A comparison of problems reported by persons with cancer and their same sex siblings

Problem reporting rates of 180 persons with cancer (PWC) were compared with those of their closest in age same sex cancer-free siblings living outside their households for the same time periods. PWC had significantly higher reporting rates for physical, activities of daily living, nutrition, and emotional problems and a significantly lower rate for family problems. Sibling problem reporting rates, which indicate the likelihood that PWC would have experienced similar problems without a diagnosis of cancer, were highest for physical, emotional, employment, and family problems suggesting that noncancer factors are especially likely to play a role in those types of problems. Regression analyses showed that female and younger PWCs tended to report more problems than their siblings suggesting that they were more affected by cancer and its treatments than were other types of PWC.     

Blood flow distribution and its temporal variability in stimulated dog gastrocnemius muscle

The distribution of blood flow in skeletal muscle stimulated to rhythmic isotonic contractions was studied by injections of radioactive microspheres into the arterial supply in 8 gastrocnemius muscles (mean weight 84 g) of 6 anesthetized dogs (20-25 kg body weight). The distribution of 10 micron microspheres in regions of about 0.5 g was very similar to that of the standard 15 micron microspheres, whereas that of 25 micron microspheres was more uneven. The coefficient of variation (CV = SD/mean) of the ratio of simultaneously injected 10 micron and 15 micron microspheres, 0.12, was taken as the inherent scatter of the method. The average spatial distribution inequality of 10-15 micron microspheres corresponded to a CV of 0.45 and the specific local blood flow inhomogeneity to a CV = 0.43 ( = square root 0.45(2) - 0.12(2], but there were marked differences between muscles. At equal blood flow levels, the inhomogeneity during reactive hyperemia was similar to that observed during stimulation. The temporal variability of blood flow in individual muscle pieces was obtained from the comparison of fractional trapping of 4 to 5 differently labeled microspheres injected at intervals of 2 min into steadily stimulated muscles. The mean CV for the variations in time was 0.23 and that corrected for methodological scatter, 0.19, but the differences in the extent of temporal blood flow changes among muscle pieces within a muscle and between different muscles were large. The presence of considerable spatial and temporal variations of blood flow in exercising muscle during apparent steady state may be important in limiting and/or modulating tissue O2 supply.     

Postgraduate school of obstetrics and gynecology and nongovernmental organizations: is collaboration possible?

We report the collaboration between the First Postgraduate School of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Milan, Italy, and the nongovernmental organization “Emergency” that operates through its own hospitals in countries devastated by armed conflicts. The collaboration was centered on the maternity clinic that Emergency opened in 2003 in northern Afghanistan. After a woman resident spent 5 months on-site, the collaboration is now extended to all residents with a group with four areas of intervention: guidelines, clinical records and data collection, drugs and medical devices, and teaching material. In addition, it offers consultation by e-mail for any clinical issue that might arise.     

Prevalence of hereditary ataxias and spastic paraplegias in Molise,a region of Italy

Summary An epidemiological survey of hereditary ataxias and paraplegias was conducted in Molise, a region of Italy (335, 211 inhabitants on 1 January 1989). Total prevalence was 7.5 x 10^–5 inhabitants (95% confidence limits 4.8–11.1). There were 7 patients with Friedreich's disease, 5 with early onset cerebellar ataxia with retained tendon reflexes, 4 with ataxia-telangiectasia, 9 with hereditary spastic paraplegias (2 autosomal dominant and 7 autosomal recessive cases). There was no patient with autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxia.     

Analysis of the OspE determinants involved in binding of factor H and OspE-targeting antibodies elicited during Borrelia burgdorferi infection in mice

Immune evasion by Lyme spirochetes is a multifactorial process involving numerous mechanisms. The OspE protein family undergoes antigenic variation during infection and binds factor H (fH) and possibly FHL-1/reconectin. In Borrelia burgdorferi B31MI, the OspE family consists of three paralogs: BBL39 (ErpA), BBP38, and BBN38 (ErpP). BBL39 and BBP38 are identical and therefore are referred to here as BBL39. The goals of this study were to assess the specificity of the antibody (Ab) response to the OspE paralogs and to identify the domains or determinants of OspE that are required for the binding of fH and OspE-targeting Abs that develop during infection. Here we demonstrate that at least some of the anti-OspE Abs produced during infection are paralog specific and that Ab binding requires conformational determinants whose formation requires both the N- and C-terminal domains of OspE. The binding of fH to OspE was also found to be dependent on conformational determinants. It is also demonstrated here that all of the OspE paralogs expressed by B. burgdorferi B31MI are capable of binding fH. The binding of fH to members of the OspF protein family was also assessed. In contrast to an earlier report, no binding of BBO39 or BBR42 to human fH was detected. Lastly, a series of competitive binding enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay analyses, designed to determine if fH and infection serum Abs bind to the same sites on OspE, revealed that these ligands interact with different regions of OspE.     

A gene for autosomal recessive limb-girdle muscular dystrophy maps to chromosome 2p

The limb-girdle muscular dystrophies are a clinically and geneticallyheterogeneous group of disorders. We have ostudied two largeinbred families of different ethnic origin and excluded linkageto LGMD2 on chromosome 15q and SCARMD on chromosome 13. Proceedingto a genomic linkage search, we have now identified linkageto markers D2S134 and D2S136 on chromosome 2p (maximum lod score3.57 at zero recombination). The phenotype in the two familieswas similar, with onset in the pelvic girdle musculature inthe late teens and usually relatively slow progression. Thiswork Identifies a second locus for autosomal recessive limb-girdlemuscular dystrophy.     

Demonstration of factor H-like protein 1 binding to Treponema denticola, a pathogen associated with periodontal disease in humans

Treponema denticola is an important contributor to periodontal disease. In this study we investigated the ability of T. denticola to bind the complement regulatory proteins factor H and factor H-like protein 1 (FHL-1). The binding of these proteins has been demonstrated to facilitate evasion of the alternative complement cascade and/or to play a role in adherence and invasion. Here we demonstrate that T. denticola specifically binds FHL-1 via a 14-kDa, surface-exposed protein that we designated FhbB. Consistent with its FHL-1 binding specificity, FhbB binds only to factor H recombinant fragments spanning short consensus repeats (SCRs) 1 to 7 (H7 construct) and not to SCR constructs spanning SCRs 8 to 15 and 16 to 20. Binding of H7 to FhbB was inhibited by heparin. The specific involvement of SCR 7 in the interaction was demonstrated using an H7 mutant (H7AB) in which specific charged residues in SCR 7 were replaced by alanine. This construct lost FhbB binding ability. Analyses of the ability of FHL-1 bound to the surface of T. denticola to serve as a cofactor for factor I-mediated cleavage of C3b revealed that C3b is cleaved in an FHL-1/factor I-independent manner, perhaps by an unidentified protease. Based on the data presented here, we hypothesize that the primary function of FHL-1 binding by T. denticola might be to facilitate adherence to FHL-1 present on anchorage-dependent cells and in the extracellular matrix.     

Development of polymerase chain reaction primer sets for diagnosis of Lyme disease and for species-specific identification of Lyme disease isolates by 16S rRNA signature nucleotide analysis.

We have determined and compared partial 16S rRNA sequences from 23 Lyme disease spirochete isolates and aligned these with 8 sequences previously presented. The 16S rRNA signature nucleotide compositions were defined for each isolate and compared with the genomic species signature nucleotide sets previously established. To identify positions truly indicative of species classification which could serve as targets for polymerase chain reaction species-specific identification primers, 16S rRNA-based phylogenetic analyses were conducted. On the basis of the identified signature nucleotides, we designed polymerase chain reaction primer sets which (i) amplify all spirochete species associated with Lyme disease and (ii) differentiate between these species. The primer sets were tested on 38 Borrelia isolates associated with Lyme disease and were found to be sensitive and specific. All Lyme disease isolates tested were amplification positive. These primers allow for the rapid species identification of Lyme disease isolates.     

Optical characterization of a radiochromic film by total reflectance and transmittance measurements

The GafChromic film (GCF) MD-55-2, a radiochromic material, was examined for its optical properties through total reflectance and transmittance measurements in visible spectrum (400-700 nm). By using a multilayer model of the film and Kubelka-Munk's (KM) theory, absorption and scattering coefficients of the film sensitive layer (K and S, respectively) were obtained from measurements of irradiated and nonirradiated slides. This has allowed calculation of the absorbance A(KM) of the sensitive layer of the GCF. The model easily splits scattering from absorption. Unlike absorption, scattering is essentially insensitive to irradiation dose and decreases slowly as the wavelength increases. The scattering effect is predominant over absorption in the 400-500 nm range, while beyond 600 nm absorption prevails. The A(KM) absorbance of the sensitive layer was calculated using the K coefficient and compared with the optical densities (OD) measured considering only ballistic photons (as in a standard spectrophotometer) as well as the optical densities measured collecting all the transmitted photons (as in many densitometers). The values of A(KM) found were always lower than OD measured by the other methods and they had the best linearity on the whole visible range. These data support the hypothesis that the sensitive layer reacts to irradiation more linearly than that shown by measurements using standard commercial devices. However, in the 600-680 nm range, correction is not very important because absorption is predominant over scattering. When GCF is used for imaging, scattering produces a loss of spatial information. Consequently, it is necessary to collect only ballistic photons and to correct absorbance by K and S coefficients.