Recombinant bacillus Calmette-Guérin as a potential vector for preventive HIV type 1 vaccines.

In August 1997, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) convened an expert working group to discuss current strategies for the development of HIV type 1 vaccines. Based on the recent findings of investigators from Japan's National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) in Tokyo using recombinant bacillus Calmette-Guérin (rBCG) as a potential vectored vaccine for HIV, a recommendation was made that further work in this area is a priority. As a result, the working group reconvened in September 1998 to discuss the progress to date with this vaccine approach, as well as areas of related research to assess the feasibility of a BCG-vectored HIV vaccine.

Assessing the role of ortho-substitution on polychlorinated biphenyl binding to transthyretin, a thyroxine transport protein.

ortho-Substituted polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) make up a large part of the PCB residue found in the environment and human tissues. Our laboratory as well as others have demonstrated that ortho-substituted congeners exhibit important biological activities by aryl hydrocarbon (Ah) receptor-independent mechanisms, including changes in second messenger systems necessary for normal cell function and growth. Previous structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies on second messengers and transthyretin (TTR; prealbumin) binding focused little attention on the ortho-substituted PCBs.

Prevalence of antibodies to Sarcocystis neurona, Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum in horses from Argentina.

Sera from 76 horses from Argentina were examined for antibodies to Sarcocystis neurona, Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum. Antibodies to S. neurona were found in 27 (35.

Prayer in the lives of late adolescents.

Prayer is a behavior that is performed by most people at least at some time, and yet social scientists appear to have neglected this topic. College students were interviewed, given the Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status, and asked to keep 7-day diaries about their prayer activities, whether spontaneous or formal. Correlational analyses revealed a relationship between identity status and frequency of praying, as well as between identity status and commitment to religion.

Identification of a STAT4 binding site in the interleukin-12 receptor required for signaling.

The specificity of the various STAT SH2 domains for different tyrosine-containing peptides enables cytokines to activate different signaling pathways and to induce distinct patterns of gene expression. We show that STAT4 has a unique peptide specificity and binds to the peptide sequence pYLPSNID (where pY represents phosphotyrosine). This motif is found at tyrosine residue 800 in the beta2 subunit of the interleukin-12 receptor and is required for DNA binding and transcriptional activity of STAT4.

Effects of daily topical fluoride gels on resin composite degradation and wear.

Objectives: This in vitro study compares the effects of professional and consumer-applied topical fluorides on the weight, wear resistance and surface appearance of a resin composite containing barium boroaluminosilicate glass filler particles.

Methods: Prior to wear studies with a pin and disc apparatus, specimens were immersed for 6 min 10 times in water, three consumer-applied topical fluorides (1.1% NaF, 0.

Evaluation of service learning in a school of nursing: primary care in a community setting.

The evolving system of health care delivery, emphasizing prevention and early intervention, presents challenges to schools that educate health care professionals. Nursing faculty in a rural mid-Atlantic state initiated a service-learning project, relating education and service through primary care in the surrounding community. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the project outcomes.

Molecular determinants of hormone mimicry: halogenated aromatic hydrocarbon environmental agents.

The potential of ostensibly structurally diverse environmental chemicals to modulate endocrine processes in biological systems has been recognized. Difficulty in classifying endocrine system modulators by chemical structure may in large part be due to lack of understanding of mechanisms of action. New developments in understanding nuclear receptor mechanisms of hormone action support a more complex mechanism, possibly involving dimerization/aggregation events leading to multimeric receptor complexes in agonist action.

Renal angiomyolipomas: long-term follow-up of embolization for acute hemorrhage.

Objective: To determine if elective, angiographically directed embolization of enlarged renal angiomyolipomas can be used to prevent future hemorrhagic episodes in patients with tuberous sclerosis and thus avoid nephrectomy.

Patients And Methods: Records were reviewed for all 5 patients who underwent elective, subtotal embolization of large, symptomatic angiomyolipomas at the authors' institution between 1975 and 1996.

Results: All 5 patients had tuberous sclerosis and bilateral renal angiomyolipomas.

The MHSIP mental health report card. A consumer-oriented approach to monitoring the quality of mental health plans. Mental Health Statistics Improvement Program.

Health care report cards have been endorsed as a mechanism for efficiently comparing key quantifiable aspects of performance across a range of health systems or plans. There are challenges in determining what to measure; how to gather and analyze data; and how to report, interpret, and use findings. Mental health has received little attention, and a consumer perspective is typically not included.

Pharmacokinetics of nicotine tartrate after single-dose liquid enema, oral, and intravenous administration.

Ulcerative colitis is predominantly a disease of nonsmokers, and transdermal nicotine is therapeutic but often results in adverse reactions. Colonic administration of nicotine tartrate as a liquid enema could decrease systemic nicotine absorption and adverse reactions. The purpose of the current study was to determine the bioavailability and pharmacokinetic parameters of nicotine after administration by hydrophilic liquid enema (acidic and basic), hydrophobic liquid enema (acidic and basic), and by oral and intravenous routes.

Alterations in phosphatidylcholine metabolism of stretch-injured cultured rat astrocytes.

The primary objective of this study was to determine the influence of stretch-induced cell injury on the metabolism of cellular phosphatidylcholine (PC). Neonatal rat astrocytes were grown to confluency in Silastic-bottomed tissue culture wells in medium that was usually supplemented with 10 microM unlabeled arachidonate. Cell injury was produced by stretching (5-10 mm) the Silastic membrane with a 50-ms pulse of compressed air.

A dose-ranging study of azathioprine pharmacokinetics after single-dose administration of a delayed-release oral formulation.

6-Mercaptopurine and its prodrug azathioprine are an effective treatment for inflammatory bowel disease, but widespread use has been limited by concern about toxicity. Ileocolonic delivery of azathioprine as a 50-mg delayed-release oral capsule has been shown to decrease bioavailability, thus potentially decreasing toxicity. This study aimed to determine the bioavailability and pharmacokinetic parameters of delayed-release oral azathioprine capsules at doses of 200 mg, 400 mg, and 600 mg relative to 100 mg of standard oral azathioprine tablets.

Battered women's perceptions of loss and health.

The article reports a study investigating whether a positive relationship exists between a battered women's perceptions of loss and her perceptions of health. The study further investigated whether a period of time away from the abusive situation would change the battered women's perceptions of loss and her perceptions of health. A convenience sample of 20 women who had experienced battering and abuse and had sought help at a protective shelter was studied.

Effect of Ca2+ on in vitro astrocyte injury.

Current literature suggests that a massive influx of Ca2+ into the cells of the CNS induces cell damage associated with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Using an in vitro model for stretch-induced cell injury developed by our laboratory, we have investigated the role of extracellular Ca2+ in astrocyte injury. The degree of injury was assessed by measurement of propidium iodide uptake and release of lactate dehydrogenase.

Reactivity parameters in structure-activity relationship-based risk assessment of chemicals.

New approaches to the risk assessment process are needed that might be more definitive and satisfying to the scientific community, interest groups, and the public at large. This commentary examines an alternative approach that is based on understanding the relationships of chemical structure and reactivity properties to the toxicokinetic behavior of chemicals in biological systems. This approach is based on the likelihood that there is a limited number of triggering (reactivity) mechanisms by which chemicals can express their toxicity at the molecular level.

Increased [3H]phorbol ester binding in rat cerebellar granule cells and inhibition of 45Ca2+ sequestration in rat cerebellum by polychlorinated diphenyl ether congeners and analogs: structure-activity relationships.

Our previous reports indicate that ortho-substituted non-coplanar polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners perturbed neuronal Ca2+-homeostasis in vitro, altered agonist-stimulated inositol phosphate accumulation, and caused protein kinase C (PKC) translocation. The structure-activity relationship (SAR) with 24 PCB congeners was consistent with a chlorination pattern that favored non-coplanarity while those with chlorination that favored coplanarity were less active. To test the hypothesis that coplanarity (or lack thereof) is a significant factor in the activity of PCBs, studies with related classes of chemicals such as the polychlorinated diphenyl ethers (PCDEs), in which coplanarity is more difficult to achieve regardless of degree and pattern of chlorination, were initiated.

Ste12 and Mcm1 regulate cell cycle-dependent transcription of FAR1.

The transcripts of many genes involved in Saccharomyces cerevisiae mating were found to fluctuate during the cell cycle. In the absence of a functional Ste12 transcription factor, both the levels and the cell cycle pattern of expression of these genes were affected. FUS1 and AGA1 levels, which are maximally expressed only in G1-phase cells, were strongly reduced in ste12- cells.

Stretch-induced injury of cultured neuronal, glial, and endothelial cells. Effect of polyethylene glycol-conjugated superoxide dismutase.

Background And Purpose: There is abundant evidence that after in vivo traumatic brain injury, oxygen radicals contribute to changes in cerebrovascular structure and function; however, the cellular source of these oxygen radicals is not clear. The purpose of these experiments was to use a newly developed in vitro tissue culture model to elucidate the effect of strain, or stretch, on neuronal, glial, and endothelial cells and to determine the effect of the free radical scavenger polyethylene glycol-conjugated superoxide dismutase (PEG-SOD; pegorgotein, Dismutec) on the response of each cell type to trauma.

Methods: Rat brain astrocytes, neuronal plus glial cells, and aortic endothelial cells were grown in cell culture wells with 2-mm-thick silastic membrane bottoms.