Feasibility study of CPR in the water

More than 8000 drownings occur each year in the United States alone. With the increased popularity of scuba diving for commercial and sport purposes, one would predict an increase in related deaths or accidents. Yet procedures to administer first aid are limited to mouth-to-mouth, and external cardiac compressions must await moving the victim to a firm surface. This study discusses the technique of placing a victim upon the rescuer's chest and initiating full cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) immediately on the site. During emergency regulator resuscitation (E.R.R.), ventilations are administered by use of a slightly modified, factory-calibrated scuba regulator. The techniques were tested on an instrumented aquatic CPR mannequin and found to meet the published criteria for successful CPR.     

Dental and gingival pain as side effects of niacin therapy

Two 65-year-old white men with coronary heart disease, given niacin therapy for dyslipidemia for 5 months, developed intense dental and gingival pain that was associated with increases in dose and that was relieved with discontinuance of niacin treatment. One individual who took crystalline niacin had beneficial effects on lipid levels, while the other person who took a delayed release preparation had little lipid effect. The cause of these previously unreported side effects of niacin therapy is uncertain but may be related to prostaglandin-mediated vasodilatation, hyperalgesia of sensory nerve receptors, and potentiation of inflammation in the gingiva with referral of pain to the teeth.     

Optimal electrical stimulation for latissimus dorsi muscle after cardiomyoplasty

A new property of the presequence of the mitochondrial precursor protein cytochrome oxidase subunit IV is presented. This mitochondrial presequence induces interbilayer contacts between large unilamellar vesicles consisting of phosphatidylcholine and cardiolipin. The presequence-vesicle aggregates can be dissociated by applying a membrane potential across the bilayers (negative inside). These effects require the presence of cardiolipin and are not observed for other negatively charged phospholipids. We propose a role for the presequence in the formation and dissociation of mitochondrial contact sites.     

Exclusive radical radiotherapy of laryngeal tumors: 10-year experience

Exclusive irradiation is used to treat primary neoplasms localized to the larynx because it is known to be able to cure, or at least control, the disease in a high percentage of cases without affecting speech. We report our ten-year experience in the Radiotherapy Department of Chieti Hospital. From 1985 to 1994, exclusive radiotherapy was used to treat 87 patients bearing histologically proved epidermoid carcinomas of the larynx. The patients average age was 67 years. The primary site was the glottis in 64 cases and the supraglottic and subglottic areas in 21 and 2 cases, respectively. The lymph nodes were clinically positive in 8 patients (9%) and negative in 79 (91%). The minimum follow-up was 20 months. All the patients were treated with cobalt 60 beams; the daily dose was 2 Gy, fractionation was 5 days a week. Average tumor dose was 64 Gy (range: 55-70 Gy). Disease-free survival actuarial curves show 72% five-year survival for glottic cancer (75% for N0, 80% for T1 and 61% for T2-T3-T4 cases) and 21% for supraglottic cancer (25% for N0 cases). To conclude, irradiation is confirmed to be a useful tool to treat early laryngeal cancer, while new combinations of surgery, chemotherapy and irradiation are needed to treat locally advanced cancer.     

Computer-based smoking cessation interventions in adolescents: description, feasibility, and six-month follow-up findings

The impact of adolescent smoking cessation clinics has been disappointing due to low participation rates, high attrition, and low quit rates. This paper describes two computerized self-help adolescent smoking cessation intervention programs: 1) a program utilizing the expert system which is based on the transtheoretical model of change and 2) a popular action-oriented smoking cessation clinic program for teens which was modified for computer presentation. High participation rates in the program among 132 smokers demonstrate the high feasibility and acceptability of the programs. Quit rates of up to 20% were observed during the intervention, and an additional 30% made unsuccessful quit attempt(s). The 6-month follow-up findings indicated that adolescents were poorly prepared to maintain abstinence.     

Interaction of aldolase with pigeon erythrocyte plasma membranes]

Osmotically hemolysed pigeon erythrocytes retain a considerable part of the total cell content of aldolase activity. After washing off the ghosts from hemoglobin and removing the nuclei, a considerable portion of aldolase activity is found in the supernatant. The retained part of aldolase is rather firmly bound to plasma membranes (PM), as evidenced by the fact, that double washing with a mixture of 0.3 M sucrose, 0.01 M tris-HCl (pH 7.4) and 0.004 M MgCL2, or with 0.15 M NaCl or H2O does not appreciably decrease the aldolase activity of PM. Only washing of PM with 0.5 M NaCl results in appreciable decrease of aldolase retention by PM. The binding of aldolase proved to be temperature sensitive: after heating the binding of aldolase to PM specifically decreased. These data suggest that the interaction of the enzyme with PM of pigeon erythrocytes occurs in the intact cell and may be of physiological significance.     

Extraction and properties of microcapsulated alpha-chymotrypsin

A method of microencapsulating of the proteolytic enzyme alpha-chymotrypsin into semi-permeable nylon membranes is worked out. The membrane is a polimer of 1,6-hexamethylenediamine and sebacoyl chloride. alpha-Chymotrypsin is enclosed into the capsule together with polyethyleneimine, capable of joining the walls of microcapsules and making the membrane more stable. The optimal concentrations of polyenthyleneimine and alpha-chymotrypsin are 5% and 1% correspondingly. The highest yield of microencapsulated enzyme was obtained for completely acetylated delta-chymotrypsin. The kinetic properties of microencapsulated alpha-chymotrypsin change very slightly as compared to those of the native one.