Identifying Risk Drinking in Expectant Fathers

Abstract: Background: Identification of risk drinking in expectant fathers may be helpful as an important part of efforts to minimize maternal alcohol use, and as an opportunity to inform them about a problematic practice during a critical developmental stage for the couple. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the T‐ACE screening questionnaire, which asks about t olerance to alcohol, being a nnoyed by other's comments about drinking, attempts to c ut down, and having a drink first thing in the morning (“ e ye‐opener”), in the male partners of pregnant women who themselves were T‐ACE positive. Methods: Two hundred fifty‐four male partners were asked to complete the T‐ACE embedded in a health survey, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), and other questions about their alcohol use in the past 30 days when their pregnant partners had a median gestation of 11.5 weeks (T₁). After delivery, male partners again completed the T‐ACE and quantity‐frequency questions (T₂). The predictive ability of the T‐ACE and AUDIT was compared, using risk drinking (>4 drinks/day or >14 drinks/week) as the criterion standard. Results: A substantial minority of male partners had risk drinking, 31 percent at T₁ and 25 percent at T₂. Although the AUDIT was better than the T‐ACE as an independent predictor of risk drinking, the latter was most accurate when the tolerance threshold exceeded 2 drinks, the same established for pregnant women. The sensitivity (T₁ = 84.6%, T₂ = 82.8%) and specificity (T₁ = 43.8%, T₂ = 51.1%) of the T‐ACE at this threshold compared favorably with those of the AUDIT at the standard cut point of 8. Conclusions: The T‐ACE may be a practical way for clinicians to identify risk drinking in both pregnant women and expectant fathers. (BIRTH 33:2 June 2006)     

Impaired Lymphocyte Proliferative Response to Mitogen in Alcoholic Patients. Absence of a Relation to Liver Disease Activity

Concanavalin A-induced lymphocyte proliferation was studied in 25 patients with alcoholic hepatitis or compensated alcoholic cirrhosis. Nine alcoholics without evidence of liver disease were also evaluated. A nonlinear correlation equation, which was natural logarithmic, was applied to individual dose-response proliferation curves and permitted comparisons between patient groups and controls. The proliferative response in all patient groups was significantly lower when compared to healthy controls and was independent of the presence or absence of liver disease. This suggests that some changes in immune function observed in alcoholics may be linked to the direct effects of alcohol on the immune system rather than to the associated liver disease.     

脑前循环系统动脉瘤的外科治疗

本文报告113例脑前循环系统动脉管其中包括颈内动脉后交通动脉瘤75例.前交通动脉瘤17例,大脑中动脉瘤10例,人脑前动脉-胼周动脉瘤3例,颈内动脉-眼动脉瘤2例,颈内动脉海绵窦段动脉瘤1例.多发动脉瘤5例.共118个动脉瘤在显微镜下直视手术,动脉瘤直接夹闭术108例.孤立或包裹术5例:5例多发动脉瘤行同期手术3例,分期手术2例.术中发生动脉瘤破裂18次.Hunt和HessⅠ～Ⅱ级病人中有例行早期手术.全组术后死亡率为7.9%.着重讨论手术时机.术中动脉瘤破裂处理及多发动脉瘤的治疗.     

缺氧缺血性脑病新生鼠补钙前后脑细胞,红细胞内外钙的变化

为了观察一般剂量补钙对缺氧缺血性脑病（ＨＩＥ）脑细胞和红细胞内外钙变化的影响，以探讨ＨＩＥ时补钙是否增加脑细胞钙超载，用ＨＩＥ新生动物模型进行了实验研究，结果表明：（１）缺氧缺血时红细胞、脑细胞及脑组织出现钙积聚；（２）补钙后，血浆总钙浓度明显升高，而脑细胞、脑组织及红细胞钙积聚并未加重；（３）血浆总钙浓度与脑细胞或红细胞胞浆游离钙离子浓度无相关关系。提示：（１）ＨＩＥ时钙内流可能是全身性的；（２）对ＨＩＥ并低钙血症患儿吸氧后一般剂量补钙可能是安全的。     

The in vitro pharmacological profile of KR31080, a nonpeptide AT1 receptor antagonist

Summary— KR31080 (2-butyl-5-methyl-6-(1-oxopyridin-2-yl)-3-[[2'-(1H-tetrazol-5-yl) biphenyl-4-yl]methyl]-3H-imidazo[4,5-b] pyridine) is a potent inhibitor of angiotensin type 1 (AT₁) receptors in rabbit aorta and human recombinant AT₁ receptors. In the isolated rabbit thoracic aorta, KR31080 caused a nonparallel shift to the right of the concentration-response curves to angiotensin II (All) with decreased maximal response (pD'₂ = 10.1 ± 0.1), but had no effect on the contractile response induced by norepinephrine. KR31080 inhibited specific [¹²⁵I]AII binding to rabbit aortic membranes (AT, receptors) and [¹²⁵I][Sar¹, Ile⁸]AII binding to human recombinant AT₁ receptors in a concentration-dependent manner with IC₅₀ values of 0.84 ± 0.08 nM and 1.92 ± 0.15 nM, respectively, but did not inhibit specific [¹²⁵I)AII binding to bovine cerebellum membranes (ÀT₂ receptors). In the Scatchard analysis, KR31080 interacted with rabbit aortic AT₁ receptors in a competitive manner, similar to losartan. These results demonstrate that KR31080 is a potent and AT₁ selective angiotensin receptor antagonist which exerts a competitive antagonism in the [¹²⁵I]AII binding assay and insurmountable AT₁ receptor antagonism in the functional study.     

Detection of undiagnosed coagulopathies using routine rapid heparin neutralization.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the most frequent clinical causes of a prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) result, and to determine whether a new heparin-removal device (the Hepchek, Pall Biomedical, Glen Cove, NY 11542) is capable of efficiently detecting the causes of these values. DESIGN: A combination of chart review and laboratory testing comparing the criterion standard--the heparin chromogenic substrate assay--with the Hepchek. Laboratory investigations were blinded and controlled. SETTING: Inpatient, acute-care hospital. PATIENTS: A total of 1,000 hospital patients with a variety of hemostatic disorders. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The extent to which the Hepchek accurately identified the etiology of a prolonged APTT result. RESULTS: The APTT was prolonged in 25.2% of samples. The presence of heparin in the sample was confirmed by chromogenic assay or by using the Hepchek heparin-removal filter. The presence of heparin was confirmed in 12.8% of all samples and in more than 50% of all abnormal samples. The cause of the abnormal APTT was often unappreciated by the clinician. Bayesian analysis of the Hepchek's ability to diagnose heparin correctly as the cause of the abnormal APTT showed a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 99.9%. CONCLUSION: Use of the Hepchek in the routine clinical laboratory is an efficient and rapid method of detecting heparin as a cause of isolated prolonged APTT results, and should reduce demands for unwarranted coagulation analyses and inappropriate treatment with blood products.     

Molecular cloning of agonistic and antagonistic monoclonal antibodies against human 4-1BB.

Previously, we prepared two different monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against human 4-1BB (CD137): an agonistic mAb BBK-1 and an antagonistic mAb BBK-2. In this paper, we describe the molecular cloning of these two mAbs and present comparisons of their amino acid sequences. cDNAs encoding the heavy (H) and light (L) chains of the two mAbs were cloned by screening of cDNA libraries constructed from hybridomas secreting these mAbs. Comparisons of amino acid sequences of the two mAbs showed that, while the constant regions of the H and L chains were identical between the two mAbs, the variable region showed 45% identity in H chains and 48% identity in L chains. This suggests that these two mAbs recognize different epitopes of 4-1BB and may have different effects on the activity of 4-1BB.     

Hypoxia effects on vascular endothelial growth factor derived epithelial cells of nasal polyps]

OBJECTIVE: To understand the role of nasal mucous epithelial cells to hypoxia in early stage of nasal polyps(NP) formation. METHODS: Epithelial cells of NP and inferior turbinate (IT) were cultured without serum under normal oxygen and hypoxia, and stimulus of inflammatory cytokines. Erythropoietin (EPO) was regarded as hypoxia mark, and expression of vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) mRNA and protein derived from epithelial cells were detected respectively by in situ hybridization and ELISA. RESULTS: 1. Under hypoxia, EPO mRNA was expressed intensely in epithelial cells from NP and IT, and there was no significant difference between both of them. This result suggested that EPO might be regarded as a hypoxic mark. 2. The ability of producing VEGF mRNA increased with cytokines stimulation, especially under hypoxia. Protein level of VEGF from epithelial cells of NP and IT increased with cytokines stimulation, especially in hypoxia and was time-dependent. CONCLUSION: Epithelial cells actively produce vast VEGF under hypoxia. The VEGF induced by hypoxia of the mucosa in middle meatus is of importance in the formation of nasal polyps(NP) in early stage, which may be the major cause of NP formation in middle meatus.