Studies of the neutralizing activity and avidity of anti-human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Env antibody elicited by DNA priming and protein boosting

DNA vaccination is an effective means of eliciting strong antibody responses to a number of viral antigens. However, DNA immunization alone has not generated persistent, high-titer antibody and neutralizing antibody responses to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) envelope glycoprotein (Env). We have previously reported that DNA-primed anti-Env antibody responses can be augmented by boosting with Env-expressing recombinant vaccinia viruses. We report here that recombinant Env protein provides a more effective boost of DNA-initiated antibody responses. In rabbits primed with Env-expressing plasmids, protein boosting increased titer, persistence, neutralizing activity, and avidity of anti-Env responses. While titers increased rapidly after boosting, avidity and neutralizing activity matured more slowly over a 6-month period following protein boosting. DNA priming and protein immunization with HIV-1 HXB-2 Env elicited neutralizing antibody for T cell line-adapted, but not primary isolate, viruses. The most effective neutralizing antibody responses were observed after priming with plasmids which expressed noninfectious virus-like particles. In contrast to immunizations with HIV-1 Env, DNA immunizations with the influenza virus hemagglutinin glycoprotein did not require a protein boost to achieve high-titer antibody with good avidity and persistence.     

An analysis of program and family costs of case managed care for technology-dependent infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia

Influenza caused low levels of mortality and morbidity in England and Wales in the 1997/98 season. Influenza viruses of the H3N2 and H1N1 subtypes were isolated in small numbers from community and hospital patients in November and December. Their numbers subsequently increased to peak in February, H1N1 a week or two before H3N2. Most of the H1N1 isolates were similar to the A/Bayern/7/95-like virus, included in the vaccine recommended for 1997-98, whereas most H3N2 isolates were A/Sydney/5/97-like, a virus not covered by the season's vaccine but recommended for 1998/99. Consultation rates in general practice for influenza-like illnesses remained low until early February, when a small increase coincided with the increase in laboratory confirmed influenza. Fewer deaths directly attributed to influenza were registered during the surveillance period than in recent years. Localised outbreaks occurred in schools and nursing homes towards the end of the winter.     

Psychosocial characteristics of pregnant and nonpregnant HIV-seropositive women

Thirty-three HIV-positive women, 12 of whom were pregnant, participated in semistructured interviews to define areas of psychosocial need. Eighty-eight percent of the subjects reported current unemployment. A history of substance abuse was reported by 82 percent, suicide attempts by 52 percent, and sexual problems by 43 percent. Approximately 30 percent reported elevated levels of depressive symptoms on standardized symptom inventories. The pregnant women appeared psychologically healthier than the nonpregnant group. HIV-positive women face multiple psychosocial stressors and may experience significant psychological distress.     

Assessing obesity: classification and epidemiology

Obesity is generally defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 30 kg/m2 and higher. Overweight is defined as a BMI between 25 and 30 kg/m2. The prevalence varies considerably between countries, and between regions within countries. It is estimated that more than half of adults aged 35-65 living in Europe are either overweight or obese. Overweight is more common among men than among women but obesity is more common among women. The prevalence of obesity in Europe is probably in the order of 10-20% in men and 15-25% in adult women. In most European countries who have reliable data on time-trends the prevalence of obesity seems to be increasing. In most European countries, obesity is usually inversely associated with socio-economic status, particularly among women. New classifications of overweight may be based on cut-off points for simple anthropometric measures which reflects both total adiposity as well as abdominal fatness.     

Increasing productivity and protein content using early-maturing rices and efficient nitrogen management

Germplasm with shorter duration than that of the currently grown varieties is being generated to maximize productivity of irrigated rice. However, short-duration varieties often produce yields lower than the medium- and long-duration varieties. Experiments were conducted during the 1980–82 dry and wet seasons to increase productivity through the use of very early-maturing rices and the improved management of nitrogen (N) fertilizers.Results over three years showed that IR58 and IR9729-67-3 (growth duration 100 ± 5 days) yield as well as or higher than IR36 although earlier maturing. They generally had a higher productivity (kg ha^–1 day^–1) than IR36 (110 ± 5 days).Three years' data suggest that the improved timing of broadcast applications of urea in split doses increased grain yield comparable with the basal incorporation of slow-release sulfur-coated urea (SCU) or deep point-placement of urea supergranules (USG).Results on elite breeding lines showed that the early-maturing IR9729-67-3 produced higher protein yield ha^–1 than longer duration varieties such as IR8 and IR42 in the dry season. Furthermore, contrary to earlier results, single basal incorporation of slow-release SCU increased the protein yield of rice by 53 kg ha^–1 and deep point-placement of USG by 43 kg ha^–1 over split application of prilled urea.     

The mating of a fly

Courtship in Drosophila is influenced by a wide variety of genes, in that many different kinds of pleiotropic mutations lead to defective courtship. This may seem to be a truism, but the broad temporal and spatial expression of most of the fly's "neuro genes" makes it difficult to exclude elements of such genes' actions as materially underlying reproductive behavior. "Courtship genes" that seem to play more particular roles were originally identified as sensory, learning, or rhythm mutations; their reproductive abnormalities have been especially informative for revealing components of male or female actions that might otherwise have gone unnoticed. Further behavioral mutations seemed originally to be courtship-specific, turned out not to have that property, and have led to a broadened perspective on the nature and action of Drosophila's sex-determination genes.     

Higher incidence of Gastrospirillum sp. in swine with gastric ulcer of the pars oesophagea

Gastric ulcer in swine is characterized by an area of acid-peptic digestion, occurs usually in the pars oesophagea of the stomach, and has unknown etiopathogenesis. The present work was carried out to investigate the prevalence of the newly described spiral-shaped microorganism Gastrospirillum sp. ("Gastrospirillum suis") in stomachs of abattoir pigs with and without gastric ulcer. Stomachs were removed from 32 consecutive pigs presenting apparently normal mucosa and from 32 additional consecutive pigs presenting frank, chronic gastric ulcer of the pars oesophagea. Fragments of antral, oxyntic, cardiac and pars oesophagea regions were taken from each stomach and processed for histology and for identification of Gastrospirillum sp. in tissue sections. The microorganisms were identified mainly in the mucous layer and in gastric foveolas of the antral and oxyntic mucosa. Forty pigs (62.5%) were positive for Gastrospirillum sp.; among them, 27 (67.5%) had gastric ulcer, and 13 (32.5%) had no ulcer. Twenty-four pigs (37.5%) were negative for Gastrospirillum sp.; among them, five (20.8%) presented with gastric ulcer, and 19 (79.2%) had no ulcer. There was a significant difference between pigs with and without gastric ulcer in regard to the presence of Gastrospirillum sp. (P < 0.01). The spiral-shaped microorganism Gastrospirillum sp. that inhabits the stomach of pigs should be considered a possible factor connected with the etiopathogenesis of swine gastric ulcer.     

Electromyographic and neuromuscular variables in post-polio subjects

OBJECTIVE: Post-polio subjects experience functional deterioration many years after developing acute poliomyelitis and have been shown previously to have a deficit in strength recovery after isometric activity. This study characterized the size and stability of the motor units in a group of post-polio subjects with macro and single fiber electromyography (EMG) and correlated these variables with isometric strength, endurance, "work capacity," and strength recovery after fatiguing isometric exercise. DESIGN: A cohort of 12 post-polio subjects was tested for neuromuscular function. Electromyographic variables were determined on a separate day. SETTING: Volunteers were recruited from the community and tested in our neuromuscular research laboratory. SUBJECTS: A volunteer sample was obtained from advertisements. All subjects acknowledged post-polio syndrome symptoms. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Neuromuscular variables were isometric knee extension peak torque, endurance (time to exhaustion) at 40% of maximal torque, tension time index, and recovery of torque at 10 minutes. Electromyographic variables were macro EMG and single fiber EMG (percent blocking and jitter). RESULTS: Macro EMG amplitude was ninefold the control value, and both jitter and blocking were greatly increased in comparison to control values. Isometric strength significantly (p < .05) correlated negatively with macro EMG amplitude. CONCLUSIONS: The weakest subjects had the greatest number of muscle fibers within the motor unit (as measured by macro EMG amplitude). Jitter and blocking did not correlate with neuromuscular function.     

Challenges of Diffusion Bonding of Different Classes of Stainless Steels

Solid state diffusion bonding is used to produce monolithic parts exhibiting mechanical properties comparable to those of the bulk material. This requires diffusion of atoms across mating surfaces at high temperatures, accompanied by grain growth. In case of steel, polymorphy helps to limit the grain size, since the microstructure is transformed twice. The diffusion coefficient differs extremely for ferritic and austenitic phases. Alloying elements may shift or suppress phase transformation until the melting range. In this paper, diffusion bonding experiments are reported for austenitic, ferritic, and martensitic stainless steels possessing varying alloying elements and contents. Passivation layers of different compositions are formed, thus affecting the local diffusion coefficient and impeding diffusion across faying surfaces. As a consequence, different bonding temperatures are needed to obtain good bonding results, making it difficult to control the deformation of parts, since strong nonlinearities exist between temperature, bonding time, and bearing pressure. For martensitic stainless steel, it is shown that it is very easy to obtain good bonding results at low deformation, whereas ferritic and austenitic stainless steels require much more extreme bonding parameters.