The VIP regimen effective treatment to refractory choriocarcinoma: a case report

A candidate gene for hemochromatosis has recently been localized on the short arm of chromosome 6, about 4 megabases telomeric to the major histocompatibility complex. It encodes a protein that exhibits significant similarity to the HLA class I molecules and can be provisionally designated HLA-hc. Genotype analysis of 94 hemochromatosis patients living in France and a similar number of controls confirms that the disease is strongly associated with homozygosity at nucleotide 845 (72% of the patients and none of the controls carry two copies of the 845A variant). The data are consistent with hemochromatosis being a heterogeneous disease: about 79% of the cases in this sample would be caused by a defect in HLA-hc and 21% by an unrelated mechanism. A second variant (187 G) enriched on patient chromosomes that do not carry the 845A mutation might influence the affinity of a ligand for HLA-hc; the exact nature of this ligand remains to be discovered. The 845A variant is the best genetic marker for the disease identified to date, and the detection of 845A homozygosity should now permit diagnosis of a readily curable disease and the prevention of sometimes deadly complications in at least 72% of the patients.     

Covert orienting of visuospatial attention in children with developmental coordination disorder

It is still unclear whether impairments in visuospatial processing in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) are a consequence of their motor deficits or are independent of them. In two experiments, 20 children with DCD and 20 matched controls were tested on the covert orienting of a visuospatial attention task (COVAT). Experiment 1 used a COVAT with peripheral cues and an 80% probability that targets would appear at the cued location. While the results suggested a deficit in the disengage operation of orienting covert attention for the DCD group, they were difficult to reconcile with models of covert orienting and the results of past research. Experiment 2 tested subjects on two new versions of the COVAT: the first used peripheral cues and no probability information (exogenous mode), and the second used central cues and an 80% probability that targets would appear at the cued location (endogenous mode). The DCD group displayed attentional orienting deficits only for the endogenous mode. These results suggest that impairments in the endogenous control of visuospatial attention are independent of motor deficits in DCD.     

Factor V Leiden and fatal pulmonary embolism

The cercariae of Pseudechinoparyphium echinatum and Echinostoma revolutum approach their intermediate host snails by turning back when swimming in decreasing concentration gradients of snail conditioned water. Host stimuli are small molecular amino compounds, probably amino acids. This response was inhibited reversibly when the cercariae were treated with 0.45 microM-silver nitrate. As silver nitrate binds to the ciliated papillae of the cercarial surface, papillar chemoreceptors may be involved. Snail conditioned water from different snail species stimulated different intensities of chemo-orientation in both species of digeneans. However, when the samples of water conditioned with different snail species or even fish, tadpoles and leeches were diluted to the same total amino acid concentrations, the intensities of cercarial responses were similar. Therefore, some specificity of the chemo-orientation seemed to be achieved only by the total concentration of amino acids and not by particular mixtures of amino acids. In fact, amino acid spectra released by freshwater snails varied not only among different snail species, but also within the same species.     

Paroxysmal cold haemoglobinuria of childhood: a review of the management and unusual presenting features of six cases

OBJECTIVE: To develop a rapid method for detection of chromosomes. METHODS: Chromosomes X, 18 were detected by the primed in situ labeling(PRINS) in eight samples of female peripheral blood cultures. RESULTS: Specific chromosomes were obtained on both metaphase and interphase nuclei. The efficiency of labeling was 84%-92%(mean=89%) in chromosome 18, and 73%-87%(mean=84%) in chromosome X. The pretreatment of slides by proteinase K markedly raised the efficiency of labeling and increased the intensity of signals. PRINS reaction could be performed automatically with a programmable thermocycler in less than one hour. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that PRINS is a fast and specific method for identifying chromosomes. It may be a reliable technique for detecting aneuploid in prenatal diagnosis.     

In vitro and in vivo comparisons of valnemulin, tiamulin, tylosin, enrofloxacin, and lincomycin/spectinomycin against Mycoplasma gallisepticum

The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for valnemulin, tiamulin, enrofloxacin, tylosin, and lincomycin/spectinomycin were determined for a virulent strain of Mycoplasma gallispeticum (MG). At the initial reading, the lowest MICs were seen with valnemulin and tiamulin, followed by tylosin, enrofloxacin, and a relatively high MIC for lincomycin/spectinomycin. At the final reading, at 14 days, a similar pattern was obtained, with valnemulin giving the lowest MIC (< 0.008 mg/ml). The same strain of MG was used to infect groups of 20 2-day-old chicks in two separate experiments. In both, several concentrations of valnemulin and tiamulin and one each of tylosin and enrofloxacin were administered to separate groups in the drinking water. In the second experiment, one group of chicks was given lincomycin/spectinomycin. Each experiment had one infected unmedicated group and an uninfected unmedicated group. Mortality, clinical signs, and gross lesions, in both experiments, were significantly less (P < 0.001) in the uninfected and infected medicated groups (except for the two lowest dosages of valnemulin, lincomycin, and spectinomycin) than in the infected unmedicated groups. Also, the mean body weight gain was greater in the uninfected and infected medicated groups. Among the infected birds, MG was recovered from fewer chicks in the infected medicated groups except for the lowest two dosages of valnemulin. Serologic results were negative for the uninfected groups, and there were fewer positive reactors for the infected medicated groups except for the group treated with lincomycin/spectinomycin. Valnemulin should prove to be a useful addition to the antimicrobials in the control of MG infection in chickens.     

Cerebral perfusion impairment in a patient with toluene abuse

We report the case of a 17-yr-old man diagnosed as a toluene abuser. He had an 8-mo history of toluene inhalation exposure and was admitted to this hospital with symptoms of auditory and visual hallucination. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed no structural abnormalities both on T1- and T2-weighted images, whereas SPECT using 99mTc-ethyl cysteinate dimer (ECD) showed multifocally decreased perfusion in the cerebral cortex, basal ganglia and thalami. Our case indicates that SPECT detects early central nervous system injury from toluene inhalation even when neurological examination and neuroanatomic imaging such as MRI are normal.     

Churg-Strauss syndrome with right ventricular tumor

HISTORY AND CLINICAL FINDINGS: A 47-year-old woman was admitted because of diarrhoea (3-5 stools daily) for 9 days, weakness for 3 weeks and painful wrist swelling, arthralgia and hyperesthesia over the medial aspect of the right thigh for 6 weeks. For 6 years she had been treated for asthma. Two operation had been performed for chronic sinusitis. ADMISSION FINDINGS AND INVESTIGATIONS: There was marked eosinophilia (5889/microliter) and thrombocytopenia (96,000/microliter), markedly increased serological inflammatory parameters and a raised total IgE level (134 IU/ml). The chest radiogram showed pulmonary infiltrates and bone marrow biopsy indicated eosinophilia. Echocardiography revealed a mass, 3 x 8 cm, in the ventral wall of the right ventricle with extension into the outflow tract. DIAGNOSIS, TREATMENT AND COURSE: These findings met the criteria of the American College of Rheumatology for Churg-Strauss syndrome (CSS). On methylprednisolone (1 mg/kg daily) the eosinophil and platelet counts became normal within 5 days and erythrocyte sedimentation rate and the level of C-reactive protein fell. Under cardiopulmonary bypass the tumour was removed, the tricuspid valve replaced, and the right ventricle reconstructed. Histology of the mass revealed it to be an organized thrombus. CONCLUSION: The relationship between the thrombus formation and CSS is unclear. Hypercoagulability connected with the inflammatory process may have played a part in the pathogenesis.     

Phylogenetic analysis of the Potyviridae with emphasis on legume-infecting potyviruses

The 3'-terminal nucleotide sequences of thirteen authenticated strains of bean common mosaic virus (BCMV) and one strain of bean common mosaic necrosis virus (BCMNV) were obtained. The regions sequenced included the coat protein coding sequence and 3'-end non-coding region. These data, combined with sequence information from other legume-infecting potyviruses and the Potyviridae were used for phylogenetic analysis. Evidence is provided for delineation of BCMNV as distinct from BCMV and the inclusion of azuki mosaic, dendrobium mosaic, blackeye cowpea mosaic, and peanut stripe viruses as strains of BCMV. This relationship defines the members of the BCMV and BCMNV subgroups. These data also provide a basis upon which to define virus strains, in combination with biological data. Other aspects and implications of legume-infecting potyvirus phylogenetics are discussed.