In vitro cytotoxicity of a theaflavin mixture from black tea to malignant, immortalized, and normal cells from the human oral cavity.

The growth inhibitory effects of a theaflavin mixture from black tea were more pronounced to malignant (CAL27; HSC-2; HSG1) and immortalized (S-G; GT1) cells than to normal (HGF-2) cells from the human oral cavity. Studies with malignant carcinoma CAL27 cells and immortalized GT1 fibroblasts showed that cytotoxicity of the theaflavin mixture was enhanced as the exposure time was increased, with the tumor CAL27 cells more sensitive than the GT1 cells. Hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) was detected in cell culture medium amended with the theaflavin mixture. The level of H(2)O(2) in cell culture medium amended with the theaflavin mixture was lessened in the presence of catalase and CoCl(2); the level of authentic H(2)O(2) was also lessened in the presence of CoCl(2), suggesting that Co(2+) led to the rapid catalytic decomposition of H(2)O(2). The cytotoxicity of the theaflavin mixture was due, in part, to the generation in the cell culture medium of H(2)O(2), which lessened the intracellular levels of glutathione in the CAL27 cells and, to a lesser extent, in the GT1 cells. For both cell types, coexposures of the theaflavin mixture with catalase or CoCl(2) afforded protection.

Approximate Bogomol'nyi-Prasad-Sommerfield states.

We consider dimensionally reduced three-dimensional supersymmetric Yang-Mills-Chern-Simons theory. Although the N=1 supersymmetry of this theory does not allow local massive Bogomol'nyi-Prasad-Sommerfield (BPS) states, we find approximate BPS states which have nonzero masses that are almost independent of the Yang-Mills coupling constant and which are a reflection of the massless BPS states of the underlying N=1 super-Yang-Mills theory. The masses of these states at large Yang-Mills coupling are exactly at the n-particle continuum thresholds. This leads to a relation between their masses at zero and large Yang-Mills coupling.

Practice and research: an integrated model for the education of social work interns.

The Practice Research Center is a joint endeavor between Adelphi University Graduate School of Social Work and the Department of Social Work Services at Long Island Jewish Medical Center. This paper will describe the work of the research center from 1983 to date. This collaborative effort of agency and school is focused on the students' acquiring an understanding and appreciation of a scientific/analytic approach to knowledge building for practice. Research opportunities for social work staff and students contributed to the initiation of empirical studies. The studies focused on current topics of interest that formed the delivery of social work services, enhanced programming and added to the knowledge of practice. Studies included a hunger survey; a survey of psychiatric patients' understanding of their illness following a psycho education intervention; a retrospective study to determine the extent to which breast cancer information influences a woman's surgical options of a lump-ectomy or mastectomy; a two-tier study focused on the characteristics of foster children and the delivery of social work services; a patient and family satisfaction survey of psychiatric patients and their families. The authors will discuss the educational principles related to this effort.

Preoperative imaging in primary hyperparathyroidism. Role of thallium-technetium subtraction scintigraphy.

Primary hyperparathyroidism, although often silent clinically, may lead to significant morbidity if it remains untreated. In more than 95% of all cases the cause is a parathyroid adenoma or glandular hyperplasia. Regression of disease follows successful surgical excision of the abnormal parathyroid gland. Recurrent or persistent hyperparathyroidism is most commonly caused by solitary adenomas, which may have an ectopic location. Preoperative localization of lesions may improve postoperative cure rates and decrease morbidity. Thallium T1 201 chloride-technetium Tc 99m pertechnetate subtraction scintigraphy was performed on 15 patients with primary hyperparathyroidism. The sensitivity and specificity for detection of abnormal glands were 90% and 95%, respectively. False-positive or false-negative results were minimize by strict adherence to a protocol and by the use of well-defined diagnostic criteria. Because of the superior sensitivity and specificity, this modality should be the primary imaging method of choice for preoperative evaluation of primary hyperparathyroidism. The relative role of other imaging modalities is also discussed.

Enhanced sensitivity and specificity of thallium-201 imaging for the detection of regional ischemic coronary disease by combining SPECT with "bull's eye" analysis.

Previous studies have indicated that the combination of single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and quantitative "bull's eye" analysis (QBA) TI-201 cardiac stress imaging may improve the detection of myocardial ischemia over that achieved with planar (PLN) imaging. This study will evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of SPECT and QBA in the detection of disease in the left anterior descending (LAD), left circumflex (LCX), and right coronary artery. Ninety-nine patients who underwent both TI-201 stress imaging and coronary arteriography were evaluated retrospectively. Of the 99, 62 had PLN imaging and 37 were evaluated with SPECT; 23 of these 37 had QBA. The overall sensitivity and specificity were as follows: PLN, 94% and 50%; SPECT, 90% and 67%; QBA, 100% and 20%; and SPECT with QBA, 92% and 72%, respectively. The regional sensitivity and specificity of PLN for individual coronary arteries were as follows: RCA, 78% and 74%; LAD, 89% and 60%; LCX, 50% and 89%, respectively. For SPECT, the results were: RCA, 86% and 93%; LAD, 85% and 88%; and LCX, 60% and 88%. For QBA alone, the results were: RCA, 100% and 75%; LAD, 88% and 53%; and LCX, 100% and 89%. The results for QBA with SPECT were: RCA, 100% and 94%; LAD, 88% and 80%; and LCX, 67% and 95%. Thus, SPECT interpreted on conjunction with QBA showed higher sensitivity for evaluation of ischemia in the RCA and LCX arteries and higher specificity in the detection of LAD and RCA disease than did PLN TI-201 imaging. Because of the low specificity of QBA (20%), caution is advised in the interpretation of QBA alone without reviewing SPECT images.

Recurrence of thyroid nodules after surgical removal in patients irradiated in childhood for benign conditions.

To determine the incidence of benign thyroid nodules and the risk factors for their recurrence after surgical removal, we followed 511 patients for 1 to 40.6 years (median, 11.2) after surgery for benign thyroid nodules arising after local irradiation for unrelated benign diseases in childhood. Recurrent thyroid nodules developed in 100 patients (19.5 percent). The risk of recurrence correlated inversely with the amount of thyroid tissue removed. Women had a higher recurrence rate than men (28.4 percent vs. 10.3 percent; P less than 0.05). Among the 299 patients who had been treated with thyroid hormone at the discretion of their physicians to suppress thyroid-stimulating hormone, 25 had recurrences (8.4 percent), as compared with 72 of 201 patients who did not receive thyroid hormone (35.8 percent) (hazard ratio taking into account the extent of surgery and the patient's sex, 2.5; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.5 to 4.1). Histologic analysis of the 73 tissue samples from patients with recurrences showed that 14 samples (19.2 percent) were malignant. Thyroid hormone treatment had no effect on the rate of thyroid cancer. We conclude that radiation-associated benign thyroid nodules have a high recurrence rate, similar to that reported among nonirradiated patients with benign thyroid nodules. We also conclude that treatment with thyroid hormone decreases the risk of benign recurrences, particularly in women, but not the risk of cancer.

Family understanding of psychiatric illness.

Family members of patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia were surveyed to ascertain their understanding of their relative's illness. This paper reports on deficits in knowledge of family members as they struggle to absorb the repercussions of chronic illness. It was useful for the development of a psycho-education treatment curriculum while dramatically demonstrating the need for it.

Automation of data acquisition and processing in assays for anchorage-independent growth: application to the purification of epithelial transforming growth factor.

We have developed a method for automated data collection from anchorage-independent growth assays by direct interfacing of an Omnicon image analysis system with a VAX mainframe computer network. By use of this interface, data generated with the Omnicon can be acquired and manipulated by the VAX, providing several advantages including high throughput, elimination of operator error, flexibility and speed, and capacity of mainframe data processing. We have applied these techniques to aid in the purification of a novel growth factor for human epithelial cells. Both column elution profiles and dose-response data were processed to graphic formats, and ED50 values for the individual purification steps were obtained by Hill transformation of the dose-response curves. The assay for anchorage-independent growth is widely used for purification of growth factors and testing of chemotherapeutic agents against human tumor cells. The present technique should be useful in facilitating these labor-intensive studies.

The use and diagnostic significance of thallium-201 SPECT imaging in a case of anomalous left coronary artery.

A 6-year-old female with an anomalous left coronary artery (ALCA) originating from the main pulmonary artery underwent a resting Tl-201 SPECT examination before and after surgical reimplantation. Preoperative Tl-201 SPECT images demonstrated decreased perfusion to the anterior wall and a dilated left ventricle. Post operative Tl-201 SPECT images showed marked improvement of perfusion to the anterior wall as well as a decreased left ventricular size. This is one of the few documented demonstrations of a perfusion defect due to an ALCA in a young child using Tl-201 SPECT imaging methods in conjunction with other tests.