Increased incidence of spina bifida occulta in fluorosis prone areas

Spina bifida, a congenital deformity of the posterior wall of vertebrae of the spine, is a midline defect of skin, vertebral arches and neural tube, usually in the lumbosacral region. Its incidence is reported to be 0.2 to 0.4 per 1000 live births. Various hypotheses have been put forward as etiological factors for spina bifida including consumption of potato affected by blight and hardness of drinking water but these have not been proven. Two groups of 50 randomly chosen children were established. The study group consisted of children aged 5 to 12 years, weighing 15 to 30 kg, consuming fluoride rich drinking water (4.5 and 8.5 ppm fluoride; WHO permissible limit is 1.5 ppm fluoride), and manifesting either clinical, dental and/or skeletal fluorosis. The control group consisted of age and weight-matched children, consuming less than or equal to 1.5 ppm fluoride in drinking water and not showing any evidence of fluoride toxicity. These children were evaluated for antenatal history, general clinical examination (especially for dimples, tufts of hair, haemangioma on skin throughout the length of spine), other congenital abnormalities, evidence of fluoride toxicity, biochemical estimation for fluoride levels in blood and serum and by skiagrams of the spine to examine for the presence of spina bifida occulta. A total of 22 (44%) of the 50 children in group A, the study group, and 6 (12%) of the 50 children in group B, the control group, revealed spina bifida occulta in the lumbosacral region.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Tyrosine phosphorylation events during different stages of collagen-platelet activation

Three groups of phosphoproteins have been distinguished, basing on the velocity and extent of phosphorylation in platelets stimulated with collagen. pp60c-src constituted the first group; the increase in its phosphorylation was the highest and most rapid (maximal in 30 s after the addition of collagen). pp80/85 and non-identified protein of 65 kDa formed the second group; the increase in their phosphorylation was twice smaller than that of pp60c-src, and reached its maximum 60 s after the addition of collagen. pp120, pp72syk, and two non-identified phosphoproteins of 90 and 75 kDa constituted the third group; the increase in their phosphorylation was 4-10-fold lower than that of pp60c-src and reached its maximum after 180 s. We conclude that the phosphorylation of pp60c-src is important for the change of shape of platelets, the phosphorylation of pp80/85 and pp65 for the initiation of the formation of aggregates and the phosphorylation of the third group of phosphoproteins for the formation of massive aggregates. This conclusion was supported by using a monoclonal anti-GPIb antibody, which did not inhibit the shape change of platelets and did not inhibit pp60c-src phosphorylation. This antibody inhibited aggregate formation as well as tyrosine phosphorylation of proteins belonging to the second and the third group of phosphoproteins.     

Characterization of a negative cis-acting DNA element regulating the transcription of CYP2B1/B2 gene in rat liver

Polymeric films were deposited from hydroxyethylmethacrylate (HEMA) plasma on non-woven poly(butyleneterephtalate) (PBT) filter materials. To test the effect of deposition conditions on surface properties, film were deposited using a constant monomer flow rate and a discharge power ranging from 40-100 W. Surface composition and surface energetics were evaluated by Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis (ESCA) and contact angle measurement, respectively. Albumin (Alb) and fibrinogen (Fg) adsorption from single protein solutions to the plasma-coated filters was measured. Results illustrate the marked effects of the deposition condition on the surface composition, the surface field of forces, and the protein adsorption behavior. The latter is modeled by the application of the Good-van Oss-Chaudhury theory of Lewis acid-base contribution to interfacial energetics. Materials endowed with widely different properties are obtained from the same monomer and different deposition conditions, a result that must be taken into account both in the production step, to assure constant quality, and in the development of specifically tailored materials.     

Multiple cerebellar infarction due to vertebral artery obstruction and bulbar symptoms associated with vertical subluxation and atlanto-occipital subluxation in ankylosing spondylitis

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) results in disease-specific inflammation at the site of ligamentous insertion into the bone. Atlantoaxial joint subluxation and vertical subluxation of the axis may occur as a consequence of instability resulting from the inflammatory process. Spontaneous anterior atlantoaxial subluxation is a well recognized complication in about 2% of patients with AS, and presents with or without signs of spinal cord compression. Vertical subluxation may follow anterior or posterior subluxation. It was noted in 3-8% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, but is an exceedingly rare complication of AS. Moreover, it has never been reported that multiple cerebellar infarction and bulbar symptoms developed spontaneously due to atlanto-occipital subluxation and vertical subluxation in a patient with a long [corrected] history of AS. We describe a man with AS who developed multiple cerebellar infarction due to vertebral artery obstruction and bulbar symptoms associated with atlanto-occipital subluxation and vertical subluxation.     

Robust moving object detection against fast illumination change

To solve the problem due to fast illumination change in a visual surveillance system, we propose a novel moving object detection algorithm for which we develop an illumination change model, a chromaticity difference model, and a brightness ratio model. When fast illumination change occurs, background pixels as well as moving object pixels are detected as foreground pixels. To separate detected foreground pixels into moving object pixels and false foreground pixels, we develop a chromaticity difference model and a brightness ratio model that estimates the intensity difference and intensity ratio of false foreground pixels, respectively. These models are based on the proposed illumination change model. Based on experimental results, the proposed method shows excellent performance under various illumination change conditions while operating in real-time.     

A hybrid online-product recommendation system: Combining implicit rating-based collaborative filtering and sequential pattern analysis

Many online shopping malls in which explicit rating information is not available still have difficulty in providing recommendation services using collaborative filtering (CF) techniques for their users. Applying temporal purchase patterns derived from sequential pattern analysis (SPA) for recommendation services also often makes users unhappy with the inaccurate and biased results obtained by not considering individual preferences. The objective of this research is twofold. One is to derive implicit ratings so that CF can be applied to online transaction data even when no explicit rating information is available, and the other is to integrate CF and SPA for improving recommendation quality. Based on the results of several experiments that we conducted to compare the performance between ours and others, we contend that implicit rating can successfully replace explicit rating in CF and that the hybrid approach of CF and SPA is better than the individual ones.