Ultrastructure of the tegument of the anoplocephalid cestode Mosgovoyia ctenoides (Railliet, 1890) Beveridge, 1978

The tegument of the mature proglottids of M. ctenoides was examined by means of TEM. The tegument of this species consists of two layers: (1) the external cytoplasm, and (2) the tegumental perikarya situated in the cortical parenchyma. The tegument surface is covered by typical microtriches. The anucleated external layer of cytoplasm is rich in vesicles of different shape and electron-density, but it lacks mitochondria. Large pore canals penetrate the external cytoplasmic layer. This layer is separated from the perikarya by a basal lamina, being connected with the tegument cell bodies by cytoplasmic bridges. The granular cytoplasm of perikarya contains typical cell organelles such as mitochondria, GER, Golgi complexes, free rybosomes, numerous vesicles and lipid droplets inclusions. The large nuclei of the perikarya with prominent nucleoli frequently contain large intranuclear, highly osmiophilic lipid droplets.     

Infections and other illnesses of children in day-care centers in Helsinki I: Incidences and effects of home and day-care center variables

Summary Illnesses among children attending municipal day-care centers (DCCs) were followed in a prospective study in Helsinki during 1985–1986. The study comprised 1,905 follow-up years among children in 29 DCCs. The mean number of illness periods was 4.9 per follow-up year, 7.9 for those under the age of three years and 3.8 for older children. The corresponding average numbers of days of illness were 23, 39 and 17. The most common diagnoses were upper respiratory tract infections (46.0%), diarrhea (17.2%), otitis media (12.9%), eye infections (4.0%), acute tonsillitis (3.2%), and bronchitis (3.0%). The six most common diagnoses, all infections, caused 86% of periods and 79% of days of illness. The ten most common infectious diseases caused 90.9% of absence periods, surgical operations 1.8%, and injuries 0.8%. In children under three years of age, a small area and volume of a DCC, lack of fully mechanized ventilation, and lack of separate facilities were associated with a higher incidence of one or all of the six most common infections. A large number of children at a DCC and small homes were associated with a high incidence of one or all of the most common infections among both younger and older children. The effects of passive smoking, number of siblings, number of household members, and incomes of families were not statistically significant.

---

Infektionen und andere Krankheiten bei Kindern in Kindertagesstätten in Helsinki I: Inzidenz und Einfluß von häuslichen und mit Tagesstätten assoziierten Variablen

Zusammenfassung In einer prospektiven Studie wurden in Helsinki in den Jahren 1985–1986 Krankheiten bei Kindern, die in städtischen Kindertagesstätten betreut werden, registriert. Die Studie umfaßte 1905 Betreuungsjahre in 29 Kindertagesstätten. Pro Betreuungsjahr traten im Mittel 4,9 Krankheitsphasen auf. Bei den Kindern unter drei Jahren waren es 7,9, bei den älteren Kindern 3,8. Die Zahl der entsprechenden Krankheitstage betrug 23, 39 und 17. Am häufigsten wurden Infektionen der oberen Atemwege diagnostiziert (46,0%); es folgten Diarrhoe (17,2%), Otitis media (12,9%), Augeninfektionen (4,0%), akute Tonsillitis (3,2%) und Bronchitis (3,0%). Die sechs häufigsten Diagnosen, die bei den Kindern gestellt wurden, betrafen ausschließlich Infektionen, machten 86% der Krankheitsphasen und 79% der Krankheitstage aus. Die zehn häufigsten Infektionskrankheiten verursachten 90,9% der Tage, in denen die Kinder fehlten, Operationen machten 1,8% und Verletzungen 0,8% aus. Bei Kindern unter drei Jahren waren enge Räume und kleine Kindertagesstätten, Fehlen einer voll mechanisierten Belüftung und Fehlen eigener Hygienebereiche mit einer erhöhten Inzidenz einer oder aller sechs der häufigsten Infektionen assoziiert. Bei Tagesstätten mit vielen Kindern und häuslicher Enge waren bei jüngeren wie bei älteren Kindern einzelne oder alle der häufigsten Infektionen mit hoher Inzidenz aufgetreten. Für passives Rauchen, Geschwisterzahl oder Familieneinkommen ergaben sich keine statistisch signifikanten Auswirkungen auf die Infektionshäufigkeit.

     

Chemoprevention of preneoplastic liver foci development by dietary mushroom Agaricus blazei Murrill in the rat.

The chemopreventive potential of an Agaricus blazei (Ab) Murrill mushroom meal was investigated in a medium-term rat liver carcinogenesis assay. Male Wistar rats initiated for hepatocarcinogenesis with diethylnitrosamine (DEN, 200 mg/kg i.p.) were fed during a 6-week period with the dry powdered mushroom strains Ab 29 or 26, each one with opened (OB) or closed basidiocarp (CB), mixed at 10% level in a basal diet. All experimental animals and controls were subjected to partial hepatectomy at week 3 and killed at week 8. Chemopreventive activity of the mushroom meal was observed for the Ab 29 (OB and CB) and Ab 26 (CB) strains in terms of the number of putative preneoplastic altered foci of hepatocytes which express either the enzyme glutathione S-transferase, placental form (GST-P+) or the transforming growth factor-alpha, and for the Ab 29 (OB) and Ab 26 (CB) strains on the size of GST-P+ foci. This was associated with inhibition of foci cell proliferation in the animals fed the Ab 29 (OB) and Ab 26 (CB) strains. The results suggest that the protective influence of the Ab meal against the DEN potential for rat liver carcinogenicity depends on both the strain and period of mushroom harvest.     

Anticlastogenic effect of aqueous extracts of Agaricus blazei on CHO-k1 cells, studying different developmental phases of the mushroom.

The Agaricus blazei Murill (ABM) mushroom, known as the sun mushroom, is native to Brazil and has become known for its medicinal properties. This study examined the anticlastogenic effect of Agaricus blazei in Chinese hamster ovary cells, CHO-k1, by means of a chromosome aberration test using methyl methanesulphonate (MMS, 10(-4)M) as the DNA damage inducing agent. Two mushroom lines were used, ABM 99/26 and ABM 97/11, and the latter was used in the young (Y) and sporulating (S) developmental phases. The cells were treated for 12 h with MMS alone or combined with aqueous extracts of A. blazei at a final concentration of 0.15%, which were prepared at three different temperatures: (a) hot (60 degrees C), (b) room temperature (25 degrees C) and (c) chilled (4 degrees C). Mushroom extracts showed a marked anticlastogenic effect against DNA damage, as evidenced by a decrease in the number of cells with breaks, regardless of the line used, or the developmental stage or the temperature at which the extract was prepared. Generally, the extracts were more effective in reducing the isochromatid type breaks. The data obtained suggest that extracts of A. blazei mushroom are anticlastogenic under the conditions tested, mainly during the G1 and S stages of the cell cycle, where chromosome breaks of the isochromatid type are produced by the MMS agent.     

Pain in multiple sites and sickness absence trajectories: A prospective study among Finns

We studied the number of musculoskeletal pain sites as a predictor of sickness absence during a 7-year follow-up among a nationally representative sample (the Health 2000 survey) of occupationally active Finns 30 to 55 years of age (3420 subjects who did not retire or die during the follow-up). Baseline data (questionnaire, interview, clinical examination by a physician) were gathered in 2000 to 2001 and linked with information from national registers on annual compensated sickness absence periods (?10 workdays) covering the years 2002 to 2008. Pain during the preceding month in 18 body locations was inquired and combined into 4 sites (neck, upper limbs, low back, lower limbs). Demographic factors, BMI, smoking, leisure-time physical activity, sleep disorders, physical and psychosocial workload, and chronic diseases were assessed. Four distinct sickness absence trajectories emerged, labeled as Low (59% of the subjects), Ascending (21%), Mixed (11%), and High (9%). In multinomial logistic regression, the odds ratios (ORs) for belonging to the High vs. the Low trajectory increased with the number of pain sites, being 2.1 for single-site pain, 2.6 for 2 pain sites, 2.9 for 3 pain sites, and 4.1 for 4 pain sites, after adjustment for chronic diseases, demographic and lifestyle factors, and workload. The confidence intervals of the ORs did not include unity. The adjusted ORs for belonging to the Ascending trajectory were 1.1, 1.3, 1.7, and 1.7, respectively. As the number of pain sites was a strong independent predictor of work absenteeism, early screening of workers with multisite pain and interventions to support work ability seem warranted.     

Surface-activated microtiter-plate microarray for simultaneous CRP quantification and viral antibody detection

Microarrays are widely used in high-throughput DNA and RNA hybridization tests and recently adopted to protein and small molecule interaction studies in basic research and diagnostics. Parallel detection of serum antibodies and antigens has several potential applications in epidemiologic research, vaccine development, and in the diagnosis of allergies, autoimmunity, and infectious diseases. This study demonstrates an immobilization method for immunoassay-based microarray in conventional 96-well polystyrene plates for a serologic diagnostic method combined with quantitative C-reactive protein (CRP) assay. A synthetic peptide (HIV-1), a recombinant protein (Puumala hantavirus nucleocapsid), and purified virus preparations (Sindbis and adenoviruses) were used as antigens for virus-specific antibody detection and monoclonal anti-CRP antibody for antigen detection. The microarray was based on conventional enzyme immunoassays and densitometry from photographed results. Peptide and recombinant antigens functioned well, while whole virus antigens gave discrepant results in 1 out of 23 samples from the reference method, tested with human sera with various antibody responses. The CRP results were in concordance in the concentration range 0.5–150 mg/L with 2 commercially available CRP assays: ReaScan rapid test (R² = 0.9975) and Cobas 6000 analyzer (R² =0.9595). The results indicate that microtiter plates provide a promising platform for further development of microarrays for parallel antibody and antigen detection.     

Satisfaction with sexual life among persons with traumatic spinal cord injury and meningomyelocele

Purpose. To study satisfaction with sexual life and self-assessed sufficiency of sexual counselling in persons with traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) and meningomyelocele (MMC).

Method. A postal questionnaire on aspects of health and functioning was answered by 190 persons with traumatic SCI who had been treated in the Spinal Injuries Unit in Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg, Sweden and 41 persons with MMC who were admitted to the Young Adult Teams in Göteborg, Borås and Skövde, Sweden.

Results. On a numerical scale from 0 (dissatisfied) to 10 (satisfied) the median of satisfaction with sexual life was 3 for the men and 4 for the women among the persons with traumatic SCI. In the MMC group the median of satisfaction with sexual life was 5 for the men and 8 for the women. Sexual dissatisfaction increased with increasing age in both groups. Inconvenience caused by urinary and faecal incontinence, as well as neuropathic pain increased sexual dissatisfaction in the men with traumatic SCI. A total of 69% of the men with traumatic SCI and 56 – 59% of the participants in other subgroups reported that the sexual counselling they had received was sufficient.

Conclusions. The results corroborate findings from earlier studies that satisfaction with sexual life is rather low among persons with SCI. Especially ageing men with traumatic SCI who have sustained injury at an older age are a challenge for rehabilitation. The high satisfaction with sexual life in the women in comparison with the men with MMC is a finding not reported earlier. Our results suggest that adequate treatment of incontinence and pain might improve even sexual satisfaction. Sexual counselling should be given to all individuals with SCI and to their partners. Sexual counselling for young adults with MMC is an important part of the rehabilitation process.