Using pusher-plate-type artificial hearts, changes in the degree of synchrony and stroke volume were compared to phase and amplitude calculations from the first Fourier component of individual-pixel ...time-activity curves generated from gated radionuclide images (RNA) of these hearts. In addition, the ability of Fourier analysis to quantify paradoxical volume shifts was tested using a ventricular aneurysm model by which the Fourier amplitude was correlated to known increments of paradoxical volume. Predetermined phase-angle differences (incremental increases in asynchrony) and the mean phase-angle difference calculated from RNAs showed an agreement of -7 degrees +/- 4.4 degrees (mean +/- SD). A strong correlation was noted between stroke volume and Fourier amplitude (r = 0.98; P less than 0.0001) as well as between the paradoxical volume accepted by the 'aneurysm' and the Fourier amplitude (r = 0.97; P less than 0.0001). The degree of asynchrony and changes in stroke volume were accurately reflected by the Fourier phase and amplitude values, respectively. In the specific case of ventricular aneurysms, the data demonstrate that using this method, the paradoxically moving areas may be localized, and the expansile volume within these regions can be quantified.
Based on studies of the chemotherapy of human leukemia and late stage animal neoplasms which may be kinetically analogous to disseminated reticulum cell sarcoma, a therapy program was devised using ...sequential cyclophosphamide‐vincristine followed by weekly methotrexate‐cytosine arabinoside. Each cycle of therapy consisted of cyclophosphamide 1.5 g/m2 on day 0 and vincristine 1.4 mg/m2 on days 1, 8, and 15; subsequently, 8 weekly doses of IV cytosine arabinoside 300 mg/m2 and oral methotrexate 120 mg/m2 over 24 hours were given followed by “Leucovorin rescue.” Fifteen patients received 3 such cycles with intervening 2‐week recovery periods. Nine patients achieved complete remission, and 6 had a partial response. Median remission duration was 10 months. Median survival from onset of disease was 15+ months and from beginning of therapy was 14+ months. Five of 7 patients who have relapsed are dead. Toxic manifestations included neutropenia below 1000/mm3 in 10 patients; of these, there were recurrent episodes of sepsis in one. Alopecia occurred in 10, and reversible neurotoxicity in 8 patients.
DRUG EFFECTS ON THE BEHAVIOR OF ANIMALS Cook, Leonard; Kelleher, Roger T.
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences,
January 1962, Letnik:
96, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Reputational Ratings of Doctoral Programs Hartnett, Rodney T.; Clark, Mary Jo; Baird, Leonard L.
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
1978-Mar-24, Letnik:
199, Številka:
4335
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Peer ratings of the quality of doctoral program faculties were obtained in a 1975 national survey of chemistry, history, and psychology programs. The ratings were then compared to those obtained 6 ...and 11 years earlier by the American Council on Education. In general, the rankings obtained from the ratings proved to be highly stable over the 11-year period, particularly in chemistry and history. Some ratings were also obtained for subspecialties within the three disciplines. Though it is clear that variations in quality among subspecialty faculties do exist and are important for individual program evaluations, it is unlikely that such subspecialty ratings would be feasible or useful in national surveys of the reputations of doctoral programs. The ratings were found to be highly related to a number of research-oriented variables of departments (such as size, productivity, percentage of alumni holding academic positions at Ph.D.-granting universities), but unrelated or very weakly related to such features as the student-reported quality of teaching and degree of faculty concern for students, or faculty-reported degree of departmental effort toward the career development of junior members of the faculty.
Norfloxacin is a new antibiotic which caused embryo-fetal toxicity in association with maternotoxicity when given orally to rabbits at 100 mg/kg/day. The intestinal flora of rabbits is unusually ...sensitive to many antibiotics and it was suspected that the maternotoxicity and embryo-fetal toxicity caused by oral norfloxacin were secondary to an effect on the intestinal flora. To test this idea, a teratologic study was conducted in which rabbits were dosed on Days 6 to 18 of gestation with norfloxacin given orally at 100 mg/kg/day or subcutaneously at 20 mg/kg/day. The oral treatment caused decreased food consumption (to less than 15 g/day in some animals), body weight loss, an increased resorption rate, and decreased fetal weight. Among the females in the orally dosed group, there was a significant correlation (p less than or equal to 0.005) between the effects on maternal body weight and the resorption rate. The subcutaneous treatment caused little intestinal exposure (biliary excretion = only 2-4% of dose) and no maternotoxicity or embryo-fetal toxicity, even though blood levels of drug were at least as high as those in the oral group. Since the maternotoxicity and embryo-fetal toxicity were specific to the oral route and not correlated with the level of systemic exposure, the maternotoxicity may have been secondary to an effect on the intestinal flora and the embryo-fetal toxicity may have been secondary to the maternotoxicity. The decreased food consumption observed in the oral group may have contributed to the embryo-fetal toxicity since, in a separate study, it was found that lowering the amount of food provided to rabbits on Days 6 to 18 of gestation from 150 g/day to 50 or 15 g/day also caused adverse maternal and fetal effects including, at 15 g/day, fetal malformations.
The incidence and degree of hypotension, time to establish surgical analgesia, and several other maternal and fetal variables were studied when 2-chloroprocaine, 3 per cent, and bupivacaine, 0.5 per ...cent, were used for epidural analgesia in 30 women undergoing elective cesarean section. Surgical analgesia occurred 8 min sooner (P less than 0.001) with chloroprocaine (14 +/- 1 min) than with bupivacaine (22 +/- 2 min). Blood pressure values were significantly lower with chloroprocaine than with bupivacaine during the 18--to-32 min interval after local anesthetic injection, while pulse rates were higher (P less than 0.05) at 18, 20, and 22 min. Hypotension necessitating treatment with ephedrine occurred in 33 per cent of chloroprocaine-treated subjects, compared with 13 per cent of those receiving bupivacaine. Newborn outcome was excellent in both groups, as reflected by umbilical vessel blood-gas values, times to sustained respiration, and 5-min Apgar scores. The authors conclude that chloroprocaine disturbs maternal cardiovascular status more than does bupivacaine when used for cesarean section epidural analgesia. However, chloroprocaine can be employed safely in normal pregnancies if maternal hypotension is corrected rapidly.
An unusual case of congenital cervico‐mediastinal thymic cyst with vocal cord paralysis is presented together with a brief history and classification of these cysts. A discussion of thymic cyst ...symptomatology and the surgical approach to these lesions is included. Simple thymic cysts should be considered in the differential diagnosis of cervico‐mediastinal masses, particularly in children and young adults.
Thirty-seven aphasic men received 8-10 hr of individual treatment each week for 12 weeks from a home therapist (wife, friend, relative) who was trained and directed by a speech pathologist. Treatment ...was followed by 12 weeks of no treatment. Patients were evaluated at entry and at 6, 12, 18, and 24 weeks after entry with a battery of speech and language measures. The group made substantial progress on all measures during the 12 weeks of treatment and ceased to progress when treatment was discontinued. Progress for the home treatment patients did not differ significantly from that of patients who received 12 weeks of individual treatment from speech pathologists or from that of patients for whom treatment was deferred for 12 weeks. Patient selection, training of the home therapists, and other methodological aspects are described to assist speech pathologists in making decisions about the use of trained volunteers in aphasia treatment.
PDF
