Do community-based support services benefit bereaved children? A review of empirical evidence.

Aims: To consider the evidence of effect from English language, empirically based quantitative evaluations of community-based interventions for bereaved children; community-based interventions being understood as those taking place outside a clinical setting.

Methods: MedLine, PsychInfo, Applied Social Sciences Index and Sociological Abstracts were searched for documents containing the words 'child', 'bereavement' and 'program', 'group', 'intervention', 'support' or 'evaluation'. The criterion for inclusion was that studies use a control group or pre- and post-test measurements using a standardized instrument.

T-cell- and macrophage-mediated axon damage in the absence of a CNS-specific immune response: involvement of metalloproteinases.

Recent evidence has highlighted the fact that axon injury is an important component of multiple sclerosis pathology. The issue of whether a CNS antigen-specific immune response is required to produce axon injury remains unresolved. We investigated the extent and time course of axon injury in a rodent model of a delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction directed against the mycobacterium bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG).

Individual variation in the growth of captive infant gorillas.

Serial anthropometric data were obtained during the first year of life of six nursery-reared infant gorillas in the Columbus (Ohio) Zoo. Two of the infants are likely to be monozygotic twins as determined by DNA analysis. Growth curves were fitted to serial measures of cephalo-thoracic-abdominal length, arm length, leg length, head circumference, upper arm circumference, and weight from each gorilla, to describe individual patterns of variation in skeletal growth and body composition.

Critical dimensions of the diffusion equation.

We study the evolution of a random initial field under pure diffusion in various space dimensions. From numerical calculations we find that the persistence properties of the system show sharp transitions at critical dimensions d(1) approximately 26 and d(2) approximately 46. We also give refined measurements of the persistence exponents for low dimensions.

SNPing in the human genome.

More than a million genetic markers in the form of single nucleotide polymorphisms are now available for use in genotype-phenotype studies in humans. The application of new strategies for representational cloning and sequencing from genomes combined with the mining of high-quality sequence variations in clone overlaps of genomic and/or cDNA sequences has played an important role in generating this new resource. The focus of variation analysis is now shifting from the identification of new markers to their typing in populations, and novel typing strategies are rapidly emerging.

Critical appraisal of clinical practice guidelines targeting chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is so prevalent that the endorsement of management strategies by professional organizations issuing clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) will likely influence the clinical and financial resources allocated to this condition.

Objectives: To examine the content of and to critically appraise the CPGs targeting COPD.

Methods: We identified, through a MEDLINE search (from January 1990 to May 1999) and contacts with experts and professional organizations, the CPGs for the overall management of COPD.

Role of chemokines, neuronal projections, and the blood-brain barrier in the enhancement of cerebral EAE following focal brain damage.

The role of focal brain damage as a trigger for autoimmune inflammation in multiple sclerosis (MS) is unclear. In this study we examine mechanisms by which experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is enhanced by focal brain damage. EAE was produced in Lewis rats by footpad inoculation; focal brain damage, in the form of a cortical cryolesion (cryolesion-EAE), was induced 8 days post-inoculation (d.

A new set of Arabidopsis expressed sequence tags from developing seeds. The metabolic pathway from carbohydrates to seed oil.

Large-scale single-pass sequencing of cDNAs from different plants has provided an extensive reservoir for the cloning of genes, the evaluation of tissue-specific gene expression, markers for map-based cloning, and the annotation of genomic sequences. Although as of January 2000 GenBank contained over 220,000 entries of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from plants, most publicly available plant ESTs are derived from vegetative tissues and relatively few ESTs are specifically derived from developing seeds. However, important morphogenetic processes are exclusively associated with seed and embryo development and the metabolism of seeds is tailored toward the accumulation of economically valuable storage compounds such as oil.

Prediction and prevention of extreme neonatal hyperbilirubinemia in a mature health maintenance organization.

Objective: To investigate biological and health services predictors of extreme neonatal hyperbilirubinemia in a health maintenance organization.

Design: Nested case-control study.

Setting: Eleven Northern California Kaiser Permanente hospitals.

Documented head injury in early adulthood and risk of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.

Background: The association between antecedent head injury and AD is inconsistent.

Objective: To examine the association between early adult head injury, as documented by military hospital records, and dementia in late life; and to evaluate the interaction between head injury and APOE epsilon4 as risk factors for dementia.

Methods: The study had a population-based prospective historical cohort design.

Identification of ciprofloxacin-resistant Campylobacter jejuni by use of a fluorogenic PCR assay.

Fluoroquinolones are one class of antimicrobial agents commonly used to treat severe Campylobacter jejuni infection. C. jejuni strains resistant to high levels of the fluoroquinolone ciprofloxacin (MIC >/=16 microg/ml) have been predominantly characterized with a C-->T transition in codon 86 of gyrA.

Body temperature of newborns: what is normal?

Medical records of 203 healthy full-term infants were reviewed to determine the range of axillary temperatures for newborn infants, factors that affect temperature and nursery management of infants with temperatures outside published normal ranges. The mean birth temperature was 36.5 degrees C (S.

Low-dimensional bose liquids: beyond the gross-pitaevskii approximation.

The Gross-Pitaevskii approximation is a long-wavelength theory widely used to describe a variety of properties of dilute Bose condensates, in particular trapped alkali gases. We point out that for short-ranged repulsive interactions this theory fails in dimensions d View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A genetic linkage map of the baboon (Papio hamadryas) genome based on human microsatellite polymorphisms.

A first-generation genetic linkage map of the baboon (Papio hamadryas) genome was developed for use in biomedical and evolutionary genetics. Pedigreed baboons (n = 694) were selected from the breeding colony maintained by the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research. To facilitate comparison with the human genome, the baboon linkage map consists primarily of human microsatellite loci amplified using published human PCR primers.

Developmental expression and assembly of connexins into homomeric and heteromeric gap junction hemichannels in the mouse mammary gland.

During the development of the mammary gland, duct-lining epithelial cells progress through a program of expansive proliferation, followed by a terminal differentiation that allows for the biosynthesis and secretion of milk during lactation. The role of gap junction proteins, connexins, in the development and function of this secretory epithelium was investigated. Connexins, Cx26 and Cx32, were differentially expressed throughout pregnancy and lactation in alveolar cells.

APOE and AD concordance in twin pairs as predictors of AD in first-degree relatives.

Objective: To examine the independent effects of the APOE genotype (APOE) and concordance for AD in twin pairs on the occurrence of AD in first-degree relatives.

Background: Studies of twins have been undertaken to investigate the influence of genes in a variety of conditions, including AD. A previous study, performed before reports linking APOE to AD, demonstrated an increase in AD among first-degree relatives of twins concordant for AD compared with relatives of discordant twins.

Less aggressive treatment of neonatal jaundice and reports of kernicterus: lessons about practice guidelines.

The publication of guidelines calling for less aggressive treatment of jaundice in newborns has been followed by a reappearance of case reports of kernicterus. These case reports illustrate important issues for writers and consumers of practice guidelines. One issue is the particular salience of identified patients with bad outcomes, and their potentially disproportionate influence on decision-makers.

Cilioretinal artery occlusion with central retinal vein occlusion.

Background: Combined cilioretinal artery and retinal vein occlusions are infrequently documented retinal vascular disorders of speculative origin. Occlusion of the cilioretinal artery is believed to result from either mechanical compression of the artery as a result of an increase in venous pressure or from a reduction in perfusion pressure in both the cilioretinal and retinal arteries. The ophthalmoscopic and angiographic features of this condition are reviewed.