Antithrombin III and trauma patients: factors that determine low levels

Using capillary videomicroscopy of the nail fold, the frequency of cold-induced vasospasm and capillary hemodynamic parameters were studied after application of cold in 50 patients with primary fibromyalgia, 50 patients with chronic low back pain, and 50 healthy controls. Cold-induced vasospasm was detected in 38% of the patients with fibromyalgia. In this group it was significantly more frequent than in the patients with chronic low back pain (20%, p < 0.05) and healthy subjects (8%, p < 0.001). In the fibromyalgia group, the magnitude of vasospasm as measured by the capillary blood flow deceleration after cold application correlated negatively with the pain intensity as measured by pain score (r = -0.3839, p < 0.01). No differences in clinical appearance were found between patients with and without cold-induced vasospasm in both the fibromyalgia and low back pain group.     

One world, one hope: the cost of providing antiretroviral therapy to all nations

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the potential direct cost of making triple combination antiretroviral therapy widely available to HIV-positive adults and children living in countries throughout the world. METHODS: For each country, antiretroviral costs were obtained by multiplying the annual cost of triple antiretroviral therapy by the estimated number of HIV-positive persons accessing therapy. Per capita antiretroviral costs were computed by dividing the antiretroviral costs by the country's total population. The potential economic burden was calculated by dividing per capita antiretroviral costs by the gross national product (GNP) per capita. All values are expressed in 1997 US dollars. RESULTS: The potential cost of making triple combination antiretroviral therapy available to HIV-positive individuals throughout the world was estimated to be over US$ 65.8 billion. By far the greatest financial burden was on sub-Saharan Africa. The highest per capita drug cost in this region would be incurred in the subregions of Southern Africa (US$ 149) followed by East Africa (US$ 116), Middle Africa (US$ 44), and West Africa (US$ 42). In the Americas, subregional data indicated the highest per capita drug cost would be in the Latin Caribbean (US$ 22), followed by the Caribbean (US$ 17), Andean Area (US$ 7), the Southern Cone (US$ 6), North America (US$ 6), and Central American Isthmus (US$ 5). In Asia and Europe the percentage of the GNP necessary to finance drug therapy was less than 1% in most countries examined. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate that the cost of making combination antiretroviral therapy available worldwide would be exceedingly high, especially in countries with limited financial resources.     

The anatomy of a hypoxic operator in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Aerobic repression of the hypoxic genes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is mediated by the DNA-binding protein Rox1 and the Tup1/Ssn6 general repression complex. To determine the DNA sequence requirements for repression, we carried out a mutational analysis of the consensus Rox1-binding site and an analysis of the arrangement of the Rox1 sites into operators in the hypoxic ANB1 gene. We found that single base pair substitutions in the consensus sequence resulted in lower affinities for Rox1, and the decreased affinity of Rox1 for mutant sites correlated with the ability of these sites to repress expression of the hypoxic ANB1 gene. In addition, there was a general but not complete correlation between the strength of repression of a given hypoxic gene and the compliance of the Rox1 sites in that gene to the consensus sequence. An analysis of the ANB1 operators revealed that the two Rox1 sites within an operator acted synergistically in vivo, but that Rox1 did not bind cooperatively in vitro, suggesting the presence of a higher order repression complex in the cell. In addition, the spacing or helical phasing of the Rox1 sites was not important in repression. The differential repression by the two operators of the ANB1 gene was found to be due partly to the location of the operators and partly to the sequences between the two Rox1-binding sites in each. Finally, while Rox1 repression requires the Tup1/Ssn6 general repression complex and this complex has been proposed to require the aminoterminal regions of histones H3 and H4 for full repression of a number of genes, we found that these regions were dispensable for ANB1 repression and the repression of two other hypoxic genes.     

The possibility of preserving the causative agent of plague in soil in resting (nonculturable) form

The purpose of this study was to find criteria characteristic for patients in need of care and social services. The criteria should serve as a guideline for patients and staff to facilitate care planning before discharge. The sample consisted of 49 patients, born before 1925, in need of emergency inpatient treatment, admitted to medical- or orthopaedic wards. Data of the patient's self care needs were collected by interviews, assessment of self care status and need of treatment. The patients could be divided into three groups depending on type of discharge. Group A (n = 27) discharged home, group B (n = 7) discharged to geriatric clinic and group C (n = 15) discharged and in need of further care and social services. Criteria indicating the patients further assistance from the community were in group C (medical- and orthopaedic wards) deficit in daily living activities and locomotion. Group B had an increased need of support from the physiotherapist and the occupational therapist, in locomotion as well as daily living activities The physician's assessment showed that the criteria behind the decision "no further medical treatment appropriate" and "ready for discharge" were not related to medical impairment but to lack of self care, need of care, rehabilitation and social services.     

Polymerization of drying oils. VI. Catalytic polymerization of fatty acids and esters with boron trifluoride and hydrogen fluoride

Summary At relatively low temperatures boron trifluoride and hydrogen fluoride gave high yields of polymers from soybean fatty acids and methyl esters. The use of 2% boron trifluoride as catalyst at 150° to 200° resulted in the polymerization of 50–60% of the methyl esters within one hour. The viscous polymeric fraction usually had a dark color, a high acid number, and a low ratio of dimer to higher polymer. The boron trifluoride-ether complexes were equally effective catalysts and more convenient to handle. Use of the aliphatic ether complexes resulted in products having lighter colors. It was necessary to use large amounts of hydrogen fluoride to produce comparable yields at less than 100°, but 70% yields of polymers having light colors and low acid numbers were obtained. Presented at fall meeting of American Oil Chemists' Society in Chicago, Oct. 8–10, 1951. One of the laboratories of the Bureau of Agricultural and Industrial Chemistry, Agricultural Research Administration, U. S. Department of Agriculture. Report of a study made under the Research and Marketing Act of 1946.     

DNA vaccination against Theiler''s murine encephalomyelitis virus leads to alterations in demyelinating disease

Using glycerinated spasmoneme of giant Zoothamnium sp., the physical properties of spasmoneme before and after Ca2+-induced contraction (pCa 4.5) were investigated. The volume change of spasmoneme contraction was measured under zero tension. The length and diameter decreased by about 50% of their initial value as a result of contraction, which means that contraction is nearly isotropic. Thus the volume of spasmoneme decreased drastically by 86% of its original value. The swollen ratio of extended and contracted spasmoneme were 0.07 and 0.37, respectively. Tension-extension relationships of extended and contracted spasmonemes were measured. By applying the theory of rubber elasticity, the number of segments of a chain in originally extended spasmoneme was only 3.3, i.e., the chain was almost a straight one. On the other hand, the number of segments of a chain in contracted spasmoneme was more than 100, i.e., the chain was essentially a random one. Furthermore, the total number of chains in single spasmoneme was the same in extended and contracted spasmoneme. This means that the interchain cross-links of chains were not influenced by addition or removal of Ca2+. Moreover, the molecular weight of a chain is estimated to be at most about 50 kd. By considering all these results, it is concluded that the contractile mechanism of spasmoneme originates in the intramolecular folding and unfolding induced by Ca2+ binding and detaching.     

Views and Patterns in E-Commerce Application Design

Separation of concerns is a well-established principle in software engineering that supports reuse by hiding complexity through abstraction mechanisms. The Abstract Design Views model was created with reuse in mind and allows the designer to apply separation of concerns in a software system from the design to the implementation. In this model, viewed objects represent the basic concern, i.e., the algorithms that provide the essential functionality relevant to an application domain, and viewer objects represent the special concerns related to other software issues, such as user interface presentation, synchronization, and timing. In this paper we use a reuse taxonomy to analyze and validate this model. Using this analysis and the properties of the relationship between viewer and viewed objects, called views, we also indicate how to map the views-based designs into implementations based on design patterns that satisfy the views properties. Finally, we show how to apply the principles of our approach, using views and the design patterns, to design e-commerce applications.     

Life-span development of visual working memory: When is feature binding difficult?

We asked whether the ability to keep in working memory the binding between a visual object and its spatial location changes with development across the life span more than memory for item information. Paired arrays of colored squares were identical or differed in the color of one square, and in the latter case, the changed color was unique on that trial (item change) or was duplicated elsewhere in the array (color-location binding change). Children (8-10 and 11-12 years old) and older adults (65-85 years old) showed deficits relative to young adults. These were only partly simulated by dividing attention in young adults. The older adults had an additional deficiency, specifically in binding information, which was evident only when item- and binding-change trials were mixed together. In that situation, the older adults often overlooked the more subtle, binding-type changes. Some working memory processes related to binding undergo life-span development in an inverted-U shape, whereas other, bias- and salience-related processes that influence the use of binding information seem to develop monotonically. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)