Nutritional effects of amino acid dialysate (Nutrineal) in CAPD patients.

The use of amino acid dialysate (AAD) has been shown to improve the nutritional status of malnourished continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients. We report on a randomized, prospective, cross-over study evaluating the effects of a single, daily, postprandial 2-L exchange of 1.1% AAD (Nutrineal) on a nutritionally unselected group of 18 stable CAPD patients.

The hydroxyapatite orbital implant: a prospective study.

The hydroxyapatite orbital implant was first released for use as an orbital implant in humans in August 1989. It has been shown to be well tolerated, providing good motility of the artificial eye with a low complication rate when used as a primary implant. This prospective study evaluated the hydroxyapatite orbital implant used as both a primary and a secondary implant.

Outcome of facial rashes with non-specific histological features: a long-term follow-up of 64 cases.

Facial inflammatory dermatoses can be difficult to diagnose in their early stages; skin biopsy may help but often shows indeterminate features. The aims of our study were to identify patients presenting with a facial dermatosis requiring skin biopsy, in whom the initial histological features were classified as "non-specific", to determine the eventual diagnostic outcome, and to attempt to identify subtle early histologic features. We located 79 such cases with indeterminate histology from 45,000 dermatopathology reports 1972-1987.

Responses of the sheep blowflies Lucilia sericata and L. cuprina to odour and the development of semiochemical baits.

The literature relating to the attraction of the sheep blowflies Lucilia sericata and Lucilia cuprina to their ovine hosts is reviewed. The responses of the two species are similar and different components of the behaviour leading to host location and oviposition appear to involve at least two distinct sets of semiochemical cues. Activation, upwind orientation and landing appear to occur in response to putrefactive sulphur-rich volatiles, originating from bacterial decomposition products.

Functional profiles of healthy older persons.

To learn whether the percentage of time spent at different functional levels varies as a function of age, we studied 44 older (mean age 70 years) and 46 younger (mean age 27 years) urban, community-dwelling volunteers who participated in a study of normative ageing of the cardiovascular system. Each subject completed one 24-hour activity diary which was coded using a standardized scoring system for functional activity levels and energy levels. Compared with younger persons, older persons spent larger percentage of their day performing basic (BADLs) and intermediate activities of daily living (IADLs) and less time in physical advanced activities of daily living and sleeping.

Irritant contact dermatitis in warehouse employees.

A detailed survey of skin complaints amongst 114 airline employees working in a new warehouse revealed 26 cases of skin problems which originated during the 2 1/2 year operation. A clinical survey of broadly the same population confirmed 14 cases from 98 employees as chronic irritant contact dermatitis of the hands. The work involved the reception, unpackaging, inspection, repackaging and dispatch of aircraft parts.

Subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus in a patient with Crohn's disease.

A case of anti-Ro (SS-A) antibody-positive subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus (LE) occurring in a 47-year-old male with Crohn's disease is described. This is a previously undescribed association.

Trauma case mix and hospital payment: the potential for refining DRGs.

Uniform hospital discharge abstract data from Maryland were used to examine the homogeneity of trauma-related DRGs with respect to a well-established measure of injury severity, the Injury Severity Score (ISS). Thirty DRGs were identified as including trauma cases with a wide range of severity; for each of these DRGs, ISS explains a significant amount of variation in length of stay. By applying statistical techniques similar to those used to create the original DRG groupings, these 30 DRGs were subdivided by severity and age categories to create a new set of severity-modified DRGs.

Group B streptococci inactivate complement component C5a by enzymic cleavage at the C-terminus.

Incubation of recombinant human C5a (rC5a) with the 7360 strain of group B streptococci (GBS) destroyed the ability of rC5a to stimulate chemotaxis or adherence of purified human polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMNs). Treatment of 125I-labelled rC5a with GBS 7360 correspondingly decreased rC5a binding to human PMNs. This also resulted in an approx.

Multiple eruptive histiocytoma cutis in an atopic.

A case of generalized histiocytoma cutis occurring in an atopic and mimicking widespread molluscum contagiosum is described. Immunochemical staining showed that the lesions were positive for factor XIIIa.

FACE--facial Afro-Caribbean childhood eruption.

Five cases of a distinctive facial eruption in Afro-Caribbean children are described. Distinctive features include monomorphic papules that are confined to the face, especially around the mouth, eyelids and ears, its greater prevalence in black children, and its tendency to persist for several months before spontaneous resolution. The aetiology of this condition is unknown and its importance lies in reassuring patients of the benign and purely cutaneous nature of the eruption.

Air quality in the vicinity of urban roads.

Motor vehicle emissions are a major source of CO, NOx and lead particulate concentrations to urban air quality. London urban Boroughs with high traffic densities are therefore a particular cause for concern. The air quality was monitored at an urban background site in the London Borough of Haringey for 2-years.

Serum amyloid P component binds to cell nuclei in vitro and to in vivo deposits of extracellular chromatin in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Serum amyloid P component (SAP) is the single plasma protein that, from the milieu of whole normal human serum, undergoes specific calcium-dependent binding to isolated DNA and chromatin in vitro. We now report for the first time that SAP in whole serum also undergoes calcium-dependent binding to nuclei of epidermal cells in sections of normal human skin and to nuclei of fixed Hep-2 cells, a human epithelial cell line. Furthermore, and most importantly, SAP was detected in association with unusual globular dermal deposits of nuclear material in skin biopsies from two patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Flow cytometric analysis and sorting of HLA-DR+CD1+ Langerhans cells.

There is a considerable need for reliable methods for enumeration and enrichment of Langerhans cells (LCs), since they continue to be the subject of intensive investigation in normal and diseased skin. It has been claimed that standard labelling with either anti-HLA-DR or OKT6 antibodies alone may fail to identify potentially important subsets of LCs with the phenotypes HLA-DR+CD1- and HLA-DR-CD1+. We report here on flow cytometric analysis of suction blister-derived normal epidermal cell (EC) suspensions, double stained with phycoerythrin-conjugated anti-HLA-DR and fluoresceinated OKT6.