Family and Illness Predictors of Outcome in Pediatric Brain Tumors

Investigated the prediction of cognitive and behavioral outcomesin 63 children with heterogenous brain tumors. Hierarchicalmultiple regression analyses were used to determine how family-relatedvariables added to the prediction of children's outcome overand above illness measures. The best predictors of children'sbehavior problems and adaptive behavior were family and demographicvariables, whereas the best predictors of achievement were illnessand demographic variables. A combination of family and illnessvariables, however, was the best predictor of intellectual functioning.In addition to identifying specific predictors of cognitiveand behavioral outcome in children with brain tumors, theseresults lend initial support for the inclusion of contextualfactors such as family stress, maternal coping, number of parentsin the home, and family SES measures in studies of how diseasefactors affect outcomes in pediatric brain tumor patients.     

An evaluation of high resolution chromosome banding of hematologic cells by methotrexate synchronization and thymidine release

Methotrexate-thymidine synchronization increased mitotic yield and the numbers of cells with longer chromosomes when compared with direct and day culture (24 hr) techniques. The longer chromosomes overlapped more than shorter ones, but this adverse effect of cell synchronization was outweighed by the substantial gains from increased band number of metaphase cells. A critical feature of the synchronization technique that determines chromosome length is the period of cell culture following thymidine release. This will depend on cell cycle time. Variable results obtained with the synchronization technique probably occur because the cell cycle time of leukemic cells differs from that of normal hematologic cells and normal lymphocytes. It may also differ between patients and between acute and chronic forms of leukemia.     

Electrophysiological characteristics of non-bursting, glutamate decarboxylase messenger RNA-positive neurons of the medial septum/diagonal band nuclei of guinea-pig and rat

Nuclei of the medial septum/diagonal band region of the mammalian forebrain contain neurons that give rise to the septohippocampal pathway, which has separate cholinergic and GABAergic components. This pathway is known to influence hippocampal-dependent memory and learning processes, but the precise role of each component is unclear. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that fast-firing, non-bursting medial septum/diagonal band neurons are GABAergic. We used brain slice preparations from young adult guinea-pigs and rats, or from weanling rats, to perform current-clamp recordings from medial septum/diagonal band neurons. Recorded neurons were injected with biocytin for subsequent visualization with fluorescent avidin, and then hybridized with a 35S-labeled riboprobe for glutamate decarboxylase-67 messenger RNA. As a positive control, guinea-pig cerebellar Purkinje cells were labeled and hybridized with the riboprobe. As expected, labeled Purkinje cells were glutamate decarboxylase-67 messenger RNA positive. Slow-firing, cholinergic (choline acetyltransferase-positive) guinea-pig medial septum/diagonal band neurons were glutamate decarboxylase-67 messenger RNA negative. Contrary to our hypothesis, of the guinea-pig neurons, only three of 11 fast-firing neurons were glutamate decarboxylase-67 positive. Of the rat medial septum/diagonal band neurons, three of four were positive for glutamate decarboxylase-67 messenger RNA.These data suggest that fast-firing, non-bursting neurons of the medial septum/diagonal band, as sampled by sharp-electrode intracellular recordings in brain slices, may be a heterogeneous group of neurons, some of which are GABAergic. Together with recent data demonstrating the presence of another GABAergic marker, parvalbumin, in fast-firing septal neurons, we conclude that GABAergic septohippocampal neurons include a population of fast-firing, non-bursting neurons. The influence of these neurons on the hippocampus is likely to occur on a shorter time-scale and over a wider range of firing frequencies as compared to slowly firing cholinergic septohippocampal neurons.     

Iduronate-2-sulfatase gene mutations in 16 patients with mucopolysaccharidosis type II (Hunter syndrome)

Mutations of the iduronate-2-sulfatase gene were identifiedin 16 patients with mucopolysaccharidosis type II (Hunter syndrome).Together with another 10 cases reported by us earlier it emergesthat about 20% of the patients have deletions of the whole geneor other major structural alterations. One, two or three basepair deletions are found in about 23% of the cases while theremaining about 57% carry point mutations predicting amlno acidreplacement, premature termination of translation, or aberrantsplicing. Molecular analysis of mRNA in splice site mutantsshowed that these latter defects frequently resulted in useof cryptic splice sites in exons or introns. 62% of the smalldeletions and point mutations have occurred in 3 of the 9 iduronate-2-sulfatasegene exons. Knowledge of the primary genetic defect allows fastand reliable carrier detection and prenatal diagnosis as wellas insight into the relationship between genotype and phenotype.     

Basecalling with LifeTrace

A pivotal step in electrophoresis sequencing is the conversion of the raw, continuous chromatogram data into the actual sequence of discrete nucleotides, a process referred to as basecalling. We describe a novel algorithm for basecalling implemented in the program LifeTrace. Like Phred, currently the most widely used basecalling software program, LifeTrace takes processed trace data as input. It was designed to be tolerant to variable peak spacing by means of an improved peak-detection algorithm that emphasizes local chromatogram information over global properties. LifeTrace is shown to generate high-quality basecalls and reliable quality scores. It proved particularly effective when applied to MegaBACE capillary sequencing machines. In a benchmark test of 8372 dye-primer MegaBACE chromatograms, LifeTrace generated 17% fewer substitution errors, 16% fewer insertion/deletion errors, and 2.4% more aligned bases to the finished sequence than did Phred. For two sets totaling 6624 dye-terminator chromatograms, the performance improvement was 15% fewer substitution errors, 10% fewer insertion/deletion errors, and 2.1% more aligned bases. The processing time required by LifeTrace is comparable to that of Phred. The predicted quality scores were in line with observed quality scores, permitting direct use for quality clipping and in silico single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) detection. Furthermore, we introduce a new type of quality score associated with every basecall: the gap-quality. It estimates the probability of a deletion error between the current and the following basecall. This additional quality score improves detection of single basepair deletions when used for locating potential basecalling errors during the alignment. We also describe a new protocol for benchmarking that we believe better discerns basecaller performance differences than methods previously published.     

Tolerability of enteric-coated didanosine capsules compared with didanosine tablets in adults with HIV infection

BACKGROUND: A new enteric-coated (EC) didanosine (ddI) formulation (Videx EC; Bristol-Myers Squibb, Princeton, NJ, U.S.A.) may be better tolerated than the tablet form because it lacks the buffer component thought to be responsible for diarrhea and other gastrointestinal (GI) side effects. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the frequency and magnitude of GI side effects (nausea, bloating, GI upset, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, gas [flatus]) before and after switching the formulation of ddI, in study subjects who were experiencing one or more GI symptom(s) of at least moderate severity. METHODS: A 6-week open label crossover study of current didanosine tablet users comparing daily symptom scores (7 point scale, 0 = absent to 6 = very severe) during weeks 1 to 2 (on tablets) to weeks 4 and 6 (on EC capsules). Formulation palatability and preference, lifestyle effects, and use of antidiarrheals or other medications for symptom relief were also assessed. RESULTS: GI symptom scores (7-day means) on tablets were diarrhea 2.11, gas 2.00, bloating 1.23, abdominal cramps 0.74, GI upset 0.69, nausea 0.66. After switching to EC (week 4 and week 6), mean scores decreased for diarrhea (mean scores 0.99 week 4, 0.79 week 6), gas (0.95, 0.79), bloating (0.49, 0.32), abdominal cramps (0.21, 0.05), GI upset (0.16, 0.14), and nausea (0.32, 0.22). Severity of all GI symptoms was significantly reduced after 4 weeks on EC capsules ( p <.01 by paired t- test). Negative impact of side effects on routine activities was significantly reduced (41% on tablet vs. 7% on EC; p <.01). All 42 study subjects preferred the EC form. CONCLUSIONS: According to patients' diary scores, switching to ddI in EC form significantly reduces nausea, bloating, GI upset, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and gas for individuals who experienced GI side effects while taking the buffered tablet form. The striking tolerability advantages appear to support routine switching to EC for such patients and may suggest that widespread preferential selection of the EC form is appropriate to enhance didanosine tolerability and promote treatment adherence.     

Sources and targets of nitric oxide in rat cerebellum.

Nitric oxide (NO) mediates cell-cell signalling in the brain and stimulates cyclic GMP (cGMP) production in target cells. We have used NADPH-diaphorase (reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase) histochemistry to identify NO-producing neurones and cGMP immunohistochemistry to locate the targets of NO in rat cerebellum. NADPH-diaphorase staining was prominent in granule cells and in the molecular layer. cGMP immunostaining in cerebellar slices stimulated with the NO donors, nitroprusside and SIN-1, was found in granule cells, glomeruli, fibres, Bergmann glia and in other astrocytes. The results provide visible evidence that NO mediates neuron-neuron and neuron-glia communication.     

A new HLA-A allele, HLA-A*6824, identified in three unrelated individuals

A novel allele, human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A*6824, has been identified in three unrelated individuals of northwestern European origin in a period of less than 4 months, implying that this allele may be quite common in this population. HLA-A*6824 differs from A*680102 by a single nucleotide change at position 275 in exon 2, which results in a conservative amino acid substitution from lysine to arginine in the peptide-binding groove at codon 68.