PAF antagonistic activity of 2-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzoic acid glucose ester fromGentiana scabra

In order to find out anti-platelet activating factor (PAF) from natural resources, Korean medicinal plants used for the treatments of peripheral circulation disorders were tested for their possible protective effects on PAF-induced anaphylactic shock. From the above screening, the methanol extract ofGentiana scabra showed a potent antagonistic activity against PAF. Water suspension of the extract was partitioned with CH₂Cl₂ and EtOAc, successively. The EtOAc fraction which showed the highest activity was chromatographed on silica gel to yield 6 fractions. From the fraction which showed higher PAF-antagonistic activity than the other fractions, compound1 was isolated by recrystallization. On the basis of spectral data, compound1 was identified as 2-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzoic acid glucose ester. The compound prevented the mice from the PAF-induced death at a dose of 300 μg/mouse.     

Transmembrane signaling characterized in bacterial chemoreceptors by using sulfhydryl cross-linking in vivo.

Transmembrane signaling by bacterial chemoreceptors is thought to involve conformational changes within a stable homodimer. We investigated the functional consequences of constraining movement between pairs of helices in the four-helix structure of the transmembrane domain of chemoreceptor Trg. Using a family of cysteine-containing receptors, we identified oxidation treatments for intact cells that catalyzed essentially complete sulfhydryl cross-linking at selected positions and yet left flagellar and sensory functions largely unperturbed. Constraining movement by cross-links between subunits had little effect on tactic response, but constraining movement between transmembrane segments of the monomer drastically reduced function. We deduce that transmembrane signaling requires substantial movement between transmembrane helices of a monomer but not between interacting helices across the interface between subunits.     

Radical radiotherapy for T4 carcinoma of the skin of the head and neck: A multivariate analysis

Sixty-seven patients with 68 stage T4 carcinomas of the skin of the head and neck were treated with radical radiotherapy at the University of Florida between October 1964 and November 1989. Thirty-three lesions were previously untreated and 35 were recurrent. Twenty-nine lesions were squamous cell carcinomas, 37 were basal cell carcinomas, and 2 were basosquamous carcinomas. Minimum follow-up was 2 years. The 5-year local control, local control including surgical salvage, and cause-specific survival probabilities were 53%, 74%, and 75%, respectively. Local control rates with radiotherapy alone were poorer in patients with recurrent lesions (41% vs. 67%, p = .07) or bone involvement (40% vs. 62%, p = .08). Results were analyzed by multivariate methods using local control, local control with surgical salvage, and cause-specific survival as endpoints. The parameters analyzed were histology; size of primary lesion; previous treatment (previously untreated vs. recurrent); involvement of bone, nerve, or cartilage; and skeletal muscle invasion. Three important prognostic factors were identified, each predictive of poorer ultimate local control and cause-specific survival rates: (a) bone involvement (p < .01); (b) recurrent lesions (p < .01); and (c) nerve involvement (p < .02). Radiotherapy alone can control advanced carcinomas of the skin of the head and neck, although lesions that have recurred after prior treatment and those with involvement of bone or nerve are associated with a lower likelihood of cure.     

A Null mutation in the vasopressin V2 receptor gene (AVPR2) associated with nephrogenic diabetes insipidus in the Hopewell kindred

Congenital nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (DIR) Is a rare X-linkedhereditary disorder in which the renal collecting duct Is unresponsiveto arginine vasopressin; thus, the urine is consistently hypotonicto plasma. Recently, the association between the V2 receptorgene (AVPR2) and DIR has been proven. We have determined thegene sequence of four family members, from three generations,of a large North American family with CNDI who were originallypart of the study used to formulate the Hopewell hypothesis.It had been proposed that a single DIR gene defect was Introducedto North America by a member of an Ulster Scot kindred arrivingon the ship Hopewell In 1761. DNA sequencing of the AVPR2 hasIdentified a single base transversion from G     

Complete sequence of the RNA genome of human rhinovirus 16, a clinically useful common cold virus belonging to the ICAM-1 receptor group

We report here the complete nucleotide sequence and predicted polyprotein sequence of HeLa cell-adapted human rhinovirus 16 (HRV16). This virus is more suitable than human rhinovirus 14 (HRV14) for clinical studies, and its growth and physical properties are favorable for biochemical and crystallographic analysis. The complete message-sense RNA genome of HRV16 is composed of 7124 bases, not including the poly(A) tail. An open reading frame, extending from base 626 to 7084 predicts a polyprotein containing 2152 amino acid residues. Comparison with other rhinovirus sequences shows HRV16 is much more representative of human rhinoviruses than HRV14. No apparent relationship was found between receptor group and amino acid sequence in VP1, the capsid protein bearing the binding site for the intercullular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) in both HRV14 and HRV16.Genbank accession number: L24917.     

A Psychosociocultural Perspective, Part 2

Building on the foundation of understanding and comprehensive assessment of battered women, this article addresses service planning and intervention. Strategies are approached within the framework of a Crisis Paradigm developed from field research with battered women and their families. They include mechanisms such as support groups which link crisis service to the long-term needs of battered women, and systematic approaches to removing the obstacles which keep women victimized. An Assessment and Service Planning Guide (ASPG) is proposed for inclusion in routine health care of abused women. The article concludes with strategies for preventing violence at interpersonal and societal levels.     

Leadership in action: students learn with resource persons

The faculty maintain close contact with the resource persons and are aware of their interaction with students on a weekly basis. Faculty and resource persons exchange observations, assessments, suggestions and problems they have either anticipated or experienced. The resource persons report that as students gain from the experiences, so do they. In particular, resource persons state interactions with students have stimulated them to increase their own clinical inquiry. A head nurse, functioning as a resource person, recently told the members of the Nursing Curriculum Committee she wished she had had such a course seven years ago when she was a senior in the program (S. Collier, personal communication, October 1987). She further elaborated that the learning opportunities she sees students experiencing today would have been invaluable to her and her peers as they began their professional nursing careers. We, the authors, believe individual learning opportunities with nurse leaders as resource persons is a unique, invaluable experience for nursing leadership students. These interactions provide a variety of learning opportunities sufficient for undergraduate students to develop beginning leadership skills, while also narrowing the education-practice gap. These experiences enhance the students' orientation to "real-world" nursing leadership and management. Students recognize the uniqueness of this teaching-learning strategy and value the time spent with resource persons. They frequently report never dreaming "that such problems have to be dealt with." They agree that learning with resource persons provides an essential ingredient for reinforcing the theoretical concepts of nursing leadership and putting classroom lectures into action.     

Cytomembranous inclusions in the brain of a patient with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome

Summary Ultrastructural studies of cells and tissues in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) have revealed two distinct cytomembranous inclusions referred to as tubuloreticular inclusions (TRI) and confronting cylindrical cisterns (CCC). TRI are found most often in leukocytes and endothelial cells in conditions with elevated levels of alpha-interferon, such as viral infections, autoimmune diseases and certain neoplasms. On the other hand, CCC are detected almost exclusively in mononuclear inflammatory cells and are limited to a few conditions, of which AIDS is the most common. CCC have been proposed as an ultrastructural marker for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. We describe CCC in mononuclear inflammatory cells in the brain of a patient with AIDS. Finding CCC in brain tissue with no other specific feature such as multinucleated giant cells, nevertheless, should alert the neuropathologist to the possibility that the patient might have AIDS.