Cardiotrophin-1. Biological activities and binding to the leukemia inhibitory factor receptor/gp130 signaling complex.

Cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1) is a newly isolated cytokine that was identified based on its ability to induce cardiac myocyte hypertrophy. It is a member of the family of cytokines that includes interleukins-6 and -11, leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), ciliary neurotrophic factor, and oncostatin M. These cytokines induce a pleiotropic set of growth and differentiation activities via receptors that use a common signaling subunit, gp130.

The pathophysiology of human mesial temporal lobe epilepsy.

The correlation between clinical epilepsy and pathologic changes in the hippocampus was recognized in the early 1800s. However, the study of hippocampal pathology remained an anatomically descriptive discipline until the mid 1970s. In 1976, exploration of the electrical characteristics of the epileptic hippocampus and temporal neocortex began with the application of in vitro electrophysiologic techniques to human brain slices.

Physician and staff acceptance of continuous quality improvement.

Background: Increasing numbers of health care organizations are adopting Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) principles. This study's objective was to evaluate the attitudes toward and acceptance of CQI by a family practice residency program's providers and staff after 3 years' experience with the process.

Methods: Our CQI project groups examine selected problems and develop system-based solutions.

Women's satisfaction with Norplant as compared with oral contraceptives.

Background: Women's satisfaction with their chosen method of contraception has seldom been evaluated, especially in the primary care setting. This study compared women who use Norplant with those who use oral contraceptives with regard to patient satisfaction with, and the perceived advantages and disadvantages of, their birth control method.

Methods: We sent questionnaires to 115 Norplant users and 148 oral contraceptive users.

Is LEEP a feasible addition to the family physician's office?

Background: Seven thousand women die annually from cervical cancer in the US. This disease is preventable if cervical dysplasia is treated. Loop Electrosurgical Excision of the Cervix (LEEP) is a new treatment for dysplasia.

Using reminder systems to improve Papanicolaou test follow-up. An example of continuous quality improvement.

Objective: Using continuous quality improvement principles, we developed a Papanicolaou test recall system with the goal of increasing first and second follow-up Papanicolaou tests after cryotherapy by 20%.

Design: An initial study showed rates of 67% for the first follow-up Papanicolaou test and 31% for the second follow-up test. We formed a dysplasia project team.

Effects of partial patellectomy and reattachment of the patellar tendon on patellofemoral contact areas and pressures.

We used a previously reported experimental method to measure patellofemoral contact areas and pressures in four pairs of human cadaveric knees before and after a partial patellectomy. The knee joints were loaded by application of a flexion moment, which was resisted by the extension moment of the quadriceps mechanism. Patellofemoral contact was measured with the use of pressure-sensitive film, at 30, 60, and 90 degrees of flexion of the knee.

History and philosophy of the medical examination of horses for purchase.

This article reviews the history of the medical evaluation of the horse for purchase and the gradual development of definitions and guidelines for performing such an examination. The philosophy of pre-purchase examinations, including potential conflicts of interest, recording methods, and procedures, is discussed. The AAEP guidelines for reporting purchase evaluations are also included.

Fractures of the talar neck. A mechanical study of fixation.

Anatomical reduction and rigid internal fixation of fractures of the talar neck allow early mobilization of the ankle and subtalar joints. Forty fresh tali from cadavera were fractured across the talar neck and were internally fixed with one of four methods. The specimens were again loaded to failure, and mean yield loads, yield deformations, stiffness, and energy absorbed were compared.

Pseudometabolic acidosis caused by underfill of Vacutainer tubes.

Study Objectives: To determine how serum bicarbonate and anion gap are affected by sample size in a 10-mL red-top (clot) Vacutainer tube at the fixed sample volumes of 10, 3, and 1 mL.

Design: Venous phlebotomy on consecutive emergency department patients; three tubes drawn in random order. The first 20 patients had unvented tubes, and the last ten had the tubes vented within one minute of the draw.

Serum bicarbonate declines with sample size in vacutainer tubes.

Serum bicarbonate testing has been reported to be inaccurate in several clinical studies. This prompted a search for systemic errors in bicarbonate testing devices, which has been inconclusive. The effect on serum bicarbonate level measurement of partially filling plain red-top (clot) vacutainer tubes was studied in healthy volunteers.

Seizure-associated speech arrest in elderly patients.

Recurrent, brief episodes of speech arrest associated with bifrontal electroencephalographic seizure activity developed in three ill elderly patients. The seizures ceased after the initiation of antiepileptic drug therapy and the correction of metabolic abnormalities. The cause of the seizure activity remains unknown, but a possible mechanism may be a transient epileptogenic cortical dysfunction that predominantly affects the frontal lobes as a result of concomitant metabolic alterations.

Open hand fractures: prognosis and classification.

Two hundred open fractures distal to the carpus in one hundred twenty-one patients were studied retrospectively. One hundred seventy-three fractures were followed-up to complete bony union, which occurred at a median period of seven weeks. Ninety-seven total complications included nine wound infections in seven patients, eighteen malunions, seventeen delayed or nonunions, twenty-three fixation problems, and two late amputations.

Molecular structure of the Dr adhesin: nucleotide sequence and mapping of receptor-binding domain by use of fusion constructs.

The Dr hemagglutinin of uropathogenic Escherichia coli mediates adherence to the upper urinary tract. E. coli strains which express this adhesin bind to the Dr blood group antigen and mediate mannose-resistant hemagglutination (MRHA).

Exclusion of an exon in monocyte alpha-1-antitrypsin mRNA after stimulation of U937 cells by interleukin-6.

Monocytes potentially express two mRNA species by alternative splicing of exons at the 5' end of the gene. During inflammation the plasma concentration of AAT can increase about three-fold. In a myelomonocytic cell line (U937), under basal conditions, two AAT mRNA species are produced.

Tumor reactive cis-aconitylated monoclonal antibodies coupled to daunorubicin through a peptide spacer are unable to kill tumor cells.

Antibody-drug conjugates containing a linkage susceptible to lysosomal hydrolases were constructed by coupling peptide-daunorubicin (DNR) derivatives to MAb. Using a modification in the method of Trouet et al, peptide derivatives of DNR containing the sequences Ala-Leu and Ala-Leu-Ala-Leu linked to drug via their carboxy terminus were prepared. Cleavage of these derivatives by lysosomal enzymes resulting in the release of free DNR was demonstrated.

Pharmaceutical continuing-education program based on a core curriculum.

The use of a core curriculum concept in the establishment of a comprehensive continuing-education program is described. A departmental staff development committee was selected to develop a core curriculum of topics for professional continuing education. Six core curriculum areas of interest and importance were identified: cardiology; infectious disease; total parenteral nutrition, acid-base balance, and fluid and electrolytes; pharmacy management; critical-care medicine; and pharmacokinetics.

Dental needs and perceptions of adult Hispanic migrant farmworkers in Colorado.

To identify oral health needs, 231 adult Hispanic migrant farmworkers participated in an oral interview and dental epidemiologic survey in Colorado in summer 1986. DMFT and CPITN scores and restorative treatment needs were recorded. Overall treatment needs then were calculated.

The cdc30 mutation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae affects phosphoglucose isomerase, the cell cycle and sporulation.

Spontaneous revertants of the cdc30 mutation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae simultaneously regained the ability to grow and divide at 36.5 degrees C on glucose-containing media along with a more thermostable phosphoglucose isomerase (PGI). An independently isolated allele of cdc30 gave a similar phenotype to that previously described including temperature-sensitivity of PGI.

Effects of the muscarinic antagonists pirenzepine and gallamine on spontaneous and evoked responses of rat cerebral cortical neurones.

1. The muscarinic receptor antagonists gallamine and pirenzepine were iontophoretically applied to rat cerebral cortical cholinoceptive neurones, including corticospinal neurones, to assess their effects on spontaneous firing, and firing induced by: stimulation of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM); contralateral hindpaw stimulation; application of acetylcholine (ACh); and application of glutamate. 2.

Kidney size at diagnosis of childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia: lack of prognostic significance for outcome.

The prognostic significance of kidney size at diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) was assessed in a population of 142 children. Kidney size was determined using three different methodologies, and its significance was determined by univariate and multivariate life-table methods. Enlarged kidney size (as determined by any of the three methods used) was not associated with an overall poorer survival.

Dental caries in permanent teeth in children of migrant farm workers.

A 1984 study of dental disease in 534 children (aged 6-15) of migrant farm workers in Colorado found that the prevalence of disease for this population continues to exceed the national and regional average. The mean DMFS was 3.56 with only 23 per cent caries free compared to a regional non-migrant DMFS mean of 2.