A preliminary controlled evaluation of an eating disturbance psychoeducational intervention for college students

OBJECTIVE: Because conventional preventive interventions have had little success in reducing eating pathology, we developed and evaluated a more intensive psychoeducational intervention. METHOD: Female college students who underwent this intervention and a matched control sample of students (N = 66) completed pretest and posttest surveys. RESULTS: Intervention participants showed significant decreases in thin-ideal internalization, body dissatisfaction, dieting, eating disorder symptoms, and weight over the 4-month study period, whereas matched control participants did not show changes in these outcomes with the exception that they gained weight. DISCUSSION: These preliminary findings suggest that this intervention may prove useful in reducing eating disturbances and overweight among college students, as well as the risk factors for this serious mental and physical health problem.     

Assessment of cleaning to control lead dust in homes of children with moderate lead poisoning: treatment of lead-exposed children trial

In this article we describe the assessment and control of lead dust exposure in the Treatment of Lead-exposed Children (TLC) Trial, a clinical trial of the effects of oral chelation on developmental end points in urban children with moderately elevated blood lead levels. To reduce potential lead exposure from settled dust or deteriorated paint during the drug treatment phase of the trial, the homes of 765 (98%) of the randomized children (both active and placebo drug treatment groups) were professionally cleaned. Lead dust measurements were made in a sample of 213 homes before and after cleaning. Geometric mean dust lead loadings before cleaning were 43, 29, 308, and 707 micro g/ft2 in the kitchen floor, playroom floor, playroom windowsill, and playroom window well samples respectively. Following cleaning, floor dust lead loadings were reduced on average 32% for paired floor samples (p < 0.0001), 66% for windowsills (p < 0.0001), and 93% for window wells (p < 0.0001). Cleaning was most effective for 146 homes with precleaning dust lead levels above the recommended clearance levels, with average reductions of 44%, 74%, and 93% for floors (p < 0.0001), windowsills (p < 0.0001), and window wells (p < 0.0001), respectively. Despite these substantial reductions in dust lead loadings, a single professional cleaning did not reduce the lead loadings of all dust samples to levels below current federal standards for lead in residential dust. Attainment of dust levels below current standards will require more intensive cleaning and lead hazard reduction strategies.     

用激光衍射法测量网织红细胞膜剪切弱性模量(E)和表面粘度

按Bishop方法，在小鼠血液里诱导生成大量网织红细胞，然后提取网织红细胞。用激光衍射法测得小变形指数（DI）d和变形恢复过程（即松驰过程）中细胞变形恢复到最大值（DI）max半的时间t0.5（变形恢复半时间），将测得结果分别代入细胞膜的膜剪切弹性模量（E）公式和表面粘度（μm）公式，计算出网织红细胞和成熟红细胞膜的膜剪切弹性模量（E）和表面粘度（μm），并用荧光偏振法测量它们的膜流动性。发现网织红细胞与成熟红细胞的膜的剪切弹性模量（E）和表面粘度（μm）及膜的流动性有着明显的不同。这对研究由于贫血等原因造成的网织红细胞增多情况下，全血的微观流变特性有着重要的临床意义，对我们认识哺乳类网织红细胞的微观流变特性有重要理论意义及认识哺乳类动物网织红细胞向成熟红细胞转变的微观流变特性变化有着重要理论意义。     

Cryopreservation of single human spermatozoa

A procedure is described that allows cryopreservation and efficient post-thaw recovery of either a single or a small group of human spermatozoa. This is achieved by injecting them into cell-free human, mouse or hamster zonae pellucidae before the addition of cryoprotectant. The method involves a combination of physical micromanipulation procedures and glycerol-mediated cryoprotection. Zonae were tracked by positioning them in straws between two small air bubbles prior to freezing. Spermatozoa from poor specimens were cryopreserved and their fertilizing ability after thawing was compared with that of fresh spermatozoa from fertile men. Human eggs used for fertilization testing were either 1 day old or in-vitro matured. Only 2% of the frozen zonae were lost and >75% of spermatozoa cryopreserved in this manner were recovered and prepared for intracytoplasmic sperm injection. The feasibility of cryopreserving a single spermatozoon was assessed. Fifteen motile spermatozoa were frozen in 15 zonae, of which 14 were recovered after thawing. Ten were injected into spare eggs, of which eight became fertilized. Spermatozoa recovered mechanically from human zonae fertilized the same proportion of oocytes as fresh fertile control spermatozoa. The recovery and fertilization rates with spermatozoa frozen in animal zonae were 87 and 78% respectively. The fertilization rate was marginally higher (P < 0.05) than that for spermatozoa frozen in human zonae, perhaps because the latter may have acrosome reacted more frequently. The zona pellucida appears to be an ideally suited sterile vehicle for storage of single spermatozoa.