Studies on the clinical significance of nonesterified and total cholesterol in urine

Gas-liquid chromatographic determinations of nonesterified and total urinary cholesterol were performed in 137 normals, 264 patients with various internal diseases without evidence of neoplasias or diseases of the kidney or urinary tract, 497 patients with malignancies and 236 patients with diseases of the kidney, urinary tract infections or prostatic adenoma with residual urine. A normal range (mean±2 SD) of 0.2–2.2 mg/24 hours nonesterified cholesterol (NEC) and of 0.3–3.0 mg/24 hours total cholesterol (TC) was calculated. Values of urinary cholesterol excretion were independent of age and sex and did not correlate with cholesterol levels in plasma. Patients with various internal diseases, without evidence of neoplasias nor diseases of the kidney or obstruction of the urinary tract, showed normal urinary cholesterol excretions, as did patients with infections of the urinary tract. However, elevated urinary cholesterol was found in patients with diseases of the kidney or urinary tract obstruction (prostatic adenoma with residual urine), malignant diseases of the urogenital tract and metastasing carcinoma of the breast. In patients with other malignant diseases urinary cholesterol was usually normal. Lesions of the urothelial cell membranes are considered to be the most likely cause of urinary cholesterol hyperexcretion. The clinical value of urinary cholesterol determinations as a possible screening test for urogenital carcinomas in unselected populations is limited by lacking specificity, expensive methodology and low prevalence of the mentioned carcinomas, although elevated urinary cholesterol excretions have been observed in early clinical stages of urogenital cancers

Magnetic resonance peak and nonmagnetic impurities

Nonmagnetic Zn impurities are known to strongly suppress superconductivity. We review their effects on the spin excitation spectrum in $\rm YBa_2Cu_3O_{7}$, as investigated by inelastic neutron scattering measurements.Comment: Proceedings of Mato Advanced Research Workshop BLED 2000. To appear in Nato Science Series: B Physic

Impact factors of dermatological journals for 1991 – 2000

BACKGROUND: The impact factors of scientific journals are interesting but not unproblematic. It is speculated that the number of journals in which citations can be made correlates with the impact factors in any given speciality. METHODS: Using the Journal Citation Report (JCR) for 1997, a bibliometric analysis was made to assess the correlation between the number of journals available in different fields of clinical medicine and the top impact factor. A detailed study was made of dermatological journals listed in the JCR 1991–2000, to assess the relevance of this general survey. RESULTS: Using the 1997 JCR definitions of speciality journals, a significant linear correlation was found between the number of journals in a given field and the top impact factor of that field (rs = 0.612, p < 0.05). Studying the trend for dermatological journals 1991 to 2000 a similar pattern was found. Significant correlations were also found between total number of journals and mean impact factor (rs = 0.793, p = 0.006), between the total number of journals and the top impact factor (rs = 0.759, p = 0.011) and between the mean and the top impact factor (rs = 0.827, p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: The observations suggest that the number of journals available predict the top impact factor. For dermatology journals the top and the mean impact factor are predicted. This is in good agreement with theoretical expectations as more journals make more print-space available for more papers containing citations. It is suggested that new journals in dermatology should be encouraged, as this will most likely increase the impact factor of dermatological journals generally

The interplay between financial regulations, resilience, and growth

Interconnectedness has been an important source of market failures, leading to the recent financial crisis. Large financial institutions tend to have similar exposures and thus exert externalities on each other through various mechanisms. Regulators have responded by putting in place more regulations with many layers of regulatory complexity, leading to ambiguity and market manipulation. Mispricing risk in complex models and the arbitrage opportunities through the regulatory loopholes have provided incentives for certain activities to be more concentrated in the regulated entities and for other activities to leave the banking into new shadow banking areas. How can we design an effective regulatory framework that would perfectly rule out bank runs and TBTF and to do so without introducing incentives for financial firms to take excessive risk? It is important for financial regulations to be coordinated across regulatory entities and jurisdictions and for financial regulations to be forward looking, rather than aiming to address problems of the past

A model for selection of eyespots on butterfly wings

The development of eyespots on the wing surface of butterflies of the family Nympalidae is one of the most studied examples of biological pattern formation.However, little is known about the mechanism that determines the number and precise locations of eyespots on the wing. Eyespots develop around signaling centers, called foci, that are located equidistant from wing veins along the midline of a wing cell (an area bounded by veins). A fundamental question that remains unsolved is, why a certain wing cell develops an eyespot, while other wing cells do not. We illustrate that the key to understanding focus point selection may be in the venation system of the wing disc. Our main hypothesis is that changes in morphogen concentration along the proximal boundary veins of wing cells govern focus point selection. Based on previous studies, we focus on a spatially two-dimensional reaction-diffusion system model posed in the interior of each wing cell that describes the formation of focus points. Using finite element based numerical simulations, we demonstrate that variation in the proximal boundary condition is sufficient to robustly select whether an eyespot focus point forms in otherwise identical wing cells. We also illustrate that this behavior is robust to small perturbations in the parameters and geometry and moderate levels of noise. Hence, we suggest that an anterior-posterior pattern of morphogen concentration along the proximal vein may be the main determinant of the distribution of focus points on the wing surface. In order to complete our model, we propose a two stage reaction-diffusion system model, in which an one-dimensional surface reaction-diffusion system, posed on the proximal vein, generates the morphogen concentrations that act as non-homogeneous Dirichlet (i.e., fixed) boundary conditions for the two-dimensional reaction-diffusion model posed in the wing cells. The two-stage model appears capable of generating focus point distributions observed in nature. We therefore conclude that changes in the proximal boundary conditions are sufficient to explain the empirically observed distribution of eyespot focus points on the entire wing surface. The model predicts, subject to experimental verification, that the source strength of the activator at the proximal boundary should be lower in wing cells in which focus points form than in those that lack focus points. The model suggests that the number and locations of eyespot foci on the wing disc could be largely controlled by two kinds of gradients along two different directions, that is, the first one is the gradient in spatially varying parameters such as the reaction rate along the anterior-posterior direction on the proximal boundary of the wing cells, and the second one is the gradient in source values of the activator along the veins in the proximal-distal direction of the wing cell

Rapid generation of chromosome-specific alphoid DNA probes using the polymerase chain reaction

Non-isotopic in situ hybridization of chromosome-specific alphoid DNA probes has become a potent tool in the study of numerical aberrations of specific human chromosomes at all stages of the cell cycle. In this paper, we describe approaches for the rapid generation of such probes using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and demonstrate their chromosome specificity by fluorescence in situ hybridization to normal human metaphase spreads and interphase nuclei. Oligonucleotide primers for conserved regions of the alpha satellite monomer were used to generate chromosome-specific DNA probes from somatic hybrid cells containing various human chromosomes, and from DNA libraries from sorted human chromosomes. Oligonucleotide primers for chromosome-specific regions of the alpha satellite monomer were used to generate specific DNA probes for the pericentromeric heterochromatin of human chromosomes 1, 6, 7, 17 and X directly from human genomic DNA

Longitudinal study of local authority child and family social workers (wave 1) Findings from a 5 year study of local authority child and family social workers in England.

The longitudinal study investigates recruitment, retention and career progression in local authority child and family social work over 5 years. This is the first of 5 reports. It provides workforce information for employers and policy makers. Topics covered in this report include: •entry routes into local authority child and family social work •current employment and career history •workplace wellbeing •management, supervision and working environment •job satisfaction •career progression and future career plan

"You come because it’s an interesting place” : the impact of attending a heritage programme on the well-being of people living with dementia and their care partners

Promoting access to heritage settings has been acknowledged as a way to promote wellbeing in the UK for people living with dementia and their care partners. Yet there is a lack of information available internationally on the contribution of heritage sites to promote wellbeing and social inclusion for those living with dementia. This paper addresses this gap by reporting on the impact for 48 people of participating in the ‘Sensory Palaces’ (SP) programme run by Historic Royal Palaces at Hampton Court and Kew Palaces in the UK. Two primary data sources were used; postsession interviews involving 30 participants (the person living with dementia and/or their care partners), and 131 sets of self-complete pre and post session mood questionnaires administered directly before and after SP session attendance. Analysis of the data sets is presented under three themes: Enjoyment and Engagement; Connecting and Learning and Place, Space and Time. The findings demonstrate participants highly valued the heritage sessions and reported positively on the impact this had for their individual wellbeing and their relationships with one another. This paper highlights the opportunity for heritage sites to contribute to promoting wellbeing for people living with dementia

Cloned mouse cells with natural killer function and cloned suppressor T cells express ultrastructural and biochemical features not shared by cloned inducer T cells.

We have examined the morphology, cytochemistry, and biochemistry of mouse leukocyte subsets by analyzing cloned leukocyte populations specialized to perform different immunologic functions. Cloned cells expressing high-affinity plasma membrane receptors for IgE and mediating natural killer (NK) lysis and cloned antigen-specific suppressor T cells contained prominent osmiophilic cytoplasmic granules similar by ultrastructure to those of mouse basophils. Both clones also incorporated 35SO4 into granule-associated sulfated glycosaminoglycans, expressed a characteristic ultrastructural pattern of nonspecific esterase activity, incorporated exogenous [3H]5-hydroxytryptamine, and contained cytoplasmic deposits of particulate glycogen. By contrast, cloned inducer T cells lacked cytoplasmic granules and glycogen, incorporated neither 35SO4 nor [3H]5-hydroxytryptamine, and differed from the other clones in pattern of nonspecific esterase activity. These findings establish that certain cloned cells with NK activity and cloned suppressor T cells express morphologic and biochemical characteristics heretofore associated with basophilic granulocytes. However, these clones differ in surface glycoprotein expression and immunologic function, and the full extent of the similarities and differences among these populations and basophils remains to be determined

A note on isoparametric polynomials

We show that any homogeneous polynomial solution of |\nabla F(x)|^2=m^2|x|^(2m-2), m>1, is either a radially symmetric polynomial F(x)=\pm |x|^m (for even m's) or it is a composition of a Chebychev polynomial and a Cartan-M\"unzner polynomial.Comment: 6 page