Lack of familial clustering of hepatitis C virus infection

BACKGROUND: Although transmission of hepatitis C virus (HCV) through parental exposure is well documented, it is still controversial whether familial clustering of HCV occurs. METHODS: To investigate risk factors for HCV infection, 109 cases and 84 non-infected controls were studied. In addition, 250 family members (104 men, 146 women) of cases and 170 family members of controls (64 men, 106 women) were tested for HCV infection using an anti-HCV antibody, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and reverse transcribed polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS: In the case-control analysis, people aged > or =60 were almost three times more likely to be infected by HCV than those aged <40. Risk of HCV infection was most strongly related to a history of blood transfusion (OR = 12.6, 95% CI: 4.3-36.5) followed by a history of jaundice (OR = 4.1, 95% CI: 1.3-12.6). Only one family member of cases and no-one related to the controls had HCV infection. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that, in Korea, age and parenteral exposure, such as a blood transfusion, are risk factors for HCV infection and familial clustering of HCV infection, if it occurs, is rare.     

Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of sibrafiban (Ro 48-3657), an orally active IIb/IIIa antagonist, administered alone or in combination with heparin, aspirin, and recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator in beagles

OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to determine the effectiveness of prophylactic medical intervention in reducing the incidence of cystoid macular edema (CME) and the effectiveness of medical treatment for chronic CME after cataract surgery. DESIGN: The study design was a systematic review and meta-analysis of published reports of randomized clinical trials (RCTs). PARTICIPANTS: Sixteen RCTs involving 2898 eyes examining the effectiveness of medical prophylaxis of CME and 4 RCTs involving 187 eyes testing the effectiveness of medical treatment of chronic CME were used in the study. INTERVENTIONS: Medical prophylaxis of treatment (cyclo-oxygenase inhibitors or corticosteroids) versus control (placebo or active treatment) was performed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Incidence of angiographically diagnosed CME, incidence of clinically significant CME, and vision were measured. RESULTS: Thirty-six articles reported testing a prophylactic medical intervention for CME after cataract surgery. The incidence of CME varied extensively across studies and was related to the study design used. Summary odds ratios (OR) indicated that prophylactic intervention was effective in reducing the incidence of both angiographic CME (OR = 0.36; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.28-0.45) and clinically relevant CME (OR = 0.49; 95% CI = 0.33-0.73). There also was a statistically significant positive effect on improving vision (OR = 1.97; 95% CI = 1.14-3.41). A combination of the results of the four RCTs testing medical therapy for chronic CME indicated a treatment benefit in terms of improving final visual acuity by two or more Snellen lines (OR = 2.67; 95% CI = 1.35-5.30). Assessment of the quality of the 20 RCTs included in the meta-analyses indicated problems in the design, execution, and reporting of a number of trials. CONCLUSION: A combination of the results from RCTs indicates that medical prophylaxis for aphakic and pseudophakic CME and medical treatment for chronic CME are beneficial. Because most of the RCTs performed to date have problems related to quality, a well-designed RCT is needed to confirm this result, using clinical CME and vision as outcomes.     

The simplified two-pipette technique is more efficient than the conventional three-pipette method for blastomere biopsy in human embryos

Kell and Kx are two quantitatively minor proteins from the human erythrocyte membrane which carry blood groups antigens and are thought to be a metalloprotease and a membrane transporter, respectively. In the red cell membrane, these proteins form a complex stabilized by disulfide bond(s). Phosphorylation status of these proteins was studied, in the presence or absence of effectors of several kinases, either on intact cells incubated with [32P]-orthophosphate or on ghosts incubated with [gamma-32P]ATP. Purification of Kell-Kx complex, by immunochromatography on an immobilized human monoclonal antibody of Kell blood group specificity allowed to establish that (i) neither protein is phosphorylated on tyrosine; (ii) the Kell protein is a putative substrate for Casein Kinase II (CKII) and Casein Kinase I (CKI) but not for protein kinase C (PKC), whereas Kx protein is phosphorylated by CKII and PKC but not by CKI; (iii) Protein Kinase A neither phosphorylates the Kell nor the Kx proteins.     

Effects of insulin therapy on non-insulin-dependent diabetics with secondary oral hypoglycemic agent failure

A recent trend among physicians is the categorisation of lung scans as normal [excludes pulmonary embolism (PE)], high probability (confirms PE) and non-diagnostic (no judgement on PE risk). The low probability scan is therefore being eliminated as a functional category. This occasional survey contends that such an approach is misguided. Correction of the original PIOPED data with certain assumptions provides a more reproducible, albeit restricted, low probability scan category which excludes PE in 97% of cases in the low pre-test clinical category. Patients with a low probability scan with risk factors for PE (i.e. medium clinical risk) will require further investigation. More important, the very low probability scan category excludes PE in 98% of patients with low and more than 92% of patients with medium pre-test clinical likelihood. The demise of "low probability" is premature.     

Al-Ga-Mn-Ca-Cu合金电极碱性体系电化学性能

通过熔铸、压延、退火等一系列工艺制作了新型Al-0.017Ga-0.885Mn-0.038Ca-0.048Cu (wt.%)阳极合金,并通过了EIS、极化曲线分析研究了其在不同浓度NaOH溶液中的腐蚀行为和电化学性能。结果表明,随着NaOH浓度的增加,合金阳极的自腐蚀速率在逐渐增加,Al-0.017Ga-0.885Mn-0.038Ca-0.048Cu合金在4mol/LNaOH溶液中的腐蚀速率增长速度明显降低,放电电压在电流密度为120mA/cm2下仍能维持在1 V左右,阳极能量密度也最高,达6.056kW?h/kg,更适合不同电流密度下的连续恒流放电。且合金的恒流放电和EIS结果与腐蚀特性吻合较好。     

The ontogeny of the expression of K+ channel-like gene (CHIF) in the rat kidney papilla

A whole genome scan was undertaken in a granddaughter design comprising 1158 progeny-tested bulls in order to map QTL influencing milk yield and composition. In this paper we report the identification of a locus on the centromeric end of bovine Chromosome (Chr) 14, with major effect on fat and protein percentage as well as milk yield. The genuine nature of this QTL was verified using the grand2-daughter design, that is, by tracing the segregating QTL alleles from heterozygous grandsires to their maternal grandsons and confirming the predicted QTL allele substitution effect.     

Hypoxia induces high-mobility-group protein I(Y) and transcription of the cyclooxygenase-2 gene in human vascular endothelium

BACKGROUND: Animals reconstituted with allogeneic whole bone marrow (WBM) are often tolerant of donor-specific solid organ grafts. Clinical application of bone marrow transplantation in solid organ transplantation has been limited, however, principally by graft-versus-host disease. We previously demonstrated that hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) reconstitute lethally irradiated allogeneic mice without producing graft-versus-host disease. The purpose of this study was to determine whether tolerance to solid organ grafts could be induced in mice reconstituted with HSCs. METHODS: BALB/c mice were lethally irradiated and reconstituted with allogeneic C57BL/Ka, Thy-1.1 WBM or HSCs. An isolated group was given a limited number of HSCs (250 cells) and a subpopulation of allogeneic cells known to facilitate HSC engraftment (facilitators). C57BL/Ka, Thy-1.1 neonatal heart grafts were placed in reconstituted animals either at the time of hematopoietic transplant or 35 days later. Third-party C3H grafts were placed over 2 months after hematopoietic reconstitution. Tolerance was defined as the persistence of cardiac contraction for the duration of evaluation (125-270 days). RESULTS: All surviving mice that were reconstituted with C57BL/Ka, Thy-1.1 HSCs, WBM, or HSCs and facilitators were tolerant of C57BL/Ka grafts long-term. Third-party C3H grafts placed in reconstituted animals were rejected by day 12, whereas those placed in unmanipulated mice were rejected by day 9. CONCLUSION: These data indicate that tolerance to concurrently or subsequently placed solid organ grafts can be reliably achieved with limited numbers of purified HSCs in a model where immunocompetence to third-party major histocompatibility complex antigens is delayed but intact.