Acupuncture and Trager psychophysical integration in the treatment of wheelchair user's shoulder pain in individuals with spinal cord injury.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness of acupuncture and Trager Psychophysical Integration (a form of manual therapy) in decreasing chronic shoulder pain in wheelchair users with spinal cord injury (SCI). DESIGN: A prospective clinical trial, with subjects randomized to acupuncture or Trager treatment condition. Subjects served as their own controls by including a 5-week pretreatment baseline period and a 5-week posttreatment follow-up period. SETTING: Rehabilitation hospital research department. PARTICIPANTS: Eighteen subjects with chronic SCI and chronic shoulder pain who used manual wheelchairs as their primary means of mobility. INTERVENTION: Ten acupuncture or 10 Trager treatments over a 5-week period. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Changes in performance-corrected Wheelchair User's Shoulder Pain Index (PC-WUSPI) scores during baseline, treatment, and follow-up periods were assessed by using analysis of variance. RESULTS: The mean PC-WUSPI score +/- standard deviation of the 18 subjects at entry was 48.9 +/- 24.6 (range, 8.0-94). No significant change in mean PC-WUSPI scores occurred during the pretreatment baseline period. Mean PC-WUSPI scores decreased significantly during the treatment period in both the acupuncture (53.4%; 23.3 points) and Trager (53.8%; 21.7 points) treatment groups. The reduced PC-WUSPI scores were maintained in both groups throughout the 5-week posttreatment follow-up period. CONCLUSION: Acupuncture and Trager are both effective treatments for reducing chronic shoulder pain associated with functional activities in persons with SCI.

The native virulence plasmid combination affects the segregational stability of a theta-replicating shuttle vector in Bacillus anthracis var. New Hampshire.

The segregational stability of a small, theta-replicating, non-mobilizable shuttle plasmid (pAEX-5E) was determined in fully virulent (pX01+/pX02+), partially cured (pX01+/pX02- and pX01-/pX02+) and fully cured (pX01-/pX02-) derivatives of Bacillus anthracis var. New Hampshire. Under the growth conditions used (L-broth, 37 degrees C, aerobic, batch culture), pAEX-5E remained segregationally stable in the pX01-/pX02+ and pX01-/pX02- derivatives for in excess of 100 culture generations, but was expelled from the pX01+/pX02+ and pX01+/pX02- derivatives (100% loss occurred after 101+/-3.8 and 54+/-6.0 culture generations, respectively). In the presence of antibiotic selection pressure to maintain pAEX-5E (5 microg erythromycin ml-1) no comparable loss of pX01 or pX02 was observed over 100 generations of growth in any of the derivatives of B. anthracis. Under these conditions the pX01+/pX02- derivative had an extended culture doubling time (td+/-S. E. of the mean) of 75.3 +/- 1.4 min compared with 47.3 +/- 1.1, 46.2 +/- 0.86 and 43.2 +/- 1.2 min for the pX01+/pX02+, pX01-/pX02+ and pX01-/pX02- derivatives, respectively. That antibiotic resistance was pAEX-5E-mediated was confirmed using a second antibiotic marker (kanamycin). After100 generations of growth in the presence of erythromycin, colonies were shown to have retained kanamycin resistance. Southern blot analysis, in conjunction with plasmid rescue to Escherichia coli confirmed that, after 100 culture generations in the presence of antibiotic selection pressure, pAEX-5E had remained structurally stable and had not integrated into the B. anthracis genome.

Prolonged survival of rat leg allografts due to immunological enhancement.

Attempts were made to induce a prolonged survival of leg allografts in rats by means of immunological enhancement. AS rats injected with AS anti-August antiserum accepted (AS X August)F1 kidney allografts for longer than 50 days, but rejected F1 leg allografts within 12-16 days. However, AS rats bearing established, enhanced (AS X August)F1 kidneys accepted F1 leg allografts for periods of 21-207 days. The possibility is discussed that composite tissue allografts can manifest prolonged survival provided that their recipients have passed through the "induction phase" of enhancement and reached the "steady-state" or maintenance phase.

Boron uptake by excised barley roots: I. Uptake into the free space.

At 2 C, all boron accumulated by excised barley roots (Hordeum vulgare L. cv. Herta) remains in the free space; i.e. active uptake is nil at this temperature. Three component fractions of free space B were apparent: (a) a surface contaminant film of B on blotted roots, (b) water free space B, and (c) B reversibly bound in the cell walls. A stoichiometric release of H(+) from the roots in the presence of B indicated that B was bound by borate complexes with polysaccharides in the cell walls. Polysaccharide-borate complexes are much less stable than those of monosaccharides, and the bound B fraction could be readily removed by rinsing the roots in the presence of a monomeric polyol possessing the necessary cis-diol configuration. Cell wall material separated from excised barley roots had a B binding capacity 66% greater than that of intact roots.A 30-minute rinse in distilled H(2)O or 0.5 mm CaSO(4) was required to remove all cell wall-bound B from the roots after a 30-minute uptake period. Thus, although B in the contaminant surface film and the water free space is rinsed from the roots within 10 minutes, a 30-minute rinse is essential if all reversibly accumulated B is to be removed from the free space.

Aggressive non-irradiated basal cell carcinoma of forehead treated by free flap transfer.

A case of recurrent basal cell carcinoma resistant to repeated excision is reported. The forehead defect was covered with a deltopectoral free flap transfer in which 1 artery and 2 veins were anastomosed.

Sugar Transport in Immature Internodal Tissue of Sugarcane: II. Mechanism of Sucrose Transport.

The mechanism by which sucrose is transported into the inner spaces of immature internodal parenchyma tissue of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L. var. H 49-5) was studied in short term experiments (15 to 300 seconds). Transport of sucrose, glucose, and fructose was each characterized by a V(max) of 1.3 mumoles/gram fresh weight.2 hours, and each of these three sugars mutually and competitively inhibited transport of the other two. When (14)C-glucose was supplied exogenously, (14)C-glucose 6-phosphate and (14)C-glucose were the first labeled compounds to appear in the tissue; no (14)C-sucrose was detected until after 60-second incubation. After 15-second incubation in (14)C-sucrose, all intracellular radioactivity was in glucose, fructose, glucose 6-phosphate, and fructose 6-phosphate; trace amounts of (14)C-sucrose were found after 30 seconds and after 5 minutes, 71% of the intracellular radioactivity was in sucrose. Although it was possible that sucrose was transported intact into the inner space and then immediately hydrolyzed, it was shown that the rate of hydrolysis under these conditions was too low to account for the rate of hexose accumulation. Pretreatment of the tissue with rabbit anti-invertase antiserum eliminated sucrose transport, but had no effect on glucose transport. Since the antibodies did not penetrate the plasmalemma, it was concluded that sucrose was hydrolyzed by an invertase in the free space prior to transport. The glucose and fructose moieties, or their phosphorylated derivatives, were then transported into the inner space and sucrose was resynthesized. No evidence for the involvement of sucrose phosphate in transport was found in these experiments.

Sugar transport in immature internodal tissue of sugarcane: I. Mechanism and kinetics of accumulation.

Transmembrane sugar transport into immature internodal parenchyma tissue of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) is a metabolically regulated process as evidenced by its sensitivity to pH, temperature, anaerobiosis, and metabolic inhibitors. All sugars studied-glucose, fructose, galactose, sorbose, glucose 6-phosphate, 3-O-methylglucose, and 2-deoxy-d-glucose-were apparently transported via the same carrier sites since they competed with each other for uptake. External concentrations of these sugars at one-half V(max) were in the range of 3.9 to 8.4 nm. Preliminary data indicated that phosphorylation may be closely associated with glucose transport. The dominant intracellular sugar after 4-hours incubation was sucrose when glucose, glucose-6-P, or fructose was the exogenously supplied sugar; but when galactose was supplied, only 28% of intracellular radioactivity was in sucrose. Sorbose, 3-O-methylglucose, and 2-deoxy-d-glucose were not metabolized. Thus, by using these analogs, transport could be studied independently of subsequent metabolism, effectively eliminating a complicating factor in previous studies.

Absorption of copper, zinc, and manganese by sugarcane leaf tissue.

The absorption of Cu(2+), Zn(2+), and Mn(2+) by leaf tissue of 4-month old sugarcane plants (Saccharum officinarum L., var. H53-263) has been investigated. After the "apparent free space" fraction was desorbed, the absorption of Cu(2+), Mn(2+), and Zn(2+) yielded a curve typical of many ion uptake processes when measured as a function of the external concentration. However, only 1 absorption mechanism was evident for each cation. The pH optimum for Cu(2+) and Zn(2+) uptake was 5.0 to 6.0, whereas that for Mn(2+) absorption was 4.5 to 6.0. Absorption was competitively inhibited by H(+), and this inhibition was reversible when 0.5 mm Ca(2+) was present. Cu(2+) and Zn(2+) were absorbed through the same carrier sites, as concluded from their mutually competitive activities. Mn(2+) was absorbed through a second, independent mechanism. Uptake of each cation was strongly inhibited by uncouplers of oxidative phosphorylation, by Amytal and Nembutal(2), by 5 x 10(-2)m succinate, and by ADP and P(i). Absorption of Cu(2+), Zn(2+), and Mn(2+) was concluded to be coupled to oxidative phosphorylation, and specifically to energy-conservation Site I.

Nonessentiality of boron in fungi and the nature of its toxicity.

AN INVESTIGATION WAS UNDERTAKEN TO DETERMINE WHETHER ANY OF THE FOLLOWING FUNGI HAD A REQUIREMENT FOR BORON (B): Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Aspergillus niger, Neurospora crassa, and Penicillium chrysogenum. Boron was unessential, and hence a study was made of the concentrations of B that reduced the growth of S. cerevisiae and P. chrysogenum and the mode of action of the B toxicity. Fifty and 4000 mg B/liter, respectively, significantly (5% level) reduced the growth of the latter 2 species.In both, glycolysis appeared to be inhibited by toxic levels of B, since the cells accumulated fructose-1,6-diP and ADP, but were low in glyceraldehyde-3-P and ATP. With S. cerevisiae growing on glucose, 150 mg B/liter significantly reduced CO(2) evolution. When glyceraldehyde was substituted for glucose, CO(2) evolution and O(2) consumption were unaffected by this level of B.Aldolase was suspected of being inhibited by high B, and this was confirmed using a crude aldolase extract from S. cerevisiae and purified rabbit muscle aldolase. The inhibition of aldolase by B was uncompetitive.With aldolase activity being reduced by toxic levels of B, the fungi were apparently unable to utilize carbohydrates at a rate sufficient to maintain the metabolic processes involved in growth and reproduction.