Rhesus sensitization and alloimmune thrombocytopenia.

Significant progress has unquestionably occurred in the diagnosis and treatment of fetal and neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia. However, fundamental aspects of this disease are still not fully understood, especially those factors that account for the diverse clinical spectrum of this disease. This impacts our ability to counsel patients regarding the ultimate outcome of fetuses affected with AIT.

Translabyrinth electrical stimulation for the induction of immediate-early genes in the gerbil brainstem.

Brainstem immediate-early gene (IEG) protein expression was induced following applications of current to the labyrinth in unanesthetized gerbils. Electrode placement, stimulus polarity, current intensity and waveform, and anesthetics all significantly affect IEG expression patterns. Direct currents of different polarity applied across the labyrinth produced IEG expression in vestibular nuclei and inferior olivary neurons in patterns similar to those seen after hemilabyrinthectomy or hypergravity stimulation.

Effect of interleukin-1 beta on ovulation in the in vitro perfused rabbit ovary.

Interleukin-1 (IL-1), a prominent 17-kilodalton member of a group of immune mediators referred to as cytokines, is secreted by a variety of immuno- and nonimmunocompetent cells. As IL-1 is an established mediator of inflammation, and ovulation may constitute an inflammatory-like reaction, consideration may be given to the possibility that IL-1 may play an intermediary role in the ovulatory process. Such a hypothesis is supported by the recent demonstration of the gonadotropin-dependent preovulatory induction of IL-1 transcripts at the level of the murine and human ovary.

Hemilabyrinthectomy causes both an increase and a decrease in corticotropin releasing factor mRNA in rat inferior olive.

It was previously shown [NeuroReport, 3 (1992) 829-832] that unilateral labyrinthectomy (UL) induces Fos expression in several brainstem regions, including the beta subnucleus of the inferior olive. Using isotopic 33P in situ hybridization, the present results demonstrate significant changes in oligonucleotide-probed mRNA levels for corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) in the rat inferior olivary nucleus 4 days following unilateral labyrinthectomy (UL). In the medulla of normal animals there was strong CRF mRNA labeling in the inferior olivary nucleus, and weaker labeling in the vestibular nuclei and prepositus hypoglossi.

Otolith-brain stem connectivity: evidence for differential neural activation by vestibular hair cells based on quantification of FOS expression in unilateral labyrinthectomized rats.

1. The effects of acute and chronic labyrinthectomies on Fos-defined neuronal activity induced by rotation were determined with the use of quantitative image analysis procedures. Unilateral sodium arsanilate labyrinthectomies (UL) were performed either 24 h (acute) or 2 wk (chronic) before exposure to a 90 min, 2-G centripetal acceleration along the interaural axis that stimulated the intact otolith organs.

Dosimetric determination of I-131 activity in the treatment of recurrent, nontoxic, multinodular goiter.

Although surgical treatment of nontoxic multinodular goiter remains the most effective therapy, I-131 is a reasonable alternative in cases where thyroidectomy is not appropriate. Selection of I-131 activity in the management of nontoxic multinodular goiter has largely been empirical. The use of dosimetric measurements in guiding I-131 therapy in the treatment of a patient with a recurrent, nontoxic, multinodular goiter is described.

Fos-defined activity in rat brainstem following centripetal acceleration.

To identify rat brainstem nuclei involved in the initial, short-term response to a change in gravito-inertial force, adult Long-Evans rats were rotated in the horizontal plane for 90 min in complete darkness after they were eccentrically positioned off the axis of rotation (off-axis) causing a centripetal acceleration of 2 g. Neural activation was defined by the brainstem distribution of the c-fos primary response gene protein, Fos, using immunohistochemistry. The Fos labeling in off-axis animals was compared with that of control animals who were rotated on the axis of rotation (on-axis) with no centripetal acceleration, or who were restrained but not rotated.

Brainstem Fos expression following acute unilateral labyrinthectomy in the rat.

Detection of Fos protein expression with a polyclonal antibody was used to identify brainstem neurons responding to acute (24 h) effects of a unilateral sodium arsanilate chemical labyrinthectomy in Long-Evans rats. Asymmetrical expression was apparent in the medial and inferior vestibular nuclei, the prepositus hypoglossi, the dorsolateral central gray, and the inferior olivary beta subnucleus. These data suggest different distributions of neural activation compared with previous electrophysiological and 2-deoxyglucose results.

The role of protein kinase-C in gonadotropin-induced ovulation in the in vitro perfused rabbit ovary.

Tumor-promoting phorbol esters are believed to affect ovarian granulosa cell progesterone and prostaglandin (PG) production and possibly ovulation by activating protein kinase-C (PKC). The effects of phorbol esters and PKC inhibitors on ovulation, progesterone, and PG production were examined in an in vitro perfused rabbit ovary. The effect of tranexamic acid, an inhibitor of the conversion of plasminogen activator to plasmin, on phorbol ester-induced ovulation was also examined.

Activation of a specific vestibulo-olivary pathway by centripetal acceleration in rat.

Unanesthetized Long-Evans (pigmented) rats were subjected to 2.0 G centripetal acceleration for 90 min. Immunohistochemical analysis, using a polyclonal antibody for Fos, revealed a distinct pattern of neuronal activation in the off-axis animals in the dorsomedial cell column (DMCC) of the inferior olivary nucleus.

Characteristics of HIV-infected adults in acute care hospitals in New York State, 1984-1986.

The New York State acute care, hospital discharge database was used to create a longitudinal case history file for all adult inpatients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). From 1984 through 1986, 12,958 individuals with HIV-related diseases were treated in acute care hospitals throughout the state. Approximately 80% of those people resided in New York City, and nearly half of them were between ages 30 and 39 years.

An evaluation of the use of the Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System of New York State as a resource planning tool for HIV infection.

Hospital discharge records of patients with Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) in New York State were studied to determine whether cases of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection were identified. We estimate that as many as 13 percent of hospitalizations of patients with PCP in 1987 and 10 percent of those in 1988 were not appropriately identified as HIV related. Identification of PCP as HIV related was a function of a hospital's volume of PCP admissions.

HIV infected hospital patients in New York State. The development of longitudinal information from a hospital discharge data system.

Abstracted records of all patients discharged from New York State acute care hospitals from January 1, 1983, through October 1, 1987, containing a diagnosis of HIV infection (N = 36,664) were linked into a longitudinal file of 20,005 patient-specific case histories. A validation study utilizing Medicaid patient-specific discharge information for calendar year 1985 showed that, on the average, each case history of the longitudinal file contained 85% (+/- 5%) of the expected discharges. The number of patients present in the longitudinal file was 10% (+/- 4%)--too large a percentage, due to a failure to link all the discharges to the appropriate case histories.

Occupational allergy in an entomological research centre. I. Clinical aspects of reactions to the sheep blowfly Lucilia cuprina.

Twenty eight per cent (15) of 53 workers engaged in a sheep blowfly breeding programme designed to control genetically the pest Lucilia cuprina experienced allergic manifestations resulting from contact with this insect. The most common symptoms were rhinitis, affected eyes, rashes, and lower respiratory symptoms, usually, but not always, immediate in type. A personal history of non-insect related asthma, allergic rhinitis, or eczema, or a combination of these was more common in the fly allergic group but some workers experienced allergic symptoms only when exposed to the adult sheep blowfly.

Occupational allergy in an entomological research centre. II. Identification of IgE-binding proteins from developmental stages of the blowfly Lucilia cuprina and other species of adult flies.

Sera from 30 workers in an entomological research institute and from five Sydney asthmatics, all with serum IgE antibodies to sheep blowfly (Lucilia cuprina) antigens, were studied with the aim of identifying individual IgE-binding proteins in extracts of L. cuprina adult flies, larvae and eggs, and in extracts of related species of flies from the order Diptera. Using protein blotting, 21, 18 and nine different IgE-binding components were identified in extracts of L.

Evaluation of the sorbent suspension reciprocating dialyser in the treatment of overdose of paracetamol and phenobarbitone.

Poisoning with paracetamol (acetaminophen) and phenobarbitone is a common occurrence in the United States and Europe. The removal efficiency of these drugs by a sorbent suspension reciprocating dialyser (SSRD) has been investigated. The SSRD is a parallel plate dialyser with a reciprocating blood flow and free mobile sorbent suspension composed of charcoal and zeolites.

Immunological profile of chest x-ray-negative, asymptomatic asbestos workers.

Several immunologic parameters, both humoral and cellular, were studied in the serum and peripheral blood lymphocytes derived from chest x-ray-negative, asymptomatic asbestos workers. All humoral and cellular parameters were intact, except the con-A-induced T cell suppressor activity and T cell division in autologous mixed lymphocyte reaction, which were significantly elevated in the asbestos plant workers. The significance of these increased T cell activities in asbestos exposed people is not clear, and further clinical and immunological follow-up is warranted.

Stimulation of suppressor cells in the bone marrow and spleens of high dose cyclophosphamide-treated C57Bl/6 mice.

Systemic administration of a single dose (300 mg/kg) of cyclophosphamide (Cy) induced the appearance of a population of suppressor cells in the bone marrow and spleens of mice. Suppressor cells were assayed by their capacity to inhibit the concanavalin A (Con A) blastogenesis or the mixed-lymphocyte response of normal C57Bl/6 spleen cells. Cy-induced bone marrow (Cy-BM) suppressor cells were present as early as 4 days following Cy therapy and their activity gradually decreased over the next 2 weeks.

Computer-assisted individualized lidocaine dosage: clinical evaluation and comparison with physician performance.

The performance of a computerized dosing aid in achieving a target serum concentration of lidocaine in the middle of the recommended therapeutic range (3.5 mg/L) was evaluated in 63 patients treated for acute ventricular arrhythmias. In all patients a serum concentration measurement was obtained shortly after starting lidocaine infusion.

Inhalant allergy following occupational exposure to blowflies.

An allergic reaction, provoked by exposure to the blowfly Lucilia cuprina and shown to be IgE-mediated, occurred in a subject employed in an entomological research laboratory. The subject's serum, and sera from three other asthmatic patients with IgE antibodies to blowfly extracts, also reacted with extracts from the screw-worm fly (Chrysomya bezziana). Results suggested that antigens from the two species share immunological cross-reactivity.

Mutagenicity of ultrasound in cultured mammalian cells.

Chinese hamster V79 cells were exposed in suspension to 1 MHz continuous wave ultrasound at spatial peak intensities of 7 and 35 W/cm2. Exposure durations were from 10 to 180 sec, so as to encompass the first decade of decreased survival at each intensity. Exposure at 35 W/cm2 resulted in the induction of 6-thioguanine-resistant mutants.

Skinfold measurements in children. A comparison of Lange and McGaw calipers.

Two types of calipers to measure skinfolds have been compared in adults, but the same type of comparison has not been done in a pediatric population who generally would have smaller skinfolds. Biceps and triceps skinfold measurements were made in 240 pediatric patients ranging in age from 2 weeks to 18 years. Skinfold measurements obtained with a McGaw caliper were on the average 12.

Intravenous transcutaneous vascular access device.

The indwelling transcutaneous vascular access device is easily implantable with little more skill or time required than is typically used in placement of standard intravenous needles or catheters. With routine maintenance of the device site, the infection rate in our studies are negligible. Biocompatibilty, assessed by the lack of destruction of blood components and by the paucity of signs of initimal or systemic disease, was good.