Cerebral infarction associated with protein C deficiency following allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.

Hypercoagulable states associated with deficiencies in circulating anticoagulant protein C occur after chemotherapy for a variety of malignant diseases. Protein C deficiency also occurs following bone marrow transplantation (BMT) and may be responsible for a variety of transplantation-associated complications. We report the case of a child who suffered a stroke associated with low protein C antigen and activity occurring 11 months after allogeneic BMT. Protein C levels recovered spontaneously by 18 months after BMT. We speculate that the protein C deficiency and and resultant hypercoagulable state led to the stroke, and the deficiency of this anticoagulant was a sequela of the transplant.     

Fluid and electrolyte concerns in intestinal surgical procedures

All surgical patients are at risk for fluid and electrolyte imbalances. This risk increases when a patient undergoes intestinal surgery, because of the role of the gastrointestinal system in providing the body with water and electrolytes. Therefore, throughout the perioperative period the nurse acts to prevent such disturbances. The nurse who is aware of preoperative factors that contribute to fluid and electrolyte imbalances, including pre-existing patient factors, iatrogenic causes, and the body's response to stress, can help prevent disastrous intraoperative events. Furthermore, postoperative patient assessment can prevent complications such as fluid overload and potassium and sodium imbalances.     

Nursing in foreign countries as described in the professional journals of national nurses' associations

This paper discusses the extent of the coverage accorded by national nurses' association journals to the important subject of nursing in other countries. With one exception, the journals sampled showed that dissemination of such information is diminishing. What are the reasons for this?     

多索茶碱及其片剂的高效液相色谱分析

多索茶碱及其片剂的高效液相色谱分析刘春胜，何秀峰，王云萍，谷士杰，周同惠（中国医学科学院、中国协和医科大学药物研究所，北京１０００５０）多索茶碱（ｄｏｘｏｆｙｌｌｉｎｅ）是用于治疗支气管哮喘合并支气管痉挛的慢性阻塞性肺部疾病的新一代黄嘌吟衍生物，其药...     

Glycine site of the excitatory amino acid N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor in neonatal and adult brain.

The N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor complex in brain is a glutamate receptor subtype with several recognition sites including a glycine site that is able to modulate and activate allosterically the receptor. This receptor may be important in the regulation of developmental synaptic plasticity. The release of glutamate and consequent overstimulation of NMDA receptors that follows hypoxia-ischaemia leads to brain damage. Brain tissue obtained at necropsy was studied in a total of 16 term infants aged less than 1 week to 22 weeks and in four adults aged from 66 to 84 years. Glycine sites were determined in brain sections by the binding of the selective ligand [3H]5,7-dichloro-kynurenic acid and measured by autoradiography. In infant brains the amount of binding to the glycine site was higher in temporal cortex and hippocampus than in basal ganglia and was also higher than in comparable areas of adult brain. The amount of glycine site binding in infant cortex increased with postnatal age. The data suggest that infant brain acquires a relatively high density of NMDA receptors in temporal lobe due to postnatal proliferation of glutamatergic synapses. These findings have therapeutic implications as drugs that reduce NMDA receptor function by blocking the glycine modulatory site would be pertinent to preventing brain damage after hypoxia-ischaemia.     

Fates of visual cortical neurons in the ferret after isochronic and heterochronic transplantation

In the mammalian cerebral cortex, neurons in a given layer are generated at about the same time in development. These cells also tend to share similar sets of morphological and physiological properties and have projection patterns characteristic of that layer. This correspondence between the birthday and eventual fate of a cortical neuron suggests the possibility that the commitment of a cell to a particular laminar position and set of connections may occur very early on in cortical development. The experiments described here constitute an attempt to manipulate the fates of newly generated cortical neurons upon transplantation. The first set of experiments addressed the normal development of neurons in the primary visual cortex (area 17) of the ferret. Injections of 3H-thymidine into newborn ferrets showed that neurons generated after birth are destined to sit in layer 2/3 of the cortex, whereas neurons born on embryonic day (E) 32 populate primarily layers 5 and 6. Many layer 2/3 neurons in adult ferrets could be retrogradely labeled with HRP from visual cortical areas 18 and 19, while about half of the neurons in layer 6 were found to project to the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN). In the second set of experiments, presumptive layer 2/3 cells were labeled in vivo by injecting ferrets with 3H-thymidine on P1 and P2. Before the cells had a chance to migrate, they were removed from the donor brain, incubated in a fluorescent dye (DAPI or fast blue), and dissociated into a single-cell suspension. The labeled cells were then transplanted into the proliferative zone of a littermate host ferret ("isochronic" transplants). Over the next few weeks, many of these dye-labeled cells underwent changes in their position and morphology that were consistent with a radially directed migration and subsequent differentiation into cortical neurons. The final positions of isochronically transplanted neurons in the host brain were mapped out by using the 3H-thymidine marker after long survival periods. About 97% of radioactively labeled cells had migrated out into the visual cortex, where they attained a compact laminar distribution: 99% were found in layer 2/3, their normal destination. The labeled cells had normal, mostly pyramidal neuronal morphologies and appeared to be well integrated with host neurons when viewed in Nissl-stained sections. Ten isochronically transplanted neurons were successfully labeled after HRP injection into 2 normal target regions, areas 18 and 19.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Pathological, immunocytochemical and microbiological findings in calf pneumonias associated with Haemophilus somnus infection

Pathological, immunocytochemical and microbiological findings in 32 cases of calf pneumonia associated with Haemophilus somnus infection are described. The majority of cases were "found dead" or died after a sudden onset pneumonia of less than 24 h duration. Lesions of exudative bronchopneumonia were present and the cases could be divided into two main groups on the basis of histopathological and immunocytochemical features. In group A, cases were dominated by necrotizing bronchiolitis, degeneration and necrosis of airway and alveolar exudates, severe alveolitis with accumulations of degenerate basophilic cells, interstitial inflammatory changes and the widespread distribution of H. somnus antigen in airways and alveoli. In Group B, necrotizing and degenerative changes were much less extensive and less severe and the overall appearance was of suppurative bronchopneumonia with H. somnus antigen much less widespread within the lungs. Alveolar oedema, hyaline membrane formation and alveolar epithelial hyperplasia were present in caudodorsal lung areas of several calves. No major differences were seen between the histopathology of lungs where H. somnus was the sole isolate and that of lungs where H. somnus was isolated along with other bacterial pathogens.