Renal function tests for windows--a model for the development and distribution of medical software on the Internet

In the present study, pharyngeal size was investigated on the lateral cephalometric head films of 90 subjects, 45 males and 45 females, having different ANB angles. All of the subjects were aged 13 to 15 years. The films were taken at natural head position, and all were divided into three groups according to the ANB angle: ANB angles smaller than 1 degree, between 1 degree and 5 degrees, and larger than 5 degrees. In addition, each group was also divided into two subgroups according to sex. The effects of the ANB angle and sex on the pharyngeal size were investigated by means of variance analysis. It has been observed that two measurements, hy-apw4 and oropharynx area measurements, were affected by the change of ANB angle, and two other measurements, t-ppw and hy-apw2 measurements, by the sex; and that hy-apw4 measurement and oropharynx area became smaller with the increase of ANB angle.     

Apoptosis of late-stage erythroblasts in megaloblastic anemia: association with DNA damage and macrocyte production

An in vitro model of folate-deficient erythropoiesis has been developed using proerythroblasts isolated from the spleens of Friend virus-infected mice fed an amino acid-based, folate-free diet. Control proerythroblasts were obtained from Friend virus-infected mice fed the same diet plus 2 mg folic acid/kg diet. Our previous studies showed that, after 20 to 32 hours of culture in folate-deficient medium with 4 U/mL of erythropoietin, the folate-deficient proerythroblasts underwent apoptosis, whereas control erythroblasts survived and differentiated into reticulocytes over a period of 48 hours. The addition of folic acid or thymidine to the folate-deficient medium prevented the apoptosis of the folate-deficient erythroblasts, thereby implicating decreased thymidylate synthesis as the main cause of apoptosis in the folate-deficient erythroblasts. In the study reported here, we examined intracellular folate levels, uracil misincorporation into DNA, p53 and p21 proteins, and reticulocyte formation in erythroblasts cultured in folate-deficient or control medium. In all experiments, the folate-deficient erythroblasts cultured in folate-deficient medium gave results that varied significantly from folate-deficient erythroblasts cultured in control medium or control erythroblasts cultured in either folate-deficient or control media. Folate-deficient erythroblasts cultured in folate-deficient medium had marked decreases in all coenzyme forms of folate that persisted throughout culture, increased uracil misincorporation into DNA, persistent accumulations of p53 and p21, and decreased reticulocyte production but increased size of individual reticulocytes. A model of folate-deficient erythropoiesis based on apoptosis of late stage erythroblasts is presented. This model provides explanations for the clinical findings in megaloblastic anemia.     

The propeptide of the vitamin K-dependent carboxylase substrate accelerates formation of the gamma-glutamyl carbanion intermediate

Vitamin K-dependent carboxylase catalyzes the post-translational gamma-carboxylation of 9-12 glutamyl residues of several blood coagulation proteins. Carboxylase purified from Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells as a recombinant FLAG-carboxylase fusion protein [Sugiura, I., et al. (1996) J. Biol. Chem. 271, 17837-17844] was utilized with pentapeptide substrate FL[3H-R,S]EAL with high specific radioactivity to probe the timing of glutamyl Cgamma-3H cleavage relative to Cgamma-COO- bond formation by 14CO2 incorporation rates. Studies were conducted over a range of NaH14CO3 concentrations to assess uncoupling of gamma-glutamyl carbanion formation and over a range of concentrations of ProPT18, the 18-residue peptide corresponding to the -18 to -1 propeptide region of prothrombin known to affect the catalytic efficiency of carboxylase. At saturation, ProPT18 accelerates Cgamma-3H cleavage 11-13-fold and Cgamma-14CO2- formation 6-7-fold, converting a Cgamma-3H cleavage/Cgamma-14CO2- formation ratio of 1.2-1.4 in the absence of ProPT18 to 2.3-2.8 in its presence, a relative increase in and uncoupling of Cgamma-3H cleavage from C-C bond formation. When the HCO3- concentration was varied, the V/K3H+/V/K14CO2 ratios rose as HCO3- fractional saturation dropped to a ratio of 9.3-10.8/l at low bicarbonate, indicating an uncoupling of nine out of ten gamma-glutamyl carbanion formations from carboxylative capture, consistent with prior reports on microsomal enzyme [Larson, A. E., et al. (1981) J. Biol. Chem. 256, 11032-11035]. These results with pentapeptide substrate FLEAL validate reversible gamma-glutamyl carbanion formation by pure carboxylase and indicate the ProPT18 increase in catalytic efficiency is in selective lowering of an energy barrier preceding the gamma-glutamyl carbanion intermediate.     

Dysgraphia in children: lasting psychomotor deficiency or transient developmental delay?

A longitudinal design was applied to differentiate between normal variations of psychomotor development and lasting handwriting deficiency (dysgraphia). Sixteen primary school children were tested with writing tasks that were recorded on a computer-monitored'XY tablet. These tasks represented different modules of the handwriting model of Van Galen (1991). Dependent variables were spatial errors, movement time, movement dysfluencies, trajectory length, stroke curvature, and the degree of neuromotor noise in the movement velocity profiles. The latter variable was measured by means of Power Spectral Density Analysis of the movement velocity signal, which revealed that movements of poor writers were substantially more noisy than those of proficient writers, with a noise peak in the region of neuromotor tremor. At the same time, the poor writers were less accurate. It was concluded that control of spatial accuracy rather than allograph retrieval or size control is the discriminating feature in dysgraphic children. Moreover, poor writers do not catch up with their peers within the 1 year time span tested.     

Disruption of lysosomal targeting is associated with insecticidal potency of juvenile hormone esterase

Juvenile hormone esterase (JHE; EC 3.1.1.1), which is intrinsically involved in regulation of development of some insect larvae, is rapidly removed from the hemolymph by the pericardial cells. Lys-29 and Lys-524, which are implicated in the degradation of JHE, were mutated to Arg. Neither the half-life of the modified JHE in the hemolymph nor the catalytic parameters were changed significantly, but when combined, these mutations resulted in apparent failure of lysosomal targeting in the pericardial cell complex. A hypothesis for the mechanism of reduced efficiency of lysosomal targeting is presented. Infection of larvae with a recombinant baculovirus expressing the modified JHE resulted in a 50% reduction in feeding damage compared with larvae infected with the wild-type virus, thus demonstrating improved properties as a biological insecticide. These data demonstrate that alteration of specific residues of JHE that disrupted lysosomal targeting, dramatically increased the insecticidal activity of this protein.     

'True' fasting serum insulin level, insulin resistance syndrome and coronary artery disease

BACKGROUND: Increased fasting serum insulin level not associated with hypoglycemia is considered to be a practical indicator of the insulin resistance syndrome, a frequent risk factor for atherosclerosis in industrialized countries. However, in most studies, insulin was measured by using antibodies which cross-react with proinsulin and 31/32, 32/33 split products of insulin. We re-examined the correlations between the insulin resistance syndrome and 'true' fasting serum insulin level. METHODS: We studied 242 post-menopausal women (age 63 +/- 8 years), a population in whom insulin resistance syndrome is particularly frequent. Serum insulin was measured by a recent specific microparticle immunoassay. RESULTS: There was a significant correlation between elevated 'true' fasting serum insulin level and various constituents of the insulin resistance syndrome, such as obesity, dyslipidemia (hypertriglyceridemia, increased apolipoprotein B and decreased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and apolipoprotein A1 concentrations), increased serum glucose, uric acid levels, and plasminogen activator inhibitor type I concentration, as well as increased frequency of diabetes. There was also a correlation between insulin level and various manifestations of coronary artery disease: patients in the highest quartile of 'true' insulin level had significantly more entirely occluded coronary arteries than in the lowest one. Similarly, in the highest insulin quartile more patients had occluded arteries with lumen diameter stenoses greater than 50% (P < 0.05) and more of them had history of previous myocardial infarction approaching the level of significance (P = 0.0587) than in the lowest one. Most of these correlations were also noted in nondiabetic people. CONCLUSIONS: An increase of 'true' fasting serum insulin level is a useful practical index to identify patients with the insulin resistance syndrome exposed to increased risk of coronary artery disease.     

Changes in muscle morphology, electromyographic activity, and force production characteristics during progressive strength training in young and older men

Effects of a 10-week progressive strength training program composed of a mixture of exercises for increasing muscle mass, maximal peak force, and explosive strength (rapid force production) were examined in 8 young (YM) (29+/-5 yrs) and 10 old (OM) (61+/-4 yrs) men. Electromyographic activity, maximal bilateral isometric peak force, and maximal rate of force development (RFD) of the knee extensors, muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) of the quadriceps femoris (QF), muscle fiber proportion, and fiber areas of types I, IIa, IIb, and IIab of the vastus lateralis were evaluated. Maximal and explosive strength values remained unaltered in both groups during a 3-week control period with no training preceding the strength training. After the 10-week training period, maximal isometric peak force increased from 1311+/-123 N by 15.6% (p <.05) in YM and from 976+/-168 N by 16.5% (p <.01) in OM. The pretraining RFD values of 4049+/-791 N*s(-1) in YM and 2526+/-1197 N*s(-1) in OM remained unaltered. Both groups showed significant increases (p < .05) in the averaged maximum IEMGs of the vastus muscles. The CSA of the QF increased from 90.3+/-7.9 cm2 in YM by 12.2% (p <.05) and from 74.7+/-7.8 cm2 in OM by 8.5% (p <.001). No changes occurred in the muscle fiber distribution of type I during the training, whereas the proportion of subtype IIab increased from 2% to 6% (p < .05) in YM and that of type IIb decreased in both YM from 25% to 16% (p < .01) and in OM from 15% to 6% (p < .05). The mean fiber area of type I increased after the 10-week training in YM (p < .001) and OM (p < .05) as well as that of type IIa in both YM (p < .01) and OM (p < .01). The individual percentage values for type I fibers were inversely correlated with the individual changes recorded during the training in the muscle CSA of the QF (r=-.56, p < .05). The present results suggest that both neural adaptations and the capacity of the skeletal muscle to undergo training-induced hypertrophy even in older people explain the gains observed in maximal force in older men, while rapid force production capacity recorded during the isometric knee extension action remained unaltered during the present mixed strength training program.     

Influence of absorbable dusting powders on wound infection

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the lymphocyte subpopulations (T4, T8 and macrophages) and major histocompatibility (MHC) II antigens in patients with superficial bladder cancer before and after intravesical instillations of recombinant interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Four intravesical weekly instillations of either 1.3 mg (20 patients, group A) or 0.7 mg (11 patients, group B) IFN-gamma were administered in 31 evaluable patients (28 men and three women, mean age 68.5 years). The CD4+, CD8+, CD68+ and HLA-DR antigens were detected immunohistochemically in tumours and a marker tumour before and after intravesical instillations. RESULTS: The median number of T4 lymphocytes increased from 15 per high-power field (HPF) to 27.5 in group A (P = 0.0029) and to 45 in group B (P = 0.0117). Macrophages increased from 6 cells/HPF to 15 cells/HPF in group A (P = 0.0029) and from 2 to 8.75 cells/HPF in group B (P = 0.0117). The T8 lymphocyte subpopulation decreased from 4 to 3 cells/HPF (P = 0.0231) in group A and from 5 to 2 cells/HPF (P = 0.0759) in group B. The median percentage of HLA-DR antigens increased from 1.5% to 18% in general, (P < 0.001), from 2.5% to 15% in group A (P = 0.0064) and from 0% to 20% in group B (P = 0.0077). The induction of HLA-DR antigens was statistically significant in those receiving the lower dose (from 0% before instillation to 20% afterward, P = 0.0277), while it was not with the higher dose (from 0% to 5%, P = 0.068). Irrespective of the dose of IFN used. T4 lymphocytes and macrophages increased significantly after treatment in patients in whom the tumour HLA-DR antigens were either up-regulated or remained stable. The median net increase in T4 cells was 17.5 and 30 cells/HPF for groups A and B, respectively (P = 0.0429). CONCLUSION: T4 lymphocytes, macrophages and HLA-DR antigens increased after intravesical IFN-gamma in patients with superficial bladder cancer, but T8 lymphocytes decreased. Irrespective of the drug dose used, patients with either upregulated or stable HLA-DR antigens after treatment showed the same pattern of changes in the lymphocyte subpopulations. The two doses generally had the same effect on the immunological variables assessed but the lower dose was more effective in inducing HLA-DR antigens and in increasing the number of T4 lymphocytes in the tumours.     

Validation of [13C]urea breath test for Helicobacter pylori using a simple gas chromatograph-mass selective detector

OBJECTIVE: Isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) is the accepted method for accurately measuring the 13CO2:12CO2 ratio in the non-invasive and non-radioactive [13C]urea breath test (13C-UBT) for Helicobactor pylori. The IRMS instrument, an expensive and highly specialized analyser, is rarely available. The objective of this project was to modify and validate the use of a simple bench-top gas chromatograph-mass selective detector (GC-MSD) for 13C-UBT. METHODS: Breath samples from 71 patients were taken at baseline and 30 min after ingestion of 100 mg [13C]urea. The breath samples were analysed using GC-MSD in the selected ion monitoring mode. The reference 13CO2:12CO2 ratio was from NBS19 obtained from the US National Institute of Standards and Technology. 13CO2:12CO2 ratios of the breath samples were determined. Excess delta per thousand (per mil, delta/thousand) of the 30 min sample over the baseline (deltadelta/thousand) of > or = 6deltadelta/thousand was considered H. pylori positive. Results from 13C-UBT and histology determined blind to each other were compared. RESULTS: The coefficient of variation of the reference 13CO2:12CO2 ratio was 0.06%. Using histology as the 'gold standard', the sensitivity (97.9%) and specificity (95.8%) of the GC-MSD 13C-UBT were comparable to those of other methods of H. pylori diagnosis. CONCLUSION: A gas chromatograph coupled to a mass selective detector that is available in many analytical and biomedical laboratories can be used for the 13C-UBT. This method will increase the availability and reduce the cost of this non-invasive, non-radioactive diagnostic test.