Correlation of natural gas content to iron species in the New Albany shale group

Mössbauer parameters were obtained for four Illinois Basin shales and their corresponding < 2μm clay fractions from wells drilled through the New Albany Shale Group in Henderson, Tazewell, and Effingham counties in Illinois and Christian County in Kentucky. Off-gas analysis indicated that the Illinois cores were in an area of low gas potential, while the Kentucky core was in an area of moderate-to-good potential. Iron-rich dolomite (ankerite) was found in the Kentucky core but not in the Illinois cores. In the Kentucky core, gas content could be correlated with the ankerite in the bulk sample, the Mössbauer M (2) species in the clay fraction, and a ferrous iron species in the clay fraction. The location of the greatest concentration of natural gas in the Kentucky core could be predicted by following the changes in percentage concentration of these iron species when plotted against the depth of burial of the core sample.     

Myocardial morphology in fibrillation and defibrillation of the heart ventricles

The morphology of the contractile myocardium was studied experimentally in fibrillation and defibrillation of the ventricles on 30 rabbits. Morphology of the contractile myocardium appears as vacuolated dystrophy of the cardiomyocytes, destruction of mitochondria and contracture lesions of the myofibrils. The latter with progressing fibrillation become irreversible. Myocardial changes are related both to the mechanical lesions of cardiomyocytes and the haemodynamic disorders, developing as a result of ventricular fibrillation, which leads to marked myocardial hypoxia. The changes in the microcirculatory bed contribute to the development of the latter. Hyperfunction of the intracellular structures, especially of mitochondria and myofibrils, taking place under unfavourable conditions leads to a rapid energy depletion, which is one of the main causes of development of the acute cardiac insufficiency in this type of arrhythmias. Studies of cardiac defibrillation enabled one to elicit the dynamics of morphological changes, appearing in the myocardium as related to the duration of ventricular fibrillation.     

Marginal ulcer after gastric bypass: a prospective 3-year study of 173 patients

BACKGROUND: Marginal ulceration (MU) after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is a well-recognized complication. Its incidence varies between 1% and 16%. Factors associated with the development of MU include pouch size, pouch orientation, staple line integrity, and mucosal ischemia. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and Helicobacter pylori may also contribute to MU, but their mechanism of action in the RYGB patient has not been studied. METHODS: In 1994 a prospective 3-year study was designed to document the incidence of MU after near-total gastric bypass (NTGB). In this procedure the transected pouch was limited to the cardia, and the gastrojejunostomy was made along the greater curvature. A total of 173 patients entered the study. All patients who experienced postoperative nausea, vomiting, or abdominal pain underwent endoscopic examination of the pouch, stoma, and proximal Roux-en-Y limb. Gastrograffin studies were used within the first 2 weeks of operation. RESULTS: One year after operation, MU was not identified in any patient. At 3 years follow-up, MU was documented in one patient (0.6%) with a dilated gastric reservoir (60 cc). CONCLUSION: This study reviews the etiology, diagnosis, and treatment of MU in the RYGB patient and offers specific recommendations to reduce its occurrence. It also confirms a preliminary impression that NTGB is an effective operation in preventing MU formation.     

Rapid genotyping of mice with hemoglobinopathies and globin transgenes

Because of its high sensitivity, bioluminescence (BL) is an excellent alternative to radioactive quantitation of cytokine RT-PCR-derived products. BL also allows detection of amplicons at cycle numbers not normally detectable using radioactivity. No direct comparisons between these two methods have been made. In this study, the sensitivities of BL using recombinant aequorin, a flash-type luminescent tag capable of detecting signal to attomolar (10(-18) M) levels and radio imaging (RI) were directly compared. In addition, the application of BL for detecting cytokine message from biologic samples was examined. BL was 30- to 60-fold more sensitive than RI in detecting human IL-2 and CD3delta amplicons. This difference was particularly found during low cycle PCR, but was less at higher cycle numbers. The ability of BL to detect differences in cytokine message in stimulated and unstimulated human peripheral blood mononuclear cells was also evaluated. Using linear regression analysis, we observed up to 5,000-fold increases in RT-PCR amplified-mRNA in stimulated cells for IL-1alpha, IL-1beta, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10 and GM-CSF compared to unstimulated cells. Changes in CD3delta, TNF alpha or IL-12 were not observed or quantitated. We present a novel aequorin-based application of bioluminescent technology to directly quantitate RT-PCR amplicons and to investigate the induction of human cytokine expression. Significant advantages of this sensitive bioluminescent method compared with radioactive methods are its abilities to quantitate amplicons in a PCR cycle range where linear detection is most robust and to analyze products in an automated, open-architecture microtiter plate format.     

Adrenal neuropeptide Y mRNA but not preproenkephalin mRNA induction by stress is impaired by aging in Fischer 344 rats

The purpose of this study was to examine factors predicting the practice of breast self-examination behaviour among Chinese women in Hong Kong using a cross-sectional survey research design. The Health Belief Model was used as the theoretical framework for the study to examine differences between breast self-examination practicers and non-practicers and among breast self-examination frequency groups. Data were collected from a convenience sample of 124 women using self-administrated questionnaires. Less than half of the sample practised breast self-examination and only 16% of the practicers performing breast self-examination monthly. There were differences between practicers vs. non-practicers and among breast self-examination frequency groups and some support of the predictive power of the Health Belief Model was found. Logistic regression showed that practicers perceived health as important, having fewer barriers and higher susceptibility to breast cancer. Discriminant function analysis revealed that barriers and children status were strong predictors of frequency of breast self-examination practice explaining 21.1% of the total variance in breast self-examination practice.     

Enhanced transdermal delivery of sex hormones in swine with a novel topical aerosol

This study investigated the enhanced transdermal delivery of testosterone (Tes) and estradiol (E2) in swine in vivo with novel metered-dose topical aerosols containing the penetration enhancer padimate O (PadO) and predicted the dose deliverable in humans from the calculated drug flux across the skin. Weanling swine were catheterized and castrated under general anaesthesia and used as a conscious hypogonadal model. Tes and E2 (with and without PadO) were applied once, and venous blood samples were taken over 24 h. Tes and E2 plasma levels were determined by radioimmunoassay. After daily topical dosing of Tes for 6 days, the plasma Tes levels were determined and the transdermal flux was calculated by correcting the pseudo steady-state plasma concentration versus time profile with the clearance of an iv dose within the same swine. After a single application of the E2 aerosol over 30 cm2, or the Tes aerosol over 180 cm2, the mean AUC0-24 h when PadO was included in the spray was 14.1- and 2.0-fold greater than control, respectively (p < 0.03). After the sixth application of the Tes spray with PadO, the mean flux (+/-SE, n = 4) across swine skin in vivo was 2.12 +/- 0.35 microg/cm2.h, which gave a predicted flux in humans of 0.95 microg/cm2.h. From these data the expected plasma levels of Tes in hypogonadal men would compare well with the normal diurnal Tes profile in healthy men. These novel topical aerosols are capable of enhanced transdermal delivery of sex hormones in vivo, and they have the potential to deliver clinically relevant doses to humans.     

Antioxidant defenses influence HIV-1 replication and associated cytopathic effects

HIV-infected cells often exhibit reduced levels of antioxidant enzymes and thiols. To investigate the role of cellular antioxidant defenses in the progression of an acutely spreading HIV-1 infection, human Sup-T1 T cells were engineered to overexpress the selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase, GSHPx-1. This enzyme represents a major cellular defense mechanism against toxicity associated with reactive oxygen species (ROS). T cells engineered to produce elevated GSHPx-1 activity displayed accelerated viral replication and associated cytopathic effects compared to control cells. Conversely, the inhibition of the synthesis of glutathione with buthione sulfoximine (BSO) resulted in the attenuation of viral replication in Sup-T1 cells. Similarly, exposure of human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) to low, nontoxic levels of BSO resulted in an approximately 80% decline in HIV-1 replication as indicated by Western blot analysis of viral proteins.