Experience with a pre-basic fitness program at Fort Jackson, South Carolina

One hundred seventy-five consecutive recruits entering the Fort Jackson Fitness Company were evaluated for Upper Body Strength, Flexibility, and Cardiovascular Fitness, and the results were compared with those of 60 soldiers entering Basic Training directly from the Reception Station. Injury rate and end-cycle performance were compared between Fitness Company graduates and their regular basic trainee cohort. The study showed that the Push-up repetition and two-mile run times were still below the standard for the Post. Sick call rate was also significantly higher among the less conditioned troops. Sit-up repetition and other basic soldiering skills, however, as well as EPTS (discharges for medical conditions existing prior to service) and ELS (entry level separation) rates, were equal. Increase of Fitness Company graduation requirements and dissemination of standards and requirements to potential recruits in high schools, colleges, and other public institutions are recommended.     

Cell surface accessibility of individual gangliosides in malignant melanoma cells to antibodies is influenced by the total ganglioside composition of the cells.

The reactivity of a panel of antiganglioside monoclonal antibodies with a number of melanoma cell lines having different ganglioside composition profiles was studied. One cell line synthesized only GM3, one produced both GM3 and GD2, 2 had GM3 and GD3 as their major gangliosides, and 2 others synthesized approximately equal amounts of GM3, GM2, GD3, and GD2 gangliosides. Antibody reactivity with viable cells was analyzed by: (a) flow cytometry on suspension cells; and (b) mixed hemagglutination assays or immune adherence assays on monolayer cells in culture. GM3 was efficiently detected only in the cell line having GM3 as its sole ganglioside. In the other cell lines, GM3 was difficult to detect even in cells in which it made up a high proportion (up to 50%) of the total ganglioside content. GM2 was easily detectable only in JB-RH melanoma cells (which contain only GM3 and GM2). GD3 was the most reactive ganglioside in 2 cell lines and GD2 in 2 other lines. In general, the most complex ganglioside present in a cell was the one most accessible to antibody. The differential exposure at the cell surface of specific gangliosides may have implications for antibody-directed tumor detection and therapy and for cell-protein or cell-cell interactions that involve glycolipids.     

Characterization of wild-type recombinant Bet v 1a as a candidate vaccine against birch pollen allergy

BACKGROUND: We describe the production in Escherichia coli as a recombinant protein of clinical grade wild-type Bet v 1a (rBet v 1a), to be used as a candidate vaccine against birch pollen allergy. METHODS: This recombinant protein was purified by hydrophobic interaction and ion exchange chromatography and characterized by SDS-PAGE, immunoprint and circular dichroism in parallel with natural Bet v 1 (nBet v 1) purified from a birch pollen extract. We also compared rBet v 1 and nBet v 1 for their capacity to induce histamine release from basophils and to stimulate T lymphocyte proliferation. RESULTS: rBet v 1a appears in SDS-PAGE as an 18-kDa monomeric protein, whereas purified nBet v 1 comprises a mixture of isoforms (resolving as three distinct bands and six spots after 1-dimensional and 2-dimensional electrophoresis, respectively). Both recombinant and natural purified Bet v 1 molecules are recognized by IgE from birch pollen-allergic patients as well as anti-Bet v 1 murine monoclonal antibodies, suggesting that the recombinant protein is correctly folded in a native configuration. Circular dichroism analysis confirmed that the two Bet v 1 molecules exhibit similar 3-dimensional structures, even if rBet v 1a appears more compact and stable in thermodenaturation/renaturation experiments. Both rBet v 1 and nBet v 1 induce the degranulation of sensitized basophils and proliferation of Bet v 1-specific T lymphocytes in a similar manner. CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of these structural and biological properties, rBet v 1a is a valid candidate vaccine against birch pollen allergy, currently evaluated in humans.     

HLA Antigens in 16 Families with Xeroderma Pigmentosum

Xeroderma pigmentosum is an autosomal recessive disease. HLA-A and -B typing was performed on peripheral blood lymphocytes and platelets. Sixteen Tunisian families were typed with 37 patients and 108 relatives. Genetic transmission of the disease and of the HLA system seemed to be independent in this study. Comparison of HLA gene frequencies between (unrelated) parents of patients and a control population showed no difference, proving that there is no clear association in populations between deleterious XP genes and a particular HLA gene. However, an excess of identical HLA among pairs of diseased siblings would suggest that the disease is polymorphic and a form of the XP could be linked to HLA.     

Beitrag zur Enzymhistochemie und Gewebekultur des Ganglioneuroms

Zusammenfassung Enzymhistochemische Untersuchungen und die Gewebekultur eines unterschiedlich differenzierten Ganglioneuroms des hinteren Mediastinums, das histologisch durch vielfältige Reifungsstufen der Ganglienzellen gekennzeichnet war, führte zu folgenden Ergebnissen: Die Aktivität der unspezifischen Esterase, der sauren Phosphatase und oxydativer Enzyme gibt quantitativ eine große Variabilität in den unterschiedlich differenzierten Zellen. Die reifen Ganglienzellen besitzen stärkste, die Neuroblasten und andere Vorstufen der Nervenzellen nur schwache Enzymaktivitäten.Das Vorkommen von Acetylcholinesterase sowie die relativ starke Aktivität der Enzyme des Zitronensäurecyclus und anderer Dehydrogenasen läßt vermuten, daß der Stoffwechsel der differenzierten Ganglienzellen des Tumors nicht wesentlich von dem normaler Nervenzellen abweicht.In der Gewebekultur kam es während der ersten Woche zur Proliferation mesenchymaler Zellen und zum Auswachsen von Fasern, die sich mit Silber nach der Methode vonBodian imprägnieren ließen und deshalb als Nervenfasern gedeutet werden.

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Summary A partly differentiated ganglioneuroma of the posterior mediastinum which showed various histological stages of cell maturity was examined by enzyme-histochemical methods and by tissue culture. The following results were obtained: the activity of the unspecific esterase, acid phosphatase and oxydative enzymes is quantitatively extremely variable in the cells of various stages of maturity. The mature nerve cells show the greatest the neuroblasts and other precursory nerve cells only mild enzyme activities.The occurrence of acetylcholinesterase as well as the rather strong activity of the enzyme of the citric acid cycle and other dehydrogenases makes it presumable that the metabolism of the differentiated nerve cells of the tumor is not basically different from that of normal nerve cells. In the first week the tissue culture showed proliferation of mesenchymal cells and growing out of fibers which could be impregnated with silver usingBodian's method, and thus be interpreted as nerve fibers.

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Mit 6 Textabbildungen     

Studien über Methämoglobinbildung

Zusammenfassung Methämoglobinhaltiges Blut vermindert in vitro seinen Gehalt an Methämoglobin erheblich, d. h. auf zwei Drittel, ja die Hälfte des ursprünglichen Wertes; am schnellsten erfolgt dieser Methämoglobinschwund in den ersten Studen. Untersuchungen auf Methämoglobin müssen also unmittelbar nach der Blutentnahme erfolgen.Mit 2 Textabbildungen.     

“It's a touchy subject”: Latino adolescent sexual risk behaviors in the school context

Adverse sexual health outcomes remain disproportionately high for Latino adolescents. To examine sexual risk behaviors in Latino adolescents, we conducted in-depth interviews with 18 Latino parents and 13 school staff members and carried out 1 year of fieldwork in the school and community. “It's a touchy subject [sex] here” exemplified the reluctance of addressing sexual risk behaviors. Community- and systems-level strategies are recommended.