School-based health care for urban minority junior high school students

OBJECTIVE: To describe the use of school-based health clinics by urban minority junior high school students. DESIGN: Review of demographic and utilization data collected by service providers during clinic visits. SETTINGS AND PARTICIPANTS: Health clinics in four junior high schools that enrolled predominantly Hispanic students who were residing in an economically disadvantaged, medically underserved New York (NY) school district. RESULTS: Of 5757 students who were enrolled in the schools, 5296 (92%) obtained parental consent to use the clinics, and 3723 (65%) used the clinics during the 1991-1992 academic year. Clinic users were 11 to 15 years old, 50% male and 50% female, 81% Hispanic and 14% black, and 29% sixth graders, 33% seventh graders, and 38% eighth graders. Clinic users made 16,340 clinic visits during the 1991-1992 academic year. Presenting complaints were mental health problems (32%), illness (14%), injury (12%), physical examination (5%), immunization (3%), follow-up (21%), and other (13%). Referral sources were clinic outreach (48%), self (44%), and school personnel (8%). Disposition of visits was on-site treatment (92%), referral to an affiliated hospital (5%), and referral elsewhere (3%). Compared with a nationwide group of high school-based clinics that served predominantly black adolescents, these clinics provided more mental health care (31% vs 21%), similar illness/injury care (32% vs 30%), and less preventive (10% vs 24%) and reproductive/contraceptive (7% vs 12%) care. CONCLUSIONS: Junior high school-based clinics can provide a wide range of primary and preventive health care services for large numbers of medically underserved youths. The provision of mental health services may fill a critical need among inner-city adolescents. Clinic outreach may be necessary to maximize utilization, especially among high-risk students.     

Purification and characterization of a guanine nucleotide-exchange protein for ADP-ribosylation factor from spleen cytosol

ADP-ribosylation factors (ARFs) are 20-kDa guanine nucleotide-binding proteins and are active in the GTP-bound state and inactive with GDP bound. ARF-GTP has a critical role in vesicular transport in several cellular compartments. Conversion of ARF-GDP to ARF-GTP is promoted by a guanine nucleotide-exchange protein (GEP). We earlier reported the isolation from bovine brain cytosol of a 700-kDa protein complex containing GEP activity that was inhibited by brefeldin A (BFA). Partial purification yielded an approximately 60-kDa BFA-insensitive GEP that enhanced binding of ARF1 and ARF3 to Golgi membranes. GEP has now been purified extensively from rat spleen cytosol in a BFA-insensitive, approximately 55-kDa form. It activated class I ARFs (ARFs 1 and 3) that were N-terminally myristoylated, but not nonmyristoylated ARFs from class-I, II, or III. GEP activity required MgCl2. In the presence of 0.6-0.8 mM MgCl2 and 1 mM EDTA, binding of guanosine 5'-[gamma[35S]thio]triphosphate ([35S]GTP gamma S) by ARF1 and ARF3 was equally high without and with GEP. At higher Mg2+ concentrations, binding without GEP was much lower; with 2-5 mM MgCl2, GEP-stimulated binding was maximal. The rate of GDP binding was much less than that of GTP gamma S with and without GEP. Phospholipids were necessary for GEP activity; phosphatidylinositol was more effective than phosphatidylserine, and phosphatidic acid was less so. Other phospholipids tested were ineffective. Maximal effects required approximately 200 microM phospholipid, with half-maximal activation at 15-20 microM. Release of bound [35S]GTP gamma S from ARF3 required the presence of both GEP and unlabeled GTP or GTP gamma S; GDP was much less effective. This characterization of the striking effects of Mg2+ concentration and specific phospholipids on the purified BFA-insensitive ARF GEP should facilitate experiments to define its function in vesicular transport.     

Transforming growth factor-beta receptor types I and II are expressed in renal tubules and are increased after chronic unilateral ureteral obstruction

Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) is a profibrotic cytokine which has been implicated in the renal fibrosis which follows unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) in the rat. TGF-beta receptor type I (TGF-RI) and TGF-beta receptor type II (TGF-RII) are part of the complex which mediates the response to TGF-beta. We sought to determine if TGF-RI and TGF-RII are found in the kidney, and if their expression is changed as a result of UUO. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to determine expression of mRNA for TGF-RI and TGF-RII in the kidney. Immunoperoxidase was used to localize and quantify the expression of these receptors at 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days after UUO, and in sham-operated animals. Expression of mRNA for TGF-RI and TGF-RII was demonstrated in sham operated, obstructed and contralateral unobstructed kidneys using PCR. Using immunoperoxidase, a uniform distribution of TGF-RI and TGF-RII was found in cortical tubules of sham operated kidneys, whereas medullary tubules showed a patchy TGF-RI distribution and no TGF-RII staining. After UUO, an increased tubular expression of TGF-RI and TGF-RII was noted in both obstructed and contralateral kidneys compared to sham operated kidneys. No staining for either TGF-RI or TGF-RII was noted in glomeruli, vasculature or interstitial cells. TGF-beta receptors I and II were found exclusively in renal tubules and were shown to increase in both the obstructed and contralateral kidneys relative to sham operated animals. Upregulation of TGF-beta receptors in both kidneys suggests that TGF-beta may contribute to the fibrotic response in the obstructed kidney and the hypertrophic response of the contralateral kidney.     

Bone marrow transplantation for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: a review

High dose chemotherapy and stem-cell rescue (bone marrow transplantation) is used increasingly in the treatment of malignant disorder. Numerous trials have demonstrated the effectiveness of bone marrow transplantation in the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. However, there are many unanswered questions as to the role of high-dose therapy in certain subtypes of lymphoma, the timing of transplant, and even the type of transplant to perform. An attempt will be made to clarify many of these unanswered questions. The utilization of high-dose therapy for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is recommended for most patients who have relapsed after initial therapy. Transplantation in first remission is not recommended routinely. Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation should by reserved for individuals with poorly responding disease or in individuals with bone marrow involvement. The precise roles of purging and transplantation of individuals with low grade lymphoma are being investigated.     

Cyclic fatigue of ceramics

The fatigue behaviour of alumina, zirconia-toughened alumina (ZTA) and tetragonal zirconia (TZP) have been investigated using three different techniques. Direct push-pull testing has been used to generate both static and cyclic fatigue data. The results clearly show that all the materials studied are susceptible to both static and cyclic fatigue, and that the times to failure under cyclic loading are considerably shorter than under static loads. The fatigue failure origins have been identified and the influence of surface condition on fatigue life has been assessed. The slow propagation of cracks subject to cyclic tensile and compressive loads has been studied using compact tension specimens and tapered double cantilever beam specimens. These investigations have confirmed the existence of cyclic fatigue effects in coarse-grained alumina and have shown the crack increment per cycle (da/dN) to have a power-law dependence on the peak stress intensity factor. A technique, based on repeated indentation, has been used to investigate the propagation of sub-surface cracks subjected to cyclic loading in both fine-grained alumina and ZTA. The results of the investigation suggest that compressive or closure loads on the crack faces are factors which affect the cyclic fatigue crack growth in ceramics. Based on those observations, an explanation is proposed for the mechanical cyclic fatigue effects in the ceramics investigated.     

Cultural Differences in Young Children's Vulnerability to Injuries: A Risk and Protection Perspective.

Interview data from 100 lower income Hispanic and 50 White mothers from a nutritional service clinic extended prior research on cultural differences in the risk for unintentional pediatric injuries. Group differences were expected in reported injury incidence and in the prevalence and impact of contributing factors. As predicted, White mothers reported more injuries for a young child, and among Hispanic mothers, English language preference and use were associated with more reported injuries. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that risky behaviors, mother's judgment about child compliance, and stressful life events were better predictors of injuries than housing quality, but among Hispanics, the impact of certain factors (e.g.. child temperament) was qualified by mother's acculturation level. Stress and child temperament explained injury differences between more- and less-acculturated Hispanic families but only partially accounted for differences between White mothers and less-acculturated Hispanics. Pediatric injury risk and protective factors seemed to operate in concert with cultural processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Technological and flavour potential of cultures isolated from traditional Greek cheeses – A pool of novel species and starters

This study explored the microbiota of Formaella, Kopanisti, Feta and Mana cheeses. A total of 133 wild lactic acid bacteria were isolated and classified phenotypically. Mesophilic lactobacilli were the most abundant group. Thermophilic lactobacilli and thermophilic cocci were the best milk acidifiers, whereas thermophilic lactobacilli were the most proteolytic isolates. Higher peptidolytic and esterolytic activities were obtained with thermophilic cocci. Only five isolates were lipolytic, whereas none was able to catabolize citrate. Fast gas chromatography−mass spectrometry analysis of the metabolites produced and subsequent principal components analysis revealed segregated groups of isolates in accordance with the phenotypic ones. Electronic nose analysis revealed similar results. Lactobacillus rennini and Lactobacillus acidipiscis were found to be the sole microbial species in Kopanisti cheese and Mana. These isolates produced alcohols and aldehydes as major volatile compounds, as a result of secondary amino acid catabolism.     

Soil-structure interaction in explosive testing of model containments

The SIMQUAKE series of field tests on model containment structures provides a data base which may be used to validate analytic models of soil-structure interaction (SSI). In addition, the test produced significant evidence of nonlinear rocking response of 1/4-embedded model structures due to debonding and rebonding at the soil-structure interface. This paper describes the SIMQUAKE II test and an analytic method for soil-structure interaction based on explicit finite difference techniques, which consider both nonlinear behavior at the soil-structure interface and nonlinear constitutive behavior of the site. The analytic method is applied to two-dimensional analyses of both 1/8- and 1/12-size structures and results are compared with test measurements. Structural rocking response is shown to be sensitive to the inelastic compaction characteristic of the soil adjacent to the structure. A three-dimensional pretest analysis of the SIMQUAKE II test is also briefly reviewed.