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Purpose To report three cases of bilateral primary choroidal melanoma treated with bilateral plaque radiotherapy.Methods Retrospective, single-center case series.Results Case 1: In 1981, a 50-year-old man was diagnosed with a 5-mm-thick choroidal melanoma in the right eye (OD) and treated with plaque radiotherapy. In 1994, a 6.8-mm-thick choroidal melanoma in the left eye (OS) was treated with plaque radiotherapy. Final visual acuity was light perception OD and 20/20 OS at 24 years follow-up. Case 2: In 1983, a 53-year-old woman was diagnosed with a 3.5-mm-thick choroidal melanoma OS and treated with plaque radiotherapy. In 2001, an enlarging 2.5-mm-thick choroidal melanoma OD was treated with plaque radiotherapy. Final visual acuity was 20/30 OD and 20/20 OS at 22 years follow-up. Case 3: In 2001, a 92-year-old man was diagnosed with a 7.9-mm-thick choroidal melanoma OD treated with plaque radiotherapy. In 2003, an enlarging 2.8-mm-thick juxtapapillary choroidal melanoma was treated with plaque radiotherapy. Final visual acuity was 20/70 OD and 20/60 OS at 2.5 years follow-up. No patient showed ocular melanocytosis. Stable tumor regression was achieved in all six eyes. Metastatic disease did not develop in any case over 16 years of follow-up.Conclusions Monitoring of both eyes of patients with uveal melanoma is important for the remote possibility of melanoma in the second eye. In these three patients, plaque radiotherapy allowed for preservation of the globes and some vision.

The health of Australian Aboriginal people is reportedly poor. This report discusses how nurses, over a generation, have helped improve the health of children at an Aboriginal community in Queensland, Australia. By delivering health services using the principles of transcultural nursing, the nurses were able to deliver culturally congruent nursing care. This empowered the families to become active seekers of health care, rather than passive recipients.

The hydrolysis of natural phytate phosphorus in theintestinaltract of cattle was determined in two balance studies. Four calves 56 days old and six steers 9 months of age were fed a diet composed primarily of either corn or sorghum grain and soybean meal. Traces of phytate phosphorus were recovered in the feces of the younger calves while none was evident in the feces of older calves. No phytate was recovered from the contents of the rumen, abomasum, small and large intestines of three calves fed a ration composed primarily of sorghum grains and soybean meal.

To evaluate detailed fetal echocardiography for predicting congenital heart disease in overt diabetic pregnancies.

Samples of a high-temperature superconductor YBa2Cu3O7-x (orthorhombic phase) showed no significant weight loss in nitrogen up to 1173 K; however, differential thermal analysis measurements show that restructuring/decomposition begins around 1121 K. No reaction with alumina was found after prolonged heating at 1073 K. Electrical properties between 100 Hz and 1 MHz were generally stable at high temperatures, with little variation in properties at 1 MHz in inert and oxidizing atmospheres. Surface oxygen can be removed at high temperatures in flowing argon causing erratic electrical behaviour at lower frequencies and lower temperatures, which can be associated with changes in the oxygen content, x, and partial quenching to the high-temperature tetragonal phase. Stability and electrical tests after pretreatment of YBCO-alumina composites at 933 K in CO2 or steam showed partial decomposition to BaCO3, CuO and Y2Cu2O5 and a phase transition from orthorhombic to tetragonal in the YBa2Cu3O7-x. The original state could be retrieved by calcination in air at73 K.

Endotoxin may cause abnormal deposition of platelet-endotoxin aggregates, and this event could have damaging effects. We compared the aggregation characteristics of platelets from rabbits made tolerant to the lethal effects of endotoxin with those of platelets from normal rabbits. Platelets from tolerant rabbits aggregated more rapidly (greater than 90 s faster) in the presence of endotoxin than did platelets from nontolerant animals. Furthermore, platelets from tolerant animals aggregated reversibly. These characteristics of platelets from tolerant animals are due to humoral factors in the plasma, because 1:1 dilution of normal platelet-rich plasma with plasma from tolerant rabbits caused the normal platelets to behave like those from tolerant animals. Survival after challenge with lethal quantities of endotoxin was enhanced in tolerant rabbits; this may be due to promotion of more efficient removal of endotoxin-platelet complexes from the blood by the reticuloendothelial system.

A method for the determination of carbonate clay as an integral part of the pipette method for particle‐size analysis is given. Carbonate clay is calculated by measuring the gravimetric loss of CO2from a 50‐ml. aliquot of the clay (< 2µ) fraction. For some calcareous soil materials a substantial proportion of the clay fraction consists of carbonate. A survey is given of the proportion of carbonate that is claysize. Five kinds of clay percentages for calcareous soil materials are discussed. The application of carbonate clay data to the interpretations of clay distribution curves is presented. Evidence is presented that carbonate, including carbonate clay, has negligible cation‐exchange capacity. The effect of the presence of carbonate clay on the calculated cation‐exchange capacity of the clay fraction is discussed.

Silver atoms formed by the γ-irradiation of frozen solutions of argentous salts react with excess cations to form a new species which is shown by an analysis of its electron spin resonance to be the dimer Ag2+. The identification is confirmed by using silver enriched in 109Ag. The hyperfine and g tensors are discussed in terms of the expected electronic structure of this ion.

EVIDENCE has recently been obtained which strongly suggests that ‘solvated’ electrons in water at room temperature have an absorption band in the 15,000 cm−1region1. Jortner and Sharf2found a similar absorption in frozen aqueous solutions of alkali metal hydroxides at 17,000 cm−1after exposure to 200 kV X-rays, which they attributed to trapped electrons, although they favoured an ‘expanded’ orbital on the cation as the trapping centre2.

Water‐dispersible clay in soils from a number of geographic locations increased in relation to clay measured by a standard procedure as the proportion of sand in the soils increased. Additions of sand to soils containing relatively small amounts of water‐dispersible clay relative to “regular” clay markedly increased the yield of water‐dispersible clay; medium sand and coarse sand were the most effective. Conversely, the removal of sand from soil containing large amounts of sand reduced the yield of water‐dispersible clay. The abrasive action of sand during agitation associated with water dispersion evidently breaks down aggregates containing clay.

Examines ten areas where the caregiver can plan for or seek guidance and assistance.