Dependence of liquid crystal morphology on phospholipid hydrocarbon length.

The liquid crystal morphologies of symmetrical diacy phosphatidylcholine liposomes examined in this research study were found to be dependent on saturated hydrocarbon chain length. Both powder X-ray diffraction and synchrotron mid-IR spectromicroscopy indicate that phosphatidylcholines with short hydrocarbon tails (i.e. ten and twelve carbons) are more likely to form unilamellar liposomes while those with long hydrocarbon tails (i.e. eighteen and twenty carbons) are more likely to form multilamellar liposomes. Hydrocarbon chain lengths of fourteen and sixteen represent a transitional zone between these two liquid crystal morphologies. The FTIR spectra where a shoulder develops on the peak at wavenumber 1750 cm(-1) particularly highlights the change in the packing of adjacent molecules in the transitional zone.

An audit of urgent referrals by the Procurator Fiscal to the Tayside Forensic Psychiatric Service.

This study describes the demographic, offence and diagnostic characteristics of subjects referred by the Procurators Fiscal operating from three courts in Tayside, Scotland. A comparison is made of referrals made between 1988 to 1995 and 1997 to 1998. There was an increased rate of referral on an urgent basis over time, primarily involving patients already in contact with the psychiatric services, 37% of whom were detained and admitted to hospital. This urgent assessment ensured that mentally-disordered offenders were not remanded in custody simply for the preparation of a report, and it allowed an early assessment to be made regarding the suitability for diversion from prosecution. This outcome is compatible with guidelines issued by the Home Office in 1990 (Home Office, 1990).

Regreening the metropolis: pathways to more ecological cities: keynote address.

Eighty percent of the American population now lives in metropolitan regions whose geographic extent continues to expand even as many core cities and inner-tier suburbs lose middle-class populations, jobs, and tax base. Urban sprawl and the socioeconomic polarizing of metropolitan America have been fostered by public policies including (1) federal subsidies for new infrastructure on the urban fringe; (2) tax policies that favor home ownership over rental properties; (3) local zoning codes; and (4) federal and state neglect of older urban neighborhoods. In the face of diminished access to "nature" outside of metropolitan areas, locally based efforts to protect and restore greenspaces within urban areas seek to make older communities more habitable and more "ecological." Some pathways to more ecological cities include the following: (1) the notion of rus in urbe ("the country in the city"); (2) the "usable outdoors"; (3) garden cities and eco-villages; (4) green buildings and green roofs; (5) urban biodiversity; (6) ecological services; and (7) space, nature, and place.

A simple purification of procyclic acidic repetitive protein and demonstration of a sialylated glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol membrane anchor.

The procyclic acidic repetitive protein is the major cell-surface glycoprotein of the insect-dwelling procyclic forms of the Trypanosoma brucei species of African trypanosomes. The glycoprotein contains an acidic Glu-Pro repeat domain, a glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol membrane anchor and a putative asparagine glycosylation site. In this paper we describe a rapid purification scheme for this glycoprotein, using solvent extraction and hydrophobic interaction chromatography, and a partial characterization of the glycosylphosphatidylinositol membrane anchor. The carbohydrate composition of the anchor is extremely unusual; it contains on average nine GlcNAc, nine Gal, and five sialic acid residues. This is the first description of such a heavily substituted and negatively charged anchor. A comparison between the trypanosome procyclic surface and the Leishmania promastigote surface is also presented.

Efficacy of a real-time digital disk in the digital lightbox.

This paper describes a high-speed digital lightbox. The current status of film in the medical imaging department sets the stage for this next generation of image display/management systems. Digital imaging devices are proliferating because of their diagnostic speed and accuracy, and their ease of use. However, the resultant images are usually prepared by a technician, transmitted to film, then mounted on a lightbox to be eventually reviewed by the physician. Until recently, the shortcomings of a film display system could be overlooked in favor of its data-acquisition and archiving advantages. With recent developments in real-time disks and high-resolution display systems, it is now possible to improve upon the physician's display with a digital lightbox. A unique Multimodality Acquisition and Review System (MARS) is described that will support this new digital lightbox with performance features that meet or exceed the characteristic use of film in today's medical imaging departments.

Usefulness of preoperative screening tests in perioperative respiratory therapy.

The incidence of postoperative pulmonary morbidity was studied in 910 surgical patients who had received preoperative screening by routine history-physical examinations, chest x-ray, and spirometry. Retrospective data were correlated with results of the preoperative screening procedures to calculate accuracy and efficiency of each test and test-combination. Use of the data to predict total cost of therapy, and cost per patient benefited, is described for a protocol of perioperative respiratory therapy when it is administered to all patients with positive screening tests. The optimum screening procedure is identified by comparison. It was shown that when an optimum screening procedure is used, with therapy administered only to patients with positive screening tests, about 80% of at-risk patients can be identified preoperatively and the cose of therapy can be reduced by up to 50%, or, in a selected population, by up to 75%. A screening procedure using all three of the tests studied, in combination, was shown to provide maximum economy of therapy with minimum loss of efficiency. The routine history-physical examination alone, for identification of at-risk patients, was shown to be inaccurate and inefficient. Spirometry was shown to be equally as useful as chest x-ray in improving the accuracy and efficiency of screening procedures.

Automated nerve fiber counting using an array processor in a multi-minicomputer system.

It has been suggested that recovery of motor and sensory function in the site distal to a peripheral nerve lesion should be improved if the nerve bundles (fasciculi) are matched and individually sutured. Three parameters are proposed to provide quantitative data: the count of the nerve fibers that regenerate, the number of functional regenerated nerve fibers, and a measurement of end organ reinnervation. A thin cross section of a transected and repaired sciatic nerve of a mongrel cat is fixed, stained, photographed, and digitized through a microscope 6 months following nerve repair. The data arrays are then subjected to four basic processing routines: edge enhancing, thresholding, template matching, and peak detection. Finally, the peaks are counted and provide an estimate of the number of nerve fibers in the nerve under study. Comparing counts of nerve fibers proximal and distal to the transection site of the nerve provide data on the proportion of regeneration present at various times. The content of this paper is, to a large extent, describing the implementation of the needed image-processing algorithms for automated counting on the Multi-MiniComputer System (MMCS). Optimal use of the AP-120B array processor and the pipeline processing provided by using the Eclipse 200s and the Nova 3 make a marked improvement in overall throughput.

Treatment of uncomplicated gonorrhoea with spectinomycin hydrochloride (Trobicin).

110 patients with uncomplicated gonococcal urethritis were treated with 2 g spectinomycin (Trobicin) intramuscularly. Seventy-five patients were available for follow-up and there was only one treatment failure, giving a cure rate of 98-6%. Of the 99 gonococcal isolates, 59 were sensitive to 5 microng/ml of spectinomycin or less and 40 were sensitive to 10 microng/ml. In a small sample of patients 2 g spectinomycin intramuscularly produced a serum concentration averaging 100 microng/ml after one hour.