Factors involved in the progress of preclinical atherosclerosis associated with systemic lupus erythematosus: a 2-year longitudinal study.

Objectives: To assess the changes in carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and the associated risks factors in patients with low severity systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Methods: Common carotid IMT measurements were obtained by ultrasound from 101 patients with SLE at an interval of 2 years. Cardiovascular risk factors, disease activity, accumulated damage, severity (Katz index) and biochemical parameters (including high sensitivity C-reactive protein, interleukin 6, C3a, C4a, C5a and homocysteine) were also assessed.

Marijuana use among the adolescent children of high-risk drug-abusing fathers.

This study examines marijuana use among children of male drug abusers. Subjects were 83 African-American and European-American male drug abusers, of whom the majority were injection drug users, and their children. Thirty-one of the fathers were HIV-positive and 52 were HIV-negative.

Coping in adolescent children of HIV-positive and HIV-negative substance-abusing fathers.

The authors examined coping in the adolescent children of drug-abusing fathers who have, or are at risk for contracting, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The ability to cope is an important factor in the adolescent's own risk behaviors, including drug use and associated problems. Each father and his adolescent child were separately administered a structured interview regarding personality, drug use, relationships, coping, and other behaviors.

Risk factors for adolescent marijuana use across cultures and across time.

An integrated analysis of the data from 3 different studies was conducted to examine the early psychosocial predictors of later marijuana use among adolescents. Longitudinal analysis of interview data was performed. The data used in the analysis were derived from (a) a sample of 739 predominantly White adolescents representative of the northeastern United States, (b) a sample of 1,190 minority adolescents from the East Harlem section of New York City, and (c) a sample of 1,374 Colombian adolescents from two cities in Colombia, South America.

The effects of systemic glucose concentration on brain metabolism following repeated brain ischemia.

Since systemic glucose concentration is an important determinant of ischemic brain metabolism in neonates, we sought to determine if the systemic glucose concentration influences brain metabolic alterations following repeated partial ischemia. A group of hyperglycemic piglets (n = 12) were compared to a group of modestly hypoglycemic piglets (n = 12) using in vivo 2H and 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy to simultaneously measure cerebral blood flow and phosphorylated metabolites before, during and 30 min after two 10-min episodes of ischemia (i.e.

Evaluation of molecular methodologies and rabbit infectivity testing for the diagnosis of congenital syphilis and neonatal central nervous system invasion by Treponema pallidum.

IgM immunoblotting and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were evaluated for use in diagnosing congenital syphilis, and the prevalence of central nervous system (CNS) invasion by Treponema pallidum during congenital infection was examined. The results of rabbit infectivity testing (RIT) on serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 19 infants born to mothers with untreated early syphilis were compared with results of PCR and IgM immunoblotting. Seven infants had clinical evidence of congenital syphilis supported by positive serum IgM immunoblot (7/7), PCR (6/7), and RIT (3/3).

Glucose-associated alterations in ischemic brain metabolism of neonatal piglets.

Background And Purpose: During global brain ischemia or hypoxia-ischemia in adults, hyperglycemia is deleterious to the brain. In contrast, similar adverse effects have not been found in neonatal animals. This investigation examined neonatal piglets to determine if there were specific alterations of ischemic brain metabolism associated with different systemic glucose concentrations and to potentially clarify the effects of hyperglycemia during ischemia in neonates.

Pulmonary clearance of Moraxella catarrhalis in an animal model.

The virulence mechanisms of Moraxella catarrhalis that are involved in producing pulmonary infection are unknown. A well-characterized murine model was used to study the pulmonary clearance of M. catarrhalis and analyze the histopathologic changes and the role of phagocytic cells in the infected lungs.

Nonrandom distribution of N-myc oncogene genotypes in neuroblastoma.

The distributions of Pvu II and Sph I alleles of the N-myc oncogene (also known as MYCN) were studied in a series of normal individuals and pediatric patients with solid tumors. In the case of Pvu II, where the polymorphic site is located 3' of the gene, the frequencies of the allele were 0.27 (11-kilobase fragment) and 0.