Individual Group Means Research Articles

Improving the Quality of Venous Blood Sampling Procedure (Phlebotomy): Avoiding Tourniquet Use.

Background Phlebotomy guidelines discourage tourniquet use whenever possible. We assessed phlebotomists' capability of not using the tourniquet in venous blood sampling, hypothesizing it to be equal to 50% of the patients attended, and identifying the most frequent venipuncture site. Materials and Methods We assigned two phlebotomists of the same age (41 years) and experience (20 years) to record 10 phlebotomy days, the first with prioritized and the latter with nonprioritized patients. Each acquired daily data for the number of attended patients, age, gender, frequency of nontourniquet usage, and punctured vein. To test our work hypothesis we used the two-tailed single sample t -test. Differences between age-group means and nontourniquet use means by each phlebotomist were tested by two-tailed t -test for independent means. Results In 10 phlebotomy days, 683 patients were attended (males 43.2%). We found no statistically significant difference between age-group means. The combined capability of nontourniquet use was 50.5%, which did not differ from our null hypothesis, but the difference in individual group means was statistically significant, the means being 33% and 66.9% (prioritized vs. nonprioritized). The medial cubital vein was the most prone to be punctured (77.7%). Conclusion Performing phlebotomies without tourniquet was possible in at least half of the attended patients, though it was more limited in specific group populations.

In vitrobacterial decontamination ofKelussia odoratissimaseed during dormancy breaking

Kelussia odoratissima (Apiaceae) is an endangered medicinal plant indigenous to Iran. Seeds of this plant have a long-term dormancy. This study aimed at obtaining in vitro method to reduce microbial contamination, overcome seed dormancy and to disclose the type of classification system of seed dormancy. After using completely randomized design and Duncan's Multiple Range Test, the significance of between individual group's means was assessed. Results revealed that only one gram negative bacterium strain, Klebsiella sp., was isolated from the contaminated culture. Applying 500 mg/l copper sulphate for 6 min during seed sterilization, the contamination was eradicated. During cold stratification, to estimate the effect of exogenous application of cytikinin hormones, N6-furfurylaninopurine (Kin) and 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) alone or in combination with each other, pre-soaking treatment with tioureae as a nitrogen compound and seed osmopriming with polyethylene glycole (PEG 6000), alone or in combination with BAP, the highest final seed germination (92.5%) was obtained on medium containing 1 mg/l BAP combined with 1 mg/l Kin. The lowest mean germination time (45.81 days) was also obtained on medium containing 0.25 mg/l BAP. Since using tiourea was simple and economical, with 80% final seed germination (using 0.2% thiourea) this can be an excellent way to promote seed germination of this plant. Considering the efficacy of treatments and growing of zygotic embryo without cold temperature exposure, seed dormancy mechanism identified as non-deep physiological dormancy and particularly chemical dormancy classification.

The success rate of pregnancy in IUI cycles following endometrial sampling. A randomized controlled study

The aim of this work was to compare the pregnancy rates during IUI cycles with or without endometrial sampling. A prospective, randomized study. 150 patients were recruited. They were classified into three groups. Each comprised 50 patients. Group 1 was considered the control group and underwent IUI with no endometrial sampling. Group 2 underwent Tao Brush endometrial sampling on day 8-9 of the uterine cycle that preceded the stimulation cycle, and finally, Group 3 underwent Tao Brush endometrial sampling on day 8-9 of the same IUI cycle OUTCOME OF THE STUDY: A positive pregnancy test. Pregnancy percentages were 18, 38, and 36 % for group 1, group 2, and group 3, respectively. The paired t test was used to compare each two individual group means. The results show a highly significant value for the paired t test of the control group and group 2 of the patients (p = 0.001), as well as a highly significant results (p = 0.002) for the group 3 and the control group. No significant value was present between the group 2 and 3 of patients (p = 0.322). Endometrial sampling significantly increases pregnancy rates in IUI procedures when it is done in the proliferative phase of the IUI cycle, or the cycle prior to IUI, than pregnancy rates with IUI alone.

CCAAT/Enhancer-Binding Protein δ Is a Critical Mediator of Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Acute Lung Injury

Although inflammation plays a central role in the pathogenesis of acute lung injury, the molecular mechanisms underlying inflammatory responses in acute lung injury are poorly understood, and therapeutic options remain limited. CCAAT/enhancer-binding proteins, C/EBPβ and C/EBPδ, are expressed in the lung and have been implicated in the regulation of inflammatory mediators. However, their functions in lung pathobiological characteristics are not well characterized. Herein, we show that C/EBPβ and C/EBPδ are activated in mouse lung after intrapulmonary deposition of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Mice carrying a targeted deletion of the C/EBPδ gene displayed significant attenuation of the lung permeability index (lung vascular leak of albumin), lung neutrophil accumulation (myeloperoxidase activity), and neutrophils in bronchial alveolar lavage fluids compared with wild-type mice. These phenotypes were consistent with morphological evaluation of lung, which showed reduced inflammatory cell influx and minimal intra-alveolar hemorrhage. Moreover, mutant mice expressed considerably less tumor necrosis factor-α, IL-6, and macrophage inflammatory protein-2 in bronchial alveolar lavage fluids in LPS-injured lung compared with wild-type mice. In contrast, C/EBPβ deficiency had no effect on LPS-induced lung injury. By using small-interfering RNA-mediated knockdown for C/EBPδ, we demonstrate, for the first time to our knowledge, that C/EBPδ plays a critical role for the tumor necrosis factor-α, IL-6, and macrophage inflammatory protein-2 production in LPS-stimulated alveolar macrophages. These findings demonstrate that C/EBPδ, but not C/EBPβ, plays an important role in LPS-induced lung inflammatory responses and injury.

Effects of estrogen on basal forebrain cholinergic neurons vary as a function of dose and duration of treatment

Studies suggest that estrogen replacement can influence learning and memory processes via effects on cholinergic neurons located in specific regions of the basal forebrain. In the present study, immunocytochemical techniques were used to examine the effects of estrogen on basal forebrain cholinergic neurons as a function of the dose and duration of estrogen treatment. Ovariectomized rats received 2, 10, 25, or 100 μg estradiol every other day for a period of 1, 2, or 4 weeks. Sections through the basal forebrain were then processed for the detection of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) or the low-affinity nerve growth factor receptor (p75NGFR), and the number of immunoreactive cells in the medial septum (MS), the horizontal limb of the diagonal band of Broca (HDB) and the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM) were counted. The effects of dose and duration of estrogen treatment were evaluated by analysis of variance and individual group means were compared with ovariectomized controls using a two-tailed Dunnets test. Administration of 2, 10, or 25 μg estradiol for 1 week produced a dose-related increase in the number of ChAT-like immunoreactive (IR) cells detected in the MS. Likewise treatment with 10 μg estradiol for 1 week, or with 2 μg estradiol for 2 weeks resulted in a significant increase in the number of ChAT-IR cells detected in the NBM. These effects were not observed following treatment with higher doses of estradiol. Nor were they maintained following repeated administration of estradiol for longer periods of time. In contrast, repeated administration of estradiol for 2 or 4 weeks resulted in significant decreases in the number of p75NGFR-IR cells detected in the MS, with the greatest effects observed following treatment with the higher doses of estradiol for longer periods of time. These findings demonstrate that (1) estrogen replacement produces regionally selective effects on basal forebrain cholinergic neurons which vary as a function of both the dose and duration of estrogen treatment, and (2) estrogen has both short-term and longer-term effects on basal forebrain cholinergic neurons, each of which may contribute to the effects of estrogen on learning and memory process and the development of age- and disease-related cognitive decline.

Maximum phonation time for children with normal voices.

Maximum phonation time (MPT) data were collected for 286 male and female children between the ages 3-6 and 17-11. Subjects sustained phonation of the vowel/a/for 14 consecutive trials. The influence of sex, age, and multiple trials on MPT was studied. The group mean MPT for the male subjects was significantly longer than for the female subjects. Generally, phonation time increased with age for both sexes. A definite monotonic increase in length of sustained phonation was not apparent across all age levels. Optimum MPT performance can be enhanced by using repeated trials, and by providing visual feedback and encouragement regarding depth of inhalation, verbal instructions and encouragement regarding increased phonation time, and visual feedback regarding length of sustained phonation prior to and during each trial. The large intra- and intersubject variability in MPT performance reported in this study prevents valid individual-group mean MPT comparisons. A more discriminatory clinical interpretation of MPT is necessary.

Analysis of Factor Variance: Two Cases

The analysis of factor variance is a multivariate approach particularly applicable in those instances when the number of variables is large, when the reliabilities of some measures are questionable, when no reasonable a priori combinations of measures exist, and when a search for structure among the measures is a partial objective of the study. The methods of analysis of factor variance, however, allow for a number of important options. Two of these options or cases were investigated in this study. The first required that the “matrix to be factored” be centered around the grand means for the total data while the second required that the “matrix to be factored” be centered around individual group means. The results showed that the choice of method is crucial to the interpretation of results.