Quantification of lumbar function. Part 5: Reliability of range-of-motion measures in the sagittal plane and an in vivo torso rotation measurement technique.

Intra- and intertester reliability of a previously described technique for measurement of sagittal plane lumbar spine motion was assessed. Results demonstrated a high degree of reliability of this technique. Sagittal plane norms for men and women are also presented.

Carbon, oxygen and hydrogen isotope abundances inStylites reflect its unique physiology.

Natural abundances of oxygen-18, carbon-14, carbon-13 and deuterium were measured inStylites andicola, a terrestrial vascular plant lacking stomates, and two terrestrial plant species having stomates that grew nearby. No substantial differences in oxygen-18 and carbon-13 abundances were observed among the three species. The deuterium concentration inStylites was much higher than in the other species, confirming a previous report of CAM inStylites.

Quantification of lumbar function. Part 2: Sagittal plane trunk strength in chronic low-back pain patients.

A prototype sagittal plane trunk strength tester was used to measure trunk strength in 286 chronic low-back pain patients. Initial data for this patient group are compared with data acquired previously from a group of controls, adjusted for age, sex, and body weight. Distinct patterns characterize the patient sample as opposed to the controls: Patient values for both flexors and extensors were markedly decreased, with greater variability; Extensor strength was affected more significantly than flexor strength; Discrepancies between patients and controls were greater for females than for males; High-speed dropoff ratios were much lower for patients, both in flexion and extension.

Objective assessment of spine function following industrial injury. A prospective study with comparison group and one-year follow-up.

Objective functional capacity measurement techniques were used to guide a treatment program for a group of 66 chronic back pain patients. These patients were compared with a group of 38 chronic patients who were not administered the treatment program. Outcome data were collected by telephone survey at an average 1 year follow-up.

Carbon Assimilation Characteristics of the Aquatic CAM Plant, Isoetes howellii.

The relationship between malic acid production and carbon assimilation was examined in the submerged aquatic Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) plant, Isoetes howellii Engelmann. Under natural conditions free-CO(2) level in the water was highest at 0600 hours and (14)CO(2) assimilation rates in I. howellii were also highest at this time.

Hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon isotope ratios of cellulose from submerged aquatic crassulacean Acid metabolism and non-crassulacean Acid metabolism plants.

Isotope ratios of cellulose and cellulose nitrate from aquatic Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) and non-CAM plants were determined. Cellulose oxygen istope ratios for all plants that grew together were virtually identical, whereas large differences were observed for hydrogen isotope ratios of cellulose nitrate between CAM and non-CAM plants. Carbon isotope ratios of cellulose nitrate did not differentiate CAM from non-CAM plants.

Imipenem therapy of experimental Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus faecalis endocarditis.

Imipenem was very active in vitro against 36 Staphylococcus aureus isolates from cases of infective endocarditis; the MBC90 was 0.06 mg/l (four- to eight-fold more active than nafcillin). The in-vitro activity of imipenem against 22 Streptococcus faecalis isolates from proven endocarditis cases was similar to that of penicillin G (MBC90 = 8 mg/l).

An evaluation of plasma exchange for Graves' ophthalmopathy.

Eighteen patients with ocular manifestations of Graves' disease were treated by plasma exchange. Detailed clinical, ophthalmological and orthoptic assessments were made including computerized axial tomography and A + B scan ultrasound of the orbits. Seventeen different ocular parameters were separately rated for each patient.

Crassulacean acid metabolism in Isoetes bolanderi in high elevation oligotrophic lakes.

Isoetes bolanderi dominates the littoral flora of Siesta (elevation 2,440 m) and Ellery (2,905 m) lakes in the Sierra Nevada Range of California, USA. Both lakes are sparesly vegetated and I. bolanderi maintained aboveground oven dry weight of 30-50 m through most of the 1981 summer growing season.

Crassulacean acid metabolism in the seasonally submerged aquatic Isoetes howellii.

Evidence to date is consistent with the hypothesis that the submerged aquatic Isoetes howellii Engelmann possesses crassulacean acid metabolism. Quantitative C uptake studies indicate that CO assimilation in both the light and dark are functions of pH and total inorganic carbon level. In both the light and dark, maximum uptake rates in 0.

Gas Exchange Characteristics of the Submerged Aquatic Crassulacean Acid Metabolism Plant, Isoetes howellii.

The submerged aquatic plant Isoetes howellii Engelmann possesses Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) comparable to that known from terrestrial CAM plants. Infrared gas analysis of submerged leaves showed Isoetes was capable of net CO(2) uptake in both light and dark. CO(2) uptake rates were a function of CO(2) levels in the medium.

Dark CO-fixation and diurnal malic acid fluctuations in the submerged-aquatic Isoetes storkii.

In the leaves (but not corms) of the submerged aquatic Isoetes storkii malic acid concentration fluctuated from 22 μeg g FW in the evening to 171 μeg g FW in the morning. Associated with this was a change in titratable acidity of 152 μeg g FW between morning and evening. C carbon was fixed in both the light and the dark, though the amount of carbon fixed in the light was more than that fixed in the dark.

Differential seed predation on two species of Arctostaphylos (Ericaceae).

The fire-prone California chaparral contains two sympatric species of shrubs: Arctostaphylos glauca and A. glandulosa. A previous study showed that in a stand where both species had similar amounts of coverage, A.