The addition of metronomic chemotherapy does not improve outcome for canine splenic haemangiosarcoma.

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether the addition of metronomic chemotherapy improved outcome for dogs with splenic haemangiosarcoma treated with splenectomy and adjuvant maximum tolerated dose chemotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Medical records were examined retrospectively for dogs with splenic haemangiosarcoma that had undergone splenectomy followed by anthracycline-based chemotherapy. Thirty-nine dogs underwent splenectomy followed by maximum tolerated dose chemotherapy with an anthracycline, cyclophosphamide, or both (Group 1). Twenty-two dogs underwent splenectomy followed by adjuvant maximum tolerated dose chemotherapy with an anthracycline, cyclophosphamide, or both, plus metronomic chemotherapy (Group 2). Dogs in both groups were further separated into those treated with either maximum tolerated dose anthracycline or maximum tolerated dose anthracycline and cyclophosphamide. RESULTS: Median progression-free survival was 165 days and median overall survival time was 180 days in Group 1. Median progression-free survival was 185 days and median overall survival time was 212 days in Group 2. In both groups, the overall survival was shorter in dogs that had received maximum tolerated dose cyclophosphamide. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The addition of metronomic to maximum tolerated dose chemotherapy protocols does not appear to improve outcome in dogs with splenic haemangiosarcoma treated with splenectomy and maximum tolerated dose chemotherapy.

Gardnerella vaginalis vaginitis. The current opinion.

Gardnerella vaginalis, a gram-negative bacillus, was first described in 1954. The associated clinical entity, vaginitis, first described in 1955, is controversial. The disease has specific symptoms, signs and diagnostic criteria. It has a symbiotic relationship with anaerobic bacteria. Whether G. vaginalis is a pathogen or normal inhabitant of the vagina is a subject of debate. The term nonspecific vaginitis should not be used for G. vaginalis vaginitis. G. vaginalis is sexually transmitted.

Pathogenicity of Gardnerella vaginalis (Haemophilus vaginalis).

The controversy over the pathogenicity of Gardnerella vaginalis has a variety of explanations, including difficulty in isolating the organism on cultures, failure to employ established criteria for recognizing the clinical entity, and failure of some to employ orthodox investigate protocols. Briefly reviewed is the evidence that the bacterium is the index organism of a precisely defined specific vaginal infection. Any thesis that anaerobic bacteria are co-pathogens and essential for establishment of the classic clinical entity G. vaginalis vaginitis is challenged. That anaerobic bacteria can live in symbiosis with G. vaginalis and that they may account for some variations in clinical features of the disease are consistent with the fact that various indigenous bacteria often modify the clinical characteristics of most specific infections of open body cavities. The author believes that G. vaginalis is never indigenous, that it is never commensal, and that it consistently induces a recognizable vaginal disease.

"Non-specific" vaginitis: a non-entity.

The author alleges that any knowledgeable physician owning a vaginal speculum and a microscope should rarely find the need for using the diagnosis, "non-specific" vaginitis, and that its too frequent use might well imply carelessness, indifference or a failure to employ available diagnostic methods. The suggestion is made that if the term "non-specific" vaginitis is to be retained in gynecologic nomenclature it should be assigned its rightful position and should include only those conditions without assignable etiology. The evidence shows that Gardnerella vaginalis (Haemophilus vaginalis, Corynebacterium vaginale) vaginitis is a precisely defined, specific vaginal infection, that the disease is sexually transmitted and that it accounts for most vaginitides previously classified as "nonspecific".

Comparison of econazole and clotrimazole in the treatment of vulvovaginal candidiasis.

The therapeutic effectiveness of econazole and clotrimazole was evaluated in 178 women with clinical symptoms of vulvovaginal candidiasis and positive laboratory findings for Candida. The patients were randomly assigned to treatment with either 1% econazole vaginal cream or 100-mg clotrimazole vaginal tablets, each used once daily at bedtime for 7 days. The mycologic cure rates were comparable in the 2 treatment groups. There was a low incidence of local adverse reactions with both drugs.

Haemophilus vaginalis vaginitis after twenty-five years.

This paper provides an abbreviated review of developments related to Haemophilus vaginalis vaginitis since its original description a quarter of a century ago. My intervening years of interest and research in the field of vulvovaginal infections have served to further confirm the originally published concepts regarding this highly prevalent, precisely defined, readily recognizable, and aesthetically objectionable vaginal disease. An occasional investigator still questions the pathogenicity of the causative short gram-negative bacillus. The only remaining major controversy, however, concerns the taxonomic position of the organism. The evidence is that it belongs neither to the genus Haemophilus nor to the genus Corynebacterium.

Time-out with children. Effects of an explanation and brief parent training on child and parent behaviors.

The purpose of the present study was twofold: (a) to determine the effect of an explanation prior to or after time-out on child compliance and on child disruptive behavior during time-out and (b) to determine the effect of brief parent training in time-out on child and parent behaviors. Thirty-two mother-child pairs served as subjects and were assigned to one of the following four groups: control, time-out only, explanation prior to time-out, or explanation following time-out. Each mother-child pair was observed for one session under pretraining, training, and posttraining conditions. The results indicated that time-out significantly increased compliance but the addition of an explanation did not further alter the effectiveness of time-out. Training in the use of time-out decreased the incidence of maternal interruptions but did affect maternal responses that were not trained. Finally, following brief time-out training for noncompliance, the mothers used the procedure only 50% of the time following noncompliance.

Reconstitution of cell wall synthesis in toluene- and LiCl-treated Bacillus megaterium cells by addition of a soluble protein extract.

Proteins required for the synthesis of peptidoglycan and incorporation of diaminopimelic acid into cell walls have been solubilized from Bacillus megaterium toluene-treated cells. Some of these proteins might have been removed from the cytoplasmic membrane through the cell wall by extraction with LiCl. The solubilized proteins have molecular weights in the range of 40,000 to 70,000 and can be added back to B. megaterium toluene-treated cells to reconstitute the synthetic reactions.