Neural and musculoskeletal contributions to the development of stance balance control in typical children and in children with cerebral palsy

Studies on the development of automatic postural responses in both typically developing children and children with cerebral palsy were performed. With the appearance of "pull-to-stand" behavior, typically developing children first began to show muscle responses to platform movements in mainly the ankle muscles. With increased development, additional agonist muscles were added to the response pattern and a consistent distal to proximal sequence began to emerge. Well-organized responses were seen with the onset of independent stance and walking, along with the reduction of antagonist muscle co-activation. The older children with cerebral palsy who were pre-walkers had immature muscle activation patterns like those seen in the typically developing children at the pull-to- stand stage of development. These included disorganized muscle responses and increased frequency of coactivation of both proximal–distal and agonist–antagonist muscles. In order to determine if musculoskeletal constraints contributed to these response patterns, normal children were asked to stand in a crouched posture similar to that of children with CP. This caused postural muscle response patterns to more closely approximate those of children with spastic diplegia.     

Dose response of human tumor cells to rhodamine 123 and laser phototherapy

Previous studies have shown that Rhodamine 123 (Rh123) is an efficient tumor targeting agent for argon laser photodynamic therapy in vitro. Effectiveness of this approach for cancer treatment in vivo will depend on Rh123 tumor uptake kinetics and laser energy delivery via fiberoptics to the tumor site. In the present study, tumor and normal cells were exposed in vitro to 1 μg/mL Rh123 until 10%, 50%, and 100% of maximum uptake was achieved. Laser treatment response was monitored by trypan blue exclusion for tumor cell viability and by MTT tetrazolium assays to measure mitochondrial dehydrogenase activity. TE671 fibrosarcoma cells were highly sensitive to argon laser phototherapy (514 nm, 5 W, 1 minute, Tmax = 8°C), with mitochondrial inhibition seen after Rh123 uptake of 12, 50, and 100 ng/million cells. P3 squamous cell carcinoma cells were inhibited 20% and 75% by the laser after Rh123 uptake of 13 or 30 ng/million cells, respectively. M26 melanoma cells were not sensitive to the laser after 15 ng/million cells Rh123 uptake but were inhibited 45% and 75% after Rh123 uptake of 80 and 160 ng/million cells. Micro2 fibroblast mitochondrial activity was reduced less than 25% by the laser after Rh123 uptake of 50 ng/million cells. Cell viability after maximum Rh123 uptake and laser treatment was decreased to 30%, 15%, and 2% for M26 melanoma, P3 squamous cell carcinoma, and TE671 fibrosarcoma cells, but remained over 80% for Micro2 fibroblasts. The results suggest that Rh123 laser treatment response depends on tumor type and drug uptake level, with normal cells being much less sensitive to phototherapy.     

Life Stage,Alcohol Consumption Patterns,Alcohol-Related Consequences,and Gender

This paper presents findings from a European collaborative study. A common framework for reanalysis of existing data was devised. Alcohol-related problems encountered were classified as internal and external. Logistic regression analyses were then conducted to predict lifetime presence of any internal problem, any external problem, and any problem at all. The predictor variables were gender, life stage (corresponding roughly to young, middle and older age), past year's drinking level in four categories of grams of alcohol per month, and past year's binge drinking. All four predictor variables were associated with the presence of alcohol-related problems, with women and retired people having fewer problems and heavy drinkers and binge drinkers having more. At all levels of alcohol consumption, men were more likely than women to experience at least one adverse consequence. Internal problems were more common than external problems. Country differences are discussed and recommendations are made for further studies.     

Tuberculosis in South-East Asian Refugees after Resettlement-Can Prevention Be Improved by Better Policy and Practice?

Objective.This study aimed to determine whether incident cases of tuberculosis (TB) in a cohort of South-East Asian refugees followed for 5 years after resettlement were potentially preventible and whether prevention of TB was optimal in a state refugee TB screening program in Victoria, Australia.Design.A retrospective cohort study of 1,101 refugees from Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam screened for TB in the 6-month period from July 1989 to January 1990 was conducted. Incident cases of TB were identified by matching each refugee with the TB notification database for 5 years from the date of initial screening. Preventability was assessed for incident cases by reviewing medical records. Screening guidelines and practice were reviewed.Results.The main outcome was the preventability of cases of active tuberculosis that developed in the study population in the first 5 years after resettlement. The incidence of active TB was 363/100,000 during the first year and 109/100,000/year during the first 5 years. Five of six incident cases were assessed aspotentiallypreventable, which if prevented would have resulted in an annual incidence of 18/100,000 over the first 5 years. Use of a more sensitive skin test definition of infection would have made an additional 245 refugees eligible for prevention and potentially prevented an additional 25 cases of TB over a lifetime.Conclusions.There is a high incidence of tuberculosis among SE Asian refugees, particularly in the first year after resettlement. A large proportion of TB may be preventable. Improvement in case prevention may be possible with updated guidelines and better implementation of screening policy.     

Young Drug and Alcohol Casualties Compared: Review of 100 Patients at a Scottish Psychiatric Hospital

The case notes of 100 young drug and alcohol abusers attending a psychiatric hospital were reviewed. Only two of the study group were recorded by the hospital as dependent upon both drugs and alcohol. Case notes revealed that an additional 32 individuals abused both drugs and alcohol, often taking these in conjunction. It was concluded that many of the study group were multi-problem patients whose general lifestyles were more problematic than the varied substances they abused.