A comparison study of dynamic visual acuity between athletes and nonathletes

A comparison study of dynamic visual acuity (DVA) was conducted using samples of nonathletic college students and college baseball players. The experimental population consisted of 17 male baseball players ranging in age from 19-24 years. The control population was made up of 25 male graduate students ranging in age from 23-29 years. Subjects reported the direction of a 20/25 "Landolt C" target exhibiting uniform angular motion produced by a projection system. Angular target velocities between 10 deg/sec and 110 deg/sec with an exposure time of 400 ms were used. The results showed a statistically significant difference between the two groups' DVA. The mean DVA for the baseball players was 82.35 deg/sec and 69.90 deg/sec for the control group.     

Primary Health Care through a community based smoking-cessation program

The International Conference on Primary Health Care, meeting in Alma-Ata, in the Soviet Union, September 12, 1978, expressed the need for urgent action by all governments, all health and development workers and the world community, to protect and promote the health of all people of the world. The world was caught by the phrase which emerged from this conference, Health For All by the Year 2000 and many have examined the articles of the Alma-Ata declaration and tried to implement them in their corner of the world. This paper describes a community-based smoking-cessation program which was implemented in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada, during the years 1980–1984. Primary to this project was the belief that people have the right and the duty to participate individually and collectively in planning and implementing their health care. This paper describes one community's effort in putting this belief into practice.Carol Smillie, B.N. BE.d. M.S.c. is an Assistant Professor at the School of Nursing, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 3J5, Katherine Coffin, BA, MEd is the Program Officer, Nova Scotia Office, Health Promotion Directorate Health and Welfare Canada, 5251 Duke Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Canada B3J 1P3. Kathryn Porter, B.A. (Gen)., is the Information and Education Coordinator, Nova Scotia Division Canadian Cancer Society. Brenda Ryan, B.A., M.B.A. is Program Evaluation Analysist, Nova Scotia Department of Health, 6088 Hollis Street, Halifax. Nova Scotia, Canada. This Project was funded by Health and Welfare Canada, Nova Scotia Department of Health, Nova Scotia Division Canadian Cancer Society, Requests for reprints should be addressed to: Professor Carol Smillie.     

Costello syndrome: Clinical phenotype,genotype, and management guidelines

Costello syndrome (CS) is a RASopathy caused by activating germline mutations in HRAS. Due to ubiquitous HRAS gene expression, CS affects multiple organ systems and individuals are predisposed to cancer. Individuals with CS may have distinctive craniofacial features, cardiac anomalies, growth and developmental delays, as well as dermatological, orthopedic, ocular, and neurological issues; however, considerable overlap with other RASopathies exists. Medical evaluation requires an understanding of the multifaceted phenotype. Subspecialists may have limited experience in caring for these individuals because of the rarity of CS. Furthermore, the phenotypic presentation may vary with the underlying genotype. These guidelines were developed by an interdisciplinary team of experts in order to encourage timely health care practices and provide medical management guidelines for the primary and specialty care provider, as well as for the families and affected individuals across their lifespan. These guidelines are based on expert opinion and do not represent evidence‐based guidelines due to the lack of data for this rare condition.     

Pain in individuals with RASopathies: Prevalence and clinical characterization in a sample of 80 affected patients

Pain in individuals with RASopathies is a neglected topic in literature. In this article, we assessed prevalence and profile of pain in a sample of 80 individuals affected by RASopathies. The study sample included individuals with Noonan syndrome (N = 42), Costello syndrome (N = 17), and cardio‐facio‐cutaneous syndrome (N = 21). A set of standardized questionnaires and scales were administered (VAS/numeric scale, r‐FLACC, Wang‐Baker scale, NPSI, BPI, NCCPC‐R) to detect and characterize acute and chronic pain and to study the influence of pain on quality of life (PEDs‐QL, SF‐36) and sleeping patterns (SDSC); revision of past medical history and multisystemic evaluation was provided. Available clinical data were correlated to the presence of pain. High prevalence of acute (44%) and chronic (61%) pain was documented in the examined sample. Due to age and intellectual disability, acute pain was localized in 18/35 individuals and chronic pain in 33/49. Muscle‐skeletal and abdominal pain was more frequently reported. The intensity of acute and chronic pain interfered with daily activities in 1/3 of the sample. Pain negatively impacted on QoL and sleeping patterns. This work documents that pain is highly prevalent in RASopathies. Future studies including subjective and objective measures of pain are required to discriminate a somatosensory abnormality from an abnormal elaboration of painful stimuli at a central level.     

Maternal origin of transferrin receptor positive cells in venous blood of pregnant women

We studied the origin of transferrin receptor (CD71) positive cells in blood from seven women pregnant with a male fetus in order to explore if fetal cells could be detected among them. We used a technique that allows direct chromosomal analysis by in situ hybridization on immunologically and morphologically classified cells. Enrichment was performed by magnetic activated cell sorting (miniMACS)® using an anti-CD71 monoclonal antibody. The cells were immunophenotyped by alkaline phosphatase anti-alkaline phosphatase immunostaining with the same antibody. The origin of the immunophenotyped cells was studied by in situ hybridization using an X cosmid Y repeat chromosome specific probe cocktail. CD71 positive cells were found in six of the seven women at the range of 4 to 43 in respective samples. Over 90% of the CD71 positive cells were nucleated erythrocytes. None of the detected positive cells were shown to be fetal. Thus, the use of transferrin receptor antigen alone in combination with the miniMACS® may not be sufficient for enrichment of fetal cells.     

The role of intrahepatic lymphocytes in mediating protective immunity induced by attenuated Plasmodium berghei sporozoites

Summary: Exposure to irradiated Plasmodium sporozoites (g‐spz) results in protection against malaria. Like infectious spz, g‐spz colonize hepatocytes to undergo maturation. Disruption of liver stage development prevents the generation of protection, which appears, therefore, to depend on liver stage antigens. Although some mechanisms of protection have been identified, they do not include a role for intrahepatic mononuclear cells (IHMC). We demonstrated that P. berghei g‐spz‐immune murine IHMC adoptively transfer protection to naive recipients. Characterization of intrahepatic CD4+ T cells revealed an immediate, albeit transient, response to g‐spz, while the response of CD8+ T cells is delayed until acquisition of protection. It is presumed that activated CD8+ T cells home to the liver to die; g‐spz‐induced CD8+CD45RBloCD44hi T cells, however, persist in the liver, but not the spleen, during protracted protection. The association between CD8+CD45RBloCD44hi T cells and protection has been verified using MHC class I and CD1 knockout mice and mice with disrupted liver stage parasites. Based on kinetic studies, we propose that interferon‐g, presumably released by intrahepatic effector CD8+ T cells, mediates protection; the persistence of CD8+ T cells is, in turn, linked to Plasmodium antigen depots and cytokines released by CD4+ T cells and/or NK T cells.     

Mutations in VMK1, a mitogen-activated protein kinase gene, affect microsclerotia formation and pathogenicity in Verticillium dahliae

Verticillium dahliae is an important soil-borne fungal pathogen that causes vascular wilt diseases in a large variety of important crop plants. Due to its persistence in the soil, control of Verticillium wilt relies heavily on soil fumigation. The global ban on methyl bromide, a highly effective soil fumigant, poses an urgent need to develop alternative control measures against Verticillium wilt; and these might be more forthcoming with a better understanding of the molecular and cellular mechanisms that underpin the pathogenicity of V. dahliae. In this study, we assessed the role in growth, development, and pathogenicity of VMK1, a gene encoding a mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase (hence, Verticillium MAP Kinase 1). Disruption of VMK1 via Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation, in two V. dahliae isolates, one from lettuce and the other from tomato, resulted in severely reduced virulence in diverse host plants, suggesting that VMK1 is essential for pathogenicity and that the MAP kinase-mediated signaling pathway has a conserved role in fungal pathogenicity. The vmk1 mutants also exhibited reduced conidiation and microsclerotia formation, suggesting that the gene is important for multiple cellular processes. P.R. and R.G.B. equally contributed to the work     

Effect of oestradiol on mouse uterine epithelial cell tumour necrosis factor-alpha release is mediated through uterine stromal cells

Oestradiol-17beta (Oe(2)) stimulates uterine epithelial cell proliferation and is critical for normal uterine differentiation and secretory function. Oe(2) can act directly on the epithelium via the epithelial oestrogen receptor (OR) or indirectly via the OR-positive underlying stroma. A primary role for epithelial-stromal interactions has been established for mediating steroid hormone action in the uterus. This study was undertaken to determine the mode of Oe(2) action in regulating epithelial cell cytokine release in the uterus. Mouse uterine epithelial and stromal cells were isolated and cultured separately. Transepithelial resistance (TER) was monitored with an EVOM voltohmmeter to determine monolayer polarity and integrity. Epithelial cells grown alone or in coculture with stromal cells were treated with Oe(2). Supernatants collected were assayed for transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) by bioassay and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. While Oe(2) treatment of epithelial cells led to a significant decrease in TER, the amount of TNF-alpha released was not altered. However, when epithelial cells were cocultured with stromal cells and treated with Oe(2), apical TNF-alpha release was significantly decreased, compared to cells not treated with hormone. As determined by oestrogen receptor antagonist studies, Oe(2) primed epithelial cells for the action of the stromal paracrine factor(s). In contrast, TGF-beta release by epithelial cells was not affected by Oe(2) when grown alone or in the presence of stromal cells. These studies indicate that Oe(2) has both direct and indirect effects on the uterine epithelium. While epithelial monolayer integrity is directly influenced by Oe(2), TNF-alpha release in response to Oe(2) is dependent on the presence of stromal cells, indicating that paracrine communication is necessary for steroid regulation of some but not all cytokines.     

Caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus-infected goats can generate human immunodeficiency virus-gp120 cross-reactive antibodies(1)

Lentiviruses display surprisingly disparate clinical manifestations in their specific hosts, share complex genetic structures, and exhibit extensive diversity, particularly in their envelope genes. The envelope protein, gp135, of caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus (CAEV) has minimal primary sequence homology to gp120, the envelope protein of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Nevertheless, they bear certain similarities in that they both possess five variable regions, both are heavily glycosylated, and both share short sequence motifs. We establish a further relationship and demonstrate that some goats, infected with CAEV, possess gp135-specific antibodies which cross-react with gp120 from several HIV strains, provided the protein is expressed in insect cells. We show that, although the cross-reactivity of these immunoglobulins depends on the level of glycosylation, nevertheless, some antibodies recognize the protein epitopes on gp120, at least some of which are linear in character. Further characterization of this unexpected cross-reaction will define its potential therapeutic utility.