Prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux symptoms in asthma.

Study Objective: To determine the prevalences of symptomatic gastroesophageal reflux (GER), reflux-associated respiratory symptoms (RARS), and reflux-associated beta-agonist inhaler use in asthmatics.

Design: Questionnaire-based, cross-sectional analytic survey.

Setting: Outpatient asthma and clinical research clinics attached to the University of Calgary tertiary care centre and two family practices.

Self-determination instructional strategies for youth with learning disabilities.

The concept of self-determination is rapidly gaining attention and acceptance within the disability fields. The focus on self-determination is particularly strong in the transition-from-school-to-adulthood movement. The recent Individuals With Disabilities Education Act of 1990 mandated that students with disabilities be involved in the development of their transition plans and that students' preferences and interests be taken into account as transition plans are developed.

An outbreak of hepatitis A among South African patients with hemophilia: evidence implicating contaminated factor VIII concentrate as the source.

We report an outbreak of hepatitis A in nine South African hemophiliacs treated exclusively with infusions of factor VIII concentrate. The solvent/detergent (S/D) method (which does not inactivate nonenveloped viruses) was used for virus eradication. In three of six patients studied at a molecular level hepatitis A virus (HAV) complementary DNA (cDNA) amplified from serum by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was identical to HAV cDNA in 1 of 14 lots (no.

Familial adenomatous polyposis and lung cancer.

A 43-year-old man presented with a lung nodule 19 years after undergoing a total colectomy for familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP). There had been no evidence of malignant transformation in the colectomy specimen, and current gastrointestinal investigation did not reveal evidence of tumor. Pathological analysis of the lung nodule demonstrated adenocarcinoma of the lung of the fetal type.

Platelet-derived growth factor A-chain synthetic peptide inhibits human glioma xenograft proliferation in nude mice.

The expression of polypeptide growth factors and their receptors by certain malignant human cell lines and the ability to grow these tumors as xenografts in murine hosts provides a useful setting to investigate the efficacy of antitumor agents. Exon 6 of the platelet-derived growth factor A-chain predicts a highly basic region consisting of 18 amino acids. Previously, we demonstrated that a synthetic peptide bearing this sequence interacts with a large population of binding sites at the cell surface and inhibits the binding and mitogenesis stimulated by several polypeptide growth factors (Khachigian et al J Biol Chem 267: 1660-1666, 1992; Khachigian and Chesterman, J Biol Chem 267: 7478-7482, 1992).

Effect of vasoactive drugs on tumour blood flow as determined by 2H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

A selective reduction in tumour blood flow (TBF) could enhance the effects of hyperthermia treatment and of drugs toxic to hypoxic cells. Vasodilator-induced changes in TBF were monitored in transplanted rat fibrosarcomas by non-invasively measuring the uptake of D2O using 2H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Hydralazine (1 or 5 mg kg-1) caused a large (45%) reduction in mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) and a 40-60% reduction in TBF.

An anti-idiotype antibody which mimics the inner-core region of lipopolysaccharide protects mice against a lethal challenge with endotoxin.

Recently, we described the generation and characterization of an Armenian hamster Ab2 beta anti-idiotype monoclonal antibody (MAb4G2) specific for the binding site of a mouse monoclonal antibody, MAbY1-4A6, directed against the conserved 2-keto-3-deoxyoctulosonate (Kdo)-containing inner-core region of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (S. K. Field, M.

Compliance with guidelines for choice of radiographic projections: a multicentre study.

A study of compliance with guidelines for choice of radiographic projections was carried out in each of six centres. The study concerned 5851 examinations undertaken by 116 radiographers under the supervision of 29 consultant radiologists. The results showed good compliance between centres for examination of the chest (range 81-93%), abdomen (range 73-100%), thoracic spine (range 82-96%), pelvis/hip (range 78-99%) but not for examination of cervical spine (range 0-85%), paranasal sinus (range 0-100%) and lumbar spine (range 52-84%).

Bronchogenic squamous cell carcinoma complicating localized recurrent respiratory papillomatosis.

Bronchogenic squamous cell carcinoma has been reported in patients with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) extending into the tracheobronchial tree even in the absence of a history of radiation therapy or smoking. We present a case of bronchogenic squamous cell carcinoma developing in a patient with RRP localized to the larynx for 45 years.

From hydralazine to CGRP to man?

Attempts to selectively reduce tumour blood flow have, in the past, concentrated on the use of hydralazine. However, although this vasodilator can be highly effective in experimental animals, it is only at such high concentration as to result in a severe and clinically unacceptable reduction in systemic blood pressure. At clinically acceptable levels, the drug appears to produce a small increase in tumour blood flow.

Glycophorin variants and Plasmodium falciparum: protective effect of the Dantu phenotype in vitro.

Experimental work was carried out to establish the growth characteristics of Plasmodium falciparum in an in vitro culture system using cells with the Dantu, Henshaw and S-s-U- blood-group variants. A flow cytometric technique, using the dye thiazole orange, was adapted for use on the Epics Profile II flow cytometer to count the parasites. This was performed at 24, 48 and 72 h.

Real-time left ventricular volume of the canine heart from ultrasonic dimension data.

A real-time (instantaneous) system is presented to measure the dynamic volume of the left ventricle. This system uses the invasive measurement of long axis diameter, short axis diameter, and wall thickness of the cardiac left ventricle. Three pairs of pulse-transit ultrasonic dimension transducers are used to obtain these measurements.