Recorded audio prompts. A strategy to increase independent prevocational task completion in individuals with dual diagnosis.

This research was conducted to teach two adults with schizophrenia and mental retardation to respond to recorded audio prompts in order to eliminate the need for instructor assistance in completing routine prevocational tasks. Studying individuals with dual diagnosis is an important step in moving toward success in community living and vocational placement. A multiple probe design across tasks was conducted. Prior to the investigation, both individuals demonstrated low levels of independent task completion. Following the implementation of the audio prompts, both individuals' task completion performances dramatically increased. These findings suggest that audio prompts may serve as an efficient alternative to instructor promoting, which is often required by individuals with dual diagnosis in prevocational job settings.

Acute and chronic effects of dexfenfluramine on the porcine pulmonary artery.

1. Studies were designed to investigate the responses of isolated pulmonary arteries from control pigs or pigs chronically treated with dexfenfluramine (7.2 mg/kg per day orally for 4 weeks). 2. Rings with and without endothelium were suspended in organ chambers for recording of isometric tension. 3. Dexfenfluramine (10[-9] to 10[-6] M) did not affect vascular tone, but at higher concentrations caused contractions that were not affected by indomethacin, methiothepin, the presence of endothelium or by the chronic treatment. 4. Chronic treatment augmented the endothelium-dependent relaxations to serotonin and aggregating platelets but not those to adenosine diphosphate. It did not affect the contraction or rings without endothelium evoked by platelets, nor the relaxation to SIN-1, a nitric oxide donor. The maximal contraction to endothelin-1 (but not that of norepinephrine) was impaired in treated pigs. 5. These results show that dexfenfluramine causes contraction of isolated porcine pulmonary arteries only at concentrations higher than 3 x 10(-6) M, and that chronic treatment with dexfenfluramine potentiates the endothelium-dependent relaxations to serotonin and aggregating platelets in the porcine pulmonary artery without affecting their direct effect on the smooth muscle.

Splenic granulocytopoiesis and production of colony-stimulating activity in lymphoma and leukemia.

Spleen cell production of granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating activity (CSA) and colony forming capacity (CFU-GM) from 59 patients with Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, acute (AML) and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), and control subjects was quantified to evaluate local cellular potential for modulating splenic granulocytopoiesis. Mononuclear spleen cell conditioned media stimulated myeloid CFU-GM by human nonadherent marrow target cells. In contrast to conditioned media produced by marrow and peripheral blood cells, the vast majority of spleen CSA was generated by nonadherent lymphoid cells rather than adherent monocytic cells. The nonadherent cells producing CSA were non-T cells (assessed by sheep erythrocyte rosetting), with 98% +/- 2% CSA produced by the nonrosetted fraction (B lymphocytes and null cells), and had a peak density heavier than that of the adherent spleen CSA-producing cells. Dose response curves demonstrated significantly increased cellular CSA production from patients with lymphomas and AML in remission. In a high proportion of patients, foci of immature granulocytic cells were found by specific cytochemical staining of histologic sections of spleens. A limited degree of splenic granulocytopoiesis was demonstrated morphologically and by CFU-GM incidence. CSA was not detectable in conditioned medium prepared from nonadherent spleen cells from 5 patients with CML, due to a nondialyzable substances(s) produced by the nonadherent cells which inhibited normal CFU-GM response to CSA. The high CFU-GM incidence and extensive leukemic granulocytopoiesis present in the CML spleens suggests diminished effect of this inhibitor on leukemic as opposed to normal granulocytic precursor cell proliferation.