Survival of acute myelogenous leukemia patients requiring intubation/ventilatory support.

A 5-y (1987-1992) retrospective chart review assessed the survival of patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) who required intubation/ventilatory support in the intensive care unit (ICU). Thirty-two patients were identified, average age 52 +/- 19 (range 14-82) y. Seven patients had undergone bone marrow transplantation for AML 2 weeks to 4 months prior to admission.

A preoperative assessment and education program: implementation and outcomes.

A preoperative program was initiated by the nursing staff of an orthopaedic unit to prepare patients and their families by providing information about every aspect of hospitalization for total joint replacement in order to decrease length of stay (LOS) and improve patient satisfaction. This included steps to minimize complications, teaching exercises that would increase post operative function, and quality discharge planning. The program is coordinated by the Patient Care Managers (PCM) and is offered to 4 patients twice weekly.

Médicarte software developed for the Quebec microprocessor health card project.

The Quebec Patient Smart Card Project is a Provincial Government initiative under the responsibility of the Rgie de l'assurance-maladie du Québec (Quebec Health Insurance Board). Development, implementation, and assessment duties were assigned to a team from Université Laval, which in turn joined a group from the Direction de la santé publique du Bas-St-Laurent in Rimouski, where the experiment is taking place. The pilot project seeks to evaluate the use and acceptance of a microprocessor card as a way to improve the exchange of clinical information between card users and various health professionals.

Action of 5-hydroxytryptamine, substance P, thyrotropin releasing hormone and clonidine on spinal neuron excitability.

We investigated the influence of four substances on the excitability of lumbar motoneurons. These substances, three of which coexist in the same bulbospinal descending pathways that end, for the most part, around motoneurons (MNS), are: 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), substance P (SP) and thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH). We also studied the effects of clonidine, an alpha 2 noradrenergic (NA) agonist.

Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass, Roux-en-Y: Preliminary Report of Five Cases.

The technique of laparoscopic gastric bypass, Roux-en-Y, has been developed, and performed in five patients. The detailed technique and instrumentation is described. Early case results show comparable weight loss, and reduced morbidity and disability.

In vivo measurement of feline esophageal tone.

Using an isotonic recording device (barostat), we assessed feline esophageal smooth and striated muscle tone in vivo and determined the effects of a cholinergic agonist (bethanechol) and antagonist (atropine) and the effect of body position on this tone. Studies were performed on six cats under light intravenous ketamine anesthesia. Two parameters were analyzed: compliance and resistance to initial stretch (resting tone).

Tyrosine protein phosphorylation in plasma membranes of rat kidney cortex.

The endogenous tyrosine protein kinase activity (TPKA) associated with brush-border (BBM) and basolateral (BLM) membranes of rat kidney cortex was studied with an anti-phosphotyrosine monoclonal antibody (PY20). Distinct major phosphotyrosine-containing proteins were associated with BBM (50, 54, and 120 kDa) and BLM (37, 90, 130, and 170 kDa). For both plasma membranes, tyrosine phosphorylation leveled off after 10 min of incubation.

[Dynamic focusing of informational convergence in basal ganglia].

Data in the literature support two apparently contradictory hypotheses: that of parallel processing and that of informational convergence in the basal ganglia. We present electrophysiological data supporting one and the other. Thus, at the output of the basal ganglia, in the intact monkey, neurons of the pallidum respond almost exclusively and in small number to passive limb movement.

Nitric oxide mediates inhibitory nerve effects in human esophagus and lower esophageal sphincter.

The effect of inhibition of nitric oxide synthase on nonadrenergic, noncholinergic nerve-mediated responses in circular smooth muscle of the human esophageal body and lower esophageal sphincter (LES) was examined in vitro. Tissues were obtained from 10 patients (eight esophageal resection for cancer, two transplant donors). Muscle strips from the LES developed significant spontaneous tension (11.

Cholinergic responses in the cat lower esophageal sphincter show regional variation.

Background/aims: The lower esophageal sphincter (LES) pressure in humans is asymmetric; the highest pressure and the most significant cholinergic contribution occurs toward the left. The basis of this asymmetry was examined using the cat as a model.

Methods: The LES pressure profile was determined using a manometry catheter with four ports oriented at right angles.

Protein tyrosine phosphorylation in normal rat tissues.

1. Exogenous and endogenous tyrosine protein phosphorylation activities were examined in soluble and particulate fractions from various normal tissues by using poly-[Glu-80Na, Tyr20] and a monoclonal antibody specific for phosphotyrosine. 2.

Production of a cloned xylanase in Bacillus cereus and its performance in kraft pulp prebleaching.

Xylanase production from a Bacillus subtilis gene cloned into a strain of Escherichia coli was monitored. Although this gene was expressed in E. coli at several temperatures, efficient xylanase secretion did not occur; the observed protein release apparently depended on cell leakage or lysis.

The central vagal efferent supply to the esophagus and lower esophageal sphincter of the cat.

Background: Little is known of the central efferent neurons innervating the smooth muscle esophagus. The aim of this study was to define the location of the efferent neural pathways of the brain stem swallowing mechanism in the cat, particularly those supplying the esophageal body smooth muscle.

Methods: Fluorescent, retrogradely transported tracers were injected into the cervical striated muscle and thoracic smooth muscle segments of the esophagus and also the lower esophageal sphincter.

Socialization transformation: the passage from caregiver to educator.

The transition from clinical nurse to clinical instructor is not an instinctive one. New instructors do not possess inherent qualities to make this transformation smoothly. It is necessary to provide them with outside assistance.

RAPDs as an aid to evaluate the genetic integrity of somatic embryogenesis-derived populations of Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.

The usefulness of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) in assessing the genetic stability of somatic embryogenesis-derived populations of black spruce [Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.

The effects of active and passive recovery on short-term, high intensity power output.

The advantage of active over passive recovery from long and intermediate duration exercise is well documented. Success has been attributed to metabolite washout and/or lactate (La) utilization by the active musculature. This study was designed to determine whether active recovery was superior to passive rest during short duration, high intensity performance.

Distinct presynaptic control of dopamine release in striosomal- and matrix-enriched areas of the rat striatum by selective agonists of NK1, NK2, and NK3 tachykinin receptors.

Using a sensitive in vitro microperfusion method, the effects of selective and potent agonists of NK1, NK2, and NK3 tachykinin receptors ([Pro9]SP, ([Lys5,MeLeu9,Nle10]NKA-(4-10), and [Pro7]NKB, respectively) on the presynaptic control of dopamine release were investigated in striosomal-enriched (area rich in [3H]naloxone binding sites) and matrix-enriched areas of the rat striatum. Marked differences could be demonstrated as follows: (i) when used at 0.1 microM, the NK1 agonist stimulated the release of [3H]dopamine continuously synthesized from [3H]tyrosine in both compartments, while the NK2 and NK3 agonists enhanced the release of [3H]dopamine only in the matrix; (ii) the stimulatory effect of the NK3 agonist was less pronounced than those of the NK1 and NK2 agonists; (iii) the NK1 agonist-evoked responses were tetrodotoxin (1 microM) sensitive, while those of the NK2 and NK3 agonists were, respectively, partially and totally tetrodotoxin resistant; (iv) specific receptors are involved in these responses since the stimulatory effects of the NK1 and NK2 agonists were, respectively, blocked by potent antagonists of NK1 (RP-67580; 1 microM) and NK2 (SR-48968; 1 microM) receptors, while these antagonists did not affect the NK3 agonist-evoked response; (v) the indirect stimulatory effect of the NK1 agonist was partially reduced under local blockade of cholinergic transmission in the matrix but not in the striosomal-enriched area.

The distribution of spinal and vagal sensory neurons that innervate the esophagus of the cat.

The distribution of spinal and vagal neurons that convey sensory information from the distal smooth muscle esophagus is poorly documented. Therefore, sensory cell bodies were retrogradely labeled by injecting fast blue into the striated and smooth muscle of the esophageal body and into the lower esophageal sphincter of the cat. The maximum distribution of spinal sensory neuron labeling was found in the following dorsal root ganglia: C1-T8 (striated muscle); C5-L2 (smooth muscle), and T1-L3 (lower esophageal sphincter).

Tyrosine protein kinase activity in renal brush-border membranes.

Tyrosine protein kinase (TPK) activity was detected in rat renal brush-border membranes (BBM) using poly(Glu80Na,Tyr20) as a substrate. Maximal TPK activity required prior detergent dispersion of the membranes with 0.05% Triton X-100 and the presence of vanadate, a potent inhibitor of phosphotyrosine protein phosphatases, in the phosphorylation medium.

Alloimmunization to platelet antigen HPA-1a (PIA1) is strongly associated with both HLA-DRB3*0101 and HLA-DQB1*0201.

Antibodies to the platelet HPA-1a antigen can elicit in the newborn a condition known as neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenic purpura (NAITP). Previous studies based on RFLP analysis showed that 100% of HPA-1a-negative women who produced anti-HPA-1a antibodies (responders) were HLA-DRw52a (DRB3*0101). However, this specificity could also be found in some HPA-1a-negative women not producing anti-HPA-1a antibodies (nonresponders).

Purification and characterization of metabolically active capillaries of the blood-brain barrier.

Microvessels were isolated from bovine and rat cerebral cortex by simple procedures involving mechanical homogenization, differential and density-gradient centrifugation, and chromatography on a column of glass beads. The preparations were composed of short capillaries with a diameter of 1-10 microns. Both purifications were monitored by assaying the activity of the marker enzyme gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (gamma-GTase).