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The objective of this study was to evaluate a clinic-centered oral cancer screening initiative in one of the poorest communities in Canada, assessing the need for screening and the acceptance of screening and identifying hindrances to both screening and follow-up. The study group included 204 people in the Vancouver Downtown Eastside (DTES). This was shown to be a high-risk community based on risk factors, lack of access to care, and the high frequency of oral mucosal anomalies. Acceptance of screening was high (98%); however, acceptance of biopsy for abnormal findings and follow-up was low. Among the 12 patients with clinical leukoplakia who were biopsied, 10 showed cancer or precancer. In summary, these data show a need for screening in this population and an ability to recruit patients to screening. They support a future expansion of this initiative to create a more comprehensive strategy for outreach to this underserved community that extends to screening, diagnostic work-up, and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thermosetting polyimide, PMR-15, is the leading contender for use in polymer matrix composites intended for high temperature applications. Although the properties of PMR-15 are generally good, its widespread use in aircraft and aeroengines has been hampered by a number of drawbacks. Among these are microcracking due to thermal cycling, irreproducibility of processing and the toxicity of the methylene diamine comonomer. The aim of the work reported here was to develop a PMR-type polyimide with properties equivalent to conventional PMR-15 but with none of the drawbacks. A key target of the work was to reduce the hazards associated with the use of methylene dianiline (MDA). Consequently, much of the work involved screening formulations in which MDA was replaced by a diamine of reduced toxicity. One formulation, coded B1, has been identified of which initial results look extremely promising. This formulation uses a partially fluorinated, four-ring diamine of low toxicity. This material was synthesized in-house and subsequently scaled-up in a semi-commercial process. Prepreg was manufactured on commercial equipment. Cure cycles were developed using mechanical spectrometry (RDS). Laminates were made by autoclave molding, and mechanical properties before and after high temperature ageing were determined. Preliminary results show that the B1 formulation compares favorably with conventional PMR-15. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An abstract of the article "The fibrin-derived gamma377-395 peptide inhibits microglia activation and reverses relapsing paralysis in central nervous system autoimmune disease," by R. A. Adams, J. Bauer, S. Sikorski, M. J. Flick, H. Lassmann, J. L. Degen and K. Akassoglou is presented.

Technology-dependent (TD) children require complex care and are dependent on medical technology. Approximately 75% of families, in the United States, who are caring for a TD child, also care for a well child. Well siblings are likely to be affected by the experience of living with a TD sibling as the process of family normalization is described as a family affair. The experiences of well siblings are not well described. The purpose of this qualitative analysis was to describe the experiences of well siblings who are living in a family with a TD child. Mothers were interviewed about the experiences of their well children and were digitally audio recorded. The interviews were transcribed, and content analysis was conducted. Content analysis from the interviews revealed the major themes of well sibling adjustment within the family unit, upside (altruistic, prosocial behaviors) and downside (negative internal and external processing behaviors). These results can be applied to advance the delivery of family nursing care offered to these families.

The symbiosis between corals and dinoflagellates promotes the rapid growth of corals in shallow tropical oceans, and the high overall productivity of coral reefs. The aim of this study was to quantify and understand variation in carbon acquisition and allocation among coral species. We measured multiple physiological traits (including symbiont density, calcification, photosynthesis and tissue composition) for the same coral fragments to facilitate direct comparisons between species (Stylophora pistillata, Pocillopora damicornis, Galaxea fascicularis, Turbinaria reniformis and Acropora sp.). Tissue protein content was highly sensitive to the availability of particulate food, increasing in fed colonies of all species. Despite among-species variation in physiology, and consistent effects of feeding on some traits, overall energy allocation to tissue compared with skeleton growth did not depend on food availability. Extrapolating from our results, estimated whole-assemblage carbon uptake varied >20-fold across different coral assemblages, but this variation was largely driven by differences in the tissue surface area of different colony morphologies, rather than by differences in surface-area-specific physiological rates. Our results caution against drawing conclusions about reef productivity based solely on physiological rates measured per unit tissue surface area. Understanding the causes and consequences of among-species variation in physiological energetics provides insight into the mechanisms that underlie the fluxes of organic matter within reefs, and between reefs and the open ocean., (© 2015. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.)

This study analyzes the major phenolic constituents of pomegranate fruit juice and pericarp feedstock, and dry extracts thereof, using high-performance liquid chromatography. Pomegranate pericarp was extracted with water (WE) and alcohol (AE) as solvents, and liquid extracts were subsequently freeze-dried. The results indicate that ellagitannins punicalagin A and punicalagin B are the major constituents in the primary pomegranate feedstock and in both types of extracts. Ellagic acid, a common botanical constituent that is currently used to standardize pomegranate extracts, as well as ellagitannin punicalin, were found to be only minor constituents. Total punicalagins (the sum of punicalagins A+B and punicalin) and ellagic acid content in the pomegranate fruit pericarp feedstock WE were 7,6+/-0,3% and 0,2+/-0,1% by dry weight, respectively, and in the AE feedstock 7,0+/-0,2 and 0,4+/-0,1%, respectively. Total phenolic content (the sum of punicalagins and ellagic acid) in the pomegranate WE and AE were 45,8+/-1,2% and 42,3+/-1,1%, respectively. The concentrations of ellagic acid in the pomegranate WE and AE were 0,8+/-0,2% and 3,9+/-0,2%, respectively. Total phenolics in fresh single-strength pomegranate whole fruit juice contained 2,216+/-70 mg/L (95% punicalagins), whereas commercial pomegranate juice that was purchased from local stores was 317+/-13 mg/L (70% punicalagins). Our results strongly suggest that the commercially produced pomegranate extracts should be standardized to the content of total punicalagins as well as ellagic acid. The current standard uses only ellagic acid, which is unreliable, potentially misleading and vulnerable to commercial adulteration.

Parameters affecting the hepatobiliary clearance of Tc-99m N(2,6-dimethylphenyl carbamoylmethyl) iminodiacetic acid (Tc-HIDA) were evaluated in dogs. Competitive clearance studies, were performed with Tc-HIDA after infusion to plasma saturation levels of an anion, sodium sulfobromophthalein (BSP), and a cation, oxyphenonium. The results demonstrated that Tc-HIDA is transported through hepatocytes by a carrier-mediated organic-anion pathway. The data are consistent with an alteration of the elimination kinetics of Tc-HIDA induced by elevations in the serum bilirubin level, and it is predicted that serum bilirubin at some increased concentration will dominate the distribution and elimination kinetics of Tc-HIDA independently of hepatobiliary status. A quantitative description of liver function in terms of regional distribution and elimination rate constants will require either a pharmacokinetic model that expressly includes the effects of bilirubin, the development of new anionic hepatobiliary agents capable of displacing endogenous bilirubin from transport binding sites, or the development of new hepatobiliary agents that use a different clearance mechanism from that used by bilirubin.

An easily formulated, stable kit preparation of technetium-99m HIDA, suitable for use in humans, was developed and tested in mice and dogs. The tracer was cleared rapidly from the blood and excreted predominantly by the liver in both species. In dogs, the hepatobiliary clearance of Tc-99m HIDA was significantly greater than that of C-14 HIDA and Sn-113 HIDA. The LD50 for HIDA in mice, 168 mg/kg, exceeded the average human dose by a factor of 1000 on a per-weight basis. Blood clearance curves for Tc-99m HIDA in 12 normal subjects were biexponential with half-times of 4.6 +/- 1.0 min and 31.5 +/- 7.0 min, and cumulative 90-min urine samples contained 14.2 +/- 1.8% of the injected dose. Images in normal subjects and nonjaundiced patients showed rapid concentration of tracer by the liver and activity was present within the biliary system in 10-20 min. In jaundiced patients, the tracer blood clearance was delayed and urinary excretion increased, but intestinal activity, indicating biliary patency, was imaged in those patients without complete focal obstruction of the common duct. Technetium-99m HIDA is a nontoxic radiopharmaceutical useful for clinical evaluation of hepatobiliary disorders in humans.

The inhalation of furfural, 20 mg/m3 by adult rats during 3 months for 5 h daily, 6 times a week, did not change the calcium and phosphorus level in blood serum and in bones, but depressed the activity of alkaline phosphatase in blood serum. The exposure to furfural of immature rats (6-7 weeks old) during 4 weeks caused a depression of blood serum and intestine mucosa alkaline phosphatase activity, elevation of calcium and phosphorus levels in blood serum with concomitant fall in bones, and a decrease in calcium excretion with urine.