The Modern Slavery Core Outcome Set: A Survivor-Driven Consensus on Priority Outcomes for Recovery, Wellbeing, and Reintegration

There is no consensus on the outcomes needed for the recovery and reintegration of survivors of modern slavery and human trafficking. We developed the Modern Slavery Core Outcome Set (MSCOS) to address this gap. We conducted three English-language reviews on the intervention outcomes sought or experienced by adult survivors: a qualitative systematic review (4 databases, 18 eligible papers, thematic analysis), a rapid review of quantitative intervention studies (four databases, eight eligible papers, content analysis) and a gray literature review (2 databases, 21 websites, a call for evidence, 13 eligible papers, content analysis). We further extracted outcomes from 36 pre-existing interview transcripts with survivors, and seven interviews with survivors from underrepresented groups. We narrowed down outcomes via a consensus process involving: a three-stage E-Delphi survey (191 respondents); and a final consensus workshop (46 participants). We generated 398 outcomes from our 3 reviews, and 843 outcomes from interviews. By removing conceptual and literal duplicates, we reduced this to a longlist of 72 outcomes spanning 10 different domains. The E-Delphi produced a 14-outcome shortlist for the consensus workshop, where 7 final outcomes were chosen. Final outcomes were: "long-term consistent support," "secure and suitable housing," "safety from any trafficker or other abuser," "access to medical treatment," "finding purpose in life and self-actualisation," "access to education," and "compassionate, trauma-informed services." The MSCOS provides outcomes that are accepted by a wide range of stakeholders and that should be measured in intervention evaluation.

The unequal impact of Covid-19 on the lives and rights of the children of modern slavery survivors, children in exploitation and children at risk of entering exploitation

This article discusses the unequal impact of Covid-19 on the lives of the children of survivors of modern slavery, child victims of exploitation and children at risk of exploitation in the UK. It draws on research that has analysed the risks and impacts of Covid-19 on victims and survivors of modern slavery. It explores how pandemic responses may have hindered these children's rights to education, food, safety, development and participation and representation in legal processes. It suggests that the pandemic should be used as an impetus to address inequalities that existed pre-Covid-19 and those that have been exacerbated by it.

GarNet++: Improving Fast and Accurate Static 3D Cloth Draping by Curvature Loss

In this paper, we tackle the problem of static 3D cloth draping on virtual human bodies. We introduce a two-stream deep network model that produces a visually plausible draping of a template cloth on virtual 3D bodies by extracting features from both the body and garment shapes. Our network learns to mimic a physics-based simulation (PBS) method while requiring two orders of magnitude less computation time. To train the network, we introduce loss terms inspired by PBS to produce plausible results and make the model collision-aware. To increase the details of the draped garment, we introduce two loss functions that penalize the difference between the curvature of the predicted cloth and PBS. Particularly, we study the impact of mean curvature normal and a novel detail-preserving loss both qualitatively and quantitatively. Our new curvature loss computes the local covariance matrices of the 3D points, and compares the Rayleigh quotients of the prediction and PBS. This leads to more details while performing favorably or comparably against the loss that considers mean curvature normal vectors in the 3D triangulated meshes. We validate our framework on four garment types for various body shapes and poses. Finally, we achieve superior performance against a recently proposed data-driven method.

Quality of English inpatient mental health services for people with anxiety or depressive disorders: Findings and recommendations from the core audit of the National Clinical Audit of Anxiety and Depression

BACKGROUND

Clinical audit is a sustained cyclical quality improvement process seeking to improve patient care and outcomes by evaluating services against explicit standards and implementing necessary changes. National audits aim to improve population-level clinical care by identifying unwarranted variations and making recommendations for clinicians, managers and service commissioners. The National Clinical Audit of Anxiety and Depression aimed to improve clinical care for people admitted to English hospitals for treatment of anxiety and depression, to provide comparative data on quality of care, and to support local quality improvement initiatives by identifying and sharing examples of best practice.

PROCEDURES

Thirteen standards were developed based on NICE guidelines, literature review and feedback from a steering committee and reference group of service users and carers. All providers of NHS inpatient mental health services in England were asked to submit details of between 20 and 100 eligible service users/patients admitted between April 2017 and September 2018. To ascertain data reliability, participating services re-audited 5 sets of case-notes with a second auditor, and the coordinating team checked 10 randomly-selected sets of case-notes from 3 services, also selected at random. The reference group and steering committee identified key findings and developed a series of recommendations, which were discussed in regional quality improvement workshops and on-line webinars.

FINDINGS

Data from 3795 case notes were analysed. A sizeable proportion of records indicated that at least one important aspect of initial assessment was not documented. Many service users/patients who could have benefited from an intervention targeted at optimising physical health did not receive it. Only a minority (39%) were referred for psychological therapy. Use of outcome measures varied considerably but no single outcome measure was being used routinely. Most individuals had a care plan recorded in the notes, but a review date was documented in only two-thirds, and almost half of individuals had not received a copy.

CONCLUSIONS

There was considerable variation between English mental health services across many variables, and much scope for improvement. Clinicians should ensure that care plans are developed collaboratively with service users/patients and identified carers should be provided with information about support services. Health services should investigate the reasons for low referral rates for psychological therapies. Clinicians should ensure all service users have jointly developed crisis plans in place at discharge. Service managers should agree outcome measures to evaluate the treatment provided and clinicians should use these measures at initial assessment and review appointments. The implementation of such changes provides an opportunity for collaborative research into mental health service delivery and quality.

Mental health recovery for survivors of modern slavery: grounded theory study protocol

INTRODUCTION

Slavery and human trafficking are crimes involving the violation of human rights and refer to exploitative situations where an individual cannot refuse or leave due to threats, coercion or abuse of power. Activities involving slavery include forced labour exploitation, forced sexual exploitation, forced marriage and servitude. Epidemiological studies show high levels of mental health need and poor provision of appropriate support for survivors. What mental health recovery means to victims/survivors and how it could be promoted is under-researched.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

A grounded theory study based on individual interviews will be undertaken. Survivors across the UK will be identified and recruited from non-governmental organisations and via social media. As per grounded theory methodology, data collection and analysis will be undertaken concurrently and recruitment will continue until theoretical saturation is reached. It is anticipated that approximately 30 participants will be recruited. Interviews will be audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and uploaded to NVivo V.11. The constant comparative method will be used to analyse the data, in order to produce a theoretical framework for mental health recovery that is grounded in the experiences of survivors.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

Ethical approval has been obtained from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Ethics Committee at the University of Nottingham. The findings of the study will be disseminated to academic, professional and survivor-based audiences to inform future policy developments and the provision of mental health recovery support to this population.

Transplantation in zebrafish

Tissue or cell transplantation is an invaluable technique with a multitude of applications including studying the developmental potential of certain cell populations, dissecting cell-environment interactions, and identifying stem cells. One key technical requirement for performing transplantation assays is the capability of distinguishing the transplanted donor cells from the endogenous host cells and tracing the donor cells over time. The zebrafish has emerged as an excellent model organism for performing transplantation assays, thanks in part to the transparency of embryos and even adults when pigment mutants are employed. Using transgenic techniques and fast-evolving imaging technology, fluorescence-labeled donor cells can be readily identified and studied during development in vivo. In this chapter, we will discuss the rationale of different types of zebrafish transplantation in both embryos and adults and then focus on four detailed methods of transplantation: blastula/gastrula transplantation for mosaic analysis, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, chemical screening using a transplantation model, and tumor transplantation.

Perioperative myocardial infarction/injury after noncardiac surgery

Cardiovascular complications, particularly perioperative myocardial infarction/injury, seem to be major contributors to mortality after noncardiac surgery. With surgical procedures being very frequent (900 000/year in Switzerland), perioperative myocardial injury is common in everyday clinical practice. Over 80% of patients experiencing perioperative myocardial injury do not report symptoms. Therefore perioperative myocardial injury remains undiagnosed and untreated. Moreover, its silent presentation results in limited awareness among both clinicians and the public. Despite being largely asymptomatic, perioperative myocardial injury increases 30-day mortality nearly 10-fold. This review aims to increase the awareness of perioperative myocardial injury/infarction and give an overview of the emerging evidence, including pathophysiology, clinical presentation, prevention, and potential future treatments.

MRI texture analysis predicts p53 status in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Head and neck cancer is common, and understanding the prognosis is an important part of patient management. In addition to the Tumor, Node, Metastasis staging system, tumor biomarkers are becoming more useful in understanding prognosis and directing treatment. We assessed whether MR imaging texture analysis would correctly classify oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma according to p53 status.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A cohort of 16 patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma was prospectively evaluated by using standard clinical, histopathologic, and imaging techniques. Tumors were stained for p53 and scored by an anatomic pathologist. Regions of interest on MR imaging were selected by a neuroradiologist and then analyzed by using our 2D fast time-frequency transform tool. The quantified textures were assessed by using the subset-size forward-selection algorithm in the Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis. Features found to be significant were used to create a statistical model to predict p53 status. The model was tested by using a Bayesian network classifier with 10-fold stratified cross-validation.

RESULTS

Feature selection identified 7 significant texture variables that were used in a predictive model. The resulting model predicted p53 status with 81.3% accuracy (P < .05). Cross-validation showed a moderate level of agreement (κ = 0.625).

CONCLUSIONS

This study shows that MR imaging texture analysis correctly predicts p53 status in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma with ∼80% accuracy. As our knowledge of and dependence on tumor biomarkers expand, MR imaging texture analysis warrants further study in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma and other head and neck tumors.

A Nationally-Representative Epidemiological and Risk Factor Assessment of Child Mental Health in Vietnam

As part of the global mental health movement's focus on identifying and reducing international disparities, this study conducted the first nationally representative child mental health epidemiological survey in Vietnam. We assessed as risk/protective factors several family social structure characteristics (e.g., presence of grandparents, number of siblings in the home) of particular relevance to non-Western countries. Epidemiological data using the Child Behavior Checklist and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire were collected at 60 sites in 10 of Vietnam's 63 provinces selected to provide a nationally representative sample, which included 1,314 adult informants of children 6-16 years of age, and 591 children aged 12-16. Vietnamese children's mental health functioning was reported overall to be better by approximately a third standard deviation than the international average; this international difference was particularly large for externalizing (behavior) problems as compared to internalizing (emotional) problems, suggesting that a cultural problem suppression model may be operating in Vietnam. Significant variability in mental health problems was found across provinces, emphasizing the need for nationally representative samples when conducting child mental health epidemiological surveys. Contrary to many other studies, in Vietnam higher SES was found to be a risk factor for attention/hyperactivity problems.

Contribution of differentially expressed micro-RNA to functional differences in human blood monocyte subpopulations (P1194)

Human blood monocytes can be broadly divided into two subpopulations, CD14+CD16- (CD16-) and CD14+/loCD16+ (CD16+). Although numerous phenotypic and functional differences between the two subsets have already been described, much remains to be learned about the roles contributed by each subset during homeostasis or disease conditions. In this study, we characterize these two monocyte subsets using microRNAs (miRNAs) and messenger RNA (mRNA) array approach. We identified 66 miRNAs to be differentially expressed (DE) between CD16+ and CD16- monocytes. By integrating mRNA expression data with miRNA expression data via negative correlation, we were able to demonstrate that several of these DE miRNAs regulate mRNAs that play important roles in inflammatory response, cell death, cellular development, cellular movement and cell-to-cell signaling and interaction. We validated experimentally the association of miR-432 (expressed higher in CD16+ monocytes) with apoptosis and this might explain why CD16+ monocytes are more susceptible to spontaneous apoptosis seen in our previous study. The association of miR-19a with cell motility was also validated in our experiments and this might explain why CD16+ monocytes (with higher expression of miR-19a) move slower in comparison with CD16- monocytes. Together, our data showed that differentially expressed miRNA contribute to the functional differences in human blood monocyte subpopulations.

[Midshaft clavicle fractures--classification and therapy. Results of a survey at German trauma departments]

INTRODUCTION

The therapy of the midshaft clavicle fracture, in particular dislocated midshaft fractures, remains controversial. Therefore the objective of this study was to obtain data about the current treatment for midshaft clavicle fractures.

METHODS

In a countrywide anonymous survey 240 German orthopaedic trauma departments were asked about their diagnostic and therapeutic procedures for midshaft clavicle fractures. A total of 142 questionnaires (59%) were returned and evaluated.

RESULTS

More than 80% of the hospitals dispense with a standardised fracture classification for midshaft fractures. Simple fractures are generally conservatively treated, in the majority using a figure-of-eight bandage (88%). On average 26% of all clavicle fractures are operatively stabilized, independent of whether the treatment was performed at a trauma centre or any other hospital (p=0.45). Indications for operative treatment of midshaft fractures include severe additional injuries in the shoulder region (81-95%), young and active adults (52-64%) and dislocated midshaft fractures (56-75%). All departments use plate fixation for midshaft fractures; in particular the reconstruction plate (56%) is most frequently applied. Alternatively, if the fracture pattern is considered suitable for intramedullary fixation, this procedure is performed by 43% of the clinics, although this operative technique is used significantly more often in trauma centres (55%) than in other hospitals (31%) (p=0.01).

CONCLUSION

This survey demonstrates a high rate (26%) of German trauma hospitals operating clavicular midshaft fractures. This result is consistent with recently published studies showing better results for operative treatment of dislocated midshaft clavicular fractures compared to conservative therapy.

Significant improvement of quality for long oligonucleotides by using controlled pore glass with large pores

A key factor influencing the quality of long oligonucleotides is the choice of controlled pore glass (CPG) which is used as a solid support during oligonucleotide synthesis. We studied the influence of CPG pore size on the quality of 75-mer oligonucleotides. Using electrophoresis and HPLC, we demonstrated failure modes that can occur at certain oligo lengths with 1000A pore size, and compared yield and purity of 75-mer oligos using 1000A and larger pore size CPG. We showed that oligonucleotides with much better quality are obtained using CPG with pore sizes of 1400A and larger. We also identified the key characteristics for CPG selection that lead to the best CPG performance.

Apoptosis in normal and neoplastic mammary gland development

Apoptosis plays important roles in mammary development from early embryonic formation of the mammary gland to the regression that follows cessation of cycling. The most dramatic occurrence of apoptosis is found during mammary involution. Most of the secretory epithelium in the lactating breast undergoes apoptosis as the mammary gland regresses and is reorganized for another cycle of lactation. We used the morphology, biochemical changes, and gene expression detected in apoptotic mammary epithelium during involution as a model for studying cell death during other stages of mammary development and for approaching the failure of apoptosis found in mammary hyperplasia. Morphological studies and gene expression have suggested that apoptosis during involution is comprised of two phases: an early limited apoptosis in response to hormone ablation and later protease promoted widespread apoptosis in response to altered cell-matrix interactions and loss of anchorage. We examined protein expression during involution for changes associated with loss of hormone stimulation and altered cell-matrix interactions. One of the proteins whose expression is able to inhibit apoptosis, and is altered during mammary epithelial cell was the serine-threonine protein kinase, Akt 1. Akt 1 activation is common to hormone, growth factor, and anchorage-mediated survival of epithelial cells. We found regulated expression of activated Akt 1 in the mammary gland during involution. Akt 1 activation peaked in pregnancy and lactation, and decreased significantly during apoptosis in mammary involution. Mechanisms of Akt 1 action include modulation of the ratio bcl-2 family members implicated in control of apoptosis. Bcl-2 family proteins were also expressed in pattern consistent with Akt 1 regulation. These observations led us to examine expression of activated Akt 1 and bcl-2 family proteins in premalignant hyperplasias. Akt 1 activation was increased; expression of anti-apoptotic proteins bcl-2 and bcl-x was strongly increased while pro-apoptotic bax was greatly diminished in three different lines of transplantable premalignant mammary hyperplasia. This data suggest that activation of Akt 1 by hormone- or anchorage-mediated pathways regulates survival of mammary epithelium and can contribute to initiation of neoplasia. These data suggest that perturbation of normal cell turnover can contribute to initiation of neoplasia.

Modified Burow's wedge flap for upper lateral lip defects

BACKGROUND

There are fundamental concepts we use in managing surgical defects. Whether planning a primary closure or a local flap, we frequently modify the basic design to maximize aesthetic outcomes, taking into consideration a number of factors including the location of the defect and tissue availability.

OBJECTIVE

We describe a modified Burow's wedge flap for upper lateral lip defects.

METHOD

Report of an illustrated case.

RESULT

A patient with an upper lip defect was successfully reconstructed using the modified Burow's wedge flap, where the Burrow's wedge is placed on the mucocutaneous lip.

CONCLUSION

Certain modifications of commonly used reconstructive techniques can be utilized in specific situations to enhance cosmesis. For the Burow's wedge flap, the dermatologic surgeon has several options in placing the Burow's triangle. This is an example of how alternatives in a closure can be used depending on the laxity of the skin and the size of the defect. Advantages and disadvantages of this alternative placement of the Burow's triangle are discussed.

Stellate purse-string closure

BACKGROUND

There are fundamental concepts we use in managing surgical defects. Whether planning a primary closure or a local flap, we frequently modify the basic design to maximize aesthetic outcomes, taking into consideration a number of factors including the location of the defect and tissue availability.

OBJECTIVE

We describe the stellate modified purse-string closure, a novel flap modification.

METHOD

Report of an illustrated case.

RESULT

A patient with vertex scalp defect was reconstructed using the stellate purse-string flap.

CONCLUSION

Certain modifications of commonly used reconstructive techniques can be utilized in specific situations to enhance cosmesis. Advantages of this modification are discussed.

Rapid and efficient retrovirus-mediated gene transfer into B cell lines

Murine B cell lines such as WEHI-231, BAL17 and M12.4.1 are frequently used as model systems to study signal transduction, cell cycle regulation, and apoptosis. Dissection of these processes often involves expressing exogenous genes in these cells. Electroporation is an inefficient method to express genes in B cell lines and requires several weeks to isolate and analyze clones, followed by an additional one to two weeks to grow sufficient cells for biochemical experiments (e.g. immunoprecipitations). In this report, we describe an optimized procedure for retroviral-mediated gene transfer into murine B cell lines that allows one to obtain a pure population of cells expressing an exogenous gene within 4 days. Two days post-infection, between 10% (BAL17 and M12.4.1 cells) and 70% (WEHI-231 cells) of the cells express the exogenous gene. Culturing the cells for an additional 48 hours with puromycin kills all the non-infected cells and yields a pure population of cells that express the exogenous gene. Sufficient cells for biochemical experiments can be obtained by expanding the cell culture for an additional 5 to 7 days. This rapid and efficient retroviral-mediated gene transfer procedure can greatly expedite the study of signal transduction and other processes in B cells.

Absence of amusia and preserved naming of musical instruments in an aphasic composer

M.M., a right-handed, 74 year old professional musician and composer, presented with a progressive aphasia with a severe anomia. His musical competence was apparently totally preserved, and he continued his activity as a composer. There was a striking discrepancy between his impaired naming of nonmusical stimuli and his normal naming of musical instruments' sounds. We suggest that the preservation of skills in the musical domain results from an expanded cortical representation of this function in the left hemisphere, secondary to his lifelong formal training, and to the high level of his professional competence. As for his preserved naming of musical instruments, we argue that the early age-of-acquisition and higher than "normal" frequency/familiarity for names of musical instruments facilitate the access to their lexical representation and/or their retrieval within the lexicon.

Comparison between enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and cytotoxic cross-match procedures for detecting IgG anti-donor antibodies

BACKGROUND

Disadvantages inherent to complement-dependent cytotoxicity cross-match (CDC XM) methods are the requirements for complement and viable target cells, detection of antibodies (Abs) against non-HLA antigens, and subjective scoring. Cross-Stat (SangStat Medical Corp., Menlo Park, CA), a recently developed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay XM procedure for the detection of IgG anti-donor HLA Abs, is theoretically devoid of these flaws.

METHODS

We compared results of Cross-Stat and our standard anti-human globulin (AHG)-enhanced CDC XM procedure on 524 sera from 230 transplant candidates, which were evaluated against 51 cadaveric donors.

RESULTS

There was a significant correlation between AHG-CDC IgG XM and Cross-Stat results (P<0.001). For false negative sera, repeat AHG-CDC IgG XMs were still positive after platelet absorption, indicating that the Abs present were either non-HLA Abs or anti-HLA class II. Flow cytometry testing of false positive sera usually (42/62) substantiated Cross-Stat results, indicating that the discrepancy with AHG-CDC IgG XM is caused by greater sensitivity of Cross-Stat. Relative to the AHG-CDC XM, the sensitivity of Cross-Stat was 100%, the specificity was 93%, the positive predictive value was 73%, and the negative predictive value was 100%. A technical shortcoming of the Cross-Stat assay is that the frequency of indeterminate samples in the assays was 15%. Among 49 Cross-Stat negative vs. 13 Cross-Stat positive primary cadaveric renal allograft recipients (all AHG-CDC IgG-XM negative), there was no statistical difference in overall graft survival.

CONCLUSION

Given the important theoretical advantages of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay-based XM methods over the CDC XM, however, further testing of the clinical relevance of the Cross-Stat is warranted.

Novel compound heterozygous mutations in the plectin gene in epidermolysis bullosa with muscular dystrophy and the use of protein truncation test for detection of premature termination codon mutations

Absence of plectin, a large cytoskeleton-associated protein expressed in the skin and muscle, has been shown to underlie epidermolysis bullosa with muscular dystrophy (EB-MD), an autosomal recessive disorder (OMIM No. 226670). In the present study, we report the case of a patient who presented with neonatal blistering and late-onset muscular dystrophy with nail and tooth abnormalities, as well as severe mucocutaneous involvement including laryngeal webs and urethral strictures, features not previously reported in this syndrome. Mutation detection, based on the use of heteroduplex analysis, revealed that the proband was a compound heterozygote for two plectin mutations, 4416delC/4359ins13, both resulting in premature termination codons in the plectin rod domain. Because these mutations, and the majority of those previously reported, reside within exon 32 of the plectin gene (PLEC1), we applied the protein truncation test (PTT) to screen for mutations in the two large 3' exons (nos. 32 and 33) of PLEC1, which together comprise approximately 75% of the coding region of the gene. PTT readily detected truncated polypeptides in the proband profiled in this study, as well as in a patient in whom we have previously identified premature termination codon mutations in exon 32. Thus, PTT provides a rapid and reliable strategy to identify premature termination codon mutations from genomic DNA within PLEC1.

Methotrexate therapy of psoriasis: differential sensitivity of proliferating lymphoid and epithelial cells to the cytotoxic and growth-inhibitory effects of methotrexate

Although methotrexate (MTX) is one of the most clinically effective therapies employed to treat psoriasis, the mechanism by which low-dose MTX acts to modulate the hyperplasia of psoriasis, leading to the restoration of clinically normal skin, is only partially understood. MTX has been considered a cytotoxic agent that mediates its effect primarily on proliferating or cycling epidermal cells. Recently, proliferating lymphoid cells have been identified in psoriatic lesions, raising the possibility that proliferating lymphoid cells could be another target cell that is killed by MTX. In this study, we examined the growth-inhibitory and cytotoxic effects of MTX on proliferating lymphoid cells [THP-1 (macrophage), and MOLT-4 (T cell)], epithelial cells (HeLa, and HaCat), and normal human keratinocytes (NHK) in vitro. The proliferating cells were exposed to MTX for 24 h, and placed in fresh media to mimic the transient MTX blood levels that result from once-weekly therapy. THP-1 and MOLT-4 were found to be 10-100 times more sensitive to the cytotoxic effects of MTX than were HeLa and HaCat, and more than 1000 times more sensitive than primary human keratinocytes. At MTX concentrations that would be expected to occur in vivo during once-weekly therapy, a large percentage (> 95%) of proliferating lymphoid targets would be killed, and only a small percentage (< 10%) of proliferating epidermal cells would be affected. This in vitro data suggests that in psoriasis proliferating lymphoid cells are more likely than epithelial cells to be a major cellular target of MTX in vivo.

Ultraviolet transmittance of contact lenses

Chronic and acute exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation has been shown to have deleterious effects on all layers of the human eye. As a consequence, appropriate protective measures have been advocated with respect to exposure to this form of radiation. Among suggested actions are spending less time in the sun and wearing protective visual aids such as those containing UV-absorbing materials when exposed to sunlight. To investigate the protective ability of currently available contact lens materials we measured the transmittance characteristics of 11 different types of soft and rigid contact lenses in the UV and visible range from 280 to 500 nm with a Zeiss model DM4 Dual Beam Spectrophotometer. Our findings indicate that lenses not treated with UV absorbers transmitted most of the UV radiation. Lenses containing UV absorbers provided excellent UV protection and transmitted significantly less UV radiation than the untreated lenses (Student's t-test with Bonferoni's correction, N = 10, p < 0.001). Based on our findings, we recommend that contact lenses with UV absorbers be considered as a viable option for providing UV protection, especially for aphakic patients, patients taking photosensitizing pharmaceutical agents, and those patients who spend a great deal of time outdoors.

Determination of mouse liver 5-methyltetrahydrofolate concentration and polyglutamate forms

The concentration and polyglutamate status of 5-methyltetrahydrofolate in mouse liver tissue extracts has been determined by enzymatic conversion to methylenetetrahydrofolate and subsequent entrapment of this cofactor form into a ternary complex with Lactobacillus casei thymidylate synthase and tritiated 5-fluorodeoxyuridylate. 5-Methyltetrahydrofolate was oxidized to methylenetetrahydrofolate using the reverse reaction of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase with menadione as the ultimate electron acceptor. Reference 5-methyltetrahydrofolate could be quantitatively recovered from tissue extracts by this method. The polyglutamate status of enzymatically converted and complexed tissue 5-methyltetrahydrofolate was determined electrophoretically. Unlabeled 5-fluorodeoxyuridylate was used to remove endogenous methylenetetrahydrofolate prior to enzymatic oxidation of 5-methyltetrahydrofolate and subsequent electrophoretic analysis. In this manner, the 5-methyltetrahydrofolate polyglutamate pool alone could be labeled and visualized. There were no observable differences in the polyglutamate distribution of endogenous methylenetetrahydrofolate versus 5-methyltetrahydrofolate polyglutamates in extracts of normal mouse liver tissue.