Serum anticapsular antibody response in the first week after immunization of adults and infants with the Haemophilus influenzae type b-Neisseria meningitidis outer membrane protein complex conjugate vaccine

Eight healthy adults and 48 infants 2 and 4 months old were immunized with Haemophilus influenzae type b-Neisseria meningitidis outer membrane protein complex conjugate vaccine (PRP-OMP) to evaluate antibody kinetics in the first days after immunization. Five adults (63%) had some decrease in antibody, although the geometric mean did not decrease significantly. With one exception, the nadir occurred on postimmunization day 3. Seven had an antibody increase by day 7. Of the children, 6 (75%) of 8 and 17 (77%) of 23 had a decrease in antibody in serum obtained on day 2-3 after the first or second dose, respectively, the magnitude of which directly correlated with the preimmunization antibody concentration. However, the geometric mean did not decrease significantly. Within 1 week of immunization, 85% of infants had an increase in antibody, significantly greater after the second dose than after the first. A high concentration of maternally derived antibody before immunization correlated negatively with antibody response. Thus, a transient decrease in antibody occurs in most adults and infants 2-3 days after immunization with PRP-OMP followed by a prompt increase by day 7.     

The problem of neck relapse in early stage supraglottic larynx cancer

We reviewed the records of 104 patients with Stage T1NO or Stage T2NO epidermoid carcinoma of the supraglottic larynx treated between 1965 and 1979. In 79 patients, surgery was the only type of initial treatment. These 79 patients are the subjects of this report. Forty-eight (61%) of these patients were treated by total laryngectomy, whereas 31 (39%) had a partial laryngectomy. An elective unilateral radical neck dissection was performed on 31 patients considered at high risk, but metastatic disease was found in the dissected side of the neck histologically in only 32% (ten of 31) of these patients. The minimum follow-up period was 5 years and the maximum was 20 years. Twenty-nine percent of the patients (23 of 79) experienced a neck relapse. The neck relapse rate was the same whether the patients did or did not have an elective radical neck dissection. Among the patients who experienced a neck relapse, 65% (15 of 32) have died of the cancer. Among those who did not experience a neck relapse, none (zero of 56) have died of the cancer (P less than 0.01). These results indicate that in surgically treated patients with early stage supraglottic larynx cancer, neck relapse was the major cause of failure associated with death from cancer. Strategies for decreasing the relapse rate are discussed.     

Effect of sleep on interictal spikes and distribution of sleep spindles on electrocorticography in children with focal epilepsy.

OBJECTIVE: To determine how sleep with central spindles alters the spatial distribution of interictal spike frequency in children with intractable focal seizures, and whether such children have spindles arising from the medial temporal region in addition to the frontal-central region. METHODS: Seventeen children (age: 7 months-17 years) were studied using extraoperative electrocorticography (ECoG). RESULTS: Overall spike frequency across the subdural electrodes was greater during sleep with central spindles compared to wakefulness. In 13 children showing at least 1 spike/min in an electrode, the spatial distribution of spike frequency was similar during wakefulness and sleep; in addition, the spike frequency was greater in the seizure onset zones compared to the non-onset areas, regardless of wakefulness or sleep. Spindles were identified in the medial temporal region during sleep with central spindles in all 17 children. CONCLUSION: Overall spike frequency may be increased by sleep with spindles, but the spatial distribution of spike frequency appears similar during wakefulness and sleep in children with intractable focal seizures. SIGNIFICANCE: Both awake and sleep ECoG may be useful to predict seizure onset zones in children with intractable focal epilepsy. Medial temporal spindles are present in some children with focal epilepsy.     

Design, fabrication, and characterization of a tissue-equivalent phantom for optical elastography

We suitably adapt the design of a tissue-equivalent phantom used for photoacoustic imaging to construct phantoms for optical elastography. The elastography phantom we consider should have optical properties such as scattering coefficient, scattering anisotropy factor, and refractive index; mechanical properties such as storage and loss modulus; and acoustic properties such as ultrasound velocity, attenuation coefficient, and acoustic impedance to match healthy and diseased tissues. The phantom is made of poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and its mechanical, optical, and acoustic properties are tailored by physical cross-linking effected through subjecting a suitable mix of PVA stock and water to a number of freeze-thaw cycles and by varying the degree of hydrolysis in the PVA stock. The optical, mechanical, and acoustic properties of the samples prepared are measured by employing different techniques. The measured variations in the values of optical scattering coefficient, scattering anisotropy factor, and refractive index and storage modulus are found to be comparable to those in normal and diseased breast tissues. The acoustic properties such as sound speed, acoustic attenuation coefficient, and density are found to be close to the average values reported in the literature for normal breast tissue.     

Electrophoretic analysis of Salmonella typhi and other bacteria

A comparative study involving SDS-PAGE of Salmonella typhi and other Bacteria was conducted. Protoplasmic antigens of Salmonella typhi. Salmonella paratyphi A, Salmonella typhimurium, Proteus sp, Klebsiellas sp. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Shigella flexneri, Staphylococcus aureus were separated and compared on SDS-PAGE followed by checking of their cross reactivity by gel diffusion using antisera raised against whole cell and lysates of Salmonella typhi. Lines of identity between Salmonella typhi, Salmonella paratyphi A and Salmonella typhimurium were observed. No lines of identity were seen among Salmonella typhi, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Sfaphylococcus aureus.