Peptide amidating activity in human bronchoalveolar lavage fluid

Monitoring respiratory epithelial biology may reveal individuals with incipient lung cancer. The expression of neuroendocrine (NE) markers in pulmonary epithelium is thought to be central to lung development, repair of injury and may contribute to carcinogenesis. In this study, we evaluate several candidate NE markers to determine the feasibility of prospective analysis of clinical specimens. The potential NE markers include the enzyme L-DOPA decarboxylase (DDC), the neuropeptide gastrin releasing peptide (GRP), and peptidyl-glycine alpha-amidating monooxygenase (PAM), the bifunctional enzyme responsible for the final bioactivation step of many neuropeptides. A comparison of PAM activity and DDC levels in 30 lung cancer cell lines indicated that peptide amidating activity may be an indicator of NE status. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid from subjects at risk of developing second primary lung cancer and from volunteers was obtained. The activity of the first PAM enzyme, peptidylglycine alpha-hydroxylating monooxygenase (PHM), ranged from not detectable to 507 pmol/h/mg protein in 57 specimens. The second PAM enzyme, peptidylamidoglycolate lyase (PAL), ranged from not detectable to 414 pmol/h/mg protein in 56 specimens. Using cluster analysis by the average linkage method, a group of enzyme values with PHM greater than 230 pmol/h/mg protein was determined. Long-term follow-up of these patients for new second primary lung cancers may help to determine the potential predictive value of PAM detected in the BAL fluid.     

Cytomorphometric markers for uterine cancer in intermediate cells

Precise microphotometric assessment of intermediate cells from patients with normal cervical cytology and from patients with dysplasia or carcinoma in situ shows the existence of small but consistent differences. Marker features for the presence of premalignant and malignant disease can be extracted from the cell images of "normal"-appearing intermediate cells. The marker features and their diagnostic classification potential are described.     

Plasma GABA in children and adolescents with mood, behavior, and comorbid mood and behavior disorders: a preliminary study

Plasma GABA concentrations (pGABA) were measured in 115 inpatients (aged 7-17) with child psychiatric disorders. Group mean pGABAs were compared for 38 patients with mood disorders only (MOOD), 29 with behavior disorders only (BEH), 48 with comorbid mood and behavior disorders (MOOD + BEH), and 14 normal controls (CON, aged 14-17). The BEH group was characterized by (a) high mean pGABAs (157 vs. 133 pmol/ml), (b) lower mean pGABAs in BEH subjects who had been receiving pharmacotherapy with SSRIs or other medications (p < 0.026), and (c) decreased pGABA with increasing age (p = 0.019). These features were not found in controls or in groups of patients with mood disorders (MOOD or MOOD + BEH). Elevated mean pGABA in the BEH group appeared specifically in patients with comorbid CD and ADHD, not in patients with ADHD or CD alone (p = 0.004). No patient in BEH (or CON) had pGABA below 100 pmol/ml, but low pGABAs were found in 15% of MOOD patients (who had no behavior disorder) and in 16% of MOOD + BEH patients. Pharmacotherapy did not change pGABAs in the MOOD or the MOOD + BEH groups. No pGABA differences were found among the anxiety disorders, either alone or with mood or behavior comorbidity. The finding that plasma GABA levels are elevated in nonmedicated behavior disorders that present in the absence of mood disorders, and appear to lower following medication treatments, merits increased attention to the pharmacological study of nonaffective behavior disorders.     

Control of food handling by cutaneous receptor input in squirrels

In a complementary neuroanatomical study by Brenowitz in 1980, it was shown that tree squirrels (Sciurus niger) have a higher relative density of mechanoreceptors in their glabrous forepaw skin than do ground squirrels (Spermophilus tridecemlineatus). The main purpose of this sudy was to test the prediction that tree squirrels would depend upon somatic sensory (cutaneous) input from their forepaws to a greater extent than would ground squirrels in food handling behavior. In addition, a series of more general questions about the sensory control of food handling was examined. First, using different sized food items, it was shown that food handling (rate of manipulation) is subject to sensory control, in general. Secondly, comparision of sham-operated groups with groups receiving median nerve (innervating the palmar surface) lesions showed that cutaneous input from the volar surface of the forepaw contributes to the sensory control in both species of squirrels. Thirdly, comparison of lesion effects in the two species showed that, as predicted, tree squirrels depend upon cutaneous input from their volar forepaw to a greater extent than do ground squirrels. Fourthly, by reanalyzing the above data it was shown that there is continued sensory feedback from food items rather than only an initial evaluation of them.     

Failure to cure Mycobacterium gordonae peritonitis associated with continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis

Nontuberculous mycobacteria are increasingly recognized as important pathogens in peritonitis associated with continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). Mycobacterium gordonae rarely causes human infection and is the least likely mycobacterium to produce clinical infection in CAPD patients. We describe a patient with persistent M. gordonae peritonitis acquired while undergoing CAPD. During 18 months of treatment, clinical improvement occurred but a microbiological cure could not be achieved. Principles of therapy for mycobacterial peritonitis developing during CAPD are reviewed, and potential explanations for our patient's failure to respond to therapy are discussed.     

Automatic learners with feedback queries

Automatic classes are classes of languages for which a finite automaton can decide whether a given element is in a set given by its index. The present work studies the learnability of automatic families by automatic learners which, in each round, output a hypothesis and update a long-term memory, depending on the input datum, via an automatic function. Many variants of automatic learners are investigated: where the long-term memory is restricted to be the current hypothesis whenever this exists, cannot be of length larger than the length of the longest datum seen, or has to consist of a constant number of examples seen so far. Learnability is also studied with respect to queries which reveal information about past data or past computation history; the number of queries per round is bounded by a constant.