The Community Placement Scale: an adaptation of the Community Competence Scale for placement of the deinstitutionalized mentally ill

The Community Placement Scale (CPS), an abbreviated form of the Community Competence Scale (Anderten, 1979) suitable for placement of deinstitutionalized mental patients in the community, was developed in a combined sample of 87 subjects placed in the community in California and Missouri. Although the Community Competence Scale has shown considerable promise as a placement instrument with the deinstitutionalized mentally ill, a briefer measure is needed in order to increase acceptance by both patients and professional staff. Other improvements sought were determining the acceptability of items to placement personnel nationwide, eliminating nondiscriminating items, and heightening internal consistency reliability of subscales. In a series of discriminant analyses, remaining subscales were used to predict community placement with minimal and maximal degrees of structure. From these analyses, a measure that consisted of 5 subscales and 41 items and required approximately 20 minutes to administer was selected. This short form has many similarities to and a few important differences from the previously published short form.     

Morphological and cytochemical alterations of the Golgi apparatus and GERL in rat parotid acinar cells during ethionine intoxication and recovery

The present electron microscopic cytochemical investigation was undertaken to characterize the alterations in the Golgi apparatus and GERL of rat parotid acinar cells during ethionine intoxication and recovery. Although the Golgi apparatus and GERL were reduced in size, and some broadening of the Golgi saccules occurred as the result of ethionine treatment, the relative localization of thiamine pyrophosphatase (TPPase) activity in the Golgi saccules, and acid phosphatase activity (AcPase) in GERL, remained unchanged. Shortly after ethionine treatment was stopped, a dramatic redistribution of enzyme activities was noted. Within the first 24 hours of recovery, the Golgi apparatus began to enlarge, and the content of secretory granules increased. By day 3 of recovery, cisternae morphologically identifiable as GERL and forming secretory granules possessed TPPase activity, while AcPase activity was virtually undetectable. After seven days of recovery, the Golgi apparatus and GERL appeared both morphologically and cytochemically normal. The enzyme modulation observed during recovery may be correlated with increased secretory granule production. Furthermore, the presence of TPPase activity in GERL and forming secretory granules lends support to the suggestion that GERL may be derived from the trans Golgi saccule.     

The effects of thermochemotherapy using cyclophosphamide plus hyperthermia on the malignant pleural mesothelioma in vivo

The human malignant pleural mesothelioma is related to the use of asbestos in the majority of cases. Though the use of asbestos has been prohibited since the 1990s, the incidence of pleural mesothelioma is still increasing because of a latency period of at least 20 years. This study investigated the benefit of single therapy with cyclophosphamide or hyperthermia or the combination of both on cells of a human pleural mesothelioma cell line, xenotransplanted subcutaneously in the paw of mice. A CONTROL group received the same volume of physiological saline. The oxygenation of tumours was measured, tumour growth was followed over 3 weeks, immunohistochemical studies and a light and electron microscopic evaluation were performed. Chemotherapy or hyperthermia alone was only temporarily effective. The greatest benefit was achieved using combined thermochemotherapy consisting of cyclophosphamide plus hyperthermia: 50% of this group had partial remissions, and 67% responded to this therapy. After 3 weeks tumours grew again. Superior effects could be achieved by performing additional cycles of chemotherapy or adding another drug or radiation for instance. This study shows promising results in the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma.     

Amphiphysin I phosphorylation on residue threonine 260 in a pentylenetetrazole-induced seizure model

A method to evaluate kinase inhibitor action was reported [L. Morgan, S.J. Neame, H. Child, R. Chung, B. Shah, L. Barden, J.M. Staddon, T.R. Patel, Development of a pentylenetetrazole-induced seizure model to evaluate kinase inhibitor efficacy in the central nervous system, Neurosci. Lett. 395 (2006) 143–148]. In this, acute administration of the GABA antagonist pentylenetetrazole triggers seizures through glutamate-dependent pathways. Under such conditions, activation of the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) pathway was detected in hippocampal extracts. Phosphorylation of the upstream JNK kinase MKK4 was also revealed through use of a phospho-MKK4-specific antibody. Here, this antibody is shown to also react with a protein of ∼125 kDa which underwent increased phosphorylation in response to pentylenetetrazole treatment. The present study aimed to identify the ∼125 kDa protein as it may provide novel insight into signalling, neuronal activity and seizures. Using chromatographic methods and mass spectrometry, the protein was identified as amphiphysin I. This was confirmed by 2D gel analysis and immunoblot with amphiphysin I-specific antibodies. Although the phospho-MKK4 antibody was raised against an MKK4-specific peptide, partial sequence homology between this sequence and a region of amphiphysin was discerned. New antibodies raised against the phospho-threonine 260-amphiphysin-specific sequence detected increased phosphorylation in response to pentylenetetrazole treatment. This particular phosphorylation site does not seem to have been described before, possibly reflecting a novel regulatory aspect of amphiphysin biology. As amphiphysin is involved in the regulation of endocytosis, phosphorylation at this site may play a role in the regulated re-uptake of synaptic vesicles after neurotransmitter release.     

Neurological Manifestations of COVID-19 Feature T Cell Exhaustion and Dedifferentiated Monocytes in Cerebrospinal Fluid

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Procedure for concentration and conditioning of hybridoma cell culture medium for monoclonal antibody purification

Summary Concentration and conditioning the hybridoma cell culture medium is an important step in the monoclonal antibody purification procedure. This report describes a frequent first-step concentration of the hybridoma cell culture medium and the conditioning of the concentrated medium for the affinity purification of the monoclonal antibodies.     

The enzymatic degradation of polymers in vitro

Specimens of 14C-labeled poly(ethylene terephthalate), nylon 66, and poly(methyl methacrylate) have been synthesized and exposed, in vitro, to a number of enzyme solutions. Poly(ethylene terephthalate) was found to be affected by esterase and papain, although in different ways, but not by trypsin or chymotrypsin. Nylon 66 was unaffected by esterase but degraded by the other three. Poly(methyl methacrylate) was not affected by any of these enzymes. This indicates that some nominally stable polymers are susceptible to degradation by enzymes under some circumstances. The amount of degradation is small, but could have significant sequelae should it be reproduced in vivo.     

Protection of granulocytes by vitamin E in glutathione synthetase deficiency.

The administration of vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) was found to improve polymorphonuclear leukocyte function in an infant with congenital deficiency of glutathione synthetase activity. Before therapy with vitamin E the abnormal leukocytes exposed to phagocytic challenge showed oxidant damage. They released 60 per cent more hydrogen peroxide than did normal leukocytes, iodinated only 20 to 25 per cent of the normal number of particles, and were unable to kill bacteria as effectively as normal leukocytes although the rates of phagocytosis were normal. These functional abnormalities disappeared when the patient was placed on 400 IU of alpha-tocopherol daily for three months. Associated with the functional improvement was a normalization of microtubule assembly during phagocytic challenge.