The growth of three strains of Listeria monocytogenes at refrigeration temperatures (-0.5 to 9.3 degrees C) in chicken broth and/or UHT milk was determined using a rocking temperature gradient incubator. Minimum growth temperatures ranged from -0.1 to -0.4 degree C for the three strains. Lag times of 1-3 d and 3 to greater than 34 d were observed with incubation at 5 and 0 degrees C respectively. Corresponding generation times ranged from 13-24 h at 5 degrees C and 62-131 h at 0 degree C. The type of culture medium had an influence on both the rate and extent of growth. Incubation of cultures at 4 degrees C before inoculation caused a marked reduction in the lag time when compared with cultures which had been previously incubated at 30 degrees C.

CD34+ marrow and/or PBPCs provide reliable and timely hematopoietic reconstitution in breast cancer patients receiving high-dose chemotherapy. Contamination of both marrow and PBPCs with breast cancer cells was reduced using this positive selection technique.

Since the Denver Developmental Screening Test was first published 23 years ago, it has been utilized worldwide and restandardized in more than a dozen countries. Concerns raised through the years by test users about specific items and features of the Denver Developmental Screening Test, coupled with a need for more current norms, have prompted a major revision and restandardization of the test. For the revision, 336 potential items were administered to more than 2000 children. The average number of times each item was administered was 540. Using regression analysis, composite norms for the total sample and norms for subgroups (based on gender, ethnicity, maternal education, and place of residence), were used to determine new age norms. The final selection of the 125 Denver II items was based on the following criteria: ease of administration and scoring, item appeal to child and examiner, item test-retest and inter-rater reliability, minimal "refusal" scores, minimal "no opportunity" scores, minimal subgroup differences, and a smooth step-like progression of ages at which 90% of children could perform the tasks. The major differences between the Denver II and the Denver Developmental Screening Test are: 1) an 86% increase in language items; 2) two articulation items; 3) a new age scale; 4) a new category of item interpretation to identify milder delays; 6) a behavior rating scale; and 7) new training materials.

Melanocortin peptides and at least two subtypes of melanocortin receptors (MC3-R and MC4-R) are present in brain regions involved in cardiovascular regulation. In urethaneanesthetized rats, unilateral microinjection of ␣-melanocytestimulating hormone (MSH) into the medullary dorsal-vagal complex (DVC) causes dose-dependent (125-250 pmol) hypotension and bradycardia, whereas ␥-MSH is less effective. The effects of ␣-MSH are inhibited by microinjection to the same site of the novel MC4-R/MC3-R antagonist SHU9119 (2-100 pmol) but not naloxone (270 pmol), whereas the similar effects of intra-DVC injection of ␤-endorphin (1 pmol) are inhibited by naloxone and not by SHU9119. Hypotensive and bradycardic responses to electrical stimulation of the arcuate nucleus also are inhibited by ipsilateral intra-DVC microinjection of SHU9119. ␥-MSH and ACTH(4 -10), but not ␣-MSH, elicit dose-dependent (0.1-12.5 nmol) pressor and tachycardic effects, which are much more pronounced after intracarotid than after intravenous administration. The effects of ␥-MSH (1.25 nmol) are not inhibited by the intracarotid injection of SHU9119 (1.25-12.5 nmol) or the novel MC3-R antagonist SHU9005 (1.25-12.5 nmol). We conclude that the hypotension and bradycardia elicited by the release of ␣-MSH from arcuate neurons is mediated by neural melanocortin receptors (MC4-R/MC3-R) located in the DVC, whereas the similar effects of ␤-endorphin, a peptide derived from the same precursor, are mediated by opiate receptors at the same site. In contrast, neither MC3-R nor MC4-R is involved in the centrally mediated pressor and tachycardic actions of ␥-MSH, which, likely, are mediated by an as yet unidentified receptor.

No abstract

Contrast injection rate and timing of measurements significantly influence the optimal L-S threshold for diagnosing fatty liver. This limits the clinical usefulness of such measurements.

A major problem of cytogenetics testing in mammalian cells is lack of agreement of results among laboratories. Our objective was to develop a sensitive in vitro test protocol that was applicable to large-scale chemical screening and yielded comparable results in two laboratories. We used sister chromatid exchange (SCE) and chromosome aberration (CAb) tests in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. The initial protocol used standard cell densities, medium, batch of rat liver S9 for metabolic activation; positive, negative, and solvent controls; staining and scoring techniques; and fixation times. Treatment without S9 was for 8-12 hr (CAb) or 26 hr (SCE), and with S9 for 2 hr in serum-free medium. Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) (10 microM) was added to SCE cultures only, 2 hr after addition of the test chemical. Doses were based on the 50% toxicity level in a preliminary test of cell survival 24 hr after treatment. One hundred cells (CAb) or 50 cells (SCE) were scored from each control and from five dose levels. Five clastogens were tested in the first two-laboratory comparison: mitomycin-C, triethylenemelamine, N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine, cyclophosphamide, and benzo(alpha)pyrene. There was quite good agreement between laboratories. Seventeen compounds were then tested "blind" in the two laboratories. As testing proceeded, some discrepancies occurred between the laboratories, and the protocol was modified in attempts to improve the resolution of marginal responses and make dose selection more consistent. The preliminary test for cell survival was omitted. A 10(5) dose range in a half-log series was tested, and cells were scored at the highest dose at which sufficient mitotic cells were obtained, and at the next two lower doses. By delaying fixation times, SCE and CAb were scored at doses that inhibited cell cycle progression. This protocol gave comparable results in the two laboratories in many cases and by testing up to a maximum dose, limited by solubility and/or toxicity, should detect a high proportion of clastogens and SCE inducers.

Autologous and allogeneic bone marrow grafting both require cytoreductive therapy but only the allogeneic procedure requires immunosuppressive agents. Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation has been reported to be associated with a high incidence of both renal failure and veno-occlusive disease (VOD) of the liver, the combination of which is associated with a high morbidity and mortality. There is less known about the frequency and severity of these complications in patients undergoing autologous bone marrow transplantation. In the present study renal, hepatic and other complications were examined in 232 patients with Stages II/III and IV breast cancer who were treated with high-dose chemotherapy and autologous hematopoietic cell support with either marrow or peripheral blood progenitor cells. The post-treatment severity of the renal dysfunction was classified as follows: Grade 0, normal renal function [< 25% decrement in glomerular filtration rate (GFR)]; Grade 1. mild renal dysfunction (> 25% decrement in GFR but < a twofold increase in serum creatinine); Grade 2, > twofold rise in serum creatinine but no need for dialysis; Grade 3 > than twofold rise in serum creatinine and need for dialysis. There were 102 patients (44%) who were classified as Grade 0 and 81 patients (35%) who were classified as Grade 1 renal dysfunction. Severe renal dysfunction (Grades 2 and 3) was observed in 49 of the 232 patients (21%). This severe renal dysfunction of 21% compares with a previously reported 53% incidence of severe renal dysfunction for allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. Similarly, the frequency of hepatic VOD was less (4.7% or 11 of 232 patients) in this autologous bone marrow transplant study as compared to a reported incidence of hepatic VOD ranging from 22 to 53% in large series of allogeneic bone marrow transplant patients. The severe renal dysfunction (Grades 2 and 3) in the present autologous hematopoietic cell support study correlated most significantly with sepsis, liver and pulmonary dysfunction. The major fall in GFR occurred during chemotherapy but before hematopoietic cell support, thus primarily incriminating the cytoreductive therapy rather than the hematopoietic cell support. The only significant effect of different chemotherapy protocols was, at four weeks, the Taxol-treated group had a significantly lower creatinine clearance as compared to the BCNU treated group.