Incidence of hepatitis C infection among donors of femur heads to the tissue bank

A review of a case series of sixteen anaesthetics in eight cases was undertaken to determine whether children with Prader-Willi syndrome present particular problems to the anaesthetist. Children in an early stage of the condition who are below their centile for weight present no specific problems. Children who are heavier than 97th centile weight have problems associated with their obesity: difficult intravenous access and sleep apnoea. Scoliosis was noted in both groups and was not associated with problems after minor surgery.     

Potassium and sodium intake and excretion in calcium stone forming patients

We reviewed the results of 15 patients (16 feet) in whom a hallux valgus procedure had failed. Salvage was by proximal crescentic first metatarsal osteotomy with distal soft-tissue reconstruction. Results based on a clinical scale considering the level of pain, activity limitations, support requirement, footwear limitations, and alignment were good in 11, fair in two, and poor in three. Patients were satisfied with the results in 10 feet, satisfied with reservations in four feet, and dissatisfied in two feet. Complications were: transfer metatarsalgia in three, hallux varus in one, and osteotomy nonunion in one. One of the patients required reoperation to bone graft a proximal osteotomy. Metatarsal osteotomy was helpful in the salvage treatment of recurrent, symptomatic hallux valgus when the first metatarsophalangeal joint was functional and painless.     

Membrane topology of the human dipeptide transporter, hPEPT1, determined by epitope insertions

We have used epitope insertion to analyze the transmembrane topology of the human H+-dipeptide symporter hPEPT1. An epitope tag, EYMPME (EE), was inserted into different locations at amino acids 39, 78, 106, 412, and 708 of hPEPT1 by site-directed mutagenesis. The functional integrity of the tagged protein was tested by measuring its dipeptide transport activity in transfected Cos7 cells. Further, cells expressing hPEPT1 or EE-tagged hPEPT1 derivatives were labeled with an anti-EE-monoclonal antibody (anti-EE-mAb) or an antiserum raised against the carboxyl terminus of hPEPT1 (anti-hPEPT1) and examined by immunofluorescence confocal microscopy. EE106-, 412-, and 708-hPEPT1 transported the dipeptide tracer as well as wild-type hPEPT1. Tags at position 106 and 412 were shown to be extracellular because they were accessible to anti-epitope antibody in nonpermeabilized cells. In contrast, the carboxyl-terminal domain and EE708 were shown to be intracellular since they were only accessible to the antibodies in permeabilized cells. These results are consistent with a 12-transmembrane domain (TMD) topological model of PEPT1. Epitope insertions at regions linking the putative TMD1 and TMD2, and TMD2 and TMD3 (EE39- and EE78-hPEPT1), abolished the dipeptide transport into the cells. In transfected Cos7 cells, these tagged proteins remained largely intracellular rather than at the plasma membrane. These results suggest that the integrity of these regions is essential for transporter trafficking and/or function. Thus, the topology of the amino-terminal portion, including putative TMD1 and -2, remains to be clarified.     

Surgical treatment of cicatricial biliary strictures

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Cicatricial biliary strictures are usually associated with high morbidity and mortality rates, frequently related to technical difficulties of their surgical repair, mainly in hilar lesions. Interference with bile duct blood supply during surgical attempts for correction is a major factor for unsuccessful results. The aim of this study is to evaluate, after an extended follow-up period, the results obtained with a modified technique for surgical correction of cicatricial biliary strictures. METHODOLOGY: The medical records of 57 patients surgically treated for cicatricial biliary strictures between January 1984 and July 1995 were reviewed and the immediate and long term results retrospectively analyzed. Patients consisted of 46 females and 11 males. The average age was 43 years. The etiology of the biliary lesion was: cholecystectomy alone (23); cholecystectomy with duct exploration (8); T tube CBD drainage (6); Biliary-enteric anastomosis stricture (16); choledochoplasty (2) and trauma (2). In 28 cases (49.1%) the stricture was located in the upper third of the bile duct, in 28 (49.1%) in the middle third and in one case (1.7%) it was low. All patients were submitted to longitudinal Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy with mucosa apposition after dissection of the anterior aspect of the biliary tract. No transanastomotic stents were used. RESULTS: Ten patients (17.5%) presented 11 postoperative complications: biliary fistula (4), duodenal fistula (1), wound infection (5), and acute pancreatitis (1). Average hospital stay was 11 days and there were no postoperative mortalities. The follow-up study was possible in 54 patients and ranged from one to ten years, with an average of 2.9 years. Four patients of 28 (14%) with hilar lesions developed stricture recurrence and cholangitis episodes, whereas no patients bearing lesions below the biliary junction had such complications. CONCLUSION: Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy with mucosa apposition without transanastomotic stent performed after minimal dissection of the biliary duct, thus avoiding major interference with the bile duct blood supply, is a safe and efficient method for the surgical repair of cicatricial biliary strictures. Using this technique excellent results can be obtained in the lesions below the biliary junction and acceptable results may be achieved in patients with hilar lesions.     

Endogenous ADP-ribosylation of eukaryotic elongation factor 2 and its 32 kDa tryptic fragment.

Eukaryotic elongation factor 2 (eEF-2) can undergo ADP-ribosylation in the absence of diphtheria toxin. The binding of free ADP-ribose and endogenous transferase-dependent ADP-ribosylation were distinct reactions for eEF-2, as indicated by different findings. Incubation of eEF-2 tryptic fragment 32/33 kDa (32F) with NAD was ADP-ribosylated and gave rise to the covalent binding of ADP-ribose to eEF-2. 32F was revealed to be at the C-terminal by Edman degradation sequence analysis. In our study, the elution of 32F from SDS-PAGE was ADP-ribosylated both in the presence and absence of diphtheria toxin. These results suggest that endogenous ADP-ribosylation of 32F might be related to protein synthesis. This modification appears to be important for the cell function.     

Water,Energy and Environment Nexus: The California Experience

The paper addresses the local and inter-state connections between water, energy and the environment. Using California and the western USA as a case study, the paper highlights the difficulties of balancing the needs of diverse stakeholders and protecting valuable resources while providing reliable and safe supplies of both water and energy to agricultural, industrial and residential customers. The investigation of these complex relationships is necessary to inform local and national policy decisions regarding the management of water, energy and the environment.     

Human T lymphocyte proliferative response to resting porcine endothelial cells results from an HLA-restricted, IL-10-sensitive, indirect presentation pathway but also depends on endothelial-specific costimulatory factors

To investigate the mechanisms of cellular rejection in pig-to-human xenotransplantation, the proliferation of different human purified lymphocyte subpopulations in response to swine leukocyte Ag class II-negative porcine aortic endothelial cells (PAEC) was measured in the presence or absence of human autologous adherent cells (huAPC). CD8+ lymphocytes proliferated moderately in the absence of huAPC, and the immune response was slightly increased when huAPC were added. CD56+ lymphocytes failed to proliferate in response to PAEC whether huAPC were present or not. CD4+ lymphocytes alone did not proliferate in response to PAEC, but a strong proliferative response was observed in the presence of metabolically active huAPC. This response was totally abolished by mAbs directed against HLA class II molecules or by pretreatment of huAPC by human IL-10. Even in the presence of huAPC, CD4+ lymphocytes failed to respond to fixed PAEC or to PAEC-lysates, suggesting that PAEC must be viable to support lymphocyte proliferation. Finally, none of the nonendothelial porcine adherent cells tested was able to induce human lymphocyte proliferation, despite the fact that they also provided a large set of xenogeneic peptides. Our results show that the indirect presentation pathway of xenoantigens by huAPC to CD4+ lymphocytes is crucial in the response to porcine endothelial cells, and that IL-10 could be of therapeutic interest to prevent human lymphocyte activation by this pathway. Furthermore, we demonstrated that stimulatory signals specifically provided by endothelial cells are also necessary for this huAPC-restricted proliferative response.     

Optical feedback on self-pulsating semiconductor lasers

Weak optical-feedback effects on the statistical properties of self-pulsations in narrow-stripe semiconductor lasers are analyzed using Lang-Kobayashi-type equations. The self-pulsation features are compared with the characteristics of excited relaxation oscillations. We determine the operating regime in which the randomizing effect of spontaneous-emission noise destroys pulse coherence. In this regime, only phase-insensitive effects of optical feedback are possible, and optimum jitter reduction is achieved with delay times of the order of an integer-odd multiple of the free-running pulsation period. In the high-pump operating regime, interpulse coherence is retained and the optical-feedback phase is shown to be instrumental for pulse-jitter control. Our results show that for cavity lengths up to 10 cm, variations on the order of half an optical wavelength induce jitter variations of one order of magnitude     

Effect of post-ripening processing on the histamine and histamine-producing bacteria contents of different cheeses

Histamine is the most active biogenic amine and the one most commonly involved in food-borne intoxications. In this work, the effect of the post-ripening processing (cutting, slicing and grating) of different types of cheese on their histamine and histamine-producing bacteria contents was analysed. The average histamine content detected in Emmental cheeses was 220.8 mg kg⁻¹; the highest concentrations (up to 734.1 mg kg⁻¹) were recorded in grated samples. Significantly more histamine-producing bacteria were detected by real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) in the post-ripening-processed samples than in entire cheeses in all the cheese types analysed. A good association was obtained between the number of histamine-producing bacteria determined by RT-qPCR and histamine concentrations as determined by HPLC. Results for the analysis of entire Emmental cheeses and their post-ripening processed products suggested that processing had an important influence on the presence of histamine in cheese.