Detection of ingested nitromethane and reliable creatinine assessment using multiple common analytical methods.

Aim: Nitromethane, found in fuels used for short distance racing, model cars, and model airplanes, produces a falsely elevated serum creatinine with standard creatinine analysis via the Jaffé method. Erroneous creatinine elevation often triggers extensive testing, leads to inaccurate diagnoses, and delayed or inappropriate medical interventions. Multiple reports in the literature identify "enzymatic assays" as an alternative method to detect the true value of creatinine, but this ambiguity does not help providers translate what type of enzymatic assay testing can be done in real time to determine if there is indeed false elevation.

Can bioadhesive nanoparticles allow for more effective particle uptake from the small intestine?

There has been increasing interest in developing bioadhesive nanoparticles due to their great potential as carriers for therapeutics in oral drug delivery systems. Despite decades of research, such a system still has not been successfully implemented. This paper demonstrates the enormous potential of such engineered systems: the incorporation of a bioadhesive coating, poly(butadiene-maleic anhydride-co-L-DOPA) (PBMAD), to non-bioadhesive nanospheres resulted in an enhancement of particle uptake in the small intestine from 5.

Are in vivo gastric bioadhesive forces accurately reflected by in vitro experiments?

Bioadhesive polymers have been used in oral drug delivery to prolong the contact of dosage forms with the site of drug absorption. Previous investigators have coated oral dosage forms in polymers that demonstrated bioadhesive properties during in vitro screens in efforts to prolong the gastric residence of drugs absorbed only in the stomach and proximal duodenum without clinical success. To further investigate the bioadhesive properties of the gastric environment, an in vivo quantitative bioadhesive fracture strength test was developed.

Evaluation of continuous flow nanosphere formation by controlled microfluidic transport.

Improved size monodispersity of populations of polymer nanospheres is of enormous interest in the fields of nanotechnology and nanomedicine. As such, the knowledge of exact experimental conditions for precise production of nanospheres is needed for nonaqueous systems. This work presents the use of controlled microfluidic transport methods to study the experimental parameters for fabricating nanoparticles utilizing phase inversion.

The relationship between skin temperature and neuronal characteristics in the median, ulnar and radial nerves of non-impaired individuals.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the nerve conduction characteristics in the median, ulnar and radial nerves and presenting skin temperature in non-impaired individuals as they were subjected to electrophysiological testing. Previous researchers artificially manipulated the skin temperature and demonstrated that there was a positive relationship between temperature and nerve conduction velocity and a negative correlation between distal latency and evoked motor action potential (EMAP). The sample population was 50 non-impaired individuals derived from a venue in the New York City and Long Island region.

Upper-body power as measured by medicine-ball throw distance and its relationship to class level among 10- and 11-year-old female participants in club gymnastics.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not a relationship existed between upper-body power and class level among female club gymnasts. Sixty female gymnasts between the ages of 10 and 11 and between class levels 5 and 8 participated in the study. The distance of a medicine-ball throw was used to measure upper-body power.

Elevated serum hepatocyte growth factor in children and young adults with inflammatory bowel disease.

Background: Elevated serum levels of several potent angiogenesis factors, including vascular endothelial growth factor and basic fibroblast growth factor have been described in children with active inflammatory bowel disease. Angiogenesis-promoting cytokines may promote inflammation by increasing vascular permeability but also mediate tissue repair by activating fibroblasts. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is another angiogenesis-promoting cytokine that is increased in colon cancer tissues.

Impasse or pseudo-impasse in the psychotherapy of an inhibited writer.

This paper describes the interactions of a patient and her therapist in the course of psychoanalytic psychotherapy, during which there occurred two significant impasse enactments. At first sight, each resembled a classical impasse. On further review of the case, the interactions took on a different texture that we have described as a pseudo-impasse in the course of the therapy.

Studies of the affective state in bereaved children.

The process of bereavement in children ranges from the absence of grief to symptoms of anxiety and conduct disturbances. Some psychoanalytic opinion holds that the absence of grief, associated with lack of cognitive maturity, leads to the development of psychopathology later in life. Other writers describe a mourning response, taking the form of ambivalence, anxiety, and care giving, which may protect against subsequent depression.

Children of parents with manic-depressive illness: a follow-up study.

Thirty-seven offspring from 21 families with a manic-depressive parent were studied 3 to 7 years following initial evaluation. The study examined both pedigree information and psychosocial variables including parental, marital and overall adjustment, measures of chronicity and severity of parental illness and family assessment measures in relationship to offspring functioning. Nine of the 37 offspring (24%) received a positive DSM-III diagnosis, which is a similar percentage of positive diagnosis of children as we found previously.

Psychopathology in the offspring of parents with bipolar affective disorders.

Thirty-nine children from intact families with a manic-depressive parent were evaluated by a semi-structured clinical interview and a number of rating scales for the presence or absence of psychopathology. This sample represents a larger one than in an earlier study, which showed minimal offspring psychopathology compared with reports of other investigators. The current study also examines the inter-relationships between the presence or absence of offspring psychopathology with both genetic loading and a number of psychosocial variables including measures of parental marital adjustment, severity and chronicity of proband parent illness and early exposure of children to parental illness.