Effects of sex steroid analogs on spontaneous autoimmune thyroiditis in obese strain chickens.

Treatment of obese strain chickens, either in ovo or after hatching, with testosterone or various testosterone-derived steroid analogs having no or only weak endocrine activities causes significant protection from spontaneous autoimmune thyroiditis occurring in these birds. This effect is not correlated with the endocrinological properties of these steroids. This observation and similar results in other models for autoimmunity may present a basis for a more selective therapy in human autoimmune diseases in that hormonal side effects no longer preclude this approach.     

The effectiveness of a treatment protocol for male lower urinary tract symptoms in general practice: a practical randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Randomised controlled trials have shown the efficacy of several treatment modalities for lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in selected populations. The effectiveness in daily practice has hardly been investigated, especially in primary care and is dependent on choices between all possible treatment options and best investigated in a comprehensive study, including all treatment modalities (watchful waiting, alpha-blockers, 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors, and surgery). AIM: Assessment of the effectiveness of a comprehensive treatment protocol for LUTS in primary care. DESIGN OF STUDY: Randomised controlled trial. SETTING: Fourteen general practices in the Netherlands. METHOD: Intervention: treatment protocol based on a formalised expert opinion. Control condition: usual care. Study population: 208 subjects with moderate to severe LUTS (IPSS > or =8, median = 13). OUTCOME MEASURES: symptom severity (IPSS [International Prostate Symptom Score]), bother score (Dan-PSS [Danish Prostate Symptom Score]), and maximum urinary flow (Q(max)); incidence of acute urinary retention and urinary tract infections. RESULTS: In the intervention group markedly more subjects used an alpha-blocker at end of follow-up than in the usual care group (24% versus 6%). No significant differences were found between intervention and control group in IPSS, Q(max) or Dan-PSS. CONCLUSION: alpha-blockers and watchful waiting are the most frequent treatment modalities for LUTS in primary care. Our study showed no evidence that a protocol using well-defined indications for all possible treatment modalities based on a formalised expert opinion procedure has added value. Based on our results, we cannot recommend a broadening of the indication for alpha-blockers, which, however, seems to be the current trend.     

Polymerisationsauslösung mit substituierten ethanen, 2. Trennung der Oligomeren aus Methylmethacrylat und 1,1,2,2-Tetraphenyl-1,2-diphenoxyethan

The telechelics 1 from methyl methacrylate and 1,1,2,2-tetraphenyl-1,2-diphenoxyethane, can be separated by adsorption chromatography. The structure of the dimers and trimers was identified by ¹H NMR-spectroscopy. The free radical oligomerization is a process in which the syndiotactic structure is favoured above the isotactic one.     

Quantitative reflection spectroscopy at the human ocular fundus

A new model of the reflection of the human ocular fundus on the basis of the adding-doubling method, an approximate solution of the radiative transport equation, is described. This model enables the calculation of the concentrations of xanthophyll in the retina, of melanin in the retinal pigment epithelium and the choroid, and of haemoglobin in the choroid from fundus reflection spectra. The concentration values found in 12 healthy subjects are in excellent agreement with published data. In individual cases of pathologic fundus alterations, possible benefits to the ophthalmologic diagnostics are demonstrated.     

Dosimetric characteristics of a new unshielded silicon diode and its application in clinical photon and electron beams

Shielded p-silicon diodes, frequently applied in general photon-beam dosimetry, show certain imperfections when applied in the small photon fields occurring in stereotactic or intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), in electron beams and in the buildup region of photon beam dose distributions. Using as a study object the shielded p-silicon diode PTW 60008, well known for its reliable performance in general photon dosimetry, we have identified these imperfections as effects of electron scattering at the metallic parts of the shielding. In order to overcome these difficulties a new, unshielded diode PTW 60012 has been designed and manufactured by PTW Freiburg. By comparison with reference detectors, such as thimble and plane-parallel ionization chambers and a diamond detector, we could show the absence of these imperfections. An excellent performance of the new unshielded diode for the special dosimetric tasks in small photon fields, electron beams and build-up regions of photon beams has been observed. The new diode also has an improved angular response. However, due to its over-response to low-energy scattered photons, its recommended range of use does not include output factor measurements in large photon fields, although this effect can be compensated by a thin auxiliary lead shield.     

DNA cross-link-dependent RAD50/MRE11/NBS1 subnuclear assembly requires the Fanconi anemia C protein

Fanconi anemia (FA) is a cancer-predisposition syndrome characterized by hypersensitivity to interstrand-cross-link (ICL) inducers. FA hypersensitivity to ICL has been correlated with alterations in homologous recombination, non-homologous end-joining, telomere maintenance, DNA-damage assessment and checkpoint regulation, processes in which the components of the RAD50/MRE11/NBS1 (RMN) complex are involved. To better characterize the mechanisms by which ICL are processed in human cells and to gain insight into their toxicity in FA, we examined (i). the RMN complex assembling in response to the ICL inducers mitomycin C (MMC) and photoactivated 8-methoxypsoralen and (ii). the proficiency of FA cells to perform RMN activation in response to ICL inducers. We show here that ICL activates the assembly of the RMN proteins into subnuclear foci, and that their formation proceeds independently of ICL incision, a step mainly dependent on XP-F/ERCC1 heterodimer activity. Interestingly, FA cells were unable to form RMN foci in response to either ICL inducer. Analysis by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and single-cell gel electrophoresis of MMC-treated cells showed that FA cells from complementation group C (FA-C cells, defective in the FANCC gene) form double-strand breaks and unhook MMC-induced ICL similarly to FANCC wild-type cells. These observations imply that the absence of RMN assembly in FA-C cells is not simply due to the absence of DNA ends produced as intermediates of ICL processing, and indicates a direct role for FANCC in RMN focus assembly in response to ICL inducers. Moreover, we show that the formation of foci, including BRCA1 and/or RAD51 proteins, is significantly delayed in FA cells. These alterations in the assembly of DNA-repair proteins in FA provide an interpretation for the DNA-damage processing anomalies observed in FA cells and for the genetic instability and the cancer predisposition of the syndrome.     

Stabile polysauerstoff-radikale. I. Synthese von polymerisationsfähigen monomeren mit sterisch behinderter freier oder geschützter phenolischer hydroxylgruppe

New monomers with sterically hindered free or blocked phenolic hydroxyl groups were used as starting compounds for the preparation of stable oxygen polyradicals. In this paper the synthesis of these monomers is described: 2,6-Di-(tert-butyl)-4-vinylphenol was obtained by decarboxylation of 3-[3,5-di-(tert-butyl)-4-hydroxyphenyl]acrylic acid in yields of 80–;90%. 2,6-Di-(tert-butyl)-4-isopropenylphenol was prepared from 3,5-di-(tert-butyl)-4-hydroxyphenyl methyl ketone and methyl iodide by a GRIGNARD reaction followed by the dehydration of 2-[3,5-di-(tert-butyl)-4-hydroxyphenyl]-2-propanol. 2,6-Di-(tert-butyl)-4-isopropenylphenyl methyl ether was obtained with 64% yield from 3,5-di-(tert-butyl)-4-methoxybenzonitrile by two consecutive GRIGNARD reactions with methyl iodide via the unknown compounds 3,5-di-(tert-butyl)-4-methoxyphenyl methyl ketone and 2-[3,5-di-(tert-butyl)-4-methoxyphenyl]-2-propanol, followed by dehydration of the tertiary alcohol with 89% phosphoric acid.     

Recognition by peptide mapping of three different structural groups of outer membrane protein YOP-1 of Yersinia enterocolitica and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis

The structural relation of YOP-1 of european and american Yersinia enterocolitica serotypes O3, O9, O5, 27, and O8 and O20, respectively, and Y. pseudotuberculosis serotypes I, II, and III was compared by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and peptide mapping using Staphylococcus aureus protease V8. Apparent molecular weights of YOP-1 ranged from 206,000 (O3) to approx. 180,000 (O8). According to their respective peptide maps YOP-1 of the european and american Y. enterocolitica serotypes and Y. pseudotuberculosis serotypes could be assigned to three different groups. Evaluation of several isolates of Y. enterocolitica serotypes O3, O9, and O8 by peptide mapping indicated that YOP-1 is conserved within a serotype. However, one serotype O8 isolate differed from the consensus peptide pattern of the other serotype O8 and O20 isolates. The similarity of the peptide patterns of Yersinia serotypes which predominate in certain geographical locations, i. e., european and american Y. enterocolitica serotypes, suggest common evolution of YOP-1 of these serotypes independent of the evolution of the other serotypes.