Cloning of aas, a gene encoding a Staphylococcus saprophyticus surface protein with adhesive and autolytic properties

A gene encoding a novel cell wall-associated protein of Staphylococcus saprophyticus that binds fibronectin and to sheep erythrocytes has been cloned and sequenced. The 4392 bp open reading frame codes for an amino acid sequence that is quite similar to the Atl, an autolysin, of Staphylococcus aureus and to the AtlE of S. epidermidis. The two regions of most pronounced homology code for an N-acetyl-muramyl-L-alanine amidase and for an endo-beta-N-acetyl-D-glucosaminidase. The cloned protein lysed cells of S. saprophyticus and Micrococcus luteus exogenously. Subcloning localized the enzymatic activities to the regions of high homology and demonstrated that the interposed sequence is responsible for the adhesive activities. Two allelic replacement mutants were constructed that lacked autolytic activity and adhesive properties. The N-terminal portion of the protein contains seven highly conserved, contiguous repeats with no similarity to published sequences. It lacks the motifs typical of Gram-positive surface proteins and shows a different overall organization. This autolysin/adhesin of S. saprophyticus (Aas) appears to represent a new class of staphylococcal adhesins.     

Pathologic seminal vesicle invasion after radical prostatectomy for patients with prostate carcinoma: effect of early adjuvant radiation therapy on biochemical control

BACKGROUND: The authors evaluated the effect of postoperative radiation therapy on freedom from biochemical failure (bNED) in men with prostate carcinoma who had pathologic seminal vesicle invasion after radical prostatectomy and negative pelvic lymph node dissection (pT3cN0). METHODS: Between 1989 and 1995, 375 men underwent radical prostatectomy at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Fifty-three men (13%) had pT3cN0 prostate carcinoma and were the subject of this analysis. Men in whom prostate specific antigen (PSA) could not be detected were deemed free of biochemical failure. RESULTS: Of the 53 men with pT3cN0 prostate carcinoma, 18 had an elevated PSA immediately after surgery and received salvage radiation therapy (RT). The 3-year bNED rate for this group was only 38%. At 3 months, PSA could not be detected in the other 35 men. Fifteen of those 35 men underwent early adjuvant RT, and the other 20 were observed for biochemical failure. The 3-year bNED rate for the 15 patients treated with immediate adjuvant RT was 86%, compared with 48% for the 20 men who were observed (P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that early adjuvant RT for men with pT3cN0 prostate carcinoma and no detectable PSA postoperatively reduces the likelihood of future biochemical failure. Men with pT3cN0 prostate carcinoma and a persistently elevated postoperative PSA level are less likely to benefit from RT and should be considered for systemic therapy.     

Effects of acute and chronic morphine on rotational behavior in nigral-lesioned rats

Stimulation of mu-opioid receptors located on dopaminergic neurons in the striatum and the nucleus accumbens increases dopamine release, which may account for some of the behavioral effects of morphine. In this study, we examined the effects of acute and chronic morphine treatment on rotational behavior in rats with unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine dopamine (6-OHDA)-induced lesions of the nigrostriatal pathway. Rats receiving morphine acutely (0.3-10 mg/kg) did not show a significant bias toward contralateral or ipsilateral turning. Mini osmotic pumps dispensing morphine continuously (20-24 mg/kg/day) were implanted s.c. in these animals. This treatment induced tolerance to the behavioral depression produced by the highest dose of morphine (10 mg/kg) when it was given acutely. A slight but significant increase in ipsilateral turning occurred over the range of morphine doses examined. The effects of morphine on rotational behavior are slight, and do not correlate well with the reported increase in locomotor activity or extraneural dopamine in the striatum that are produced by doses of morphine similar to the ones tested in this study.     

Influence of fathers' social class on cardiovascular disease in middle-aged men

BACKGROUND: The independent effect of early life circumstances on adult cardiovascular risk is still unresolved. We assessed the associations of father's social class with cardiovascular risk factors and with risk of ischaemic heart disease and stroke in adult life. METHODS: We did a longitudinal study of cardiovascular disease in 5934 men aged 40-59 years at enrollment. A cross-sectional measurement survey was done between 1978 and 1980 and a follow-up questionnaire was completed in 1992. The main endpoints were non-fatal myocardial infarction and stroke based on general practitioners' reports obtained between screening and 1992 and on recall of physician-diagnosed ischaemic heart disease in the 1992 questionnaire. FINDINGS: Father's social class was strongly associated with social class in adulthood (fathers' occupation was manual for 41.3% of professionals [I] vs 89.1% for unskilled manual workers [V]) and was significantly related to height (non-manual vs manual 175.4 cm [SE 0.2] vs 172.9 cm [0.1], p < 0.0001) and obesity (213 [14.1%] vs 804 [20.1%], p < 0.0001) irrespective of adult social class; no association was found with blood glucose (log, 1.69 [0.005] vs 1.70 [0.003], p = 0.22) or cholesterol (6.34 [0.03] vs 6.29 mmol/L [0.02], p = 0.16. Men whose fathers' social class was manual had significantly higher rates of non-fatal myocardial infarction (342/4006 vs 92/1510) and self-reported physician-diagnosed ischaemic heart disease (686/4006 vs 192/1510) than men whose fathers' social class was non-manual, even after adjustment for adult social class and other established risk factors (relative odds 1.3 [95% Cl 1.0-1.7], p < 0.05 and 1.3 [1.1-1.6], p < 0.01, respectively). The influence of father's social class on non-fatal myocardial infarction and ischaemic heart disease was only seen in men whose adult social class was non-manual. No association was seen between father's social class and non-fatal stroke. INTERPRETATION: Father's social class is strongly associated with adult social class. The higher risk of non-fatal myocardial infarction and self-reported physician-diagnosed ischaemic heart disease seen in men whose father's social class was manual suggests that socioeconomic status early in life has some persisting influence on ischaemic heart disease risk in adult life.     

The electrochemical properties of imidazol-linked iron phthalocyanine—carbon electrodes

Electrodes for the electrochemical reduction of oxygen have been studied galvanostatically. The electrodes were of the activated carbon-polymeric iron phthalocyanine (FePc) type, made hydrophobic with a Teflon treatment. A link between the FePc and the carbon was achieved by covalently binding imidazol to the carbon surface and then letting the FePc co-ordinate to the free nitrogen of the imidazol molecule. In this way an initial improvement of the stability of the electrode potential and the polarization data was achieved. It has furthermore been established that the potential responds more rapidly to changes, i.e. it is more reversible, than an analogous electrode based on carbon that has not been treated with imidazol.     

Family structure and the mental health of children. Concurrent and longitudinal community-wide studies

This study provides a map of variations of families and some of the core relationships between types of family and the mental health of children. Family types in a poor, black urban community were defined in terms of the adults present at home. The resulting taxonomy is based on two populations: half of the community's 1964 first-grade children and families and the entire 1966 first-grade children and families. Eighty-six family types were found, falling into ten major classes. Family type was found to be strongly related over time to the child's social adaptational status (SAS) and his or her psychological well-being. The results suggest that (1) mother alone families entail the highest risk in terms of social maladaptation and psychological well-being of the child; (2) the presence of certain second adults has important ameliorative functions--mother/grandmother families being nearly as effective as mother/father families, with mother/stepfather families similar to mother alone in regard to risk; and (3) the absence of the father was less important than the aloneness of the mother in relation to risk.