Interactions of herbicides 2,4-D and dinoseb with liver mitochondrial bioenergetics

The use of drugs for common pregnancy complications like premature labor, hypertensive diseases, and premature rupture of membranes with chorioamnionitis is reviewed. In addition, new publications on antiviral drugs in HIV-positive pregnant patients are also discussed. Among the drugs, suppressing premature labor side-effects of beta-mimetics are of growing concern. The effectiveness of other agents like magnesium, indomethacin, and sulindac are addressed. The various mechanisms explaining the beneficial effect of magnesium in pre-eclampsia are reviewed and new data on antihypertensives, such as labetalol, calcium channel blockers, and methyldopa are presented. The evidence from various clinical trials on the value of low-dose aspirin as a prophylactic agent against pregnancy-induced hypertension, pre-eclampsia, and intrauterine growth retardation in high-risk and low-risk patients is compared. Pharmacokinetic data including transplacental transfer of antibiotics and anti-HIV nucleosides are part of this review.     

The Year 2015 Fusion Power Conversations

Assuming significant technical success in the ITER project by the year 2015, it is likely that governments will want to develop a more comprehensive plan for DT tokamak fusion power commercialization. To provide a glimpse into many of the related issues, we construct conversations between the director of the U.S. fusion program and three specialists key to commercial fusion success: an environment and safety regulator, an environmentalist, and an electric generation investor. The insights from these imagined conversations will hopefully be of value as tokamak fusion power proponents plan beyond ITER.     

Evolution of an instinct under long-term divergent selection for geotaxis in domesticated populations of Drosophila melanogaster..

Describes long-term divergent selection for geotaxis in lines of the fruit fly. After 26 yrs (600+ generations) of intermittent selection, the initial experimental procedure showed that the mean geotactic scores remained stable on relaxed selection, a result suggesting that evolutionary changes had occurred in these lines. Because the stability was not due to genetic fixation (homozygosity) of the lines, it is concluded that it was due to either (a) close linkage of genes associated with geotaxis (which would not result in enduring change) or (b) the development of new coadapted gene complexes utilizing genes associated with extreme geotaxis expression (which should result in enduring change). Better evidence for the latter hypothesis was obtained, during the 2nd experimental procedure, from the low- than the high-geotaxis line. The notions of coadaptation and genetic homeostasis are considered, as well as the prospective use of the geotaxis lines to study such concepts experimentally. The geotactic behavior expressed in each line is defined as instinctive: It increases reproductive success and is characteristic of a population. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived race-based discrimination, employment status, and job stress in a national sample of black women: implications for health outcomes

This study examined concordance between self-reported drug use and urinalysis data among 341 applicants for methadone treatment in Sydney, Australia. Rates of under-reporting of use of specific drugs were low (0% to 10%). Irregular drug use, short half-life of some abused drugs, and relatively low sensitivity of the TLC assay procedure led to most detected drugs being found in only one of two urine samples collected. Subjects reported having recently used nearly twice as many drugs as were detected in their urine. Agreement (kappa) between self-report and urinalysis results was in the fair to good range for most drugs. None of the six predictors of misreporting examined were found to be of practical value.     

Developing competency-based perioperative orientation programs

Ensuring the competency of staff members at all levels of practice is an ongoing challenge for perioperative clinical educators. The authors developed a competency-based orientation program using AORN's perioperative nursing competency statements as a conceptual framework. The model also incorporates requirements from external regulatory agencies (e.g., the Joints Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) that influence the direction of health care institutions seeking accreditation. The model provides the components necessary to validate the orientation of perioperative staff members and the delivery of comprehensive nursing care in perioperative settings.     

Monocyte diapedesis through an in vitro vessel wall construct: inhibition with monoclonal antibodies to thrombospondin

Human peripheral blood monocytes were examined for migration across an endothelial cell monolayer in an in vitro vessel wall construct. Few monocytes invaded in the absence of a chemotactic gradient, despite significant adhesion to the endothelial monolayer. However, the addition of zymosan-activated human plasma to the lower compartment, to create a chemotactic gradient across the vessel wall, resulted in significantly enhanced monocyte migration. Pretreatment of the monocytes with monoclonal antibodies to thrombospondin (TSP) dramatically inhibited monocyte diapedesis into the vessel wall. The same treatment inhibited monocyte adhesion to endothelial cells in two-dimensional monolayer cultures as well as in vessel wall constructs (no chemotactic gradient). Of interest, however, the monoclonal antibodies had no inhibitory effect on monocyte migration into collagen gels devoid of endothelial cells in response to the same chemotactic gradient, suggesting the importance of TSP in monocyte-endothelial cell interactions. Monoclonal antibodies to fibronectin and normal mouse immunoglobulin G did not inhibit migration in this model of a vessel wall. Furthermore, monoclonal antibodies to TSP showed no inhibition of human peripheral blood neutrophil migration. Previous studies have shown that monocytes synthesize TSP and express this moiety on their surface. The present data suggest that monocytes may utilize TSP to interact with endothelial cells lining the vessel wall during diapedesis.