Cache Valley and Potosi viruses (Bunyaviridae) in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus): experimental infections and antibody prevalence in natural populations.

Cache Valley virus (CVV) and Potosi virus (POTV) are two closely related mosquito-borne viruses (Bunyaviridae: Bunyamwera group) that appear to circulate in several regions of the United States, especially the Midwest. We determined the prevalence of specific neutralizing antibodies to both viruses in Indiana white-tailed deer and conducted infection experiments to assess whether deer could serve as an vertebrate-amplifying host. Cross-infection experiments also were carried out to investigate the level of antibody cross-reactivity and cross-protection between the two viruses.

Modulation of the cleavage of the gastrin precursor by prohormone phosphorylation.

Background & Aims: Amidated gastrins are acid secretagogues and growth factors. Their precursor, progastrin, is a growth factor but not a secretagogue. Cleavage of progastrin at Arg94/95 determines the expression of these two alternative patterns of biological activity.

Role of Anopheles quadrimaculatus and Coquillettidia perturbans (Diptera: Culicidae) in the transmission cycle of Cache Valley virus (Bunyaviridae: Bunyavirus) in the midwest, USA.

Midwestern populations of Coquillettidia perturbans (Walker) and Anopheles quadrimaculatus (Say) were tested for their ability to transmit Cache Valley virus (CV), a recognized human and animal pathogen. Field-collected mosquitoes were fed artificial blood meals containing 5.2-6.

Economic analyses of radiological procedures: a methodological evaluation of the medical literature.

Objective: Increasing pressure to curb health care costs has led to considerable interest in economic analyses, including both cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analyses. Numerous economic analyses of radiological procedures have appeared in both the radiology and non-radiology literature. The objective of this study was to evaluate the methodological quality of economic analyses of radiological procedures published in the non-radiology medical literature during the years 1990 1995.

The 30-base-pair deletion in Chinese variants of the Epstein-Barr virus LMP1 gene is not the major effector of functional differences between variant LMP1 genes in human lymphocytes.

One group of sequence variants of Epstein-Barr virus is characterized by a 10-amino-acid deletion within the CTAR-2 functional domain of the latent membrane protein, LMP1. A role for this deletion in enhancing the tumorigenicity of the viral oncogene in rodent fibroblasts was recently demonstrated. We examined the effect of this deletion upon LMP1 function in four human lymphoid cell lines by using three natural variants of LMP1: the prototype B95.

Economic analyses in obstetrics and gynecology: a methodologic evaluation of the literature.

Objective: To evaluate the methodology of the cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit literature in obstetrics and gynecology.

Data Sources: We performed a MEDLINE search of the general and subspecialty obstetrics and gynecology journals for the years 1990 through 1996.

Methods Of Study Selection: Original investigations including cost-effectiveness or cost-benefit were evaluated by two reviewers for adherence to ten minimum methodologic standards derived by a review of guidelines for medical economic analyses.

Cross-infection of moose (Alces alces) and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) with Elaphostrongylus alces and Elaphostrongylus rangiferi (Nematoda, Protostrongylidae): effects on parasite morphology and prepatent period.

Moose (Alces alces) and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) were experimentally cross-infected with Elaphostrongylus rangiferi and Elaphostrongylus alces, respectively. Both Elaphostrongylus species completed their development in the alternate hosts but produced fewer larvae than in their usual host species. Reindeer infected with Elaphostrongylus alces developed patent infections after 39-130 days.

Methodologic evaluation of the radiology cost-effectiveness literature.

Purpose: To evaluate the methodologic quality of cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analyses reported in the radiology literature.

Materials And Methods: Original investigations of cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis were identified from an on-line search of the radiology literature from 1989 to 1995. The articles were evaluated for adherence to minimum methodologic standards for economic analysis research.

Aqueduct compression from venous angioma: MR findings.

Vascular compression as the cause of aqueductal stenosis is rare. In a 16-year-old girl with hydrocephalus, MR imaging provided evidence of aqueductal stenosis caused by a venous angioma in the tectum and midbrain. This indicates the usefulness of MR imaging for the evaluation of obstructive hydrocephalus.

Pleural fluid volume estimation: a chest radiograph prediction rule.

Rationale And Objectives: We devised a prediction rule for estimating pleural effusion volume on the basis of posteroanterior and lateral chest radiographs.

Methods: A prediction rule was devised for estimating pleural effusion volume on the basis of the presence or absence of a meniscus on chest radiographs. The rule was tested and validated using separate data sets obtained from a retrospective review of patients having both a chest radiograph and computed tomography (CT) scan (the gold standard) within 24 hr of each other.

Verrucous carcinoma of the bladder.

Verrucous carcinoma is a rare squamous cell variant that may arise in the bladder. We present a case of verrucous carcinoma of the bladder with radiologic-pathologic correlations that demonstrate the characteristic frond-like growth pattern. Verrucous carcinoma is an invasive but not a metastizing lesion, and therefore recognizing this lesion may have prognostic and therapeutic implications.

Racial differences in the patterns of preterm delivery in central North Carolina, USA.

In order to assess racial differences in rates of idiopathic preterm labour, preterm premature rupture of membranes, and medically indicated preterm delivery, the authors analysed data on 388 preterm (< 37 completed weeks of gestation) births (7.9% of all births) occurring between 1 September 1988 and 31 August 1989, in three central North Carolina counties. The crude relative risk (RR) of preterm birth among black women compared with white women was 2.

Is race a risk factor or a risk marker for preterm delivery?

Reasons for the persistent difference in rates of preterm delivery among black and white women are not clear. Known risk factors explain very little of the variance. Recent studies have shown that social class does not fully account for poor pregnancy outcomes among black women.

Epidemiologic characteristics of preterm delivery: etiologic heterogeneity.

Preterm delivery (less than 37 weeks completed gestation) is known to result from diverse etiologic pathways, which can be grouped into idiopathic preterm labor, preterm premature rupture of the membranes, and medical complications. Data from publications providing sufficient detail to subdivide preterm delivery cases into these groups were tabulated. In spite of inconsistent terminology and incomplete reporting, patterns were identified.

Magnetic resonance imaging of blood and clots in vitro.

The effects of variations in blood clot composition on magnetic relaxation rates and magnetic resonance (MR) image have been characterized in vitro. Both 1/T1 and 1/T2 were found to be linear functions of hematocrit for blood and clot, with increases in hematocrit resulting in progressive decreases in image signal intensity. Clot formation in fully oxygenated samples produced no change in relaxation rates or MR images compared with unclotted blood, but clot retraction was associated with a significant increase in 1/T2 that resulted in a decreased signal.

Management of the contralateral testis in patients with testicular germ cell cancer.

Patients with testicular germ cell tumours (TGCT) are at increased risk of developing a tumour in the contralateral testis. Such a tumour may be preceded by carcinoma in situ (CIS), which is more common in patients with infertility, atrophic testis or a history of cryptorchism. Of 1219 patients with TGCT seen at the Royal Marsden Hospital between 1962 and 1984 in whom the contralateral testis was managed by surveillance, 38 (3.

Magnetic relaxation in blood and blood clots.

Nuclear magnetic relaxation rates are measured for whole blood, blood plasma, whole blood clots, and plasma clots in vitro. Relaxation rates are linear in the hematocrit and transverse relaxation rates are significantly greater than longitudinal relaxation rates. Longitudinal relaxation rates measured from 0.

High fat, low carbohydrate, enteral feeding lowers PaCO2 and reduces the period of ventilation in artificially ventilated patients.

The objective of this study was to compare the effect of a high fat, low carbohydrate enteral feed with a standard isocaloric, isonitrogenous enteral feed on PaCO2 and ventilation time in patients with acute respiratory failure requiring artificial ventilation. 20 clinically stable patients requiring enteral feeding were randomized to either feed in a double-blind fashion. Initial ventilator standard settings were adjusted according to clinical state.

An outbreak of chancroid in Orange County, California: descriptive epidemiology and disease-control measures.

From May 1981 through February 1983, greater than 1,700 patients were examined for genital ulcers at the Orange County Special Diseases Clinic in Santa Ana, California. Of these patients, 923 had either confirmed chancroid or genital ulcers of unknown etiology. Haemophilus ducreyi was recovered from lesions or inguinal buboes of 271 patients.