A comparison of the properties of the two portion split ejaculate in normal and in oligospermic subjects

The whole ejaculate and a two-portion split ejaculate from each of fifteen normal and seventeen oligospermic men were analysed from sperm density, total sperm population, sperm motility and morphology and seminal plasma fructose. These parameters did not differ significantly between the two fractions. In either group of subjects, although a higher motility was noted in the "normal" samples when compared with the corresponding "Oligo-spermic" samples, the usefulness of the split ejaculate for the purposes of artificial insemination is questioned.

Physician opnions on the use of antibiotics in respiratory infections

To investigate the feasibility of establishing standards of care based on a broad consensus, a questionnaire concerning the management of signs and symptoms of common respiratory infections in infants was given to a national sample of pediatric infectious disease specialists, general pediatricians, and family physicians. There was significant disagreement (p less than .01) among the three groups of physicians in 15 of the 18 clinical situations concerning the appropriateness of prescribing antibiotics. Whenever there was disagreement, the family physician group was most inclined and the infectious disease group least inclined to favor antibiotics therapy. More than 75% of each group favored antibiotics in the same situation in only three instances. These results suggest that it may be difficult to set widely accepted standards for the evaluation of medical care where there are such differences of opinion.

Community health nursing: population focus and evaluation

A synposis of recent research contributions to evaluation in the field of community health nursing is presented in a framework which distinguishes this population-focused practice from clinical nursing and emphasizes the scientific aspects of community health practice. Systematic need assessment, estimation of target population coverage, evaluation based on outcome, and evaluation based on process represent the four major types of studies discussed. Throughout the paper issues related to the conduct and utilization of the type of research reviewed are considered; the paper concludes with a brief discussion of fruitful directions for future research and ways to foster practitioners' utilization of research.

Primary care: contributions of nursing personnel

The planning of primary care services should not represent singular attention on one provider group to the exclusion of others. Rather the principal focus should be on the development of a national system of interdependent health care roles with viable mechanisms for communication and collaboration among providers. However, when recommendations and plans for such systems are considered it is important to remember that though all the data are not in, those available, some of which have been cited, offer compelling support for the view that more appropriate and less costly primary care services can be provided by thoughtfully constructed inter-disciplinary systems in which nurse practitioners have key roles in the provision of primary care and in planning and evaluating services. It is further suggested that not only will nurses so prepared be able to offer a broader range of services themselves, but they will be in a stronger position to work effectively with nonprofessional personnel.

A method for selecting criteria to evaluate medical care

This study tests a questionnaire method for eliciting process criteria for medical care appraisal. The questionnaire was sent to national samples of family physicians, pediatricians, and pediatricians specializing in infectious diseases asking their opinions about various clinical actions in 125 clinical situations concerning respiratory infection in infants. Five hundred twenty-four (54%) physicians returned completed questionnaires. Questionnaire responses favored the performance of a majority of actions and opposed very few. Opinions concerning individual actions, particularly diagnostic tests and treatments, varied widely depending upon the clinical situation presented. A second questionnaire sent one year later indicated that the opinions expressed in the first questionnaire remained stable over time, especially if the initial opinion favored performance of the action. Comparison of the questionnaire responses and medical records of a group of practitioners demonstrated that only 55% of actions favored in a practitioner's questionnaire appeared in his records. Although the questionnaire method appears to be a feasible, specific, and reliable means of identifying clinical opinion, there remains considerable discordance between opinion as expressed in the questionnaire and recorded clinical practice.

Release of adenosine triphosphate from isolated adult heart cells in response to hypoxia

1. Adult rat heart cells were isolated enzymically and ATP was identified in the cell suspension using the firefly luminescence technique. Adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) was not detected from cell suspensions obtained from hearts which had been left asystolic for 10 min.2. It was found that ATP 0.34 +/- 0.22 muM/mg protein was released by cells kept in an oxygenated condition, while ATP 1.28 +/- 0.41 muM/mg protein was initially released by cells made hypoxic.3. Addition of Ca(2+) in a concentration of 2 mM caused cells to initially extrude ATP 0.40 +/- 0.14 muM/mg protein. This was attributed to an inotropic effect.4. Extracellular ATPase activity in the fluid suspension was partially characterized, giving a K(m) of 13 muM and a V/2 of hydrolysed ATP 18.3 muM/min at 37 degrees C. Q(10) was found to be 4 between 25 and 37 degrees C. Enzyme activity remained unaffected by either hypoxic conditions or ouabain.5. If these amounts of ATP are released from myocardial cells rendered hypoxic in vivo, then it must be concluded that ATP plays a principal role in the local control of myocardial blood flow.6. It is proposed that release of ATP occurs through the sarcolemma from an intracellular pool, and that alteration of the configuration of structural membrane protein controls the amounts of ATP extruded.

Prenatal recognition of 4p- syndrome

A fetus with the rare 4p- syndrome was detected by chromosome analysis of amniotic cell culture, and the pregnancy terminated. The fetus showed a number of the physical stigmata of the syndrome.

Comparison of Auxin-induced and Acid-induced Elongation in Soybean Hypocotyl

Acid-induced growth was compared to auxin-induced growth. After a transient pH 4-induced increase in the elongation rate was completed, auxin could still induce an enhanced rate of elongation in soybean (Glycine max) hypocotyl segments. This auxin response occurred both when the medium was changed to pH 6 before auxin addition, and when the auxin was added directly to the pH 4 medium. This postacid response to auxin was persistent, and quite unlike a postacid response to acid, which was again shortlived. One mm N-2-hydroxyethylpiperazine-N'-2-ethanesulfonic acid (pH 7) inhibited the first response to auxin (the first response to auxin being similar to the acid response), but not the second response. This did not appear to be simply a hydrogen ion neutralizing effect, however, since a 50-fold increase in buffer concentration at pH 6 did not inhibit the first response. Decrease in the pH of the external medium, previously shown to occur with excised soybean hypocotyl segments, was not affected by auxin. Furthermore, this pH drop, during which the cells appear to be adjusting their external pH to about 5.4, did not result in an increased rate of elongation. Addition of auxin after the equilibrium pH had been attained did not alter the pH, but it did increase the rate of elongation, eliciting a normal auxin response. It was concluded that hydrogen ions do not mediate in long term auxin-induced elongation in soybean hypocotyl.

Antigen-antibody reactions in rat brain sites induce transient changes in drinking behavior

The septum or hypothalamus of rat brain was injected through implanted cannulas with antibody against membrane antigens in the rat brain or with antibody against exogenous soluble antigens (such as ovalbumin) followed by the specific antigen. Both immunological systems produced a moderate but highly significant decrease in drinking by thirsty rats. This phenomenon is suggested as an experimental model for behavioral disorders resulting from nondegenerative, immunological processes in the brain.

Chromosome number and flavonoid synthesis in Briza L. (Gramineae)

Following a recent reidentification of the apigenin C-glycosides in diploid Briza media, the luteolin C-glycosides were reexamined and three acylated derivatives of a luteolin C-glycoside were found. In an attempt to identify the chromosome or group of chromosomes responsible for the change in flavonoid synthesis from 4'-hydroxy- in diploid plants to 3',4'-dihydroxyflavone C-glycosides in autotetraploid plants, leaf flavonoids of artificially produced aneuploids of B. media were examined. Among these plants three different leaf flavonoid profiles were recognized: diploid, tetraploid, and a "modified" tetraploid pattern. All the aneuploids with the normal or "modified" tetraploid pattern were trisomic for one of the small acrocentric chromosomes. Induced polyploids of other Briza species were usually found to have similar flavonoid patterns in the two chromosome races. Flavonoid sulfates were found in three South American species but are absent from all the European species.

Additional evidence for separable responses to auxin in soybean hypocotyl

Additional evidence for two separable responses to auxin is presented. The average of 24 control experiments indicated lag times of 12.4 and 35.4 min, and maximum rates of 0.57 and 0.54 mm hr(-1), for the first and second response, respectively. The auxin analog 4-azido-2-chlorophenoxyacetic acid increased the lag time of the second response (but not the first), resulting in the temporal separation of the two responses. Plots of elongation rates against time, taken from the literature, allowed the characterization of the two responses in monocotyls and dicotyls. Study of published rate-time elongation curves showed that the maximum rate of the first response is frequently greater than the maximum rate of the second response; however, the maximum rate of the second response has not yet been shown to exceed the maximum rate of the first response.

Influence of training and experience on selecting criteria to evaluate medical care

To determine whether training and experience affect the selection of process criteria for evaluating medical care, three groups of physicians (family physicians, general pediatricians, and pediatricians specializing in infectious disease) were sent a questionnaire asking their opinions about various clinical actions in 125 clinical situations concerning respiratory infections in infants. Five hundred and twenty-four (54 per cent) physicians returned completed questionnaires. The three groups agreed in 93 (74 per cent) situations, especially about history taking, physical examination, and follow-up observation. Disagreements occurred most often regarding antibiotic use. Of the three groups, the family physicians selected the most extensive list of recommended actions including the greatest number of indications for antibiotics. The general pediatricians selected the fewest situations requiring history taking, physical examination and diagnostic tests. The infectious-disease pediatricians felt the greatest necessity to record history and physical-examination items but were the most restrictive in recommending antibiotics and other drugs.

Specificity and evolutionary divergence of the antigenic structure of the polypeptide chain elongation factors

Antisera have been prepared against two electrophoretically homogeneous "polypeptide chain elongation factors," T and G, from Escherichia coli. Inactivation and precipitation tests showed that these two fractions were antigenically distinct with no cross-reaction. The immune inactivation curve of G factor from E. coli was distinguishable from that of G factor from Pseudomonas fluorescens. Mammalian factors were not inhibited by antibody directed against the E. coli T and G factors. By Ouchterlony diffusion tests, the antisera also detected significant antigenic variability among different bacterial species. It is concluded that the factors have undergone considerable evolutionary divergence in their antigenic structure.

In vitro synthesis of different categories of specific protein by membrane-bound and free ribosomes

The free and membrane-bound ribosomes of hepatic cells were isolated and used to program protein synthesis in cell-free extracts. Immuno-electrophoretic and radioautographic analysis of the products showed that the membrane-bound ribosomes synthesized serum proteins, whereas ribosomes free of endoplasmic reticulum synthesized specific nonserum liver proteins. After synthesis, the serum proteins remained associated with membrane vesicles, whereas the other liver proteins were found free of cytoplasmic organelles.

Antigenic correspondence of serum albumins among the primates

The relative cross-reactivities as judged by tile quantitative precipitation reaction of 22 primate serum albumins were determined with pooled antiserums against human Serum albumnini. The atitgenic correspondences to human serum albumin of all but three serum albumin fell into narrow ranges, and the groups defined by these ranges are distinct taxonomic categories. The values of the cross-reactivity ranges are consistent with the presumed phylogenetic relationships to man on the assumption that the evolutionary modification of protein structure has been progressive and divergent.