Menkes's syndrome. Report of a patient treated from 21 days of age with parenteral copper

In an infant with Menkes's steely-hair syndrome, early treatment (from 21 days of age) with parenteral copper failed to halt the disease. In addition to urinary tract abnormalities, panlobular emphysema was present a finding not previously noted in the syndrome.     

The effects of teacher intrusion on social play interactions between children with autism and their nonhandicapped peers

This study investigated the effects of two levels of teacher intrusion upon the behavior of elementary age children with autism and nonhandicapped peers during dyadic play interactions occurring in two special education classrooms. High versus low levels of teacher intrusion were contrasted in a mixed between- and within-subjects design counterbalanced for order across the two conditions. There were few differences in behavior across the two conditions, though the low-intrusion condition was associated with higher levels of toy contact, appropriate and inappropriate play, and lower levels of spontaneous verbalizations by the students with autism. There was no difference in the occurrence of excess behavior by condition. Results are discussed with respect to future investigations of effective teacher mediation to prepare children for positive peer interactions.This work was supported in part by Contract #300-82-0363 from Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education, awarded to the University of Minnesota. The material does not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and no official endorsement should be inferred. The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance and support of Bonnie Biel, Marie Blackburn, Dennis McGuire, Ralph McQuarter, May Ross, Jeanne LaMere, Etta Overland, Barbara Pollster, and Mary Porter in the conduct of this study.     

Interaction of platelet factor four with cultured vascular endothelial cells

Platelets secrete a low-molecular-weight protein, platelet factor four (PF-4), which binds to and neutralizes heparin and related sulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). To examine the interactions of PF-4 with the GAGs present on endothelial cell surfaces, we incubated 125I-PF-4 with cell suspensions derived from confluent monolayers of cultured bovine aortic endothelium. Binding of 125I-PF-4 was inhibited by a 100-fold excess of nonradioactive PF-4 and varied with duration and temperature of incubation. At 4 degrees C, binding reached equilibrium at 20 minutes with kd = 2.87 mumol/L and Bmax of 63.83 pmol/10(5) cells. Binding capacity was reduced 83.4% by brief incubation of endothelial cells with trypsin and 46.67% by incubation with Flavobacterium heparinase, but was unchanged by chondroitin-ABCase treatment. At 37 degrees C, PF-4 was internalized by confluent monolayer of bovine aortic endothelial cells primarily through low-affinity adsorptive endocytosis. The internalized PF-4 was degraded to amino acids and small peptides with 50% conversion after 18-hour incubation. These studies demonstrate that a secreted platelet protein can bind to and enter endothelial cells. Binding may explain the rapid clearance of released PF-4 from plasma and could have important local effects on endothelial structure and function.     

New universal precaution aspiration tray

A new tray has been designed for use during procedures involving needles and other sharp objects. The tray includes a foam adhesive pad, marked into 10 sections, into which the sharp objects can be placed point first. After the procedure, the objects can be safely withdrawn by their handles and then discarded. The tray has been used in more than 250 procedures.     

Superparamagnetic iron oxide-enhanced MR imaging: pulse sequence optimization for detection of liver cancer

The effects of magnetic resonance (MR) pulse sequences and timing parameters on tumor-liver contrast were studied in an animal model of metastatic liver cancer. Six spin-echo (SE), three inversion-recovery (IR), and four gradient-echo (GRE) sequences were evaluated at 0.6 T before and after injection of super-paramagnetic iron oxide. GRE techniques, irrespective of echo time and flip angle, showed the greatest change in signal intensity (enhancement) of the liver after administration of iron oxide. Single-acquisition GRE sequences (16 seconds) matched the contrast-to-noise ratio (C/N) performance of the most effective 6.4-minute SE sequences. Multiexcitation GRE sequences showed tumor-liver C/Ns per unit time that were significantly (P less than .05) higher than those achieved with SE and IR sequences. GRE sequences, which recruit intravoxel dephasing as an additional source of transverse relaxation enhancement (T2*), show a higher C/N per unit time and in this respect seem superior to SE and IR sequences for MR imaging with superparamagnetic iron oxide.     

In vivo gene transfer to healthy and diabetic canine pancreas.

Gene therapy may provide new treatments for severe pancreatic disorders. However, gene transfer to the pancreas is difficult because of its anatomic location and structure, and pancreatitis is a serious concern. Like the human pancreas, the canine pancreas is compact, with similar vascularization and lobular structure. It is therefore a suitable model in which to assess gene transfer strategies. Here we examined the ability of adenoviral vectors to transfer genes into the pancreas of dogs in which pancreatic circulation had been clamped. Adenoviruses carrying the beta-galactosidase (beta-gal) gene were injected into the pancreatic-duodenal vein and the clamp was released 10 min later. These dogs showed beta-gal-positive cells throughout the pancreas, with no evidence of pancreatic damage. beta-Gal was expressed mainly in acinar cells, but also in ducts and islets. Moreover, transduction was prominent in connective tissue of the lobe septa. beta-Gal expression in the exocrine pancreas of a diabetic dog was also found to be similar to that observed in healthy dogs. Thus, efficient gene transfer to canine pancreas in vivo may be achieved by adenovirus injection after clamping pancreatic circulation. This technique may be used to assay new gene therapy approaches for diabetes mellitus and other pancreatic disorders.     

Fate of the abstracts presented at three Spanish clinical pharmacology congresses and reasons for unpublished research

Objectives To assess the publication rate of abstracts at 5 years after their presentation at three consecutive clinical pharmacology congresses and to examine the reasons relating to the lack of publication. Methods Oral and poster presentations from the congresses of the Spanish Society of Clinical Pharmacology (SSCP) in 1994, 1996, and 1998 were reviewed. Authors were contacted to determine the fate of their presented studies and the reasons for not publishing them. Publications of abstracts with unknown fate were searched the in PubMed database. Determinants of publication were examined by Cox regression. Results In all, 248 abstracts were analysed. The cumulative publication rate at 5 years was 26%, and the median time for publication was 18 months (range: 2–60). The European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology was the English language medical journal where most abstracts were published. The median impact factor of the articles published was 1.96 (range: 0.29–8.32). The author survey identified a lack of time (38.2%) and a lack of interest (33.3%) as the main reasons for failure to publish. The only predictor of an abstract’s publication was to be affiliated with a university department (hazard ratio: 1.98, 95% confidence interval: 1.20–3.27). Conclusions Only one-quarter of the abstracts presented at SSCP congresses were subsequently published. A lack of time and interest were the main reasons given for not submitting these presentations for publication. Authors, scientific societies and editorial boards should enhance publications as full papers in peer-reviewed journals of the abstracts presented at meetings.