Morphological changes of rhizobia in peat cultures.

Morphological changes that take place in peat cultures of several species of rhizobia were examined. These changes seemed to be associated with enhanced survival of cells in peat and after inoculation onto plastic beads, which were used as a model system for seeds. Cell wall changes, in which the periplasmic space appeared to be occluded with electron-dense material, were observed in Rhizobium sp.

Ureteroileoneocystostomy: the use of an ileal segment for ureteral substitution in gynecologic oncology.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the results of the use of an ileal segment to restore the functional integrity of the renal tract where lower ureteric resection is necessary in gynecologic oncology surgery.

Methods: All patients in whom ureteroileoneocystostomy (UINC) was performed between March 1988 and December 2000 were identified and a retrospective review of their case notes was conducted.

Results: A total of 12 UINC procedures were performed on eight patients.

The wheat-grain proteome as a basis for more efficient cultivar identification.

The wheat-grain proteome was investigated, as a basis for devising more efficient methods of cultivar identification or discrimination. Australian wheats (Halberd, Cranbrook, CD87 and Katepwa) were used as the basis of this study. These cultivars were selected on the basis of differences in the quality types represented, in terms of dough-processing attributes that can suit one cultivar better than another for specific types of industrial utilisation.

Characteristics and correlates of asthma knowledge among emergency department users in Harlem.

We constructed a questionnaire to assess asthma knowledge, assessed its psychometric properties, and examined its association with demographic characteristics, psychosocial factors, and disease severity and management in 375 adults following an asthma-related emergency department visit. Overall knowledge was poor but varied widely among respondents. Better knowledge was related to younger age, higher education, and less severe disease.

The prevalence of hypertension in a dental school patient population.

Objective: A study of the prevalence of hypertension in the patient population was conducted at the University of Mississippi, School of Dentistry.

Method And Materials: The 3,665 records reviewed represented patients treated by undergraduate dental students from 1993 through 1997. Inclusion criteria were diagnosis of hypertension by a physician or presentation with a systolic reading of greater than 140 mm Hg or a diastolic reading of greater than 90 mm Hg.

Delays in adopting evidence-based dosages of conventional antipsychotics.

By the 1980s, strong research evidence had emerged supporting the use of moderate doses of conventional antipsychotics-between 300 and 1,000 mg of chlorpromazine equivalent daily. We conducted a cross-sectional study of dosages of antipsychotics prescribed for 936 veterans with schizophrenia in 14 facilities between 1991 and 1995. Only 52 percent of these patients received prescriptions for recommended dosages; dosages were below the recommended range for 20 percent and above the range for 28 percent.

Adherence assessments and the use of depot antipsychotics in patients with schizophrenia.

Background: Antipsychotic medications significantly ameliorate the symptoms of schizophrenia, but patients are often noncompliant with these medications. Research evidence supports the use of depot antipsychotics in noncompliant patients.

Method: Between January 9, 1991, and December 19, 1995, 1307 veterans with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder (ICD-9) were enrolled in a study of enhanced psychosocial programming at 14 Veterans Administration Medical Centers.

Phase I trial of escalating doses of paclitaxel combined with fixed doses of cisplatin and doxorubicin in advanced endometrial cancer and other gynecologic malignancies: a Gynecologic Oncology Group study.

Purpose: The primary objective of this phase I trial was to determine the feasibility of administering a combination of paclitaxel, cisplatin, and doxorubicin with or without granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) in patients with advanced endometrial and other gynecologic cancers.

Patients And Methods: Patients were chemotherapy-naive. Doxorubicin was administered as a brief infusion, paclitaxel for 3 hours, and cisplatin for 60 minutes.

The roles of second-look laparotomy and cancer antigen 125 in the management of ovarian carcinoma.

Because noninvasive methods like ultrasound scanning or computed tomography cannot detect small-volume residual tumor, second-look laparotomy has been recommended for evaluation of treatment response in ovarian cancer. The use of cancer antigen 125 to monitor the course of the disease during treatment is widely accepted. The tumor marker has prognostic value, but its ability to detect small volume of disease is limited.

Race, psychiatric diagnosis, and mental health care utilization in older patients.

To evaluate the impact of race on mental health care utilization among older patients within given clinical psychiatric diagnoses, the authors examined a retrospective sample of 23,718 elderly veterans treated in Department of Veterans Affairs inpatient facilities in 1994. Significant racial differences in mental health care utilization found over a subsequent 2-year period were related to outpatient (but not inpatient) care; for instance: 1) African American patients with psychotic disorders had significantly fewer outpatient psychiatric visits; and 2) African American patients with substance abuse disorders had significantly more psychiatric visits than Caucasian patients in their respective groups. Although inpatient utilization appeared to be similar among races, findings related to outpatient utilization may be associated with such factors as compliance, treatment efficacy, access to health care, or possible clinician bias.

Ziprasidone: comprehensive overview and clinical use of a novel antipsychotic.

Ziprasidone (5-[2-(4-(1,2,-benzisothiazol-3-yl) piperazin-l-yl] ethyl]-6 -chloro indolin-2-one hydrochloride hydrate) is a novel antipsychotic with a pattern of receptor occupancy and preclinical attributes predictive of broad therapeutic efficacy and a favourable tolerability profile in the treatment of psychotic illness. Clinical trials indicate that ziprasidone is effective against positive, negative and affective symptoms in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder with minimal motor, cognitive, weight gain, prolactin related, or anticholinergic side effects. In addition, an im.

Role of malonate in chickpeas.

Analysis of the content and distribution of organic acids in chickpea plants (Cicer arietinum L.) showed that malonate was the most abundant acid in roots and nodules, whereas malate was the main acid in leaves and stems. The highest concentration of malonate in roots was in the apices.

Effectiveness of specialized treatment programs for veterans with serious and persistent mental illness: a three-year follow-up.

This is the first study to test concurrently the effectiveness of four treatment programs for patients with serious mental illness. Three-year outcome data on utilization and functioning demonstrated important positive changes for seriously mentally ill veterans enrolled in specialized, enhanced inpatient and community case management treatment programs, when compared to patients in an enhanced day treatment program or traditional standard care.

Inhibition of enzymic digestion of amylose by free fatty acids in vitro contributes to resistant starch formation.

The effect of lipids on the enzymic breakdown of starch was investigated using an in vitro assay system. Mixtures of potato amylose, amylopectin and starch and various lipids were incubated at 37 degrees C for 10 min and subjected to digestion by alpha-amylase (EC 3.2.

Age-group differences in treatment outcomes for male veterans with severe schizophrenia: a three-year longitudinal study.

Treatment outcomes in later-life schizophrenia are poorly understood and of serious concern for clinicians and mental health policy makers. Age-group differences were examined for 499 male veterans with severe schizophrenia enrolled in enhanced treatment programs at 12 Veterans Affairs hospitals. Participants were separated into three age groups (20-39 years, 40-59 years, 60 years and above), with the following outcomes assessed at enrolment and 1 and 3 years afterwards: psychiatric symptomatology, global functioning, impairment in Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL), and hospital use.

The relationship between alcohol problems and health functioning of older adults in primary care settings.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between alcohol use and health functioning in a sample of older adults screened in primary care settings.

Design: A cross-sectional study.

Setting: Thirty-seven primary care clinics.

Race and inpatient psychiatric diagnoses among elderly veterans.

Objective: Limited data exist on differential rates of psychiatric diagnoses between ethnocultural groups in the elderly population. The purpose of this study was to examine more closely the issue of race and rates of psychiatric diagnoses among elderly inpatients.

Methods: The national sample included 23,758 veterans age 60 or over admitted in 1994 to acute inpatient units in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals.

Endometrial endometrioid carcinomas associated with Ewing sarcoma/peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumor.

Three uterine tumors, each consisting of endometrioid carcinoma and Ewing's sarcoma/peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumor (ES/pPNET) are described. The diagnosis of ES/pPNET in each case was first established in the hysterectomy specimen because each ES/pPNET was misinterpreted on the endometrial biopsy specimens as a high-grade homologous sarcoma. The ES/pPNET element in each case consisted of solid masses of small- to medium-sized round cells without Homer-Wright pseudorosettes, glial or ganglion cells, true rosettes with central lumens, or medulloepithelial tubules.

Adolescent injury in the emergency department: opportunity for alcohol interventions?

Study Objective: Alcohol, the most commonly used substance among adolescents, is frequently associated with injury. Little is known regarding the drinking characteristics of injured adolescents. Such data are critical for developing emergency department interventions to decrease alcohol-related injury among adolescents.

Biochemical controls of citrate synthase in chickpea bacteroids.

Bacteroids formed by Mesorhizobium ciceri CC 1192 in symbiosis with chickpea plants (Cicer arietinum L.) contained a single form of citrate synthase [citrate oxaloacetate-lyase (CoA-acetylating) enzyme; EC 4.1.

Health care trends, Part 2. The new health care team. Panel discussion.

In Part 2 of this third annual panel discussion, six experts talk about the growing diversity of health care providers and what it means for consumers and physicians. Americans are getting their wellness and health care services from a wider variety of non-physician practitioners than ever before. The number of allied health and alternative providers with direct patient access is likely to continue growing.

Quality assurance of second opinion pathology in gynecologic oncology.

Objective: To determine the effect of routine second review of pathologic material that was sent to Ohio State University before initiation of therapy.

Methods: All the gynecologic-oncologic histopathology review diagnoses made during a 1-year period were compared with original pathologic diagnoses. When there was a discrepant diagnosis with the second interpretation, the case was reviewed by at least two pathologists.

Endometrial carcinoma associated with pregnancy: A report of three cases and review of the literature.

Endometrial carcinoma associated with pregnancy is uncommon. In case 1, a 40-year-old gravida 2, para 2, was diagnosed with focal well-differentiated papillary adenocarcinoma 4 months postpartum. In case 2, a 35-year-old gravida 1, para 0, was diagnosed with a well-differentiated papillary adenocarcinoma of the endometrium after a D&C for an incomplete abortion at 7 weeks gestation.

Perforin-positive cytotoxic lymphocytes in pregnancy.

Objective: To investigate whether perforin-positive, cytotoxic lymphocytes are present in the first and second trimester as well as at term during normal gestation.

Study Design: A monoclonal antibody raised against human perforin was used to detect perforin expression in mononuclear cells in first-trimester abortion, second-trimester preterm labor due to cervical incompetence and term placentas obtained after normal delivery. Fresh frozen tissue sections containing first- and second-trimester decidua and placental tissues as well as decidua of maternal and fetal surfaces of term placenta were stained using an immunoperoxidase method.