The effects of minoxidil, 1% pyrithione zinc and a combination of both on hair density: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies of antidandruff shampoos or tonics containing antifungal or antibacterial agents produced effects suggestive of a potential hair growth benefit. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this 6-month, 200-patient, randomized, investigator-blinded, parallel-group clinical study was to assess the hair growth benefits of a 1% pyrithione zinc shampoo. The efficacy of a 1% pyrithione zinc shampoo (used daily), was compared with that of a 5% minoxidil topical solution (applied twice daily), a placebo shampoo and a combination of the 1% pyrithione zinc shampoo and the 5% minoxidil topical solution. METHODS: Two hundred healthy men between the ages of 18 and 49 years (inclusive) exhibiting Hamilton-Norwood type III vertex or type IV baldness were enrolled. Total hair counts, the primary efficacy measure, were obtained using fibre-optic microscopy and a computer-assisted, manual hair count method. Secondary measures of efficacy included assessments of hair diameter, as well as patient and investigator global assessments of improvement in hair growth. These were based on photographs of the scalp using both midline and vertex views. RESULTS: Hair count results showed a significant (P < 0.05) net increase in total visible hair counts for the 1% pyrithione zinc shampoo, the 5% minoxidil topical solution, and the combination treatment groups relative to the placebo shampoo after 9 weeks of treatment. The relative increase in hair count for the 1% pyrithione zinc shampoo was slightly less than half that for the minoxidil topical solution and was essentially maintained throughout the 26-week treatment period. No advantage was seen in using both the 5% minoxidil topical solution and the 1% pyrithione zinc shampoo. A small increase in hair diameter was observed for the minoxidil-containing treatment groups at week 17. Assessments of global improvements by the patients and investigator generally showed the benefit of 5% minoxidil. The benefit of the 1% pyrithione zinc shampoo used alone tended (P < 0.1) to be apparent only to the investigator. CONCLUSIONS: Hair count results show a modest and sustained improvement in hair growth with daily use of a 1% pyrithione zinc shampoo over a 26-week treatment period.

Free energy perturbation techniques applied to subtilisin BPN' stability.

The inability to predict the effect of specific mutations on protein stability has been an area of concern to researchers in the field of protein engineering. Small stabilization free energies (5 to 15 kcal/mol) distinguish the native and the denatured states of a protein, making the rational design of protein stability a difficult challenge. Free Energy Perturbation Technique (FEPT) appears to be a method that will be important for protein engineering to meet this challenge. Not only is it a method to evaluate potential sites for mutation prior to synthesis, it identifies important atomic contributions that are responsible for the free energy changes of interest. Accuracy and speed are the principal limitations of the technique, but the powerful combination of structure, energy, dynamics and solvent make the investment of time and effort very attractive. Our examples illustrate both the power and limitations of FEPT. Using the program CHARMm, FEPT has been applied to the well known stabilizing mutations--asparagine to Serine--at residue 218 in subtilisin BPN'. In analyzing the atomic contributions that result in the increase in stability, two mutations at residue 203 were chosen to test the predictive power of FEPT. Sometimes extraordinary measures must be undertaken to sample sufficient conformational space to achieve accurate FEPT results. However we believe the method will be invaluable in the development of rules for designing a more stable subtilisin BPN'.

Who treats minorities?

We studied the characteristics of psychological service providers who treat ethnic minority clients in a representative random sample of psychologists listed in the National Register of Health Service Providers (NR) in 1986. Ethnic minority providers saw more than twice the proportion of ethnic minority clients than did non-Latino White providers (24.0% and 11.7%, respectively). Providers with cognitive-behavioral clinical/theoretical orientations saw significantly more ethnic minority clients than did those with psychodynamic or other orientations. Providers with eclectic orientations saw significantly more ethnic minority clients than did those with psychodynamic orientations, but eclectic providers did not differ from any other provider orientation group. The results suggest that more ethnic minority providers are needed and that other providers need to increase their ethnic minority clientele.

Bem Sex-role Inventory stereotypes for men and women varying in age and race among National Register psychologists.

554 psychologists listed in the National Register of Health Care Providers in Psychology used the Bem Sex-role Inventory to rare a "mature, healthy, socially competent" individual in one of 18 target groups (a black or race-unspecified man, woman, or adult in their late 20s, late 40s, or late 60s). Factor analysis produced factors which generated three scales--nurturant, agentic, and self-governing. The attributes "feminine" and "masculine" were treated as individual items. Old targets were viewed as less agentic than younger targets and as less self-governing than the middle-aged. Female targets were perceived as more feminine and less masculine than were men. Interactions for agentic and self-governing suggest age and race and sex of target influence person perceptions.

Education and family planning among black american women.

The factors which relate to family planning and fertility-related attitudes and practices among black Americans are not well understood. This study evaluates the importance of three demographic factors (level of education, age, and region) in predicting such fertility related variables. Black women between the ages of fifteen and forty-five (N = 1,074) living in either a northern or a southern city were interviewed. The fertility-related variables included knowledge of, attitudes toward, and usage of various family planning methods; desired, ideal, and actual family size; and fears of race genocide. Using a three-factor (education, age, and region) Analysis of Variance for each of the dependent variables, education emerged as the most powerful and the only consistent predictor of the several fertility-related variables. Only desired number of children was unrelated to level of education. Such findings provide support for the contention that black fertility levels would be the same as that among whites, if access to equal educational opportunity were available to Blacks.

Effects on the oestrous cycle of dairy cows of the administration of colostrum in the mid-luteal phase.

A group of 13 cows were dosed orally nine or 10 days after a normal oestrous cycle; six animals received colostrum, five animals received milk containing varying amounts of oestrone sulphate, and two cows were given milk containing a low level of oestrone sulphate. Measurements of milk progesterone levels after dosing showed that colostrum had an apparent luteolytic effect, milk containing oestrone sulphate at a level of 2000 pg/ml had a less marked effect on milk progesterone and those animals receiving milk showed no reduction in milk progesterone. These results show that there is a physiological basis for the practice of inducing overt oestrus in cows showing no visible oestrus, by dosing them with colostrum.

Structure of amniotic papillae in sheep.

The structure of amniotic papillae in sheep was investigated by light transmission and scanning electron microscopy. Papillae were found on the amnion near the umbilical cord in a majority of the sheep examined, from early mid-term onwards. The papillae possessed a basic connective tissue core with a varying degree of vascularity, the whole being sheathed in squamous epithelial cells in the earlier stages of development; but in larger, and presumably older, papillae, squamous epithelium was absent over the tips. The blood supply to these papillae was shown to originate from the chorion and to pass into the amnion at sites where the two members were closely applied to each other. Tentatively we conclude that amniotic papillae are complex organized structures which develop near amniotic plaques, or, in some instances, from the plaques themselves. The stimuli responsible for their growth and development are unknown.

A simple technique for measurement of pressure in the tympanitic rumen of cattle.

The construction and method of use of a simple device for the non-invasive measurement of intra-rumenal pressure is outlined. Results obtained from calves suffering from increased intra-rumenal pressure (bloat) are shown. The method is capable of quantifying pressures involved in bloat and could be used to augment the visual assessment of bloat scoring.

An assessment of a method of manual pregnancy diagnosis in the ewe.

The recto-abdominal palpation method of ovine pregnancy diagnosis described by Hulet (1972) was carried out on 167 ewes in three flocks. The results showed a virtual 100 per cent accuracy of diagnosis between pregnancy and non-pregnancy and approximately 70 per cent overall accuracy in differentiating single from multiple pregnancies. At least 34 ewes aborted and five died. It was concluded that the method as carried out was neither safe nor accurate enough to justify any savings consequent upon more efficient food usage.