Dissipation of residues of mancozeb and metalaxyl in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.).

Dissipation of mancozeb and metalaxyl in tomato was estimated following four applications of a combination formulation Ridomil MZ (mancozeb 64% + metalaxyl 8%) at 0.25 and 0.50% at 10 days interval by carbon disulphide evolution method and gas liquid chromatography with nitrogen phosphorous detector, respectively. Half-life periods for mancozeb were 3.76 and 4.14 days, whereas for metalaxyl these values were 1.29 and 0.41 days at single and double the application rates, respectively. Residues of mancozeb dissipated below limit of quantification (LOQ) of 0.25 mg kg(-1) after 10 and 15 days at single and double the application dosage, respectively. Similarly, residues of metalaxyl took 3 and 5 days to reach LOQ of 0.02 mg kg(-1), at single and double dosages, respectively.

Correlation of cancer risk evaluation and early detection (CADET) scores with abnormal ultrasonographic ovarian findings.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the utility of a modified version of ovarian cancer-focused cancer risk evaluation and early detection (CADET) scores as a screening tool for ultrasonographic ovarian findings. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective pilot study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: CADET scores were compared with abnormal ultrasonographic ovarian findings of peri- and postmenopausal women who attended their gynecologist for a routine check-up. The women filled in the CADET questionnaire before seeing their gynecologists who were blinded to the CADET results. The women whom they referred for pelvic transvaginal ultrasonographic examination comprised the study group. The results of their scans were compared with their CADET scores. RESULTS: Of the 181 peri- and postmenopausal women who were candidates for this study, 154 were referred for ultrasonography, of whom 38 (24%, Group A) had abnormal ovarian scans (30 simple cysts and 8 complex findings). The other 116 (76%) women had normal sonograms (Group B). Demographic characteristics were similar for both groups. Thirteen Group A women (34%) and 52 Group B women (45%) had positive CADET scores (p = NS). The average group CADET scores were also not significantly different (0.8 +/- 1.7 for Group A and 1.7 +/- 2.5 for Group B). CONCLUSION: CADET scores did not correlate with abnormal ultrasonographic ovarian findings.

Dissipation kinetics of metalaxyl in cucumber.

Residues of metalaxyl were estimated in cucumber fruits using Gas Liquid Chromatography (GLC) with Nitrogen phosphorus detector (NPD). Following three applications of Ridomil-MZ @ 0.3% and 0.6%, the average initial deposits of metalaxyl were observed to be 0.19 and 0.24 mg kg(-1), respectively. The residues dissipated below the limit of quantification (LOQ) of 0.02 mg kg(-1) after 10 days at both the dosages. The half-life values (T(1/2)) of metalaxyl was worked out to be 3.5 and 3.0 days, respectively at 0.3% and 0.6% concentration. Thus, a waiting period of 1 day was suggested for the safe consumption of metalaxyl treated cucumber.

Most Helicobacter pylori-infected patients have specific antibodies, and some also have H. pylori antigens and genomic material in bile: is it a risk factor for gallstone formation?

Bile may contain a 130-kDa protein endowed with aminopeptidase activity and the ability to promote cholesterol crystallisation. As >90% of H. pylori strains have a similar peptidase activity, and half the isolates express a 110- to 140-kDa antigen, the CagA protein, we investigated a possible association between H. pylori infection and gallstones, and the presence in bile samples of factors related to H. pylori that could increase cholesterol crystallization. The prevalence of H. pylori infection was 82.1% in 112 patients with gallstones and 80.3% in 112 controls (NS). Fifteen bile samples out of 23 specimens from infected patients (65.2%) contained anti-CagA antibodies. A approximately 60-kDa antigen only reacting with an anti-CagA antibody was found in five bile samples (21.7%) from 23 infected patients. One bile sample (4.1%) contained ureA and cagA genes of H. pylori. The homology of CagA with the N-terminal sequence of aminopeptidase N was very low. We concluded that the presence of specific antibody to H. pylori in most bile samples tested and of an H. pylori putative antigen in a discrete number of cases may represent factors that increase the risk of gallstone formation.

Children as informants of neuropsychological symptomology: the child neuropsychological symptom inventory.

Despite the rapid growth in child neuropsychology, there remains a paucity of measures which examine neuropsychological symptomology in children. In keeping with the need to understand the history and dimensions of children's presenting problems, the present investigation assessed the utility of a self-report neuropsychological symptom inventory with children. Study I examined the internal consistency of the Child Neuropsychological Symptom Inventory (CNSI) while Study II examined the stability of children's responses over a two week delay. Results indicate that the CNSI is a relatively stable instrument for assessing children's self-report of neuropsychological symptomology. The data were interpreted as lending support for having children act as self-informants.

Inducing comprehension in the bilateral poor reader.

The comprehension effects of changes in the spatial configuration of prose were examined with reading disabled children who differed in laterality preference. Specifically, 24 learning disabled boys were presented with prose materials in a standard, phrased, and backward (right to left) fashion. Measures of comprehension showed that text in the phrased and backward conditions differentially facilitated comprehension for the more bilateral subjects but had little effect on more right lateralized subjects. The results were discussed in terms of the instructional implications of alterations in the visual-spatial arrangement of prose materials for bilateral readers.

Differential diagnosis of primary affective depression using the Halstead-Reitan neuropsychological battery.

This study examined the utility of the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery as a discriminator of primary affective depression when compared with normals and a group of mixed psychiatric patients. Orthogonal contrasts between groups showed superior performance for normals on most Halstead-Reitan subtests. Contrasts between pathological groups showed that these groups differed only on subtests associated with left hemispheric functioning, with the mixed psychiatric patients performing more poorly than the depressives. A step-wise discriminant analysis indicated that on the basis of neuropsychological variables alone, affective depressives were differentiated from normals and mixed psychiatric patients with clinical levels of accuracy. The results were discussed in terms of their implications for diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of primary affective depression.

Neuropsychological aspects of primary affective depression.

This study compared the neuropsychological functioning of 50 primary affective depressives and a like number of normals on the complete Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery. Psychiatric diagnosis was based on Research Diagnostic Criteria. Comparison of the Wechsler subtests seen to measure right and left hemispheric functioning revealed a relative deficit for depressives on those tasks shown to be most sensitive to right hemispheric functioning. Profile similarities (rp) between groups on the combined Wechsler and Halstead-Reitan variables indicated normal similarity on left hemispheric tests and a significant dissimilarity on right hemispheric measures. Impairment ratings for each Halstead-Reitan measure indicated that depressives were significantly impaired when compared to normals on right hemispheric tasks, while they were within normal limits and did not differ from normals on left hemisphere impairment ratings. The potential of neuropsychological measures as diagnostic markers of psychiatric illness was examined.

Patterns of lateral preference: an American-Chinese comparison.

Lateral preference patterns of Chinese and Anglo-Americans were assessed to examine the influence of gender and family history for each group. Ninety-two Chinese and a like number of Anglo-Americans were presented with a Chinese and English version of the Lateral Preference Schedule, respectively. Results indicated that Anglos were significantly less right oriented on measures of general handedness and strength. An interaction for the visually guided motor factor indicated that Anglo males were significantly more bilateral than females of their Chinese counterparts. When family history was investigated, it was found that Chinese parents were significantly more right lateralized than their Anglo cohorts. A step-wise discriminant analysis indicated that scores on both parents' lateral preference and the visually guided motor factor best predicted group membership. It was concluded that performance on the visually guided motor factor concomitant with familial lateral preference patterns best represented ethnic group differences.

The efficacy of a neuropsychological symptom inventory in the differential diagnosis of neurological, depressed, and normal patients.

This study examined the efficacy of using a symptom inventory to discriminate between neurological, depressed, and normal patients. Symptoms such as hallucinations, numbness of extremities, balance problems, and a localized place on head sensitive to touch were identified as the best predictors of the neurologically impaired patients when compared to the depressed and normal groups. Similarly, sleep problems was the best predictor of the depressed group. Using a step-wise discriminant analysis, a total of 91% of the patients were correctly diagnosed on the basis of reported symptoms. These results were discussed in terms of the overlap in symptomology between the neurological and psychiatric groups and the relative efficiency of using a self-report measure in making differential diagnoses.

Neuropsychological reference groups for 9- through 14-year-old subjects with identified learning disabilities.

The neuropsychological reference groups reported in this study are based on a sample of 1,325 learning-disabled subjects aged 9 through 14 drawn from a midsize midwestern metropolitan community. The sample was composed of 1,006 males and 319 females. Separate means and standard deviations, reported for each gender and age group, were generated for 31 measures ordinarily included as part of the Halstead Neuropsychological Test Battery for Children. Several comparisons were made with other norms previously reported. The need for additional neuropsychological reference groups for children is discussed.

Response time as a dependent measure on the Category Test of the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological test Battery.

The role of response time on the Category Test of the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery (HRNB) was examined. Seventy-two normal adult volunteers were administered the complete HRNB. Average response times for individual slides were computed for correct (CRT), incorrect (IRT), and total (TRT) scores on the Category Test. The utility of these response-time scores was examined in the context of other HRNB variables seen to be factorially related to the Category Test. Results from a stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that approximately 15% of the variability in Category error scores was explained by a measure of spatial memory (TPT-location), and an additional 15% was accounted for by response time (TRT and IRT). A factor analysis indicated that the three measures of response time loaded on a factor that accounted for 21% of the explained variability in HRNB performance.