Trends in workplace homicides in the U.S., 1993-2002: a decade of decline.

Background: Trends in workplace homicide rates are compared to the trends in U.S. homicides from 1993 to 2002, inclusively.

Genome of the opportunistic pathogen Streptococcus sanguinis.

The genome of Streptococcus sanguinis is a circular DNA molecule consisting of 2,388,435 bp and is 177 to 590 kb larger than the other 21 streptococcal genomes that have been sequenced. The G+C content of the S. sanguinis genome is 43.

Dronabinol and retinal hemodynamics in humans.

Purpose: To investigate the effects of oral cannabinoids on retinal hemodynamics assessed by video fluorescein angiography in healthy subjects.

Design: Interventional study.

Methods: In a self-experiment, the cannabinoid dronabinol (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol [THC]) was administered orally to eight healthy medical doctors (7.

Incidences of frostbite in arthroscopic knee surgery postoperative cryotherapy rehabilitation.

A retrospective study of 4 cases of frostbite was undertaken to examine causes and to identify related contributory behaviors and circumstances. These patients underwent various surgical interventions before the onset of frostbite during similar postoperative care regimens. Surgical procedures included some of the following in each patient: lateral retinacular release, vastus medialis oblique muscle advancement, partial medial meniscectomy, chondromalacia patella, trochlea, medial and lateral femoral condyle debridement, lateral retinaculum release, and excision of medial plica.

Formation of the avian nucleus magnocellularis from the auditory anlage.

In the avian auditory system, the neural network for computing the localization of sound in space begins with bilateral innervation of nucleus laminaris (NL) by nucleus magnocellularis (NM) neurons. We used antibodies against the neural specific markers Hu C/D, neurofilament, and SV2 together with retrograde fluorescent dextran labeling from the contralateral hindbrain to identify NM neurons within the anlage and follow their development. NM neurons could be identified by retrograde labeling as early as embryonic day (E) 6.

Clinical response augments NK cell activity independent of treatment modality: a randomized double-blind placebo controlled antidepressant trial.

Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) has been associated with alterations in immune function. Suppression of natural killer (NK) cell activity (NKCA) reliably characterizes immunological alterations observed in MDD. Antidepressant pharmacotherapy has been associated with modulation of NKCA.

Taste bud cell dynamics during normal and sodium-restricted development.

Taste bud volume increases over the postnatal period to match the number of neurons providing innervation. To clarify age-related changes in fungiform taste bud volume, the current study investigated developmental changes in taste bud cell number, proliferation rate, and life span. Taste bud growth can largely be accounted for by addition of cytokeratin-19-positive taste bud cells.

Bone conduction auditory brainstem responses in infants.

The contribution of air conduction auditory brainstem response (AC-ABR) testing in the paediatric population is widely accepted in clinical audiology. However, this does not allow for differentiation between conductive and sensorineural hearing loss. The purpose of this paper is to review the role of bone conduction auditory brainstem responses (BC-ABR).

Fetal testosterone surge: specific modulations induced in male rats by maternal stress and/or alcohol consumption.

Plasma testosterone (T) was measured in control male and female rats on gestational days 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20 and on days 17-20 in males from dams who were fed ethanol and/or were stressed during pregnancy. Circulating T in control males showed an earlier rise, yielding a longer period of prenatal T elevation, than was reported previously (Endocrinology 106 (1980)306). Compared to control males, exposure to alcohol-alone augmented T on days 18 and 19, stress-alone attenuated prenatal T, and the combination of stress and alcohol completely blocked the normal rise in T between days 17 and 18.

Short-wavelength automated perimetry in patients with diabetes mellitus without macular edema.

Background: The short-wavelength-sensitive (SWS) cone-mediated sensitivity is a sensitive indicator of functional changes of the macula in diabetic maculopathy. This study was performed to investigate whether functional losses of the macula are detectable in patients without a significant macular edema.

Methods: In 45 patients with diabetes mellitus with clear optical media and no macular edema, conventional white-on-white perimetry (WWP) and short-wavelength automated perimetry (SWAP) were performed in the central 10-deg field.

Fluoxetine differentially suppresses sucrose solution consumption in free-fed and food-deprived rats--reversal by amantadine.

Background: Clinical use of fluoxetine and similar medications is often associated with appetite suppression and weight loss that may warrant drug discontinuation. It is unclear, however, if fluoxetine-induced consummatory suppression may be influenced by factors such as dietary status and if appetite suppressant effects of fluoxetine may be pharmacologically attenuated.

Material/methods: Fluoxetine (0.

Injury-induced functional plasticity in the peripheral gustatory system.

Combining unilateral denervation of anterior tongue taste buds with a low-sodium diet in rats results in a rapid, dramatic, and selective attenuation of neurophysiological sodium taste responses from the intact side of the tongue. The transduction pathway responsible for the attenuated response is through the epithelial sodium channel (Hill and Phillips, 1994). Current experiments extend these findings by detailing the effects of experimentally induced injury on taste responses from anterior tongue taste receptors in sodium-restricted rats.

Age at onset of major depressive disorder predicts reductions in NK cell number and activity.

Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) has been associated with altered immunologic parameters including reductions in natural killer cell activity (NKCA). It remains largely unknown, however, whether alterations in immune function characterize homogeneous sub-groups of MDD. The present study addressed the question of whether age at onset of index episode and/or duration of the present episode of MDD predicted alterations in NKCA and NK cell number.

Spatial and Temporal Variation of Enterobacter Genotypes in Sediments and the Underlying Hyporheic Zone of an Agricultural Stream.

Population studies of enteric bacteria in an agriculturally impacted stream (Ledbetter Creek, Murray, Kentucky, USA) were conducted over a period of 2 years. Total number of bacteria, cultivated heterotrophic aerobic bacteria, and enteric bacteria showed significant differences between winter and summer. The cultivated numbers of heterotrophic aerobic bacteria and enteric bacteria were significantly more abundant in summer than in winter.

Hormonal mechanisms underlying aberrant sexual differentiation in male rats prenatally exposed to alcohol, stress, or both.

The male offspring of rats exposed to restraint stress, alcohol, or both during late pregnancy show normally masculinized genitalia; however, sexual differentiation of behavior is dissociated from the external morphology. In contrast to controls, males exposed prenatally to stress, alcohol, or a combination of these factors exhibited the female lordotic pattern. Thus, all 3 prenatal treatments led to incomplete behavioral defeminization.

Postparturitional testosterone surge in male offspring of rats stressed and/or fed ethanol during late pregnancy.

Male offspring of rats exposed to restraint stress and/or alcohol during late pregnancy show aberrant patterns of sexual behavior masculinization and defeminization that vary as a function of treatment. The impact of these treatments on the postparturitional testosterone (T) surge that contributes to sexual behavior differentiation was investigated. Plasma T was measured using radioimmunoassay in individual males sampled on day 21 of gestation within 10 min of cesarean delivery or 1, 2, or 4 h thereafter.

Metabolic functions of microbial nucleoside diphosphate kinases.

This article summarizes research from our laboratory on two aspects of the biochemistry of nucleoside diphosphate kinase from Escherichia coli--first, its interactions with several T4 bacteriophage-coded enzymes, as part of a multienzyme complex for deoxyribonucleoside triphosphate biosynthesis. We identify some of the specific interactions and discuss whether the complex is linked physically or functionally with the T4 DNA replication machinery, or replisome. Second, we discuss phenotypes of an E.

Robbery characteristics and employee injuries in convenience stores.

Background: Each year approximately 30,000 convenience store employees are at risk for injuries related to robberies and many are fatal.

Methods: A prospective cohort study of 460 convenience store robberies from 1 February 1995 to 30 September 1996 was conducted to uncover possible associations between injury and pertinent robbery circumstances and work environments. Data collection sources included police reports, employee interviews, store evaluations, and relevant Census data.

The use of allografts in ligamentous reconstructions of the knee.

Our continuing experience with allografts has led us to the firm conclusion that there is a clear place for allografts in the ligamentous reconstruction of the unstable knee. Clearly, issues such as cost and availability will limit allograft usage, however concerns regarding inferior clinical results should not. Our experience and those reported by others, indicates that comparable clinical results can be obtained with the added benefit of reduced surgical morbidity.

Levels of monocyte reactive oxygen species are associated with reduced natural killer cell activity in major depressive disorder.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with reductions in natural killer cell activity (NKCA), however the mechanism(s) mediating reduced NKCA in MDD has yet to be determined. In light of evidence that MDD is associated with an inflammatory immune response, we propose that reactive oxygen species (ROS), generated by inflammatory leukocytes (monocytes and/or neutrophils), may mediate the suppression of NKCA in MDD. Intracellular levels of monocyte ROS were significantly associated with reductions in NKCA in outpatients (n = 15) diagnosed with MDD.

Monocyte 5-HT1A receptors mediate pindobind suppression of natural killer cell activity: modulation by catalase.

Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) modulates constituents of the immune system. 5-HT1A receptor antagonists potently suppress lymphocyte function. NK cell activity (NKCA) was measured after exposure of mononuclear cells to the 5-HT1A receptor antagonist pindobind and the 5-HT(1C/2) receptor antagonist ketanserin.

Development of rat chorda tympani sodium responses: evidence for age-dependent changes in global amiloride-sensitive Na(+) channel kinetics.

In rat, chorda tympani nerve taste responses to Na(+) salts increase between roughly 10 and 45 days of age to reach stable, mature magnitudes. Previous evidence from in vitro preparations and from taste nerve responses using Na(+) channel blockers suggests that the physiological basis for this developmental increase in gustatory Na(+) sensitivity is the progressive addition of functional, Na(+) transduction elements (i.e.

Weekly dosing of fluoxetine for the continuation phase of treatment of major depression: results of a placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial.

Fluoxetine (FLX) has a unique pharmacokinetic profile. Its major metabolite, norfluoxetine (NFLX), possesses FLX's antidepressant efficacy and a half-life of 7 to 15 days, suggesting the possibility of nonstandard dosing strategies. This study examined the tolerability of a weekly dose and its equivalence to daily dosing of FLX for the continuation phase of treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD).