A new method of infant monitoring: for use at home and hospital

AIM: To test a New Zealand originated, designed and funded remote infant heart rate monitor in the home and hospital settings (temporarily named the King Monitor) for accuracy and reliability. METHODS: The units were pretested using ECG simulators and on infants already being monitored in the neonatal unit. Longer term trials on hospital infants and infants being simultaneously monitored at home were then conducted. RESULTS: Interference and electrode problems were corrected during the pretesting phase. The unit worked accurately when compared with the standard neonatal heart and respiratory rate monitor in hospital and appeared in some infants to give earlier warning of problems than the standard home apnoea monitor. CONCLUSION: This simple to use monitor worked reliably and accurately under a wide variety of settings and with varying sized infants. In addition, the lack of direct connection between the infant and the control unit allowed freedom of movement of normal infants around the cot or bassinet. The monitor will require to be adapted for portable use at home and during travel.     

Interaction of short nucleotide derivatives with nucleic acids. IV. Modification of DNA by an alkylating tetranucleotide reagents in the presence of effectors in perfect and imperfect complexes

It was demonstrated that any mismatches in a complex formed by an ssDNA target and a tetranucleotide at 25 or 37 degrees C can be discriminated by alkylating the DNA with a tetranucleotide carrying a 4-[N-methyl-N-(2-chloroethyl)]aminobenzylethylamine residue at the 5'-terminal phosphate in the presence of a pair of flanking effectors, octanucleotide di-N-(2-hydroxyethyl)-phenazinium derivatives. The discrimination factor (ratio of the extent of the target modification in the perfect and mismatch-containing complexes) for a single mismatch in the tetranucleotide binding site at 25 degrees C varied between 4 and 500 depending on the type of mismatch and its location in the complex and exceeded 400 at 37 degrees C for all the investigated mismatches. The DNA target modification by the alkylating derivative of the 3'-estrone ester of tetranucleotide pCAGX (mean = C, T, A or G) was selective in the presence of a pair of hydrophobic effectors, octanucleotide 5'-cholesteryl-3'-phenazinium derivatives. The discrimination factors for 3'-terminal mismatches T.G, A.G, and G.G were 1,8,400, and 400, respectively.     

The status of the gastric and duodenal mucosa, biopsied from those who worked in the cleanup of the aftermath of the accident at the Chernobyl Atomic Electric Power Station, in an organotypic tissue culture

Biopsies of stomach and duodenum different regions mucosa obtained from patients with gastroduodenitis (liquidators of consequences of accident in Chernobyl nuclear station--LCA CNS-- and control patients) were studied cultured in vitro. The following are the differences found. Mononuclear cells, differentiating into macrophages were exposed from control biopsies. Mononuclear cells exposed from LCA CNS biopsies formed rosette-like accumulations after mitotic dividing on a distance from the explant. Part of cells within the rosettes acquired processes and formed syncytial structure.     

Long-term results after reoperation for failed antireflux procedures

From January 1960 to June 1995, 185 patients underwent reoperation without esophageal resection for symptoms of recurrent gastroesophageal reflux disease. There were 102 men and 83 women. Median age was 58 years (range 20 to 84 years). A single previous antireflux operation had been performed in 147 patients, two in 33, and three in 5. The median interval between the reoperation and the previous operation was 36 months (range 1 to 291 months). Indications for reoperation were symptoms in 184 patients and a large paraesophageal hernia in one patients. The surgical approach was by means of a thoracotomy in 133 patients (71.9%), laparotomy in 27 (14.6%), and a thoracoabdominal incision in 25 (13.5%). A Nissen fundoplication was performed in 107 patients (57.8%), Belsey fundoplication in 47 (25.4%), truncal vagotomy and antrectomy with Roux-en-Y reconstruction in 17 (9.2%), anatomic hernia repair in 12 (6.5%), and Hill gastropexy in 2 (1.1%). A Collis gastroplasty was added to the fundoplication in 116 patients (62.7%), and a pyloroplasty was performed in 17 (9.2%). There was one operative death (0.5%). Complications occurred in 47 patients (25.4%). Median postoperative hospitalization was 9 days (range 5 to 58 days). Follow-up was complete in 156 patients (84.3%) and ranged from 3 to 283 months (median 44 months). Improvement occurred in 137 patients (87.8%). Functional results were classified as excellent in 65 patients (41.6%), good in 29 (18.6%), fair in 43 (27.6%), and poor in 19 (12.2%). No single operative approach or procedure proved to be functionally superior. We conclude that reoperation with esophageal preservation after a failed antireflux procedure will result in significant functional benefit and can be performed with low mortality and acceptable morbidity. The type of repair should be tailored to the individual patient.     

Changes in the calpains and calpastatin during postmortem storage of bovine muscle

Changes in activity and protein status of micro-calpain, m-calpain, and calpastatin in bovine semimembranosus muscle during the first 7d of postmortem storage were monitored by using assays of proteolytic activity, SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and Western blot analysis. Extractable m-calpain activity changed slightly during the first 7d after death (decreased to 63% of at-death activity after 7d), whereas extractable calpastatin activity decreased substantially (to 60% of at-death activity after 1d and to 30% of at-death activity after 7d of postmortem storage) during this period. Extractable micro-calpain activity also decreased rapidly (to 20% of at-death activity at 1d and to less than 4% of its at-death activity at 7d after death) during postmortem storage. Western blot analysis showed that the 80-kDa subunit of m-calpain remained undegraded during the first 7d after death but that the 125- to 130-kDa calpastatin polypeptide was gone entirely at 7d after death. Hence, the calpastatin activity remaining at 7d originates from calpastatin polypeptides that are 42 kDa or smaller. The 80-kDa micro-calpain subunit was almost entirely in the 76-kDa autolyzed form at 7d after death; this form is proteolytically active in in vitro systems, and it is unclear why the postmortem, autolyzed micro-calpain is not active. Over 50% of total muscle micro-calpain is tightly bound to myofibrils 7d after death; this micro-calpain is also nearly inactive proteolytically. Unless postmortem muscle contains some factor that enables micro-calpain in this muscle to be proteolytically active, it is not clear whether micro-calpain could be responsible for any appreciable postmortem myofibrillar proteolysis.     

Blood flow dynamics in different layers of the somatosensory region of the cerebral cortex on the rat during mechanical stimulation of the vibrissae

Since the creation of the Office of Alternative Medicine (OAM) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), progress has been made in the evaluation and, where appropriate, the clinical and scientific acceptance of "complementary and alternative" medicine (CAM). This progress is due in part to initiatives jointly conducted by the NIH and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In particular, advances in the evaluation and acceptance of two CAM practices, acupuncture and botanical medicine, have resulted from ongoing cooperation between the two agencies. The legalization of the use of acupuncture needles in 1996 came as a result of a workshop sponsored by the OAM with the participation of the FDA, which explored key regulatory issues. Prompted by similar regulatory issues, as well as by the initiation of NIH-funded research projects, the OAM sponsored an international symposium to examine the evidence for and the role of botanical medicine in the United States. This conference generated a series of workshops sponsored by the Drug Information Association in conjunction with NIH and FDA, which explored the scientific, regulatory, and policy issues of heterogeneous botanical products. These efforts resulted in the initiation of a large randomized multicenter clinical trial (sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health) of the botanical, St. John's wort, for the treatment of depression, and the formation of internal working groups within the FDA that are drafting a guidance policy for the development of botanicals as drugs in the United States. This document is expected to be available in the near future.