Physical activity and movement skills proficiency of young Filipino children

Recent reports indicate an increasing prevalence of overweight among Filipino children. Considering the known association of physical activity (PA) with obesity, this study reports the findings of an objective monitoring of PA in a sample of Filipino children. The study also explores the relationship of PA with fundamental movement skills (FMS) proficiency. Thirty‐two children (6.54 ± 2.45 years old) wore an accelerometer for 7 days of PA monitoring and were assessed on five FMS (throw, catch, kick, run, jump). The children met the World Health Organization's recommendation of 60 min of PA per day, with more active time being accrued during weekdays than weekends. Children with greater FMS proficiency were found to spend more time in PA than those who were less skillful during weekends. Further research is recommended to examine PA and FMS proficiency associations, exploring the role of social interactions on weekends and weekdays.     

Glomerulonephritis associated with complete deficiency of the fourth component of complement response to intravenous immunoglobulin

A 15-year-old girl with complete C4 deficiency and a lupus-like disorder developed evidence of nephritis after 4 years of followup. Renal biopsy demonstrated an immune complex glomerulonephritis, with deposits in the capillary loops, the paramesangium, and the mesangial matrix. Renal function was normal. The patient was treated with monthly infusions of intravenous immunoglobulin for 6 months. The treatment was well tolerated, and resulted in resolution of the rash and hematuria. Followup biopsy showed less proliferation and fewer loop deposits. In light of the serious risk of infections that is associated with complement deficiency, approaches to glomerulonephritis that do not include immunosuppression should be considered.     

The clinical and pathological characteristics of Chinese patients with pauci-immune crescent golmerulonephritis

Objective　To investigate the clinical and pathological characteristics of pauci-immune crescent glomerulo～nephritis (PICGN) in Chinese patients. Methods　During 13 years (1985-1998), 6400 patients underwent non-transplanting renal biopsy. Twenty-four patients were diagnosed as PICGN. All clinical and laboratory data of these patients were collected from the patients’ records and used for detailed analysis. The diagnosis is based on clinico-pathologic findings. Results　Of the 24 patients, 16 were females and 8 were males, with median age of 33 years (ranged 10-76 years). Microscopic polyarteritis (MPA) (33.3%) and systemic vasculitis (8.3%) were the secondary diseases. The incidence of PICGN was 0.38% in renal biopsies and 22.9% in crescentic glomerulonephritis. Clinically, most patients (75.0%) showed rapidly progressive nephritis with enlarged kidneys. At onset, gross hematuria was noted in 58.3% of patients, hypertension in 45.8%, nephrotic syndrome in 41.7%, and oliguria in 25.0%. However, systemic symptoms were rare except for anemia. Pathologically, necrosis of glomerular capillaries (62.5%), infiltration of monocytes and neutrophil cells in glomeruli (66.7%), and vasculitis in the interstitium (53.3%) were observed. In addition, glomerulosclerosis was noted in 45.8%, severe tubular atrophy in 83.3% and interstitial fibrosis in 75.0%. Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCAs) were positive in 52.2%. All patients except two received intensively immunosuppressive therapy. Sixteen patients were available for long-term follow up (median 29.8 months, range 8-92 months). Twelve of them had life-sustaining renal function, four had normal serum creatinine (<124?μmol/L) and only 4 patients were dialysis-dependent. Conclusion　PICGN is not rare in China. Early diagnosis and administration of immunosuppressive therapy, particularly in patients with rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis (RPGN), are important for good prognosis.     

Enhanced pure-tone pitch discrimination among persons with autism but not Asperger syndrome

Persons with Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) display atypical perceptual processing in visual and auditory tasks. In vision, Bertone, Mottron, Jelenic, and Faubert (2005) found that enhanced and diminished visual processing is linked to the level of neural complexity required to process stimuli, as proposed in the neural complexity hypothesis. Based on these findings, Samson, Mottron, Jemel, Belin, and Ciocca (2006) proposed to extend the neural complexity hypothesis to the auditory modality. They hypothesized that persons with ASD should display enhanced performance for simple tones that are processed in primary auditory cortical regions, but diminished performance for complex tones that require additional processing in associative auditory regions, in comparison to typically developing individuals. To assess this hypothesis, we designed four auditory discrimination experiments targeting pitch, non-vocal and vocal timbre, and loudness. Stimuli consisted of spectro-temporally simple and complex tones. The participants were adolescents and young adults with autism, Asperger syndrome, and typical developmental histories, all with IQs in the normal range. Consistent with the neural complexity hypothesis and enhanced perceptual functioning model of ASD (Mottron, Dawson, Soulières, Hubert, & Burack, 2006), the participants with autism, but not with Asperger syndrome, displayed enhanced pitch discrimination for simple tones. However, no discrimination-thresholds differences were found between the participants with ASD and the typically developing persons across spectrally and temporally complex conditions. These findings indicate that enhanced pure-tone pitch discrimination may be a cognitive correlate of speech-delay among persons with ASD. However, auditory discrimination among this group does not appear to be directly contingent on the spectro-temporal complexity of the stimuli.     

Drug-induced lung injury

Lung injury is an increasing cause of morbidity and mortality in patients treated with cytotoxic and noncytotoxic drugs. Prompt diagnosis is important because early drug-induced lung injury will often regress with the cessation of therapy. Diagnosis requires a high index of suspicion because infection, radiation pneumonitis, and recurrence of the underlying disease can manifest clinically and radiologically in a similar manner. Because the lungs have only a limited number of histopathologic responses to injury, including pulmonary edema/diffuse alveolar damage, NSIP, BOOP, EP, and pulmonary hemorrhage, knowledge of these manifestations and the corresponding radiologic manifestations can often be useful in suggesting a diagnosis of drug-induced lung injury. An understanding of the drugs most commonly associated with lung injury can also facilitate diagnosis.     

Acute non-proliferative glomerulitis: a cause of renal failure unique to children

Over a 31-year period, we have encountered 13 children with a disease entity not reported by other clinics that leads to rapidly progressive crescentic glomerulonephritis. Gross hematuria, rapidly declining renal function, and a serum C3 level at the lower limit of normal or slightly depressed usually characterized the disease onset; hypertension and nephrotic syndrome were absent. Glomerular IgG was absent, but large C3-containing subepithelial deposits on the paramesangial basement membrane (GBM) were always present. Because of these deposits and because dense alteration of the GBM was found in 3 patients, the disease may resemble membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis type II, but is distinguishable on other morphological and clinical grounds. The absence of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody, tested for in 5 of 13 patients, is one of several ways the disease differs from the pauci-immune glomerulonephritis of adults. Clinically and by glomerular morphology, it also differs from severe poststreptococcal acute glomerulonephritis. Treatment with high-dose corticosteroids has been highly successful. Because in this series the disease occurred only in children under age 12 years and the amount of silver-positive mesangial matrix was normal, indicating absence of mesangial proliferation, it has been designated juvenile acute non-proliferative glomerulitis. Received: 31 March 1999 / Revised: 15 October 1999 / Accepted: 20 October 1999     

Dietary associations in a case-control study of endometrial cancer

Despite the established role of obesity in the etiology of endometrial cancer, limited data are available from analytical epidemiologic studies on the association of risk with dietary factors. A case-control study of 399 cases and 296 controls conducted in five areas of the United States from 1 June 1987 to 15 May 1990, enabled evaluation of risk related to dietary intakes adjusted for potential confounders. Caloric intake was associated modestly with increased risk (odds ratio [OR]=1.5,95 percent confidence interval [CI]=0.9–2.5 for highest cf lowest quartiles of intake), with the principal contributors being fat and protein calories. After adjustment for other risk factors, including body mass, increased risk was associated with higher intakes of fat. Several components of fat investigated were associated with increased risk, although associations were slightly stronger for saturated fat (OR=2.1, CI=1.2–3.7) and oleic acid (OR=2.2, CI=1.2–4.0) than for linoleic acid (OR=1.6, CI=0.9–2.8). Food-group analyses showed intake of complex carbohydrates—and specifically of breads and cereals—associated with reduced risks (OR=0.6, CI=0.4–1.1), whereas animal fat and fried foods were associated with elevated risks (OR=1.5 and 1.7, respectively). The relations of endometrial cancer with animal fat and complex carbohydrates were independent. No consistent associations were noted for intakes of cholesterol, fiber, vitamins A and C, individual carotenoids, or folate-rich foods. These data imply an etiologic role for a diet rich in total fat and/or animal fat and low in complex carbohydrates with endometrial cancer. These associations are consistent with a hormonal mechanism and were independent of the associations of obesity and other risk factors.Drs Potischman, Swanson, Brinton, and Hoover are with the Environmental Epidemiology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA. Authors are also affiliated with Information Management Services, Inc., Silver Spring, MD (Ms McAdams), and the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC (Dr Barrett); University of California at Irvine Medical Center, Irvine, CA (Dr Berman); Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA (Dr Mortel); University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN (Dr Twiggs); Rush Medical College, Chicago, IL (Dr Wilbanks). Address correspondence to Dr Potischman, Nutritional Epidemiology Section, Division of Cancer Etiology, National Cancer Institute, Executive Plaza North, Suite 443, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.     

替硝唑软膏的研制与临床应用

目的:研究替硝唑软膏,并应用于临床。方法:参照同类制剂,确定最优组方和制备方法,采用紫外分光光度法测定含量,用比较法进行临床疗效观察。结果:制剂制备简单,含量测定方法简便,结果可靠,经临床应用牙周炎、牙龈炎患者62例,总有效率95.3％。结论:本品是治疗牙周炎、牙龈炎的理想制剂,值得推广应用。