Combination therapy with didanosine and interferon-alpha in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients: results of a phase I/II trial.

A nonrandomized trial was undertaken to evaluate the combination of didanosine and interferon-alpha (INF-alpha) in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients. Thirty-six volunteers with >200 x 10(6) CD4 cells/L received didanosine (one 100-, 250-, or 375-mg sachet twice daily) for at least 6 weeks, following which IFN-alpha (1, 5, 10, or 15 MU/day) was begun. Didanosine (one 375-mg sachet twice daily) was substituted for zidovudine in 14 additional patients who had received IFN-alpha and zidovudine for 7-45 months.

Hyperornithinemia-hyperammonemia-homocitrullinuria (HHH)-syndrome. Ultrastructural changes of mitochondria in cultured dermal fibroblasts of three patients.

Mitochondria of fibroblasts cultured from the skin obtained at biopsy from three patients with the hyperornithinemia-hyperammonemia-homocitrullinuria (HHH)-syndrome, one of the autosomal recessive, heritable urea cycle disorders, were studied with appropriate controls ultrastructurally. The patients were two severely retarded 10- and 12-year-old boys, and a 22-year-old sister of the former whose mental status was at the low normal range; she never had motor impairments or seizures. The mitochondria, similar in all three patients, were increased in number, very long, branching and/or "looping," and tortuous.

The effect of thalidomide on the pathogenesis of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 and M. tuberculosis infection.

Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), a cytokine produced during the host defense against infection, is associated with fevers, weakness, and progressive weight loss. Thalidomide inhibits the synthesis of TNF-alpha both in vitro and in vivo and may have clinical usefulness. We therefore initiated a pilot study of thalidomide treatment in patients with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-associated wasting with or without concomitant infection with tuberculosis.

Occupational risk factors for prostate cancer: results from a case-control study in Montréal, Québec, Canada.

A population-based case-control study of cancer and occupation was carried out in Montréal, Canada. Between 1979 and 1986, 449 pathologically confirmed cases of prostate cancer were interviewed, as well as 1,550 cancer controls and 533 population controls. Job histories were evaluated by a team of chemist/hygienists using a checklist of 294 workplace chemicals.

Sustainable stemwood yield in relation to the nitrogen balance of forest plantations: a model analysis.

We used an existing analytical model of stemwood growth in relation to nitrogen supply, which we describe in an accompanying paper, to examine the long-term effects of harvesting and fire on tree growth. Our analysis takes into account the balance between nitrogen additions from deposition, fixation, and fertilizer applications, and nitrogen losses from stemwood harvesting, regeneration burning, leaching and gaseous emissions. Using a plausible set of parameter values for Eucalyptus, we conclude that nitrogen loss through fire is the main factor limiting sustainable yield, defined as the maximum mean annual stemwood volume increment obtained in the steady state, if management practices are continued indefinitely.

Analytical model of stemwood growth in relation to nitrogen supply.

We derived a simplified version of a previously published process-based model of forest productivity and used it to gain information about the dependence of stemwood growth on nitrogen supply. The simplifications we made led to the following general expression for stemwood carbon (c(w)) as a function of stand age (t), which shows explicitly the main factors involved: c(w)(t) = eta(w)G*/ micro (w)(1 - lambdae(- micro (w)t) - micro (w)e(-lambdat)/lambda - micro (w)), where eta(w) is the fraction of total carbon production (G) allocated to stemwood, G* is the equilibrium value of G at canopy closure, lambda describes the rate at which G approaches G*, and micro (w) is the combined specific rate of stemwood maintenance respiration and senescence. According to this equation, which describes a sigmoidal growth curve, c(w) is zero initially and asymptotically approaches eta(w)G*/ micro (w) with the rate of approach dependent on lambda and micro (w).

Cancer risk due to occupational exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) demonstrate carcinogenic activity in animal models. Although some epidemiologic studies have implicated PAHs as risk factors for human cancer, the evidence reported to date has not been consistent. The purpose of this report is to describe the associations between occupational exposure to PAHs in the workplace and each of 14 types of cancer.

Increases in CD4 T lymphocytes with intermittent courses of interleukin-2 in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection. A preliminary study.

Background: Interleukin-2 is an important regulatory cytokine of the immune system, with potent effects on T cells, B cells, and natural killer cells. In vitro, interleukin-2 can induce the proliferation and differentiation of peripheral-blood mononuclear cells from patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Methods: We treated 25 HIV-infected patients with interleukin-2 administered as a continuous infusion at a dosage of 6 to 18 million IU per day for 5 days every 8 weeks during a period of 7 to 25 months.

Occupational risk factors for bladder cancer: results from a case-control study in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

A population-based case-control study of the associations between various cancers and occupational exposures was carried out in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Between 1979 and 1986, 484 persons with pathologically confirmed cases of bladder cancer and 1,879 controls with cancers at other sites were interviewed, as was a series of 533 population controls. The job histories of these subjects were evaluated by a team of chemist/hygienists for evidence of exposure to a list of 294 workplace chemicals, and information on relevant non-occupational confounders was obtained.

Application of branched DNA signal amplification to monitor human immunodeficiency virus type 1 burden in human plasma.

A branched DNA (bDNA)-based quantitation of plasma human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) RNA was used to monitor the virologic status of 102 patients (29-906 CD4 cells/mm3) enrolled in clinical trials of antiretroviral and immune-based therapies. Virion-associated RNA was measurable in plasma of 74% of patients tested (10,000-10,000,000 RNA equivalents/mL). Virus levels measured by the bDNA assay exceeded titers obtained by quantitative plasma culture and were inversely correlated (r = -.

Maté, coffee, and tea consumption and risk of cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract in southern Brazil.

Consumption of maté, a tea-like infusion of the herb Ilex paraguariensis, is common in South America. Drinkers have high risks of upper aerodigestive tract cancers, but it is conceivable that this high risk may be attributable to confounding by smoking alcohol, and other exposures. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed the data from a case-control study of upper aerodigestive tract cancers conducted in Southern Brazil.

Are the apparent effects of cigarette smoking on lung and bladder cancers due to uncontrolled confounding by occupational exposures?

It has been suggested that the well known associations between smoking and cancer may in part reflect inadequately controlled confounding due to occupational exposures. The purpose of the present analysis is to describe the association between cigarette smoking and both lung and bladder cancers, taking into account the potential confounding effects of over 300 covariates, most of which represent occupational exposures. A population-based case-control study was undertaken in Montreal to investigate the associations between a large variety of environmental and occupational exposures, on the one hand, and several types of cancer, on the other.

Plasma viremia as a sensitive indicator of the antiretroviral activity of L-697,661.

L-697,661 is a non-nucleoside analogue with potent, selective inhibitory activity against the reverse transcriptase of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). The present study evaluated the potential role of this compound in the treatment of HIV-1-infected patients in a double-blinded, placebo- and zidovudine-controlled trial using plasma viremia as a marker of antiviral activity and real-time phenotypic evaluation of viral isolates for the emergence of resistance. Participants received 12 weeks of either placebo, 25 mg twice a day, 100 mg three times a day, or 500 mg twice a day of L-697,661, or zidovudine, 100 mg five times a day.

The effect of hemiplegia on blood pressure measurement in the elderly.

The blood pressure in both arms of 103 unselected hemiplegic patients was measured using a random-zero sphygmomanometer. Although for the whole sample the mean blood pressure in the paretic and unaffected arm was similar, a significant difference was found when the patients were subdivided according to the tone of the arm. The blood pressure was higher in paretic arms of patients with a spastic stroke and lower in the affected arm if the tone was flaccid.

Occupational exposure to sulfuric acid in southern Ontario, Canada, in association with laryngeal cancer.

A case-referent study, designed to test associations between asbestos, nickel, and the development of laryngeal cancer, was conducted in southern Ontario in 1977-1979. The cases were individually matched to neighborhood referents for gender and age. This constituted the primary study.

Carbon sequestration in the trees, products and soils of forest plantations: an analysis using UK examples.

A carbon-flow model for managed forest plantations was used to estimate carbon storage in UK plantations differing in Yield Class (growth rate), thinning regime and species characteristics. Time-averaged, total carbon storage (at equilibrium) was generally in the range 40-80 Mg C ha(-1) in trees, 15-25 Mg C ha(-1) in above- and belowground litter, 70-90 Mg C ha(-1) in soil organic matter and 20-40 Mg C ha(-1) in wood products (assuming product lifetime equalled rotation length). The rate of carbon storage during the first rotation in most plantations was in the range 2-5 Mg C ha(-1) year(-1).

Glycosylated haemoglobin in the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus in elderly people.

An oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT, 75 g WHO criteria) was applied to healthy elderly subjects (mean age 76 years) within a week of measurement of random blood glucose and glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1). The 'Corning' method was used to assay HbA1 (established normal range for our laboratory 5-8%). Sixty-five subjects (38 women) of whom 54 were not diabetic on WHO criteria for OGTT participated in the study.

Predicted changes in the synchrony of larval emergence and budburst under climatic warming.

The impact of climatic warming on the synchrony of insect and plant phenologies was modelled in the case of winter moth (Operophtera brumata) and Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) in the Scottish uplands. The emergence of winter moth larvae was predicted with a thermal time requirement model and the budburst of Sitka spruce was predicted from a previously published model (Cannell and Smith 1983) based on winter chilling and thermal time. The date of emergence of winter moth larvae was predicted to occur earlier under climatic warming but the date of budburst of Sitka spruce was not greatly changed, resulting in decreased synchrony between larval emergence and budburst.

Isolation of HIV-1 from plasma of infected individuals: an analysis of experimental conditions affecting successful virus propagation.

Experimental conditions affecting the successful propagation of HIV-1 from the plasma of seropositive individuals were examined. It was determined that whole blood samples collected with lithium heparin as the anticoagulant, immediate plasma separation, and immediate culturing were best suited for obtaining viable virus from plasma. Virus was isolated by infecting fresh phytohemagglutinin-stimulated normal donor peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) with plasma followed by weekly cocultivation with new target cells.

A retrospective study of myocardial infarction occurring in elderly patients in a coronary care unit.

Myocardial infarction is a major cause of morbidity and mortality particularly in the elderly. Coronary Care Unit monitoring has resulted in the improvement in prognosis in all age groups. In this study, the clinical course and outcome of 204 consecutive patients with acute myocardial infarction aged over 65 years is retrospectively analysed.

What do Scots die of when abroad?

Information was obtained on 952 persons who travelled from Scotland between 1973 and 1988 and who died while abroad. In the older age group cardio-vascular disease was the major cause of death whereas in the younger group traumatic deaths were commonest. Most died in the holiday resorts bordering the Mediterranean and the question is posed on the need for specific advice to those who are most vulnerable before embarking on overseas travel.