Characterization of digital dermatoglyphic features in Salazar Valley: comparison with other Basque valleys

Digital dermatoglyphics of a sample from the Basque Valley of Salazar, situated in the West of the Pyrenees, were analysed. The results showed bimanual differences in both sexes, and also sexual differences for both hands. The comparative study with other Basque valleys showed that, in spite of their supposed common origin, the geographic barriers and the isolation have generated a genetic/dermatoglyphic and linguistic differentiation.     

Cancer of uterine cervix stage IB. Treatment results and prognostic factors

From 1969 through 1977, 210 patients with Stage IB carcinoma of the uterine cervix were treated at University of Maryland Hospital. Fifty-six patients were treated by radical hysterectomy (S), 136 patients were treated by a full course of radiation therapy (RT) only and 18 patients received radiation treatment following radical surgery (S + RT). The 5-year determinate survival rates were almost the same in the S group and RT alone group (79% and 77%, respectively). The 5-year determinate survival rate in the S + RT group was 50%, which was statistical significantly lower than S alone or RT alone groups (P less than 0.05). Several prognostic factors were analyzed in the radiated patients: the size of the primary lesion, location of the lesion within the cervix, tumor grade, age of the patients at the time of diagnosis, and complete blood count nadir during the course of radiation treatment. The only factor found to influence the prognosis was the size of the primary tumor. The patients with smaller tumors had a better prognosis; the absolute and determinate 5-year survival rates were 80% and 82%, while the absolute and determinate survival rates in the large, fungating tumor replacing the entire cervix were 56% and 60%, respectively (P less than 0.001). The complication rate was 22% in the RT alone, 22% in the S + RT, and 25% in the S alone groups.     

Detecting danger--or just another odorant? Olfactory sensitivity for the fox odor component 2,4,5-trimethylthiazoline in four species of mammals

2,4,5-trimethylthiazoline (TMT) is a volatile component of the anal gland secretion of the red fox and elicits behavioral and physiological fear responses in the rat. Using instrumental conditioning paradigms, we determined olfactory detection thresholds for TMT in three rats, a natural prey species of the red fox, and compared their performance to that of three squirrel monkeys, three spider monkeys and four pigtail macaques, all non-prey species of the red fox. We found that the rats were able to discriminate concentrations between 0.04 and 0.10 ppt (parts per trillion) of TMT from the odorless solvent which is by far the lowest olfactory detection threshold for an odorant reported in rats so far. In contrast, the spider monkeys needed 0.14-1.38 ppb (parts per billion), the pigtail macaques 0.41-4.07 ppb, and the squirrel monkeys 4.07-13.80 ppb to detect TMT which does not rank among the lowest olfactory thresholds reported for these three primate species. Thus, these results support the assumption that the behavioral relevance of an odorant may be an important determinant of a species' olfactory sensitivity.     

Responses to natural scenes in cat V1

Studies on processing in primary visual areas often use artificial stimuli such as bars or gratings. As a result, little is known about the properties of activity patterns for the natural stimuli processed by the visual system on a daily basis. Furthermore, in the cat, a well-studied model system for visual processing, most results are obtained from anesthetized subjects and little is known about neuronal activations in the alert animal. Addressing these issues, we measure local field potentials (lfp) and multiunit spikes in the primary visual cortex of awake cats. We compare changes in the lfp power spectra and multiunit firing rates for natural movies, movies with modified spatio-temporal correlations as well as gratings. The activity patterns elicited by drifting gratings are qualitatively and quantitatively different from those elicited by natural stimuli and this difference arises from both spatial as well as temporal properties of the stimuli. Furthermore, both local field potentials and multiunit firing rates are most sensitive to the second-order statistics of the stimuli and not to their higher-order properties. Finally, responses to natural movies show a large variability over time because of activity fluctuations induced by rapid stimulus motion. We show that these fluctuations are not dependent on the detailed spatial properties of the stimuli but depend on their temporal jitter. These fluctuations are important characteristics of visual activity under natural conditions and impose limitations on the readout of possible differences in mean activity levels.     

Alpha lipoic acid: a novel treatment for depression

Insulin resistance has been associated with people diagnosed with depression. Conversely, it has also been documented that diabetics have an increased risk of depression. Evidence suggests that insulin activity plays a role in serotonergic activity by increasing the influx of tryptophan into the brain. This increased influx of tryptophan has been shown to result in an increase in serotonin synthesis. In accordance with the serotonin theory of depression, it may be possible to treat depression by increasing insulin activity. The antioxidant alpha lipoic acid has been shown to increase insulin sensitivity and is used to treat people with diabetes. Therefore, the nutrient alpha lipoic acid should be clinically tested as an adjunct treatment for depression.     

Expression of P-cadherin identifies prostate-specific-antigen-negative cells in epithelial tissues of male sexual accessory organs and in prostatic carcinomas. Implications for prostate cancer biology.

Cadherins constitute a family of calcium-dependent cell-cell adhesion molecules the individual members of which are essential for the sorting of cells into tissues during development. In this study, we examined the expression of E-cadherin, N-cadherin, and P-cadherin in tissues obtained from radical prostatectomies. Epithelial cells of prostatic glands, ejaculatory ducts, and seminal vesicles expressed E-cadherin but not N-cadherin. P-cadherin was expressed in epithelial cells of the seminal vesicles and ejaculatory ducts. In the prostate it was limited to the basal cells of prostatic acini, glands with basal cell hyperplasia, and atrophic glands denuded of the luminal cells. All P-cadherin-positive cells were negative for prostatic-specific antigen. Prostatic cancers were mostly P-cadherin negative, but some tumors had P-cadherin-positive areas frequently located close to ejaculatory ducts and negative for prostatic-specific antigen. The mutually exclusive expression of P-cadherin and prostatic-specific antigen suggests that these proteins are involved in differential mechanisms of cell regulation in prostate cancer. P-cadherin may become a useful marker in the diagnosis and management of patients with prostate cancer and low levels of prostatic-specific antigen.     

Loss of fibroblast Thy-1 expression correlates with lung fibrogenesis

Fibroblasts consist of heterogeneous subpopulations that have distinct roles in fibrotic responses. Previously we reported enhanced proliferation in response to fibrogenic growth factors and selective activation of latent transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta in fibroblasts lacking cell surface expression of Thy-1 glycoprotein, suggesting that Thy-1 modulates the fibrogenic potential of fibroblasts. Here we report that compared to controls Thy-1-/- C57BL/6 mice displayed more severe histopathological lung fibrosis, greater accumulation of lung collagen, and increased TGF-beta activation in the lungs 14 days after intratracheal bleomycin. The majority of cells demonstrating TGF-beta activation and myofibroblast differentiation in bleomycin-induced lesions were Thy-1-negative. Histological sections from patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis demonstrated absent Thy-1 staining within fibroblastic foci. Normal lung fibroblasts, in both mice and humans, were predominantly Thy-1-positive. The fibrogenic cytokines interleukin-1 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha induced loss of fibroblast Thy-1 surface expression in vitro, which was associated with Thy-1 shedding, Smad phosphorylation, and myofibroblast differentiation. These results suggest that fibrogenic injury promotes loss of lung fibroblast Thy-1 expression, resulting in enhanced fibrogenesis.     

Human Lyme arthritis and the immunoglobulin G antibody response to the 37-kilodalton arthritis-related protein of Borrelia burgdorferi

In Borrelia burgdorferi-infected C3H-scid mice, antiserum to a differentially expressed, 37-kDa spirochetal outer-surface protein, termed arthritis-related protein (Arp), has been shown to prevent or reduce the severity of arthritis. In this study, we determined the immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody responses to this spirochetal protein in single serum samples from 124 antibiotic-treated human patients with early or late manifestations of Lyme disease and in serial serum samples from 20 historic, untreated patients who were followed longitudinally from early infection through the period of arthritis. These 20 patients were representative of the spectrum of the severity and duration of Lyme arthritis. Among the 124 antibiotic-treated patients, 53% with culture-proven erythema migrans (EM) had IgG responses to recombinant glutathione S-transferase (GST)-Arp, as did 59% of the patients with facial palsy and 68% of those with Lyme arthritis. In addition, 75 to 80% of the 20 past, untreated patients had reactivity with this protein when EM was present, during initial episodes of joint pain, or during the maximal period of arthritis. There was no association at any of these three time points between GST-Arp antibody levels and the severity of the maximal attack of arthritis or the total duration of arthritis. Thus, after the first several weeks of infection, 60 to 80% of patients had IgG antibody responses to GST-Arp, but this response did not correlate with the severity or duration of Lyme arthritis.     

Surgical sperm retrieval and intracytoplasmic sperm injection as treatment of obstructive azoospermia

Male genital tract obstructions may result from infections, previous inguinal and scrotal surgery (vasectomy) and congenital bilateral absence of the vas deferens (CBAVD). Microsurgery can sometimes be successful in treating the obstruction. In other cases and in cases of failed surgical intervention, the patient can be treated by microsurgical or percutaneous epididymal sperm aspiration (MESA, PESA) or testicular sperm extraction (TESE) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). We present the results of 39 ICSI procedures for obstructive azoospermia in 24 couples. The aetiology of the obstruction was failed microsurgery in 11 patients, CBAVD in nine and genital infections in four. Sperm retrieval was accomplished via MESA in four cases, PESA in 18 cases and via TESE in 11 cases. TESE was only applied when PESA failed to produce enough spermatozoa for simultaneous ICSI. In six patients, the ICSI procedure was performed with cryopreserved spermatozoa after an initial PESA procedure. Fertilization occurred in 47% of the metaphase II oocytes; embryo transfer was performed in 92% of procedures and resulted in a clinical pregnancy in 13/39 procedures. Ongoing pregnancy was achieved in 10/39 procedures. One pregnancy was terminated early after prenatal investigation showed a cytogenetic abnormality (47,XX+18, Edwards syndrome). The other nine pregnancies resulted in the live birth of 10 children, without any congenital abnormalities. Epididymal and testicular retrieved spermatozoa were successfully used for ICSI to treat obstructive azoospermia, and resulted in an ongoing pregnancy in 10 of 24 couples (41.6%) after 39 ICSI procedures, a success rate of 25.6% per treatment cycle and of 27.7% per embryo transfer.      

An eighth complementation group of rodent cells hypersensitive to ultraviolet radiation

Two mutant lines (US31, US46) of mouse lymphoma cells that are hypersensitive to ultraviolet (UV) radiation were previously found to belong to different complementation groups. The mutants were tested for their ability to complement the six known complementation groups of UV-sensitive Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, which are defective in nucleotide excision repair, as well as a seventh group represented by a V79 mutant. Hybrid cells were produced by fusion with polyethylene glycol and tested in situfor UV resistance. The mouse mutant US46 complemented all CHO mutants except UV61. Therefore, US46 is assigned to the same complementation group as UV61, and it is probably defective in the same locus. The mouse mutant US31 produced UV-resistant hybrid cells in each of the seven crosses, indicating that it forms an eighth complementation group among the rodent mutants. Thus, at least eight genes are likely required to repair UV damage in rodent cells.