Evaluation of a commercial probe assay for detection of rifampin resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis directly from respiratory and nonrespiratory clinical samples

The reproducibility of antibiogram profiles of 10 staphylococcal isolates of bovine mammary gland origin was tested under conditions of repeated subculturing. Prototype (original or index) antibiogram profiles were determined by subculturing these isolates from stock cultures stored at -70 degrees C. The isolates were then subcultured four times on blood agar and antibiogram profiles determined at each subculture on Mueller-Hinton agar. The antibiogram profiles of each isolate at each subculture were compared with the prototype profiles of that isolate. At repeat antibiogram determinations, deviations of < or = 5 mm in the individual zones of inhibition of penicillin, ampicillin and streptomycin from the prototype antibiogram profiles, resulted in a shift of only three isolates from the resistant to intermediate and one isolate from intermediate to resistant status of antibiotic susceptibility classification. It is suggested that in the interpretation of antibiogram, susceptibility classification (resistant, intermediate, or susceptible) variations accruing from a few millimetres differences in the diameter of the zones of inhibition should probably be disregarded.     

Parasympathetic neurons in the cranial medial ventricular fat pad on the dog heart selectively decrease ventricular contractility

The present study examined the performance of rats with neurotoxic lesions centred in the thalamic nucleus medialis dorsalis on standard and modified versions of the eight arm radial maze test. In Experiment 1, the thalamic lesions produced a borderline deficit in acquisition of the standard task, but subsequently had no effect when a delay was interposed after the first four arms had been entered. The same lesions had no effect on T-maze alternation, but they did impair radial-arm maze performance when intramaze and extramaze cues were set against each other. In Experiment 2, lesions of the dorsomedial thalamus impaired acquisition of the standard radial-arm maze task, but combining the results from Experiments 1 and 2 showed that this acquisition deficit was confined to those animals in which bilateral damage extended into the adjacent anterior thalamic nuclei. In addition, lesions of the dorsomedial thalamus disrupted radial-arm maze performance when the task was modified to compare working memory and reference memory and increased activity and exploration. These changes were not associated with anterior thalamic damage. Finally, the thalamic lesions did not affect performance on a test of spontaneous object recognition. It is concluded that lesions of medialis dorsalis do not disrupt spatial memory but do affect other processes that can interact with task performance. These include a failure of extramaze cues to overshadow intramaze cues, a change in activity and exploration levels and deficits in with-holding spatial responses.     

drp, a novel protein expressed at high cell density but not during growth arrest

In this study the disposition of 1,2-[14C]dibromoethane (1, 2-[14C]DBE) was investigated in male Wistar rats. 1,2-DBE is a cytotoxic and carcinogenic compound that has been used as an additive in leaded gasoline and as a fumigant. 1,2-[14C]DBE was administered orally or iv. Radioactivity was recovered (mostly within 48 hr after administration) in urine (75-82% of the dose), feces (3.2-4% of the dose), and expired air (0.53-7.2% of the dose). One hundred-sixty-eight hours after administration of 1,2-[14C]DBE, most of the radioactivity in tissues was found in the liver, lungs, and kidneys (<1% of the dose) and the red blood cells (0.3% of the dose). Identified urinary metabolites were S-(2-hydroxyethyl)mercapturic acid, thiodiacetic acid, and thiodiacetic acid sulfoxide, together accounting for, on average, 78% of the total amount of radioactivity in urine. In addition to S-(2-hydroxyethyl)mercapturic acid, thiodiacetic acid, and thiodiacetic acid sulfoxide, several compounds were anticipated as potential urinary metabolites of 1,2-DBE, i.e. S-(carboxymethyl)mercapturic acid, S-(2-hydroxyethyl)thioacetic acid, S-(2-hydroxyethyl)thiopyruvic acid, S-(carboxymethyl)thiopyruvic acid, S-(2-hydroxyethyl)thiolactic acid, and S-(carboxymethyl)thiolactic acid. All of the postulated urinary metabolites were synthesized and searched for in urine samples. None of these metabolites could be detected in urine, however. The data obtained in the present study might be useful for risk assessment and biomonitoring studies of 1,2-DBE and will also be used to further validate a physiologically based pharmacokinetic model for 1, 2-DBE in rats and humans that was recently developed.     

The challenge to meet the mental health and biopsychosocial needs of the poor: expanded roles for hospital social workers in a changing healthcare environment

Despite the absence of coordinated federal health care reform, social workers in hospital settings have opportunities to identify, develop, advocate for, and facilitate access to innovative health care services, resulting in improved capacity to meet the mental health and biopsychosocial needs of the poor and, potentially, reduced hospital costs over time. There are opportunities for expanded roles for social workers in forging better linkages between hospital services and the community, developing an integrated biopsychosocial healthcare delivery system within hospitals and primary care settings, utilizing information systems as tools in an integrated system, and advocating for a client-centered approach to mental health services.     

Electrically induced changes in Ca2+ in Helisoma neurons: regional and neuron-specific differences and implications for neurite outgrowth

The present experiments addressed the questions of how electrical stimulation influenced the magnitude, time course, and regional levels of free intracellular calcium of different identified neurons. The calcium concentration in the growth cones, neurites and cell bodies of Helisoma buccal neurons B4 and B19 was measured while somata were electrically stimulated via an intracellular electrode. The findings showed that calcium levels in B4 and B19 increased monotonically with increasing stimulation frequency. However, the range of calcium levels evoked by electrical stimulation differed significantly for each type of neuron. The greater increase in calcium concentration in B4 was correlated with its longer duration action potential compared to B19. The increase in calcium concentration was much smaller in the cell bodies than in the growth cones and neurites. Extending the duration of the B19 action potential produced a sixfold increase in the change in calcium concentration at 2 Hz stimulation. Under conditions where the electrical stimulation produced a calcium concentration of < 160 nM, the elevated level of free intracellular calcium remained constant. When calcium concentration increased above 200 nM in both identified neurons, an initial peak concentration was followed by a decline to a lower concentration suggesting increased calcium buffering occurring above 200 nM. By correlating the calcium concentration data herein with growth data from a previous study, we suggest that specific calcium levels that influence neurite outgrowth may differ widely between neurons.     

Histological features of the contralateral ovary in patients with unilateral ovarian cancer: a case control study

It has been suggested that schizophrenia and alcoholism are associated with violent behavior. But so far there are no published studies from unselected cohorts quantifying the actual risk associated with schizophrenia both with and without comorbid alcoholism. In this study, an unselected birth cohort (n = 11,017) was prospectively followed to the age of 26, and data on psychiatric disorders and crimes were collected from national registers. The odds ratios for violent offenses and recidivism were calculated for each diagnostic group. Men who abused alcohol and were diagnosed with schizophrenia were 25.2 (95% confidence interval (CI) 6.1-97.5) times more likely to commit violent crimes than mentally healthy men. The risk for nonalcoholic patients with schizophrenia was 3.6 (95% CI 0.9-12.3) and for other psychoses, 7.7 (95% CI 2.2-23.9). None of the patients with schizophrenia who did not abuse alcohol were recidivists (> 2 offenses), but the risk for committing more crimes among alcoholic subjects with schizophrenia was 9.5-fold (95% CI 2.7-30.0). This study suggests that to prevent the crimes being committed by people with schizophrenia, it is important that clinicians watch for comorbid alcohol abuse.     

Loss of the tight junction MAGUK ZO-1 in breast cancer: relationship to glandular differentiation and loss of heterozygosity

Membrane-associated guanylate kinase homologs (MAGUKs) may play a role in cellular functions preventing tumorigenesis as indicated by the neoplastic phenotype caused by genetic loss of the MAGUK Dlg in Drosophila. To test this possibility, we examined the expression and subcellular localization of the tight junction MAGUK ZO-1, as well as the cell adhesion molecule E-cadherin, in paraffin-embedded breast cancer samples, using immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy. As expected, normal tissue showed intense staining for ZO-1 at the position of the epithelial tight junctions, but this staining was reduced or lost in 69% of breast cancers analyzed (n = 48). In infiltrating ductal carcinomas (n = 38) there was a reduction in staining in 42% of well differentiated, in 83% of moderately differentiated and 93% of poorly differentiated tumors. ZO-1 staining was positively correlated with tumor differentiation (P = .011) and more specifically with the glandular differentiation of tumors (P = .0019). Reduction in ZO-1 staining was strongly correlated with reduced E-cadherin staining (P = 4.9 x 10(-5)). The results suggest that down-regulation of ZO-1 expression and its failure to accumulate at cell junctions may be causally related to cancer progression. To detect loss of heterozygosity, the ZO-1 gene tjp-1 was mapped relative to other markers in 15q13 and polymorphic markers flanking tjp-1 were identified. The marker D15S1019 showed loss of heterozygosity in 23% of informative tumors (n = 13). Loss of a tjp-1-linked marker suggests that genetic loss may, in some cases, be responsible for the reduction in ZO-1 expression in breast cancer.     

Selective outgrowth of a posttransplant B-immunoblastic lymphoma expressing a latent membrane protein-1 deletion variant

BACKGROUND: Posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorders are generally associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and are of B cell origin. We report the case of a B-immunoblastic lymphoma that developed in a pretransplantation EBV-seronegative woman 4 months after kidney transplant from her HLA-haploidentical brother. The patient successfully underwent immunotoxin therapy for lymphoma and has been in remission for 36 months. METHODS: Latent EBV genomes were identified by polymerase chain reaction, and the purified amplification products were directly sequenced with [35S]dATP. RESULTS: Molecular analysis of the latent membrane protein (LMP)1 oncogene of EBV, which was expressed in most tumor cells, revealed a 30-base pair deletion. No wild-type LMP1 sequences were found. Analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from the EBV-seropositive donor showed the presence of both the LMP1 deletion variant and the wild-type sequence. The LMP1 deletion variant and the wild-type sequence were also identified within peripheral blood mononuclear cells of the EBV-seroconverted kidney recipient 20 months after lymphoma therapy. CONCLUSION: This pattern is consistent with a natural growth advantage of B cells expressing the LMP1 deletion variant in the immunocompromised host.