Cotton liners to mediate glove comfort for greenhouse applicators

Greenhouse applicators' acceptance of cotton knit gloves worn as liners under nitrile chemical-resistant gloves (CRG) for pesticide application was investigated through a wear study in Iowa and New York. Comfort was assessed by questionnaires and interviews with 10 applicators. Contamination levels of four pesticides on CRG and liners at thumb, forefinger, palm, and cuff locations were determined by chemical analysis using high-performance liquid chromatography or gas chromatography. Applicators reported feeling more comfortable with cotton liners under their CRG than without and that cotton liners were easy to manage. Contamination was significantly greater on nitrile CRG than on cotton liners underneath, but a few liner specimens had measurable contamination. No significant contamination differences were found between right- and left-hand gloves. Contamination varied significantly by hand location, with cuffs least, and by pesticide, with chlorpyrifos most. These results support the Environmental Protection Agency's recommendation that liners should be disposable, but further work on liners and their laundering feasibility seems indicated.

Neurodevelopmental outcome in ECMO vs near-miss ECMO patients at 5 years of age

The objective of this study was to compare the outcome of children at 5 years of age who were treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and those who were critically ill but did not meet ECMO criteria, identified as near-miss ECMO. In one of the longest studies of its kind, we compared the neurodevelopmental outcome of 76 5-year-old ECMO-treated children with 20 5-year-old near-miss ECMO patients with similar primary diagnoses. The two groups were compared for demographic data, level of ventilatory support, and degree of hyperventilation. The comprehensive assessment protocol included an assessment of intelligence (IQ), attainment of preacademic and early academic skills, and parents' report of adaptive behavior. Both groups had similar demographic data and primary diagnosis. The near-miss ECMO patients required increased ventilatory support but not significantly more than the ECMO patients. The cognitive outcome was similar in both groups with mean estimated Full-Scale IQ in the normal range for near-miss and ECMO groups (89 and 97, respectively). Rates of severe mental handicap (FSIQ < 70) (near-miss = 11%, ECMO = 12%) and risk for school failure (near-miss = 38%, ECMO = 37%) were also similar. More parents of near-miss ECMO patients reported immature adaptive skills than did parents of ECMO patients, although the numbers were small in each group. Rates of parent-reported child behavior problems were similar in both groups. ECMO and near-miss ECMO patients have similar cognitive and adaptive outcomes at 5 years of age. A significant number in each group are at risk of school failure and should be closely followed up.

Xotch, the Xenopus homolog of Drosophila notch

During the development of a vertebrate embryo, cell fate is determined by inductive signals passing between neighboring tissues. Such determinative interactions have been difficult to characterize fully without knowledge of the molecular mechanisms involved. Mutations of Drosophila and the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans have been isolated that define a family of related gene products involved in similar types of cellular inductions. One of these genes, the Notch gene from Drosophila, is involved with cell fate choices in the neurogenic region of the blastoderm, in the developing nervous system, and in the eye-antennal imaginal disc. Complementary DNA clones were isolated from Xenopus embryos with Notch DNA in order to investigate whether cell-cell interactions in vertebrate embryos also depend on Notch-like molecules. This approach identified a Xenopus molecule, Xotch, which is remarkably similar to Drosophila Notch in both structure and developmental expression.

Dietary fat saturation and hepatic acylcoenzyme A:cholesterol acyltransferase activity. Effect of n-3 polyunsaturated and long-chain saturated fat

The acylcoenzyme A:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT) activity in liver microsomes from rats fed a diet containing 14% menhaden oil (Mp) for 11 days was 117% higher than that in microsomes from rats fed a corresponding diet containing 14% cocoa butter (Ms). There were no differences in the cholesterol and phospholipid contents of Mp and Ms or in the activities of palmitoyl coenzyme A hydrolase and NADPH cytochrome c reductase. NADPH-dependent lipid peroxidation was higher in Mp, whereas glucose 6-phosphatase activity was higher in Ms. These findings indicate that the ACAT response to differences in dietary fat saturation is not due to a nonspecific effect of these diets on microsomal enzymes. When 1% cholesterol was added to the diets, the cholesterol content and ACAT activity of both microsomal preparations increased, but the ACAT activity of Mp remained 60% higher than that of Ms. Addition of cholesterol by incubation of the microsomes with liposomes also increased ACAT activity. At corresponding cholesterol contents, however, the ACAT activity of Mp remained 50% to 70% above that of Ms. There was no difference in the plasma cholesterol concentration in the two groups of rats, indicating that the ACAT effect probably is not due to a difference in the amount of circulating cholesterol available to the liver. Mp contained 40% more polyunsaturated fatty acids and five times more n-3 polyunsaturates than Ms. These findings suggest that the increase in ACAT activity in Mp is due, at least in part, to the difference in the fatty acid composition of the microsomes.