Development and evaluation of an allocation committee to distribute community placements on an equitable basis between universities: Our experience with the University Placement Allocation Committee

The present paper outlines the development and evaluation of an allocation committee to distribute community placements on an equitable basis between universities. Although based on our experience in South Australia with the University Placement Allocation Committee (UPAC), the primary goal is to outline the steps that would be useful if placement coordinators at other universities in Australia decided to establish and maintain an allocation committee. A survey of field supervisors was also conducted and field supervisors endorsed UPAC as a constructive mechanism for allocating community placements.     

MEASUREMENT OF NORMAL HUMAN AIRWAYS RESPONSE TO β-ADRENOCEPTOR STIMULATION USING A FORCED OSCILLATION TECHNIQUE

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the responsiveness of normal human airways to beta-adrenoceptor stimulation using a forced oscillation technique. Seven normal volunteers (aged 25 +/- 2 year) were studied on three occasions, separated by weekly intervals, using a single-blind randomized design. On day 1, subjects were given cumulative doses of inhaled salbutamol (100, 200, 500, 1000 micrograms); and identical placebo was given on the other two visits. Respiratory oscillation impedance (Ros) was measured at baseline and 15 min after each dose increment. The coefficients of variation (CV) for short-term intra-individual variability on each placebo day were 7.5 and 9.5, and 9.6% for long-term variability (measured over all three visits). The 95% confidence values (2SD) for the change in Ros required to exclude natural variability were 0.39, 0.50 and 0.53 cmH2O l-1 s, respectively. There was a small fall in Ros in response to salbutamol although the mean maximum change (0.46 cmH2O l-1 s) was not significant (by ANOVA). Thus, the change in Ros (sensitivity) was no greater than the 95% confidence value for natural variability (reproducibility). Regression analysis also showed no evidence of a dose-response relationship for Ros.     

Multistep phase difference phase contrast imaging

A new technique for multistep phase-contrast image processing is presented. The N-step method consists of simply forming the linear average of the N — 1 adjacent phase-difference signals. It has similar noise reduction properties as other multistep techniques, but the simplicity of the noise variance of the N-step technique allows intuitive insight into phase-difference phase-contrast processing and noise reduction, which can aid in the design of efficient and improved phase-contrast imaging sequences. As well, the computational simplicity of the N-step phase-difference technique compared with any other known multistep technique is advantageous. Like other multistep techniques, it has far more efficient noise reduction properties than simple two-step, multiple average phase-contrast imaging, even when normalized for total scan time. A three-step phase-difference velocity image has 50% less variance than an image acquired with two steps and two scans averaged but is obtained in 25% less scan time. Given its advantages, it should now be the chosen technique for increasing velocity-to-noise and contrast-to-noise ratios in all phase-difference phase-contrast clinical applications.     

Leukemia clusters around nuclear facilities in Britain

He bas been retained for the defense by British Nuclear Fuelsplc in two suits in which leukemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma have been alleged to result from radiation exposures due to the operation of the nuclear reprocessing plant at Sellafield. This paper has been sent to the senior authors of the papers reporting clusters of leukemia or other malignancy in the vicinity of nuclear facilities in Britain and their comments invited. Subject to considerations of space and CCC style, these comments will be published as submited.     

A mutation in codon 717 of the CHO-K1 elongation factor 2 gene prevents the first step in the biosynthesis of diphthamide

The histidine residue at position 715 of elongation factor 2 (EF-2) is posttranslationally modified in a series of enzymatic reactions to 2-[3-carboxyamido-3-(trimethylammonio)-propyl]histidine, which has been given the trivial name diphthamide. The diphthamide residue of EF-2 is the target site for ADP ribosylation by diphtheria toxin and Pseudomonas exotoxin A. ADP-ribosylated EF-2 does not function in protein synthesis. EF-2 that has not been posttranslationally modified at histidine 715 is resistant to ADP ribosylation by these toxins. In this report we show that a G-to-A transition in the first position of codon 717 of the EF-2 gene results in substitution of arginine for glycine and prevents addition of the side chain of diphthamide to histidine 715 of EF-2. EF-2 produced by the mutant gene is fully functional in protein synthesis.This work was supported by Public Health Service grant AI-09100 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and by Biomedical Research Support Grant PHS07RR05429-27. Brian Foley is supported by a Cancer Biology Training Grant T32Ca-09286 from the National Cancer Institute.