Attachment to Caregivers and Type 1 Diabetes in Children

Attachment is a behavioral and physiological system, which enables individual’s dynamic adaptation to its environment. Attachment develops in close interaction between an infant and his/her mother, plays an important role in the development of the infant’s brain, and influences the quality of interpersonal relationships throughout life.Security of attachment is believed to influence individual response to stress, exposing insecurely organized individuals to deregulated autonomic nervous system and exaggerated hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal activity, which, in turn, produces increased and prolonged exposure to stress-hormones. Such stress responses may have considerable implications for the development of diverse health-risk conditions, such as insulin resistance and hyperlipidemia, shown by numerous studies.Although the mechanisms are not yet fully understood, there is compelling evidence highlighting the role of psychological stress in the development of type 1 diabetes (T1D). One of the possible contributing factors for the development of T1D may be the influence of attachment security on individual stress reactivity. Thus, the suggestion is that insecurely attached individuals are more prone to experience increased and prolonged influence of stress hormones and other mechanisms causing pancreatic beta-cell destruction.The present paper opens with a short overview of the field of attachment in children, the principal attachment classifications and their historic development, describes the influence of attachment security on individual stress-reactivity and the role of the latter in the development of T1D. Following is a review of recent literature on the attachment in patients with T1D with a conclusion of a proposed role of attachment organization in the etiology of T1D.     

Elastofibroma dorsi has distinct cytomorphologic features, making diagnostic surgical biopsy unnecessary: cytomorphologic study with clinical, radiologic, and electron microscopic correlations

Elastofibroma dorsi (EFD) is a relatively rare soft tissue mass, probably of reactive nature. The lesion is typically located near the inferior margin of the scapula or between the inferior part of scapula and the chest wall in elderly women. Although location of the tumor together with the age/sex of the patients and radiologic findings is often suggestive of the diagnosis, tissue examination has been considered necessary to confirm the diagnosis. Although the histologic features of EFD are well known, there are only four single case reports of the cytologic findings in the English language literature. We describe the cytologic features of EFD in five patients with correlations to clinical, radiologic, histologic, and electron microscopic findings. The current study suggests that the fine-needle aspiration (FNA) features are highly diagnostic, permitting a firm diagnosis of EFD in a typical clinical setting and eliminating the need for preoperative histologic examination.     

A-raf oncogene localizes on mouse X chromosome to region some 10–17 centimorgans proximal to hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase gene

The localization of the A-rafcellular oncogene on the mouse X chromosome has been determined using Xbal-restricted DNAs prepared from progeny of an interspecies backcross between the B6.CBA.R1 and the Spe/Pas mouse strains. This localization to the proximal part of the mouse X chromosome has been confirmed by the use of somatic cell hybrids, carrying partially deleted X chromosomes and suggests that the A-raf oncogene localizes to a region lying some 10–17 centimorgans proximal to the hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (Hprt) gene between the locus DXPas4and the locus DXPas7defined by the cross-reacting human X chromosome-specific probe DXS32 (M2C). This localization on the mouse X chromosome is compatible with the presence of the A-rafoncogene on the short arm of the human X chromosome between the centromere and Xp21.     

Report on two patients with Costello syndrome and sialuria

We report on 2 unrelated patients with Costello syndrome. The first is a 5-year-old girl with “coarse” face, nasal papillomata, redundant skin of feet and hands, hyperextensible hand and finger joints, curly hair, feeding problems due to oral motor apraxia, growth and psychomotor retardation. The second is a 3-year-old boy with “coarse” face, loose skin on hands and feet, curly hair, oral motor apraxia, severe growth and psychomotor retardation. In both patients urine sialic acid levels were found to be repeatedly high. The meaning of this biochemical abnormality is discussed. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Screening for antibacterial activity in 72 species of wood-colonizing fungi by the Vibrio fisheri bioluminescence method

Resistance of pathogenic bacteria to antibiotics leads scientists to discover new antibacterial drugs. Ninety samples of wood-colonizing fungi were cultivated on agar plates, and their extracts tested for antibacterial activity using the Vibrio fischeri bioluminescence test. Two fungi species, Serpula lacrymans and Nectria vilior, were found to be a potential new source of thermostable antibiotics. Vibrio fischeri bioluminescence test was found to be a useful method for antibacterial activity screening from the samples of natural origin.