Factors Of Day Research Articles

Infant sleep predicts trajectories of social attention and later autism traits.

Children with neurodevelopmental disorders including autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often experience sleep disturbances, but little is known about when these sleep differences emerge and how they relate to later development. We used a prospective longitudinal design in infants with a family history of ASD and/or ADHD to examine infant sleep and its relation to trajectories of attention and later neurodevelopmental disorders. We formed factors of Day and Night Sleep from parent-reported measures (including day/night sleep duration, number of naps in the day, frequency of night awakenings and sleep onset problems). We examined sleep in 164 infants at 5-, 10- and 14-months with/without a first-degree relative with ASD and/or ADHD who underwent a consensus clinical assessment for ASD at age 3. By 14-months, infants with a first-degree relative with ASD (but not ADHD) showed lower Night Sleep scores than infants with no family history of ASD; lower Night Sleep scores in infancy were also associated with a later ASD diagnosis, decreased cognitive ability, increased ASD symptomatology at 3-years, and developing social attention (e.g., looking to faces). We found no such effects with Day Sleep. Sleep disturbances may be apparent at night from 14-months in infants with a family history of ASD and also those with later ASD, but were not associated with a family history of ADHD. Infant sleep disturbances were also linked to later dimensional variation in cognitive and social skills across the cohort. Night Sleep and Social Attention were interrelated over the first 2 years of life, suggesting that this may be one mechanism through which sleep quality influences neurodevelopment. Interventions targeted towards supporting families with their infant's sleep problems may be useful in this population.

Maternal near miss: before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare Maternal Near Miss prevalence and outcomes before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. This retrospective study was carried out in a university maternity hospital of high complexity. The population was divided into two groups: G1, 1 year before the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic period (August 2018-July 2019) and G2, 1 year during the pandemic period (August 2020-July 2021). All pregnant/postpartum women hospitalized up to 42 days after the end of pregnancy/childbirth were included, and pregnant women who were admitted with coronavirus disease 2019/flu symptoms were excluded. The association of variables with "Maternal Near Miss" was estimated using logistic regression. A total of 568 women from G1 and 349 women from G2 fulfilled the Maternal Near Miss criteria. The prevalence of Maternal Near Miss in pre-pandemic was 144.1/1,000 live births and during the pandemic was 78.5/1,000 live births. In the analysis adjusted for G1, the factors of days of hospitalization (PR: 1.02, CI: 1.0-1.0, p<0.05), pre-eclampsia (PR: 0.41, CI: 1.4-2.2, p<0.05), and sepsis/severe systemic infection (PR: 1.79, CI: 0.3-0.4, p<0.05) were crucial for women with the Maternal Near Miss condition to have a greater chance of being admitted to the intensive care unit. In G2, low education (PR: 0.45, CI: 0.2-0.9, p<0.05), eclampsia (PR: 5.28, CI: 3.6-7.6, p<0.05), and use of blood products (PR: 6.48, CI: 4.7-8.8, p<0.05) increased the risk of admission to the intensive care unit. During the pandemic, there was a lower prevalence of Maternal Near Miss in high-risk pregnancies, fewer hospitalizations, and more deaths compared to the non-pandemic period.

Acute kidney injury in SARS-CoV2-related pneumonia ICU patients: a retrospective multicenter study

BackgroundWhile acute kidney injury (AKI) is frequent in severe SARS-CoV2-related pneumonia ICU patients, few data are still available about its risk factors.MethodsRetrospective observational study performed in four university affiliated hospitals in Paris. AKI was defined according to the KIDGO guidelines. Factors associated with AKI were picked up using multivariable mixed-effects logistic regression. Independent risk factors of day 28 mortality were assessed using Cox model.Results379 patients (median age 62 [53,69], 77% of male) were included. Half of the patients had AKI (n = 195, 52%) including 58 patients (15%) with AKI stage 1, 44 patients (12%) with AKI stage 2, and 93 patients (25% with AKI stage 3). Chronic kidney disease (OR 7.41; 95% CI 2.98–18.4), need for invasive mechanical ventilation at day 1 (OR 4.83; 95% CI 2.26–10.3), need for vasopressors at day 1 (OR 2.1; 95% CI 1.05–4.21) were associated with increased risk of AKI. Day 28 mortality in the cohort was 26.4% and was higher in patients with AKI (37.4 vs. 14.7%, P < 0.001). Neither AKI (HR 1.35; 95% CI 0.78–2.32) nor AKI stage were associated with mortality (HR [95% CI] for stage 1, 2 and 3 when compared to no AKI of, respectively, 1.02 [0.49–2.10], 1.73 [0.81–3.68] and 1.42 [0.78–2.58]).ConclusionIn this large cohort of SARS-CoV2-related pneumonia patients admitted to the ICU, AKI was frequent, mostly driven by preexisting chronic kidney disease and life sustaining therapies, with unclear adjusted relationship with day 28 outcome.

Designing hybrid barium tungstate on functionalized carbon black as electrode modifier for low potential detection of antihistamine drug promethazine hydrochloride

Promethazine hydrochloride (PMHC) is a first-generation antihistamine drug used to treat allergic rhinitis, allergic conjunctivitis, urticaria, etc., Overdosage of PMHC affects majorly the central nervous system such as respiratory tract, dermatologic, cardiovascular and hematologic. Hence, the detection of PMHC considered being an important factor in day to day life of the human. In this work, we developed barium tungstate (BaWO4) unified with functionalized carbon black (f-CB) via an eco-friendly synthesis technique to detect PMHC. As prepared BaWO4/f-CB composite was analyzed through various spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. The electrochemical property of the as-prepared composite was investigated through electron impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and voltammetric techniques with a disposable screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE) as a working electrode. BaWO4/f-CB/SPCE outcomes with least charge resistance, higher anodic current, dual wider linear range, lower limit of detection (29 nM) & limit of quantification (264 nM), excellent sensitivity, and selectivity towards PMHC. Additionally, the PMHC concentration in pharmaceutical formulations (medical wastes) largely pollutes the hydric resources. Hence, the lake water was chosen to analyze the practical feasibility of a proposed sensor. The practical utility of BaWO4/f-CB sensor fallout with good electrocatalytic activity at trace level detection of PMHC.

The Study of Facial Muscle Movements for Non-Invasive Thermal Discomfort Detection via Bio-Sensing Technology. Part I: Development of the Experimental Design and Description of the Collected Data

In the time of climate change, as heat waves become a more regular occurrence, indoor thermal comfort is an important factor in day to day life. Due to such circumstances, many researchers have focused their studies on finding an effective solution that will not only enable thermal comfort, but also increase satisfaction within the indoor environment and, as a result, productivity. The fast development of the biometrical field encouraged the study focused on the investigation of how bio-markers, in combination with artificial intelligence algorithms, can be collected within an experimental setting to create a new approach for non-invasive thermal discomfort detection. The developed experimental design provides synergy between automatic facial coding, pulse, and galvanic skin response measurements via iMotions software in a controlled environment. The iMotions software has built-in machine vision algorithms, and with Shimmer sensors and a post-processing tool through Affectiva AFFDEX, is able to collect facial action data through detection of the facial muscle movements and various bio-markers. The Zero Emission Building (ZEB) Test Cell laboratory was used as the control environment and transformed to imitate an office space for the data collection campaign at NTNU in Trondheim. The given experimental design provides an opportunity to create an immense database with bio-markers that are linked to the subcortical level of the brain, indoor parameters, and direct feedback on the comfort level of occupants within an office-like environment. In total, 111 data collection sessions were registered with iMotions. The discomfort button was pressed 240 times and 1080 planned indoor comfort evaluation surveys were held during experiment. The discomfort button was pressed 49 times to indicate that participant felt discomfort due to low temperature and 52 due to high temperature. Collected data revealed a big deviation in the discomfort temperature values for experiment participants with respect to performed temperature ramps. While it is common to use the same predefined temperature range for facility management, it became clear that the complexity of the task is greater and should not be approached on a human computational level. Implementation of AI can potentially provide higher value accuracy within thermal discomfort detection and enable unique personal user experience at the workplace.

Hybrid based Energy Efficient Cluster Head Selection using Camel Series Elephant Herding Optimization Algorithm in WSN

The rapid growth in wireless technology is enabling a variety of advances in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). By providing the sensing capabilities and efficient wireless communication, WSNs are becoming important factor in day to day life. WSNs have many commercial, industrial and telecommunication applications. Maximizing network lifespan is a primary objective in wireless sensor networks as the sensor nodes are powered by a non-rechargeable battery. The main challenges in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are area of coverage, network’s lifetime and aggregating. Balanced node establishment (clustering) is the foremost strategy for extending the entire network's lifetime by aggregating the sensed information at the head of the cluster. The recent research trend suggests Meta-heuristic algorithms for the intelligent selection of ideal Cluster Heads (CHs). The existing Cluster Head Selection (CHS) algorithm suffers from the inconsistent trade-offs between exploration – exploitation and global best examine constraints. In this research, a novel Camel series Elephant Herding Optimization (CSEHO) algorithm is proposed to enhance the random occurrences of Camel algorithm by the Elephant Herding Optimization algorithm for optimal CHS. The Camel algorithm imitates the itinerant actions of a camel in the desert for the scavenging procedure. The visibility monitoring condition of the camel algorithm improves the efficiency of exploitation, whereas the exploration inefficiency of a Camel algorithm is compensated optimally by the Elephant Herding Optimization operator (Clan and separator). The superior performance of the proposed CSEHO algorithm is validated by comparing its performance with various other existing CHS algorithms. The overall attainment of the offered CSEHO algorithm is 21.01%, 31.21%, 44.08%, 67.51%, and 85.66%, better than that of EHO, CA, PSO, LEACH, and DT, respectively.

Human resource management practices and project success, a moderating role of Islamic Work Ethics in Pakistani project-based organizations

Research on the relationship amongst “HR practices” and perceived “project success” in project-based Pakistani organizations is stimulating. Islam deliberates on ethics as a vital factor in day to day life. This study builds direct and moderating hypotheses for the relationship between four selected HR practices (Employees Recruitment & Selection, Employees Training & Development, Employees Performance Appraisals and Employees Compensation System), “project success” (PS) and “Islamic Work Ethics” (IWE) in project-based Pakistani organizations. The hypotheses have been confirmed using survey data collected from “4” major cities of the country using cross sectional design. The findings suggest that less “ETD” all other three HR practices influence PS in project-based Pakistani organizations; moreover, they reveal moderating effects of IWE only on the relationship between practice of “Employees Recruitment & Selection” and PS as perceived by employees in the organizations. The significance, implications and limitations of results have also been deliberated for further research.

Plasmodium falciparum clearance in clinical studies of artesunate-amodiaquine and comparator treatments in sub-Saharan Africa, 1999–2009

BackgroundArtemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) is the recommended first-line therapy for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria worldwide but decreased artemisinin susceptibility, phenotypically characterized as slow parasite clearance time (PCT), has now been reported in Southeast Asia. This makes it all too important to measure the dynamics of parasite clearance in African patients treated with ACT over time, to understand trends and detect changes early enough to interveneMethodsIndividual patient data from 27 clinical trials of artesunate-amodiaquine (ASAQ) vs comparators conducted between 1999 and 2009 were analysed for parasite clearance on modified intent-to-treat (ITT) basis.ResultsOverall 15,017 patients treated for uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria at 44 sites in 20 sub-Saharan African countries were included in the analysis; 51% (n=7,660) vs 49% (n=7,357) were treated with ASAQ and comparator treatments, respectively. Seventy-seven per cent (77%) were children under six years of age. The proportion of the patients treated with ASAQ with persistent parasitaemia on Day 2 was 8.6%, and 1.5% on Day 3. Risk factor for not clearing parasites on Day 2 and Day 3 calculated by multivariate logistic regression with random effect on site and controlling for treatment were: high parasitaemia before treatment was (adjusted risk ratios (AOR) 2.12, 95% CI 1.91-2.35, AOR 2.43, 95% CI 1.98-3.00, respectively); non-ACT treatment (p=0.001, for all comparisons). Anaemia (p=0.001) was an additional factor for Day 2 and young age (p=0.005) for Day 3.In patients treated with ASAQ in studies who had complete parasitaemia data every 24 hours up to Day 3 and additionally Day 7, the parasite reduction ratio was 93.9% by Day 1 and 99.9% by Day 2. Using the median parasitaemia before treatment (p0=27,125 μL) and a fitted model, the predicted PCT (pPCT = 3.614*ln (p0) – 6.135, r² = 0.94) in ASAQ recipients was 31 hours.ConclusionWithin the period covered by these studies, rapid Plasmodium falciparum clearance continues to be achieved in Sub-Saharan African patients treated with ACT, and in particular with ASAQ. The prediction formula for parasite clearance time could be a pragmatic tool for studies with binary outcomes and once-daily sampling, both for research and monitoring purposes.

Effect of optimism/pessimism attitude on depression and coping strategies

Depression is a word used by mental health professional to refer an illness or group of illness called mood disorder. Depression may be described as feeling sad, blue, unhappy, miserable, or down in the dumps. Most of us feel this way at one time or another for short periods. It's impossible to escape life's ups and downs. Feeling unhappy or sad in response to disappointment, loss, frustration or a medical condition is normal. Many people use the word to explain these kinds of feelings, but that is really situational depression, which is a normal reaction to events around us. Clinical depression, though, overwhelms and engulfs your day to day life, interfering with your ability to work, study, eat, sleep, and have fun. It is unrelenting, with little if any relief. True clinical depression is a mood disorder in which feelings of sadness, loss, anger, or frustration interfere with everyday life for an extended period of it.There is a difference, however, between a normal grief reaction and one that is disabling or unrelenting. While there's no set timetable for grieving, if it doesn't let up over time or extinguishes all signs of joy laughing at a good joke, brightening in response to a hug, appreciating a beautiful sunsetit may be depression. Brown and Haris (1978) reported that depression increases with the age due to several factors of day today life like burden of responsibility, sleeping problems, declining health etc.Coping strategies refer to the specific efforts, both behavioral and psychological, that people employ to master, tolerate, reduce, or minimize stressful events.There are many different ways of coping but they all involve making some change in input-output relationships. Thus some methods of coping involve changing, controlling and even avoiding certain inputs, whether the problem is attacked by working on inputs that in internal processes or outputs, it will be one of the two major ways of adjustingdefensive coping or direct coping. Defensive coping involves protecting oneself by getting away from threatening inputs. Direct coping involves meeting challenges head on. Coping with stress may begin with the occurrence of a stressful even, during exposure to stressor and finally after it has taken places. However, successful coping with stress should depend on a number of factors such as individual attitude, perception of life stress and suffering and personal skills, capability of problem solving and decision making. Raju, Rohini, and Naga (2008) revealed that among the old age people 21.3% of them were severely depressed and diabetes is experienced mostly by the elderly whose age is between 70-80 years. The severely depressed older adults were suffering with blood pressure and asthma. The mildly depressed older adult's experiences suicidal tendencies, hearing problems, loneliness, diabetes and problem with the eyes.Sahu, (2007) found gender differences on life stress and significant negative relationship between life stress and coping was observed. It was also extended for males but this relationship was not found significant for females. Folkman, S. and Lazarus, R.S (1980) evaluated age difference in the use of problem focused coping and emotion focused coping among individuals aged 45 to 64. The younger group was found to use emotion focused approach more i.e. they used more of accepting responsibility, distancing more than o lder group.Considering the above facts the present study was undertaken to observe the Optimists and Pessimists on Depression and Coping strategies.Hypotheses of the studyTo achieve the main objective of the study following hypothesis are framed;* Optimists will have significantly low level of Depression as compared to Pessimists and its dimensions.* Optimists and pessimists will differ significantly on the tendency of using Coping Strategies and its dimensions.MethodParticipantsThe total sample was consisted of 255 optimists and 191 pessimists subjects. …

The Risk of Day 100 Mortality Following Umbilical Cord Blood Transplantation Is Significantly Higher in Patients Who Do Not Achieve An ANC of 100 by Day +16 Post Transplant

Abstract 3033Background: Cord blood transplant (CBT) recipients have higher infection-related morbidity and mortality than recipients of other stem cells sources following allogeneic transplant due to delayed hematopoietic recovery and immune reconstitution. Even in recipients of myeloablative (MA) double cord blood transplant (dCBT), time to engraftment (defined as the first of two consecutive days with an absolute neutrophil count (ANC) ≥ 500/μl) is delayed more than three weeks resulting in higher rates of infection in the first 100 days post-transplant. However, a better understanding of the relationship between duration of neutropenia and risk of early transplant related mortality is needed to assess the clinical impact of methodologies aimed at reducing neutropenia post transplant. Previously, the relationship between severe neutropenia (ANC ≤ 100/μl) and risk of death was evaluated for allogeneic bone marrow transplant recipients using proportional hazards models and demonstrated a significantly increased risk for those with severe neutropenia at day 15 or beyond following transplantation (Offner et al, Blood, 1996; 88(10): 4058–62). Here we use a similar model to determine how duration of severe neutropenia relates to risk of death following CBT. Methods: All patients (n=137) who received a CBT on a research protocol at a single institution from 2006–2010 were eligible. On each day from day 0 to day +100, surviving patients were divided into those with ANC ≤ 100/μl and those with ANC >100/μl and the number of patients who died by day +100 determined for each group. Hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals for day +100 mortality were then calculated for day post-CBT with the HR representing the risk of day +100 death among those with ANC ≤ 100/μl relative to those with ANC >100/μl for each day. Results: Of the 137 patients who received a CBT on a research protocol, 99 patients (72%) received MA conditioning regimens and 38 patients (28%) received reduced-intensity conditioning regimens (RIC). Twenty-two patients (16%) received a single cord blood unit while the remainder received dCBT. As the overall results and trends observed for patients receiving MA or RIC regimens were similar, only the combined results are presented. Thirty-one patients (23%) died before day +100. Causes of death were primary graft failure (17), infection (7), disease relapse (5), multi-organ failure (1), and leukoencephalopathy (1). The median time to engraftment was the same (20 days) for those with death before day+100 (9–39 days) as those alive at day+100 (6–69 days). The hazard ratio for day 100 mortality by day post-CBT was significantly higher for patients with ANC ≤ 100/μl beginning on day +16 and remained so through day +50, at which point the number of patients with ANC ≤ 100/μl was small and thus the calculations were no longer significant. The HRs for each day post-CBT from day 0 to day +50 are plotted in Figure 1 along with their 95% upper and lower confidence intervals. From the graphical plot of these HRs, one can identify date ranges (days 0–12, days 13–23, days 24–40, days 41–100) where the HRs are roughly equivalent with a clear increase in HR in the next date range. Modeling ANC ≤ 100/μl as a time-dependent covariate, we calculated HRs for each of these date ranges and found a significantly increased risk of day 100 mortality for days 12–23 (HR=2.96, p=0.01), days 24–40 (HR=5.53, p=0.0004), and days 41–100 (HR=14.59, p<0.0001) for patients with ANC ≤ 100/μl. The HR was 1.16 (0.49–2.76, p=0.73) for days 0–12; however, some of these patients had initial autologous recovery following RIC regimens and poor outcomes. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that severe neutropenia, defined as ANC ≤ 100, poses a significant increased risk of day 100 mortality for recipients of CBT as early as 12–23 days post-CBT. Importantly, this patient cohort was transplanted in the modern era of aggressive supportive care, including use of newer antimicrobials. However, despite this, severe neutropenia remains a significant risk factor for day 100 mortality in recipients of CBT. Interestingly, median time to engraftment (ANC ≥ 500/μl) was the same for those with death before day+100 as those alive at day+100 suggesting that time to ANC of 100 may be a better predictor of early death following CBT. Thus, strategies that result in more rapid myeloid recovery (to an ANC of 100) remain essential for recipients of CBT. [Display omitted] Disclosures:No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Assessment of hand functions in rheumatoid arthritis using SF-SACRAH (short form score for the assessment and quantification of chronic rheumatoid affections of the hands) and its correlation to disease activity

Rheumatoid arthritis activity is generally evaluated by using DAS-28 score. But this does not reflect the extent of functional hand impairment, a decisive parameter for patient wellbeing as well as for work disability. Several questionnaires to quantify the hand involvement in RA have been elaborated, amongst which SACRAH has been popular since 2003. But this requires evaluating 23 questions on a visual analogue scale. The questions were reduced to 12 in modified-SACRAH (M-SACRAH) and to only five questions in short form SACRAH (SF-SACRAH) so as to make it easily applicable in daily clinical practice. A study was planned to compare M-SACRAH (already validated) to SF-SACRAH in Indian population as no Indian data are available on the same. A total of 100 patients of RA were evaluated for disease activity using DAS-28 score and hand functions using M-SACRAH and SF-SACRAH. The M-SACRAH and SF-SACRAH were then compared based on DAS-28 scores; also M-SACRAH was compared to SF-SACRAH using Spearman's correlation coefficient. The mean value of DAS-28 score was 3.15 ± 0.86. The mean value of SF-SACRAH was 8.065 ± 7.44, and mean value of M-SACRAH was 201.7 ± 201.1008. The correlation of DAS-28 score to SF-SACRAH and M-SACRAH was significant in moderate and high disease activity but insignificant in remission and low disease activity state. The correlation between M-SACRAH and SF-SACRAH showed a spearman's coefficient of 0.998 with a P value of <0.001 (significant correlation). Correlation was significant for all disease activity states and for remission. The study suggests that the disease activity of rheumatoid arthritis (as assessed by DAS-28 score) has a poor correlation with hand functions (as assessed by M-SACRAH and SF-SACRAH) especially in low disease activity and remission states. Further, M-SACRAH and SF-SACRAH are significantly correlated. Therefore, it is suggested that RA patients should be assessed by SF-SACRAH (which includes five questions only) in addition to DAS-28 scoring for better evaluation of hand functions, a detrimental factor in day to day performance of RA patients.

P02-215 - Influence of climatic factors on mortality of psychiatric patients

Influence of climatic factors on human’s mental health was research in a lot of studies in the world last years. The aim of this study is identifying a relationship between various climatic factors and the mortality of psychiatric patients in Specialized psychiatric hospital ‘Gornja Toponica’ - Nis, Serbia.MethodologyData for our study we used from computer database in our Hospital. We analyzed one-year period. Climatic data we used from Meteorological station in Nis: temperature, pressure, moisture, wind, cloudiness and precipitation (rain, snow). We compared climatic factors in days when patients died and climatic factors in days without deaths in our hospital.ResultsThere were 108 died psychiatric patients during the year, average 2 per week. In 11 days there were two or three deaths. 270 days were without deaths. Minimum deaths were in spring (April and May: 4 per month), and maximum were in winter (December and January: 12 per month). Average age of died patients were 70 years old. After analyzing of climatic factors we concluded that quickly changes of weather conditions have a large influence on mortality of psychiatric patients, and only value of climatic factors don't have influence on mortality.

Control of secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor gene expression in the porcine periimplantation endometrium: a case of maternal-embryo communication.

The contributions of the conceptus (embryo and associated membranes) and of the maternal endocrine milieu to control of endometrial secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor (SLPI, also designated antileukoproteinase) expression during the periimplantation stages of embryo development were examined in the present study. Uterine endometrium from distinct sites was collected from pigs at Days 16-25 of pregnancy and analyzed for steady-state SLPI mRNA levels. Endometrium situated directly beneath conceptuses (mesometrial) had greater (p < 0.05) SLPI mRNA levels than that obtained from antimesometrial and interimplantation sites and myometrium. This site-specific difference was most pronounced during late (Days 19-21) and post (Days 23-25)-implantation stages and was also observed, albeit to a lesser degree, for the mRNA encoding uteroferrin (Uf). Conditioned medium (CM; 50% v:v) from Day 21, but not Day 12, conceptuses increased (p < 0.05) SLPI mRNA levels, while neither CM affected mRNA levels for Uf and several other genes expressed in endometrial explants. One inducing factor in Day 21 CM was characterized as a low-molecular-mass (< 12 kDa), relatively heat-stable protein. Transforming growth factor (TGF alpha) increased (p < 0.05), epidermal growth factor (EGF) tended to increase (p = 0.10), and insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I and IGF-II had no effect (p > 0.10) on, SLPI mRNA levels in Day 12 endometrial explants. Medium conditioned by the pig trophoblast cell line, Jag-1, but not by other mammalian cell lines, had SLPI inducer activity. The maternal endocrine contribution to SLPI gene expression was examined using freshly isolated and short-term-cultured Day 12 and Day 21 pregnant pig endometrium. Steady-state SLPI mRNA levels were increased (p < 0.05) in Day 12, but not Day 21, tissues upon short-term culture in serum-free medium. This increase was time dependent, was similarly demonstrated for Uf mRNA, was not observed in corresponding lung and liver, and was inhibited by inclusion of serum from pigs of diverse endocrine status. In summary, two potential modulators of endometrial SLPI gene expression were identified: 1) a conceptus-derived low-molecular-mass protein, possibly TGF alpha, that mediates in part the up-regulation of SLPI gene expression in endometrium closely associated with implantation sites, and 2) an inhibitory component(s) present in maternal serum. Results suggest opposing actions of maternal and embryonic factors at the maternal-embryo interface and highlight involvement of the periimplantation embryo in directing the spatiotemporal expression of endometrial genes implicated in its development.

Transplantation of Hematopoietic Stem Cells Obtained by a Combined Dye Method Fractionation of Murine Bone Marrow

Hematopoietic stem cells were purified from murine bone marrow cells (BMC). Their characteristic density, size, internal complexity, Hoechst 33342 dye uptake, and wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) affinity were used to distinguish them from other cells in the bone marrow. BMC suspensions were centrifuged over Ficoll Lymphocyte Separation Media (Organon Teknika, Durham, NC; density 1.077 to 1.08). The lower-density cells were drawn off, stained with Hoechst and labeled with biotinylated WGA bound to streptavidin conjugated to phycoerythrin (WGA-B*A-PE) or with WGA conjugated to Texas Red. These cells were then analyzed and sorted by an Ortho Cytofluorograph 50-H cell sorter. The cells exhibiting medium to high forward light scatter, low to medium right angle light scatter, low Hoechst intensity, and high WGA affinity were selected. Sorted BMC (SBMC) were stained with Romanowsky-type stains for morphologic assay, and were assayed in lethally irradiated (LI) mice for their ability to produce colony-forming units in the spleen (CFU-S) and for their ability to produce survival. The spleen seeding factor for day 8 CFU-S upon retransplantation of the isolated cells was 0.1. The isolated cells were found to have consistent morphology, were enriched up to 135-fold as indicated by day 8 CFU-S assay, 195-fold as indicated by day 14 CFU-S assay, and 150 sorter-selected BMC were able to produce long-term survival in LI mice with retention of donor karyotype. When recipients of this first transplantation were themselves used as BMC donors, their number of day 8 and day 12 CFU-S were found to be reduced. However, 3 X 10(5) of their BMC provided 100% survival among secondary recipients. When the previously SBMC were competed after one transplantation against fresh nonsorted BMC in a mixed donor transplant, they showed the decline in hematopoietic potency normally seen in previously transplanted BMC. We conclude that the use of combinations of vital dyes for fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) selection of survival-promoting murine hematopoietic stem cells provides results comparable with those produced by antibody-selected FACS and has the advantage of a method directly transferable to human BMC.

Transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells obtained by a combined dye method fractionation of murine bone marrow

Hematopoietic stem cells were purified from murine bone marrow cells (BMC). Their characteristic density, size, internal complexity, Hoechst 33342 dye uptake, and wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) affinity were used to distinguish them from other cells in the bone marrow. BMC suspensions were centrifuged over Ficoll Lymphocyte Separation Media (Organon Teknika, Durham, NC; density 1.077 to 1.08). The lower-density cells were drawn off, stained with Hoechst and labeled with biotinylated WGA bound to streptavidin conjugated to phycoerythrin (WGA-B*A-PE) or with WGA conjugated to Texas Red. These cells were then analyzed and sorted by an Ortho Cytofluorograph 50-H cell sorter. The cells exhibiting medium to high forward light scatter, low to medium right angle light scatter, low Hoechst intensity, and high WGA affinity were selected. Sorted BMC (SBMC) were stained with Romanowsky-type stains for morphologic assay, and were assayed in lethally irradiated (LI) mice for their ability to produce colony-forming units in the spleen (CFU-S) and for their ability to produce survival. The spleen seeding factor for day 8 CFU-S upon retransplantation of the isolated cells was 0.1. The isolated cells were found to have consistent morphology, were enriched up to 135-fold as indicated by day 8 CFU-S assay, 195-fold as indicated by day 14 CFU-S assay, and 150 sorter-selected BMC were able to produce long-term survival in LI mice with retention of donor karyotype. When recipients of this first transplantation were themselves used as BMC donors, their number of day 8 and day 12 CFU-S were found to be reduced. However, 3 X 10(5) of their BMC provided 100% survival among secondary recipients. When the previously SBMC were competed after one transplantation against fresh nonsorted BMC in a mixed donor transplant, they showed the decline in hematopoietic potency normally seen in previously transplanted BMC. We conclude that the use of combinations of vital dyes for fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) selection of survival-promoting murine hematopoietic stem cells provides results comparable with those produced by antibody- selected FACS and has the advantage of a method directly transferable to human BMC.

Stability of Reacted Chemstrip bG

Reacted Chemstrip bG glucose reagent strips have been reported to retain their color changes for up to 7 days. Thus, patients could theoretically measure their blood glucose and mail their reacted test strips to their physicians for reanalysis. To test the stability of reacted Chemstrip bG blood glucose measurements, 268 Chemstrip bG test strips were reacted with blood obtained from 67 insulin-dependent diabetic patients, stored in desiccator vials, and read daily for 5 consecutive days with an Accu-Chek II blood glucose meter. Although Chemstrip bG blood glucose values significantly correlated with initial reference Beckman glucose analyzer glucose determinations for all 5 days, a steady significant decay in blood glucose readings over time was observed, and clinically accurate strip readings declined from 94% to 68%. Because this decay appeared consistent, correction factors were calculated with regression analyses. The correction factor for day 5 Accu-Chek II readings reduced measurement error by 77%. When applied to a different validation sample, this correction factor decreased day 5 error by 73%. Hence, it seems that correction factors may be applied to delayed readings of Chemstrips obtained with Accu-Chek II that would correct for the observed reduction in blood glucose readings. From these results, we conclude that delayed readings of Chemstrip bG test strips with the Accu-Chek II are not sufficiently accurate for clinical decision making or research purposes unless mathematically corrected.

Direct morphological and functional examination of murine pluripotent hemopoietic stem cells.

Pluripotent hemopoietic stem cells (PHSC) were isolated from adult mouse bone marrow by a combination of equilibrium density centrifugation and light-activated cell sorting for WGA-positive and H-2k antigen-positive cells. The sorted cells gave rise to 2 spleen colonies per 100 injected cells at 8 days and 6.6 colonies per 100 cells at 12 days after transplantation into lethally irradiated syngeneic recipients. The average enrichment factor for day 12 CFU-S (colony forming unit-spleen) equalled 135 (range, 90-230; n = 15). Enrichment for the cell type that provides radioprotection was equal to 180 +/- 70, indicating that PHSC and CFU-S are identical. Evidence is provided that the spleen seeding efficiency (the f-factor) of these cells was 0.10 and, therefore, that the average purity of the sorted PHSC was 65% (range in 15 experiments, 35-110%). The sorted cells were all in the G0 or G1 phase of the cycle. They appeared to be undifferentiated blasts by morphological criteria, the majority of the cells being similar in structure to the PHSC previously identified in less purified concentrates. Electron microscopy revealed that the sorted cells consisted primarily of two cell types, possibly representing G0 and G1 cells. The FACS was used to deposit single selected cells into individual microwells of Terasaki trays. Thirty percent of the sorted cells could be induced to form progeny in vitro. This procedure facilitates direct examination of the first events of hemopoietic regulation.

Isolation of murine pluripotent hemopoietic stem cells.

A method described to purify pluripotent hemopoietic stem cells ( PHSC ) from adult mouse bone marrow. The method consists of three separation steps. First, bone marrow cells are centrifuged in a discontinuous metrizamide gradient and simultaneously labeled with wheat germ agglutinin-fluorescein isothiocyanate (WGA-FITC). Second, the low density cells are analyzed by a fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS) and the WGA-positive cells with medium forward and low perpendicular light scatter intensities are sorted. The WGA-FITC is removed from the cells by incubation with N-acetyl-D-glucosamine. Finally, the sorted cells are incubated with anti-H-2K-biotin and avidin-FITC and sorted a second time to enrich cells with high H-2K density. The sorted cells gave rise to 2 spleen colonies per 100 injected cells at 8 d and 6.6 colonies per 100 cells at 12 d after transplantation into lethally irradiated syngeneic recipients. The average enrichment factor for day 12 CFU-S (colony-forming unit/spleen) was 135 (range, 90--230; n = 15) and was similar to that for the cell type that provides radioprotection (180 +/- 70), indicating that these functional properties were copurified. Indirect evidence suggests that the spleen-seeding efficiency (f factor) of these cells is 0.10 and, therefore, the average purity of the sorted PHSC was 65% (range in 15 experiments, 35--110%). The sorted cells were all in the G1 or G0 phase of the cell cycle. They appeared to be undifferentiated blasts by morphological criteria. Electron microscopy revealed that the sorted cells consisted primarily of two cell types, possibly representing G0 and G1 cells. The FACS was used to deposit single selected cells into individual microwells of Terasaki trays. 32% of the sorted cells could be induced to form myeloid progeny in vitro. This procedure should be useful for direct studies on the regulation of hemopoietic cell differentiation.

Renotropic growth factor found in cancer patient sera after removal of cancer-bearing kidney

We have used two sets of primary human kidney culture systems for assaying human renotropic growth factor in day 5 postnephrectomized human sera. The first set of primary kidney cell cultures was prepared from one hydronephrotic kidney and used for assaying the renotropic growth stimulating activity of six kidney cancer patients sera simultaneously. The level of renotropic growth-stimulating activity varies from patient to patient. The postnephrectomized sera of three patients showed rather small (27 to 68%) increase over their prenephrectomized sera. The postnephrectomized sera of the remaining three patients showed a much greater (2.69- to 3.19-fold) increase over their prenephrectomized sera. Variation in the growth-stimulating activities produced in these uninephrectomized kidney cancer patients is most probably due to different levels of renal function loss by removal of the cancer-bearing kidney. Each cancer-bearing kidney has a different proportion of healthy kidney region to diseased (nonfunctional) region. The second set of primary kidney cell cultures was prepared from a healthy noncancerous region of a cancer-bearing kidney and used to assay for renotropic growth-stimulating activities in two different unilaterally nephrectomized kidney transplantation donor sera. Increased levels of growth-stimulating activity are quite similar and high (4.19- to 4.79-fold increase above their prenephrectomized sera). These high and similar assay values of the renotropic growth factor produced in two healthy humans suggest the sensitivity and reliability of the assay method with the use of the noncancerous cells from the cancer-bearing kidney.

Some Experimental Studies on Arthropods in Milk Powder

With a view to reveal the process of existence of the pest insects of food and food product into milk powder, two series of experiments were carried out: one of them was done by the tmp-method, according to which the insects and other arthropods seemed most likely to exist in the milk powder stored for the ordinary housholds nursing were investigated at three different seasons, and the other was performed in such a manner that the survival days of the larvae of cockroach allowed to exist in the dry milk in process of production were investigated in the closed can. The results of the above mentioned experiments can be summarized as follows.1. Species of Arthropods found in the trap with milk powder are as listed in Table 1, in which the pest insects and mite of food and food products, the pest insect of rice and the spider were 4 species, 1 species and 1 species respectively.2. Comparison with the result from the earlier investigations conducted by the similar method for the confectionary pest insects showed the lower property of the milk powder for attracting the pest insects of food and food products.3. 1 to 4 nymphal instars of cockroach (Periplaneta fuliginosa) put in the sealed can were found dead with no exception at 10th day, and no individual could be found survived by inspection done with the cans opened at 20th day, 30th day, 40th day and 50th day after sealing on the can.4. Consideration of various factors of days from the completion of milk powder manufacture to the delivery to the consumer, the experimentally confirmed the survival days of various tested pest insects of food and food products in the sealed can, the fact that the troubles of the pest insects found in the milk powder by consumer more often concern the state the insects' survival and others favors the estimation of a large probability of the entrance of the insects and other arthropods in the milk powder after opening of the milk powder can by the consumer.