Failure to differentiate Cryptosporidium parvum from C. meleagridis based on PCR amplification of eight DNA sequences

PURPOSE: Little is known about the developmental effects of high urinary diversion and bladder defunctionalization in infancy. Although clinical experience shows that a poorly functional bladder may result from urinary diversion in infancy, the mechanisms of change and specific bladder wall alterations have not been well characterized. We hypothesized that cyclic filling and emptying are necessary for normal bladder development. To investigate this important question we created a new animal model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We designed a new method of hemibladder urinary diversion in 3-week-old New Zealand white rabbits. After vertical midline bladder division half of the bladder was formed into a functional reservoir, which remained in continuity with the ipsilateral ureter and urethra. The other bladder half was defunctionalized and isolated from the urine flow by ureteral ligation. Diversion was created for 3, 7, 14 and 28 days. Urodynamic evaluation was done in the functionalized hemibladders and age matched normal rabbit bladders to test the validity of the functionalized hemibladder as an internal control. Functional and defunctionalized hemibladders as well as age matched, nonoperated normal rabbit bladders were weighed, sectioned and stained to demonstrate muscle and connective tissue components. RESULTS: In 22 of the 27 healthy rabbits (81%) good quality diverted and functional bladder specimens were obtained after diversion. Defunctionalized hemibladders grew more slowly than functionalized bladders and normal age matched control bladders. Histological staining of the bladder wall demonstrated increased connective tissue between the muscle bundles within the diverted specimens than in functional bladders. CONCLUSIONS: Our successful model of urinary diversion may be used to study the developmental and histological effects of urinary diversion in the young bladder. Bladder growth and histological appearance are altered when the stimulus of cyclic filling and emptying is removed. Further studies using this model are warranted to define fully bladder changes that result from diversion and investigate the mechanism of the observed changes.     

CHILD syndrome with linear eruptions, hypopigmented bands, and verruciform xanthoma

The traditional rhomboid transposition flap has been widely used in reconstructive surgery. The authors have modified the original technique by eliminating the creation of the rhomboid defect and by directly transposing the flap into the original postexcisional defect. These changes allow maximum flexibility in flap design and minimize normal tissue loss. The authors retrospectively reviewed the charts of patients who underwent periocular reconstruction with flaps from 1990 through 1995. The authors selected those patients in whom the modified rhomboid flap was used. Functional and cosmetic results and complications were reviewed. Two hundred thirty-two patients were identified in whom 242 flaps were performed. The modified rhomboid flap was used in 101 patients (41.7%). Complications occurred in 23 patients (23%), 19 of whom (19%) were treated medically and four of whom (4%) required an additional surgical procedure. Cosmetic and functional results were classified as very good or excellent in 96 patients (96%). The use of a modified rhomboid flap in the reconstruction of the periocular area offers ample versatility in flap design and minimal normal tissue loss. Functional and cosmetic results are satisfactory in the vast majority of cases.     

Health for all: analyzing health status and determinants

Several clinical disorders are strongly influenced by hormones involved in appetite and weight regulation. Obesity and eating disorders are of major importance, because they are associated with severe morbidity and considered to be among the greatest health problems in the Western world today. This review describes recent findings in hormonal regulation of food intake by substances acting both centrally, such as corticotropin-releasing factor, neuropeptide Y and leptin, and peripherally, such as cholecystokinin and somatostatin. Sex hormones and glucocorticoids play an important role in long-term regulation of metabolism. The role of these hormones in appetite and weight changes during life as well as during pregnancy and lactation is discussed. Furthermore, the development of obesity and eating disorders is influenced, in particular, by steroid hormones. Treatment with sex hormones, as in hormone replacement therapy, affects appetite and weight and may have beneficial effects in preventing android obesity. Currently, there is great effort in developing endogenous neurohumoral substances into effective drugs for the treatment of obesity and eating disorders. Leptin and neuropeptide Y analogues are of interest as potential antiobesity agents.     

Dual role of dendritic cells in the induction and down-regulation of antigen-specific cutaneous inflammation

We have previously reported that contact sensitivity (CS) to dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB) in C57BL/6 mice was mediated by MHC class I-restricted CD8+ T cells and down-regulated by MHC class II-restricted CD4+ T cells. In this study, we analyzed the contribution of dendritic cells (DC) in the induction of these two T cell subsets endowed with opposite functions. Hapten-pulsed skin- and bone marrow-derived DC, obtained from either normal C57BL/6 mice or from MHC class II (I+ II-) and MHC class I (I- II+)-deficient mice, were tested for their ability to prime normal mice for CS to dinitrofluorobenzene. Expression of MHC class I molecules by transferred DC was mandatory both for the induction of CS and for the generation of hapten-specific CD8+ T cells in lymphoid organs. I+ II- DC were as potent as I+ II+ DC in priming for CS, demonstrating that activation of effector CD8+ T cells can occur independently of CD4+ T cell help. I- II+ DC could not immunize for CS, although they could sensitize for a delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction to protein Ags. Moreover, I- II+ DC injected simultaneously with cutaneous sensitization down-regulated the inflammatory response, suggesting that hapten presentation by MHC class II molecules could prime regulatory CD4+ T cells. These results indicate that DC can present haptenated peptides by both MHC class I and class II molecules and activate Ag-specific CD8+ effector and CD4+ regulatory T cell subsets, concurrently and independently.     

Neuronal differentiation modifies the effect of ethanol exposure on voltage-dependent calcium channels in NG 108-15 cells

The effect of prolonged (72 h) ethanol (200 mM) exposure on the labeling of L-type (using tritiated PN 200-110) and N-type (using iodinated omega-conotoxin) voltage-dependent calcium channels was investigated in cultured NG 108-15 cells. In undifferentiated cells ethanol produced an 80% increase in PN 200-110 Bmax and no changes in omega-conotoxin binding. Differentiation had a profound effect on the response of cells to ethanol, which in differentiated neuron-like cells decreased omega-conotoxin binding (-53.5%) leaving PN 200-110 labeling of L-type channels unaffected. The effect was time dependent and reversible upon ethanol withdrawal. The decreased omega-conotoxin binding was accompanied by a reduced ability of omega-conotoxin to inhibit K+ -stimulated calcium uptake. The results demonstrate that in cultured NG 108-15 cells ethanol differentially affects DHP and omega-conotoxin-sensitive, voltage-dependent calcium channels and that the effect is also modulated by differentiation of the cell to a neuronal phenotype.     

A meta-modelling framework for knowledge consistency in collaborative design

The design of complex system requires a lot of interactions between experts and then between numerous Computer Aided X software (CAX) (where X can be Design (CAD), Engineering (CAE), Manufacturing (CAM), etc.). In order to improve the consistency of the whole system design and the related data and information, knowledge crossing the expertises must be tracked and formalized regarding a shared reference. That means that instead of defining a large reference models to which each expert refers to, a light collaborative model is defined enabling to connect data from each expert model to adhoc data from other expert models, following the least commitment principle. In this topic, a new meta-model is proposed in a Model-Driven Engineering approach to manage the integration of heterogeneous experts’ knowledge models in a collaborative process. The structure of the proposed knowledge meta-model is defined taking into account the complexity of knowledge definition and the properties of its components. This meta-model is split in a meta-model of data on one hand and a Collaboration Meta-Model in the other hand, to represent the distinction between the core concepts of knowledge and additional elements serving to represent the relation between these concepts, and between concepts of heterogeneous experts’ models. The proposed meta-model is illustrated on an industrial case study to highlight the way to put it in use, and its interests to enable collaboration between experts throughout the design process.     

EASEA: specification and execution of evolutionary algorithms on GPGPU

EASEA is a framework designed to help non-expert programmers to optimize their problems by evolutionary computation. It allows to generate code targeted for standard CPU architectures, GPGPU-equipped machines as well as distributed memory clusters. In this paper, EASEA is presented by its underlying algorithms and by some example problems. Achievable speedups are also shown onto different NVIDIA GPGPUs cards for different optimization algorithm families.     

Development of materials specifications and emplacement procedures for backfilling nuclear fuel waste vaults

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited and Ontario Hydro are conducting a research program to assess the environmental impact and safety of the concept of disposal of nuclear fuel waste in an underground vault in plutonic rock of the Canadian Shield. The Vault Sealing Program, one of the components of the Nuclear Fuel Waste Management Program, is concerned with the development of materials specifications and emplacement procedures for backfilling the vault. Backfilling materials would surround the nuclear waste containers and fill all vault openings to minimize leaching and movement of radionuclides. This paper presents the procedure followed to select candidate backfill materials, the integration of mathematical modelling studies and physical testing for the definition of materials specifications, and the principal elements of the recommended handling and emplacement systems.