Sexual asphyxiation: an unusual case involving four male adolescents.

A case of sexual asphyxiation is described involving children, adolescent males, homosexuality and two bizarre strangulations. Two adolescent males (ages 13 & 10) initially engaged in homosexual activity in conjunction with sexual asphyxiation. This unusual activity was by chance observed by one of the boy's younger brother and his friend.

Characterization of a conserved helper-T-cell epitope from group A Streptococcal M proteins.

We have previously defined major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II-restricted T-cell epitopes from the carboxy-terminal region of group A streptococcal type 5 M protein. In this report, T-cell responses to one of these epitopes have been characterized in detail. T-cell clones from recombinant M5-immunized mice and popliteal lymph node cells from peptide-immunized mice were used to show that sM5[300-319] is recognized in the context of I-A alleles of four of nine independent MHC class II haplotypes: I-Ad, I-Af, I-Ak, and I-As.

Palmitic acid conjugation of a protein antigen enhances major histocompatibility complex class II-restricted presentation to T cells.

The effect on antigenicity of covalent attachment of lipid groups to a protein antigen was investigated. Coupling of palmitic acid to ovalbumin (OVA) enhanced major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II-restricted presentation to most OVA-specific murine T-cell clones in vitro. The enhanced antigenicity of palmitoylated antigen was localized to the level of presentation of the synthetic peptide epitope, OVA 323-339.

Use of gene replacement transformation to elucidate gene function in the qa gene cluster of Neurospora crassa.

Gene replacement by transformation, employing selective genetic recombination techniques, has been used to delete or disrupt the qa-x, qa-y and qa-1S genes of the qa gene cluster of Neurospora crassa. The growth characteristics of the strain carrying the deletion of the qa-y gene support earlier evidence that this gene encodes a quinic acid permease. The strain containing the deletion of the qa-1S gene (delta qa-1S) was examined with respect to quinic acid induction and carbon catabolite repression.

Sequence and characterization of the met-7 gene of Neurospora crassa.

The proteins encoded by the met-7+ and met-3+ genes of Neurospora crassa are required to form a functional cystathionine-gamma-synthase (CGS). The met-7+ gene has been cloned by complementation of a met-7 mutant. The nucleotide sequence of the complementing DNA reveals the presence of a 542-amino acid open reading frame (ORF).

Comparative studies of the quinic acid (qa) cluster in several Neurospora species with special emphasis on the qa-x-qa-2 intergenic region.

The organization of the quinic acid (qa) genes in Neurospora crassa has been compared to that in several other Neurospora species. This gene cluster was found to be highly conserved in all species examined. However, there are numberous restriction fragment length polymorphisms that distinguish the heterothallic and homothallic species.

The Wilhelmine E. Key 1989 invitational lecture. Organization and regulation of the qa (quinic acid) genes in Neurospora crassa and other fungi.

In Neurospora crassa, five structural genes and two regulatory genes control the use of quinic acid as a carbon source. All seven genes are tightly linked to form the qa gene cluster. The entire cluster, which has been cloned and sequenced, occupies a continuous DNA segment of 17.

Induced expression of the Aspergillus nidulans QUTE gene introduced by transformation into Neurospora crassa.

The qa-2 gene of Neurospora crassa encodes catabolic dehydroquinase which catabolizes dehydroquinic acid to dehydroshikimic acid. The QUTE gene of Aspergillus nidulans corresponds to the qa-2 gene of N. crassa.

Bialaphos resistance as a dominant selectable marker in Neurospora crassa.

Conidia of Neurospora crassa are sensitive to the herbicide bialaphos at concentrations of 160 mg/l in Westergaard's or Fries' minimal media. Plasmid pJA4 was constructed by inserting a truncated bar gene from Streptomyces hygroscopicus fused to the his-3 promoter from N. crassa into pUC19.

DNA sequence, organization and regulation of the qa gene cluster of Neurospora crassa.

In Neurospora, five structural and two regulatory genes mediate the initial events in quinate/shikimate metabolism as a carbon source. These genes are clustered in an 18 x 10(3) base-pair region as a contiguous array. The qa genes are induced by quinic acid and are coordinately controlled at the transcriptional level by the positive and negative regulators, qa-1F and qa-1S, respectively.

Hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerosis: present and future therapy including LDL-apheresis.

Atherosclerosis-induced coronary heart disease remains the major cause of death and disability in industrialized countries. Hypercholesterolemia is recognized as a causative factor in the development of atherosclerosis. While the lowering of cholesterol levels as a treatment goal has met with general agreement and acceptance, the preferred methods for doing so are still open to conjecture.

Absence of symptoms with carboxyhemoglobin levels of 16-23%.

It has been generally accepted that carboxyhemoglobin levels between 10-20% produce mild headaches, dizziness and/or nausea. Experimental double blind exposures of 18 healthy, nonsmoking young men at rest to 7,000-24,000 ppm CO, designed to elevate COHb to 15-20% in 3-5 minutes, were followed by exposure to 232 ppm CO designed to maintain COHb level for a total of 130 minutes. Resulting COHb values were 16-23%.

An evaluation of in situ microcosms for validating aquatic fate and transport models.

The fates of two compounds, 2,4 Dichlorophenoxy Acetic Acid Butoxyethyl Ester (2,4-DBEE) and 1,4 Dichlorobenzene (1,4-DCB), were examined in in situ microcosms placed in a pond and compared with the fates in the pond itself. Results also were compared with predictions of an aquatic fate and transport model (EXAMS). Decay rates of 2,4-DBEE were not significantly different among the microcosms, pond and model predictions.

Evaluation of a new microporous filtration membrane system for therapeutic plasma exchange.

A new therapeutic plasma exchange device developed by Sarns Inc./3M was evaluated in plasmapheresis of 20 healthy volunteers and in a multicenter clinical study of therapeutic plasma exchange that included 49 patients. Safety and efficacy of plasma separation from whole blood were assessed for a module that contains Durapore microporous surfactant-free polyvinylidene fluoride membrane (Millipore Corp.

Genetical and molecular analyses of qa-2 transformants in Neurospora crassa.

Neurospora crassa qa-2+ transformants from five different donor DNA clones were analyzed by genetical and molecular techniques. None of the 32 transformants have the qa-2+ DNA replacing the qa-2- gene in linkage group VII. In one transformant, the qa-2+ DNA was inserted adjacent to the qa-2- gene.

Rearrangement mutations on the 5' side of the qa-2 gene of Neurospora implicate two regions of qa-1F activator-protein interaction.

Transcriptional activation of the Neurospora crassa qa genes normally requires the positive regulatory gene, qa-1F+, whose function is controlled by the inducer quinic acid and by the product of the negative regulatory gene, qa-1S+. The properties of qa-1F+ activator have been examined in transcriptional mutations of the qa-2 structural gene, in which activator-independent transcription of qa-2 (qa-2ai mutants) occurs in strains having a qa-1F- gene. Seven qa-2ai mutants with DNA rearrangements in different 5' regions of qa-2 were analyzed in qa-1F+ strains.

Xylazine in human tissue and fluids in a case of fatal drug abuse.

A fatal case of multiple drug abuse in a 36-year-old veterinarian involving injection of xylazine and ingestion of alcohol and clorazepate is presented. Quantitative analysis of xylazine was by gas liquid chromatography with a nitrogen detector. Xylazine concentrations (mg/L or mg/kg) were: blood, 0.