Symbiosis: effects of a mutualistic fungus upon the growth and reproduction of Xyleborus ferrugineus.

Xyleborus ferrugineus beetles developed from asymbiontic eggs through the adult stage on a sterilized meridic diet, but the resulting adults reproduced only when a mutualistic fungus was inoculated into the diet. Beetles with bacterial symbionts still required the fungus for reproduction on a second meridic diet.

Energy transduction: inhibition of cockroach feeding by naphthoquinone.

1,4-Naphthoquinones inhibit feeding of Periplaneta americana by complexing with sulfhydryl groups of receptor protein in sensory neurons, by oxidizing the sulfhydryl groups, and by being reduced.

Prospective study of toxigenic Clostridium difficile in children given amoxicillin/clavulanate for otitis media.

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate antibiotic-associated diarrhea and toxigenic Clostridium difficile in stool specimens obtained from children before and after 10 days of amoxicillin/clavulanate for otitis media. DESIGN: Children, 12 to 47 months of age, treated with amoxicillin/clavulanate for otitis media in an outpatient setting were enrolled. Stool specimens were obtained at enrollment, when diarrhea occurred and at the end of therapy. All stool specimens were tested for C. difficile toxins A and B by enzyme immunoassay. RESULTS: Seventy-six children who had stool specimens collected at enrollment and after therapy were included in the analysis. None had C. difficile toxin in stool specimens at enrollment. Six (27%) of 22 children with diarrhea, and 4 (7%) of 54 children without diarrhea had C. difficile toxin present at completion of therapy (P = 0.03). CONCLUSION: Toxigenic C. difficile was identified in 13% of children at the conclusion of amoxicillin/clavulanate therapy with a significantly higher frequency in children with diarrhea.

Variation on Water-Pik technique for treatment of steinstrasse after ESWL.

A new variation on the Water-Pik technique for treating steinstrasse after extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy is described. This technique is simple and effective and can be adapted for use in virtually any standard cystoscopy suite.

Use of stone brush for treatment of impacted stones in association with extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy.

A new device is described which enhances the treatment of impacted stones in association with the extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy. This technique may result in decreased number of shocks and increased efficiency, as well as, enhance outpatient treatment.

Embryogenesis of Xyleborus ferrugineus (Fabr.). (Coleoptera, Scolytidae) II. Developmental rates of male and female embryos.

The developmental rates of male and female embryos of Xyleborus ferrugineus were compared by charting for each sex the mean age for each of ten discrete morphological stages of embryogenesis from pole cell exclusion to eclosion male and female embryos developed synchronously from stage 1 (which begins with pole cell exclusion) through stage 4 (which ends with the completion of germ band extension and metamerization). After stage 4 and throughout the remainder of embryogenesis, the mean ages per morphological stage of male embryos were significantly greater than those for female embryos. The expected physiological consequences of a haploid genome in the male embryo as compared to a diploid condition in the female embryo are discussed as the possible basis for the persistent lag observed in male developmental rate after stage 4.

Embryogenesis of Xyleborus ferrugineus (Fabr.) (Coleoptera, Scolytidae). I. External morphogenesis of male and female embryos.

A description of the external morphogenesis of male and female embryos of X. ferrugineus, derived from in vivo observation, is presented here. The embryogenesis of this beetle is typical of the Coleoptera, and is also similar in most respects to the generalized insect plan. Observed unusual aspects of X. ferrugineus embryogenesis include the precocious formation of primordial g/rm cells and their temporary exclusion from somatic blastoderm; the precocious in situ delineation of gnathal metameres, the closing of the gastral groove beginning at both ends and proceeding towards its middle, the formation of several paired lateral amnio-serosal folds, the formation of cellular processes between the amnion and serosa, and the absorption of the thoracic limbs to produce an apodous larva. The embryonic developmental picture provided here, and the previously established means of rearing X. ferrugineus in controlled laboratory culture jointly provide a promising basis for the further use of this insect in developmental studies.

Changes in ovarian ultrastructure and ecdysteroid titer during the aging process of female Xyleborus ferrugineus (Coleoptera: Scolytidae).

Striking ultrastructural and hormonal parameters of premature menopause and aging are reported in female Xyleborus ferrugineus fed cholesterol, rather than 7-dehydrocholesterol, as a sole dietary sterol. The titer of free ecdysteroids in such 63-day-old females remained abnormally elevated through the period of the ovarian cycle. A similar plateauing of such elevated titer also occurred in 147-day-old, irregularly cycling females fed only cholesterol as the dietary sterol. These hormonal changes in menopausing X. ferrugineus females seem especially analogous to the maintenance of an elevated concentration of 17-beta-estradiol through the estrous, as well as the proestrous, ovary of aged irregularly cycling rats. The highly abnormal ultrastructure of ovaries of X. ferrugineus females aged 216 days on a diet containing cholesterol as the sole sterol seems quite analogous to that of the nonovulatory follicles in older, irregularly cycling rats. Our new findings involving aging X. ferrugineus females indicate further the usefulness of an insect model to study aging processes.

Radiographic features useful for establishing patient identity from improperly labeled portable chest radiographs.

Radiologists in hospital practice often encounter radiographs that either bear no patient identification or are incorrectly labeled as those of a different patient. To avoid repeating these improperly labeled radiographs, and to establish correct patient identity, most radiologists compare these radiographs with previous radiographs of several patients. This happens most often with portable chest radiographs. To study the reliability of various surgical, pathologic, and anatomic features and to help establish a fast and accurate method of establishing the correct patient identity, we performed a retrospective study of 50 patients in the intensive care unit. The characteristic location and configuration of surgical material, fractures, and dense parenchymal/pleural scars with or without calcifications are extremely helpful in establishing patient identity. In the vast majority of patients who lack such characteristic surgical and pathologic features, the anatomic structures that are most reliable for identification purposes are, in order of decreasing reliability, the transverse processes of the first thoracic vertebrae and the adjoining tubercles of the first ribs, the spinous processes, and the scapular wings. We believe that this information will help radiologists to identify the right patient when radiographs are incorrectly labeled.

Dynamism in practice: parenting within King's framework.

A dynamic approach to parenting in a neonatal intensive care unit provides a framework to test King's nursing theory. The framework is based on selected concepts from King's theory of goal attainment and current literature on parenting. The framework stresses the valuational components of human interaction. This article describes an attempt to move neonatal care from medicalization of parenting toward transaction between parents and nurses.