Sesquiterpene metabolites of the antarctic gorgonian Dasystenella acanthina

The ethereal extract of the Antarctic gorgonian Dasystenella acanthina was found to contain three main nonpolar and relatively transient sesquiterpene metabolites (1-3), which were isolated and submitted to spectral analysis. Two of them were identified as the previously reported compounds trans-beta-farnesene (1) and isofuranodiene (3), whereas the third metabolite, the furanoeudesmane 2, was unknown. The structure elucidation of this new sesquiterpene was solved mainly on the basis of its spectral properties and correlation with known compounds.     

New minor diterpenoid diacylglycerols from the skin of the nudibranch anisodoris fontaini

The Patagonian dorid nudibranch Anisodoris fontaini contains in its mantle a series of isocopalane diterpenoid diacylglycerols. Five new minor metabolites, anisodorins 1-5 (1-5), along with the already reported 6 and 7, have been isolated and chemically characterized. The structure and the relative stereochemistries have been determined by spectroscopic means, while the absolute stereochemistries for 2-5 are suggested to be the same as for the biogenetically related major compounds 6 and 7. Synthesis of the enantiomer (8) of anisodorin 1 confirmed the proposed structure and absolute stereochemistry.     

Suggestive evidence of a locus on chromosome 10p using the NIMH genetics initiative bipolar affective disorder pedigrees

As part of a four-center NIMH Genetics Initiative on Bipolar Disorder, a genome screen using 365 markers was performed on 540 DNAs from 97 families, enriched for affected relative pairs. This is the largest uniformly ascertained and assessed linkage sample for this disease, and includes 232 subjects diagnosed with bipolar I (BPI), 32 with schizo-affective, bipolar type (SABP), 72 with bipolar II (BPII), and 88 with unipolar recurrent depression (UPR). A hierarchical set of definitions of affected status was examined. Under Model I, affected individuals were those with a diagnosis of BPI or SABP, Model II included as affected those fitting Model I plus BPII, and Model III included those fitting Model II plus UPR. This data set was previously analyzed using primarily affected sib pair methods. We report the results of nonparametric linkage analyses of the extended pedigree structure using the program Genehunter Plus. The strongest finding was a lod score of 2.5 obtained on chromosome 10 near the marker D10S1423 with diagnosis as defined under Model II. This region has been previously implicated in genome-wide studies of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Other chromosomal regions with lod scores over 1.50 for at least one Model Included chromosomes 8 (Model III), 16 (Model III), and 20 (Model I). Am. J. Med. Genet. (Neuropsychiatr. Genet.) 96:18-23, 2000 Copyright 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Laser safety: the game is on

Any recurring mandatory education offering presents the risk of losing the audience's interest because of its repetitious nature. For example, laser safety in the OR is an important issue that should be reviewed annually, but most perioperative personnel have heard the laser safety talk and performed hands-on training numerous times. Educational offerings that must be presented repeatedly should be provided in new and creative ways to maintain staff members' attention. Presenting valuable and necessary educational material in a game show format can engage personnel, heighten their interest, and improve the chances that learning will occur. As a means of accomplishing this, a perioperative educator created an inservice game that was a successful and fun way to provide laser safety education.     

Nurse Practitioner-Based Diabetes Care Management

Background

Limited evidence exists on the impact of nurse practitioner-managed diabetes mellitus care coordination programs in the primary care setting and specifically on the use of telehealth to manage veterans with diabetes in the home.

Objective

To compare the impact of nurse practitioner-based diabetes mellitus care management programs using either a telehealth or a telephone intervention. Specific aims were to (i) compare the efficacy of telehealth and telephone interventions in a diabetes care management program, with regards to glycemic control; (ii) examine the impact of program exposure on the control of diabetes following patient disenrollment from the program; and (iii) identify the average duration of use of a telehealth or telephone intervention required to reach individualized glycemic goals.

Design, setting, and patient population

A retrospective pre-post cohort study of a nurse practitioner-managed diabetes care coordination program was performed in primary care clinics in a Midwest Veterans Administration Medical Center in the US. The cohort included in this study consisted of 259 patients who were enrolled in the program between August 2003 and October 2005 and who disenrolled from the program before January 2006.

Results

The mean reductions in glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA_1c) associated with the program were 2.4% for the telehealth intervention (baseline 9.86%; end of program 7.46%) and 2.39% for telephone intervention (baseline 9.75%; end of program 7.36%). No significant difference in the reduction in HbA_1c was noted between telehealth and telephone interventions (p = 0.96) after adjusting for baseline HbA_1c and age.The number of days of participation in the program was greater for the telehealth group than the group receiving the telephonic intervention (192.2 vs 161.9) but this difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.13). Approximately 75% of the patients (n = 192) worked with nurse practitioners and had reached individualized glycemic goals at disenrollment. Among these patients, those receiving the telehealth intervention had a 3.1% (SD = 1.9, p < 0.001) reduction in HbA_1c and those receiving the telephone intervention had a 2.7% (SD = 1.9, p < 0.001) reduction in HbA_1c, over a mean period of 204 days.Both interventions lost some of their effect following program disenrollment. The mean rise in HbA_1c in the post-program period was 0.69% for the telehealth intervention and 0.63% for the telephone intervention (the average number of post-program days was 434 days for the telehealth intervention and 323 days for the telephone intervention). After adjusting for HbA_1c at disenrollment and the number of days between disenrollment and the latest HbA_1c measurement, no significant difference in the rise in HbA_1c was seen between the two interventions (p = 0.80).

Conclusion

When employed for a comparable number of days, telehealth and telephone communication technologies used by nurse practitioners to provide individualized diabetes care management have similar effects on glycemic control. After disenrollment, HbA_1c increased slightly, suggesting that veterans need continuous individualized care, in addition to routine follow-up, to manage their diabetes.

     

Identification of Quantitative Trait Loci Influencing Alcohol Consumption in the High Alcohol Drinking and Low Alcohol Drinking Rat Lines

Selective breeding has been employed to develop high-alcohol-drinking (HAD) and low-alcohol-drinking (LAD) rat lines from the heterogeneous N/Nih rat. Within-family selection and a rotational breeding design were used to discourage inbreeding (Li et al, 1993). To identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) contributing to alcohol consumption, reciprocal HAD and LAD matings in conjunction with F1 intercrosses were used to create 459 F2 progeny. Using selective genotyping of 151 F2 progeny with extreme alcohol consumption scores and a novel least squares method developed by Haley et al (1994), five chromosomal regions (1,5,10,12, and 16) were identified with lod scores greater than 2.0. Genotyping of the entire sample of 459 F2 progeny produced maximum lod scores of 3.5 on chromosome 5, 2.4 on chromosome 10, 4.7 on chromosome 12 and 2.9 on chromosome 16. The evidence of linkage to chromosome 1 diminished substantially to a maximum lod score of 0.5 when all F2 progeny were genotyped. This study is the first genome-wide study for QTLs underlying alcohol consumption that has employed noninbred lines. Further localization of these QTLs will likely provide insight and candidate genes for the study of human alcoholism.