Correction: IL‐10 is crucial for the transition from acute to chronic disease state during infection of mice with Schistosoma mansoni

Vol. 33(4) 2003, pp 880‐888 Pages 882 (Fig. 2) and 883 (Fig. 5) The x‐axis label in Fig. 2 should have the same sampling times post‐infection as Fig. 1. The legend to Fig. 5 should be amended to read: blue nuclei, red collagen and yellow connective tissue or hepatic parenchyma.     

Bone marrow stromal cell bioactivation and detoxification of the benzene metabolite hydroquinone: comparison of macrophages and fibroblastoid cells

Bone marrow stroma consists predominately of two cell types, macrophages and fibroblastoid stromal cells, which regulate the growth and differentiation of myelopoietic cells via the production of growth factors. We have previously shown that macrophages are more sensitive than fibroblastoid stromal cells (LTF cells) to the toxic effects of the benzene metabolite hydroquinone. In this study, the role of selective bioactivation and/or deactivation in the macrophage-selective effects of hydroquinone was examined. LTF and macrophage cultures were incubated with 10 microM [14C]hydroquinone to examine differential bioactivation. After 24 hr, the amount of 14C covalently bound to acid-insoluble macromolecules was determined. Macrophages had 16-fold higher levels of macromolecule-associated 14C than did LTF cells. Additional experiments revealed that hydroquinone bioactivation to covalent-binding species was hydrogen peroxide dependent in macrophage homogenates. Covalent binding in companion LTF homogenates was minimal, even in the presence of excess hydrogen peroxide. These data suggest that a peroxidative event was responsible for bioactivation in macrophages and, in agreement with this, macrophages contained detectable peroxidase activity whereas LTF cells did not. Bioactivation of [14C]hydroquinone to protein-binding species by peroxidase was confirmed utilizing purified human myeloperoxidase in the presence of hydrogen peroxide and ovalbumin as a protein source. High performance liquid chromatographic analysis of incubations containing purified myeloperoxidase, hydroquinone, and hydrogen peroxide showed that greater than 90% of hydroquinone was removed and could be detected stoichometrically as 1,4-benzoquinone. 1,4-Benzoquinone was confirmed as a reactive metabolite formed from hydroquinone in macrophage incubations using excess GSH and trapping the reactive quinone as its GSH conjugate, which was measured by high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. The activity of DT-diaphorase, a quinone reductase that has been invoked as a protective mechanism in quinone-induced toxicity, was 4-fold higher in LTF cells than macrophages. These data suggest that the macrophage-selective toxicity of hydroquinone results from higher levels of peroxidase-mediated bioactivation and/or lower levels of DT-diaphorase-mediated detoxification.     

Evaluating clinical educators: an employer's perspective

An Australian school of nursing's attempt to introduce an evaluation process required by management for clinical educators involved in undergraduate preregistration education is discussed Reliance on student feedback and clinical agencies' perceptions of the quality of teaching were seen as inadequate mechanisms for evaluation The evaluation process adopted incorporated observation of the educators together with self-reflection on their performance We conclude that post-briefings were poorly used and generally not reflective Educators relied heavily on their clinical skills and used a limited range of teaching strategies Whilst evaluation of clinical educators was time consuming and therefore costly, it is argued that it is essential to the integrity of the course The evaluation process has provided direction for support and development of clinical educators within the context of the curriculum     

The implications of Project 2000 and the formation of links with higher education for the professional and academic needs of nurse teachers in the United Kingdom

A national study was conducted between 1991 and 1994 to explore and describe the changing role of the nurse teacher following the introduction of Project 2000 pre-registration nursing courses. Multiple methods were used to collect data from a wide variety of respondents (nurse teachers, midwife teachers, clinical nurses, health service managers and higher education lecturers). This paper presents the findings relating to the impact of Project 2000 and the move into higher education on the continuing educational needs of nurse teachers. Views on college strategies for staff development, the changing nature of teachers'academic and professional development needs and the problems of the conflicting demands experienced are reported. The research highlights the need for clinical credibility to be clearly defined in relation to nurse teachers and for educational institutions to place more emphasis on teachers'clinical development if the rhetoric of policy is to become a reality.     

Sample size considerations when groups are the appropriate unit of analysis.

This article discusses issues to be considered by nurse researchers when groups should be used as the unit of randomization. Advantages and disadvantages are presented, with statistical calculations needed to determine the effective sample size. Examples of these concepts are presented using data from the Black Cosmetologists Promoting Health Program. Different hypothetical scenarios and their impact on sample size are also presented. Given the complexity of calculating the sample size when using groups as the unit of randomization, it is advantageous for researchers to work closely with statisticians when designing and implementing studies that anticipate the use of groups as the unit of randomization.     

An unusual clinical presentation of bilateral schizencephaly

Summary We present a case with a characteristic magnetic resonance image (MRI) of bilateral open-lipped schizencephaly and atypical clinical presentation. The patient is still alive and in good health in her forties, she has never presented seizures, and although the motor dysfunction is well correlated with cerebral lobe involvement, neurobehavioral dysfunction is not proportional to the MR image of the cerebral malformation.

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Un cas inhabituel de schizencéphalie bilatérale

Résumé Nous présentons un cas de schizencéphalie bilatérale ouverte caractérisé par une présentation clinique atypique et une imagerie par résonance magnétique nucléaire caractéristique. La patiente est encore vivante, en bonne santé, à plus de 40 ans, elle n'a jamais présenté de crise comitiale et, bien que les troubles moteurs soient bien corrélés aux altérations cérébrales, les troubles neuro-comportementaux ne sont pas proportionnels aux images IRM de cette malformation cérébrale.