Dextran-coated charcoal immunoassay of insulin

Summary 1. The use of dextran-coated charcoal allows a rapid, simple and relatively precise radioimmunoassay of insulin. — 2. The factors affecting the selectivity of coated charcoal for insulin and antibody-bound insulin have been examined and optimum operating conditions selected. — 3. The original method has been modified to allow the use of a commercially available antiserum. — 4. The accuracy and precision of the method have been compared with those of a double antibody technique.

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Immunologische Insulinbestimmung mit dextranvorbehandelter Tierkohle

Zusammenfassung 1. Die Verwendung von dextranvorbehandelter Tierkohle erlaubt eine schnelle, einfache und relativ präzise radio-immunologische Insulinbestimmung. — 2. Die Faktoren, die das unterschiedliche Ansprechen von dextranvorbehandelter Tierkohle auf freies und antikörper-gebundenes Insulin beeinflussen, wurden untersucht und die günstigsten Bedingungen für die Durchführung der Untersuchung herausgearbeitet. — 3. Diese Modifikation der Originalmethode erlaubt auch die Verwendung des handelsüblichen Anti-Insulin-Serums. — 4. Die Richtigkeit und die Genauigkeit der beschriebenen Methode wurden mit der eines Doppel-Antikörper-Verfahrens verglichen.

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Dosage immunologique de l'insuline avec le charbon recouvert de dextran

Résumé 1. L'utilisation de charbon recouvert de dextran permet un dosage radioimmunologique de l'insuline rapide, simple et relativement précis. — 2. Les facteurs affectant la sélectivité du dextran-charbon pour l'insuline et les complexes insuline-anticorps ont été examinés et les meilleures conditions d'opération ont été sélectionnées. — 3. La méthode originale a été modifiée afin de permettre l'usage d'un antisérum commercial. — 4. La justesse et la précision de la méthode ont été examinées et comparées avec celles de la méthode au double anticorps.

     

European cultural offshoots in the New World: Differences in their mental hospitalization patterns

Summary The mental hospitalization rates for Canadians of German, Dutch, and Scandinavian origin are significantly below the rates for Canadians generally and even for Canadians of British origin, although the latter are the more advantaged in the society. The better-than-average picture proves to derive from the males much more than from the females, which weighs against a genetic explanation, and it is unlikely to be due to differences in use of psychiatric services. Examination of rates for subcategories of the population, and a review of the literature on these and other Canadian sub-cultures, suggests that the mental health advantages experienced by these males may be due in part to family structure and in part to religious influences.     

Plan space: representation of treatment plans in multidimensional space

: Treatment planning balances the need to provide adequate radiation coverage of the target with the need to reduce against the risk of overdosing normal tissues. An acceptable plan fulfills minimum dose-volume criteria for irradiation of tumor and normal tissues. However, multiple plans can satisfy these minimum criteria, and some plans provide for better protection of normal tissue than others. Here, we present a method to help the planner compare plans and decide whether a particular plan is the “best” plan on the basis of a set of certain dose-volume conditions.

: Treatment plans are represented as points in multidimensional space. One dimension is assigned to the target and one to normal tissues of each anatomic structure under consideration. Minimum target dose is used as the target axis coordinate and the percentage volume of each normal structure receiving more than a specified dose as each normal-tissue coordinate. Images of plan space are developed for model phantom anatomy as well as for two clinical cases in the thorax and abdomen.

: When a sufficient number of plans have been plotted, a feasibility boundary becomes evident. This hypersurface in plan space represents the limit of the given treatment technique. By using a plan on this boundary, the benefits of a given treatment modality are maximized, providing assurance that the selected plan is the “best” plan. The beam angles and relative weights of a plan can be changed to alter its position in plan space, allowing improvements in an existing plan. Frequently, plans with normal-tissue dose distributions superior to the minimum acceptable criteria can be selected. The benefits of using plan-space images have been demonstrated at sites in the thorax and abdomen.

: Instead of defining dose-volume criteria at the outset, it is possible to select the best achievable plans by first evaluating the space of possible plans for a particular patient’s unique anatomy and then choosing the plan with the optimum dose-volume characteristics. No attempt is made to arrive at a single plan score so that explicit judgments about the relative worth of individual structures are avoided. Visualization of plan-space images allows physicians to make choices based on their assessment of the relative significance of irradiation of each normal structure.     

Late-onset ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency in two families with different mutations in the same codon

We report on late-onset ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency in two families with mutations in the same codon, but different base substitutions. Onset of symptoms showed great variation, and five hemizygotes finally died. Clinical diagnosis was late and difficult. In family A, 1 patient also developed the signs of Gilbert's disease. In family B, the index case came to attention as OTC deficiency, after the transplantation of his liver when the recipient died of cerebral edema and hyperammonemia. In family A, the hemizygote males died at the ages of 12 and 18 years; in family B, they died at the ages of 20, 26, and 30 years, respectively. Diagnosis was confirmed by reduced OTC activity in liver specimens. The residual activity in autopsy liver of the index patient in family A was less than the activity in the biopsy of the transplanted liver of the index patient in family B. The molecular investigations showed mutations in exon 2 at codon 40 in the OTC gene in both families. However, different bases were substituted. In family A, the single-base mutation was a cytosine-to-thymine transition (Arg 40 Cys); in family B, it was a guanine-to-adenine transition (Arg 40 His). Published data on in vitro expression studies of the recurrent OTC mutation Arg 40 His have shown little effect on the protein structure of the enzyme. These studies would fit well with our observation of higher OTC activity and later age of onset of symptoms in family B.     

Secular trends in self-reported functioning, need for assistance and attitudes towards life: 10-year differences of three older cohorts

OBJECTIVES: To compare the self-reported functional status of cohorts, born 10 years apart, when they were at equivalent ages: 75, 80, or 85. DESIGN: Cross-sectional mailed survey of three birth cohorts in 1989 and 1999. PARTICIPANTS: Random samples of older home-dwelling residents from birth cohorts 1904, 1909, and 1914 in 1989 ( N = 685) and the birth cohorts 1914, 1919, and 1924 in 1999 ( N = 2,047) were asked the same questions. MEASUREMENTS: Self-reported physical functioning, need for assistance in daily living, and attitudes toward life. RESULTS: Among 85-year-olds born in 1914 there was a significantly larger proportion able to go outdoors compared with 85-year-olds born in 1904 (72.9% vs 60.6% in women (P <.01) and 84.6% vs 63.6 % in men (P <.01), respectively). Similar trends were observed between the oldest cohorts concerning the need for assistance. The amount of publicly funded domestic help had reduced in the two oldest cohorts in 1999 compared with 1989 (20.3% vs 29.8% in 85-year-old women born in 1914 vs 1904 (P <.05); and 10.2 % vs 25.0% in 85-year-old men born 1914 vs 1904 (P <.05), but at the same time 75-year-old women born in 1924 had increased the use of private domestic help compared with 75-year-old women born in 1914. Significantly larger proportions of both men and women had plans for the future in all the cohorts in 1999 than in 1989. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent yet small differences between the corresponding cohorts suggest that physical functioning and more-optimistic attitude toward life have increased and need for assistance has decreased over 10 years in the older population up to the age of 85.     

略谈中医理论创新：—中医基础理论研究关键问题分析

如何发挥中医学的优势与特色,开拓在中国文化和科学思想特色的中医基础理论研究新局面,是目前中医基础研究中的关键性问题。如对中医学指导思想的认识,对中西医学差异性的认识,对中医诊职方法特色的认识,对中医在未来医疗卫生事业定位的认识等,是我国研究中医基础理论所必须要明确的问题,分析这些问题,一是它可以修正我们不尽合理的研究方向;二是它可以为我们提供一些研究方法的思考,更有利于中医基础理论科研的创新。     

中小学教师教育技术能力培训的中外比较

对教师进行教育技术培训能有效提高教师的信息化水平。文章通过对中国与美国、英国的中小学教师教育技术能力培训在组织机构、培训形式、培训内容侧重等方面的分析比较,指出其中的几点对我国教师培训工作有可借鉴之处。     

电子档案与纸质档案的比较研究

本文通过对电子档案与纸质档案的比较,认为二者各具优劣,互为补充,在未来相当长的阶段将处于并存状态,不能相互取代。并提出了实行“双套制”管理是二者有机结合,扬长避短,最大限度发挥为人类信息存贮和传播提供服务的作用。     

Comparative toxicogenomic analysis of the hepatotoxic effects of TCDD in Sprague Dawley rats and C57BL/6 mice.

In an effort to further characterize conserved and species-specific mechanisms of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD)-mediated toxicity, comparative temporal and dose-response microarray analyses were performed on hepatic tissue from immature, ovariectomized Sprague Dawley rats and C57BL/6 mice. For temporal studies, rats and mice were gavaged with 10 or 30 microg/kg of TCDD, respectively, and sacrificed after 2, 4, 8, 12, 18, 24, 72, or 168 h while dose-response studies were performed at 24 h. Hepatic gene expression profiles were monitored using custom cDNA microarrays containing 8567 (rat) or 13,361 (mouse) cDNA clones. Affymetrix data from male rats treated with 40 microg/kg TCDD were also included to expand the species comparison. In total, 3087 orthologous genes were represented in the cross-species comparison. Comparative analysis identified 33 orthologous genes that were commonly regulated by TCDD as well as 185 rat-specific and 225 mouse-specific responses. Functional annotation using Gene Ontology identified conserved gene responses associated with xenobiotic/chemical stress and amino acid and lipid metabolism. Rat-specific gene expression responses were associated with cellular growth and lipid metabolism while mouse-specific responses were associated with lipid uptake/metabolism and immune responses. The common and species-specific gene expression responses were also consistent with complementary histopathology, clinical chemistry, hepatic lipid analyses, and reports in the literature. These data expand our understanding of TCDD-mediated gene expression responses and indicate that species-specific toxicity may be mediated by differences in gene expression which may help explain the wide range of species sensitivities and will have important implications in risk assessment strategies.     

血概念的中西医比较及其跨文化交流初探

本文选择中医基本概念血为研究对象,与西方传统医学和现代医学中血的概念相比较,分析中西医血概念的异同之处,提出中医基本概念血跨文化交流的原则并探讨了中医跨文化交流理论发展特点。