Screening elderly populations for cobalamin (vitamin B12) deficiency using the urinary methylmalonic acid assay by gas chromatography mass spectrometry.

Purpose: This study assesses the value of the urinary methylmalonic acid (MMA) assay by gas chromatography mass spectrometry as a screening procedure for detection of cobalamin (Cbl) deficiency and estimates the prevalence of undetected Cbl deficiency in elderly populations.

Subjects And Methods: A total of 809 elderly individuals over age 65 were screened using random spot urine specimens from 4 different sites: a health fair, retirement apartments, a hospital-based elderly assessment center, and a nursing home. Follow-up tests included serum total Cbl, serum MMA, and normalization of urinary and serum MMA levels with Cbl intramuscular (IM) therapy.

The angels of Bataan.

Fifty years ago, the strategic Battle of Bataan marked the end of American dominance in the Philippine Islands. Historians record the combat on that peninsula, during the winter and spring of 1942, as among the most brutal the United States Army and Navy ever fought. Eighty-eight women, including the first group of American military nurses to be sent into the field in World War II and 25 Filipina nurses endured the entire battle.

Analysis of motor vehicle crash data in an urban trauma center: implications for nursing practice and research.

Objective: To examine the incidence of risk behaviors (safety restraint use and alcohol use) and demographic characteristics of motor vehicle crash victims.

Design: Retrospective, descriptive, correlational.

Setting: One major, urban, Level 1 trauma center.

After the casualties: Vietnam nurses' identities and career decisions.

This qualitative study explores the effect of the Vietnam War on 50 military nurses' careers. Results indicate that the nurses' responsibilities in stateside hospitals often seemed diminished and patient needs distinct from those of battle casualties. Findings confirm that the nurses' postwar reactions were similar to those of nurse veterans of other wars, and that the year-long exposure to young wounded men in Vietnam directly altered the career choices of 44 nurses.

Control of acyl-CoA carboxylase activity in mycobacteria.

Acyl-CoA carboxylase activity in four pathogenic mycobacteria and Mycobacterium smegmatis was shown with both acetyl-CoA and propionyl-CoA substrates. Only very low activity was detected in mycobacteria grown in host tissues or on egg-based media rich in lecithin and avidin. This appeared to be a result of severe depression of activity, as strains which could be grown both in host tissue and egg-based media, and in the relatively simple Dubos or Sauton's media showed 8 to 120-fold higher activity in the simpler media.

Protein-induced hyperthermia for liver cancer treatment.

It is suggested that the thermic effect of protein be exploited as a means of hyperthermia therapy in the treatment of liver cancer. Oral ingestion of high amounts of protein or intravenous amino acid therapy could generate heat directly within the hepatocytes primarily through urea synthesis. This approach could enhance the effects of conventional hyperthermia or radiation therapy.

Post-traumatic stress disorder in an urban trauma population.

This descriptive study examined the incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in individuals who experienced physical traumas within the past 6 months and the relationship between severity of physical injury and PTSD. The sample consisted of 92 subjects who were treated at a Level 1 trauma center in an urban hospital. Scores on the Impact of Event Scale indicated that over half of the sample had medium or high levels of PTSD.

Oxidation of cholesterol moiety of low density lipoprotein in the presence of human endothelial cells or Cu+2 ions: identification of major products and their effects.

Oxidation of lipoproteins is believed to play a key role in atherogenesis. In this study, low density lipoproteins (LDL) was subjected to oxidation in the presence of either human umbilical vein endothelial cells or with Cu+2 ions and the major oxides formed were identified. While cholesterol-alpha-epoxide (C-alpha EP) was the major product of cholesterol peroxidation in the presence of endothelial cells, cholest-3,5-dien-7-one (CD) predominated in the presence of Cu+2 ion.

Purification and Characterization of Phosphoglycolate Phosphatase from the Cyanobacterium Coccochloris peniocystis.

The properties and role of the enzyme phosphoglycolate phosphatase in the cyanobacterium Coccochloris peniocystis have been investigated. Phosphoglycolate phosphatase was purified 92-fold and had a native molecular mass of approximately 56 kilodaltons. The enzyme demonstrated a broad pH optimum of pH 5.

An evaluation of three blood pressure methods in a stabilized acute trauma population.

Blood pressure values were evaluated in 30 acute adult trauma patients using two indirect methods, the bell and diaphragm components of the stethoscope, and one direct arterial method. K1, K4, and K5 measurements were taken 4 to 72 hours (M = 30) after admission when vital signs had stabilized. Data were collected using a random-zero (RZ) sphygmomanometer for indirect blood pressure and radial intraarterial cannula for direct blood pressure.

Vitamin B-12 status in a macrobiotic community.

Vitamin B-12 status was assessed in a group of 110 adults and 42 children from a macrobiotic community in New England. Dietary and anthropometric information also was obtained. Fifty-one percent of the adults had low concentrations of serum vitamin B-12, which inversely correlated with duration of macrobiotic diet practice.