Educational placement of deaf children following cochlear implantation

The insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism of the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) gene has been postulated to be associated with CAD in some populations of European descent. As part of a study investigating metabolic and genetic factors in subjects with premature coronary artery disease (CAD), we examined the I/D polymorphism of the ACE gene in 134 subjects with premature CAD (105 men and 29 women, mean age 49 +/- 6 years) and 116 control subjects selected for health (71 men, 45 women; mean age 39 +/- 7 years). Both patients and controls were of French Canadian descent. As expected, significant differences were found between cases and controls with respect to age, plasma lipoprotein cholesterol, presence of smoking, diabetes and high blood pressure after correction for age. Multivariate analysis confirms the importance of age, HDL-C levels, smoking and apo B levels as determinants of CAD. Allele frequencies of the I and D polymorphism were 43.1% and 57.9% in controls, and 48.5% and 51.5% in CAD cases (chi 2 = 0.622, p = 0.430). No significant association between the I/D polymorphism and conventional cardiovascular risk factors, including plasma levels of lipids, lipoprotein cholesterol, diabetes or smoking, was found in cases or controls. Furthermore, the presence of the I/D polymorphism did not correlate with a history of hypertension or a family history of premature CAD in CAD patients. We conclude that, in our selected population, the I/D polymorphism of the ACE gene is not associated with CAD, conventional risk factors, or a family history of CAD. Although our sample size does not allow sufficient power to ascertain that the ACE I/D polymorphism is not associated with CAD, we do not recommend the routine measurement of the ACE polymorphism in our population to determine cardiovascular risk.     

Developing and gaining acceptance for patient care protocols

The difficulties students experience in applying theory to practice are well documented and educationalists have employed a variety of techniques in an effort to enhance effective application. This paper describes the utilization of one such teaching/learning strategy in a diploma level course in management for registered nurses and midwives. As problem-solving individual contracts of learning, 'ripple effect' plans enabled course participants to apply general principles of management theory to specific nursing management practice in their everyday world of nursing and midwifery work, making changes in practice and procedure which were visible and real.     

Trinucleotide (GAA)n repeat expansion in two families with Friedreich's ataxia with retained reflexes

In occasional families in whom cases of classic Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) coexist with affected cases with retained reflexes, linkage analysis has shown that both map to the FRDA locus on chromosome 9q13-21.1. A gene X25 has been identified within the critical region of the FRDA locus, and an intronic expanded GAA trinucleotide repeat has been found in most cases of FRDA. We report two further FRDA families in whom some patients with classic FRDA were areflexic whereas others had brisk reflexes. Molecular genetic analysis disclosed an abnormal trinucleotide repeat expansion within intron 1 of the FRDA gene in both phenotypes.     

Glucagon-like peptide-1 activates the adenylyl cyclase system in rockfish enterocytes and brain membranes

The role of cutaneous and respiratory heat loss for selective brain cooling in different species is discussed and new experimental results from a comparative study are summarized. In three species (cat, rabbit and rat) the difference between pontine and hypothalamic temperatures was studied as a function of head heat exchanger vasomotion appraised by the difference between hypothalamic and ear pinna (cats and rabbits) or nasal mucosa (rats) temperatures during the behavioral states of wakefulness and slow wave sleep at an ambient temperature of 24+/-1 degrees C. The results show that: (i) the pontine-hypothalamic temperature difference is an useful indicator of selective brain cooling since it is positive and inversely correlated with the hypothalamic-ear pinna temperature difference in cats and rabbits and with the hypothalamic-nasal mucosa temperature difference in rats; (ii) respiratory heat loss prevails quantitatively over cutaneous heat loss in maintaining this difference.     

Acoustically active lipospheres containing paclitaxel: a new therapeutic ultrasound contrast agent

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: Paclitaxel-carrying lipospheres (MRX-552) were developed and evaluated as a new ultrasound contrast agent for chemotherapeutic drug delivery. METHODS: Paclitaxel was suspended in soybean oil and added to an aqueous suspension of phospholipids in vials. The headspace of the vials was replaced with perfluorobutane gas; the vials were sealed, and they were agitated at 4200 rpm on a shaking device. The resulting lipospheres containing paclitaxel were studied for concentration, size, acute toxicity in mice, and acoustic activity and drug release with ultrasound. Lipospheres containing sudan black dye were produced to demonstrate the acoustically active liposphere (AAL)-ultrasound release concept. RESULTS: Acoustically active lipospheres containing paclitaxel had a mean particle count of approximately 1 x 10(9) particles per mL and a mean size of 2.9 microns. Acute toxicity studies in mice showed a 10-fold reduction in toxicity for paclitaxel in AALs compared with free paclitaxel. The AALs reflected ultrasound as a contrast agent. Increasing amounts of ultrasound energy selectively ruptured the AALs and released the paclitaxel. CONCLUSIONS: Acoustically active lipospheres represent a new class of acoustically active drug delivery vehicles. Future studies will assess efficacy of AALs for ultrasound-mediated drug delivery.     

Changes in reactivity of the middle cerebral artery caused by cerebral circulation disturbances of ischemic and hemorrhagic types in rats

Reactivity of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) to serotonin was attenuated in vitro in vessels taken from rats following an audiogenic stress. The MCA reactivity to endothelin remained unchanged. Chronic cerebral ischemia diminished the 5-HT-induced contraction and the contractile responses to endothelin were enhanced. Preliminary hypoxic adaptation decreased the artery sensitivity to endothelin in ischemic animals. The findings suggest that a progressing ischemia may involve changes in reactivity of cerebral vessels whereupon hypoxic adaptation may prove to be protecting the brain from ischemia development.     

Enhanced metallothionein gene expression is associated with protection from cadmium-induced genotoxicity in cultured rat liver cells

A panel of four monoclonal antibodies produced in our laboratory, MIL1, MIL2, MIL3, MIL4, and the type-specific monocyte/granulocyte marker 74-22-15 were used to isolate and to discriminate between monocytes, macrophages and granulocytes derived from porcine peripheral blood, lung and gut lamina propria. Two-colour flow cytometry and cell sorting showed that while no monoclonal antibody was specific for just a single cell population, each cell type had a unique and characteristic combination of surface antigens. These differences could be used to identify and purify monocytes, macrophages, neutrophils, eosinophils and basophils from the three different sites. The study also demonstrated similarities and differences within cell types from the same site and from different sites: polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) from peripheral blood were subdivided into two subpopulations by the presence or absence of the surface antigen recognized by MIL4, while PMN from alveolar lavage did not express this antigen. Peripheral blood eosinophils were also divided into subpopulations by the presence or absence of the same surface antigen. Lamina propria eosinophils strongly expressed the MIL4 marker and differed morphologically from blood eosinophils. Peripheral blood basophils and lamina propria mast cells were morphologically similar and expressed similar antigens. Monocytes and alveolar macrophages also expressed the same surface antigens.