APC gene loss of heterozygosity, mutations, E1317Q, and I1307K germ-line variants in sporadic colon cancer in Croatia

Colorectal carcinomas are characterized by multiple genetic aberrations that occur during tumorigenesis. Several tumor suppressor genes associated with colorectal carcinoma have been identified: MCC, APC, p53, nm23-H1, DCC, DPC4. We examined 73 cases of sporadic human colon cancer and corresponding normal tissue samples to evaluate the loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at the APC gene loci. The purpose of this study was also to evaluate whether the LOH at the APC gene is associated with clinicopathological characteristics in sporadic colon cancer. We also investigated presence and the frequency of the most common APC gene mutations and APC E1317Q and I1307K germ-line variants in Croatian colorectal cancer patients. Five markers in all patients were found to be heterozygous and informative for LOH analysis. LOH at the APC locus was detected in 30.1% of tumors were examined. The majority of APC gene LOH was observed in Dukes' B (55.6%) and in the moderately differentiated tumors (42.9%). Only 1309 APC gene mutation was detected in our samples. In one tumor sample, a new sporadic mutation of the APC gene in codon 1374 was detected. APC E1317Q and I1307K germ-line variants were not detected in our population. But APC E1317Q sporadic mutation was found in one tumor sample.     

CD15s is a potential biomarker of serious bacterial infection in infants admitted to hospital

Early recognition of serious bacterial infection (SBI) in children is essential for better treatment outcome. Flow cytometry analysis of neutrophil surface molecules has been more frequently utilized as a tool for diagnosis of infection. The infants (n?=?105) under 6 months of age presenting to the pediatric emergency department with fever without apparent source who were hospitalized with suspicion of having SBI were enrolled in this prospective study. Sixty-nine infants were included into the training pool and were classified into bacterial or viral infection group. Validation pool consisted of 36 infants. The values of white blood cells counts, absolute neutrophil count (ANC), C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), neutrophil CD11b, CD15s and CD64 expression, and the percentage (%CD15s+) and absolute count (AC-CD15s+) of CD15s+ neutrophils were determined. In infants with SBI, %CD15s+ was 10.5 times more likely to be higher than the cut-off value. ANC, CRP, PCT, CD64, and AC-CD15s+ were also found as useful biomarkers for differentiation between bacterial and viral infection. The best fit multivariate logistic regression model included CRP, PCT, and %CD15s+ as strong predictors of SBI. The model's sensitivity (87 %) and specificity (83 %) indicated high model's accuracy. After validation on independent dataset, model's accuracy maintained high: 86 % sensitivity and 93 % specificity, confirming its reliability and supporting CRP, PCT, and %CD15s+ as real predictors. The findings of this study support assumption made in the literature on significance of CD15s in inflammation processes. Also, this study demonstrated for the first time that CD15s is potentially valuable biomarker of SBI in infants.     

Maternal pre-pregnancy underweight and fetal growth in relation to institute of medicine recommendations for gestational weight gain

Purpose

Maternal nutritional status is one of the most important factors of fetal growth and development. Consequently, the currently increasing prevalence of underweight women worldwide has come in the focus of interest of perinatal medicine. The aim of the study was to assess the effect of low pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) on fetal growth.

Materials and methods

Data on 4678 pregnant women and their neonates were retrospectively analyzed. Pre-pregnancy BMI of study women was categorized according to the WHO standards. Fetal growth was assessed by birth weight and birth length, birth weight for gestational age, and ponderal index.

Results

Study group included 351 (7.6%) women with pregestational BMI < 18.5 kg/m², while all women with pregestational BMI 18.5–25 kg/m² (n = 3688; 78.8%) served as a control group. The mean birth weight and birth length of neonates born to underweight mothers were by 167 g and 0.8 cm lower in comparison with the neonates born to mothers of normal nutritional status, respectively (P < 0.001 both). The prevalence of small for gestational age (SGA) births was twofold that found in the control group of mothers of normal nutritional status (9.7% vs. 4.9%; P < 0.001). The inappropriately low gestational weight gain additionally increased the rate of SGA infants in the group of mothers with low pre-pregnancy BMI (21.4% vs. 10.4%; P = 0.02). Pre-pregnancy BMI category did not influence neonatal growth symmetry.

Conclusion

Low maternal pregestational BMI is associated with fetal growth assessment. Improvement of the maternal nutritional status before pregnancy can increase the likelihood of perinatal outcome.     

Enhancing participation of older women in surgical trials

BACKGROUND: Older participants are often excluded from clinical trials, precluding a representative sample. STUDY DESIGN: Using qualitative and quantitative methods, we examined recruitment and retention of older women with pelvic organ prolapse in two surgical trials: the randomized Colpopexy And Urinary Reduction Efforts (CARE) study and the Longitudinal Pelvic Symptoms and Patient Satisfaction After Colpocleisis cohort study. Using focus groups, we developed a questionnaire addressing factors facilitating and impeding the recruitment and retention of older study participants and administered it to research staff. Enrollment-to-surgery ratios, missed visit rates, and dropout rates for older and younger participants were compared using Fisher's exact test, with cut-points of 70 and 80 years for the CARE and Colpocleisis studies, respectively. RESULTS: Questionnaires were completed by 23 physician investigators and 11 nurses or coordinators (92% response rate). Respondents indicated it was more difficult to recruit older research participants (32%), obtain informed consent (56%), and retain participants to study completion (50%). Challenges to recruitment included caregiver involvement in the decision to participate and participant comorbidities. Perceived barriers to retention were transportation, caregiver availability, and participant fatigue. Data quality was challenged by sensory and cognitive impairment, resulting in a change from telephone interviews to in-person visits in the Colpocleisis study. Older participants did not have higher dropout rates than younger participants. There were no differences in missed in-person visits or telephone interview rates between age groups. CONCLUSIONS: Strategies, albeit unstudied, could assist investigators in planning surgical trials that successfully enroll and retain older women.     

Investigation of Shear-Peel Bond Strength of Orthodontic Brackets on Enamel after Using Pro Seal™

AIM: The aim of this investigation was to ascertain whether the use of a fluoride-releasing, light-curing sealant (Pro Seal, Reliance Orthodontic Products, Itasca, IL, USA) results in differences in shear-peel bond strength when teeth are etched via the conventional acid-etching method and with self-etching primers (SEP), respectively. We also examined whether Pro Seal functions as a substitute for the bonding agents recommended by the manufacturers. MATERIAL AND METHODS: To carry out this study, we randomly allocated 300 extracted molars (ISO 11405) into twelve groups (n=25). The brackets used (Victory Series, Twin UBi 0T/0A .022, 3M Unitek, Seefeld, Germany) were bonded using the same layer thickness of adhesive. The teeth were then stored for 24 h in de-ionized water (37 degrees C) and subsequently thermocycled. The brackets were debonded using a universal testing machine with a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min. For statistical evaluation we used the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA [alpha = 0.05]) and the post hoc Tukey test and Weibull analysis. RESULTS: We could establish that the use of Pro Seal does not have a negative influence on shear-peel bond strength. When the compomer Assure was used, Pro Seal even led to an increase in shear-peel bond strength, especially when it was applied using the bonding agent recommended by the manufacturer. The highest Weibull modulus (m) was found for the self-etching primer IDEAL 1 without using Pro Seal (m=6.5) and the lowest for First Step SEP when using Pro Seal (m=2.2). There were also clear differences in characteristic shear-peel bond strength (sigma(0)) within some of the groups investigated. CONCLUSIONS: Although the statistical evaluation showed no significant negative influence on the shear-peel bond strength either when Pro Seal was used in addition, or when that fluoride-releasing, light-curing sealant was substituted for the bonding agent recommended by the manufacturer, the Weibull analysis showed that the use of Pro Seal in combination with SEP resulted in bond strength values that were less reliably reproducible.     

Dynamic autoinoculation and the microbial ecology of a deep water hydrocarbon irruption

The irruption of gas and oil into the Gulf of Mexico during the Deepwater Horizon event fed a deep sea bacterial bloom that consumed hydrocarbons in the affected waters, formed a regional oxygen anomaly, and altered the microbiology of the region. In this work, we develop a coupled physical–metabolic model to assess the impact of mixing processes on these deep ocean bacterial communities and their capacity for hydrocarbon and oxygen use. We find that observed biodegradation patterns are well-described by exponential growth of bacteria from seed populations present at low abundance and that current oscillation and mixing processes played a critical role in distributing hydrocarbons and associated bacterial blooms within the northeast Gulf of Mexico. Mixing processes also accelerated hydrocarbon degradation through an autoinoculation effect, where water masses, in which the hydrocarbon irruption had caused blooms, later returned to the spill site with hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria persisting at elevated abundance. Interestingly, although the initial irruption of hydrocarbons fed successive blooms of different bacterial types, subsequent irruptions promoted consistency in the structure of the bacterial community. These results highlight an impact of mixing and circulation processes on biodegradation activity of bacteria during the Deepwater Horizon event and suggest an important role for mixing processes in the microbial ecology of deep ocean environments.     

Skeletal components of class III malocclusions and compensation mechanisms

Summary  The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the skeletal characteristics of sagittal maxillary and mandibular discrepancies resulting in class III malocclusions and compensation mechanisms in one Caucasian European population (Croatian). The study sample included 107 patients (63 females and 44 males), aged between 11 and 18 years of age (mean age 14·6 ± 2·2), with a class III malocclusion. Forty-three angular and linear measurements were assessed from the pre-treatment lateral cephalographs of each subject. anova , Tukey post hoc and t -test were used for statistical analysis. The most common differential skeletal type was mandibular prognathism with a normal maxilla (43%), followed by maxillary retrognathism with a normal mandibular position (19·6%), while the combination of maxillary retrognathism and mandibular prognathism was found to be rare (<5%). Subjects with maxillary retrognathia, appeared to also have a vertical facial pattern, suggesting a tendency towards vertical growth as a possible compensation mechanism. Those with mandibular prognathia tended to exhibit a horizontal facial growth pattern and typically included more pronounced dento-alveolar compensation, that is, proclination of maxillary and retroclination of mandibular incisors. There were no differences observed in gender, overjet or soft tissue profiles between different sagittal skeletal types. Dominant protrusive mandible in Croatians can be related to European Caucasian ancestry, where this entity is historically described as 'Habsburg jaw'.     

Fatty acid profiles of four wild mushrooms and their potential benefits for hypertension treatment

Mushrooms are useful in balancing human diet and treating different health problems. The main determinant of the fluidity of erythrocyte membranes and rheologic properties of blood is the lipid composition of the membrane, which directly depends on lipids present in the diet. Lipid profiles of 4 European wild edible mushrooms, as well as the ability of mushroom lipids to modify the fluidity of erythrocyte membrane, were examined by using gas chromatography-mass spectometry, gas chromatography-flame ionization detector, and electron paramagnetic resonance spin probing technique. Lipids from 2 species--Macrolepiota procera and Collybia platyphylla--provoked an increase in erythrocyte membrane fluidity. Therefore, introduction of these and other wild mushrooms with similar lipid profiles to the human diet could be very beneficial in the treatment of hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases related to decreased fluidity of erythrocyte membranes.     

A durkheimian hypothesis on stress

Commonalities among the events that appear on life events lists and among the types of social supports which have been found to reduce the likelihood of illness are reviewed in the life events literature in an attempt to find a context within sociological theory. Social integration seems to underlie the stress-illness process. In seeking a tradition from which to understand these facts, we selected Durkheim's works in the context of the homo duplex concept wherein social integration involves the interplay of individualism and social forces. After presenting a specific hypothesis for the stress literature, the paper concludes with implications and suggestions for empirical research.