An early modern human presence in Sumatra 73,000-63,000 years ago.

Genetic evidence for anatomically modern humans (AMH) out of Africa before 75 thousand years ago (ka) and in island southeast Asia (ISEA) before 60 ka (93-61 ka) predates accepted archaeological records of occupation in the region. Claims that AMH arrived in ISEA before 60 ka (ref. 4) have been supported only by equivocal or non-skeletal evidence.

Revised stratigraphy and chronology for Homo floresiensis at Liang Bua in Indonesia.

Homo floresiensis, a primitive hominin species discovered in Late Pleistocene sediments at Liang Bua (Flores, Indonesia), has generated wide interest and scientific debate. A major reason this taxon is controversial is because the H. floresiensis-bearing deposits, which include associated stone artefacts and remains of other extinct endemic fauna, were dated to between about 95 and 12 thousand calendar years (kyr) ago.

Effects of infection and disease with Mycobacterium tuberculosis on serum antibody to glucan and arabinomannan: two surface polysaccharides of this pathogen.

Background: The role of the surface capsular polysaccharides (CPs) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) in the pathogenesis of infection and disease, as well their potential for use as diagnostic reagents and vaccine antigens, are unknown.

Methods: Serum antibody to two CPs of Mtb, arabinomannan (AM) and glucan (Glu), were studied in samples from 52 18-74 year-old HIV-seronegative, immunocompetent individuals in Houston Texas. The effects of Mtb exposure, infection and disease upon the levels of antibodies to these CPs were assessed.

New wrist bones of Homo floresiensis from Liang Bua (Flores, Indonesia).

The carpals from the Homo floresiensis type specimen (LB1) lack features that compose the shared, derived complex of the radial side of the wrist in Neandertals and modern humans. This paper comprises a description and three-dimensional morphometric analysis of new carpals from at least one other individual at Liang Bua attributed to H. floresiensis: a right capitate and two hamates.

Craniofacial morphology of Homo floresiensis: description, taxonomic affinities, and evolutionary implication.

This paper describes in detail the external morphology of LB1/1, the nearly complete and only known cranium of Homo floresiensis. Comparisons were made with a large sample of early groups of the genus Homo to assess primitive, derived, and unique craniofacial traits of LB1 and discuss its evolution. Principal cranial shape differences between H.

Brief communication: "Pathological" deformation in the skull of LB1, the type specimen of Homo floresiensis.

If the holotype of Homo floresiensis, LB1, suffered from a severe developmental pathology, this could undermine its status as the holotype of a new species. One of the proposed pathological indicators that still remains untested is asymmetric distortion in the skull of LB1 (Jacob et al.: Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103 (2006) 13421-13426).

Descriptions of the upper limb skeleton of Homo floresiensis.

Several bones of the upper extremity were recovered during excavations of Late Pleistocene deposits at Liang Bua, Flores, and these have been attributed to Homo floresiensis. At present, these upper limb remains have been assigned to six different individuals - LB1, LB2, LB3, LB4, LB5, and LB6. Several of these bones are complete or nearly so, but some are quite fragmentary.

Number of negative acid-fast smears needed to adequately assess infectivity of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis.

Study Objectives: To investigate the relationship between the number of negative acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smear results and infectivity of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB).

Design: Retrospective analysis.

Methods And Subjects: We examined 122 index cases in Harris County, TX, reported in 1998 and 1999.

5' dinucleotide repeat polymorphism of NRAMP1 and susceptibility to tuberculosis among Caucasian patients in Houston, Texas.

Setting: Houston Tuberculosis Initiative (HTI) and Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas.

Objective: To further explore the association between the polymorphisms of NRAMP1 and human susceptibility/resistance to tuberculosis (TB), specifically to determine whether the reported association shown for blacks and Asians holds true for Caucasian populations.

Design: In a case-control study, 135 adult Caucasian TB patients and 108 adult Caucasian HIV-seronegative non-TB controls were analyzed for the association between the polymorphisms in NRAMP1 gene and clinical TB.

Treatment of isoniazid-resistant tuberculosis in southeastern Texas.

Background: Isoniazid-resistant tuberculosis (INHr-TB) can be treated successfully with several treatment regimens. However, the optimal regimen and duration are unclear.

Study Objective: To analyze the efficacy of treatment regimens used for INHr-TB in the southeastern Texas region.

A rapid and inexpensive method for processing induced sputum for detection of Pneumocystis carinii.

The authors describe a method to process induced sputum specimens for detection of Pneumocystis carinii which is simple, rapid and inexpensive. Induced sputum and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) were obtained within a 24-hour period from 41 patients who were HIV-positive and had pulmonary symptoms suspicious for P carinii pneumonia. Induced sputum or BAL fluid was placed into Saccomanno's fixative, blended, and centrifuged.

Lung cancer in association with human immunodeficiency virus infection.

The association of lung cancer and infection by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is uncommon. This report and critical review of the medical literature defines a clinical profile of 22 patients affected with this uncommon association. This clinical profile includes young age (median, 38 years), intravenous drug abuse (14 of 22 patients), preponderance of adenocarcinoma over other cell subtypes (11 of 22 patients), and advanced clinical stage at presentation (10 of 15 patients with staging data had Stage III or IV disease).

Lung bullae with air-fluid levels.

Fourteen patients in whom air-fluid levels developed in pre-existing emphysematous bullae were prospectively identified and followed. Although two patients were asymptomatic, 12 patients presented with one or more symptoms of fever, dyspnea, cough, pleuritic chest pain, and/or purulent sputum. Three patients had focal pulmonary abnormalities on physical examination; three patients had elevated leukocyte counts.

Pasteurella multocida liver abscess.

A previously healthy 61-year-old woman was seen with an abnormal chest roentgenogram and a 3-week history of fever, chills, malaise, and right upper quadrant pain. Blood cultures revealed Pasteurella multocida sensitive to penicillin. Liver spleen radioisotope scan and CT scan revealed space occupying lesions in the right lobe of the liver.

Asbestos bodies in a general hospital/clinic population.

The presence of asbestos bodies in the sputum of individuals with known occupational asbestos exposure has been well documented. However, their prevalence and clinical implications in sputum and bronchial washings from patients not clinically known to have asbestos exposure remains controversial. From 1974 to 1979, 31,353 sputum and bronchial washing specimens were processed in the course of evaluating various pulmonary complaints of approximately 11,000 patients from the outpatient clinics and hospitals of the Harris County Hospital District in Houston, Texas.

Antibiotic therapy of acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis. A controlled study using tetracycline.

We conducted a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial in 40 patients to evaluate the need for antibiotics in acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis. All patients were sufficiently ill to require hospitalization although none needed ventilatory support; the presence of pneumonia was excluded. Treatment consisted of bronchodilators, corticosteroids, and either tetracycline, 500 mg, or placebo by mouth every 6 hours for 1 week.

Comparative trial of cefonicid and cefamandole in the therapy of community-acquired pneumonia.

Cefonicid (Smith Kline & French Laboratories; D-75073) is a new parenteral cephalosporin with a markedly long half-life, high serum levels, and good in vitro activity against Haemophilus influenzae. Patients with community-acquired pneumonia were randomized 2:1 to receive cefonicid, 1 g daily (21 cases) or cefamandole, 1 g every 6 h (12 cases). The two groups were similar, except that the cefonicid patients were older (mean 42 versus 31 years).

The use of quantitative sterile brush culture and gram stain analysis in the diagnosis of lower respiratory tract infection.

We prospectively evaluated 55 patients (58 studies) who presented for diagnostic fiberoptic bronchoscopy for the presence of lower respiratory tract infection. A sheathed, nonplugged, sterile brush passed transbronchoscopically under fluoroscopic control was used to retrieve bronchial secretions. These were evaluated using Gram stains, Wright-Giemsa stains, and quantitative bacterial cultures.

Unusual radiographic findings in adult pulmonary tuberculosis.

To determine the frequency of unusual chest radiographic findings in adults (older than 15 years) with pulmonary tuberculosis, charts and radiographs of 270 consecutive cases seen in a 12 month period were reviewed. Radiographic findings not typical of primary or postprimary disease (reinfection) were arbitrarily classified as unusual. The incidence of such findings (8%) was considerably lower than in several recent reports (25%, 29%).

Carcinomatous lung abscess. Diagnosis by bronchoscopy and cytopathology.

We compared the roentgenographic, bronchoscopic, and cytopathologic findings from 26 patients with carcinomatous lung abscesses (23 of which were within the tumor) with findings from 31 patients with simple lung abscesses. Despite well-described roentgenographic characteristics of the carcinomatous abscess, differentiation from a simple abscess was frequently not possible. Direct visual findings at the time of bronchoscopy were not helpful in the absence of an endobronchial lesion.