Lack of interchangeability between visual analogue and verbal rating pain scales: a cross sectional description of pain etiology groups

Background:  

Rating scales like the visual analogue scale, VAS, and the verbal rating scale, VRS, are often used for pain assessments both in clinical work and in research, despite the lack of a gold standard. Interchangeability of recorded pain intensity captured in the two scales has been discussed earlier, but not in conjunction with taking the influence of pain etiology into consideration.     

A silencing pathway to induce H3-K9 and H4-K20 trimethylation at constitutive heterochromatin

Histone lysine methylation is a central modification to mark functionally distinct chromatin regions. In particular, H3-K9 trimethylation has emerged as a hallmark of pericentric heterochromatin in mammals. Here we show that H4-K20 trimethylation is also focally enriched at pericentric heterochromatin. Intriguingly, H3-K9 trimethylation by the Suv39h HMTases is required for the induction of H4-K20 trimethylation, although the H4 Lys 20 position is not an intrinsic substrate for these enzymes. By using a candidate approach, we identified Suv4-20h1 and Suv4-20h2 as two novel SET domain HMTases that localize to pericentric heterochromatin and specifically act as nucleosomal H4-K20 trimethylating enzymes. Interaction of the Suv4-20h enzymes with HP1 isoforms suggests a sequential mechanism to establish H3-K9 and H4-K20 trimethylation at pericentric heterochromatin. Heterochromatic H4-K20 trimethylation is evolutionarily conserved, and in Drosophila, the Suv4-20 homolog is a novel PEV modifier to regulate position-effect variegation. Together, our data indicate a function for H4-K20 trimethylation in gene silencing and further suggest H3-K9 and H4-K20 trimethylation as important components of a repressive pathway that can index pericentric heterochromatin.     

The effects of anesthesia on the excretion of an isotonic saline load in the rat

The ability to excrete a volume of isotonic saline equal to 10% of body weight infused over 60 min, was examined in awake rats and in rats anesthetized with 1 of the 2 agents most commonly used in renal clearance studies, Inactin or Nembutal. Rats anesthetized with Inactin excreted significantly less of the infused sodium during the period of infusion and in the 120-min post-infusion periods as compared to Nembutal-anesthetized rats or awake rats. Following saline infusion, there was a significantly greater decrease in serum protein concentration (25.5±4.7%) in rats anesthetized with Inactin, compared to that observed in the awake or Nembutal-treated rats. In a separate group of saline-infused awake rats, induction of anesthesia with Inactin resulted in a significant increase in hematocrit and a decrease in serum protein concentration. These studies suggest that Inactin anesthesia decreases the ability of the kidney to excrete a saline load and that, in studies of sodium excretion in the rat, especially if volume expansion is to be part of the experimental protocol, Nembutal rather than Inactin may be the anesthetic of choice.These studies were performed while Drs. Knight and Frankfurt were Fellows in Nephrology of Baylor College of Medicine, and were supported in part by a Clinical Investigatorship award to Dr. Weinman and an Associate Investigatorship award to Dr. Frankfurt from the Veterans Administration. This work was presented in part at the Combined Session, Southern Section, American Federation for Clinical Research and the Southern Society for Clinical Investigation, New Orleans, Louisiana, January 27–29, 1977, and has appeared in abstract form in Clin. Res.25, 61 A (1977)     

Interepithelial cells of the oral mucosa in mice

Summary Non-epithelial mesenchymal and neuroectodermal cells occur between the keratinocytes in the stratified squamous epithelium of the oral mucosa. These cells cannot be classified adequately by light microscopy. In the present study the oral mucosa of the lip, cheek and tongue of 50 mice were studied by light and electron microscopy. 3,025 mononuclear interepithelial cells were documented and analysed.Monocytogenic macrophages, plasma cells and mast cells were not found interepithelially and cannot be regarded as a regular constituent of the epithelium. Only a few neuroectodermal cells — in mice these are exclusively Merkel cells, with no melanocytes — were localized in the epithelium. The majority of the interepithelial cell population is made up of lymphocytes (22.8%) and Langerhans cells (56.8%). They are an integral constituent of the epithelium. Lymphocytes with rounded and indented nuclei can be identified. The larger and dendritic Langerhans cells are a specific cell of squamous epithelium and also occur in the oral mucosa. Not all cells which feature the cytological characteristics of Langerhans cells contain Langerhans or Birbeck granules. Accordingly these granules cannot be considered an exclusive identification characteristic. Two types of Langerhans cells can be differentiated. 80.9% have the more or less typical appearance known from the epidermis and were termed macrophagocytoid Langerhans cells. The nuclei are irregularly indented and moderately heterochromatic. 19.1% possessed conspicuous large, spherical, euchromatic nuclei and an electron-lucent cytoplasm. These were termed reticuloid Langerhans cells. About 20% of the interepithelial cell population could not be identified, neither as typical lymphocytes nor as Langerhans cells. These were small to medium sized cells with deeply indented cerebriform strongly heterochromatic nuclei. They are similar to the Sézary cells or mycosis fungoides cells of epidermotropic human T-cell lymphomas. The lymphocytic nature of these cells has been confirmed. It seems likely that differentiation of lymphocytes to cerebriform cells occurs within the epithelium. It is further discussed whether cerebriform cells are precursors of Langerhans cells, a conclusion suggested morphologically by transitional forms. This would imply that Langerhans cells originate from lymphocytes, and that the cerebriform cell is an intermediate step of differentiation. The microenvironment of the squamous epithelium may play a role in the process of differentiation, which could explain the epitheliotropy of lymphocytes. The possibility is considered that Langerhans cells and interdigitating reticulum cells of the T-cell area of lymph nodes are identical. The close functional cooperation of Langerhans cells, lymphocytes, and interdigitating reticulum cells in immunological defenses against external antigens is discussed.The authors wish to express their sincere appreciation to Miss P. Starck and Miss I. Brandt for invaluable technical assistance in this project.     

Correlates of body image dissatisfaction among overweight women seeking weight loss

Predictors of body image dissatisfaction (BID) among obese people are poorly understood. In 79 obese women seeking weight reduction, associations with BID of self-esteem, youth teasing, adult teasing, and internalization of sociocultural appearance standards (ISAS) were studied. Analyses revealed that only self-esteem, adult teasing, and ISAS predicted BID. Results highlight the importance of adulthood self-esteem and interpersonal-cultural context--rather than childhood experiences--in predicting adulthood BID.     

Origin and filiation of human plasmacytoid dendritic cells

Human plasmacytoid dendritic cells represent a rare population of leukocytes which produce high amounts of type I interferon in response to certain viruses. Although those cells were first described in 1958, there are still unsolved issues related to their origin and function. Recently, a leukemic counterpart of plasmacytoid dendritic cells was identified. Molecular approaches using either normal or leukemic plasmacytoid dendritic cells provide some new insights into the controversial lymphoid origin of those cells. The need for specific markers is still a critical aspect for the identification of plasmacytoid dendritic cells, whatever stage of differentiation, in normal as well as in pathological conditions. Hopefully, novel markers will allow delineation of the relationships between dendritic cells at different stages of differentiation/maturation along the myeloid and lymphoid lineages.     

Breast milk transmission of a Panton-Valentine leukocidin-producing Staphylococcus aureus strain causing infantile pneumonia

We report on a 38-day-old infant who developed pleuropneumonia due to a Staphylococcus aureus strain responsible for familial furunculosis, which was acquired by maternal breast-feeding. All isolates from the infant and parents were genetically related by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis and produced Panton-Valentine leukocidin.