Human keratinocytes contain mRNA indistinguishable from monocyte interleukin 1 alpha and beta mRNA. Keratinocyte epidermal cell-derived thymocyte-activating factor is identical to interleukin 1.

Keratinocytes produce an IL-1 like factor termed epidermal cell-derived thymocyte-activating factor (ETAF). In this study, we show that ETAF and IL-1 are identical by the following criteria: Both normal and malignant human keratinocytes contain mRNAs identical to monocytic IL-1 alpha and IL-1 beta mRNA, as determined by an S1 nuclease protection assay; and IL-1 activity in medium conditioned by these cells can be neutralized by antibodies specific for human IL-1. The IL-1 alpha and IL-1 beta mRNAs can be identified in cultured human keratinocytes in the absence of identifiable stimulation; this basal level of mRNA can be further induced to accumulate with certain defined stimuli.

Rheumatoid vasculitis: survival and associated risk factors.

We describe the clinical and laboratory characteristics of 52 patients with rheumatoid vasculitis whose condition was diagnosed at a tertiary care center between 1974 and 1981, and we report their survival and the factors that were associated with decreased survival. The patients with rheumatoid vasculitis had decreased survival in comparison with an age-, sex-, and region-matched general population. Their survival was also decreased in comparison to that of an incidence cohort of community patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

The Edgecombe County High Blood Pressure Control Program: the process of medical care and blood pressure control.

As part of the Edgecombe County High Blood Pressure Control Program, a medical record review was conducted within a multispecialty private group practice in the county. The purposes of the review were to assess the relationship between the process of medical care and blood pressure control and to explore the variation in level and impact of medical care by race and sex. At the end of a three-year period, 41 percent of 628 hypertensive patients from the practice had uncontrolled diastolic blood pressure (DBP), as defined by Hypertension Detection and Follow-up Program criteria.

Risk factors for diabetic retinopathy: a population-based study in Rochester, Minnesota.

Retinopathy is an important sequela of diabetes mellitus, but clinical risk factors for this condition have rarely been assessed in a geographically defined population. In this population-based study, the 1135 Rochester, Minnesota, residents with diabetes mellitus initially diagnosed between 1945 and 1969 (incidence cohort) were followed through their complete medical records in the community to January 1, 1982. Because most of the cases of diabetic retinopathy in Rochester residents developed in patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), risk factors for diabetic retinopathy were examined in this group (N = 1031).

The epidemiology of sarcoidosis in Rochester, Minnesota: a population-based study of incidence and survival.

Using the unique data resources of the Rochester Epidemiology Project, a community-based study of clinically diagnosed sarcoidosis was conducted. In this population-based study, the 75 Rochester, Minnesota, residents with sarcoidosis initially diagnosed between 1946 and 1975 (incidence cohort) were followed through their comprehensive medical records in the community to January 1, 1982. The age- and sex-adjusted incidence of sarcoidosis was 6.

Ocular sarcoidosis. A case-control study among black patients.

A case-control study was conducted to investigate possible environmental risk factors for ocular sarcoidosis. The factors studied were exposures to pine products and occupational histories of employment in the tobacco, lumber, and textile industries. The exposure histories of 29 female and 15 male cases, patients with newly diagnosed ocular sarcoidosis that were attending the Glaucoma/Uveitis Clinic of the North Carolina Memorial Hospital, were compared to those of 110 female and 28 male controls selected from out-patient clinics.

Base specificity and idiotypy of anti-DNA autoantibodies reactive with synthetic nucleic acids.

Synthetic nucleic acid reactivities and the distribution of idiotypes associated with poly(dA) and poly(dT) specificities were evaluated among both monoclonal and polyclonal anti-DNA antibodies from autoimmune New Zealand mice. Ten monoclonal anti-DNA antibodies (IgG2a or IgG2b), derived from NZB/NZW mice and reactive with natural DNA (duplex and/or heat-denatured), were found to collectively exhibit a diverse binding pattern with six deoxyribohomopolymers. Several monoclonal antibodies displayed reactivity with poly(dT) comparable to that with natural DNA.

Comparative properties of monoclonal antibodies comprising a high-affinity anti-fluorescyl idiotype family.

The T-dependent BALB/c murine immune response to fluorescein (F1) is characterized by structural heterogeneity at the protein level exemplified in part by a significantly wide range of affinities (Ka), and apparent lack of dominant idiotypes. In order to generate an idiotype family, xenogenic anti-idiotype (anti-ID) antibodies raised against anti-F1 monoclonal antibody (MCA) 4-4 (Ka = 1.7 X 10(10) M-1) were used in a solid-phase radioimmunoassay (SPRIA) to screen 68 anti-F1 hybridomas generated from multiple cell fusions for idiotypically related immunoglobulins.

Incidence of diabetic retinopathy and blindness: a population-based study in Rochester, Minnesota.

Among the 1135 Rochester residents discovered to have diabetes in the period 1945-69, the prevalence of retinopathy was 2.6% at the time of initial diagnosis. Among those free of retinopathy at diagnosis of diabetes, the subsequent incidence of any retinopathy was 17.

Characterization of monoclonal anti-fluorescein antibodies from autoimmune New Zealand mice.

Previous studies of murine IgM hybridoma protein 18-2-3, derived from an (NZB/NZW)F1 secondary response to fluorescein (FL) presented on T-dependent carrier, demonstrated a high binding affinity for FL (KA = 2.9 X 10(10) M-1) and cryoprecipitation, which could be abrogated upon FL binding. Based on these unusual properties and their possible association with defective immune regulation in lupus-prone mice, further studies were carried out to evaluate the basis of 18-2-3 cryoprecipitation, expression of characteristics related to the 18-2-3 clonotype, and structure/function aspects of additional homogeneous IgM and IgG antibodies of similar origin and specificity.

Specificity and kinetics defining the interaction between a murine monoclonal autoantibody and DNA.

Interactions between a murine monoclonal anti-DNA autoantibody (BV17-45) and DNA were examined by direct binding and competitive radioimmunoassays. Binding isotherms constructed by titration of purified BV17-45 with a series of distinct 32P-labeled double-stranded DNA ([32P]dsDNA) fragments were super-impossible, suggesting: 1) BV17-45/[32P]dsDNA binding is independent of dsDNA size using fragments greater than or equal to 192 base pairs in length, and 2) BV17-45 does not exhibit stringent sequence specificity. Single-stranded DNA-specific monoclonal antibody BV04-01 did not react with [32P]dsDNA, confirming its duplex character.

Expression of defined idiotypes throughout the BALB/c anti-fluorescyl antibody response: affinity and idiotype analyses of heterogeneous antibodies.

Heterogeneous BALB/c anti-fluorescyl antibodies were shown to display increases (greater than 50-fold) in binding affinity from the primary through the tertiary responses. The structural basis of such affinity maturation and the diversity exhibited by anti-fluorescyl antibodies was examined by idiotypic analysis using a panel of anti-idiotype reagents specific for seven different monoclonal antifluorescyl antibodies. Because these clones exhibited binding affinities characteristic of a secondary or hyperimmune response, it was possible to examine the mechanism of affinity maturation by determining the prevalence of the seven idiotypes (Id-4-4-20, Id-20-19-1, Id-20-20-3, Id-6-10-6, Id-20-4-4, Id-4-6-10 and Id-6-19-1) in specifically purified heterogeneous preparations with low (i.

Parallel visual computation.

The functional abilities and parallel architecture of the human visual system are a rich source of ideas about visual processing. Any visual task that we can perform quickly and effortlessly is likely to have a computational solution using a parallel algorithm. Recently, several such parallel algorithms have been found that exploit information implicit in an image to compute intrinsic properties of surfaces, such as surface orientation, reflectance and depth.

Monoclonal IgM antibody exhibiting high-affinity binding and cryoglobulin properties.

A monoclonal IgM antibody (18-2-3) derived from cell fusion of (NZB X NZW) F1 splenocytes following secondary immunization with fluorescein-conjugated keyhole limpet hemocyanin was shown to exhibit high intrinsic binding affinity and cryoinsolubility. Affinity-purified preparations were determined to be IgM by immunochemical, electrophoretic, and chromatographic analyses. An intrinsic association constant (Ka) of 2.

Viewer independent shape recognition.

An important problem in vision is to detect the presence of a known rigid 3-D object. The general 3-D object recognition task can be thought of as building a description of the object that must have at least two parts: 1) the internal description of the object itself (with respect to an object-centered frame); and 2) the transformation of the object-centered frame to the viewer-centered (image) frame. The reason for this decomposition is parsimony: different views of the object should have minimal impact on its description.

Monoclonal murine anti-nucleic acid antibody with double-stranded specificity.

The NZB/NZW F1 murine model for the autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has been employed in somatic cell hybridizations to develop hybridoma autoantibodies with double-stranded (ds) DNA specificity. Monoclonal anti-DNA antibodies from one hybridoma cell line were purified and analysed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and isoelectric focusing. Results of comparative binding studies with tritiated [3H]-colicin E1 plasmid DNA probes suggested preferential binding for the native DNA conformation relative to single-stranded DNA.

Relationship between plasma sodium concentration and vascular reactivity in man.

Experiments were done to study the effects of acute changes in plasma sodium concentration [Na] on vasoconstrictor responses to norepinephrine and to reflex sympathetic stimulation in man. [Na] in the venous return from the forearm of each of 21 normal subjects was reduced (to an average of 118 mEq/liter), increased (147 mEq/liter), and maintained within the normal range (140 mEq/liter) by means of infusions into the brachial artery of three solutions containing different [Na]. Mannitol or sucrose and disodium sulfate were substituted for sodium chloride to produce the desired changes in [Na] without changing blood osmolarity.