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.     

Provision of mental health services in women's health centers

Women's health centers are often associated with a comprehensive model of health care that treats the "whole woman." Using data from a nationwide study of 467 women's health centers, we explored how the ideal of comprehensive care was implemented with respect to mental health services. Specifically, we examined the rates of screening and treatment for a subset of mental health and behavioral and social problems in women's health centers and the structural, staffing, philosophical, and patient factors associated with the provision of services. Across 12 services, the overall rates of provision ranged from 7.7% for screening for dementing disorders to 27.6% for smoking cessation counseling and treatment. In a series of logistic regressions, center type (primary care) and having a mental health staff person were consistently associated with service provision; other important variables were having a high percentage of women using the center as their usual source of care and having a belief in women-centered care. Findings indicate that the majority of women using women's health centers do not receive services in a comprehensive care environment that includes key mental health services.     

Domain flexibility in retroviral proteases: structural implications for drug resistant mutations

Rigid body rotation of five domains and movements within their interfacial joints provide a rational context for understanding why HIV protease mutations that arise in drug resistant strains are often spatially removed from the drug or substrate binding sites. Domain motions associated with substrate binding in the retroviral HIV-1 and SIV proteases are identified and characterized. These motions are in addition to closure of the flaps and result from rotations of approximately 6-7 degrees at primarily hydrophobic interfaces. A crystal structure of unliganded SIV protease (incorporating the point mutation Ser 4 His to stabilize the protease against autolysis) was determined to 2.0 A resolution in a new space group, P3221. The structure is in the most "open" conformation of any retroviral protease so far examined, with six residues of the flaps disordered. Comparison of this and unliganded HIV structures, with their respective liganded structures by difference distance matrixes identifies five domains of the protease dimer that move as rigid bodies against one another: one terminal domain encompassing the N- and C-terminal beta sheet of the dimer, two core domains containing the catalytic aspartic acids, and two flap domains. The two core domains rotate toward each other on substrate binding, reshaping the binding pocket. We therefore show that, for enzymes, mutations at interdomain interfaces that favor the unliganded form of the target active site will increase the off-rate of the inhibitor, allowing the substrate greater access for catalysis. This offers a mechanism of resistance to competitive inhibitors, especially when the forward enzymatic reaction rate exceeds the rate of substrate dissociation.     

All that you can be: stereotyping of self and others in a military context

The authors tested the shifting standards model (M. Biernat, M. Manis, & T. E. Nelson, 1991) as it applies to sex- and race-based stereotyping of self and others in the military. U. S. Army officers attending a leadership training course made judgments of their own and their groupmates' leadership competence at 3 time points over a 9-week period. We examined the effects of officer sex and race on both subjective (rating) and objective/common-rule (ranking/Q-sort) evaluations. Stereotyping generally increased with time, and in accordance with the shifting standards model, pro-male judgment bias was more evident in rankings than in ratings, particularly for White targets. Self-judgments were also affected by sex-based shifting standards, particularly in workgroups containing a single ("solo") woman. Differential standard use on the basis of race was less apparent, a finding attributed to the Army's explicit invocation against the use of differential race-based standards.     

Analogues of capsaicin with agonist activity as novel analgesic agents: structure-activity studies. 4. Potent, orally active analgesics

Structural features of three regions of the capsaicin molecule necessary for agonist properties were delineated by a previously reported modular approach. These in vitro agonist effects were shown to correlate with analgesic potency in rodent models. Combination of optimal structural features from each of these regions of the capsaicin molecule have led to highly potent agonists (eg., 1b). Evaluation in vivo established that 1b had analgesic properties but poor oral activity, short duration of action, and excitatory side effects which precluded further development of this compound. Preliminary metabolism studies had shown that the phenol moiety of 1b was rapidly glucuronidated in vivo, providing a possible explanation for the poor pharmacokinetic profile. Subsequent specific modification of the phenol group led to compounds 2a-j, which retained in vitro potency. The in vivo profiles of two representatives of this series, 2a,h, were much improved over the "parent" phenol series, and they are candidates for development as analgesic agents.     

Roald Amundsen--a study of personality

Roald Amundsen is the most famous of the Norwegian polar explorers. His ancestors came from a group of islands south-east of the Oslofjord. From being fishermen and sailors, they progressed to becoming captains and shipowners in the course of two generations. Amundsen's father, Jens, stayed at sea until his ship went down with all the crew. Roald was 14 years of age at the time, the youngest of four competing brothers. Jens had left the close-knit local family community before that, and bought a flat in the capital, Oslo, so that his sons could get a better education. Roald's mother wanted him to study medicine. He did as she wished for a time, but was not at all interested. When his mother died, he abruptly left the university and went to sea, which had been the tradition in his family for decades. As a young boy he was an admirer of Sir John Franklin and his explorers of the Northwest Passage. Fridtjof Nansen became his ideal. The biographies about Roald Amundsen are very diverging--some hold him a hero, others reflect a strongly critical attitude. Here, the author tries to define his personality and places him firmly within the narcissistic domain. His tendency to seek the company of married women, but to take immediate flight when they really became interested reflects an Oedipus complex from before puberty. The tragic death of his father, the sea captain, may have been a supposition; puberty can be seen as a period of coping with ambivalence towards an earlier idealized father. His genius combined ambitious goals with a sharp eye for details as regards the equipment used in his expeditions. In his travels in the Arctic and the Antartic he was driven forward by the energy of the nation. His heroic death, trying to save his earlier "enemy", Nobile, was probably caused by an urge for self-destruction.