Body build and the desire for slenderness in young people

The median weight-for-height of young people in Brisbane are below the 'standard' values. In most groups the weight-for-height are symmetrically distributed, suggesting that this is the range of normal variation. Only among girls aged 15-19 years was there an excess of 'obese' subjects.
Almost all girls and young women say they want to lose weight, even though many are already well below the 'standard'. This trend is also present, but is less marked, among boys and young men. In these young people the desire for slenderness is causing unhappiness that seems out of proportion to the possible benefits of change. Health professionals should encourage a more balanced attitude to physiological variations in weight-for-height among young people.     

Isolation,identification, and characterization of a palladium complex in the catalytic deprotection of a protected peptide

The final catalytic deprotection in the large scale synthesis of thymopentin (Arg-Lys-Asp-Val-Tyr) produced an impurity which had not previously been observed. Isolation by preparative HPLC and spectroscopic characterization led to a postulated structure of the impurity as the 1: 1 thymopentin-palladium complex. A complex corresponding to the proposed structure was independently synthesized and shown to have identical chromatographic and spectroscopic properties with the isolated material. Proton and carbon (13) NMR were used to determine the coordination sites of the peptide with palladium. The susceptibility of the complex to hydrogenation indicated a possible source for its formation.     

Maintenance of Remission in Ulcerative Colitis

PRD-y2 a well-absorbed mast cell stabilizer was examined in patients with ulcerative colitis by a double-blind controlled trial. Forty-three patients who were in clinical remission and taking sulfasalazine were randomly allocated to treatment with sulfasalazine or PRD-92 for six months. Relapses occurred in 42% of patients on PRD-92 and 24% on sulfasalazine. PRD-92 has a less prophylactic effect than sulfasalazine in ulcerative colitis.     

A Family with Hemoglobin I

Hemoglobin I was recently found in a Negro family. The amino acidsubstitution was shown to occur in the sixteenth residue of the chain (lys asp) and to be identical with hemoglobin I described by Murayama.¹⁰ Theminor component, I₂, was demonstrated by agar gel electrophoresis.

Submitted on January 9, 1963 Accepted on April 3, 1963     

Synthesis of two biologically active fluorescent probes of thymopentin

This study reports on the synthesis of two fluorescent analogues of thymopentin (TP-5; Arg-Lys-Asp-Val-Tyr). A fluorescein isothiocyanate labeled analogue (FITC-TP-5) and a stilbene isothiocyanate labeled analogue (SITS-TP-5) were extensively purified by ion-exchange and gel filtration chromatography. Characterization of the coupling site through amino acid analysis, dansylation and N-terminal cleavage of the fluorescent amino acid yielded results which indicated that both were mono-labeled analogues derivatized at the N-terminal. These analogues were shown to be TP-5-like in nature by their ability to induce the expression of the Thy 1.2 surface marker on nude mouse prothymocytes in both in vivo and in vitro assays. In addition, these analogues were able to inhibit the specific binding of radiolabeled TP-5 to human lymphocytes. Initial studies describing the interaction of FITC-TP-5 with human lymphocytes are shown.     

Nutrient Intake Report: A Coordination of Patient Dietary Assessment Between Physicians and Registered Dietitians

The Nutrient Intake Report (NIR) is based on a 7-day dietary recall questionnaire used previously in research for dietary assessment and adapted for clinical use. Used to provide information and counseling as part of total patient care, the NIR acts as a cornerstone for dietary education and interaction between physician, registered dietitian, and patient. The NIR is ordered by physicians or registered dietitians, scanned and assessed by a registered dietitian, and incorporated into the laboratory section of the medical record. It documents the patient's dietary intake in the context of his or her diagnosis and general health status. The NIR also opens a dialogue between physicians and registered dietitians. Incorporation of the NIR into the medical record makes the work of the registered dietitian available to other health practitioners, which is welcome in an era when licensing and reimbursement are contingent on systematic documentation of dietary assessment and its role in patient care. J Am Diet Assoc. 1998;98:1159–1162.     

Determinants of Subsidiary Ventricular Pacemaker Suppression in Man

To investigate the relative contribution of the duration and rate of overdrive to subsidiary ventricular pacemaker suppression, in six patients with complete heart block after His-bundle ablation, ventricular overdrive stimulation studies were performed. The studies, which were spread over a mean follow-up period of 745 days, were carried out invasively with a temporary lead (one patient) as well as nonin-vasively with the implanted pacemakers and chest wall inhibition (five patients). The overdrive pacing rate was increased in steps of 10 beats/min, and the pacing duration was 15, 30, 60, 90, and 120 seconds at each level. A recovery period of 2 minutes was allowed after each overdrive stimulation. Incremental ventricular overdrive stimulation at increasing pacing durations consistently caused progressive suppression of ventricular impulse formation. Nonparamelric variance analysis demonstrated a significant (P < 0.0001) influence of both the pacing rate and duration on ventricular recovery time. Nonlinear regression showed an exponential increase in recovery time with incremental pacing rate and a biphasic increase in recovery time with incremental pacing duration. Beyond a pacing duration of 60 seconds ventricular impulse suppression was primarily dependent upon the pacing rate. A nonlinear regression model was applied to predict the number of heals required for return of the escape rhythm toward prepacing control values. The predicted maximum mean number of beats was 15.4 ± 5.9 and independent of the rate and duration of pacing, although, the initial temporary instability of the escape rhythm was directly related to the degree of overdrive.