Plasma inositol levels in lithium-treated manic-depressives,schizophrenics and controls

Plasma inositol levels of lithium-treated manic-depressives (LTMD), schizophrenics and healthy volunteers have been studied. In contrast with the findings of Allison and Stewart, that Li treatment raises rat plasma inositol while lowering brain inositol, but in agreement with a previous report of our group of no effect of lithium on CSF inositol levels, we now show no significant difference in plasma inositol concentrations of LTMD as compared with those of control subjects. Plasma inositol levels of the schizophrenics in the present study are slightly but significantly decreased from those of controls.     

Distribution of immunoreactive metorphamide (adrenorphin) in discrete regions of the rat brain: Comparison with met-enkephalin-Arg-Gly-Leu

The distribution of immunoreactive (ir)-metorphamide (adrenorphin) in 101 microdissected rat brain and spinal cord regions was determined using a highly specific radioimmunoassay. The highest concentration of metorphamide in brain was found in globus pallidus (280.1 fmol/mg protein). High concentrations of ir-metorphamide (>120 fmol/mg protein) were found in 9 nuclei, including central amygdaloid nucleus, lateral preoptic area, anterior hypothalamic nucleus, hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus, interpeduncular nucleus, periaqueductal grey matter and nucleus of the solitary tract. Moderate concentrations of the peptide (between 60 and 120 fmol/mg protein) were found in 47 brain nuclei such as nucleus accumbens, bed nucleus of stria terminalis, several septal and amygdaloid nuclei, most of the hypothalamic nuclei, ventral tegmental area, red nucleus, raphe nuclei, lateral reticular nucleus, area postrema and others. Low concentrations or ir-metorphamide (<60 fmol/mg protein) were measured in 41 nuclei, e.g., cortical structures, hippocampus, caudate nucleus, thalamic nuclei, supraoptic nucleus, substantia nigra, vestibular nuclei, cerebellum (nuclei and cortex). The olfactory bulb has the lowest metorphamide concentration (5.8 fmol/mg protein). Spinal cord segments exhibit very low peptide concentrations.     

Calcified mediastinal enterogenous cyst

This report describes a case of esophageal duplication cyst presenting as a densely calcified lesion in the lower posterior mediastinum.     

Long-term immunity in young adults after a single dose of inactivated Hepatitis A vaccines

We evaluated in a prospective study the immune response of na?ve subjects to a single dose of inactivated Hepatitis A vaccine. Ninety-seven percent of the vaccinees sero-converted 1 month after vaccination and 93% were still positive 2 years later. All of the vaccinees had a strong booster response 2 years after the single dose. Avaxim was more immunogenic than Vaqta for the primary dose (p = 0.01 for sero-positivity, p<0.001 for antibody level) but no differences were found after boosting with Avaxim. Performance of intense physical activity during the first month after a single vaccine dose was associated with lower antibody levels (p = 0.004). This study indicates that a single dose of inactivated HAV vaccine elicits protective immune memory for at least 2 years.     

Early results of retrograde expandable nail fixation of 29 distal femoral fractures

The authors retrospectively reviewed 27 consecutive patients with 29 fractures of the distal femur treated with the new retrograde expandable nail. One 10-mm diameter nail that expands to 16 mm was used with the possibility of locking in the condylar area only. Retrieved data included single versus multiple injuries, fracture type, operation time, reaming or nonreaming, hospitalization and healing times, and intra- and postoperative complications. The overall average operation time was 96 (range 40-320) minutes, but only 65 (range 40-120) minutes for isolated fractures. The overall mean hospitalization time was 16 (range 3-40) days, but only 7 (range 4-10) days for isolated fractures. Follow-up continued until fracture healing or for a minimum of 1 year (average 14 months, range 12-24 months). The average clinical union time was 83 (range 43-179) days, and the mean radiographic healing was 87 (range 43-179) days. One patient developed a nonunion that required exchange of the nail to the same device. Another patient underwent hardware removal during a procedure for a torn meniscus. These preliminary results demonstrate satisfactory healing and alignment for the treatment of distal femoral shaft fractures by means of this new device without jeopardizing the knee joint by nail protrusion.     

Between individualism and social solidarity in vaccination policy: the case of the 2013 OPV campaign in Israel

Background

During the summer of 2013, after samples of poliomyelitis virus were found in sewage, Israel launched an intensive national oral polio vaccine (OPV) campaign. The clinical objective of the campaign was rather clear. With not a single case of infantile paralysis and with a population already highly protected with IPV (a dead version of the vaccine), the goal was to foster collective immunity so that risk populations could also be protected. This, however, entailed a rather unusual issue: how to persuade parents whose children already received an IPV to re-vaccinate their children, now with a live yet attenuated version of the virus that was excluded from the national vaccination program in 2004. The challenge therefore was a call for social solidarity - asking parents to vaccinate their children mainly for the sake of protecting unknown at risk populations and to take part in the larger global goals of the polio eradication program. This challenge stands at the core of our investigation. We see the OPV campaign of summer 2013 as a good case study of the tension between individualism and social solidarity in seeking the cooperation of the public.

Methods

We draw on a qualitative study that included participant observation, document reviews and interviews with policy-makers, parents, journalists, public health experts and community leaders. These data were analyzed in order to unravel the ways in which self-interest, community and solidarity were conceived by different agents during the vaccination campaign.

Results

The family as a metaphor for social solidarity was the main discursive item in the public campaign. Tensions, dissonances and inconsistencies were found between different registers and agencies as to what is at stake and what is required.

Conclusions

We discuss the ethical and social implications of our findings in order to better understand how persuasion was used in the current case and for its future role in similar events, within and outside Israel, when global efforts to eradicate polio are ongoing.

     

Meta‐analysis of massively parallel reporter assays enables prediction of regulatory function across cell types

Deciphering the potential of noncoding loci to influence gene regulation has been the subject of intense research, with important implications in understanding genetic underpinnings of human diseases. Massively parallel reporter assays (MPRAs) can measure regulatory activity of thousands of DNA sequences and their variants in a single experiment. With increasing number of publically available MPRA data sets, one can now develop data‐driven models which, given a DNA sequence, predict its regulatory activity. Here, we performed a comprehensive meta‐analysis of several MPRA data sets in a variety of cellular contexts. We first applied an ensemble of methods to predict MPRA output in each context and observed that the most predictive features are consistent across data sets. We then demonstrate that predictive models trained in one cellular context can be used to predict MPRA output in another, with loss of accuracy attributed to cell‐type‐specific features. Finally, we show that our approach achieves top performance in the Fifth Critical Assessment of Genome Interpretation “Regulation Saturation” Challenge for predicting effects of single‐nucleotide variants. Overall, our analysis provides insights into how MPRA data can be leveraged to highlight functional regulatory regions throughout the genome and can guide effective design of future experiments by better prioritizing regions of interest.