A year-long intervention trial was conducted to characterise the responses of multiple biomarkers of Se status in healthy American adults to supplemental selenomethionine (SeMet) and to identify factors affecting those responses. A total of 261 men and women were randomised to four doses of Se (0, 50, 100 or 200 μg/d as l-SeMet) for 12 months. Responses of several biomarkers of Se status (plasma Se, serum selenoprotein P (SEPP1), plasma glutathione peroxidase activity (GPX3), buccal cell Se, urinary Se) were determined relative to genotype of four selenoproteins (GPX1, GPX3, SEPP1, selenoprotein 15), dietary Se intake and parameters of single-carbon metabolism. Results showed that supplemental SeMet did not affect GPX3 activity or SEPP1 concentration, but produced significant, dose-dependent increases in the Se contents of plasma, urine and buccal cells, each of which plateaued by 9–12 months and was linearly related to effective Se dose (μg/d per kg0·75). The increase in urinary Se excretion was greater for women than men, and for individuals of the GPX1 679 T/T genotype than for those of the GPX1 679 C/C genotype. It is concluded that the most responsive Se-biomarkers in this non-deficient cohort were those related to body Se pools: plasma, buccal cell and urinary Se concentrations. Changes in plasma Se resulted from increases in its non-specific component and were affected by both sex and GPX1 genotype. In a cohort of relatively high Se status, the Se intake (as SeMet) required to support plasma Se concentration at a target level (Sepl-target) is: .

Two hundred and eighty-two schizophrenics discharged from St John's Hospital, Stone, were followed-up. The reliability of the diagnosis was measured by the extent of agreement among the hospital clinicians. The number of readmissions and the time spent in hospital were ascertained and correlated with the sex, civil state and age at first admission of the subjects.

It was found that a higher proportion of males than of females was readmitted; that the proportion of single persons among male schizophrenics is higher than among comparable age groups in the general population; that single males are more frequently admitted than single females; that the peak age of first admission for males is 10 years earlier than for females and that men whose age at first admission is below the median are more frequently readmitted than those whose age at first admission is above it.

Women are more frequently married than men at the onset of schizophrenia, giving rise to the suggestion that marriage has a protective effect in schizophrenia. This hypothesis was not supported by our findings. The bearing of these findings on the course, genetics and marital handicap of schizophrenia is discussed.

The introduction of Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) into semiconductor device processing brought a significant need for wet chemistry research and development in this industry. With the transition from aluminum to copper for advanced interconnect metallization came a tremendous amount of electrochemical research and process development towards a production worthy copper CMP process capable of meeting the stringent specifications of dual damascene integration.In addition, the dual damascene integration scheme introduced copper deposition challenges that brought significant activity in developing another wet chemistry process, electroplating. These two sequential, chemical processes have been shown to have significant interaction that has created significant challenges in process integration.

This is the initial report of a prospective study by computerised tomography brain scan of first episode schizophrenia. Twenty-seven patients who met Research Diagnostic Criteria for schizophrenia were compared with volunteer controls on ventricular: brain ratio, sulcal: brain volume ratio, and the widths of third ventricle and Sylvian and interhemispheric fissures. The results provide evidence that sulcal enlargement, but not ventricular abnormalities, may be detected at first admission for schizophrenic illness, and are discussed in relation to findings from other studies.