Three-dimensional facial morphometry and conventional cephalometrics: a correlation study

Analysis of genomic sequences is necessarily an ongoing process. Initial gene assignments tend (wisely) to be on the conservative side (Venter, 1996). The analysis of the genome then grows in an iterative fashion as additional data and more sophisticated algorithms are brought to bear on the data. The present report is an emendation of the original gene list of Methanococcus jannaschii (Bult et al., 1996). By using a somewhat more updated database and more relaxed (and operator-intensive) pattern matching methods, we were able to add significantly to, and in a few cases amend, the gene identification table originally published by Bult et al. (1996).     

Human neonatal ovary: proposal of a three-dimensional model

A model of human neonatal ovary is presented, derived from morphometric, evaluations carried out on left ovaries removed from five full-term neonates with a 46, XX karyotype, free from malformations of the genital apparatus. According to this model, the gonad can be represented by a triaxial ellipsoid with a central medullary core surrounded by a cortical stratum of constant thickness. The germinal population, consisting of follicles and primitive cortical tissue, occupies the cortex, intermingled with the interstitium or stroma. In the cortex it is then possible to describe an outer layer formed by primitive cortical tissue, and an inner portion occupied by follicles. The primary and secondary follicles fill the portion near the medulla and the primordial ones are contained in the middle and outer zones. Since the variability observed among ovaries is slight, we can propose a mean model of neonatal ovary in which the spatial relationships among the different components, the total number of follicles and their position in the cortex can be calculated.     

Stability and improvement of health after nursing home admission

This prospective study investigated stability of residents' mental status, function (activities of daily living), and mood during the first and second week following nursing home admission. New residents (N = 647) in eight urban nursing homes were assessed three times. Mental status was measured using the Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire, function was measured using Scaled Outcome Criteria, and mood was measured using the Mood Adjective Checklist. A repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance, controlling for admission from hospital and readmission to the nursing home, documented stable mental status during the first and second week of nursing home residence. Hygiene, grooming, dressing, and transferring improved, whereas feeding, ambulation, urination, and defecation were stable. Tired and depressed mood adjectives improved, and angry, cheerful, afraid, lonely, and alert mood adjectives were stable. Residents admitted from a hospital had lower mental status and function scores, and readmitted residents had lower urination scores.     

A three-dimensional computerized mesh diagram analysis and its application in soft tissue facial morphometry

A modified computerized mesh diagram analysis that allows rapid and independent quantifications of soft tissue facial size and shape in the three-dimensional space is presented. Normal references are provided, and the application of the method is also exemplified by the analysis of two maxillofacial surgical patients. The Three-Dimensional Facial Morphometry method has been used for the collection of the x, y, z coordinates of 22 soft tissue landmarks in 50 men and 50 women (all healthy young white adults). The method detects the three-dimensional coordinates of retroreflective, wireless markers positioned on selected facial landmarks with two charge-coupled device cameras, working in the infrared field. The midpoint between the right and left tragus landmarks served as the origin of the coordinate axes, and the landmark coordinates were rotated, setting the intercantheal line horizontal on both the frontal and the horizontal planes, and the Camper's plane inclined at -7.5 degrees on the sagittal plane. A standardized mesh of equidistant horizontal (dimension: half the upper face width), vertical (half the vertical projection of upper face height), and anteroposterior (half the horizontal projection of upper face depth) lines was consequently constructed. The lattice was replicated on the entire face and comprised 84 parallelepipeds. Both male and female reference meshes had a harmonious and symmetric appearance, with gender differences in facial size but not in facial shape. The standard normal reference was superimposed on the patient's tracing, and the global (size plus shape) difference was then evaluated by the calculation of the relevant displacement vectors for each soft tissue landmark. A global difference factor was calculated as the sum of the modules of all the displacement vectors. Consequently, a size normalization was performed, and the shape difference (size-standardized) was then evaluated by the calculation of new relevant displacement vectors for each landmark, as well as a shape--global difference vectors.     

DNA sequence recognition by bis-linked netropsin and distamycin derivatives

The dihydropyridine receptor (DHPR), a voltage-gated L-type Ca2+ channel, and the Ca2+ release channel/ryanodine receptor isoform-1 (RyR1) are key molecules involved in skeletal muscle excitation-contraction coupling. We have reported age-related decreases in the level of DHPR expression in fast- and slow-twitch muscles from Fisher 344 cross Brown Norway (F344BNX) rats (Renganathan, Messi and Delbono, J. Membr. Biol. 157 (1997) 247-253). Based on these studies we postulate that excitation-contraction uncoupling is a basic mechanism for the decline in muscle force with aging (Delbono, Renganathan and Messi, Muscle Nerve Suppl. 5 (1997) S88-92). In the present study, we extended our studies to older ages and we intended to prevent or retard excitation-contraction uncoupling by restricting the caloric intake of the F344BNX rats from 16 weeks of age. Three age groups, 8-, 18-, and 33-month old caloric restricted rats, were compared with ad libitum fed animals. The number of DHPR and RyR1 and DHPR/RyR1 ratio (an index of the level of receptors uncoupling) in skeletal muscles of 8-month and 18-month rats was not significantly different in either ad libitum fed or caloric restricted rats. However, the age-related decrease in the number of DHPR, RyR1 and DHPR/RyR1 ratio observed in 33-month old ad libitum fed rats was absent in 33-month old caloric restricted rats. These results suggest that caloric restriction prevents age-related decreases in the number of DHPR, RyR1 and DHPR/RyR1 ratio observed in fast- and slow-twitch rat skeletal muscles.     

Hepatic oval cell activation in response to injury following chemically induced periportal or pericentral damage in rats

Administration of 2-acetylaminofluorene (2-AAF) given before partial hepatectomy (PHx) results in suppression of hepatocyte proliferation and stimulation of oval cell proliferation. Our objective in this study was to examine the oval cell response and associated alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) gene expression by combining 2-AAF with selective damage of centrilobular regions (carbon tetrachloride [CCl4]) or periportal regions (allyl alcohol [AA]). Centrilobular damage results in a more enhanced oval cell response and AFP gene expression than periportal damage. Conversely, more intense proliferation of intraportal bile duct epithelia was seen with 2-AAF/AA than with 2-AAF/CCl4. The oval cell response and AFP gene expression was ranked as 2-AAF/ CCl4 > or = 2-AAF/PHx > 2-AAF/AA. AFP mRNA expression was also examined in an acute AA and CCl4 injury. We found very little AFP gene expression compared with the 2-AAF/hepatic injury models. To see a true oval cell response, the hepatocytes must be inhibited from proliferating. In addition, the results presented with the 2-AA/AA model suggest that the periportal matrix may be as important as the cells that populate the area.     

Serological properties of HIV-1 isolates from the focus of an epidemic in the Gomel region of the Belarus Republic (1996)

Immunoreactivity of sera obtained in 1996 from HIV-1-infected intravenous narcomaniacs from an epidemic focus in Gomel region, Belarus, is studied with a panel of 10-16-component synthetic peptides simulating apical epitope of surface glycoprotein gp120 V3 loop of HIV-1 variants. Comparative analysis of resultant spectra with representative immunoreactivity spectra of sera from a sampling of HIV-1-positive sera collected in 1986-1997 in different regions of the former USSR demonstrated a high homogeneity of immunoreactivity spectra of sera from Gomel region. Serotypes of HIV-1 A/C variants circulating in populations of intravenous narcomaniacs in the focus in Gomel region in 1996 and in Southern and South-Eastern Ukraine in 1995-1996 are similar. This confirms a previous conclusion about the prevalence of A/C serotype among intravenous narcomaniacs in the former USSR.