Neuropsychological and motor functioning after unilateral anatomically guided posterior ventral pallidotomy. Preoperative performance and three-month follow-up

This study presents baseline and 3-month follow-up motor and neuropsychological data for 22 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) who underwent anatomically guided unilateral posterior ventral pallidotomy (PVP). Postsurgical improvements were seen in psychomotor speed, fine motor accuracy, and dyskinesia, whereas grip strength decreased on the side contralateral to the surgery. No change was detected in overall level of cognitive functioning, nor were changes demonstrated in memory, language, or working memory when the entire sample of patients was evaluated. When the group was divided on the basis of side of surgery, patients with left-sided pallidotomies showed a decline in verbal fluency. Patients and caregivers reported improvement in psychosocial functioning. These initial findings of improved motor performance and largely unaffected cognitive functions are consistent with results obtained with functional PVP and provide support for the use of anatomically guided posterior ventral pallidotomy in the treatment of motor symptoms of PD.     

The protective action of tocopherol acetate in simultaneous administration with nitrobenzene and its chloro derivatives]

In this article the results of the study of regularities in the development of outbreak morbidity in shigellosis, caused by S.flexneri 2a, in hospitals are presented. The study was carried out with the use of the method of typing by the plasmid profile. The study showed the continuity of the epidemic process in the foci which appeared at intervals considerably exceeding the incubation period. The fact of the interhospital spread of S.flexneri 2a was established. The strain causing the disease was identified by the characteristic set of plasmids and their size. The possibility of reinfection of patients with S.flexneri 2a under hospital conditions was confirmed. The possibility of changes in the main transmission routes in the course of the spread of S.flexneri 2a infection in closed groups was pointed out.     

D-Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase: structural basis and functional role of the acyl transfer reactions

The catalytic mechanism of D-glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase is considered in the light of the available structural information. The design features of the enzyme molecule determining the pathway of the acyl transfer, i.e., the transfer of the acyl group produced in the oxidative step of the reaction to one of the two acceptors, inorganic phosphate or water, are discussed. The properties of enzyme forms possessing cysteine residues oxidized to sulfenic acid derivatives are described. The participation of these residues in the acyl transfer to water is considered.     

Depletion of a Drosophila homolog of yeast Sup35p disrupts spindle assembly, chromosome segregation, and cytokinesis during male meiosis

This paper addresses the effects of availability and anchoring-and-adjustment on people's beliefs and values concerning environmental issues. The first three studies focus on lay people's perceptions of the causes of large scale environmental risks, the second series of three studies deals with how people value environmental goods and how much they are prepared to pay to mitigate environmental risks. In studies 1-3 we investigate the effects of availability and anchoring-and-adjustment on estimating the contribution of various factors to large scale environmental risks. Highly complex risks such as acid rain and global warming tend to be associated with multiple causes, and our results show that estimating the role of these causes is clearly affected by availability and anchoring-and-adjustment. Both have sizeable effects and persist over time. Moreover, corrective procedures only seem to have a limited effect. Availability and anchoring-and-adjustment not only play a role in judging the possible causes of risks; they also play a role in research attempting to assess the public's willingness to pay (WTP) to protect our environment. The outcomes of WTP surveys are often used as a tool to help policy decision making. In the second part of this article we present three studies on this issue. Results provide further evidence of the impact of the two heuristics on the outcomes of WTP research. Implications for research and practice are briefly discussed.     

Selective structure of the gene pool. III. Technology of determination from F(ST)-statistics using numerical resampling

The selection pressure on the ith gene was determined on the basis of the heterogeneity of interpopulation diversity FST(i), assumpting that the significant deviation of FST(i) (observed differentiation of the ith gene) from Fe (selectively neutral differentiation) indicates selection. A selectively neutral variation Fe was estimated from the mean FST, averaged over the total set of genes. Since the validity of the equation FST approximately Fe = (4NeMe + 1)-1 depends on the fulfillment of conditions of the theoretical model as well as on organization of sampling of genes and subpopulations rather than on statistical parameters of the gene sample, an additional correction by boot-strapping is suggested. Simulation of sampling of the gene pool using numerical resampling (10(6) samples from each of the 50 markers) allowed us to characterize the selective structure of the gene pool. This structure consists of the following: one class of selectively neutral genes, NEUTRAL (FST(i) approximately Fe); and two classes of selective genes, LOWER DIFF (FST(i) < Fe) and SUPER DIFF (FST(i) > Fe). Interclass regions N-LOWER and N-SUPER between the classes of neutral and selective genes were defined with the use of bootstrapping. The hypothesis on the presence or absence of selection cannot be formulated with regard to the genes included in the interclass regions. A general trend for all gene pools of the world was revealed: the ratio between the boundary values of selective classes and Fe is constant. On the basis of this, a rapid and simple technique for estimating selective values of genes was developed. The positions of more than 80 immunobiochemical gene markers in the selective structure of six gene pools of the world (Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, America, and northeastern Eurasia) are presented. The selective structure of five subregions of northeastern Eurasia (Caucasus, Europe, Ural, Siberia, and Central Asia) are characterized as well.     

Gastroparesis after celiac plexus block

Pectin constituents, which were about 70 w/w% of extracellular polysaccharides (ECP) from a cell-suspension culture of Mentha, were purified by gel filtration chromatography, and their sugar composition and linkage were investigated. Two major constituents identified were (1-->3)-linked galactan carrying arabinosyl residues on C-6 and (1-->4)-alpha-linked galacturonan partially interspersed with (1-->2)-linked rhamnosyl resides. Acetylated or methylated pectins were not identified on 1H-NMR analysis.     

Responses to ergometer exercise in a healthy biracial population of children

To determine normal values for the exercise variables heart rate, blood pressure, maximal workload, physical working capacity index, J point displacement, and ST segment slope, we stress tested 405 healthy children. We analyzed the data for four body surface area-determined groups, to discover whether there were any racial differences between healthy white children and black children. There were numerous racial differences in blood pressure, maximal workload, and physical working capacity index; there were no differences in the heart rate values. The incidence of false-positive J point displacement was less than or equal to 3% when the PR isoelectric line method was used. The ST segment slope in healthy children was always greater than zero at maximal exercise. Thus, norms for exercise variables must be expressed in relation to both sex and race. The nomograms presented in this report provide an easy-to-use set of normative data for cycle ergometer stress testing in children.     

131I dose-dependent thyroid autoimmune disorders in children living around Chernobyl

The nucleotide sequence of 35,400 bp at approximately 10 kb from the right telomere of chromosome VII was determined. The segment contains the MAL1 locus, one of the five unlinked loci sufficient for maltose utilization. Until now, each of these loci was considered to contain three genes (for regulator, permease and alpha-glucosidase), but a fourth gene, presumably an extra alpha-glucosidase gene, was found at MAL1 adjacent to the usual cluster of three genes. The two glucosidase genes are present in opposite orientation, forming an inverted repeat structure. In addition to the four genes at MAL1, there are 11 complete, non-overlapping open reading frames (ORFs) longer than 300 bp in the sequence presented here. A new ABC transporter gene (YGR281w), required for oligomycin resistance was found (YOR1; Katzman et al., 1995), and the previously sequenced BGL2 (YGR282c), ZUO1 (YGR285c) and BIO2 (YGR286c) genes were located. The sequence of BIO2, a biotin synthetase gene, required substantial correction and the size of Bio2p is 375, rather than 356, amino acids. Two ORFs show rather weak similarities to animal genes: YGR278w to an unknown ORF of Caenorhabditis elegans and YGR284c to the murine Surf-4, a member of a cluster of at least four housekeeping genes. The remaining five ORFs do not encode known functions, but three of these show weak to high similarities to other ORFs in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome and one (YGR280c) codes for a particularly lysine-rich protein.     

Effects of melatonin and diazepam on the heart rate variability in normal rats and rats subjected to stress

1. Using story telling with the older resident provides an opportunity for the nurse to demonstrate caring, and a common reality between them is developed. 2. Story telling by older residents, far from merely "living in the past," can promote their health and well being. 3. In the narrational relationship between nurse and older resident, story telling is encouraged and supported; for the nurse, this means valuing oneself, older adults, and story telling.     

Use of fluorescent dyes for measurement and localization of organelles associated with Ca2+ store release in human neutrophils

Fura-2 and its lipid analogue, FFP-18, were used to measure changes in cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration within human neutrophils. Whereas fura-2 was employed to monitor cytosolic Ca2+ increases throughout the cytosol, FFP-18 was used to monitor Ca2+ changes only near the membrane. This latter probe was incorporated into the plasma membrane as its acetoxymethyl ester (FFP-18-AM) but as de-esterification was catalysed by cytosolic esterases, the Ca(2+)-sensing probe (FFP-18 acid) accumulated on the inner face of membrane. The fluorescence of esterified probe on the extracellularly facing membrane leaflet was quenched by the membrane-impermeant ion Ni2+. Under these conditions, near membrane Ca2+ changes which resulted from the release of Ca2+ from intracellular stores was possible by conventional ratio fluorescence measurement of FFP-18. From the timing of arrival of Ca2+ at the plasma membrane, it was proposed that there were two Ca2+ storage sites, liberated by different stimuli, one close to the plasma membrane and the other more distant. In order to discover whether organelles within the neutrophil had distributions which correlate with the Ca2+ release sites, fluorescent dyes for structures within the cytosol were employed. We have previously shown that the location of the intracellular membrane stain, DiOC6 (3) corresponds to the distant Ca2+ release site. Here a second stain, BODIPY-C5 ceramide, has also been used and is shown to stain a peripheral region of the neutrophil, in a similar pattern to the near membrane Ca2+ storage site. These data therefore raise the question of whether these stains mark the organelles in neutrophils which are the two Ca2+ storage and release sites.