Successful resuscitation from cardiopulmonary arrest following deliberate inhalation of Freon refrigerant gas.

Presented is a case of successful resuscitation of cardiopulmonary arrest following inhalation of a fluorinated hydrocarbon. Fluorinated hydrocarbons have a direct cardiotoxic effect. We found no previous reports describing resuscitation with good neurologic outcome of a patient in cardiopulmonary arrest subsequent to inhalation of a fluorinated hydrocarbon.

High-frequency genetic reversion mediated by a DNA duplication: the mouse pink-eyed unstable mutation.

The mouse pink-eyed unstable (p(un)) mutation, affecting coat color, exhibits one of the highest reported reversion frequencies of any mammalian mutation and is associated with a duplication of genomic DNA at the p locus. In this study, genomic clones containing the boundaries of the p(un) duplication were isolated and characterized. The structure of these sequences and their wild-type and revertant counterparts were analyzed by restriction mapping, PCR product analysis, DNA sequence analysis, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.

The mouse intracisternal A particle-promoted placental gene retrotransposition is mouse-strain-specific.

Insertion of a single long terminal repeat (LTR) of an intracisternal A particle (IAP) gene into a placenta-expressed cellular gene (mouse IAP-promoted placental gene, MIPP) has recently been found for the mouse strains Swiss and CF-1. To test whether such a retrotransposition event has also taken place in other strains of mouse, genomic DNA and total RNAs were analyzed from the outbred CF-1 strain and five inbred strains of mouse, AKR/J, C57BL/6J, DBA/2J, C3H/HeJ, and BALB/c. Specific DNA fragments flanking the LTR region were isolated from MIPP cDNA and genomic clones and used as hybridization probes.

Distribution of amyloid in the brainstem of patients with Alzheimer disease.

A4 protein (beta-protein, beta-amyloid) deposits were identified with silver stains in postmortem brainstem sections from 13 patients with Alzheimer disease (AD), 6 patients with mixed Alzheimer disease and Parkinson disease (AD-PD), 5 disease controls, and 2 elderly controls. A rostro-caudal gradient of A4 was found in patients with AD and AD-PD, such that A4 was most prevalent in the midbrain and least prevalent in the medulla. The brainstem of the controls contained little or no A4.

5' flanking sequences of the rat tyrosine hydroxylase gene target accurate tissue-specific, developmental, and transsynaptic expression in transgenic mice.

Transgenic mice were generated in which sequences that flank the rat tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) gene were linked to the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) gene. Mice bearing 4.8 kilobases (kb) of 5' flanking DNA exhibited correct tissue-specific expression in the CNS and periphery.

Molecular characterization of the p(un) allele of the mouse pink-eyed dilution locus.

The mouse pink-eyed dilution locus, p, located on chromosome 7, mediates coat and eye color. The human correlate of this gene may underlie some forms of tyrosinase-positive oculocutaneous albinism. Mutations at the p locus result in a reduction in pigmentation of the eyes and coat.

The mouse pink-eyed dilution gene: association with human Prader-Willi and Angelman syndromes.

Complementary DNA clones from the pink-eyed dilution (p) locus of mouse chromosome 7 were isolated from murine melanoma and melanocyte libraries. The transcript from this gene is missing or altered in six independent mutant alleles of the p locus, suggesting that disruption of this gene results in the hypopigmentation phenotype that defines mutant p alleles. Characterization of the human homolog revealed that it is localized to human chromosome 15 at q11.

Genetic and molecular analysis of recessive alleles at the pink-eyed dilution (p) locus of the mouse.

Recessive mutant alleles at the pink-eyed dilution (p) locus on mouse chromosome 7 reduce pigmentation of both the coat and eyes. Here we describe the properties and complementation interactions of 10 p alleles, including 6 not previously reported. Several alleles that cause additional phenotypes affecting development, reproduction, and behavior were shown to be deletions by using DNA probes derived from the p region.

The mouse pink-eyed dilution locus: a model for aspects of Prader-Willi syndrome, Angelman syndrome, and a form of hypomelanosis of Ito.

The region of mouse Chromosome (Chr) 7 containing the mouse pink-eyed dilution locus, p, is syntenic with human chromosome 15q11-q13, a region associated with three human syndromes, Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), Angelman syndrome (AS), and a form of hypomelanosis of Ito (HI). Because some mutant alleles of p also share a subset of phenotypes with PWS, AS, and HI, the same gene or genes disrupted by p locus mutations are potentially involved in the phenotypes of PWS, AS, and HI.

The cost effectiveness of strategies to reduce barriers to cataract surgery. The Operations Research Group.

The cost and effectiveness of eight approaches to reducing barriers to cataract surgery were evaluated in a rural area of South India during 1987-1989. The approaches were based on four intervention alternatives--aphakic motivator (AM), basic eye health worker (BW), screening van (SV), and mass media (MM). Each intervention was offered at two levels of economic incentive: partial, which provides free surgery and hospital stay, and full, which also provides transport from the recipient's village to the hospital and free food during the hospital stay.

Direct molecular identification of the mouse pink-eyed unstable mutation by genome scanning.

DNA sequences associated with the mouse pink-eyed unstable mutation were identified in the absence of closely linked molecular markers and without prior knowledge of the encoded gene product. This was accomplished by "genome scanning," a technique in which high-resolution Southern blots of genomic DNAs were hybridized to a dispersed and moderately repetitive DNA sequence. In this assay, pink-eyed unstable DNA was distinguished from the DNA of wild-type and revertant mice by enhanced hybridization to one of several hundred resolved fragments.

Social determinants of cataract surgery utilization in south India. The Operations Research Group.

A field trial was conducted to compare the effects of eight health education and economic incentive interventions on the awareness and acceptance of cataract surgery. Cataract screening and follow-up surgery were offered to more than 19,000 residents age 40 years and older in a probability sample of 90 villages in south India. Eight months after intervention, an evaluation was conducted to identify those in need of surgery who had been operated on.

Brain-specific polyA- transcripts are detected in polyA+ RNA: do complex polyA- brain RNAs really exist?

Transcripts encoded by 2 different rat genomic clones, rg13 and rg100, appear to be typical brain-specific polyA- RNAs, as defined by previous criteria (rare, polysomal, and postnatally expressed from single-copy genes). However, we have found by using a sensitive nuclease protection assay that low levels of these transcripts (10% and 3%, respectively) are detected in polyA+ RNA. To determine if rg transcripts that fractionate as polyA- could have resulted from nicking of polyA+ RNA, we assessed the integrity of 2 known polyA+ RNAs, those of tyrosine hydroxylase, a 2-kilobase (kb) mRNA, and sodium channel, a 9.

The Ocutech Vision Enhancing System (VES): utilization and preference study.

An NIH-sponsored user and prescriber preference trial was conducted comparing a new low vision telescope system, the Ocutech Vision Enhancing System (VES) to two conventional Keplarian spectacle telescope systems in a controlled cross-over clinical study performed at four independent low vision clinics. Fifty-five visually impaired individuals, 18-81 years of age, with both previous and no telescope experience, were followed for 8-16 weeks. The experimental and control devices were compared on a series of subject-selected visual tasks using a standardized clinical protocol.

[Determining the accumulated dose of gamma radiation in the tooth enamel].

Following ideas of Japanese and Canadian scientists the authors tried to develop practical application of dental enamel for dosimetry of gamma-radiation accumulated by an individual. Human teeth were irradiated in vitro with gamma-rays of 60Co and with x-rays, and the amount of free radicals in ++non-caries enamel was measured on an ESR spectrometer. Linear regression ESR signals on dose of radiation within an interval of 0.

[Problem of radiation-induced leukemia].

A case of radiation-induced leukemia has been described in a woman living in the area exposed to radioactive contamination as a result of the disaster at the Chernobyl NPS. Radiation-induced leukemia was diagnosed basing on the cytogenetic changes in the bone marrow and peripheral blood lymphocytes. Cytogenetic changes in the peripheral blood lymphocytes have been recorded in 60 subjects who were evacuated from areas contaminated with isotopes as a result of the disaster.

[Age-related differences in hematopoietic progenitor cells and the problems of carcinogenesis].

In the past years the authors advanced a hypothesis of the "age-associated layers" of parent hemopoietic cells. The hypothesis was based first of all on the differences in the patterns of leukemias and noncancerous diseases (of the hemopoietic tissues) in children and adults. The nature of the changing age-associated characteristics of parent cells remained obscure.

Sequences homologous to glutamic acid decarboxylase cDNA are present on mouse chromosomes 2 and 10.

The chromosomal locations of mouse DNA sequences homologous to a feline cDNA clone encoding glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) were determined. Although cats and humans are thought to have only one gene for GAD, GAD cDNA sequences hybridize to two distinct chromosomal loci in the mouse, chromosomes 2 and 10. The chromosomal assignment of sequences homologous to GAD cDNA was determined by Southern hybridization analysis using DNA from mouse-hamster hybrid cells.

Rapid epidemiologic assessment of cataract blindness. The Aravind Rapid Epidemiologic Assessment Staff.

A major constraint to obtaining reliable information about blindness and its causes in developing countries is the limited availability of ophthalmologists for diagnosis in population-based surveys. This study in rural south India assessed the feasibility of using non-ophthalmologists to make diagnoses in a population-based survey. Ten men in their early twenties with 12 years of schooling were recruited and trained as ophthalmic assistants through a six week course in basic ophthalmology.