Release of CXC-chemokines by human lung microvascular endothelial cells (LMVEC) compared with macrovascular umbilical vein endothelial cells.

In the present study, the sensitivity of LMVEC and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and the proinflammatory cytokines IL-1, tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) was compared. To this end, the production of the CC- (MCP-1), CXC- (IL-8, ENA-78, Groalpha, NAP-2, GCP-2) and CX3C (fractalkine) chemokines was studied. A low basal production of these chemokines was observed in both cell types.

A bone quality-based implant system: first year of prosthetic loading.

This interim report presents the data from a prospective study of BioHorizons, a bone quality-based implant system, with four implant designs. The surgical survival of 975 implants was 99.4%, with the survival 100% for D4 bone.

Pediatric clerkship experience and performance in the Nebraska Education Consortium: a community vs university comparison.

Objective: To compare the reported experiences and performance on end-of-course examinations of students completing their pediatric clerkship at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), Omaha, with that of students completing their clerkship in a community pediatrician's practice (CPP) outside the Omaha metropolitan area.

Design: Cohort study.

Setting: Private and/or institutional practices with both ambulatory and hospital components.

Changes in myocardial oxygenation and perfusion under pharmacological stress with dipyridamole: assessment using T*2 and T1 measurements.

The aim of this pilot-study was to evaluate changes in myocardial oxygenation and perfusion under pharmacological stress with dipyridamole (DIP) by means of MRI. Twenty healthy volunteers were examined using a multi-echo gradient-echo sequence. The differential myocardial signal response due to the blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) effect was studied under variable conditions of myocardial oxygen supply caused by the vasodilator DIP.

Determination of the nucleotide sequence of the 23S ribosomal RNA and flanking spacers of an Enterococcus faecium strain, reveals insertion-deletion events in the ribosomal spacer 1 of enterococci.

The usefulness of 16S-23S (ITS1) and 23S-5S (ITS2) ribosomal spacer nucleotide sequence determination, as a complementary approach to the biochemical tests traditionally used for enterococcal species identification, is shown by its application to the identification of a strain, E27, isolated from a natural bacteria mixture used for cheese production. Using combined approaches we showed, unambiguously, that strain E27 belongs to the Enterococcus faecium species. However, its ITS1 region has an interesting peculiarity.

The natural history of untreated duodenal and ampullary adenomas in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis followed in an endoscopic surveillance program.

Background: Endoscopic surveillance is recommended for patients with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) because of the high prevalence of duodenal adenomas and the risk of periampullary cancer. The aim of this study was to assess the natural history of untreated duodenal and ampullary adenomas in FAP patients during surveillance.

Methods: One hundred fourteen FAP patients who had 2 or more surveillance examinations were followed for a mean of 51 months (range, 10 to 151 months).

Changing glomerular filtration with progression from impaired glucose tolerance to Type II diabetes mellitus.

Glomerular filtration rate (iothalamate clearance) was measured serially for 48 months in 26 Pima Indians with impaired glucose tolerance and 27 with normal glucose tolerance. At baseline, the mean glomerular filtration rate (SEM) was 133+/-8 ml/min in subjects with impaired glucose tolerance and 123+/-5 ml/min in those with normal glucose tolerance (p = 0.12).

Lessons from the Hemodialysis (HEMO) Study: an improved measure of the actual hemodialysis dose.

The Hemodialysis (HEMO) Study is a multicenter, prospective, randomized, 2 x 2 factorial clinical trial designed to evaluate the efficacy of the dose of dialysis delivered ("standard" v "high") and dialysis membrane flux ("low" v "high") in reducing the morbidity and mortality of patients. The study is nearly half complete. Although both patients and investigators are blinded to the overall findings, which will not be available for another 3 years, important data have been generated from which a more accurate expression has been derived for the dose of dialysis received by each patient in the trial.

Assessment of myocardial response to pharmacologic interventions using an improved MR imaging technique to estimate T2 values.

Objective: Our objective was to improve a previously developed MR imaging sequence for the in vivo estimation of the myocardial T2* value and to evaluate, in healthy human subjects, the response of myocardial T2* value to two different pharmacologic interventions.

Conclusion: The modified technique improved the quality of the images obtained and increased the reliability of myocardial T2* measurements. Using the modified technique, the myocardial T2* value increased significantly over baseline values after the administration of dipyridamole but did not significantly change after the administration of dobutamine.

Calcium supplements for the prevention of colorectal adenomas. Calcium Polyp Prevention Study Group.

Background And Methods: Laboratory, clinical, and epidemiologic evidence suggests that calcium may help prevent colorectal adenomas. We conducted a randomized, double-blind trial of the effect of supplementation with calcium carbonate on the recurrence of colorectal adenomas. We randomly assigned 930 subjects (mean age, 61 years; 72 percent men) with a recent history of colorectal adenomas to receive either calcium carbonate (3 g [1200 mg of elemental calcium] daily) or placebo, with follow-up colonoscopies one and four years after the qualifying examination.

Short tandem repeat polymorphic markers for the rat genome from marker-selected libraries.

In an effort to generate a genome-wide set of high-quality polymorphic markers for the rat, we used the marker-selection method, which has already been proven useful for the development of markers, especially for the human genome. Small-insert (300-900 bp) rat genomic libraries were constructed with an estimated complexity of three genome equivalents and enriched for short tandem repeat sequences (STRs). The enriched libraries were found to contain 45% (CA)n and 27% (GATA)n, representing at least a 50-fold enrichment over unselected small insert genomic libraries.

Effect of a ketoacid-aminoacid-supplemented very low protein diet on the progression of advanced renal disease: a reanalysis of the MDRD feasibility study.

Background: We reanalyzed the data of the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) feasibility study to ascertain the effects of ketoacid- and aminoacid-supplemented very low protein diets.

Methods: Sixty-six patients with advanced renal disease (Study B, baseline glomerular filtration rate (GFR) 7.5-24 ml/min/1.

Comparative in vitro activity of meropenem versus other routinely used antimicrobials against 18632 aerobic bacteria tested in 92 German centers.

The in vitro antibacterial activity of meropenem and up to 26 other antibiotics was compared under routine conditions at 92 German centers from March to June 1995 with use of the agar diffusion method against 18632 recent isolates from ICU--hemato-oncology--and pediatric patients. Overall, meropenem was the most active drug exhibiting a higher activity against gram-negative aerobes than imipenem, but somewhat less active against staphylococci and enterocooci. The overall resistance rates of most antibiotics tested was higher compared to the recently published surveillance data of the Paul-Ehrlich-Society in Germany.

Photochemotherapy of experimental colonic tumours with intra-tumorally applied methylene blue.

Introduction: Phototoxicity of intra-tumoral injected methylene blue (MB+) was studied in 48 experimental colonic tumours in comparison with photosan-3, Zn-phthalocyanine and tetrasulphanated ClAl-phthalocyanine.

Methods: In mice. xenotransplanted subcutaneous tumours about 1 cm in diameter were treated photodynamically twice, with different sensitisers.

Albuterol delivered by metered-dose inhaler (MDI), MDI with spacer, and Rotahaler device--a comparison of efficacy and safety.

A randomized double-blind, triple crossover study was conducted on 20 asthmatic patients (7 males and 13 females; age 40.9 +/- 14.2 Caucasians, 11 blacks, and 1 oriental.

Adenoma characteristics at first colonoscopy as predictors of adenoma recurrence and characteristics at follow-up. The Polyp Prevention Study Group.

Background & Aims: All patients with colorectal adenomas may not require identical follow-up. We aimed to determine if adenoma characteristics at initial colonoscopy could predict adenoma recurrence or characteristics at follow-up.

Methods: The number of adenomas and the size, type, and degree of atypia in 479 patients in a polyp prevention trial were evaluated as predictors of the same characteristics at follow-up using odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

Macrokines:invertebrate cytokine-like molecules?

My laboratory is applying contemporary techniques of biochemistry and molecular biology to an important emerging field in biomedicine: the evolution of the immune system. Our investigations will build upon the discoveries that key immunoregulatory molecules (i.e.

A bone quality-based implant system: a preliminary report of stage I & stage II.

A system is introduced in which dental implants are specifically designed for containment within four different categories of bone densities. The sizes and the textured surfaces that accompany the gradations of lengths and diameters are standardized for each bone type. A modified thread design focuses on compression of bone rather than on shear, and the geometry of the entire implant body reflects features that are concurrent with a "platform effect.

Correlation between plasma clozapine concentration and heart rate variability in schizophrenic patients.

Forty schizophrenic patients treated with 50-600 mg/day of clozapine as monotherapy and 40 normal control subjects were tested for heart rate variability (HRV) which is mediated by the vagus nerve using acetylcholine as neurotransmitter. As compared to the control subjects, the patients showed essentially reduced HRV parameters which were negatively correlated with the plasma clozapine levels. Therefore, clozapine's anticholinergic effect is correlated to the plasma clozapine level when measured by the decrease of HRV.

Relationship between alkaline phosphatase levels, osteopontin expression, and mineralization in differentiating MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts.

We are using viral oncogene probes to study the pathways by which osteoblast-specific gene expression is induced in ascorbic acid-treated MC3T3-E1 cells. The 12S product of the adenovirus E1A gene binds directly to key cellular regulators and, as a result, represses tissue specific gene expression and blocks differentiation in a wide variety of cell types. The main cellular targets of the E1A 12S product are the pRB family and p300/CBP family.

ICU admission score for predicting morbidity and mortality risk after coronary artery bypass grafting.

Background: This study was performed to develop an intensive care unit (ICU) admission risk score based on preoperative condition and intraoperative events. This score provides a tool with which to judge the effects of ICU quality of care on outcome.

Methods: Data were collected prospectively on 4,918 patients (study group n = 2,793 and a validation data set n = 2,125) undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting alone or combined with a valve or carotid procedure between January 1, 1993, and March 31, 1995.

Primary and secondary structures of rRNA spacer regions in enterococci.

The 16S-23S and 23S-5S rRNA spacer DNA regions (spacer regions 1 and 2, respectively) from Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus faecium, Enterococcus hirae, Enterococcus durans and Enterococcus mundtii were amplified by PCR. Their nucleotide sequences were established and a secondary structure model showing the interaction between the two spacer regions was built. Whereas lactococci and Streptococcus sensu stricto are characterized by a single type of spacer region 1, the enterococci show a high degree of variability in this region; thus the spacer regions 1 with and without tRNA(Ala) were characterized.