Computed tomography in the evaluation of benign asbestos-related disorders.

High-resolution CT is more sensitive than chest radiography and conventional CT in the detection and assessment of benign asbestos-related pleural and parenchymal diseases. The HRCT features of asbestosis correlate with clinical and functional restriction. The specificity of HRCT findings of asbestosis needs further evaluation. Given its low cost and availability, chest radiography remains the mainstay of imaging in benign asbestos-related diseases. CT (conventional or high-resolution) is not recommended as a universal screening test in asbestos-exposed workers. It has a useful role in identifying and quantitating pulmonary fibrosis distinct from emphysema and pleural disease, in distinguishing pleural disease from normal extrapleural soft tissues, and in clarifying the confusing chest radiograph or conflicting pulmonary function data. CT is useful in excluding a mass that may be obscured by extensive pleural and parenchymal fibrosis and is helpful in the follow-up of benign fibrotic masses or in the direction of their biopsy.     

Aortic valve endocarditis in an acutely rejecting orthotopic heart transplant recipient

Infective endocarditis is an infrequent but serious complication in heart transplant recipients. We report successful treatment for this serious complication.     

Deep cerebral venous thrombosis presenting as an encephalitic illness.

Three cases of deep cerebral vein thrombosis presenting as encephalitic illnesses are described. Thyrotoxicosis was present in one case, ulcerative colitis in one case and an anticardiolipin antibody was detected in two cases. All three patients were on oestrogen and progesterone. Magnetic resonance imaging and angiography allowed rapid confirmation of the diagnosis and permitted non-invasive follow up of this condition. The first two patients made complete clinical recoveries despite having thalamic infarction, in one case bilaterally, demonstrable radiologically.     

The politics of employment-based insurance in the United States

Analyses of the corporatization of U.S. health care typically focus on the political struggle between corporations and traditional health care providers, e.g., physicians. A neglected area of study is the struggle between corporations and their employees over the employment-based health insurance system. Yet, since this system is currently the primary mechanism for financing health care in the United States, an analysis of its historical development is critical to any understanding of the corporatization of U.S. health care. It is argued here that the employment-based health insurance system was a part of a political compromise between capital and labor that emerged after World War II. In exchange for control over production and increased worker productivity, corporations agreed to provide workers with steady wage increases and an expanded system of fringe benefits, or "corporate welfare." But, by the late 1970s, rising health care costs created a corporate health care financing crisis that has prompted corporations to cut back employee health insurance coverage. The relative inability of workers to resist such cutbacks reveals the extent to which, by linking health care to wage labor, the "corporate welfare" system has made the U.S. working class more vulnerable to corporate power.     

Proposed quality control guidelines for antimicrobial susceptibility tests using tilmicosin.

Quality control guidelines for tilmicosin, a novel veterinary-use-only macrolide, were developed in a multi-laboratory study according to established National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) procedures (M23-T2). Tilmicosin was incorporated into Sensititre plates for broth microdilution endpoint testing and into two lots of 15-micrograms disks for Kirby-Bauer agar disk diffusion testing. One common lot and five unique lots of Mueller-Hinton media were used. (Broth was cation adjusted, and agar was supplemented with 5% defibrinated sheep blood.) Bacteria used for reference strains included Pasteurella haemolytica 128K, Pasteurella multocida ATCC 43137, and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213 (microdilution) and ATCC 25923 (disk). Replicate tests were conducted. Disk diffusion and broth microdilution quality control ranges are proposed.     

Chronic deciduitis in the placental basal plate: definition and interobserver reliability

This study tested whether concordance could be achieved for abnormal inflammation in the basal decidua of placental specimens among 6 pathologists experienced in placental pathology. Thirty microscope slides were evaluated by the pathologists for chronic deciduitis. They also scored the severity and extent of inflammation and the presence of plasma cells. No definition of chronic deciduitis was provided. Concordance (5/6 or 6/6 agreement) was achieved in 23 cases (76%). Spearman's rank correlation showed that the diagnosis of chronic deciduitis was almost identical to the assessment of the severity of the inflammation. A regression analysis showed that the perception of severity (and hence chronic deciduitis) was influenced by the other 2 variables, extent and plasma cells. The results were shared with the pathologists, and 25 cases (excluding those with previous 6/6 consensus) were reevaluated. Concordance was now achieved in the 83% of those remaining cases. Using a threshold based on the severity and the extent of lymphocytes, and the presence of plasma cells, pathologists are able to diagnose chronic deciduitis with sufficient concordance to be of value in clinical correlation studies.     

A transformation procedure for Botryotinia squamosa

Summary The onion leaf blight fungus, Botrytis squamosa, was transformed to hygromycin B resistance using a plasmid (pDH25) containing a bacterial gene for hygromycin phosphotransferase (hph) fused to promoter elements from Aspergillus. Southern hybridization of transformants indicated that single or multiple copies of the vector were integrated into heterologous regions of the B. squamosa genome. Free plasmid was found in undigested preparations of transformant DNA, but was not detected after 3–5 passages of selective transfer. Most transformants were mitotically stable in both selective and non-selective growth; however, both genetic rearrangements and loss of integrated DNA occurred during vegetative growth.     

Teratogenic potential of carbaryl given to rabbits and mice by gavage or by dietary inclusion.

The teratogenic potential of the insecticide carbaryl (1-naphthyl methylcarbamate) was evaluated in New Zealand rabbits and CF-1 mice. Rabbits were given 150 or 200 mg carbaryl/kg/day by gavage from Days 6 through 18 of gestation. Mice were given 100 or 150 mg carbaryl/kg/day by gavage or were given a diet containing 5660 ppm of carbaryl (1166 mg carbaryl/kg body wt/day) from Days 6 through 15 of gestation. An increased incidence of omphalocele was observed among the offspring of rabbits given 200 mg carbaryl/kg/day, which was a maternally toxic dose, and another case was observed among the offspring of rabbits given 150 mg/kg/day, a dosage which produced mild maternal toxicity. In comparison, carbaryl was not teratogenic in mice given maternally toxic doses of the compound either by gavage or by dietary inclusion.