A hypervariable STR polymorphism in the CFI gene: Mutation rate and no linkage disequilibrium with FGA

A hypervariable short tandem repeat (STR) polymorphism in intron 7 of the human complement factor I gene (CFI) was investigated to estimate the mutation rate in Japanese samples and to test linkage disequilibrium (LD) with an STR in the fibrinogen alpha chain gene (FGA). The expected heterozygosity and the mutation rate of CFI were estimated to be 0.917 and 0.002, respectively. No LD was observed between CFI and FGA. CFI is a useful supplementary marker for forensic science.     

The iCub humanoid robot: An open-systems platform for research in cognitive development

We describe a humanoid robot platform — the iCub — which was designed to support collaborative research in cognitive development through autonomous exploration and social interaction. The motivation for this effort is the conviction that significantly greater impact can be leveraged by adopting an open systems policy for software and hardware development. This creates the need for a robust humanoid robot that offers rich perceptuo-motor capabilities with many degrees of freedom, a cognitive capacity for learning and development, a software architecture that encourages reuse & easy integration, and a support infrastructure that fosters collaboration and sharing of resources. The iCub satisfies all of these needs in the guise of an open-system platform which is freely available and which has attracted a growing community of users and developers. To date, twenty iCubs each comprising approximately 5000 mechanical and electrical parts have been delivered to several research labs in Europe and to one in the USA.     

Metformin effect on internal carotid artery blood flow assessed by area under the curve of carotid artery Doppler in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome

BACKGROUND Insulin resistance(IR) was reported in most polycystic ovarian syndrome(PCOS) cases. Metformin, a biguanide drug, successfully reduced IR. Homeostatic Model Assessment for IR(HOMA-IR) and Doppler parameters assessed metformin’s effectiveness.AIM To verify whether the area under the curve of the internal carotid artery(AUCICA) Doppler wave can be a useful marker for assessing IR among PCOS cases who presented with menstrual irregularity and were treated with metformin over 6 mo.METHODS...     

Non‐covalent chemical modification of crown ether side‐chain polymethacrylates with a secondary ammonium salt: a family of new polypseudorotaxanes

Here we report syntheses of copolymeric polymethacrylates ( 5 ) bearing dibenzo‐24‐crown‐8 (DB24C8) moieties and their non‐covalent chemical modification with dibenzylammonium hexafluorophosphate ( 7 ) to form side‐chain polypseudorotaxanes. The complexation process, primarily driven by hydrogen bonding and π‐stacking interactions, was investigated in solution with ¹H NMR spectroscopy. By the use of Scatchard and Hill plots it was shown that this system is anticooperative, with a Hill coefficient, n_H ≈︂ 0.45; that is, in addition to the usual entropic effects associated with multiple binding sites, the addition of subsequent ligands to an already complexed macromolecule is retarded. Thus, the more crown moieties per macromolecule or the higher the fraction of complexed sites, the lower the effective macroscopic binding or association constant. Films of the side‐chain polypseudorotaxanes showed significant increases in T_g compared to the parent polymers. The effects of pseudorotaxane formation on surface morphology of films are also reported.     

Pretreatment laparotomy in carcinoma of the cervix

In cases of advanced carcinoma of the uterine cervix, control of regional pelvic disease is not always equated with survival. While early disease often does remain localized within the pelvis, more advanced cervical cancers are observed to metastasize to paraaortic nodes and to distant sites. This study reports a surgical protocol designed to define extent of disease in patients having invasive cervical carcinoma prior to administering primary radiation therapy. Three questions have been raised: (1) Which individual patients have disease outside the pelvis? (2) Is it possible to modify therapy to control disease outside the pelvis and thereby influence survival? (3) Are positive paraaortic nodes found at pretreatment laparotomy indicative of systemic spread of disease? This pretreatment laparotomy was done on 127 patients, 31 of whom were found to have positive paraaortic nodes (24.4%). Sixteen patients had metastatic disease within the peritoneal cavity. Standard pelvic radiotherapy was subsequently given, supplemented with a paraaortic field in those cases with positive paraaortic nodes. Survival was not significantly different in patients with or without paraaortic nodal disease. It was further noted that 17 of the 31 patients (54.8%) who had positive paraaortic nodes later had distant metastases (median time 8 months), compared to $\text{24}\text{96}$ (25.0%) with negative nodes having a median time to metastases of 10 months.     

Unilateral monorchidism and cryptorchism. Clinical and biological findings useful in the differential diagnosis

Eighteen prepuberal children with only one testis palpable in the scrotum were studied in order to review the clinical and endocrinological data useful for differentiating monorchidism from unilateral cryptorchidism. Compensatory testicular hypertrophy, high LH and FSH response to LH-RH (100 micrograms/1.73 m2) and well preserved Leydig cell function after HCG (5,000 IU/m2) should lead to the diagnosis of monorchidism, either both congenital or secondary to severe atrophy of the unpalpable testis. When these findings are lacking the diagnosis of unilateral cryptorchidism should be considered.     

Intragastric cannulation procedures and rats' food intake and body weight maintenance

Effects upon food and water intakes and body weight maintenance of two procedures for preparing rats with chronic intragastric cannulae were examined. A transient aphagia and rapid weight loss followed installation of the classic nasopharyngeal cannula. Growth was resumed after about a week, but subsequent food and water intakes were chronically depressed in comparison to sham operated animals of the same age. Body weight was also chronically subnormal. The response of these animals to caloric dilution of the diet was, however, normal. In contrast to the nasopharyngeal procedure, a method involving direct cannulation of the stomach wall did not lead to either behavioral or weight regulatory deficits and is therefore recommended.