Malaria chemosuppression in pregnancy. V. Placenta malarial changes among three different prophylaxis groups

The effect of malaria chemoprophylaxis during pregnancy on placenta malarial changes (PMCs) was investigated in 170 tissue sections. Women of 63 sections received daily proguanil (PROG), 61 once weekly chloroquine (CQ) and 46 the two drug combination (CQ+PROG). All were residents of a malaria hyperendemic area in Muheza District, Tanzania. Supervised prophylaxis started early in pregnancy till delivery. Parasitaemias and clinical episodes were detected early and radically treated. Overall, PMCs were mostly infrequent and light viz: fibrinous deposits (98%), fibrinoid necrosis (60%), leucocytic infiltrations (59%), macrophage containing pigment (16%), and malaria parasites (8%). The type, prevalence, and severity of the PMCs in the three prophylaxis groups were comparable. This was despite the fact that PROG and CQ+PROG were prophylactically more efficacious than CQ and despite the expectation that the prevalence and severity of the PMCs would be high in the CQ group. Prompt diagnosis and effective treatment of parasitaemias in this group contributed to the low prevalence and less severity. It is concluded that effective malaria chemoprophylaxis or prompt diagnosis and effective treatment of malaria parasitaemias have significant impact on the prevalence of PMCs. Due to various operational constraints in most developing countries, chemoprophylaxis remains the only feasible broad option for malaria control in pregnancy.     

Chylothorax: report of a case complicating ductus ligation through a median sternotomy, and review

An unusual case of chylothorax is described in a 4-year-old child after repair of a ventricular septal defect and ligation of a patent ductus arteriosus through a median sternotomy. Left chylothorax developed after a latent period of six days and was treated initially with continuous drainage and parenteral supplementation of proteins and lipids. Operative intervention with oversewing of the site of the leak in the anterior mediastinum proved necessary after three weeks. The anatomical variations of the thoracic duct are outlined to explain the occurrence of chylothorax after diverse intrathoracic operations. The physiological effects of a thoracic duct fistula and various aspects of management are reviewed.     

Corrosion behaviour of an indigenous Ag-Sn-Cu cast dental alloy in artificial saliva

Tyrosine kinases are involved in various intracellular signalling cascades of different cells: Genistein has been shown to inhibit tyrosine kinase in INS-1 cells, an insulin-secreting cell line (Verspohl et al., 1995). It is, however, not established how specific and selective the tyrosine kinase inhibitors and their controls are. The tyrosine kinase inhibitors genistein and tyrphostin 25 increased insulin release, but not their negative controls with isoflavonoid structure (daidzein and genistin). In addition to this short-term effect a long-term effect was investigated. Genistein (100 microM) time-dependently increased insulin mRNA levels in INS-1 cells. On the other hand the tyrosine kinase inhibitors tyrphostin 25 and lavendustin A (both at 100 microM), which are structurally different from genistein, failed to increase the insulin mRNA whereas daidzein and genistin, normally used as negative controls, increased insulin mRNA as potently as genistein did. However, an examination of the incubation medium revealed that genistin was degraded to genistein by about 50% probably by nonspecific glucosidases first seen after 2 hours of incubation; genistin, therefore, does not appear to be a proper control though often used in this way. In conclusion, the suitability of the compounds used in recent studies is doubtful since other effects than the inhibition of tyrosine kinases are possible. Whereas the involvement of tyrosine kinase in a short-term effect (insulin release) is obvious and clearly substantiated by using the established pharmacological tools (negative controls), the involvement of tyrosine kinases in long-term effects is not that clear; only compounds with isoflavonoid structure are effective independent whether they normally are thought to be inhibitors or negative controls. One has to be cautious in using the above-mentioned compounds in an uncritical way.     

Housing conditions alter GABAA receptor of alcohol-preferring and -nonpreferring rats

The effects of housing conditions on some functional properties of the GABAA benzodiazepine (BZD) receptor in the cerebral cortex were examined in the selectively bred alcohol-preferring (P) and -nonpreferring (NP) lines of rats. Compared to rats housed in pairs (P with P and NP with NP), P and NP rats housed individually had 44% (p < 0.005) and 32% (p < 0.01) lower values, respectively, for GABA-stimulated 36Cl- influx into cortical microsacs. The maximal effect (Vmax) of flunitrazepam (FNZ) to enhance GABA-stimulated 36Cl- uptake was 44% higher in individually housed P rats than pair-housed P rats (p < 0.05) and 51% higher than individually housed NP rats (p < 0.05). There was no difference between single and pair-housed NP rats for Vmax values of FNZ enhancement of GABA-stimulated 36Cl- influx. The results show housing conditions can alter some of the functional properties of the GABAA/BZD receptor in the P and NP lines of rats. The differential effect of housing conditions on FNZ enhancement of 36Cl- influx, observed between the lines, may be a result of higher levels of anxiety being produced by brief isolation in the P rat.     

BCL-2 overexpression attenuates cortical cell loss after traumatic brain injury in transgenic mice

The proto-oncogene, BCL-2, has been suggested to participate in cell survival during development of, and after injury to, the CNS. Transgenic (TG) mice overexpressing human Bcl-2 (n = 21) and their wild-type (WT) littermates (n = 18) were subjected to lateral controlled cortical impact brain injury. Lateral controlled cortical impact brain injury resulted in the formation of a contusion in the injured cortex at 2 days, which developed into a well-defined cavity by 7 days in both WT and TG mice. At 7 days after injury, brain-injured TG mice had a significantly reduced cortical lesion (volume = 1.99 mm3) compared with that of the injured WT mice (volume = 5.1 mm3, P < 0.01). In contrast, overexpression of BCL-2 did not affect the extent of hippocampal cell death after lateral controlled cortical impact brain injury. Analysis of motor function revealed that both brain-injured WT and TG mice exhibited significant right-sided deficits at 2 and 7 days after injury (P < 0.05 compared with the uninjured controls). Although composite neuroscores (sum of scores from forelimb and hind limb flexion, lateral pulsion, and inclined plane tests) were not different between WT and TG brain-injured mice, TG mice had a slightly but significantly reduced deficit in the inclined plane test (P < 0.05 compared to the WT mice). These data suggest that the cell death regulatory gene, BCL-2, may play a protective role in the pathophysiology of traumatic brain injury.     

Queueing analysis of buffered slotted multiple access protocols

Much of the literature on the performance evaluation of multiple access protocols has assumed a buffer capacity of one unit. This assumption is not realistic. In practice the buffer capacities used are larger than one unit in order to reduce the probability of packet rejection. This is more crucial for multiple access protocols, which allow moderate to high values of the expected throughput (URN, Random TDMA etc.).In this paper, a model appropriate for the analysis of buffered slotted multiple access schemes is proposed. The method can be applied to several multiple access protocols such as the URN protocol, the ALOHA protocol, Random TDMA etc. The cases of infinite and finite buffer capacity are examined separately but under the same basic assumptions. The analysis is based on the assumption that each user process can be modelled as an M/G/1 queueing system. The proposed method requires a small amount of computation and is characterized by a high speed, a fact that simplifies the buffer's design as well. The solution obtained is extremely accurate and exhibits excellent agreement with simulation results, which corroborate the accuracy of the model. The special case when the buffer capacity is equal to 1 is examined. In that case, the present approach also allows for computation of the packet delay distribution.     

The nuclear stethoscope: a simple device for generation of left ventricular volume curves

Initial evaluation has begun of a system for displaying left ventricular time-activity curves, relating the intraventricular content of radioactivity with the cardiac cycle as determined by the patient's electrocardiogram. Major problems include proper positioning of the detector, correction for background radioactivity outside the ventricle and calibration of the device to permit conversion of measurement of radioactivity to measurement of ventricular volumes.     

Novel pharmacologic strategies in the treatment of experimental traumatic brain injury: 1998

The mechanisms underlying secondary or delayed cell death following traumatic brain injury are poorly understood. Recent evidence from experimental models suggests that widespread neuronal loss is progressive and continues in selectively vulnerable brain regions for months to years after the initial insult. The mechanisms underlying delayed cell death are believed to result, in part, from the release or activation of endogenous "autodestructive" pathways induced by the traumatic injury. The development of sophisticated neurochemical, histopathological and molecular techniques to study animal models of TBI have enabled researchers to begin to explore the cellular and genomic pathways that mediate cell damage and death. This new knowledge has stimulated the development of novel therapeutic agents designed to modify gene expression, synthesis, release, receptor or functional activity of these pathological factors with subsequent attenuation of cellular damage and improvement in behavioral function. This article represents a compendium of recent studies suggesting that modification of post-traumatic neurochemical and cellular events with targeted pharmacotherapy can promote functional recovery following traumatic injury to the central nervous system.