urinary excretion of mefenamic acid (MA) and its two oxidative metabolites, M-I (3'-hydroxymethyl derivative) and M-II (3'-carboxyl derivative), and their glucuronides was investigated in preterm infants undergoing MA therapy. MA was given orally at a dose of 2 mg/kg and the dose was repeated every 24 h a maximum of three times. Urine was collected for up to 5 d after the last dose, and MA and the metabolites were determined by a newly developed HPLC. The cumulative amounts of MA and the metabolites excreted in the urine varied from 7 to 46% of the total dose administered, and were less than those reported in adults and children. Significant correlation was observed between the plasma half-life of MA and the cumulative amount of MA and the metabolites excreted in the urine. These results suggest that long plasma half-lives of MA observed in preterm infants are due mainly to low activity of drug metabolizing enzyme(s). In an infant who received the two regimens of MA therapy about 2 weeks apart, the plasma half-life of MA was shortened and the urinary excretion of the MA metabolites including their glucuronides was greatly increased during this period. It is suggested that the activities of both cytochrome P-450(s) and glucuronyltransferase(s) related to MA metabolism rapidly increased during the first month of the infant's life.     

An estimate by two methods of thyroid absorbed doses due to BRAVO fallout in several Northern Marshall Islands

Estimates of the thyroid absorbed doses due to fallout originating from the 1 March 1954 BRAVO thermonuclear test on Bikini Atoll have been made for several inhabited locations in the Northern Marshall Islands. Rongelap, Utirik, Rongerik and Ailinginae Atolls were also inhabited on 1 March 1954, where retrospective thyroid absorbed doses have previously been reconstructed. The current estimates are based primarily on external exposure data, which were recorded shortly after each nuclear test in the Castle Series, and secondarily on soil concentrations of 137Cs in samples collected in 1978 and 1988, along with aerial monitoring done in 1978. The external exposures and 137Cs soil concentrations were representative of the atmospheric transport and deposition patterns of the entire Castle Series tests and show that the BRAVO test was the major contributor to fallout exposure during the Castle series and other test series which were carried out in the Marshall Islands. These data have been used as surrogates for fission product radioiodines and telluriums in order to estimate the range of thyroid absorbed doses that may have occurred throughout the Marshall Islands. Dosimetry based on these two sets of estimates agreed within a factor of 4 at the locations where BRAVO was the dominant contributor to the total exposure and deposition. Both methods indicate that thyroid absorbed doses in the range of 1 Gy (100 rad) may have been incurred in some of the northern locations, whereas the doses at southern locations did not significantly exceed levels comparable to those from worldwide fallout. The results of these estimates indicate that a systematic medical survey for thyroid disease should be conducted, and that a more definitive dose reconstruction should be made for all the populated atolls and islands in the Northern Marshall Islands beyond Rongelap, Utirik, Rongerik and Ailinginae, which were significantly contaminated by BRAVO fallout.     

Rapid isolation of yeast plasmids as native chromatin

Many regions of chromatin are subject to dynamic changes. We have developed a rapid method for isolation of small chromatin templates from yeast which will facilitate biochemical analysis of chromatin composition. Using the PHO5 promoter we show that templates prepared from cells grown in inducing or repressing conditions show native chromatin structures. This method may be widely applicable as the chromatin structures at a centromere, at ARS1 and at part of the lacZ region on two other plasmids are preserved after chromatin isolation.     

Para-aminobenzoic acid in therapy of experimental keratitis caused by herpes simplex virus in rabbits: the therapeutic effect and decrease of infectious titer

Immediate and long-term outcomes of repeated and multistage operations were analyzed in 190 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. The aspects of work rehabilitation were studied in these patients. The efficiency of repeated and stage surgical interventions in patients both with disseminated and complicated types of tuberculosis and with pleural empyemas and in those with uncomplicated postoperative disease is 87.5 and 92.2%, respectively. The long-term results indicated that the complete clinical effect preserved in 79.2% of patients. Work rehabilitation was achieved in 64.8% of the examinees in the long-term postoperative period. The use of repeated and stage surgical interventions in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis may rehabilitate a rather large proportion of those operated on, assuming a great socioeconomic significance.     

Immunohistopathological status of the skin in cases infested with three species of mites

This study was performed on eighty patients with clinical manifestations of scabies. Sarcoptes scabiei adult or larva was isolated from 39 patients (48.8%). Dermanyssus gallinae (red poultry mite) and Dermatophagoides sp. were isolated from 6 and 5 patients respectively. Punch biopsies were taken from the patients, stained with haematoxylin and eosin and direct immunofluorescence stain to study the immunopathological status of the skin infested with three species of mites. The results declared that the pathological changes and the immunoglobulin deposition in the skin were nearly similar regardless of the type of the causative mite with the except of the presence of burrows in Sarcoptes scabiei.