Fall risk assessment measures: an analytic review.

Background: Clinicians are often unaware of the many existing scales for identifying fall risk and are uncertain about how to select an appropriate one. Our purpose was to summarize existing fall risk assessment scales to enable more informed choices regarding their use.

Methods: After a systematic literature search, 21 articles published from 1984 through 2000 describing 20 fall risk assessments were reviewed independently for content and validation by a panel of five reviewers using a standardized review form.

Rating the health status of U.S. communities.

Although the existence of small-area variation in health care utilization and quality had been acknowledged decades ago, and the public release of data about the performance of hospitals and physicians is no longer controversial, the wide range of variability in the health status of U.S. communities has received relatively little attention.

Comparing alternative methods for composing community peer groups: a data warehouse application.

A method for assessing the health status of communities has been under development for a decade at the University of South Florida. Known as CATCH (Comprehensive Assessment for Tracking Community Health), the method utilizes health status indicators from multiple data sources. With federal grant support, a unique data warehouse has been created to automate CATCH assessments and to enhance online analytical processing for efficient data browsing, knowledge discovery, and model testing.

Observation of acoustic cavitation bubbles at 2250 frames per second.

Acoustically induced cavitation at 20 kHz is observed by means of high speed CCD recording at a frame-rate of 2250 per second. Using digital image processing the bubbles' trajectories are reconstructed. The experimental data reveal that collision and coalescence of bubbles is a predominant phenomenon that limits their individual lifetime.

Template synthesis of a tetraazamacrocyclic ligand with two pendant pyridinyl groups: properties of the isomers of the metal-free ligand and of their first-row transition metal compounds.

The one-step reaction of [Cu(en)(2)](2+) (en = 1,2-diaminoethane) with formaldehyde, ethyl 2-pyridyl acetate, and base produces a mixture of [Cu(s-pypymac)](2+) and [Cu(a-pypymac)](2+) (s-pypymac = syn-6,13-bis(2-pyridinyl)-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane, a-pypymac = anti-6,13-bis(2-pyridinyl)-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane; syn-to-anti ratio approximately 1:9) in low yield (6%). Ion exchange chromatography is used for isomer separation, and the two isomers of the metal-free ligand are obtained by reduction of the copper(II) complexes and subsequent ion exchange chromatography. Crystal structure analyses of the metal-free a-pypymac ligand, of two isomeric copper(II) compounds of a-pypymac and one of s-pypymac, and of the cobalt(III) complexes of a- and s-pypymac and nickel(II), as well as zinc(II) complexes of a-pypymac, are reported and discussed on the basis of the expectations from force field calculations and from published experimental data of the transition metal compounds of the bis-pendant amine derivative diammac.

Chemokines as regulators of T cell differentiation.

Chemokines play well established roles as attractants of naïve and effector T cells. New studies indicate that chemokines also have roles in regulating T cell differentiation. Blocking Gi protein-coupled receptor signaling by pertussis toxin as well as deficiencies in G alpha 12, chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2), CCR5, chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2, also known as monocyte chemoattractant protein 1, or MCP-1), CCL3 (macrophage inflammatory protein 1 alpha, or MIP-1 alpha) and CCL5 (RANTES) have all been found to have effects on the magnitude and cytokine polarity of the T cell response.

Acoustic cavitation structures and simulations by a particle model.

Cavitation bubbles in acoustic resonators are observed to arrange in branch-like patterns. We give a brief review of the anatomy of such structures and outline an approach for simulation by individual, moving bubbles. This particle model can reproduce an experimentally observed transition between different structure types in a rectangular resonator cell.

Comparison of fluorine-18 deoxyglucose and O-15 water PET in temporal lobe epilepsy.

This study reports a comparison of Fluorine-18 deoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) and O-15 water (H2(15)O) PET with regard to lateralization of the seizure focus in patients with complex partial epilepsy. The analysis of 35 patients who had an anterior temporal lobectomy for medically intractable seizures indicated that FDG- and H2(15)O-PET were highly correlated in demonstrating the epileptic focus. FDG- and H2(15)O-PET showed significant asymmetries in 83% and 77% of cases respectively.

A minimum data set and empirical model for population health status assessment.

Background: The need to assess the health status of American communities in a comprehensive and systematic manner has been widely acknowledged. This study attempts to empirically derive a minimum core data set of indicators, in order to produce a uniform parsimonious model for population health status monitoring.

Methods: Five years of secondary data (1992-1996) for 113 indicators of community health for each of Florida's 67 counties were organized into 11 conceptual groups.

Coexpression of the chemokines ELC and SLC by T zone stromal cells and deletion of the ELC gene in the plt/plt mouse.

The spontaneous mutant mouse strain, plt/plt, lacks the secondary lymphoid organ chemokine (SLC)-ser gene and has disrupted trafficking of T cells and dendritic cells (DCs) to lymphoid tissues. We demonstrate here that the gene for the related chemokine, Epstein-Barr virus-induced molecule-1 ligand chemokine (ELC), is also deleted in this immunodeficient mouse strain. Using a combination of approaches, including bone marrow reconstitution and double in situ hybridization, we show in wild-type mice that ELC is expressed by T zone stromal cells that also make SLC.

Follicular stromal cells and lymphocyte homing to follicles.

Follicular dendritic cells (FDCs), the best defined stromal cell subset within lymphoid follicles, play a critical role in presenting intact antigen to B lymphocytes. The discovery that many follicular stromal cells make B-lymphocyte chemoattractant (BLC), a CXC chemokine that attracts CXCR5+ cells, provides a basis for understanding how motile B cells come into contact with stationary FDCs. Here we review our work on BLC and discuss properties of BLC-expressing follicular stromal cells.

Presurgical lateralization of seizure focus and language dominant hemisphere with O-15 water PET imaging.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the value of same day blood flow PET in both the identification of the language dominant hemisphere and in the lateralization of the epileptic focus in patients who were preoperatively evaluated for complex partial seizures.

Methods: The charts of 24 patients who had temporal lobectomies for seizures were retrospectively reviewed. All PET scans were acquired by using O-15 water tracer (H2(15)O) in both resting and language activation conditions.

A chemokine-driven positive feedback loop organizes lymphoid follicles.

Lymphoid follicles are B-cell-rich compartments of lymphoid organs that function as sites of B-cell antigen encounter and differentiation. CXC chemokine receptor-5 (CXCR5) is required for B-cell migration to splenic follicles, but the requirements for homing to B-cell areas in lymph nodes remain to be defined. Here we show that lymph nodes contain two types of B-cell-rich compartment: follicles containing follicular dendritic cells, and areas lacking such cells.

BLC expression in pancreatic islets causes B cell recruitment and lymphotoxin-dependent lymphoid neogenesis.

CXCR5, the receptor for B lymphocyte chemoattractant (BLC), is required for normal development of Peyer's patches, inguinal lymph nodes, and splenic follicles. To test the in vivo activity of BLC in isolation of other lymphoid organizers, transgenic mice were generated expressing BLC in the pancreatic islets. In addition to attracting B cells, BLC expression led to development of lymph node-like structures that contained B and T cell zones, high endothelial venules, stromal cells, and the chemokine SLC.

Awareness of and compliance with recommended screening procedures: a comparison of HMO and fee-for-service enrollees.

Managed care organizations, particularly HMOs, have emphasized disease prevention and early detection (screening) programs as a component of high-quality, cost-effective medical care. Studies in the 1980s found higher levels of utilization of screening by HMO enrollees compared with individuals enrolled in fee-for-service (FFS) plans, although this pattern is less clear in more recent reports. This paper reports on an analysis of a survey designed to determine awareness, compliance, and potential barriers to participating in common screening tests by adults living in Hillsborough County (greater Tampa), Florida.

Functional analysis of a single chain chimeric alpha/beta-granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor receptor. Importance of a glutamate residue in the transmembrane region.

To analyze the function of each subunit of the receptor for granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), GMR, we previously generated a single-chain chimeric receptor by fusion of the extracellular and transmembrane domain from the alpha-subunit (alpha-GMR) to the intracellular part of the beta-subunit (beta-GMR) introducing an additional glutamate residue at the fusion site (alpha/beta-GMR). We demonstrated the capacity of alpha/beta-GMR to bind GM-CSF with low affinity and to induce GM-CSF-dependent activation of tyrosine kinase activity and proliferation in transfected Ba/F3 cells. To further compare the functions of wild type and chimeric receptors, we now report that this alpha/beta-GMR is sufficient to mediate morphological changes, expression of alpha(4)- and beta(1)-integrin receptor subunits, and serine-phosphorylation of Akt kinase.

Interplays between mouse mammary tumor virus and the cellular and humoral immune response.

Mouse mammary tumor virus has developed strategies to exploit the immune response. It requires vigorous immune stimulation to achieve efficient infection. The infected antigen-presenting cells present a viral superantigen on the cell surface which stimulates strong CD4-mediated T-cell help but CD8 T-cell responses are undetectable.

Chemotaxis of rat mast cells toward adenine nucleotides.

Rat mucosal mast cells express P2 purinoceptors, occupation of which mobilizes cytosolic Ca2+ and activates a potassium conductance. The primary function of this P2 system in mast cell biology remains unknown. Here, we show that extracellular ADP causes morphological changes in rat bone marrow-cultured mast cells (BMMC) typical of those occurring in cells stimulated by chemotaxins, and that the nucleotides ADP, ATP, and UTP are effective chemoattractants for rat BMMC.

B cell response after MMTV infection: extrafollicular plasmablasts represent the main infected population and can transmit viral infection.

The immune response to mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) relies on the presentation of an MMTV-encoded superantigen by infected B cells to superantigen-specific T cells. The initial extrafollicular B cell differentiation involved the generation of B cells expressing low levels of B220. These B220low B cells corresponded to plasmablasts that expressed high levels of CD43 and syndecan-1 and were CD62 ligand- and IgD-.

T helper 1 (Th1) and Th2 characteristics start to develop during T cell priming and are associated with an immediate ability to induce immunoglobulin class switching.

The respective production of specific immunoglobulin (Ig)G2a or IgG1 within 5 d of primary immunization with Swiss type mouse mammary tumor virus [MMTV(SW)] or haptenated protein provides a model for the development of T helper 1 (Th1) and Th2 responses. The antibody-producing cells arise from cognate T cell B cell interaction, revealed by the respective induction of Cgamma2a and Cgamma1 switch transcript production, on the third day after immunization. T cell proliferation and upregulation of mRNA for interferon gamma in response to MMTV(SW) and interleukin 4 in response to haptenated protein also starts during this day.

Early neutralizing antibody response against mouse mammary tumor virus: critical role of viral infection and superantigen-reactive T cells.

Infectious mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) is a retrovirus that expresses a superantigen shortly after infection of B cells. The superantigen first drives the polyclonal activation and proliferation of superantigen-reactive CD4+ T cells, which then induce the infected B cells to proliferate and differentiate. Part of the MMTV-induced B cell response leads to the production of Abs that are specific for the viral envelope protein gp52.