Male reproductive health has deteriorated in many countries during the last few decades. In the 1990s, declining semen quality has been reported from Belgium, Denmark, France, and Great Britain. The incidence of testicular cancer has increased during the same time. Incidences of hypospadias and cryptorchidism also appear to be increasing. Similar reproductive problems occur in many wildlife species. There are marked geographic differences in the prevalence of male reproductive disorders. While the reasons for these differences are currently unknown, both clinical and laboratory research suggest that the adverse changes may be inter-related and have a common origin in fetal life or childhood. Exposure of the male fetus to supranormal levels of estrogens, such as diethlylstilbestrol, can result in the above-mentioned reproductive defects. The growing number of reports demonstrating that common environmental contaminants and natural factors possess estrogenic activity presents the working hypothesis that the adverse trends in male reproductive health may be, at least in part, associated with exposure to estrogenic or other hormonally active (e.g., antiandrogenic) environmental chemicals during fetal and childhood development. An extensive research program is needed to understand the extent of the problem, its underlying etiology, and the development of a strategy for prevention and intervention. Environ Health Perspect 104(Suppl 4): 741-803 (1996)

The frequency of infection in 197 patients undergoing elective colorectal surgery and having either no blood transfusion, transfusion with whole blood, or filtered blood free from leucocytes and platelets was investigated in a prospective randomized trial. Natural killer cell function was measured before operation and 3, 7 and 30 days after surgery in 60 consecutive patients. Of the patients 104 required blood transfusion; 48 received filtered blood and 56 underwent whole blood transfusion. Postoperative infections developed in 13 patients transfused with whole blood (23 per cent, 95 per cent confidence interval 13-32 per cent), in one patient transfused with blood free from leucocytes and platelets (2 per cent, 95 per cent confidence interval 0.05-11 per cent) and in two non-transfused patients (2 per cent, 95 per cent confidence interval 0.3-8 per cent) (P less than 0.01). Natural killer cell function was significantly (P less than 0.001) impaired up to 30 days after surgery in patients transfused with whole blood. These data provide a strong case against the use of whole blood transfusion in patients undergoing elective colorectal surgery.

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Background and Purpose:The early time course after acute stroke of cerebral JV-acetylaspartate, creatine and phosphocreatine, and compounds containing choline was studied in vivo by means of localized water-suppressed proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy.Methods: Eight patients with acute stroke were studied serially in the acute phase, 1 week after, and 2-4 weeks after the onset of clinical symptoms. Ten healthy volunteers served as controls. A stimulated echo (STEAM) sequence was used for measurement of the brain metabolites in a volume of interest located within the infarcted area as visualized by magnetic resonance imaging. For quantification, the unsaturated water signal was used as the internal standard. Regional cerebral blood flow in the infarcted area was measured relative to a symmetrically located unaffected area by means of single-photon emission computed tomographic scanning, using

Readmission after fast-track open colonic resection was reduced by planning discharge 3 instead of 2 days after surgery, with the same discharge criteria.

A fast and efficient microprojectile bombardment-mediated transformation protocol is reported for the grass species Brachypodium distachyon, a proposed alternative model plant to Oryza sativa for functional genomics in grasses. Embryogenic calli derived from immature embryos were transformed by a construct containing the uidA (coding for beta-glucuronidase) and bar (coding for phosphinothricin acetyl transferase) genes, and bialaphos, a non-selective herbicide, was used as the selection agent throughout all phases of the tissue culture. Average transformation efficiencies of 5.3% were achieved, and for single bombardments transformation efficiencies of up to 14% were observed. The time frame from the bombardment of embryogenic callus to the harvesting of transgenic T1 seeds was 29 weeks and 25 weeks for the diploid and two tetraploid accessions used, respectively. Since the seed-to-seed life cycle is 19 weeks for the diploid and 15 weeks for the tetraploid accessions, our B. distachyon transformation system allows testing of both the T0 and the T1 generation as well as production of T2 seeds within 1 year.

Localized proton spectroscopy was performed in 15 patients with acute or chronic multiple sclerosis (MS). Some of the patients were investigated serially, being given a total of 22 spectroscopic investigations. Resonances corresponding to free lipids were observed in six plaques. This was distinctly seen in two plaques at Days 70 and 85 after the occurrence of the plaques. A lesser content of lipids in plaques was observed as early as Day 10 and as late as nearly 1 year after occurrence. The relative concentration of N-acetyl asparate (NAA) was significantly lower in patients than in controls, and the relative concentration of choline (Cho) was significantly higher in patients than in controls. These differences were most pronounced in older plaques. MR spectroscopic demonstration of lipids in a MS plaque probably reflects disintegration of myelin, and a decreased NAA/Cho ratio may be related either to gliosis or to axonal degeneration, which sometimes occurs in longstanding MS.