Maisonneuve fracture dislocation of the ankle

Ligamentous injuries of the ankle are usually benign and may be managed satisfactorily by nonoperative measures. This is not true, however, of the Maisonneuve variant. In this paper we present a case report of a high school athlete who sustained a Maisonneuve fracture dislocation of the ankle. The diagnosis was missed initially, because of an incomplete examination. The subsequent physical and radiographic examination revealed the proper diagnosis. Guidelines for the evaluation and appropriate treatment are discussed.     

The genetic epidemiology of body attitudes, the attitudinal component of body image in women

BACKGROUND: There were four purposes of the current study, including the investigation of the: (i) adequacy of a multidimensional measure of body image; (ii) genetic and environmental epidemiology of this measure; (iii) shared variance between genetic and environmental risk factors for body mass index (BMI) and body image; and (iv) Equal Environment Assumption (EEA) as it related to body attitudes. METHOD: Six types of body attitudes, as measured by the Body Attitudes Questionnaire (BAQ) and reported by 894 complete female-female twin pairs (mean age 32.35 years, S.D. = 41.8) from the Australian Twin Registry, were analysed. RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analysis of the BAQ supported the adequacy of the measure. Additive genetic and unique environmental influences best accounted for the variance of all six of the BAQ subscales. The relationship between BMI and body attitudes was primarily due to shared genes rather than environment but the majority of genetic and environmental effects on body attitudes were independent of BMI, with the exception of the Feeling Fat subscale, which shared 53% of its genetic risk factors with BMI. One violation of the EEA was suggested, namely similarity of childhood treatment influenced similarity on Lower Body Fatness subscale. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support the notion that: (i) body image is a multidimensional concept; (ii) it is relatively independent of BMI; and (iii) both genetic and non-shared environment are influential determinants of body attitudes.     

Effect of modified alpha 2macroglobulin on leucocyte locomotion and chemotaxis.

The effects of human alpha 2macroglobulin (alpha 2M) on locomotion of human neutrophils and monocytes in micropore filter assays in vitro were studied. Native alpha 2M had no effect on cell locomotion. In contrast, alpha 2M which had been modified by interaction with proteases (trypsin, collagenase), or with ammonium sulphate, stimulated locomotion of both cell types. The degree of locomotory response induced in the cells by alpha 2M correlated closely with changes in molecular conformation of alpha 2M as estimated by measurements of binding of the fluorescent probe, 1-anilinonaphthalene-8-sulphonic acid (ANS). However neutrophil locomotion stimulated by modified alpha 2M appeared to be solely chemokinetic, whereas monocytes showed both chemokinetic and chemotactic responses to modified alpha 2M. The reason for this difference in response between the two cell types is unclear, but it is reflected in the lack of specific binding of alpha 2M-protease complexes by neutrophils. Earlier workers had shown specific binding of such complexes by mononuclear phagocytes.     

Detection of Chlamydia trachomatis in general practice urine samples.

BACKGROUND. Chlamydia trachomatis is frequently overlooked as a cause of dysuria and urinary frequency in general practice patients. AIM. This study set out to determine the impact of performing chlamydial antigen detection on sterile pyuria samples from patients aged 16-65 years and which were submitted to a hospital microbiology laboratory by general practitioners in the Winchester health district for routine microbiological investigations. METHOD. Chlamydial antigen detection was performed by enzyme immunoassay and direct immunofluorescence. The cost of performing the test was estimated. In the first year of the study (1991) questionnaires were sent to general practitioners whose patients had a positive test result. RESULTS. A total of 1025 samples of sterile pyuria were received at the laboratory between January 1991 and March 1993. Chlamydial antigen was detected in 54 samples (5%); 22 men and 32 women aged between 16 and 57 years (mean 25 years). The detection rate was highest in the 16-20 years age group (22% of men had a positive sample and 7% of women). Completed questionnaires from 27 general practitioners revealed that 59% of their patients were referred to the genitourinary clinic for treatment and contact tracing. The others were treated by the general practitioner. The cost of the screening programme per cure in this population was estimated to be 246 pounds. CONCLUSION. C trachomatis is a significant pathogen which may go unrecognized and untreated. The cost, medically and financially, of screening for this pathogen and treating infected patients and contacts is likely to be less than ignoring it, particularly if screening is confined to the 16-30 years age group. General practitioners should consider the diagnosis of chlamydial infection in young adult patients with sterile pyuria, and microbiology laboratories should screen sterile pyuria samples for chlamydial antigen.     

Radioimmunoassay for measuring antibodies specific for group B streptococcal types Ia, Ib, Ic, II, and III.

The object of this study was to develop a test that would measure antibodies directed against group B streptococcal types Ia, Ib, Ic, II, and III. The type-specific carbohydrate antigens were purified, labeled with 125I, and used to develop a radioimmunoassay. This procedure should be particularly useful in testing human sera for group B type-specific antibodies, since it requires very small quantities of antigens and measures primary type antigen-antibody interactions.     

The isolated major histocompatibility complex class I alpha3 domain binds beta2m and CD8alphaalpha dimers

The MHC class I molecule plays a crucial role in cytotoxic lymphocyte function. The heavy chain of the MHC class I molecule can form many non-covalent interactions with other molecules on multiple domains and surfaces. We have generated an isolated alpha3 domain of a murine MHC class I molecule and evaluated the contribution of this domain to binding with the MHC class I light chain, beta2m, and CD8. The alpha3 domain binds beta2m at a thousand-fold higher concentration than the whole MHC, and binds CD8alphaalpha with a dependence on the alpha3 CD loop. Our results are relevant for models of MHC folding and CD8-MHC function. The study of individual domains of complex molecules is an important strategy for understanding their dynamic structure and function.     

Bestimmung der Plasma-Renin-Konzentration mittels Radioimmunoassays für Angiotensin I

Zusammenfassung Ein Radioimmunoassay für Angiotensin I und seine Anwendung für die Messung der Reninkonzentration im Plasma werden beschrieben. Die zur Herstellung von Angiotensinantikörpern und radioaktiv markiertem Angiotensin sowie zur Trennung von gebundenem und freiem Hormon benutzten Verfahren werden mitgeteilt. Die Empfindlichkeit der Methode erlaubt den Nachweis von zwanzig Pikogramm Angiotensin I.Zur Messung der Reninkonzentration wurde substratfreies Plasma mit Schafsubstrat im Überschuß versetzt und in Anwesenheit von Inhibitoren von converting enzyme und Angiotensinasen bei 37°C inkubiert. Das gebildete Angiotensin wurde in 20 µl des proteinfreien Inkubationsgemisches bestimmt. Die initiale Geschwindigkeit der Angiotensinbildung wurde zur Berechnung der Reninkonzentration herangezogen. Als eine Einheit wurde die Reninmenge definiert, die ein Nanogramm Angiotensin I pro Stunde Inkubation bildet.Normalwerte unter kontrollierter natriumreicher und natriumarmer Diät wurden ermittelt.Die Empfindlichkeit der Methode erlaubt die Messung der Reninkonzentration im Plasma von Patienten mit primärem Aldosteronismus.Mit Unterstützung der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft.     

Identification of a novel mutation in patients with medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency

A novel mutation was identified in two unrelated patients with medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency. First, a 19-year-old Caucasian female presented with a devastating illness, resulting in sudden death in adulthood which is unusual. The second patient, now a 3.5-year-old male, presented at 17 months of age with a hypoglycemic seizure and dehydration. Sequence analysis revealed a novel mutation G617T in exon 8 resulting in an arginine to leucine substitution at codon 206 (R206L). Both patients were compound heterozygous for this G617T and the common mutation A985G.     

Stabilization of neurites in cerebellar granule cells by transglutaminase activity: identification of midkine and galectin-3 as substrates

The formation of covalent isopeptide cross-links between cell surface protein molecules by the enzyme transglutaminase C influences cell adhesion and morphology. Retinoid-inducible cross-linking activity associated with this enzyme is present in the developing rat cerebellar cortex [Perry M. J. M. et al. (1995) Neuroscience 65, 1063-1076]. A monoclonal antibody was used to localize transglutaminase C to granule neurons in the developing cerebellar cortex. The enzyme was inducible by retinoic acid both in granule neurons cultured from postnatal rat cerebellar cortex and in cells of the embryonic dorsal rhombic lip, which contain granule neuron precursors. A possible biological function for transglutaminase activity was investigated in living granule neurons, cultured on a biomatrix substratum, studied by time-lapse cinematographic analysis using the transglutaminase inactivator RS-48373-007. Inhibition of cross-linking activity did not influence the number of neurites formed by granule neurons, but caused the destabilization of neurites during the initial outgrowth period, seen as an increase in the number of growth cone retractions and the onset of premature axon collateral formation (bifurcation). Inactivation of cross-linking activity prevented the formation of fascicles between neurites only when cells were cultured on a biomatrix surface. Two glial proteins involved in cell-extracellular matrix interactions, midkine and galectin-3, were identified as putative substrates for granule neuron transglutaminase.The results suggest that covalent cross-link formation by transglutaminase C or a related enzyme generates multimeric molecular forms of glial-derived proteins, and plays a role in stabilizing newly formed neurites. A possible non-pathological role for transglutaminase in the control of axon collateral branching by developing granule neurons in the cerebellar cortex is discussed.     

The Bioperl toolkit: Perl modules for the life sciences

The Bioperl project is an international open-source collaboration of biologists, bioinformaticians, and computer scientists that has evolved over the past 7 yr into the most comprehensive library of Perl modules available for managing and manipulating life-science information. Bioperl provides an easy-to-use, stable, and consistent programming interface for bioinformatics application programmers. The Bioperl modules have been successfully and repeatedly used to reduce otherwise complex tasks to only a few lines of code. The Bioperl object model has been proven to be flexible enough to support enterprise-level applications such as EnsEMBL, while maintaining an easy learning curve for novice Perl programmers. Bioperl is capable of executing analyses and processing results from programs such as BLAST, ClustalW, or the EMBOSS suite. Interoperation with modules written in Python and Java is supported through the evolving BioCORBA bridge. Bioperl provides access to data stores such as GenBank and SwissProt via a flexible series of sequence input/output modules, and to the emerging common sequence data storage format of the Open Bioinformatics Database Access project. This study describes the overall architecture of the toolkit, the problem domains that it addresses, and gives specific examples of how the toolkit can be used to solve common life-sciences problems. We conclude with a discussion of how the open-source nature of the project has contributed to the development effort.