The effects of feeding an elemental chemical diet to mature rats: toxicologic and pathologic studies

An 8-week study was conducted in mature Sprague-Dawley rats to determine the effect of feeding a liquid elemental chemical diet as the sole source of nutrition. Periodic studies showed that blood and urine were normal except for a slight decrease in urine specific gravity, blood urea nitrogen, and hemoglobin-hematocrit values in some of the animals. Prolonged prothrombin times and bleeding, observed in some animals, were ascribed to a questionable deficiency of vitamin K. Histopathologic examinations of the tissues showed no abnormalities except for the indication, in some animals, that fatty metamorphic changes had occurred in the liver. Apparently these changes resulted from a lipotropic factor deficiency that was reversed by the addition of choline to the diet. In all other respects the diet appeared to be well tolerated.     

Social Attitudes Toward Traumatized Men and Women: A Vignette Study

This study investigated social beliefs about gender-appropriate reactions to trauma. Ninety-three men and 179 women completed vignette measures of attitudes toward victims, the Bem Sex Role Inventory, and the Trauma History Questionnaire. Participants evaluated male victims less favorably than female victims. Women responded more positively toward all victims than men. Participants regarded female crime victims more positively than their male counterparts, but did not distinguish between male and female natural disaster victims. Feminine-sex-typed women rated victims more favorably than masculine-sex-typed individuals. There was a positive relation between personal trauma exposure and attitudes toward male victims among male participants. These findings contribute to an understanding of factors influencing the social reactions experienced by traumatized men and women, and have implications for clinical practice and psychoeducation.     

Regression of HPV-positive tumors treated with a new Listeria monocytogenes vaccine

BACKGROUND: Human papillomavirus (HPV) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of 15% to 23% of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas as well as most oropharyngeal carcinomas. The viral oncoproteins E6 and E7 are expressed in HPV-positive tumor cells and therefore provide ideal targets for tumor immunotherapy. Because of its unique ability to induce a cellular immune response, the intracellular bacteria Listeria monocytogenes has been studied as a potential HPV-positive tumor vaccine. OBJECTIVE: To present a new recombinant strain of L monocytogenes that is effective in treating HPV-positive tumors in a murine model. DESIGN: A new recombinant L monocytogenes vaccine, Lm-ActA-E7, was designed by transforming an attenuated Listeria strain with an E7 expression cassette. The cassette consists of the HPV-16 E7 sequence fused to the Listeria protein ActA. The resultant strain of bacteria secretes E7 antigen as a fusion protein with ActA. METHODS: Tumors were established in C57BL/6 mice with a syngeneic HPV-positive cell line prior to treatment with vaccine. INTERVENTION: The Lm-ActA-E7 vaccine was administered intraperitoneally to the mice 5 days after tumors were established. A booster dose was administered 7 days after the first dose. Tumor progression was measured in 2 dimensions periodically after the vaccination. RESULTS: In C57BL/6 mice, the administration of Lm-ActA-E7 caused the complete regression of HPV-positive tumors in 6 of 8 mice tested. A cytotoxic T-lymphocyte assay revealed that administration of the vaccine caused the generation of cytotoxic T cells specific for E7. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate the ability of a new Listeria-based vaccine to generate a specific antitumor T-cell response and cause the regression of HPV-positive tumors in a murine model.     

The measurement and health impact of endotoxin contamination in organic dusts from multiple sources: focus on the cotton industry

Endotoxin is derived from Gram-negative bacterial membranes, and its inflammatory effects following inhalation are well characterized. The significance of this fact becomes apparent when the wide-ranging environments containing high levels of this microbial product are considered. Endotoxin is present in numerous industrial environments, especially where organic fibers are processed. Microbial contamination of these fibers mainly occurs at the agricultural stage. Materials such as flax and hemp are affected in this way, but the most important product in this context is cotton, from which chronic dust inhalation causes the disease byssinosis. Despite the fact that endotoxin constitutes a significant threat to public health, there are currently no occupational exposure limits for this toxicant. This communication describes the toxicology of endotoxin, and its role in inhalation-induced disease, focusing on measurement of airborne endotoxin in the occupational and domestic environments using the Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL) enzyme assay. Following the success of the LAL assay for measuring endotoxin in dusts, our laboratory has examined its application to aqueous washes from cotton fibers. Reproducibility of the results was high, and data are presented displaying levels of endotoxin contamination in fibers from different cotton producing countries. Hence, worldwide comparison of industrial endotoxin concentrations can be readily made using this test. It would be highly desirable if the performance of the LAL assay facilitated introduction of industrial endotoxin safety limits, and in spite of minor surmountable shortcomings, the test is accurate, reliable, and well field-tested, so its continued widespread use may achieve this goal.     

Review of dementia

Elderly persons are at increased risk for developing dementia, and this risk increases with age. It is important to understand the following points: (a). how to diagnose dementia; (b). the etiology of the most common dementias (including Alzheimer s disease, ischemic vascular dementia, and diffuse Lewy body dementia); (c). some medical conditions which could contribute to symptoms of dementia; (d). the pathophysiology of Alzheimer s disease; and (e). management problems faced by caregivers for dementia patients. This review aims to educate clinicians to focus on caregivers issues and the need for long-term planning.     

Therapeutic strategies in common variable immunodeficiency

The treatment of common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) is currently based on the early recognition of the condition and replacement immunoglobulin combined with prompt treatment of infections and complications. The route of administration, dose and frequency of administration of immunoglobulin still vary between centres and countries. Other interventions aimed at overcoming the immunological defects in CVID such as interleukin-2 therapy are being studied but there is as yet insufficient evidence to support their routine use. The treatment of complications such as suppurative lung disease uses principles broadly similar to those used for cystic fibrosis, whereas the granulomatous complications involving the lungs and other organ systems are in need of much more research to define optimum therapies.     

Cryoablation of renal tumours in patients with solitary kidneys

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the use of cryoablation for small renal tumours (相似文献   

Retrospective collection of exposure data from industry: results from a feasibility study in the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom the Health and Safety Executive for some years has stored chemical exposure data in their National Exposure Database. However, it has been difficult to persuade industry and other organizations to contribute to this resource. The aim of this project was to devise a cost-effective method of obtaining occupational exposure data on chemicals from U.K. industry and other sources. Five strategies were used to identify data for three different substances: toluene, acrylonitrile, and ethylene oxide. In total, 810 organizations were contacted and over 45 percent responded. However, only 40 had relevant exposure data. Almost equal numbers of acceptable measurements were identified for toluene and acrylonitrile (2,770 and 2,000 respectively) with lesser ethylene oxide data (800). These measurements were drawn from a wide range of industries and are probably representative of measurements made by U.K. industry, although most of the data were from companies employing more than 100 people. During the second phase of the project, more than 3,000 measurements and associated contextual information were collected (499 for toluene, 1,516 for acrylonitrile, and 17 for ethylene oxide, with a further 1,004 measurements for 1 of 27 substances collected simultaneously with one of the above). The costs of identifying and collecting exposure data ranged from ?7 to ?380 per valid measurement, depending on the source of the data. We suggest that, rather than trying to retrospectively collect data, it is likely to be more cost-effective to enlist a number of occupational hygiene consults and industrial organizations to prospectively provide anonymized exposure measurements for inclusion in the Health and Safety Executives National Exposure Database.     

Urinary oligosaccharide excretion in disorders of glycolipid,glycoprotein and glycogen metabolism

In recent years great interest has centered around metabolic disorders in which excessive oligosacchariduria is a prominent feature. This review describes the methods of both structural and diagnostic investigations of oligosaccharides in a number of these diseases. Special emphasis has been laid upon simple screening methods which would avail themselves to the clinical chemistry laboratory.Abbreviations Asn Asparagine - Fuc Fucose - Gal Galactose - GalNAc N-acetylgalactosamine - Glc Glucose - Man Mannose - NANA N-acetylneuraminic acid (Sialic acid) Curriculum viate. Adrian Sewell was born 1950 in Salisbury, UK. He graduated 1972 from the Biochemistry Faculty of Bath University and proceeded to the Department of Child Health at Bristol University to research for a PhD (under Dr. C. A. Pennock). Thesis Bath University 1976: Cartilage chemistry in bone dysplasias. Since 1977 he has been a research associate in the department of Pediatrics at the University Children's Hospital in Mainz (Director: Prof. Jürgen Spranger). Research interests are screening for inborn errors of metabolism, with particular reference to carbohydrate disorders, and the biochemistry of skeletal dysplasias.Supported by a grant from the Stifung Volkswagenwerk