Spectral analysis of infant EEG and behavioral outcome at age five

Power spectral and discriminant analysis techniques were used to compare EEG records obtained at term and at 3 months past term from 5 groups of varying risk and developmental outcome. The groups were: healthy full-terms; healthy pre-terms with normal outcomes; sick pre-terms with normal outcomes; sick pre-terms with delayed development; sick pre-terms with later neurological problems. The EEG samples recorded at term were identified as belonging to the correct subject group at 52-70% accuracy, 20% being chance for 5 groups. The accuracy varied with the 4 classes of EEG patterns used. The individual subjects were also classified into their correct groups with few exceptions. Similar success was obtained with EEG samples selected from recording at 3 months past term. The predominant power spectral discriminating features were changes in intra- and inter-hemispheric coherence, and increased power, particularly in the middle and higher frequency range. Thus, computer analyses of EEG samples, using features not readily identified visually, differentiated risk from non-risk infants and also differentiated infants with substantial neonatal medical complications who have good or poor developmental outcomes.     

用混合粘合剂碳糊电极测定丁螺环酮

用混合粘合剂碳糊电极测定丁螺环酮张正奇，曾鸽鸣，刘传桂，黎艳飞（湖南大学化学化工系，长沙４１００８２）碳糊电极无毒，制作方便，表面更新容易，应用电位范围广，在药物分析中已有应用［１～５］。我们在液体石腊中加入添加剂，组成混合粘合剂，可显著改善电极的检...     

Viral infections in the mouth

Oral hairy leukoplakia (OHL) and Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) are commonly encountered in the HIV-infected patient. A unique feature of OHL is non-cytolytic high level of replication of Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) in the glossal epithelium. The expression of viral-encoded anti-apoptotic proteins concomitant to replicative proteins probably underlies this phenomenon. The question of whether OHL arises from activation of EBV latent in the tongue, or from superinfection by endogenous EBV shed via non-glossal sites or by exogenous EBV remains unresolved. Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8) is now seen as necessary but not sufficient cause of KS. Expression of HHV8-encoded oncogenic proteins in endothelial cells probably explains the aberrant proliferation of these cells in KS lesions. Studies into why KS is so commonly observed at the palate in HIV-infected patients may provide important clues to its pathogenesis.     

Primitive Cerebral Tumor with Rhabdoid Features: A Case of Phenotypic Rhabdoid Tumor of the Central Nervous System

The rhabdoid tumor (RT) was first described as an aggressive neoplasm of unknown histogenesis affecting the kidneys of infants and young children, but has since been reported in all ages and in many other primary sites, including the central nervous system. It has been shown, however, that the histologic and cytologic features of RT can be mimicked by many other tumors of known histogenesis. For this and other reasons it remains controversial whether cases of putative extrarenal RT represent the same histogenetic entity as RT of the kidney (RTK), another entity or entities, or merely a diverse collection of unrelated tumors sharing a common morphologic phenotype. The present paper describes a lethal primary cerebral tumor in a 26-month-old Hispanic boy that was composed predominantly of cells exhibiting the “classic” rhabdoid phenotype by light microscopy. lmmunocytochemical and ultrastructural studies disclosed features of primitive neuroglial differentiation not seen in RTK. The findings in this case, as well as evidence from other studies, would seem to support the notion that primary RT of the brain may in fact constitute a morphologic and clinicopathologic entity. However, hat entity likely represents a distinctive type of neuroglial neoplasm, more closely related t o other primitive brain tumors than t o RTK.     

Premature targeting of a cell division protein to midcell allows dissection of divisome assembly in Escherichia coli

Cell division in Escherichia coli requires the recruitment of at least 10 essential proteins to the bacterial midcell. Recruitment of these proteins follows a largely linear dependency pathway in which depletion of one cell division protein leads to the absence from the division site of "downstream" proteins in the pathway. Analysis of events that underlie this pathway is complicated by the fact that a protein's ability to recruit "downstream" proteins is dependent on its own recruitment by "upstream" proteins. Hence, one cannot separate the individual contributions of various upstream proteins to any specific recruitment step. Here we present a method--premature targeting--for bypassing the normal localization requirements of a cell division protein and apply it to FtsQ, a protein recruited midway through the pathway. We fused FtsQ to the FtsZ-binding protein ZapA such that FtsQ was targeted to FtsZ rings independently of proteins FtsA and FtsK, which are normally required for FtsQ localization. Analysis of the resulting ZapA-FtsQ fusion suggests that FtsQ associates with a large complex of cell division proteins and that premature targeting of FtsQ can restore localization of this complex under conditions in which neither FtsQ nor the associated proteins would normally be localized.     

Isolation of Corynebacterium aquaticum from spinal fluid of an infant with meningitis.

A 4-week-old female was hospitalized because of vomiting, irritability, and nuchal rigidity. A spinal fluid culture yielded Corynebacterium aquaticum. The diagnosis of C. aquaticum meningitis in this infant was supported by the following cerebrospinal fluid findings: Gram stain, elevated protein, hypoglycorrhachia, positive C-reactive protein, and polymorphonuclear leukocytosis. Antigen studies for common bacterial causes of meningitis were negative. C. aquaticum is a rare cause of human disease and may be initially confused with Listeria monocytogenes, which is a more common gram-positive, motile rod associated with meningitis in infants.