Pill method failures.

This is a study over a four year period from November 1981 to December 1985 documenting 163 cases of pill method failures in reliable pill takers. In over one third of these cases (36%) there were no predisposing factors. Significant factors which were associated with failure were diarrhoea and/or vomiting in 35%, and breakthrough bleeding on the combined pill in 21%.

Inhibition of cycling and noncycling cross bridges in skinned smooth muscle by vanadate.

Vanadate (Vi, 3-300 microM) reversibly inhibited force development elicited by micromolar Ca2+ in membrane-skinned fibers of smooth muscle from taenia coli and trachea of guinea pig. When relaxed fibers were preincubated with Vi, the contraction to Ca2+ was characterized by a peak response followed by a lower steady-state phase. The peak phase depended on the rate of contraction and the [Vi]and was absent after Vi incubation during a previous contraction.

Effect of calmodulin, Ca2+, and cAMP protein kinase on skinned tracheal smooth muscle.

The characteristics of contraction and relaxation of membrane skinned smooth muscle from guinea pig trachealis muscle are described. Micromolar Ca2+ elicited reproducible contractions in Mg-ATP salt solution at 20 degrees C. The speed of contraction was much faster at 30 and 37 degrees C, enabling cumulative concentration-response curves to be obtained.

Mechanism of vanadate-induced contraction of airways smooth muscle of the guinea-pig.

The characteristics of vanadate-induced contraction of airways smooth muscle are described in isolated preparations of guinea-pig central and peripheral airways. Vanadate (1-1000 microM) induced sustained contractions of trachea and lung parenchymal strips within 1 min of challenge. It was more potent (P less than 0.

Myofibrillar protein turnover. Synthesis of protein-bound 3-methylhistidine, actin, myosin heavy chain and aldolase in rat skeletal muscle in the fed and starved states.

The turnover of 3-methylhistidine (N tau-methylhistidine) and in some cases actin, myosin heavy chain and aldolase in skeletal muscle was measured in a number of experiments in growing and adult rats in the fed and overnight-starved states. In growing fed rats in three separate experiments, measurements of the methylation rate of protein-bound 3-methylhistidine by either [14C]- or [3H]-methyl-labelled S-adenosylmethionine show that 3-methylhistidine synthesis is slower than the overall rate of protein synthesis indicated by [14C]tyrosine incorporation. Values ranged from 36 to 51%.

Increased protein synthesis and degradation in the dog heart during thyroxine administration.

Mongrel dogs were injected with 1-thyroxine (0.5 mg/kg body weight) for 7 or 14 days and fractional synthesis rates of total, sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar protein were measured in the left ventricle using continuous intravenous infusion of [14C]tyrosine. The synthesis rate of total protein was increased from 7.

The contraceptive practice of one thousand abortion patients.

This is a report on the contraceptive practice of 1000 cases who attended the Parkview clinic for termination of pregnancy. Fifty percent were not using any method of contraception at the time of conception. The principal reasons for non-use were dissatisfaction with previous methods and risk taking behaviour.

The giving and taking of psychotropic drugs in New Zealand.

The levels of compliance with psychotropic medication in three New Zealand community-based samples are reported. At younger ages psychotropics were not frequently used, only 2 percent of 15 to 34 year olds reporting use during a 24 hour period. Psychotropic drug use was most prevalent among elderly people.

Regression of skeletal muscle of chicken wing after stretch-induced hypertrophy.

Regression of stretch-induced growth of the anterior latissimus dorsi muscle of the adult fowl was characterized by measuring weight, protein, RNA, DNA, and collagen content. After 7 days of hypertrophy the total amount of protein, RNA, DNA, and collagen increased by 59, 228, 82, and 23%, respectively, above the control contralateral muscle. On removal of the stimulus, regression back to normal weight and composition was complete in 13 days except for total DNA content, which was still elevated 21% after 29 days of regression.

Collagen synthesis and content in right ventricular hypertrophy in the dog.

The fractional synthesis rate of collagen (the percent of total ventricular collagen synthesized in one day) was measured in the hearts of normal dogs and those with pulmonary artery stenosis using a continuous 6-h intravenous infusion of [14C]proline. The fractional synthesis rate in normal ventricles was slow, 0.56%/day, and it increased eightfold to 4.

Cyclic-AMP mediated relaxation of chemically skinned fibers of smooth muscle.

Smooth muscle from guinea pig taenia coli was chemically skinned with Triton X-100 and stored in ATP-salt solution containing 50% glycerol at -20 degrees C. Fiber bundles were relaxed at Ca2+-concentrations below 10(-7) M, but contracted at 10(-6) M Ca2+. The isometric tension developed could be partly relaxed by the addition of c-AMP (in the presence of NaF), and it could also be inhibited following preincubation with the catalytic subunit of c-AMP dependent protein kinase.

Inorganic phosphate promotes relaxation of chemically skinned smooth muscle of guinea-pig Taenia coli.

In the presence of calmodulin and phosphate and an ATP-regenerating system, Triton-treated "skinned fibers' of the Taenia coli could be made to contract and relax by step changes of Ca++ within about 30 sec. In the absence of phosphate, relaxation was slower, and during this slow relaxation tension was not maintained actively. The passive tension could be abolished by phosphate (3-6 mM).

The contraceptive practice of abortion patients.

An analysis is made of the contraceptive practice of 100 women prior to abortion. Half the women were not using any method during the month they became pregnant. Problems with the pill, risk-taking behaviour and fears of infertility, were the commonest reasons for non-use.

Collagen and muscle protein synthesis during cardiac hypertrophy in the dog.

The fractional synthesis rates of collagen and noncollagen protein in the right ventricle of the dog have been measured during hypertrophy after pulmonary artery stenosis. The synthesis rates of noncollagen protein were the same using a continuous infusion of either [14C]tyrosine or [14C]proline, and increased from 7.6% per day in the normal ventricle to 13.

Sex information and attitudes in young people.

A questionnaire survey was conducted in the Wellington area among 696 senior secondary school pupils. The first part of the questionnaire studied aspects of sexual knowledge and the sources of information. The general level of knowledge was good at an elementary level but less than adequate when more detailed knowledge was considered.

Turnover of muscle protein in the fowl. Collagen content and turnover in cardiac and skeletal muscles of the adult fowl and the changes during stretch-induced growth.

The collagen content and the rate of collagen synthesis were measured in the anterior and posterior latissimus dorsi muscles and in heart from fully grown fowl. This was done by measuring the proline/hydroxyproline ratios in the muscle and by a constant infusion of [(14)C]proline. These measurements were also made during the hypertrophy of the anterior muscle in response to the attachment of a weight to one wing of the fowl.

Turnover of muscle protein in the fowl. Changes in rates of protein synthesis and breakdown during hypertrophy of the anterior and posterior latissimus dorsi muscles.

Measurements were made of the growth and of the changes in rates of protein turnover in the anterior latissimus dorsi muscle of the adult fowl in response to the attachment of a weight to one wing. Over 58 days there was a 140% increase in the protein content with similar increases in the RNA and DNA contents. The fractional rate of protein synthesis, measured by the continuous-infusion technique using [14C]proline, increased markedly during hypertrophy.

Turnover of muscle protein in the fowl (Gallus domesticus). Rates of protein synthesis in fast and slow skeletal, cardiac and smooth muscle of the adult fowl.

Rates of protein synthesis in skeletal, cardiac and smooth muscle of fully grown fowl (Gallus domesticus) were determined in vivo by means of the constant infusion method using [14C]proline. In the anterior latissimus dorsi muscle, containing predominantly slow fibres, the average synthesis rate of non-collagen muscle proteins was 17.0 +/- 3.

"Precordial catch": a benign syndrome of chest pain in young persons.

A common syndrome of brief, sharp, severe precordial pain in 45 healthy young persons is described. The pain occurs at variable intervals, out of the blue. It typically occurs during rest or very mild activity and never on exertion.

Turnover rates of muscle protein in cardiac and skeletal muscles of dog, fowl, rat and mouse: turnover rate related to muscle function.

Turnover rates of muscle protein in cardiac and skeletal muscle have been measured in dogs using a continuous infusion of 14C-tyrosine, and in fowls, rats and mice after a pulse label of either 3H-leucine or 3H-aspartate. In all species the total mixed protein from ventricle turned over the most rapidly. Tonic muscles predominantly comprised of red fibres were intermediate in rate and twitch muscles comprised of predominantly white fibres had the slowest rates of turnover.