Detection of anti-HIV-1 IgG antibodies in whole saliva by GACELISA and Western blot assays

The present study, based on 158 HIV seropositives and 167 HIV seronegatives, demonstrates that saliva collected with the Omni-SAL device and tested with GACELISA (an IgG antibody capture ELISA) is an effective non-invasive alternative to serum for anti-HIV IgG antibody screening. The study also shows that a conventional serum Western blot kit can be used, with slight modifications, for confirmatory testing of saliva specimens. Collecting saliva with the Omni-SAL device had a very good acceptance rate among Tanzanian subjects, and although this diagnostic method is not yet known by the general public, 65% of the study participants preferred to give saliva instead of blood for HIV testing.     

Effect of occlusion of a tracheotomy tube on aspiration

The effect of a polyclonal antiserum and OMVU10, a monoclonal antibody reactive with Antigen B of Streptococcus sobrinus, on the interaction of polymorphonuclear leukocytes with S. sobrinus was studied, using chemiluminescence and bacterial killing assays. Increased stimulation of neutrophils as measured in the chemiluminescence assays was established when S. sobrinus was preincubated with polyclonal antiserum or when polyclonal antiserum was added to the reaction mixture. Higher counts were measured in comparison to preimmune serum. After 90 min, 52% of S. sobrinus preincubated with polyclonal antiserum was killed. Killing was also increased when polyclonal antiserum was added to the reaction mixture in comparison to the controls. No killing was found when bacteria were preincubated with OMVU10 or when OMVU10 was added to the reaction mixture in comparison to Clone 24, a control antibody.     

The effects of guided tissue regeneration and fixation technique on osseous wound healing in rabbit zygomatic arch osteotomies

So called lethal midline granuloma is of great clinical and theoretical interest. Recent evidence has shown that most lethal midline granulomas are associated with a T-cell phenotype and they are therefore referred to as nasal T-cell lymphomas (NTCL). Immunohistochemical studies, however, have shown peculiar phenotypic features such as expression of natural killer (NK)-cell-related markers and extensive T-cell antigen loss including absence of expression of alpha beta T-cell receptor (TCR). In this study, we reported genotypic and immunohistochemical features in two cases of lethal midline granuloma. The histopathological diagnosis of the biopsy specimens was polymorphic reticulosis/midline malignant reticulosis. Both cases displayed a CD2+, CD3-, CD3 epsilon+, CD4-, CD8-, CD16-, CD56+ phenotype, suggesting that these tumors may be peripheral T-cell lymphomas with extensive loss of T-cell antigens and expression of NK cell antigen (CD56), or, alternatively, NK cell neoplasias. No TCR beta gene rearrangement was detected in these cases. Monoclonal Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) genome was detected in each specimen by Southern blot hybridization. The tumor cells in one of the two cases expressed latent membrane protein (LMP). These findings support the concept that lethal midline granuloma constitutes a distinct group of lymphomas that, in addition to their peculiar clinical features, exhibits the phenotype of extensive loss of T-cell antigens and expression of the NK cell antigen, as well as harbors the EBV. In view of the LMP-transforming potential, these data suggest that EBV may play a role in the pathogenesis of lethal midline granuloma.     

Effect of prenatal alcohol and cigarette exposure on two- and six-month-old infants'' adrenocortical reactivity to stress

Biologic data on benzene metabolite doses, cytotoxicity, and genotoxicity often show that these effects do not vary directly with cumulative benzene exposure (i.e., concentration times time, or c x t). To examine the effect of an alternate exposure metric, we analyzed cell-type specific leukemia mortality in Pliofilm workers. The work history of each Pliofilm worker was used to define each worker's maximally exposed job/department combination over time and the associated long-term average concentration associated with the maximally exposed job (LTA-MEJ). Using this measure, in conjunction with four job exposure estimates, we calculated SMRs for groups of workers with increasing LTA-MEJs. The analyses suggest that a critical concentration of benzene exposure must be reached in order for the risk of leukemia or, more specifically, AMML to be expressed. The minimum concentration is between 20 and 60 ppm depending on the exposure estimate and endpoint (all leukemias or AMMLs only). We believe these analyses are a useful adjunct to previous analyses of the Pliofilm data. They suggests that (a) AMML risk is shown only above a critical concentration of benzene exposure, measured as a long-term average and experienced for years, (b) the critical concentration is between 50 and 60 ppm when using a median exposure estimate derived from three previous exposure assessments, and is between 20 and 25 ppm using the lowest exposure estimates, and (c) risks for total leukemia are driven by risks for AMML, suggesting that AMML is the cell type related to benzene exposure.     

Is the development of adenoma and carcinoma in proximal colon related to apolipoprotein E phenotype?

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Alterations in plasma lipoprotein levels and bile acid metabolism observed in patients with colorectal adenoma and carcinoma may reflect a genetic background predisposing to altered lipid metabolism and tumors. This study was designed to determine whether the polymorphism of apolipoprotein E, one of the key regulatory proteins in cholesterol metabolism, is associated with proximal or distal colonic neoplasia. METHODS: Apolipoprotein E phenotype was determined in 135 patients with colorectal adenoma, 122 patients with colorectal carcinoma, and 199 randomly selected control subjects. RESULTS: The frequency of the epsilon 4 allele of apolipoprotein E was low (0.075 and 0.073) in patients with proximal adenoma and those with carcinoma, respectively, compared with the control subjects (0.181) (P < 0.05). In patients with distal tumors, there was no alteration in epsilon 4 frequency. In all subjects with the epsilon 4 allele compared with subjects without epsilon 4, the odds ratio for proximal adenoma was 0.36 (95% confidence interval, 0.14-0.89), and the odds ratio for proximal carcinoma was 0.35 (95% confidence interval, 0.14-0.86). CONCLUSIONS: The data suggest that the epsilon 4 allele of apolipoprotein E provides protection from the development of adenoma and carcinoma of the proximal colon. These results support the theory that there are common susceptibility genes modulating the susceptibility to external carcinogenic factors.     

Brain mapping in animals and humans

The discovery of the Mothers against dpp (Mad) gene in Drosophila has opened a window on an entirely unique signalling pathway that functions to mediate responses to the tumour growth factor beta (TGF beta) superfamily. This pathway, which is comprised of a family of proteins related to Mad, acts to convey signals directly from TGF beta receptors to the nucleus and is implicated in the pathogenesis of human diseases.     

钛合金叶片隔热烘漆的研制

以双酚A型环氧树脂为主要成膜物质,以氮化硼为功能填料,以丁醇醚化脲醛树脂为固化剂,并添加己二酸聚酯弹性体树脂改善其柔韧性、提高涂膜的机械性能,最终得到附着力强、耐热性好、隔热作用明显的飞机发动机叶片用防护涂料.     

Progress and recent trend in MILD combustion

Moderate or intense low oxygen dilution(MILD)combustion plays a significant role in the mitigation of combustion-generated pollutants and greenhouse gases whilst meeting thermal efficiency needs.However,due to the lack of the fundamental knowledge on this combustion,there is a misconception that MILD combustion should be established by high preheating of the air,which has limited its application.Our research and development on this combustion has been performed for several years. We have found that the requ...