Research opportunities in the regulatory aspects of electronic markets.

Regulation has not been a primary focus of research within the information systems discipline or the research domain of electronic markets. A framework is presented to support understanding of the field. A review of published works has established that many research opportunities exist.

The difficult-to-treat electroconvulsive therapy patient - Strategies for augmenting outcomes.

Background: Several treatment strategies for augmenting outcomes with ECT (concurrent antidepressant treatment, frequency of ECT treatments, hyperventilation and use of remifentanil) are discussed in the context of a difficult clinical case, accompanied by a review of the relevant existing literature.

Methods: Literature on the above aspects of ECT technique was identified via a PubMed search and was critically reviewed.

Results: There is preliminary evidence that concurrent administration of some antidepressant medications may be useful in the highly treatment resistant patient, though due attention should be given to potential risks in combining these with ECT; reduction of the treatment frequency to twice a week; hyperventilation prior to each treatment; and the use of remifentanil to minimise the dosage of induction anaesthetics with anticonvulsant properties, may be useful strategies to enhance seizure production in cases where a high or rapidly rising seizure threshold is a major impediment to ECT treatment.

Studies on naïve CD4+CD25+T cells inhibition of naïve CD4+CD25- T cells in mixed lymphocyte cultures.

Background: Naïve CD4+CD25+T cells suppress immune responses in a non-antigen specific manner. The effects of naïve CD4+CD25+T cells in suppressing alloimmune responses as assayed in the mixed lymphocyte culture (MLC) is poorly understood.

Method: The alloreactivity of naïve CD4+CD25+, CD4+CD25(-) and unfractionated CD4+T cells from DA rats was compared in MLC with MHC incompatible stimulator cells.

A report on mood and cognitive outcomes with right unilateral ultrabrief pulsewidth (0.3 ms) ECT and retrospective comparison with standard pulsewidth right unilateral ECT.

Background: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a highly effective treatment for depression but its use is limited by the risk of cognitive side effects. This study explored the potential of a novel approach, ultrabrief pulsewidth (0.3 ms) right unilateral (RUL-UB) ECT, to minimise cognitive effects while preserving efficacy.

A methodology to monitor the changing trends in health status of an elderly person by developing a markov model.

In this paper we are proposing a statistical testing methodology to monitor changing trends in the health status of elderly people. The occupancy pattern of elderly people can be modeled using a Markov chain, estimating transition probabilities of the chain and test hypotheses about them. The profile of the person for a given period can be stored as a transition matrix of a discrete, regular, ergodic Markov chain.

The cellular basis of cardiac allograft rejection. IX. Ratio of naïve CD4+CD25+ T cells/CD4+CD25- T cells determines rejection or tolerance.

Naïve CD4+ T cells are central to allograft rejection, but include 3-10% CD4+CD25+ T cells that induce and maintain immune tolerance. Whether increasing the ratio of CD4+CD25+ T cells can inhibit rejection and induce tolerance is not known. This study examined the effects that naïve CD4+CD25+ and CD4+CD25- T cells have on rejection of MHC incompatible PVG cardiac allografts in whole body irradiated DA rats.

Response of the parotid gland of the brushtail possum, Trichosurus vulpecula, to adrenergic stimulation.

Adrenergic stimulation of parotid secretion was investigated in anaesthetised brushtail possums to ascertain fluid secretion rates and salivary composition. Because neither alpha- nor beta-adrenergic stimulation evoked saliva output, infusion of the adrenergic agonists was superimposed on a pre-existing bethanechol-stimulated flow. Isoprenaline infusion (2.

A model for the formation of ring mitochondria in retinal pigment epithelium.

Purpose: To investigate the mechanism and sequence of formation of ring-shaped mitochondria in retinal pigment epithelial cells of a chick model of gyrate atrophy.

Methods: Electron microscopic analysis of the ultrastructure of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) mitochondria was carried out in chicks injected intravitreally with formoguanamine regularly (every 4 days) over the first 2 weeks or 4 weeks post-hatching. Formoguanamine is a triazine drug which induces hyperornithinemic symptoms in the chick eye similar to those seen in human gyrate atrophy.

Management and attitudes of epilepsy by a group of Sydney general practitioners.

Previous surveys of general practitioners (GPs) have shown stereotypic attitudes and management of persons with epilepsy (PWE). We mailed a questionnaire to 107 GPs in the Sydney and Illawarra regions of Australia to evaluate changes in knowledge and management of epilepsy and attitudes of GPs toward PWE as compared with results of a similar study made 10 years previously. Most GPs referred patients with epilepsy to a neurologist for initial management in preference to initiating investigation and treatment themselves.

Effects of cholinergic stimulation and aldosterone administration on salivary parotid secretion in the brushtail possum, Trichosurus vulpecula.

Parotid salivation was stimulated by infusion of bethanechol chloride into anaesthetized brushtail possums to ascertain maximal flow rates, salivary composition and dietary adaptations of salivary function. Secretion rates for one gland ranged from 5.3 +/- 0.

Amblyopia and suppression in binocular cortical neurones of strabismic cat.

The neural mechanism of strabismic amblyopia was investigated by recording the spatio-temporal properties of striate cortical neurones of cats raised with a surgically induced esotropia. Multiple pseudo-random flashed or phase-alternating stimuli were used, and through cross-correlation, the Wiener kernels were extracted. This analysis has shown that in neurones which retain binocularity to adulthood, two different neural mechanisms of adaptation to ocular misalignment exist.

Expression of human recombinant beta 2-glycoprotein I with anticardiolipin antibody cofactor activity.

To enable the synthesis of beta 2-glycoprotein I mutants we have established a stable Chinese hamster ovary cell line that expresses human beta 2-glycoprotein I up to 2.9 micrograms/10(6) cells/day. Recombinant beta 2-glycoprotein I is identical to the purified native protein with respect to cofactor activity revealed in a modified anti-cardiolipin ELISA.

Enhanced invasiveness and metastatic potential of epithelial cell lines cultured in the presence of dimethyl sulphoxide.

Several passage cycles of poorly metastatic malignant epithelial cells through immunosuppressed mice failed to induce enhanced metastasis-forming ability of cells derived from either the primary subcutaneous tumours or the resultant lung metastases. In vitro treatment of cultured malignant cells with dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) induced a reversible change in phenotype towards increased invasiveness but did not significantly increase metastasis formation. A cloned-cell line from a spontaneous in vitro transformant in the presence of DMSO was highly invasive and highly metastatic.

Dissociation between pain and autonomic disturbances in cluster headache.

The relationship between pain and autonomic disturbances in cluster headache was studied in 54 patients whose attack always recurred on the same side, and in 7 others whose attack had affected either side on different occasions. In one of these seven patients, facial flushing and ocular sympathetic deficit was observed on the original side of headaches. In most patients, the orbital region was warmer on the painful side but in three cases this region was cooler during and between attacks.

The activation of gold complexes by cyanide produced by polymorphonuclear leukocytes--I. The effects of aurocyanide on the oxidative burst of polymorphonuclear leukocytes.

It has been suggested that the antiarthritic gold complex, aurothiomalate (Autm), is activated by its conversion to aurocyanide by polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) which generate cyanide from thiocyanate. In an examination of this hypothesis, a study has been conducted on the effects of aurocyanide on the oxidative burst of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) and monocytes activated by phorbol myristate acetate (PMA). Aurocyanide produced delayed inhibition of the oxidative burst as shown by its effect on both lucigenin and luminol-dependent chemiluminescence and on the production of superoxide.

On the mechanism by which an ACAT inhibitor (CL 277,082) influences plasma lipoproteins in the rat.

CL 277,082 is an inhibitor of acyl-CoA: cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT). The effects of this drug on lipoprotein metabolism have been examined in cholesterol-fed rats. An optimal dose of drug incorporated into the diet (0.

Purification and characterization of uracil phosphoribosyltransferase from Crithidia luciliae.

1. Uracil phosphoribosyltransferase (UPRTase) was purified 370-fold from the protozoan parasite, Crithidia luciliae. 2.

The effects of adrenergic blockade on lipoproteins using the rat as an experimental model.

Adrenergic blocking drugs are known to have adverse effects on lipids and lipoproteins in man, although the mechanisms underlying these effects are unclear. In order to see whether the rat might be a suitable model to explore this issue, adrenergic blockers having differing properties with respect to receptor interaction were administered to rats orally over seven days, followed by measurement of plasma lipids and lipoproteins. Total plasma cholesterol was not significantly influenced by any of the drugs used, while triglycerides were reduced by 20% and 31% respectively with pindolol and prazosin.

Inhibition of uridine phosphorylase from Giardia lamblia by pyrimidine analogs.

Fifty-six pyrimidine analogs were tested as possible inhibitors of uridine phosphorylase from Giardia lamblia. Values of Ki were determined for eight of these which demonstrated an inhibition greater than 60% under the standard conditions of uridine at 1 mM (approximately 1.5 times the Km) and inhibitor at 1 mM.

Behaviour completion mechanisms, anxiety and agoraphobia.

Little attention has been paid to the situations which provoke the initial attack of anxiety in agoraphobia. According to the behaviour completion hypothesis many normal subjects experience increased tension in such situations when there is a delay in the completion of a behaviour. One hundred and eight medical students completed a questionnaire designed to investigate this hypothesis.

Cloned murine non-malignant, spontaneously transformed and chemical tumour-derived cell lines related to the type 2 pneumocyte.

NAL1A is a murine type 2 pneumocyte-related cell line cultured from normal BALB/c adult mouse lung. In vitro spontaneous transformation of 3 out of 7 clones of NAL1A has led to the isolation and establishment in continuous cell culture of sibling-related non-neoplastic (NAL1A) and spontaneously arising neoplastic (NAL1As) cell strains. NAL1As cells exhibited a similar phenotype to cloned NUL1 cells cultured from urethane-induced mouse lung adenomas.

Failure of clinical tests to predict cerebral ischemia before neck manipulation.

A case report is presented of a patient with vertebral artery occlusion, demonstrated by digital subtraction angiography, in whom clinical tests designed to test for potential vertebrobasilar insufficiency were negative. The clinical tests used to examine our patient included the vertebrobasilar artery functional maneuver, the Smith and Estridge, Maigne's, Hautand's and Underberge's tests. This case report highlights the limited diagnostic value of these tests.