Vocabulary competence in early childhood: measurement, latent construct, and predictive validity

We systematically examined relations among 6 measures of child language derived from 3 sources, including observations of the child's speech with mother, experimenter assessments, and maternal reports. A total of 184 20-month-olds and their mothers contributed complete information about child language comprehension and expression. Correlations of child language measures with socioeconomic status and maternal education were accounted for, as were correlations of child language measures with mothers' verbal intelligence, maternal report measures with mothers' tendency to respond in a socially desirable fashion, and experimenter assessments with child social competence. Structural equation modeling supported (1) strong relations among child language measures derived from observations of the child's speech with mother, experimenter assessments, and maternal reports; (2) the loading of multiple measures of child language from different sources on a single latent construct of vocabulary competence; and (3) the predictive validity of the vocabulary competence latent variable at 20 months, as well as receptive vocabulary specifically, for both verbal and performance IQ (verbal better than performance) at 48 months. Neither an index of child monologing (a nonvocabulary language measure) nor symbolic play (a nonlinguistic representational measure) covaried with vocabulary competence. Girls consistently outperformed boys on individual language measures, but no differences emerged in any model in the fit for boys and girls.     

Pollution's ambient problems and regularity of optimal cost function

We study pollution's ambient problems by using the optimal control theory applied to partial differential equations. We consider the problem to find the optimal way to eliminate pollution in the time, such that the concentration is close to a standard level which does not affect the ecological equilibrium when the source is pointwise. We consider a quadratic cost functional and we prove the existence and uniqueness of optimal control. We find a characterisation which makes possible the computing of optimal control. Additionally, we consider the problem moving the pointwise source. So, we define a function j(b) that associates to any point b ∈ Ω the optimal cost functional applied to the optimal control. We show that j is differentiable, provided that the controls are taken in a convenient subset of admissible functions satisfying the cone properties. We also find the point in Ω, for which the cost functional is minimum.     

Differential immediate early gene expression in conditional hepatitis B virus pX-transforming versus nontransforming hepatocyte cell lines

We report construction and characterization of tetracycline-controlled hepatitis B virus pX-expressing hepatocyte (AML12) cell lines. These cell lines were constructed in AML12 clonal isolates (clones 3 and 4), which express constitutively the tetracycline-controlled transactivator. Since pX is implicated in HCC, this immortalized hepatocyte model system was used to investigate the mechanism of pX in transformation. Clonal isolates of 3pX and 4pX lineages display conditional synthesis of pX mRNA and protein and a 2-fold increase in growth saturation density following tetracycline removal, implicating pX in monolayer overgrowth. Interestingly, only 3pX clones display pX-dependent anchorage independence. Clone 3 lineages express hepatocyte nuclear factor-1alpha and hepatocyte-specific marker genes; clone 4 lineages express hepatocyte nuclear factor-1beta and reduced levels of hepatocyte-specific marker genes, suggesting the importance of the differentiated hepatocyte in pX-mediated oncogenic transformation. Importantly, 3pX and 4pX lineages display differential expression of immediate early genes c-fos and ATF3. The pX-transforming 3pX lineage displays early, pX-dependent induction of ATF3 and prolonged induction of c-fos. The nontransforming 4pX cells display an absence of pX-dependent ATF3 induction and transient induction of c-fos. Our results support the direct link of pX expression to oncogenic transformation in 3pX lineage clones and underscore the advantage of this conditional cellular model system for studying mechanisms of pX-mediated oncogenesis.     

Granulocytic sarcoma presented as a reactivation of chronic myeloid leukemia after allogenic marrow transplantation

The authors report the case of a chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patient submitted to allogenic bone marrow transplantation, who had probably never entered complete remission. The disease was reactivated as a granulocytic sarcoma, next to a platinum plate installed to correct a tibia fracture 11 years earlier. Its final event was a myeloid Ph1 + blastic crisis that was unsuccessfully treated with high doses of sc interferon and citarabine.     

The significance of colour velocity and spectral Doppler ultrasound in the differentiation of liver tumours

BACKGROUND: The distinction between malignant mesothelioma (MM) and adenocarcinoma (ACA) in cytologic specimens frequently is difficult, often requiring immunocytochemistry to support the diagnosis. Recent reports have proposed the utilization of antibodies to mesothelial cell clone HBME-1 and thrombomodulin (TM), because they are immunoreactive in MM and less commonly reactive in ACA. Immunoreactivity for the monoclonal antibody CA 19-9 has been observed in many ACAs and reportedly is absent in MM. METHODS: In this study, immunostaining was performed on formalin fixed, paraffin embedded cell blocks from effusions or fine-needle aspirations using the avidin-biotin-peroxidase method. Thirty-eight MMs and 49 ACAs were tested using antibodies to CA 19-9, HBME-1, and TM. RESULTS: Anti-CA 19-9 stained only 1 of the 37 cases of MM tested (3%), but stained 24 of the 49 cases of ACA (49%). Anti-HBME-1 stained 34 of 38 cases of MM (89%), and 28 of 43 cases of ACA tested (65%). Anti-TM stained 24 of 36 cases of MM (67%), and 21 of 40 cases of ACA tested (53%). CONCLUSIONS: CA 19-9 has utility as part of an immunocytochemical panel for distinguishing ACA from MM, because a positive staining reaction would make the diagnosis of MM unlikely. Although HBME-1 and TM can identify MM positively, each frequently is detected in ACA, thus limiting the utility of these antibodies in cytologic specimens.     

Repair of left ventricular aneurysm: long-term results of linear repair versus endoaneurysmorrhaphy

BACKGROUND: Recently, endoaneurysomorrhaphy has been proposed as a more physiologic repair of postinfarction left ventricular aneurysm than is linear repair. There are only a few studies comparing the short-term and long-term results of the two techniques. METHODS: Clinical outcomes and echocardiographic measurements of left ventricular volume and sphericity in 27 patients who underwent endoaneurysmorrhaphy were compared with those in 20 patients who had linear repair. RESULTS: The two groups were matched with respect to age, gender, comorbid risk factors, functional class, urgency of the operation, and concomitant procedures. Preoperatively, left ventricular ejection fraction was lower in the endoaneurysmorrhaphy group (0.25 +/- 0.08 versus 0.30 +/- 0.09; p = 0.03). Follow-up was available in 44 patients (94%) and ranged from 2 to 86 months (mean, 41.0 +/- 26.5 months). Thirty-day operative mortality, perioperative complications, 5-year survival, and freedom from cardiac death were similar. Early postoperative percentage increase in left ventricular ejection fraction was greater after endoaneurysmorrhaphy (0.51 +/- 0.64 versus 0.18 +/- 0.48; p = 0.036). Long-term functional improvement was significantly better in the endoaneurysmorrhaphy group: At the time of last follow-up, 88% of patients were in New York Heart Association class I/II, compared with 53% after linear repair (p = 0.01). There were no measurable differences between the groups with respect to left ventricular ejection fraction (0.28 +/- 0.11 versus 0.27 +/- 0.11; p = 0.90), left ventricular volume (171.6 +/- 59.1 versus 169.9 +/- 54.4 mL; p = 0.94), and sphericity index (0.61 +/- 0.09 versus 0.61 +/- 0.12; p = 1.0). CONCLUSIONS: Despite having a similar effect on left ventricular geometry, endoaneurysmorrhaphy resulted in a greater increase in postoperative left ventricular ejection fraction and a substantially improved long-term clinical outcome.     

The seasonal characteristics of the course of abdominal typhus

Seasonal fluctuations were studied in the incidence of characteristic abdominal fever symptoms, such as headache, insomnia, asthenia, skin pallor, roseolous eruptions, protracted fever, drop in blood pressure, relative bradycardia, dicrotia, typhoid tongue, enlargement of the liver and spleen, meteorism, constipation, palpable crepitation in the right iliac region, manifest leucopenia. Some symptoms occurred with almost equal frequency in different seasons of the year. In adults, severity of some typhoid symptoms was the greatest, duration the longest, degree the highest in spring, followed, in decreasing rank order by autumn > summer > winter; in children: spring > summer > autumn > winter.     

Expression of the Solfolobus acidocaldarius Rieske iron sulfur protein II (SOXF) with the correctly inserted [2FE-2S] cluster in Escherichia coli

The Rieske protein II (Schmidt et al., 1996, FEBS Lett. 388, 43-46) from the thermoacidophilic crenarcheon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius (DSM 639) was expressed in E. coli cells. The full length protein was strictly bound to the E. coli membranes and could only be removed by detergent treatment indicating the presence of a membrane anchor. The iron sulfur cluster was correctly inserted into a fraction of the full length protein and much more effectively into a soluble form created by the deletion of the 45 N-terminal amino acids. The soluble form of the protein displayed the typical spectroscopic properties of a respiratory Rieske protein. The midpoint potential was +375 mV determined by CD redox potentiometry. The presented data demonstrate that the structure of the recombinant protein is very similar or identical to the authentic protein making this a powerful model system for the studies of Rieske proteins by site directed mutagenesis.