Diagnosis and prevention of dissemination of tuberculosis in a recently imported rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta).

Thirty-four (34) days after arrival at our facility, a recently imported rhesus macaque demonstrated a grade 4/5 reaction to intradermal testing with mammalian old tuberculin and a strong positive response in a serum interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) stimulation assay (Primagam). The affected animal was euthanized to prevent further exposure of the other rhesus in the quarantine room. Necropsy revealed enlarged, caseating mediastinal lymph nodes.

The effect of hydrogen peroxide concentration on metal ion release from dental casting alloys.

There are concerns that tooth bleaching agents may adversely affect dental materials. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that increasing concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (HP) are more effective than water at increasing metal ion release from two typical dental casting alloys during bleaching. Discs (n = 28 for each alloy) were prepared by casting and heat treated to simulate a typical porcelain-firing cycle.

Canine eruption in patients with complete cleft lip and palate.

Objective: To describe erupting maxillary canine positions in patients with bone-grafted alveolar clefts.

Sample: The sample consisted of 101 cleft sites from patients with complete unilateral or bilateral cleft lip and palate who had early (< or =9 years) or late (>9 years) secondary alveolar bone grafts.

Methods: Canine position was assessed using panoramic radiographs taken before and after alveolar bone grafts.

Mapping aerial metal deposition in metropolitan areas from tree bark: a case study in Sheffield, England.

We investigated the use of metals accumulated on tree bark for mapping their deposition across metropolitan Sheffield by sampling 642 trees of three common species. Mean concentrations of metals were generally an order of magnitude greater than in samples from a remote uncontaminated site. We found trivially small differences among tree species with respect to metal concentrations on bark, and in subsequent statistical analyses did not discriminate between them.

The stem cell debate continues: the buying and selling of eggs for research.

Now that stem cell scientists are clamouring for human eggs for cloning-based stem cell research, there is vigorous debate about the ethics of paying women for their eggs. Generally speaking, some claim that women should be paid a fair wage for their reproductive labour or tissues, while others argue against the further commodification of reproductive labour or tissues and worry about voluntariness among potential egg providers. Siding mainly with those who believe that women should be financially compensated for providing eggs for research, the new stem cell guidelines of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) legitimise both reimbursement of direct expenses and financial compensation for many women who supply eggs for research.

Descending aortic flow contribution to intrathoracic impedance-development and preliminary testing of a dual impedance model.

Objective: Impedance measurement of cardiac output has struggled to become established partly because there have been only a few attempts to establish a sound theoretical basis for this measurement. Our objective is to demonstrate that there is valuable aortic flow information available from an intrathoracic impedance signal which may eventually be useful in the measurement of cardiac output by impedance technology.

Methods: A model, using dual impedance measurement electrodes and the change in impedance when blood flows, has been developed based on an intrathoracic impedance model of the descending aorta and esophagus.

Drug-eluting stents: a systematic review and economic evaluation.

Objectives: To assess the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the use of drug-eluting coronary artery stents in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with coronary artery disease.

Data Sources: Bibliographic databases, including MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library, were searched from December 2002 to August 2005. Hand-searching was also done.

Epitheliotropic lymphoma in a squirrel (Sciurus sp.).

A 12-yr-old, intact male squirrel (Sciurus sp.) presented with a 15 mm-by-20 mm area of alopecia and plaque-like dermal thickening over the left caudolateral thorax. Routine diagnostic tests ruled out more common conditions that result in alopecia, such as dermatophytosis and acariasis.

Donating fresh versus frozen embryos to stem cell research: in whose interests?

Some stem cell researchers believe that it is easier to derive human embryonic stem cells from fresh rather than frozen embryos and they have had in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinicians invite their infertility patients to donate their fresh embryos for research use. These embryos include those that are deemed 'suitable for transfer' (i.e.

Adalimumab, etanercept and infliximab for the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis: a systematic review and economic evaluation.

Objectives: To assess the comparative clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of adalimumab, etanercept and infliximab for the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis (AS).

Data Sources: Major electronic databases were searched up to November 2005. Unpublished evidence such as conference abstracts, reviews of published economic evaluations, and company submissions to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) were also reviewed.

Surgical septal myectomy decreases the risk for appropriate implantable cardioverter defibrillator discharge in obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Aims: To determine the impact of surgical myectomy on ventricular arrhythmias in obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (LVOTO) correlates with adverse outcomes, including sudden cardiac death (SCD) in patients with HCM. Surgical myectomy is the primary treatment strategy for relief of symptoms owing to LVOTO and has been hypothesized to decrease the potential for ventricular tachyarrhythmias.

Systematic review of the prevention incentives of insurance and regulatory mechanisms for occupational health and safety.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the strength of evidence on the effectiveness of two policy levers-the experience rating of workers' compensation insurance and the enforcement of occupational health and safety regulation-in creating incentives for firms to focus on health and safety issues.

Methods: An extensive systematic literature review was undertaken in an effort to capture both published and grey literature studies on the topic. Studies that met specific subject-matter and methods criteria underwent a quality assessment.

Pemetrexed disodium for the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma: a systematic review and economic evaluation.

Objectives: To assess the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of pemetrexed disodium in combination with cisplatin for the treatment of unresectable pleural mesothelioma in chemotherapy-naive patients.

Data Sources: Electronic databases were searched up to May 2005.

Review Methods: The systematic review was conducted following accepted guidelines.

Diazoxide-induced respiratory inhibition - a putative mitochondrial K(ATP) channel independent mechanism of pharmacological preconditioning.

The ischemic preconditioning biological phenomenon has been explored to identify putative pharmacologic agents to mimic this cytoprotective program against cellular ischemic injury. Diazoxide administration confers this cytoprotection, however, whether this is via direct activation of the putative mitochondrial K(ATP) (mK(ATP)) channel which was originally proposed has been questioned. Here, we present data supporting an alternate hypothesis evoking mitochondrial respiratory inhibition rather than mK(ATP) channel activation, as a mediating event in the diazoxide-activated cytoprotective program.

Feminists on the inalienability of human embryos.

The feminist literature against the commodification of embryos in human embryo research includes an argument to the effect that embryos are "intimately connected" to persons, or morally inalienable from them. We explore why embryos might be inalienable to persons and why feminists might find this view appealing. But, ultimately, as feminists, we reject this view because it is inconsistent with full respect for women's reproductive autonomy and with a feminist conception of persons as relational, embodied beings.

Experiences of a national sample of qualified addiction specialists who have and have not prescribed buprenorphine for opioid dependence.

The limited availability of medication-assisted treatment has created a treatment gap leaving many opioid dependent individuals without access to appropriate treatment. Survey data from a national random sample of 545 addictions physicians with waivers to provide buprenorphine treatment under The Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 are presented. During the first year, an estimated 63,204 opioid dependent patients were treated with buprenorphine; many were dependent on prescription opioids and were new to drug treatment.

Disseminated simian varicella virus infection in an irradiated rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta).

We describe correlative clinicopathological/virological findings from a simian varicella virus (SVV)-seronegative monkey that developed disseminated varicella 105 days after gamma-irradiation. Twelve other monkeys in the colony were also irradiated, none of which developed varicella. Before irradiation, sera from the monkey that developed disseminated infection and one asymptomatic monkey were available.

The effect of hydrogen peroxide concentration on metal ion release from dental amalgam.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of hydrogen peroxide (HP) concentration on metal ion release from dental amalgam.

Methods: Dental amalgam discs (n=25) were prepared by packing amalgam into cylindrical plastic moulds (10 mm diameter and 2 mm height). The discs were divided into five equal groups and each group was immersed in 20 ml of either 0%, 1%, 3%, 10% or 30% HP solution for 24 h at 37 degrees C.

Choice in fertility preservation in girls and adolescent women with cancer.

With the cure rate for many pediatric malignancies now between 70% and 90%, infertility becomes an increasingly important issue. Strategies for preserving fertility in girls and adolescent women occur in two distinct phases. The first phase includes oophorectomy (usually unilateral) and cryopreservation of ovarian cortex slices or individual oocytes; ultrasound-guided needle aspiration of oocytes, with or without in vitro maturation (IVM), followed by cryopreservation; and ovarian autografting to a distant site.

Heavy coal combustion as the dominant source of particulate pollution in Taiyuan, China, corroborated by high concentrations of arsenic and selenium in PM10.

Coal burning generates toxic elements, some of which are characteristic of coal combustion such as arsenic and selenium, besides conventional coal combustion products. Airborne particulate samples with aerodynamic diameter less than 10 microm (PM(10)) were collected in Taiyuan, China, and multi-element analyses were performed by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Concentrations of arsenic and selenium from ambient air in Taiyuan (average 43 and 58 ng m(-3), respectively) were relatively high compared to what is reported elsewhere.

Determination of (234)U/ (238)U isotope ratios in environmental waters by quadrupole ICP-MS after U stripping from alpha-spectrometry counting sources.

The 234U/238U isotope ratio has been widely used as a tracer for geochemical processes in underground aquifers. Quadrupole-based inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) equipped with a high-efficiency nebulizer and a membrane desolvator was employed for the determination of 234U/238U isotope ratios in natural water samples. The instrumental limit of detection for 234U was at the low pg L(-1) level with very low sample consumption.

Macrophages require distinct arginine catabolism and transport systems for proliferation and for activation.

In murine macrophages, as a result of arginine catabolism during activation, citruline is produced under the effect of IFN-gamma and LPS, and ornithine and polyamines by IL-4 and IL-10. For proliferation, arginine is required from the extracellular medium and is used for protein synthesis. During activation, most arginine (>95% in 6 h) was metabolized, while under proliferation only half was incorporated into proteins.