Sarcoptic mange in Spanish ibex from Spain.

The Spanish ibex (Capra pyrenaica hispanica) population of the "Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas" Nature Park (Spain) was isolated as the result of a severe epidemic of sarcoptic mange. In this context, the dynamic characteristics of the disease were analyzed in a wild group consisting of 35 animals from the beginning of the epizootic (when the mating period started) to the extinction of the population due to mange. Monthly tracking permitted the sequential characterization of the pathology in each animal.

Gemcitabine plus vinorelbine in nonsmall cell lung carcinoma patients age 70 years or older or patients who cannot receive cisplatin. Oncopaz Cooperative Group.

Background: Although the prevalence of nonsmall cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) is high among elderly patients, few data are available regarding the efficacy and toxicity of chemotherapy in this group of patients. Recent reports indicate that single agent therapy with vinorelbine (VNB) or gemcitabine (GEM) may obtain a response rate of 20-30% in elderly patients, with acceptable toxicity and improvement in symptoms and quality of life. In the current study the efficacy and toxicity of the combination of GEM and VNB in elderly patients with advanced NSCLC or those with some contraindication to receiving cisplatin were assessed.

Factors from Trypanosoma cruzi interacting with AP-1 sequences.

Interaction between factors from Trypanosoma cruzi extracts and AP-1 sequences was studied by electrophoretic mobility shift assays. Using a double-stranded probe carrying the AP-1 sequence from the SV40 promoter, three specific complexes designated A, B, and C were detected. Complexes A and C were formed when using single-stranded probes.

Solvent-dependent conformational behaviour of lipochitoligosaccharides related to Nod factors.

The solution conformation of two lipooligosaccharides related to Nod factors or lipochitoligosaccharides have been analysed by 1D and 2D 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy, molecular mechanics and dynamics calculations. The obtained data indicate that the glycosidic torsion angles have restricted fluctuations, but may adopt a variety of shapes. Remarkably, the relative orientation of the fatty acid chain towards the oligosaccharide backbone is solvent dependent.

The pur7 gene from the puromycin biosynthetic pur cluster of Streptomyces alboniger encodes a nudix hydrolase.

Pur7 is the product of a gene from the puromycin biosynthetic pur cluster of Streptomyces alboniger. It was expressed in Escherichia coli as a recombinant protein fused to a His tag and then was highly purified through a Ni(2+) column. It showed a 3'-amino-3'-dATP pyrophosphohydrolase (nudix) activity which produced 3'-amino-3'-dAMP and pyrophosphate.

A comparative trial of two modalities of speech intervention for compensatory articulation in cleft palate children, phonologic approach versus articulatory approach.

To compare two modalities of speech intervention (SI) in cleft palate children with compensatory articulation disorder (CAD). The first modality was a phonologic based intervention, the second modality was an articulatory or phonetic intervention. The main purpose is to study whether a phonologic intervention may reduce the total time of speech therapy necessary for correcting CAD in cleft palate children as compared to an articulatory intervention.

Revision and removal of stimulating electrodes following long-term therapy with the vagus nerve stimulator.

Background: A significant concern about vagus nerve stimulation therapy has been the disposition of the spiral stimulating electrodes once treatment is considered ineffective or is no longer desired. Because the electrodes are wrapped around the vagus nerve, there is the potential for nerve injury during their removal.

Methods: We attempted removal of the spiral stimulating electrodes from 10 patients who received long-term vagus nerve stimulation therapy for drug-resistant epilepsy.

NMR experiments reveal distinct antibody-bound conformations of a synthetic disaccharide representing a general structural element of bacterial lipopolysaccharide epitopes.

The recognition reactions between a synthetic disaccharide alpha-Kdo-(2-->4)-alpha-Kdo-(2-->O)-allyl and two monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) were studied by NMR, yielding two distinct bound conformations of the carbohydrate ligand. One mAb, S23-24, recognizes the disaccharides alpha-Kdo-(2-->4)-alpha-Kdo-(2-->O)-allyl and alpha-Kdo-(2-->8)-alpha-Kdo-(2-->O)-allyl with similar affinities, whereas mAb S25-2 binds to the disaccharide alpha-Kdo-(2-->8)-alpha-Kdo-(2-->O)-allyl with an approximately 10-fold higher affinity than to the disaccharide alpha-Kdo-(2-->4)-alpha-Kdo-(2-->O)-allyl. Compared to S25-2, S23-24 binds to alpha-Kdo-(2-->4)-alpha-Kdo-(2-->O)-allyl with an approximately 50-fold increased affinity.

The Pur10 protein encoded in the gene cluster for puromycin biosynthesis of Streptomyces alboniger is an NAD-dependent ATP dehydrogenase.

The pur10 gene of the puromycin (pur) cluster of Streptomyces alboniger is essential for the biosynthesis of this antibiotic. Highly purified Pur10 protein, obtained in Escherichia coli as a recombinant protein fused to a histidine tail, had an NAD-dependent ATP dehydrogenase activity. The Km and Vmax values for ATP were 0.

StgR, a new Streptomyces alboniger member of the LysR family of transcriptional regulators.

A 3240-bp DNA fragment, located next to the puromycin biosynthetic gene cluster of Streptomyces alboniger, contains three complete ORFs in the order: stgA, stgU and stgR. The transcriptional orientation of stgA is opposite to that of stgU and stgR. Each gene is expressed from its own promoter, although stgU and stgR can be cotranscribed.

Evidence of increased excitability in GEPR hippocampus preceding development of seizure susceptibility.

The genetically epilepsy-prone rat (GEPR) provides a valuable model to study the mechanism of neonatal seizure susceptibility because seizure predisposition in GEPRs is determined by factors present from birth. We have previously shown that reduced afterhyperpolarization (AHP), reduced spike frequency adaptation and increased excitation with repetitive stimulation are present in the adult GEPRs. To investigate whether these abnormalities are present at birth or appear at the time when GEPRs show seizure susceptibility and to elucidate whether these abnormalities were a consequence of seizure experience (the adult rats previously tested were induced to seize in three tests), we studied the membrane and synaptic properties of CA3 hippocampal neurons in preseizing offspring of GEPR-9s (seizure naive GEPRs).

[Vascular dysfunction in hypertension evaluated by nonivasive assessment of arterial impedance].

The effects of high blood pressure on arterial vessels has become an important topic of research. These effects can be evaluated by analyzing three major components: systemic vascular resistance, arterial compliance and wave reflection. The increase in systemic vascular resistance and arterial stiffness produces modifications of left ventricular afterload and morphologic changes of pressure and flow waves.

[Association between myocardial infarction and angiotensin converting enzyme gene polymorphism in young patients].

Background: Different studies have shown a relationship between an insertion-deletion polymorphism of the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) gene and the risk of ischemic heart disease, although there are no data on this association in the Spanish population.

Materials And Method: We have studied three groups of patients: I, healthy volunteers (n = 56, mean age 36.20 +/- 4.

Indications and counterindications for cochlear implantation in children.

Objective: This study is aimed to analyze the current indications and counterindications of cochlear implantation (CI) in children.

Study Design: This study reviews the children implanted in our institution looking specifically at the following aspects: 1) auditory criteria for candidate selection; 2) age at implantation; 3) educational environment; and 4) associated handicapping conditions.

Setting: Tertiary referral center with experience in CI since 1989 with inpatient and outpatient care.

[Cochlear implants in post-lingual persons: results during the first five years of the clinical course].

Abundant literature is available on the results of cochlear implants in postlingual persons. Nevertheless, there are few long-term studies with a follow-up of more than 1 year. We present the outcomes of 37 postlingual patients with a 5-year follow-up period.

Analysis of the in vivo nitrosation capacity of the larvae used in the wing somatic mutation and recombination test of Drosophila melanogaster.

The in vivo nitrosation capacity of third-instar larvae of Drosophila melanogaster was assessed using the wing somatic mutation and recombination test (SMART). Larvate derived from two different crosses, the standard cross (ST) and the high bioactivation cross (HB) both involving the recessive wing cell markers multiple wing hairs (mwh) and flare (flr3), were used. The HB cross is characterised by an increased cytochrome P450-dependent bioactivation capacity for promutagens and procarcinogens.

Expression of the Streptomyces alboniger pur cluster in Streptomyces lividans is dependent on the bldA-encoded tRNALeu.

Streptomyces lividans 1326-9, a bldA+ strain, and its bldA39 mutant derivative J1725 were transformed with a cosmid containing the pur cluster, which determines the puromycin biosynthetic pathway from Streptomyces alboniger. bldA+ transformants produced puromycin in typical amounts, whereas bldA39 transformants did so at drastically decreased levels. Transformation of low producers with the wild-type bldA gene reverted this phenotype to normal production.

Severe limb deficiencies, vertebral hypersegmentation, and mirror polydactyly: two additional cases that expand the phenotype to a more generalized effect on blastogenesis.

We report on 2 unrelated fetuses with a multiple congenital anomaly pattern of severe limb deficiencies, vertebral/rib alterations, and mirror polydactyly similar to that described previously by us [Urioste et al., Hum Genet 97:214-217, 1996]. In addition, the two cases we present here have a more extense alteration of blastogenesis, expanding the phenotype of the cases previously reported.

Impact on the care of the emergency department chest pain patient from the chest pain evaluation registry (CHEPER) study.

This study examines the question of whether chest pain observation units increase the proportion of chest pain patients with an extended evaluation for cardiac ischemia ("rule out myocardial infarction [MI] evaluation"), decrease the number of missed MIs, and decrease costs. This is a multiple site registry study of 8 established chest pain observation units (complying with the American College Emergency Physician's Observation Section's standards) compared with previous studies on chest pain evaluation without the use of observation (5 studies, 12,405 patients). A total of 23,407 of 444,189 emergency department patients (5.

Uracil and tegafur modulated with leucovorin: an effective regimen with low toxicity for the treatment of colorectal carcinoma in the elderly. Oncopaz Cooperative Group.

Background: In spite of the high prevalence of cancer in the elderly, little information is available about the efficacy and toxicity of chemotherapy in elderly patients. In a previous study, the authors demonstrated that the combination of uracil and tegafur (UFT) with leucovorin (LV) was active and well tolerated in patients with advanced colorectal carcinoma (ACC). The objective of the current study was to determine the efficacy and toxicity of this regimen in elderly patients with ACC.

Control of Trypanosoma cruzi epimastigote motility through the nitric oxide pathway.

Trypanosoma cruzi epimastigote motility can be enhanced by addition of L-arginine, to the culture. This effect is blocked by N-methyl-L-arginine, a competitive inhibitor of the nitric oxide synthase. N-methyl-D-aspartate and L-glutamate, two agonists of the NMDA/L-glutamate receptor, also enhanced motility.

Applications of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and molecular modeling to the study of protein-carbohydrate interactions.

This work provides an overview of the applications of NMR to the study of protein-carbohydrate interactions. The use of TR-NOE experiments in this context is given. In particular, the study of Ricin/lactose and Hevein/chitobiose complexes is detailed.