Optical Emission from C2- Anions in Microwave-Activated CH4/H2 Plasmas for Chemical Vapor Deposition of Diamond.

Visible emission from C2-(B2Σu+) anions has been identified underlying the much stronger Swan band emission from neutral C2(d3Πg) radicals (henceforth C2-* and C2*, respectively) in MW-activated C/H/(Ar) plasmas operating under conditions appropriate for the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of diamond. Spatially resolved measurements of the C2-* and C2* emissions as functions of the C/H/(Ar) ratio in the input gas mixture, the total pressure, and the applied MW power, together with complementary 2-D(r, z) plasma modeling, identifies dissociative electron attachment (DEA) to C2H radicals in the hot plasma as the dominant source of the observed C2-* emission. Modeling not only indicates substantially higher concentrations of C2H- anions (from analogous DEA to C2H2) in the near-substrate region but also suggests that the anion number densities will typically be 3-4 orders of magnitude lower than those of the electrons and partner cations, i.e., mainly C2H2+ and C2H3+. The identification of negatively charged carbon-containing species in diamond CVD plasmas offers a possible rationale for previous reports that nucleation densities and growth rates can be enhanced by applying a positive bias to the substrate.

Steroids involved with final oocyte maturation in the winter flounder.

A number of androgens and progestogens including 17 alpha,20 beta-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (17,20-P) were examined in female winter flounder as possible maturation inducing steroids (MIS). During final oocyte maturation serum levels of testosterone (T) and 17 beta-hydroxy-5 beta-androsten-3-one (5 beta-T) peaking at over 200 ng/ml and pregnenolone (PE) at 40 ng/ml were the predominant steroids found from each major group. High levels of T and 5 beta-T were correlated with oocyte stages characterized by germinal vesicle migration. Of the PEs measured, maximum serum levels of PE, 3 beta,17 alpha-hydroxy-5-pregnen-20-one (17-PE) and 3 beta,17 alpha, 20 beta-dihydroxy-5-pregnene (17,20-PE) were found during later oocytes stages associated with germinal vesicle breakdown. Levels of 17,20-P, an established MIS in most fish, were almost non-detectable (less than 0.1 ng/ml serum) in females throughout all stages of final oocyte maturation. Incubations of ovarian follicles in vitro with physiological concentrations of T and 5 beta-T indicated that these steroids could induce all stages of final oocyte maturation. Similar in vitro incubations showed that 17-PE and 17,20-PE were only effective on germinal vesicle breakdown. The principal conclusions are that T, 5 beta-T and the PEs can be considered as MISs in winter flounder and the PE pathway predominates during the final stages of oocyte maturation in winter flounder in contrast to progesterones which predominate in other fish species, mostly salmonids, studies to date.

Characteristics of stroke victims associated with early cardiovascular mortality in their children.

We assessed the relationship between characteristics of stroke victims and the risk of early death from coronary or cerebrovascular disease (CCVD) among their children. For each of 55 stroke patients selected from a registry which enrolled patients between 1969 and 1973, an index of their progeny's survival was calculated using the age in 1987 of 197 surviving children, and the age at and cause of death for 55 deceased children. Increased risk of CCVD death within families was significantly related to parental age at the time of first stroke, and with the parental history of diabetes mellitus. No significant relationship was found between the children's risk of CCVD death and the stroke patient/parent's sex, race, history of hypertension or cardiac disease, stroke diagnosis (infarction vs hemorrhage), or severity upon admission. These results suggest that family histories of cerebrovascular disease may impart differential risks, depending upon a family history of diabetes, and perhaps, the ages at which ancestral strokes first occurred.

Changes in survival following stroke in five North Carolina counties observed during two different periods.

We evaluated survival following stroke for patients from a five-county area of rural North Carolina enrolled in either of two community hospital-based stroke survey programs. In this area, the first program enrolled 843 stroke patients between 1970 and 1973 and the second program enrolled 786 stroke patients between 1979 and 1980. One-year survival increased from 49% in the first program to 62% in the second for all stroke patients, from 54% to 68% for patients with cerebral infarction, and from 18% to 55% for patients with cerebral hemorrhage. While other reports have attributed declining stroke mortality to a decline in the incidence of stroke, our study suggests that increased survival after stroke may account for a large portion of the decrease in stroke mortality.

Cause specific mortality following cerebral infarction.

Mortality from four causes (index stroke, subsequent stroke, cardiac disease and non-cardiovascular causes) was examined during a 5 year follow-up of 1694 cerebral infarction patients admitted to 25 community hospitals between 1969 and 1973. The hazard for mortality from the index stroke was high initially, but declined to a negligible level by 6 months post-stroke. In contrast, hazards for mortality from subsequent strokes, cardiac diseases and non-cardiovascular causes each peaked midway through the first year, declined during the remainder of that year, and then increased in the latter part of the follow-up. Proportional hazards analysis indicated that advanced age and increased stroke severity were the only factors significantly related to increased risk from each of the four causes of death. Other risk factors were significant only for one or two select causes of death. White patients were less likely to die from subsequent strokes, but more likely to die from cardiac diseases, than were non-white patients (primarily blacks). Males were more likely to die from both the index stroke and non-cardiovascular causes than females. A history of cardiac disease increased the risk of death from both the index stroke and from future cardiac events, while a history of hypertension or diabetes increased the risk of death from non-cardiovascular causes, and a history of previous stroke increased the risk of death from subsequent stroke.

Maturational steroids and gonadotropin in upstream migratory sockeye salmon.

The circulating serum concentrations of various steroid hormones in mature sockeye salmon were measured at four different developmental stages in their upstream migration to spawn at Adams River in British Columbia, Canada. In females, a high level of estradiol-17 beta was found in fish at the first location, and it persisted until immediately before reaching the spawning grounds, 485 km upstream, where it decreased to a minimal level. Free testosterone was extremely high throughout the migration but decreased significantly after spawning while its glucuronide changed reciprocally. Free and conjugated 17 alpha, 20 beta-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (17 alpha, 20 beta-P) peaked at the last location before spawning with the glucuronide only 20% of the free steroid in concentration. After spawning, the concentration of free steroid declined but the glucuronide remained constant. 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone increased significantly in serum before and after the fish had spawned. During the migration 11-deoxycortisol was present in the serum at all stages but maximal levels were found in postspawned fish. Throughout the migration, the males had high serum levels of 11-ketotestosterone. Lesser amounts of free testosterone were also consistently present but the ratio of free: conjugated decreased from 1.7 at the beginning of the migration to 0.15 on the arrival at the Adams River and 0.10 in postspawned fish. Only low levels of 11 beta-hydroxytestosterone were found except in the postspawned males where the value was equal to one-half that of free testosterone. As in the females, there was a substantial increase in the levels of 17 alpha, 20 beta-P and its glucuronide in the males captured at the spawning grounds. In both sexes gonadotropin levels were low during the migration and high in the postspawned fish.

Progestogens, androgens and their glucuronides in the terminal stages of oocyte maturation in landlocked Atlantic salmon.

Peripheral serum levels of free and conjugated steroids were correlated with seven terminal stages of oocyte maturation in female landlocked Atlantic salmon. Pregnenolone levels were maximal at stage 1, and there was a surge in testosterone after initiation of germinal vesicle migration. Testosterone remained high, above 25 ng/ml until ovulation, and its glucuronide was always lower than the corresponding free form. 17 alpha,20 beta-Dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one increased progressively from 0.71 to 68 ng/ml from oocyte stage 1 to 6, with the glucuronide predominating in stages 1 to 4 and the free steroid in stages 5 to 7. Thus, very low levels of free 17 alpha,20 beta-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one were present when migration of the germinal vesicle was initiated but considerable free steroid was present at and after germinal vesicle breakdown. Negligible amounts of progesterone, 17 alpha-hydroxypregnenolone, 5-pregnene-3 beta,17 alpha,20 beta-triol were found in the serum during final maturation. In male salmon with expressible milt, 17 alpha,20 beta-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one was present with a gradual increase of both free and conjugated form at the advent of spawning, suggesting that this steroid may also play a role in reproduction in male fish. The action of steroids in vitro on oocytes at various stages was consistent with conclusions based on blood levels.

Epidermal cellular proliferation and differentiation in sexually mature male Salmo salar with androgen levels depressed by oil.

Sexually mature male Salmo salar exhibit epidermal thickening and an increase in goblet cell concentration during the spawning season. The ventral skin, which is likely to experience most abrasive contact during the spawning period, has the thickest epidermis and the greatest goblet cell concentration. Following exposure to crude oil there is inhibition of cellular proliferation and elongation associated with epidermal thickening, and also inhibition of mucigenesis. Data on the androgen levels in these fish, and data from earlier studies involving treatment with hormones, indicate that oil-related epidermal effects during the spawning period are most likely systemic in origin, probably arising from reduced plasmatic androgen levels.

Factors influencing return to work following cerebral infarction.

A study of 379 patients, employed before cerebral infarction and living one year afterward, was undertaken to determine what factors had influenced their returning to work. We found age, occupation, degree of disability, race, and hemisphere infarcted to be significant. Younger patients with less disability were more likely to return to work. Patients employed in professional-managerial positions were more likely to return to work than patients in blue-collar or farming positions. Although there were no racial differences following a left-hemisphere infarct, white patients were more likely to return to work following a right-hemisphere infarct. Sex, blood pressure, severity of stroke, educational level, consciousness level at admission, maximum weakness in extremities, first v repeated stroke, care by a specially trained stroke team, rehabilitation therapy, and speech did not additionally influence the probability of returning to work.

Steroid metabolism in fish. II. Testosterone metabolites in the bile of the marine winter flounder Pseudopleuronectes americanus and the freshwater Atlantic Salmon Salmo salar.

Intraarterial injection of [3H]testosterone in the flounder Pseudopleuronectes americanus and the landlocked salmon Salmo salar resulted in the concentration of radioactive catabolites in the gall bladder bile. The catabolites were quantitatively conjugated with glucuronic acid. In flounder bile, three steroids, testosterone, 5 beta-dihydrotestosterone and 5 beta-androstane-3 alpha,17 beta-diol accounted for most of the radioactivity. Quantitatively the concentration of 5 beta-dihydrotestosterone usually exceeded that of the other two compounds. In salmon bile, 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone was also present as a minor catabolite and the dihydrotestosterones accounted for approximately one-half the total radioactivity. In both species there was evidence for trace amounts of 5 beta-androstane-3 beta,17 beta-diol, 5 alpha-androstane-3 alpha,17 beta-diol, and 5 alpha-androstane-3 beta,17 beta-diol but no evidence for 5 beta- or 5 alpha-androstanolones, 4-androstene-3 alpha,17 beta-diol, or its 3 beta-epimer. There were no obvious sex-related differences in the composition of the biliary testosterone metabolites.

Effect of acute exposure to crude petroleum on some reproductive hormones in salmon and flounder.

1. The concentration of total (free + conjugated) androgens in plasma of sexually mature male salmon and flounder was generally lower in oil-exposed fish. 2. Exposure to crude oil inhibited some testicular development of salmon during the final stages of maturation. 3. Oil exposure had no effect on levels of total plasmatic androgens or estradiol in male and female flounder during gonadal recrudescence. 4. Aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase activity increased in liver and kidney of both species. 5. Sperm, collected from salmon exposed to oil, fertilized eggs from non-exposed females to produce normal alevins.

Criteria audit as a means of assessing the physiotherapy component of stroke rehabilitation.

A Physiotherapy Stroke Audit was conducted over a twelve month period on all stroke patients discharged from the rehabilitation wards of the Bendigo Home and Hospital for the Aged meeting the criteria. The audit method is described. Analysis of results revealed problem areas in documentation, outcome, complications and integrated care. A second audit was done over the following six months to assess the value of physiotherapy measures taken to improve outcome and integrated care and to lessen complications. A third audit is in process to accumulate objective information regarding stroke outcome and to test the effectiveness of a physiotherapy project to improve integrated care.

Identification and quantification of steroids in the serum of rainbow trout during spermiation and oocyte maturation.

17 alpha-Hydroxy-20 beta-dihydroprogesterone and 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone were found in higher concentrations in serum from female Salmo gairdneri undergoing final oocyte maturation immediately before ovulation than in serum from spermiating male trout. Other steroids (11-deoxycorticosterone, 11-deoxycortisol and progesterone) which have been implicated in oocyte maturation and/or ovulation in lower vertebrates were not identified at such high concentrations and the differences between the serum of both sexes were not so great. These results confirm that 17 alpha-hydroxy-20 beta-dihydroprogesterone and 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone, the most potent inducers of trout oocyte maturation in vitro, are present in the blood when oocyte maturation occurs. The concentration of testosterone was found to be higher in serum from female than from male trout indicating that testosterone is unlikely to be the principal androgen in trout. High concentrations of 11-oxotestosterone in male and barely detectable levels in female fish support the hypothesis that 11-oxotestosterone is an important androgen in the regulation of testicular activity.

21-Hydroxypregna-1,4-diene-3,11,20-trione: a biliary metabolite of a cartilaginous fish, Raja sp.

21-Hydroxypregna-1,4-diene-3,11,20-trione was isolated from skate bile and as an in vivo metabolite of 3H-1alpha-hydroxycorticosterone. Identity was established by chromatography and derivatization to constant 3H/14C ratio and mass spectrometry of the 20,21-acetonide. The new steroid was present in the free form and as the glucuronoside.