Slipping through the cracks: Sexual harassment, eating problems, and the problem of embodiment

The impact of sexual harassment on girls' and women's developing concept of their body and self has rarely been examined with the goal of expanding our understanding of weight and shape preoccupation. In this paper we examine how this pervasive form of violence contributes to young women's uneasiness about their developing bodies and results in a disruption of healthy female development that often gets played out in disordered patterns of eating and intense body monitoring.     

The stability of atracurium in clinical practice

Atracurium has an unusual intrinsic Hofmann elimination which is increased by an alkaline environment and increased temperature. Normally the relaxant is stored at pH 3.3 and kept at a temperature of 4 degrees C. However, it is convenient to have a reasonable quantity available within the operating theatre. This study examined the rate of degradation of atracurium in the operating theatre environment of 20 degrees C. Atracurium within one month of its expiry date was placed in the drawer for anaesthetic drugs in each of three operating theatres. At the end of each month, further drug was added to the stock. At the end of the study, atracurium which had been stored continuously at 4 degrees C, was at 102.9% of nominal strength, having started with 113.5% at manufacture. Atracurium which had been at room temperature for one, two and three months respectively retained 99%, 95% and 92% strength respectively. These results show that even three months' exposure to room temperature does not cause enough deterioration to be clinically significant.     

Tobacco use following liver transplantation for alcoholic liver disease: an underestimated problem.

Alcohol and tobacco use commonly co-occur, with at least 90% of those with an alcohol problem also using tobacco. Thus, 3 years ago when we discovered higher rate of late deaths due to lung and oropharyngeal cancer in patients who had received a transplant for alcoholic liver disease (ALD), we hypothesized that these patients were continuing to expose themselves to tobacco after liver transplantation (post-LTX) and that this behavior was increasing their risk for cancer. We subsequently began a prospective investigation of post-LTX tobacco use in patients having undergone LTX for ALD (n = 172). For 33 recipients we had data starting from our first assessment at 3 months post-LTX and for this subgroup we report on the details of the timing of tobacco use resumption and the redevelopment of nicotine addiction. We found that on average more than 40% are smoking across all time periods. ALD recipients resume smoking early post-LTX, increase their consumption over time, and quickly become tobacco dependent. These data highlight an underrecognized serious health risk for these patients and demonstrate our need for more stringent clinical monitoring and intervention for tobacco use in the pre- and post-LTX periods.     

Continuous parathyroid hormone induces cortical porosity in the rat: effects on bone turnover and mechanical properties.

We examined the time course effects of continuous PTH on cortical bone and mechanical properties. PTH increased cortical bone turnover and induced intracortical porosity with no deleterious effect on bone strength. Withdrawal of PTH increased maximum torque to failure and stiffness with no change in energy absorbed. INTRODUCTION: The skeletal response of cortical bone to parathyroid hormone (PTH) is complex and species dependent. Intermittent administration of PTH to rats increases periosteal and endocortical bone formation but has no known effects on intracortical bone turnover. The effects of continuous PTH on cortical bone are not clearly established. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighty-four 6-month-old female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three control, six PTH, and two PTH withdrawal (WD) groups. They were subcutaneously implanted with osmotic pumps loaded with vehicle or 40 microg/kg BW/day human PTH(1-34) for 1, 3, 5, 7, 14, and 28 days. After 7 days, PTH was withdrawn from two groups of animals for 7 (7d-PTH/7d-WD) and 21 days (7d-PTH/21d-WD). Histomorphometry was performed on periosteal and endocortical surfaces of the tibial diaphysis in all groups. microCT of tibias and mechanical testing by torsion of femora were performed on 28d-PTH and 7d-PTH/21d-WD animals. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Continuous PTH increased periosteal and endocortical bone formation, endocortical osteoclast perimeter, and cortical porosity in a time-dependent manner, but did not change the mechanical properties of the femur, possibly because of addition of new bone onto periosteal and endocortical surfaces. Additionally, withdrawal of PTH restored normal cortical porosity and increased maximum torque to failure and stiffness. We conclude that continuous administration of PTH increased cortical porosity in rats without having a detrimental effect on bone mechanical properties.     

Comparison of fibre optic transillumination with clinical and radiographic caries diagnosis

Fibre optic transillumination (FOTI) has been employed during the course of a 3-yr clinical dentifrice trial which initially involved 3003 children. At the initial examination, a subgroup of 813 13-yr-olds, and at the following annual visit, 2247 14-yr-olds, were examined using a 150 W lamp and 0.5 mm diameter probe. Routine clinical and radiographic examinations were performed separately. Compared to the clinical scores for anterior teeth, FOTI detected an additional 64% of interproximal lesions at the first visit while, for the larger number of children at the second visit, the increase in lesion detection level using FOTI was 37%. For the posterior teeth the comparable figure at the second examination was 92%. When FOTI data were compared to radiographic data for more than 52,000 posterior interproximal surfaces, FOTI could only detect 17% of radiographic Grade 2 lesions and 48% Grade 3 lesions. Thus any assumption that FOTI diagnoses may be a substitute for bitewing radiography appears premature.     

A study of lectin-binding to the water-insoluble proteins of the lens

Binding of lectins to the water-insoluble fractions from human, monkey and mouse lenses was investigated. Lectins bound to glycoproteins blotted from SDS-polyacrylamide gels onto nitrocellulose paper. Use of multiple lectins showed that glycoproteins with apparent molecular weights of about 120 000 and 90 000 were present in all species. These proteins were found in the urea-insoluble fraction. Multiple lectins also bound to two bands around 67 000 and 63 000 molecular weight in both human and monkey lens fractions as well as a urea-soluble band at about 140 000. A 35 000 MW glycoprotein containing N-acetyl-galactosamine and fucose sugars was present in the capsule-epithelium of monkey lenses but was not detected in cortical or nuclear fractions. Glycoproteins from normal and cataractous mice were identified using this new methodology and compared with previously published work using sodium borohydride labelling of glycoproteins. Because of the numerous glycoproteins that can be detected and the ability to assign sugar residues to individual proteins, the lectin-binding method is a powerful tool to investigate lens glycoproteins.