Showing papers by "Wayne State University published in 1985"

Climate Formation: Issues and Extensions

Abstract: Climate has been viewed as a function of: (a) the organization's structure; (b) the organization's membership; and (c) more recently the memberships' efforts to understand the organization. The third view—interactionism—has been offered as a reconciliation of the objectivism of the first and the subjectivism of the second. The interactionist approach is extended here by a consideration of the roles of the workgroup, affect, corporate culture, symbolic management, and physical setting.

Improved complete response rate and survival in advanced head and neck cancer after three-course induction therapy with 120-hour 5-FU infusion and cisplatin.

Abstract: In a series of three consecutive pilot studies carried out between 1977 and 1981 at Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, designed to test the feasibility of multimodality therapy in patients with previously untreated advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, patients received three different induction chemotherapy regimens: cisplatin + Oncovin (vincristine) + bleomycin (COB) for two courses; 96-hour 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) infusion and cisplatin for two courses, or 120-hour 5-FU infusion + cisplatin for three courses. Over-all response rates (complete response + partial response) to each of the three induction chemotherapy regimens were high: 80%, 88%, and 93%, respectively. Superior complete response rate in the group receiving three courses of 120-hour 5-FU infusion + cisplatin was 54% versus 29% for COB and 19% for two-course 96-hour 5-FU infusion + cisplatin (P = 0.04). Significant survival advantage at 18 months minimum follow-up for the group receiving three courses of 120-hour 5-FU + cisplatin induction therapy was found. Actual T and N stage may influence the clinical complete response rate. Responders to initial chemotherapy have significantly better survival as compared to nonresponders regardless of subsequent surgery and/or radiotherapy. These studies show that a multimodality approach to management of advanced head and neck cancer is feasible. Superior complete response rate and survival in one of the treatment groups suggest that choice of induction chemotherapy regimens and/or number of courses is of prime importance in such multimodality treatment programs.

Hemostasis Changes During Cardiopulmonary Bypass Surgery

Abstract: A number of hemostasis parameters were studied in a total of 63 patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) for open heart surgery. In 33 patients fibrinogen, Factors II, V, VIII:C, X, XI, antithrombin, plasminogen, alpha 2-antiplasmin, and platelet counts were assayed before surgery, during maximal hypothermia, at the end of the bypass procedure, before and after protamine sulfate infusion, in the intensive care unit, and 48 hours postoperatively. All factors assayed decreased markedly when the patients were placed on the bypass machine, the drop fairly well paralleling the decrease in hematocrit. During bypass the factors remained low, although a slight tendency toward an increase was noted. Only platelet counts remained low with a decreasing trend until the end of bypass. In the intensive care unit a second decrease in fibrinogen, Factors II and V and antithrombin was noted. This drop was unrelated to four patients who experienced a greater blood loss during this time than the others. Forty-eight hours postoperatively, a marked increase could be found in all clotting factors and near normal levels were measured. Platelet counts remained low, however. The decrease in factors rarely dropped into a range where one would expect a compromised hemostasis (less than 30%). Although antithrombin levels decreased below 60%, no difficulties with heparinization were encountered. Several factors were assayed manually and by automated analyzer (Multistat III), and excellent correlations were found between both procedures. Also a good correlation was found between the activated whole blood clotting times and quantitative heparin assays. In 30 additional patients platelet function was studied before surgery, after thoracotomy, after heparin administration, after initiation of bypass, at maximal hypothermia, before and after protamine sulfate infusion, and 24 hours postoperatively. Platelet counts once again decreased as patients were placed on the CPB machine and remained low throughout the procedure. Mean platelet volumes were unchanged until protamine was given. At that time, a significant drop in mean platelet volume was recorded. Twenty-four hours postoperatively the volumes were normal again. Platelet aggregation studies were performed on a whole blood aggregometer using two concentrations of ADP, collagen, and ristocetin as aggregation inducers. A significant decrease in aggregability was seen when the patients were connected to the CPB apparatus.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Selection for life span in Drosophila melanogaster.

Abstract: Selection for reproduction at an early or a late age in life was applied to populations of D. melanogaster for 21 to 29 generations, with two experimental treatments of larval density. Populations with high and uncontrolled numbers of competing larvae responded strongly to selection for late-reproduction with the length of adult life increasing by as much as 50 per cent. In this treatment, selection produced true breeding long- and short-lived lines. When populations of developing larvae were held low, however, longevity fluctuated wildly during selection, showing little overall response, as several previous tests of senescence theory have also found. These experiments suggest that life span is either physiologically limited in that environment, or populations are unable to respond because either phenotype/genotype correlations are reversed, or genetic variation is suppressed. The inability of former studies to obtain a response to selection appears to have resulted from the artifactual introduction of strong gene-environment interactions through the use of a competition-free environment.

A combined Golgi and autoradiographic study of (3H)glycine-accumulating amacrine cells in the cat retina.

Abstract: Golgi techniques were combined with electron microscopic autoradiography to identify four subpopulations of amacrine cell in the cat retina which accumulate (3H)glycine. These subpopulations include types A3, A4, A7(AII), and A8 amacrine cells. All are narrow-field cells with dendritic spreads of less than 100 micron. Quantification of silver grains showed that each subpopulation exhibits a consistent affinity for (3H)glycine. Type A8 cells were found to have the greatest affinity with normalized grain densities of 0.88-1.0 grains/micron 2 on a scale in which 1.0 represents the most heavily labeled cell. Type A4 cells were moderately labeled with grain densities ranging from 0.40 to 0.68 grains/micron 2. A7(AII) and A3 amacrines were lightly labeled with grain densities of 0.33-0.35 grains/micron 2 and 0.28-0.30 grains/micron 2, respectively.

Reliability Bounds for Multistate Systems with Multistate Components

Abstract: The reliability literature has recently introduced several multistate models. This paper discusses reliability bounds in the most general of these models. It presents inclusion-exclusion bounds and compares them with disjoint subset bounds. The later bounds are based on a generalization of Abraham's recursive disjoint products.

A empirical study of the differences between small exporting and non‐exporting us firms

Abstract: Introduction Perhaps the most significant economic transformation within the last three decades has been the internationalization of business. From the modest levels of the 1950s, the volume of world trade has exploded to over $2 trillion, and the sales of foreign affiliates of US firms have reached $500 billion by 1983 (Terpstra 1983). Yet, even in the light of accelerated efforts to further stimulate US exporters (e.g., the Export Trading Company Act of 1982), a recent Dunn and Bradstreet survey showed that less than 1% of the US firms had engaged in exporting in 1982 (Trade Marks, 1983). Similarly, the International Trade Administration of the US Department of Commerce has lamented that only 5% of all US manufacturers will have engaged in export marketing in 1984.

Work/Family Role Strain among Employed Parents.

Abstract: The determinants of work/family role strain are explored with the use of an inductive multivariate model of job tension among employed parents. The analysis was based on questionnaire data obtained from 468 working parents in a medium-sized Southeastern metropolitan county in 1979. Three broad categories of independent variables were examined as possible sources of job tension: individual-level, familylevel and work-related variables. It was found that work-related variables, as a group, have the greatest impact on job tension. The paper addresses several policy implications of the findings.

Induction of Autoimmune Thyroiditis in Chickens by Dietary Iodine

Abstract: Clinical studies have suggested that excess dietary iodine promotes autoimmune thyroiditis; however, the lack of a suitable animal model has hampered investigation of the phenomenon. In this study, different amounts of potassium iodide were added to the diets of chicken strains known to be genetically susceptible to autoimmune thyroiditis. Administration of iodine during the first 10 weeks of life increased the incidence of the disease, as determined by histology and the measurement of autoantibodies to triiodothyronine, thyroxine, and thyroglobulin. Further support for the relation between iodine and autoimmune thyroiditis was provided by an experiment in which iodine-deficient regimens decreased the incidence of thyroid autoantibodies in a highly susceptible strain. These results suggest that excessive consumption of iodine in the United States may be responsible for the increased incidence of autoimmune thyroiditis.

On design principles for a molecular computer

Abstract: If the unique information-processing capabilities of protein enzymes could be adapted for computers, then evolvable, more efficient systems for such applications as pattern recognition and process control are in principle possible.

A randomized trial of cisplatin (CACP) + 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) infusion and CACP + 5-FU bolus for recurrent and advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Abstract: One of the most active chemotherapeutic regimens for treatment of advanced and recurrent head and neck cancer is cisplatin (CACP) + 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) infusion with a response rate of 90% in advanced, previously untreated patients and 70% in patients with recurrent disease. Forty-four patients from two Wayne State University-affiliated hospitals were entered into a randomized trial of CACP (100 mg/m2) day 1 and 24-hour infusion of 5-FU (1000 mg/m2) days 1 through 4 versus CACP (100 mg/m2) day 1 and bolus 5-FU (600 mg/m2) day 1 and day 8. Thirty-eight patients were evaluable for three induction courses. Response for the infusion arm was 72% (4/18 complete response [CR] + 9/18 partial response [PR]). Response for the bolus arm was 20% (2/20 CR + 2/20 PR). The difference in response was statistically significant by chi-square analysis (P less than 0.01). Seventy percent of the patients on the bolus arm experienced leukopenia with several episodes of grades 3 and 4 leukopenia. In addition, 50% of the patients on the bolus arm experienced thrombocytopenia. Stomatitis was more frequent on the infusion arm but it was mild and reversible. The complete responders on either arm have a median survival of 120+ weeks; partial responders, 30 weeks. Cisplatin + 5-FU infusion produces a superior response as initial chemotherapy for three courses compared with CACP and 5-FU bolus.

Exercise testing, training and arm ergometry.

Abstract: Standard exercise testing and training methods require leg work, but alternative methods involving arm work appear to be particularly applicable for selected subjects. An understanding of the physiology of upper extremity exercise and of the implications for arm exercise testing and training will assist in the diagnostic and functional evaluation and prescription of exercise. The cardiorespiratory and haemodynamic responses to submaximal and maximal arm and leg exercise are reviewed and practical information and guidelines for the recommendation of arm exercise testing and training in wheelchair-confined individuals, normal subjects, and patients with coronary heart disease are provided.

Peroxisomal defects in neonatal-onset and X-linked adrenoleukodystrophies

Abstract: Accumulation of very long chain fatty acids in X-linked and neonatal forms of adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) appears to be a consequence of deficient peroxisomal oxidation of very long chain fatty acids. Peroxisomes were readily identified in liver biopsies taken from a patient having the X-linked disorder. However, in liver biopsies from a patient having neonatal-onset ALD, hepatocellular peroxisomes were greatly reduced in size and number, and sedimentable catalase was markedly diminished. The presence of increased concentrations of serum pipecolic acid and the bile acid intermediate, trihydroxycoprostanic acid, in the neonatal ALD patient are associated with a generalized diminution of peroxisomal activities that was not observed in the patient with X-linked ALD.

The effects of gene-environment interaction on the expression of longevity.

Abstract: Several previous attempts at selecting for increased life span with Drosophila have failed to obtain a response to selection, and postulate that life span is controlled by non-genetic maternal effects instead of genes. In other experiments, however, populations have responded. This study uses a set of true-breeding long- and short-lived stocks developed by in vitro selection to examine the effect on life span of developmental environment and outcrossing. The expression of genes for life span is shown here to vary as a result of a gene-environment interaction and is strongly affected by the environment during development. The longevity of F1 crosses between long- and short-lived parental lines is additive when the density of larvae is high and unfixed, showing that life span is controlled by genes and not nongenetic maternal effects. But, when numbers of larvae are held low and constant, as in studies where selection fails, life span of crosses and parental lines is greatly restricted. The failure of some previous attempts at selection, therefore, appears to have resulted from the introduction, through experimental design, of strong artifactual environmental effects that limit the phenotypic expression of genes for life span and the effectiveness of selection. Comparison of fecundity in parental and F1 lines shows that selection for increased life span antagonistically reduces early-life fecundity. Short-lived, parental lines, reproduced at an early age in life, lay 22-24 per cent more eggs in the same period than do long-lived lines selected for reproduction at a late age.

Stability of the northern flicker hybrid zone in historical times: implications for adaptive speciation theory.

Abstract: The hybrid zone between the Red- and Yellow-shafted Flickers has been stable on the United States Great Plains in historical times. This conclusion is based on multivariate comparisons of historical and contemporary collections from 18 locales. Adaptive speciation theory predicts that the hybrid zone should either become broader or narrower as a result of introgressive hybridization or reinforcement of premating isolating mechanisms. Neither of these predictions was borne out. Despite 10,000-13,000 years of hybridization, mating between subspecies remains indiscriminate. The data are also inconsistent with a dynamicequilibrium hypothesis wherein narrow hybrid zones are maintained by hybrid unfitness. According to this hypothesis, the hybrid zone would probably "flow" unless it was trapped by a population density trough. The hybrid zone does not appear to be associated with such a feature. The data are consistent with a bounded hybrid superiority theory of a hybrid zone, but this is more a question of survival in a process of elimination than a resounding corroboration.

Additive control of stochastic linear systems with finite horizon

Abstract: We consider a dynamic system whose state is governed by a linear stochastic differential equation with time-dependent coefficients. The control acts additively on the state of the system. Our objective is to minimize an integral cost which depends upon the evolution of the state and the total variation of the control process. It is proved that the optimal cost is the unique solution of an appropriate free boundary problem in a space-time domain. By using some decomposition arguments, the problems of a two-sided control, i.e. optimal corrections, and the case with constraints on the resources, i.e. finite fuel, can be reduced to a simpler case of only one-sided control, i.e. a monotone follower. These results are applied to solving some examples by the so-called method of similarity solutions.