The importance of neonatal asphyxia and caesarean section as risk factors for neonatal respiratory disorders in an unselected population

The risk of neonatal respiratory disorders was calculated in an unselected, total population together with the relative contributions of some factors found associated with an increased risk. Postnatal asphyxia, expressed as a low one minute Apgar score, and low gestational age were substantially, independent risk factors. Caesarean section added, though less markedly, to the risk of the above disorders.     

Texture and anisotropy in the mechanical properties of titanium alloys caused by the mechanism of plastic deformation

Texture formation during sheet stamping and die forging of α titanium alloys is studied, and the effect of texture and the mechanism of plastic deformation on the strength of internal-pressure spherical vessels is considered. It is shown that, apart from texture, the anisotropy of the strength properties of the α alloys, which is estimated from the difference in the uniaxial-and biaxial-loading strengths, also depends on the chemical composition of the alloy. In the textureless state, the strength of the spherical vessels is higher than the uniaxial strengths of the VT5-1kt, PT3V, and PT3Vkt alloys by 4, 16, and 38%, respectively. This effect is found to be caused by the difference in the relative values of the critical shear stresses for operating slip and twinning systems. The high ductility of the PT3Vkt alloy is related to the fact that it has a ratio of critical shear stresses in the operating slip and twinning systems such that the material is virtually isotropic with respect to tensile loads. This specific feature minimizes the effect of the incompatibility of deformation in grains with different orientations during tension, which is the main cause of the fracture of titanium alloys. The results obtained are used to propose a quantitative criterion to estimate the technological ductility in order to design new titanium alloys.     

The impossibility of recording emission lines of nitrogen ions in filament plasma

It is shown that the emission lines of N II nitrogen ions cannot contribute to the emission of other lines and be observed in the emission spectrum of plasma filaments, which are generated by femtosecond laser pulses with a peak intensity of ~50 TW/cm² in air. A simple procedure is described that allows evaluation of the ratio of the line intensities for the filamentation in air.     

Phonotactic influences on short-term memory

The impact of phonotactic probabilities on serial recall was investigated in a series of experiments. In Experiments 1A and 1B, 7 and 8 year olds were tested on their serial recall of monosyllabic words and of nonwords varying in phonotactic frequencies. A recall advantage to words over nonwords remained when stimuli were balanced for phonotactic probability, but nonword recall showed superior accuracy for high over low probability nonwords, as in Experiment 2. The nonword frequency effect appears to reflect the frequency of constituent syllables rather than biphones. Both lexicality and high phonotactic frequency led to increased proportions of full over partial recall of the memory stimuli. These findings indicate that decayed memory traces in phonological short-term memory can be reconstructed using either lexical or phonotactic knowledge.     

Activation of particulate guanylyl cyclase by Vibrio vulnificus hemolysin

Recently we reported that Vibrio vulnificus hemolysin, an exotoxin produced by V. vulnificus, dilates rat thoracic aorta via elevated cGMP levels without affecting nitric oxide synthase. We investigated the mechanism further by observing the guanylyl cyclase activities in cytosolic, membrane, unfractionated, or reconstituted preparations. Hemolysin did not activate guanylyl cyclase in the membrane or cytosolic fraction, while it activated guanylyl cyclase in unfractionated or reconstituted preparation. The increased activity was not inhibited by the HS-142-1, a microbial polysaccharide which antagonizes atrial natriuretic peptide receptor, or 1H-[1,2,4]oxadiazolo[4,3-a]quinoxalin-1-one (ODQ), a soluble guanylyl cyclase inhibitor. However, it was attenuated by 6-(phenylamino)-5,8-quinolinedione (LY 83.583), which inhibits the catalytic domain of both guanylyl cyclases, and by cholesterol, which blocks hemolysin-incorporation into the membrane. Removing ATP, a cofactor of particulate guanylyl cyclase, attenuated the activation and ATPgammaS, a non-phosphorylating analog, restored it. These results suggest that V. vulnificus hemolysin activates particulate guanylyl cyclase via hemolysin incorporation into the vascular smooth muscle cell membrane in cooperation with certain unidentified cytosolic component(s).     

Recorded audio prompts. A strategy to increase independent prevocational task completion in individuals with dual diagnosis

This research was conducted to teach two adults with schizophrenia and mental retardation to respond to recorded audio prompts in order to eliminate the need for instructor assistance in completing routine prevocational tasks. Studying individuals with dual diagnosis is an important step in moving toward success in community living and vocational placement. A multiple probe design across tasks was conducted. Prior to the investigation, both individuals demonstrated low levels of independent task completion. Following the implementation of the audio prompts, both individuals' task completion performances dramatically increased. These findings suggest that audio prompts may serve as an efficient alternative to instructor promoting, which is often required by individuals with dual diagnosis in prevocational job settings.     

Expression of the HGF/SF receptor, c-met, and its ligand in human colorectal cancers

To characterize the clinical features of childhood tuberculosis, we analyzed the symptoms, signs, and laboratory findings of the 89 children with tuberculosis admitted to the Yokohama City University Hospital from 1975 to 1994. Compared with the numbers of patients admitted from 1975 to 1979, those of patients of the past 5 years (from 1990 to 1994) were reduced by half. Of the 89 subjects, 56.2% were below 3 years of age and 24.7% were under 1 year of age. 51.7% had primary complex and 20.2% had serious tuberculosis (tuberculous meningitis 14.6%, miliary tuberculosis 3.4%, and bone and joint tuberculosis 2.2%). Tuberculous children below 3 years of age consisted of primary complex (60.0%) and serious tuberculosis (32.0%). The majority (86.0%) of tuberculous children below 3 years of age had not received BCG vaccination. In 55 (61.8%) of 89 subjects, the sources of tuberculosis were clarified. Of these subjects, 83.6% were infected in the family. The rate of BCG inocluation tended to decrease with decreasing age, especially that of children below 3 years of age was 14.0%. Of the 89 subjects, only 16.9% proved to be smear-positive. Taken together, in order to eliminate tuberculous children below 3 years of age, the following is necessary; (1) BCG inoculation in early infancy, (2) early diagnosis of index cases with adult tuberculosis, and (3) prompt and appropriate family contact examination.