Exploring approaches to the administration of a long-term care facility: The application of a community planning and development process.

This article outlines the approaches taken to the management of two long-term care facilities by the County of Huron in southwestern Ontario in 1994. Lay-offs, a move to new facilities, loss of local political confidence, changes in key administrative personnel and low staff morale prompted the county to ask an interim administrative team to develop and implement an appropriate response. The article explains how community development and planning principles and techniques were applied to the management of the homes to achieve an overall improvement in communication, staff morale and attitude. These approaches may prove helpful to other administrations facing major change.

[Comparative study of the effects of probucol, fenofibrate and clofibrate on liver ultrastructure in rats (author's transl)]. / Etude comparative de l'action du probucol, du fénofibrate et du clofibrate sur l'ultrastructure hépatique chez le rat.

The effects on rat liver of probucol (250 or 500 mg/kg/24 h), clofibrate (250 mg/kg/24 h) and fenofibrate (100 mg/kg/24 h) were compared after 28 days' treatment. Th bodyweight of animals treated with probucol 250 mg/kg/24 h has increased, as compared with a control group of untreated animals. The increase in liver weight and live weight/bodyweight ratio was greater in rats treated with clofibrate or fenofibrate than in rats treated with probucol. Cholesterol and triglyceride plasma levels were lower in clofibrate-treated animals. There were no changes in SGOT and SGPT in any of the three groups. Alkaline phosphatases were increased only in rats treated with clofibrate (these enzymes were not assayed in rats which received fenofibrate). Electron microscope study of liver sections showed the following changes in clofibrate--and fenofibrate-treated rats as compared with the control group: increase in smooth-surfaced endoplasmic reticulum, ribosome detachment, slight glycogen depletion and increase in the number of peroxysomes. In the probucol-treated group, apart from an occasional increase in smooth-surfaced endoplasmic reticulum, liver cells were identical with those of the control group; in particular, there was no increase in the number of peroxysomes.

Comparative ultrastructural study of rat hepatocytes after treatment with the hypolipidemic agents probucol, clofibrate, and fenofibrate.

Experimental findings are reported for two similarly conducted studies. One was designed to compared rat liver cell ultrastructure during and after 91 d of dosing with probucol, a hypocholesterolemic agent, and clofibrate, a hypolipidemic drug known to elicit marked alteration of rat hepatocellular morphology. The second was designed to similarly assess male rats after 28 d of treatment with the hypolipidemic agent fenofibrate. Diet mixes for these studies were prepared to attain dosage levels of approximately 500 mg/kg . d for probucol, 250 mg/kg . d for clofibrate, and 100 mg/kg . d for fenofibrate. Control rats were given untreated basal ration. Weekly adjustments in dietary concentrations were made in accordance with group mean food consumption and body weight changes. Probucol and clofibrate treatments produced statistically significant reductions in mean serum cholesterol levels of both sexes after 28 and 91 d of dosing. Only male rats were given fenofibrate, and they exhibited statistically significant cholesterol reductions after 28 d. Clofibrate and fenofibrate administration resulted in marked increases in liver weight/body weight ratios. Probucol had no statistically significant effects on liver weight/body weight ratios after 28 and 91 consecutive days of treatment. Light microscopy of liver sections stained with hematoxylin and eosin revealed an abnormal amount of cytoplasmic granularity within hepatocytes from rats given clofibrate and fenofibrate. The granules were identified by electron microscopy and cytochemistry as enlarged, proliferated peroxisomes--a known rat hepatocellular response to treatment with many hypolipidemic drugs. In addition, ultrastructural cytochemistry suggested reduced amounts of catalase in individual peroxisomes after clofibrate and fenofibrate dosing. Liver tissue from rats given probucol showed no abnormal cytoplasmic granularity and, ultrastructurally, no peroxisomal changes. Liver tissues from probucol-treated rats revealed features similar to those encountered in tissues from untreated control animals. It was concluded that the hypocholesterolemic response elicited by probucol treatment does not involve significant changes in rat liver cell morphology.

Gas chromatographic determination of hydrocodone in serum.

A procedure for the determination of hydrocodone (dihydrocodeinone) in serum has been developed. Hydrocodone and N-isobutyldihydronorcodeinone, the internal standard, are extracted from serum by chloroform-isopropyl alcohol (9:1, v/v). The extracts are purified by back-extraction into 0.1 N sulfuric acid and a final basic extraction into benzene. The pentafluorophenylhydrazone derivatives are formed and determined using electron capture gas chromatography. As little as 1 ng/ml of hydrocodone in serum can be determined. A closely related compound and potential metabolite, dihydronorcodeinone, does not interfere. Serum hydrocodone levels were determined in dogs after oral and intravenous doses of 0.5 mg/kg, and in humans after a 10-mg oral dose of the bitartrate. A mean peak serum drug concentration of 23.6 ng/ml and a terminal half-life of 3.8 h resulted from the human study. The terminal half-life in serum was 1.8 h after the intravenous dose in dogs.

Somatic and flagellar immunofluorescence of Salmonella.

Caldwell, W. J. (The Child Research Center of Michigan, Detroit, Mich.), C. S. Stulberg, and W. D. Peterson, Jr. Somatic and flagellar immunofluorescence of Salmonella. J. Bacteriol. 92:1177-1187. 1966.-Labeled globulin fractions of flagellar (H) antisera, prepared against 20 frequently occurring Salmonella serotypes belonging to five major somatic (O) groups, were characterized for O and H immunofluorescence and for O and H agglutinin titers against 32 serotypes. The feasibility of immunofluorescent identification of both somatic and flagellar antigens was enhanced by staining formaldehyde-treated organisms in suspension. Relationships between homologous, partial, and unrelated antigen-antibody systems were then analyzed, and a high degree of correlation was shown between the results obtained by the two serological procedures. Flagellar staining was highly specific, and was bright, faint, or inapparent, depending on the relationship between the antigen-antibody systems involved. Somatic staining was also specific, but somewhat more difficult to interpret, because cells in the same preparation might exhibit a mixture of bright, faint, or no fluorescent intensities. Correlation was shown between the percentage of brightly staining cells found in these preparations and the agglutination titers of the comparable antigen-antibody systems. The phenomenon of a "percentage" reaction was unexplained. Absorption studies further confirmed the specificity of reactions. The techniques developed were applied to surveillance of several mouse colonies for the presence of Salmonella. Broth cultures of fecal specimens were treated with formaldehyde and stained in suspension with "polyvalent" labeled antibody reagents. Agreement was found in 97.6% of the instances between results obtained by immunofluorescence and cultural methods. In addition, preliminary evidence indicated the feasibility of presumptive serotyping of Salmonella isolates by immunofluorescence.