Molecular characterization of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato from Slovenia revealing significant differences between tick and human isolates

The aim of the study was to evaluate the morphological and functional status of the liver in acute, oral cholinesterase inhibitors poisoning using static scintigraphy, hepatography and measurements of chosen enzymes activity. Considering the different clinical picture of cholinesterase inhibitors poisonings in people, it was necessary to estimate the poisoning severity and its dependence on the frequency and intensification of the liver lesion. Under examination there were 37 cholinesterase inhibitors orally poisoned patients, treated at the Department of Toxicology in the years 1992-1995. The examined group comprised 7 women (19%) and 30 men (81%). Organophosphate compounds poisoning was noted in 14 patients, and carbamates poisonings in 23 patients. The reference group comprised 30 healthy men aged 24 to 59 years not exposed to hepatotoxic agents. More than 90% of patients were classified as severe poisoned. Any fatal case was not noted. A differently intensified pathological changes of the liver dependent on age and poisoning severity were found in 97.2% of patients and their frequency was significantly higher than in the control group. Hepatographic picture revealed in 96.6% of cases the liver lesion. Hepatographic picture of the liver was also dependent on poisoning severity. The higher activity of AST, ALT, AP and higher bilirubin concentration in blood were noted in poisoned men compared to the control group. Control scintigraphic examination revealed a considerable improvement in the intensification of the liver scintigraphic picture in 40% of the patients and a higher intensification in 13% of the subjects. In 46.6% of the patients the intensification of scintigraphic changes remained at the same level. Considering arbitrary criteria for the degree of the liver lesion, the improvement in the intensification of hepatographic changes was noted in 42.8% of the patients; the intensification of the liver lesion was not noted even in one case. Analyzing the percentage of the liver lesion for each individual patient, improvement was noted in 92.8% of the examined patients, and the changes with the same level of intensification in 7.2%. Deterioration was not noted at all. Conclusion: The liver scintigraphy and hepatography combined with biochemical analysis allows to assess the liver condition in acute cholinesterase inhibitors poisoning.     

Antenatal sonographic diagnosis of club foot with particular attention to the implications and outcomes of isolated club foot

OBJECTIVE: This study assessed the clinical performance of dentin-bonded crowns, in which ceramic crowns are bonded to underlying dentin with a resin composite-based luting material and a dentin bonding agent. METHOD AND MATERIALS: Twenty-five patients who had received such restorations more than 1 year previously were recalled for evaluation of their crowns. RESULTS: Sixty dentin-bonded complete-coverage restorations were assessed. Forty-one of the crowns had been placed on incisor teeth. The mean time since placement of the restorations was 2.43 years. Fifty-seven of the 60 restorations were intact. The three failures had resulted from cracks in the restorations, which had not clinically debonded. No secondary caries was detected at the crown margins, and anatomic form was assessed as excellent for 56 crowns. Root canal treatment had been required in one case. Color match was rated very good for 47 crowns. All 25 patients were satisfied with their restorations. CONCLUSION: Dentin-bonded crowns may be found to have a low rate of failure and to provide a high level of patient satisfaction.     

Conserved cis- and trans-acting determinants for replication initiation and regulation of replication fork movement in tetrahymenid species

The rDNA minichromosomes of Tetrahymena thermophila and Tetrahymena pyriformis share a high degree of sequence similarity and structural organization. The T.thermophila 5' non-transcribed spacer (5' NTS) is sufficient for replication and contains three repeated sequence elements that are conserved in T.pyriformis , including type I elements, the only known determinant for replication control. To assess the role of conserved sequences in replication control, structural and functional studies were performed on T.pyriformis rDNA. Similar to T.thermophila , replication initiates exclusively in the 5' NTS, localizing to a 900 bp segment. Elongating replication forks arrest transiently at one site which bears strong similarity to a tripartite sequence element present at fork arrest sites in T.thermophila rDNA. An in vitro type I element binding activity indistinguishable from the T.thermophila protein, ssA-TIBF, was detected in T.pyriformis extracts. The respective TIBF proteins bind with comparable affinity to type I elements from both species, suggesting that in vivo recognition could cross species boundaries. Despite these similarities, the T.pyriformis 5' NTS failed to support replication in transformed T.thermophila cells, suggesting a more complex genetic organization than previously realized.     

Increased transversions in a novel mutator colon cancer cell line

We describe a novel mutator phenotype in the Vaco411 colon cancer cell line which increases the spontaneous mutation rate 10-100-fold over background. This mutator results primarily in transversion base substitutions which are found infrequently in repair competent cells. Of the four possible types of transversions, only three were principally recovered. Spontaneous mutations recovered also included transitions and large deletions, but very few frameshifts were recovered. When compared to known mismatch repair defective colon cancer mutators, the distribution of mutations in Vaco411 is significantly different. Consistent with this difference, Vaco411 extracts are proficient in assays of mismatch repair. The Vaco411 mutator appears to be novel, and is not an obvious human homologue of any of the previously characterized bacterial or yeast transversion phenotypes. Several hypotheses by which this mutator may produce transversions are presented.     

Psychoneuroendocrinology of anxiety disorders

This article focuses on neuroendocrine measures in anxiety disorders and their relationships to neurotransmitter and neuroendocrine function. In particular, the hypothalamic-pituitary-somatotropin and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axes are emphasized, and a role for extrahypothalamic corticotropin releasing factor is proposed. Additional neuroactive hormones are also considered. A nonhuman primate model of anxiety is discussed in terms of its neuroendocrine relevance. And, throughout, a hypothetical functional-anatomic model for anxiety and panic is proposed using the findings of cognitive neuroscience fear research. Finally, an effort is made to synthesize existing psychoneuroendocrinologic data into a current conceptualization of the pathophysiology of anxiety disorders.     

Prognostic value of prostate-specific antigen for women with breast cancer: a large United States cohort study

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a valuable tumor marker used for diagnosis and management of prostate cancer. Recently, PSA has been found in various female tissues and body fluids. Female breasts, both normal and abnormal, including cancerous tissues, can produce PSA, and this production is regulated by androgens and progestins. Preliminary data suggested that patients with breast tumors positive for PSA may have better prognosis compared to those with PSA-negative breast tumors. This study examines the prognostic value of PSA in a large cohort study of United States patients. Using a PSA assay that has a lower detection limit of 0.001 ng/ml, we measured PSA in tumor cytosolic extracts of 953 women with primary breast cancer. Other information available for this study included age, follow-up time, survival outcome, tumor size, nodal status, steroid hormone receptor levels, DNA analysis by flow cytometry, and postoperative treatment. The median follow-up time was 73 months. During the follow-up, 200 patients relapsed and 188 died. PSA presence was found to be significantly associated with smaller tumors, tumors with low S-phase fraction, diploid tumors, younger patient age, and tumors with lower cellularity. Survival analysis indicated that the relative risks (RRs) for relapse and death were both significantly lower [RR = 0.67 (P = 0.01) for relapse; RR = 0.72 (P = 0.05) for death] in PSA-positive patients (levels higher than the 30th percentile of PSA values) than in PSA-negative patients. The reduced risks for relapse and death remained statistically significant after other clinical and pathological variables were adjusted in the multivariate analysis [RR = 0.68 (P = 0.02) for relapse; RR = 0.65 (P = 0.02) for death]. Our results suggest that the measurement of PSA in breast tumor extracts provides additional information on the prognosis of patients with primary breast cancer.     

High serum calcium in human brucellosis: a case-control study

In a retrospective case-control study of 58 cases of human brucellosis, adjusted mean serum calcium levels were found to be significantly higher in patients with brucellosis compared with controls: mean (95% confidence interval) = 2.39 (2.35-2.42) mmol/L versus 2.30 (2.26-2.34) mmol/L (P = 0.0012). The possible mechanisms underlying the cause of hypercalcemia in human brucellosis are discussed.     

A prototype Internet autopsy database. 1625 consecutive fetal and neonatal autopsy facesheets spanning 20 years

OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate that cause-of-death statements can be generated by a computer algorithm from an autopsy database composed of diagnostic terms. DATA SOURCES: Over 49 000 autopsy facesheets contributed by over a dozen institutions were collected from a publicly accessible Internet autopsy database. This database is available at the following web site: http:@www.med.jhu.edu/pathology/iad.html STUDY SELECTION: To test the feasibility of creating and using a publicly available autopsy database, and to identify the technical and medicolegal problems that may arise with such a novel resource, a prototype study was designed by selecting autopsy facesheets from fetal and neonatal deaths. An algorithm was developed to determine the cause of death from the listing of anatomic diagnoses. DATA EXTRACTION: One thousand six hundred twenty-five fetal and neonatal autopsy facesheets were selected encompassing fetal and neonatal deaths occurring up to 28 days after birth. DATA SYNTHESIS: The algorithm determined causes of death from autopsy facesheet data in all cases. On review by an experienced pediatric pathologist, these automatically generated cause-of-death statements required no modification or only slight modification in over 90% of cases. CONCLUSIONS: A large multi-institutional autopsy database composed of demographic and diagnostic information has been deposited on the Internet. This information can be freely downloaded and used by any researcher without violating patient confidentiality. As a demonstration of one possible application of the database, fetal and neonatal autopsies generated cause-of-death statements using a computer algorithm. One can anticipate that the wealth of information contained in autopsy facesheets can be assembled into a database that will serve the public interest.     

Socioeconomic status, neighborhood social conditions, and neural tube defects

OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated the contributions of lower socioeconomic status (SES) and neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics to neural tube defect etiology. The influence of additional factors, including periconceptional multivitamin use and race/ethnicity, was also explored. METHODS: Data derived from a case-control study of California pregnancies from 1989 to 1991. Mothers of 538 (87.8% of eligible) case infants/fetuses with neural tube defects and mothers of 539 (88.2%) nonmalformed infants were interviewed about their SES. Reported addresses were linked to 1990 US census information to characterize neighborhoods. RESULTS: Twofold elevated risks were observed for several SES indicators. Risks were somewhat confounded by vitamin use, race/ethnicity, age, body mass index, and fever but remained elevated after adjustment. A risk gradient was seen with increasing number of lower SES indicators. Women with 1 to 3 and 4 to 6 lower SES indicators had adjusted odds ratios of 1.6 (1.1-2.2) and 3.2 (1.9-5.4), respectively, compared with women with no lower SES indicators. CONCLUSIONS: Both lower SES and residence in a SES-lower neighborhood increased the risk of an neural tube defect-affected pregnancy, with risks increasing across a gradient of SES indicators.     

Influence of ACTH-(1-24) on free radical levels in the blood of haemorrhage-shocked rats: direct ex vivo detection by electron spin resonance spectrometry

The protein fusion technique was applied in the synthesis of an artificial dimer of ribonuclease H (305 residues). 1H NMR spectroscopy was used to analyze the structure of this dimer. Spectral profiles and pKa values of the histidine residues obtained using 1H NMR indicate that the dimer retains the secondary and tertiary structures of the intact monomer. Selective spin-lattice relaxation measurements suggest that the two monomeric units in the dimer are in tight contact. Furthermore, the 2D 1H NMR and paramagnetic relaxation filter results show that the two monomers bind together through interactions between the N- and C-terminal sites of the linked regions.