A ten-year temporal analysis of primary congenital hypothyroidism in Israel.

It was previously shown that some congenital malformations present seasonal variations, suggesting a seasonal etiology such as viral infections. Some earlier studies have shown a certain degree of variation in the incidence rates of congenital hypothyroidism. As from April 1978 all infants born in Israel were screened for congenital hypothyroidism (CH) in one central laboratory at the Sheba Medical Center Tel-Hashomer. During the 10-year screening period (April 1978 to March 1988) 303 infants were found to have primary CH, which constitutes an overall incidence of 1/3192 live births. The annual and monthly birth incidence was calculated for the 120 months of the screening period. The annual CH incidence was significantly low in 1978 and 1979 and significantly high in 1985. There were wide and significant variations in the individual monthly incidences of CH. The average monthly incidence showed a low peak in August; however the autocorrelation analysis of the monthly incidences of CH showed no significant periodicity. This was supported by the Fourier analysis which showed no distinctive frequency peak. The last menstrual period was calculated for 138 of the infants' mothers and an autocorrelation analysis of these dates showed no significant periodicity. These results support a non-periodic etiology for sporadic primary CH in Israel.     

The efficacy of bismuth subsalicylate in the treatment of acute diarrhoea and the prevention of persistent diarrhoea

A controlled, randomized, double-blind study in Bangladeshi children (ages 4-36 mo) with acute diarrhoea was undertaken to determine whether bismuth subsalicylate (BSS) would prevent the development of persistent diarrhoea (PD) in young children. The children were randomized to two groups: 226 were given liquid oral BSS, (as Pepto-Bismol), 100 mg/kg/d for 5 d; 225 were given placebo of identical appearance. On admission to the study, the two groups were comparable both clinically and microbiologically. Rotavirus was found in 56% of all the children, and enterotoxigenic E. coli in 31% of a subsample studied. Children treated with BSS had less severe and less prolonged illness than those treated with placebo (p = 0.057). There was, however, no difference in the development of PD between the two groups (8% and 11%). Unexpectedly, patients treated with BSS gained significantly more weight (2.3%) than those treated with placebo (0.5%; p < 0.001) during the course of the study. No toxicity of BSS was detected. Conclusion: Treatment with BSS had a modest therapeutic effect on acute diarrhoea, as has been previously demonstrated, but with no suggestion of a therapeutic effect on the prevention of persistent diarrhoea in this group of patients.     

Spider phobics more easily see a spider in morphed schematic pictures

Background  

A dominant view in numerical cognition is that numerical comparisons operate on a notation independent representation (Dehaene, 1992). Although previous human neurophysiological studies using scalp-recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) on the numerical distance effect have been interpreted as supporting this idea, differences in the electrophysiological correlates of the numerical distance effect in symbolic notations (e.g. Arabic numerals) and non-symbolic notations (e.g. a set of visually presented dots of a certain number) are not entirely consistent with this view.     

Weitere Erfahrungen über das weiße Blutbild bei chirurgischen Erkrankungen

Ohne Zusammenfassung Mit 3 Kurven.     

“Anosmia” the mysterious collateral damage of COVID-19

Journal of NeuroVirology - COVID-19 pandemic spreads worldwide, with more than 100 million positive cases and more than 2 million deaths. From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, several...     

Functional consequences of an arginine180 to glutamine mutation in factor IX Hilo

Factor IX Hilo is a variant factor IX molecule that has no detectable coagulant activity. The defect in factor IX Hilo arises from a point mutation in the gene such that in the protein Arg180 is converted to a Gln. Activation of factor IX Hilo by factor Xla was monitored using the fluorescent active site probe p-aminobenzamidine. Normal factor IX showed complete activation in one hour as determined by measuring the increase in fluorescence when p-aminobenzamidine bound to activated factor IX. Factor IX Hilo showed no increase in fluorescence even after 24 hours, indicating that the active site was not exposed. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed that factor IX Hilo was cleaved to a light chain plus a larger peptide with a molecular weight equivalent to a heavy chain covalently linked to an activation peptide. Amino terminal amino acid sequencing of factor IX Hilo cleaved by factor Xla showed cleavage only at Arg145-Ala146, indicating that the Gln180-Val181 bond was not cleaved and that the active site was thus not exposed. The presence of factor IX Hilo in patient plasma was responsible for the patient having a very long ox brain prothrombin time characteristic of severe hemophilia Bm. Patient plasma had an ox brain prothrombin time of 100 seconds using a Thrombotest kit, significantly prolonged over the normal control value of 45 seconds. When factor IX Hilo was depleted from patient plasma using an immunoaffinity column, the ox brain prothrombin time decreased to 41 seconds. When factor IX Hilo was added back to depleted patient plasma, to normal plasma depleted of factor IX by the same affinity column, or to plasma from a CRM- hemophilia B patient, the ox brain prothrombin time was significantly prolonged. We conclude that the Arg180 to Gln mutation in factor IX Hilo results in a molecule that cannot be activated by factor Xla. Further, our data suggest that the mutation results in a molecule that interacts with components of the extrinsic pathway to give a prolonged ox brain prothrombin time.     

豚鼠脂肪干细胞的分离培养与鉴定

目的:从成年雄性豚鼠脂肪中分离培养脂肪干细胞,为脂肪干细胞移植治疗感音神经性耳聋的实验研究创造条件。方法:实验于2005-12/2006-03在河南省高等学校临床医学重点学科开放实验室完成。成年雄性豚鼠,体质量500～750g。分离培养豚鼠脂肪组织,培养三四天后首次换液。倒置显微镜下观察有大量细胞贴壁和漂浮的血细胞,用磷酸缓冲液反复冲洗去除漂浮的细胞,加入DMEM基础培养基 10%胎牛血清培养液。传代前用少量磷酸缓冲液洗涤1次,加入0.25%胰蛋白酶和0.02%乙二胺四乙酸2mL,见大部分细胞胞质回缩、形态变圆,加入2mL含血清的DMEM培养液终止消化,收集细胞悬液、计数,以2×104/cm2细胞密度接种于新的培养皿内。二三天达到融合状态,继续传代培养。四甲基偶氮唑蓝测定第1、3、10代脂肪干细胞生长曲线,流式细胞仪检测脂肪干细胞表面标志。结果:①原代培养显示培养的脂肪间充质干细胞2d左右开始贴壁,7d左右可达90%融合,基本上为梭形成纤维样细胞形态。②生长曲线显示,豚鼠脂肪干细胞在1～3代增值能力较强,以第1代细胞最强,10代以后增殖能力减弱,细胞生长进入平台期。经消化传代后的第1、3、10代细胞均经历24～48h的潜伏期,此后为3～5d对数生长期,逐渐进入生长平台期。14代以前具有活跃的增殖能力。③脂肪干细胞标志CD105,CD44呈阳性表达,而造血干细胞标志CD34阴性表达。结论:成功地建立了一种分离培养豚鼠脂肪间充质干细胞的方法,其生长稳定、增殖较快,可作为干细胞移植治疗感音神经性耳聋实验研究的供体细胞。