Free radicals and chemiluminescence as products of the spontaneous oxidation of sulfide in seawater, and their biological implications.

The discovery of symbioses between marine invertebrates and sulfide-oxidizing bacteria at deep-sea hydrothermal vents and in other high-sulfide marine environments has stimulated research into the adaptations of metazoans to potentially toxic concentrations of sulfide. Most of these studies have focused on a particular action of sulfide--its disruption of aerobic metabolism by the inhibition of mitochondrial respiration--and on the adaptations of sulfide-tolerant animals to avoid this toxic effect (1). We propose that sulfidic environments impose another, hitherto over-looked type of toxicity: exposure to free radicals of oxygen, which may be produced during the spontaneous oxidation of sulfide, thus imposing an oxidative stress.

Drug-usage evaluation and the patient-care pharmacist: a synergistic combination.

The Joint Commission requires a continuous monitoring program to assure quality pharmaceutical care. The only way to achieve compliance with this standard is to enlist the help of the patient-care pharmacists. Equally important to the pharmacy manager is the way a DUE program can benefit the patient-care pharmacists.

Experience with a non-hospital based technician training program.

A community based technician training program can effectively provide well trained competent technicians with a scope of experience broad enough to meet job responsibilities of diverse health care institutions within the community. The college contacted to assist in developing a technician training program should be well established in the community and accredited by an appropriate national accrediting body. In addition, the college should have existing facilities and services to support the program.