Respiratory syncytial virus infection and meningococcal disease.

Although viral respiratory tract infections may predispose to meningococcal disease, strong evidence that they do so exists only for influenza. Data on laboratory reported cases of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections and meningococcal disease in England and Wales from mid-1989 to mid-1994 were analysed. Although the rise in RSV cases preceded the rise in meningococcal disease cases each winter, the interval between the rise and fall of the two diseases was inconsistent, no association was found between time series after removal of the seasonal component, and there was no evidence that more cases of meningococcal disease occurred in winters with more RSV disease. RSV may have less effect on the two most likely mechanisms whereby influenza predisposes to meningococcal disease, namely lowered immunity and impaired pharyngeal defences.     

Anxiety disorders and neuroticism: Are there genetic factors specific to panic?

Data from 2,903 adult same-sex twin pairs were analysed to investigate whether the genetic determinants of symptoms of panic are different from those underlying the neuroticism personality trait. Our results suggest that much of the genetic variation influencing the physical symptoms associated with panic is of the nonadditive type, perhaps due to dominance or epistasis. In both sexes these nonadditive genetic effects on physical symptoms influence the reporting of "feelings of panic". In males they also account for as much as half the genetic variance in neuroticism. The remainder is additive and also accounts for the balance of genetic variation in "feelings of panic". In females genetic variance in neuroticism is entirely additive but is not an important source of covariation with either panic symptom. Thus, symptoms of panic seem to be shaped in part by unique genetic influences which do not affect other anxiety symptoms. That a substantial part of the genetic variance in neuroticism in males may be due to the nonadditive effects on physical symptoms of panic may help to explain the rather low correlation between the genetic influences found to affect neuroticism in males and their counterparts in females.     

Social support,onset of depression and personality

Summary The effects of personality characteristics on social support and hence risk of depression are explored in a group of 150 largely working-class mothers, a subsample of 400 women who took part in a prospective study. This established that once those with depression at first interview were excluded, practically all of the onsets of depression in the follow-up year occurred among 150 women with a severe event or major difficulty — that is a provoking agent. It was also found that low self-esteem and lack of support from a core tie at the time of the crisis was associated with a considerably increased risk. In the subsample as a whole, measures of dependency and attitudinal constraints to support taken at first interview were not associated with risk of depression. But, it is argued, any enduring personality traits that play a role in the link between lack of support and depression would most likely be seen in a smaller group, namely those who had had early inadequate parenting. And the most promising lead concerning the role of personality characteristics did in fact emerge in relation to a small high risk group with such parenting. Most of them had low self-esteem, and they appeared to confide in inappropriate and unreliable sources of support at time of crisis.     

Decontamination and disposal of nitrosoureas and related N-nitroso compounds

An improved procedure for chemically decontaminating residues of nitrosoureas and related N-nitroso compounds ("nitrosamides") commonly used in the cancer research laboratory is proposed. Treatment of accumulated wastes with aluminum:nickel alloy powder while progressively increasing the basicity of the medium consistently led to at least 99.98% destruction of each nitrosamide tested. Hazardous diazoalkanes were never detected in yields of greater than 0.1%. The mutagenicity of the completed reaction mixtures was never more than 3 times background except when the N-nitroso compound contained a 2-chloroethyl group. In most cases, the completeness of reaction could be determined chromatographically, not only to demonstrate the disappearance of the starting N-nitroso compound, but also to follow production of identifiable products in sufficient abundance to account for the starting material destroyed; none of the organic products observed was mutagenic in any of the four tester strains used. The procedure described herein proved reliable in two checker laboratories besides our own when applied to mixtures of seven N-nitroso compounds: N-methyl-N-nitroso-p-toluene-sulfonamide; N-methyl-N-nitrosourethane; N-methyl-N-nitrosourea; N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine; N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea; N-ethyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine; and N-ethyl-N-nitrosourethane. All of the other procedures investigated for destruction of nitrosamides, including the widely used approach of dissolving the nitrosamides in alkali, were associated with important disadvantages.     

Accuracy of Spring and Strain Gauge Hand-held Dynamometers

The accuracy of two spring gauge and two strain gauge hand-held dynamometers was determined using certified weights. Each dynamometer, which had extensive prior use, was vertically loaded with the certified weights in 5 lb increments from 5-55 lbs. Analysis of variance was used to compare the actual certified weights with the weights measured by each dynamometer. Additionally, Pearson product moment correlations were calculated between the weights measured by each device. The two spring gauge dynamometers measured comparably as did the two strain gauge dynamometers. Only the two strain gauge dynamometers, however, registered (measured) weights not differing significantly from the actual weights with which they were loaded. The correlations between each device's measurements were 0.98 or above. If the dynamometers tested are indicative, strain gauge dynamometers may be more accurate than spring gauge dynamometers after extensive use. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 1989;10(8):323-325.     

Immunolymphoscintigraphy for the detection of lymph node metastases from breast cancer

The presence of metastases in the regional lymph nodes is the major prognostic factor in breast cancer in the absence of overt distant metastases and is also an important indicator of the need for adjuvant therapy in "early" breast cancer. Currently, the accurate assessment of axillary lymph node status requires axillary dissection which has an associated morbidity. An alternative method of identifying patients who are "node positive" has been developed by means of immunolymphoscintigraphy with s.c. administered radioiodinated monoclonal antibody. The 131I-labeled anti-breast cancer antibody (RCC-1; 400 micrograms) and cold iodine-labeled "blocking" antibody (Ly-2.1; 2 mg which is nonreactive with breast cancer) were injected s.c. into both arms and scintigraphy images were obtained 16-18 h after the injection, using the axilla contralateral to the side of the breast cancer as the control. Studies were reported as positive (and therefore indicative of lymph node metastases) if the amount of background-subtracted radioactive count in the axilla of interest exceeded the normal side by a radio equal to or greater than 1.5:1.0 as assessed by computer analysis. In 38 of 40 patients the findings on scintigraphy were correlated with operative and histopathological findings on the axillary dissection specimen or cytological findings of fine needle aspiration of axillary lymph nodes. In a prospective study of 26 patients, the method is more sensitive (86%) and specific (92%) than preoperative clinical assessment (57% sensitivity, 58% specificity) in the detection of axillary lymph node metastases; and by combining both modalities of assessment, there was an improvement in the sensitivity (100%) but a deterioration in the specificity (50%). There was no significant complication from this essentially outpatient procedure and only 1 of 40 patients developed a human anti-mouse antibody response. This novel and safe method of imaging may become a most useful adjunct in the surgical management of breast cancer.     

Phenotypic differences within the AB blood type of the feline AB blood group system

Flow cytometry immunolabeling, tube agglutination tests, and thin-layer chromatography immunostaining with two different anti-A monoclonal antibodies (anti-A mAb1 and anti-A mAb2) and one anti-B mAb were used to demonstrate differences in expression of the A and B antigens among erythrocytes from type A and four different type AB cats. Although the flow cytometric patterns of reactivity and agglutination scores for erythrocytes from types A and B cats detected with the anti-A and anti-B mAbs were consistent, reactivity among erythrocytes of different type AB cats was variable. By flow cytometric analysis, 99.9% of type A erythrocytes, no type B erythrocytes, 2.5–4.0% of erythrocytes from type AB cats 1, 3, and 4, and 60.7% of erythrocytes from type AB cat 2 had detectable A antigen when anti-A mAb1 was used. In contrast, 86.4% of type A erythrocytes, no type B erythrocytes, 20.2–38.0% of erythrocytes from type AB cats 1, 3, and 4, and 68.5% of erythrocytes from type AB cat 2 had detectable A antigen when anti-A mAb2 was used. In addition, 86.9% of type B erythrocytes, no type A erythrocytes, 83.1–96.8% of erythrocytes from type AB cats 1, 3, and 4, and 73.0% of erythrocytes from type AB cat 2 had detectable B antigen when the anti-B mAb was used. Agglutination scores of type AB cats were comparable to the percent binding on flow cytometry. Thin-layer chromatography immunostains confirmed differences in the amount of A antigen between erythrocyte glycolipids of type A and AB cats and those of type AB cats 1 and 2. These results suggest that at least two different phenotypes exist within the feline AB blood type, which differ in the amount of A antigen expressed on the erythrocyte surface.     

Detection of cytomegalovirus infection during a vaccine clinical trial in healthy young women: seroconversion and viral shedding.

BACKGROUND: An antibody method based on absorption of serum with cytomegalovirus (CMV) glycoprotein B (gB) was developed for detection of infection during clinical trials of CMV gB vaccine. Previous study showed that this method detected the antibody response to infection and was negative with vaccine induced immunity. OBJECTIVES: In an ongoing efficacy trial of CMV gB vaccine the ability of the gB-absorbed CMV IgG assay to detect CMV infection was assessed and compared with viral culture results. STUDY DESIGN: Two hundred and ninety two healthy, seronegative young women in a phase II, double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical trial of recombinant CMV gB vaccine (sanofi pasteur) with MF59 adjuvant (Chiron) were randomized to receive CMV gB vaccine or placebo (1:1) on a 0, 1 and 6 month schedule. Participants were screened every 3 months for CMV infection using the gB-absorbed CMV IgG assay, and a subgroup was also screened for infection with viral cultures. Viral culture (urine, vaginal swab and saliva) was used to confirm CMV infection in all subjects with a positive gB-absorbed CMV IgG result. RESULTS: Evidence of CMV infection (gB-absorbed CMV IgG levels>or=5.0 AU/ml) was found in 23/292 (7.88%) study participants. The gB-absorbed CMV IgG levels of their first positive serum ranged from 15.7 to 251.0 AU/ml with a mean of 77.0 AU/ml and a median of 44.9 AU/ml. Cytomegalovirus was isolated from all 23 of them from culture specimens collected after their first positive gB-absorbed CMV IgG. The time to first CMV positive culture from first positive gB-absorbed CMV IgG ranged from 0 to 12 weeks with a median of 2 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: The gB-absorbed CMV IgG assay detects CMV infection in CMV gB vaccine clinical trials earlier and more rapidly than virus culture and does not reveal whether subjects received CMV gB vaccine or placebo.