Modeling the Reduction of Vapor Phase Emissions from Surface Soils Due to Soil Matrix Effects: Porosity/Tortuosity Concepts.

A major route for transport of volatile organic compounds within porous media is vapor phase diffusion. The diffusion rate through a porous medium is less than that through free-air due to the decreased cross-sectional area available for gas movement and the increased path length due to pore tortuosity. Numerous empirical expressions have been published that relate the diffusion coefficient in porous media to the diffusion coefficient in free-air (unobstructed gas phase).

Bulimia: a primary care approach.

More common than anorexia and less easily detected, bulimia typically begins as an effort to control weight. Although the prognosis is better than that for anorexia nervosa, a number of medical complications can arise related to the mode of purging. Some of these complications can have profound deleterious sequelae if not diagnosed and treated.

Increased number of peripheral blood CD34+ cells in lithium-treated patients.

Eight adult patients with bipolar disorder were prospectively examined to find whether lithium carbonate increased their peripheral blood CD34+ haemopoietic stem cells. Following lithium therapy for 3-4 weeks their neutrophil counts increased by a mean of 88% (from 4625 +/- 1350 x 10(9)/l, mean +/- SD pretreatment, to a peak of 8300 +/- 3910 x 10(9)/l). Concommitantly, there was a significant increment in their CD34+ cells (from 0.

The cultural construction of self-enhancement: an examination of group-serving biases.

Self-serving biases, found routinely in Western samples, have not been observed in Asian samples. Yet given the orientation toward individualism and collectivism in these 2 cultures, respectively, it is imperative to examine whether parallel differences emerge when the target of evaluation is the group. It may be that Asians show a group-serving bias parallel to the Western self-serving bias.

Race and sex differences in the distribution of cerebral atherosclerosis.

Background And Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of race, sex, and other risk factors on the location of atherosclerotic occlusive lesions in cerebral vessels. Previous angiographic studies of patients with stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) suggest that extracranial atherosclerosis is more common in whites and intracranial disease is more common in blacks. Noninvasive techniques such as duplex ultrasound, transcranial Doppler (TCD), and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) allow vascular assessment of a more representative proportion of patients than does conventional angiography alone.

Counterfactual thinking and ascriptions of cause and preventability.

Research suggests that counterfactuals (i.e., thoughts of how things might have been different) play an important role in determining the perceived cause of a target outcome.

Parsonage-Turner syndrome (acute brachial neuritis).

The cases of seven patients who had had acute brachial neuritis (Parsonage-Turner syndrome) were reviewed retrospectively. The patients had been followed for a mean of six years (range, three to ten years) after the onset of the symptoms. All patients had had an acute onset of intense pain in the shoulder without antecedent trauma.

Differential metabolic effects of adenovirus-mediated glucokinase and hexokinase I overexpression in rat primary hepatocytes.

The first step of glucose metabolism is the phosphorylation of glucose, catalyzed by the hexokinase family of enzymes. To address the metabolic impact of increasing glucose phosphorylation capacity in liver, rat primary hepatocytes were treated with recombinant adenoviruses containing the cDNAs encoding either rat liver glucokinase (AdCMV-GKL) or rat hexokinase I (AdCMV-HKI). Maximal glucose phosphorylation in AdCMV-GKL- and AdCMV-HKI-treated hepatocytes was increased 7.

Biology and therapeutic uses of myeloid hematopoietic growth factors and interferons.

Recent advances in basic science and clinical trials have demonstrated that IFNs and myeloid hematopoietins play crucial roles in host defense against pathogens and immune surveillance. Here we have reviewed the biologic functions of GM-CSF, G-CSF, IFN-alpha and IFN-gamma. For patients with neutropenia resulting from cytotoxic chemotherapy, bone marrow transplantation, congenital agranulocytosis and cyclic neutropenia, therapeutic uses of GM-CSF and G-CSF were reviewed.

Opposite modulation of cocaine-seeking behavior by D1- and D2-like dopamine receptor agonists.

Activation of the mesolimbic dopamine system is known to trigger relapse in animal models of cocaine-seeking behavior. We found that this "priming" effect was selectively induced by D2-like, and not by D1-like, dopamine receptor agonists in rats. Moreover, D1-like receptor agonists prevented cocaine-seeking behavior induced by cocaine itself, whereas D2-like receptor agonists enhanced this behavior.

The multicomponent nature of equilibrium in persons with parkinsonism: a regression approach.

Lower extremity strength and joint range of motion, body sway, and electromyography responses have all been determined to be factors in balance control of healthy older individuals. The purpose of this study was to identify variables which effect balance control (equilibrium scores) of persons with Parkinsonism, and examine their relationships and predictive abilities. The composite equilibrium score from the sensory organization protocol of the Equitest was used as the dependent variable for the regression analysis.

Does endotoxin play a major role in inducing the depression of macrophage function during polymicrobial sepsis?

Background: Endotoxin (ETX) is thought to be the primary inducer of proinflammatory mediator release associated with bacterial sepsis. Furthermore, a number of studies indicate that preexposure of animals to high doses of ETX produces macrophages (M luminal diameters) that are refractory to ex vivo stimulation with ETX. However, it is unknown if levels of ETX comparable to those typically encountered in sepsis induce a similar refractory state in M luminal diameters.

Treatment of symptomatic hammertoe with a proximal interphalangeal joint arthrodesis.

This study examined 76 consecutive patients (100 feet) treated by a single surgeon for both flexible and rigid hammertoes with a PIP arthrodesis using custom-machined drills, a peg cutter, and hole cutter, combined with an extensor tenotomy and dorsal capsulotomy. Forty-eight percent of patients were defined as satisfied without reservation, 37% were defined as satisfied with reservations, and 15% were defined as dissatisfied. The incidence of radiographic fusion was 95% (130/137 toes).

Characterization of the mammalian YAP (Yes-associated protein) gene and its role in defining a novel protein module, the WW domain.

We report cDNA cloning and characterization of the human and mouse orthologs of the chicken YAP (Yes-associated protein) gene which encodes a novel protein that binds to the SH3 (Src homology 3) domain of the Yes proto-oncogene product. Sequence comparison between mouse, human, and chicken YAP proteins showed an inserted sequence in the mouse YAP that represented an imperfect repeat of an upstream sequence. Further analysis of this sequence revealed a putative protein module that is found in various structural, regulatory, and signaling molecules in yeast, nematode, and mammals including human dystrophin.

The induction of accelerated thymic programmed cell death during polymicrobial sepsis: control by corticosteroids but not tumor necrosis factor.

Thymic programmed cell death (PCD) or apoptosis (Ao) is elevated during inflammation by a variety of stressors in vitro (i.e., glucocorticoids, tumor necrosis factor (TNF), prostanoids, etc.

Recruitment strategies used by an allied health education program to increase student enrollment.

Objective: To increase student enrollment in and public awareness of a Clinical Laboratory Science (CLS) program so that the program would not be eliminated by the University.

Setting: The Medical Technology (MT) program at the University of Delaware (UD).

Practice Description: The MT program is a 2 + 2 university-based program established in 1948.

Should this child be removed from home? Hypothesis generation and information seeking as predictors of case decisions.

Two vital aspects of the investigative process in child abuse and neglect (CAN) cases are (a) generating as many plausible hypotheses as possible and (b) seeking out as much uncontaminated information as possible. Alternatively, unwarranted assumptions about the nature of CAN cases can impair investigative decision making. We examined whether the numbers of (a) unwarranted assumptions, (b) hypotheses generated, and (c) requests for additional information concerning a hypothetical reported case of CAN predicted level of agreement with a premature decision to remove a child from home among a group of CAN professionals.

Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) is an abundant component of tendon.

An abundant matrix protein was purified under native conditions from adult bovine tendon and identified as cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) by immunochemical crossreaction, amino acid sequence identity of tryptic peptides derived from both N- and C-terminal regions, and structure revealed by electron microscopy. Immunohistochemistry showed age-dependent differences in distribution of COMP in tendon.

Mechanism of enhanced susceptibility to sepsis following hemorrhage. Interleukin-10 suppression of T-cell response is mediated by eicosanoid-induced interleukin-4 release.

Objectives: To determine (1) whether interleukin-10 (IL-10) contributes to depressed T-cell responses observed following hemorrhage and (2) what effect other immunosuppressive agents known to play a role in hemorrhage have on IL-10 release.

Design: Hemorrhage was induced in C3H/HeN mice. The mice were resuscitated and then killed 2 hours after hemorrhage to obtain plasma, splenocytes, splenic macrophages, and splenic T cells.

Transcriptional regulation of string (cdc25): a link between developmental programming and the cell cycle.

During postblastoderm embryogenesis in Drosophila, cell cycles progress in an invariant spatiotemporal pattern. Most of these cycles are differentially timed by bursts of transcription of string (cdc25), a gene encoding a phosphatase that triggers mitosis by activating the Cdc2 kinase. An analysis of string expression in 36 pattern-formation mutants shows that known patterning genes act locally to influence string transcription.

Total hip arthroplasty without cement in obese patients. A minimum two-year clinical and radiographic follow-up study.

A retrospective study of patients who had had a primary total hip arthroplasty without cement between 1983 and 1990 was done to examine differences in clinical and radiographic results between obese and normal-weight individuals. Patients were considered to be of normal weight if the body-mass index (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) was between twenty and less than thirty, and they were considered to be obese if the body-mass index was thirty or more. There were 127 normal-weight patients (142 hips) and fifty-five obese patients (sixty hips) in the analysis.

Polymicrobial sepsis but not low-dose endotoxin infusion causes decreased splenocyte IL-2/IFN-gamma release while increasing IL-4/IL-10 production.

Although studies indicate that polymicrobial sepsis produces marked depression in lymphocyte functions, it remains unclear whether this dysfunction is due to the chronic exposure of immune cells to endotoxin (ETX; a product of the gram-negative bacterial cell wall) at levels typically encountered in the septic state. The aim of this study, therefore, was to determine whether the changes in lymphokine release seen during polymicrobial sepsis are comparable to those observed with chronic ETX infusion. To assess this, splenocytes were harvested from C3H/HeN mice (ETX-sensitive) at 1 or 24 hr following cecal ligation and puncture (CLP; to induce polymicrobial sepsis), Sham CLP (Sham), or laparotomy followed by peritoneal implantation of a mini-osmotic pump which delivered either saline vehicle (Sal-pump) or ETX (ETX-pump; 0.

Pentoxifylline attenuates oxygen-induced lung injury.

Patients requiring mechanical ventilation can develop severe pulmonary injury. Although pentoxifylline (PTX) is known to attenuate endotoxin and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-induced lung injury, as well as decrease interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels following hemorrhage and resuscitation, it remains unknown if this agent has any beneficial effects against O2-induced lung injury. The aim of this study, therefore, was to determine if PTX attenuates pulmonary oxygen toxicity.