Results of an intensive school-based weight loss program with overweight Mexican American children.

Childhood overweight has increased significantly in the past 20 years, with the highest rates noted among Mexican Americans. Schools are an optimal setting for intervention efforts; however, few programs have demonstrated actual decreases in weight. This study evaluated an intensive school-based program designed to result in weight reduction for overweight Mexican American children. A total of 71 children (32 males, 48%) between the ages of 10 and 14 at or above the 85th percentile for body mass index (BMI) were randomized into a six-month intensive intervention (II) or self-help (SH) condition. Results revealed that children in the II condition significantly reduced their standardized BMI (zBMI) when compared with the children in the self-help condition (F(2,62)=6.58, p=0.003). The change in zBMI was significantly different at both 3 and 6 months (F(1,63)=5.74, p=0.019, F(1,63)=12.61, p=0.001, respectively) with II participants showing greater decreases in weight. The 3-month change in zBMI for the II participants was a decrease of 0.07 compared with a decrease of 0.01 for SH participants. The 6-month change in zBMI was a decrease of 0.11 for II and an increase of 0.03 for SH. Overall, the results are promising, suggesting that an intensive school-based intervention may be an effective means for promoting weight loss in overweight Mexican American children.     

Multifocal osteolysis with nephropathy

A patient with progressive osteolysis of the carpal and tarsal bones with glomerulonephritis of unusual severity is described. There was a notable absence of osteodystrophy in this and other reported cases who had chronic renal failure.     

Aging and the trophic effects of cholecystokinin, bombesin and pentagastrin on the rat pancreas.

We examined the effect of age on the trophic response of the pancreas to chronic treatment with cholecystokinin (CCK), bombesin, or pentagastrin. Three age groups (3-, 12-, and 24-months) male F344 rats received saline; CCK-8 (5 ng/kg), bombesin (10 micrograms/kg), or pentagastrin (100 micrograms/kg) by intraperitoneal injection t.i.d. for 2 weeks. Rats were then killed and the pancreases excised, weighed, and assayed for DNA, RNA, protein, and polyamine (putrescine, spermidine, and spermine) concentrations and contents. We found that none of the treatments altered body weight at any age. All three hormones increased pancreas size and cell number in 3-month old rats, but by 12 months, all three had increased only pancreatic RNA content. Pancreatic spermidine concentration was decreased by all three hormone regimens in 3- but not in 12-month old rats, and pancreatic putrescine concentration and content were increased in 12-month old rats receiving all three hormones. There was no change in any parameter following any of the three hormones, tested at 24 months of age. We conclude that, at the dosages tested, the trophic response of pancreas to chronic administration of CCK, bombesin, and pentagastrin, which is normally present in young adult rats, is lost with aging.     

Serum digoxin-like substances in pregnancy-induced hypertension

1. Endogenous digoxin-like immunoreactivity (EDLI) was measured in the serum of 85 normotensive pregnant (NTP) women and 77 women with pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) by a radioimmunoassay (New England Nuclear). All women were in the third trimester. 2. EDLI, which was undetectable in serum from non-pregnant women, was present in NTP and PIH and was significantly higher in PIH. EDLI correlated with gestational age in NTP, but not in PIH. 3. Ouabain-sensitive Na+ transport was estimated in normal peripheral blood leucocytes after incubation with sera from 50 NTP and 42 PIH women. Significant inhibition of active Na+ transport occurred only with the serum of hypertensive patients without proteinuria. 4. EDLI did not correlate with the effect of the sera on active Na+ transport. The radioimmunoassay therefore provides a poor index of Na+ transport inhibitory activity in PIH.     

Recipient characteristics in the transduction of methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus epidermidis.

Methicillin resistance (Mecr) was transduced into a methicillin-susceptible variant of the Mecr donor Staphylococcus epidermidis BS10. UV irradiation of phage stimulated Mecr transduction frequency. If loss of Cd and Hg ion resistance occurred in this recipient, or if the three markers Mecr, Cdr, and Hgr were co-eliminated from the donor, neither strain acted as a recipient for Mecr.     

Transient synovitis of the hip in children: role of US

Transient synovitis of the hip remains a common diagnostic problem for the clinician. The physical signs are not pathognomonic of the condition, and the classic technical examinations are of little help. Therefore, the authors retrospectively studied the value of hip arthrosonography in 46 children with clinical symptoms suggesting pathologic hip conditions. In 20 of the 21 patients with a final diagnosis of transient synovitis, articular effusion was detected on ultrasound (US). Conventional radiography showed an increased medial joint space in only eight of these patients. Increased echogenicity of the articular fluid was found in both transient synovitis and septic arthritis. The high sensitivity of US in detecting intraarticular fluid was demonstrated by cadaver studies.     

中药贝母类的研究——ⅩⅦ.贝母鳞叶上表皮显微观察

本文对浙贝母Fritillaria thunbergii Miq.等20种贝母的鳞叶上(内)表皮进行了显微观察,发现种间在表皮细胞形状、大小和垂周壁部位角质栓(cuticular peg)的形状,大小和排列等方面有一定区别,可作为新的鉴别依据。全文除描述外,列出检索表,并附主要特征图。     

Absorbed dose from traversing spherically symmetric, Gaussian radioactive clouds.

If a large radioactive cloud is produced, sampling may require that an airplane traverse the cloud. A method to predict the absorbed dose to the aircrew from penetrating the radioactive cloud is needed. Dose rates throughout spherically symmetric Gaussian clouds of various sizes, and the absorbed doses from traversing the clouds, were calculated. Cloud size is a dominant parameter causing dose to vary by orders of magnitude for a given dose rate measured at some distance. A method to determine cloud size, based on dose rate readings at two or more distances from the cloud center, was developed. This method, however, failed to resolve the smallest cloud sizes from measurements made at 1,000 m to 2,000 m from the cloud center.