Comparison between two measures of delay discounting in smokers.

Agreement between computer and questionnaire measures of delay discounting in smokers was compared. Correlations between measures for small, medium, or large rewards were significant. Log k values decreased as the reward delay increased, with values lower for the computer task than the questionnaire, with significant differences for small rewards.

Expression and regulation of nuclear retinoic acid receptors in human lymphoid cells.

Retinoids are known to play an important role in cellular growth and differentiation and more recently in the immune response. Our laboratory has previously shown that all-trans-retinoic acid (atRA) augments immunoglobulin synthesis of cord blood mononuclear cells by enhancing the synthesis of certain cytokines. Transcriptional regulatory elements, the retinoic acid nuclear receptors (RAR), could mediate the RA-induced regulation of genes, e.

Use of packing in obstetric hemorrhage of uterine origin.

Objective: To determine the safety and effectiveness of uterine packing to stop hemorrhage in obstetric patients following delivery and pregnancy termination.

Study Design: A review of obstetric records at Children's Hospital of Buffalo in a 9-year period was undertaken. Patients with uterine packing were identified.

Diaphragmatic function after intense exercise in congestive heart failure patients.

Respiratory muscle strength and endurance is reduced in patients with congestive heart failure, making these patients susceptible to diaphragmatic fatigue during exercise. In order to determine whether or not contractile fatigue of the diaphragm occurs in patients with congestive heart failure following intense exercise, twitch transdiaphragmatic pressures (twitch Ptdi) were measured during unpotentiated and potentiated cervical magnetic stimulation (CMS) of the phrenic nerves before and at intervals after cycle endurance exercise. Ten patients aged 65.

The hybrid approach to coronary artery revascularization: minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass with percutaneous coronary intervention.

In the past decade, new developments in cardiology and cardiac surgery have begun to offer patients a variety of new, less invasive options for the treatment of coronary artery disease. One such option is the hybrid approach to coronary artery revascularization. This combines minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass surgery (MIDCAB) of the left anterior descending artery (LAD) with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of the remaining diseased coronary arteries.

Resection of chondrosarcoma of the pubic bone.

The incision often described in resection of the pubic bone is one that essentially traces the outline of this bone from the pubic tubercle along the superior pubic ramus, the pubic symphysis, and then the inferior pubic ramus all the way to the ischial tuberosity. This incision is satisfactory for sub-periosteal resection of the pubic bone, but it is not suitable for malignant tumors of the pubic bone extending into the adjacent soft tissues and adductor muscles. The technique of the abdominoinguinal incision is described.

Impact of invasive strategy on management of antimicrobial treatment failure in institutionalized older people with severe pneumonia.

The aim of the study was to investigate the etiology and the impact of invasive quantitative sampling on the management of severe pneumonia in institutionalized older people with antimicrobial treatment failure. Fifty-two institutionalized patients aged 70 years and older hospitalized with a presumptive diagnosis of severe pneumonia and failure to respond to treatment after 72 hours of initiation of outpatient antimicrobial therapy were enrolled. Microbial investigation included blood culture, serology, pleural fluid, and bronchoalveolar samples.

Echinococcosis--an emerging parasite in the immigrant population.

Echinococcus tapeworms are parasites that infect dog species worldwide and occasionally are transmitted to humans. Infection occurs most commonly in persons who raise sheep or cattle, and who have contact with dogs. The tapeworm eggs are typically ingested during play with dogs or through consumption of garden vegetables or water contaminated by dog feces.

Effects of direct current electric fields on cell migration and actin filament distribution in bovine vascular endothelial cells.

Electric fields exceeding 1 V/cm occur during wound healing, morphogenesis, and tumor growth, and such fields have been shown to induce directional migration of a variety of different cells. However, the mechanism by which electric fields direct cell movement is not yet understood, and the effects on vascular endothelial cells are entirely unknown. We demonstrate that cultured bovine aortic endothelial cells migrate toward the cathode of an applied electric field.

Electrical foot stimulation and implications for the prevention of venous thromboembolic disease.

Background: Venous stasis caused by immobility is an important risk factor for deep vein thrombosis following surgery and lower limb trauma, in bed-ridden medical patients, and in high-risk long distance air travelers. A safe and convenient method for reducing venous stasis would be useful in patients while in hospital and after discharge during their rehabilitation.

Subjects And Methods: 49 healthy subjects aged 51-76 were seated for 4 hours during which they received mild electrical stimulation of the calf, or sole of the foot (plantar muscles).

Adhesion molecules in patients with coronary artery disease and moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea.

Study Objectives: It has been suggested that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)-induced hypoxic stress might contribute to cardiovascular disorders by promoting expression of soluble adhesion molecules. The reported increase of circulating adhesion molecules in patients with OSA remains controversial because confounders such as cardiovascular risk factors and left ventricular function have not been adequately controlled for. We hypothesized that soluble intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1, vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1, L-selectin, and E-selectin levels are correlated with OSA independent of coexisting coronary artery disease (CAD).

Primary immunodeficiency disorders: antibody deficiency.

As a group, antibody deficiencies represent the most common types of primary immune deficiencies in human subjects. Often symptoms do not appear until the latter part of the first year of life, as passively acquired IgG from the mother decreases to below protective levels. As with the T-cell immune deficiencies, the spectrum of antibody deficiencies is broad, ranging from the most severe type of antibody deficiency with totally absent B cells and serum Igs to patients who have a selective antibody deficiency with normal serum Ig.

Rhabdomyolysis.

Rhabdomyolysis is a potentially life-threatening syndrome resulting from the breakdown of skeletal muscle fibers with leakage of muscle contents into the circulation. The most common causes are crush injury, overexertion, alcohol abuse and certain medicines and toxic substances. Several inherited genetic disorders, such as McArdle's disease and Duchenne's muscular dystrophy, are predisposing factors for the syndrome.

A school-based asthma intervention program in the Buffalo, New York, schools.

This project investigated the feasibility and effectiveness of a school asthma program in reducing asthma exacerbations among school children. In 1997-1998, two schools were selected for a case control pilot study. The intervention required that students with asthma, who needed medication daily at school, must present a written plan from the health care provider.

Comparison of potentiated and unpotentiated twitches as an index of muscle fatigue.

Recent data suggest that the potentiated twitch is a more sensitive index of contractile fatigue than is the unpotentiated twitch. We hypothesized that after a potentially fatiguing load, the fall in twitch amplitude of the potentiated twitch would be significantly greater than that of an unpotentiated twitch. We compared the response of the potentiated and unpotentiated twitches to a series of potentially fatiguing loads using magnetic stimulation of the femoral nerve in 10 healthy subjects.

Nerve growth factor-mediated increases in protein methylation occur predominantly at type I arginine methylation sites and involve protein arginine methyltransferase 1.

Nerve growth factor (NGF)-specific signal transduction leads to changes in protein methylation during neuronal differentiation of PC12 cells (Cimato et al. [1997] J. Cell Biol.

Primary central nervous system lymphoma masquerading as herpes encephalitis: clinical, magnetic resonance imaging, and pathologic findings.

An 84-year-old man presented with acute confusion, global aphasia, and fever. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed hyperintense lesions on T2-weighted and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) images predominantly affecting the cortical gray matter of the left mesial temporal and inferior frontal lobes, and insula. Acyclovir was prescribed for presumed viral encephalitis.

Implementation of the Ottawa ankle rule in a university sports medicine center.

Purpose: The Ottawa ankle rule (OAR) is a clinical decision rule used in emergency departments to identify which patients with acute ankle/midfoot injury require radiography. The purpose of this study was to implement the OAR, with a modification to improve the specificity for identifying malleolar fractures (the "Buffalo rule"), in a sports medicine center and measure impact on physician practice and cost savings.

Methods: All pediatric and adult patients presenting to a university sports medicine walk-in clinic with acute (< or = 10 d old) ankle/midfoot injury had the rule applied by primary care providers.

Morbid obesity in the medical ICU.

Study Objective: To describe the clinical course, complications, and prognostic factors of morbidly obese patients admitted to the ICU compared to a control group of nonobese patients.

Design: A retrospective study.

Setting: Two university-affiliated hospitals.

Sex-related differences in event-related potentials, face recognition, and facial affect processing in prepubertal children.

Thirty-five prepubertal children, 17 boys and 18 girls, between the ages of 8 and 11 years, were studied to examine electrophysiological and cognitive sex differences during a face-recognition-memory (FRM) task and a facial-affect-identification task (FAIT). All participants were prepubertal, as determined by J. M.

Reducing sedentary behavior: role in modifying physical activity.

Decreased physical activity is associated with the increased incidence of obesity. Behavioral economic research demonstrates that reducing sedentary behaviors in children increases physical activity. Understanding how people choose physical or sedentary activities can aid in developing public health initiatives that increase access to physical activity, while reducing access to sedentary behaviors.

Changes in eating disorder symptoms with pediatric obesity treatment.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of behavioral, family-based treatment on disordered eating and child behavior problems for obese 8- to 12-year-old children.

Study Design: We examined disordered eating in children and parents using the Kids' Eating Disorder Survey (KEDS) and the Binge Eating Scale, respectively; and psychologic problems in children and their parents using the Child Behavior Checklist and Symptom Checklist-90, respectively, in 47 families who participated in a family-based obesity treatment program.

Results: Obese children showed significant decreases (-12.

Effect of vanadium(IV) compounds in the treatment of diabetes: in vivo and in vitro studies with vanadyl sulfate and bis(maltolato)oxovandium(IV).

Vanadyl sulfate (VOSO(4)) was given orally to 16 subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus for 6 weeks at a dose of 25, 50, or 100 mg vanadium (V) daily [Goldfine et al., Metabolism 49 (2000) 1-12]. Elemental V was determined by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS).

Update on screening for type 2 diabetes. The why, who, how, and what of testing and diagnosing.

Type 2 diabetes can cause serious complications even as it remains undiagnosed. Screening is recommended only in people with risk factors for the disease. The ADA recommends FPG as the test of choice, but RPG is also a practical alternative because it is easier and more convenient.