A case of interstitial pneumonitis in a patient with ulcerative colitis treated with azathioprine.

The early hypersensitivity reaction and late bone marrow depression are well-known side-effects of azathioprine, whereas interstitial pneumonia is a rare complication. A 40-year old male patient had been treated with azathioprine in consequence of extensive ulcerative colitis for 10 years. He then complained of 7 d of fever, cough and catarrhal signs, without symptoms of active colitis.

[The role of tremorometry in predicting the outcome of ablative surgeries].

Ablative neurosurgical interventions are widely used for the treatment of advanced Parkinson's disease. However, in some cases, the achieved result is temporary and repeat operation is necessary to obtain a permanent effect. By analyzing 30 ablative surgeries using comparative accelerometry, we looked for a biological marker predicting the efficiency.

[Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Baranya county, Hungary].

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a progressive neurodegenerative disease resulting in loss of upper and lower motoneurons. Here we analyzed the clinical and epidemiological data of 202 ALS patients admitted to our department between 1950 and 2004. Risk and protective factors influencing onset and progression of the disease were examined.

Multiple phytohormones influence distinct parameters of the plant circadian clock.

Circadian systems coordinate endogenous events with external signals. In mammals, hormone-clock feedbacks are a well-known integration system. Here, we investigated phytohormone effects on plant-circadian rhythms via the promoter:luciferase system.

Experimental validation of a predicted feedback loop in the multi-oscillator clock of Arabidopsis thaliana.

Our computational model of the circadian clock comprised the feedback loop between LATE ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL (LHY), CIRCADIAN CLOCK ASSOCIATED 1 (CCA1) and TIMING OF CAB EXPRESSION 1 (TOC1), and a predicted, interlocking feedback loop involving TOC1 and a hypothetical component Y. Experiments based on model predictions suggested GIGANTEA (GI) as a candidate for Y. We now extend the model to include a recently demonstrated feedback loop between the TOC1 homologues PSEUDO-RESPONSE REGULATOR 7 (PRR7), PRR9 and LHY and CCA1.

Implanted deep brain stimulator and 1.0-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging.

There is a great need for MRI examinations of patients who have previously undergone deep brain stimulator (DBS) implantation. The current guidelines pertain only to a 1.5-Tesla horizontal-bore scanner complying with strict safety regulations.

Neurosurgical treatment of tremor in mitochondrial encephalopathy.

A 53-year-old woman underwent several ischemic stroke-like episodes and later developed incomplete, bilateral ophthalmoplegia, left vision deterioration, and bilateral tremor. The clinical course, laboratory data, and muscle histology led to a diagnosis of mitochondrial encephalomyopathy. No other etiology could be identified in the background of her disabling bilateral postural-kinetic tremor.

[Myopathy associated with respiratory insufficiency: diagnostic difficulties in adult-onset Pompe disease].

Introduction: Adult-onset acid maltase deficiency myopathy is a rare lysosomal storage disease with an autosomal recessive pattern of inheritance. The disease can be manifested with respiratory insufficiency and fatigue.

Methods: A case of a 45-year-old male patient is presented, and difficulty in diagnosis is discussed.

CONSTITUTIVELY PHOTOMORPHOGENIC1 is required for the UV-B response in Arabidopsis.

CONSTITUTIVELY PHOTOMORPHOGENIC1 (COP1) is a negative regulator of photomorphogenesis in Arabidopsis thaliana. COP1 functions as an E3 ubiquitin ligase, targeting select proteins for proteasomal degradation in plants as well as in mammals. Among its substrates is the basic domain/leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factor ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL5 (HY5), one of the key regulators of photomorphogenesis under all light qualities, including UV-B responses required for tolerance to this environmental threat.

Endogenous testosterone concentration, mental rotation, and size of the corpus callosum in a sample of young Hungarian women.

In the present study brain laterality, hemispheric communication, and mental rotation performance were examined. A sample of 33 women were tested for a possible linear relationship of testosterone level and mental rotation with structural background of the brain. Subjects with a smaller splenial area of corpus callosum tended to have lower levels of testosterone (r =.

[Complex eye movement disturbance in thalamic and mesencephalic infarcts].

A 36 year-old male patient developed sudden double vision and gait imbalance. Neurological examination revealed gaze paresis upward and on the left side downward (vertical "one-and-a-half"-syndrome), horizontal gaze nystagmus on the left bulbus directed to left. The MRI revealed bilateral thalamic and left midbrain ischemic lesions.

[Azathioprine-associated interstitial pneumonitis].

Azathioprine-associated interstitial pneumonitis. The early hypersensitivity reaction and the late bone marrow depression are well known side effects of the azathioprine; the interstitial pneumonia is a rare complication. A 40-year old male patient was treated with azathioprine due to extensive ulcerative colitis for ten years.

Diurnal regulation of the brassinosteroid-biosynthetic CPD gene in Arabidopsis.

Plant steroid hormones, brassinosteroids (BRs), are essential for normal photomorphogenesis. However, the mechanism by which light controls physiological functions via BRs is not well understood. Using transgenic plants carrying promoter-luciferase reporter gene fusions, we show that in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) the BR-biosynthetic CPD and CYP85A2 genes are under diurnal regulation.

DLG5 variants in inflammatory bowel disease.

Objectives: Genetic variants within DLG5 were recently reported to be associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of our study was to test for allelic and haplotype associations of six DLG5 variants in 668 IBD patients from two European populations. Furthermore, we evaluated whether DLG5 variants alter gastrointestinal permeability in Crohn's disease (CD).

Forward genetic analysis of the circadian clock separates the multiple functions of ZEITLUPE.

The circadian system of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) includes feedback loops of gene regulation that generate 24-h oscillations. Components of these loops remain to be identified; none of the known components is completely understood, including ZEITLUPE (ZTL), a gene implicated in regulated protein degradation. ztl mutations affect both circadian and developmental responses to red light, possibly through ZTL interaction with PHYTOCHROME B (PHYB).

Nuclear accumulation of the phytochrome A photoreceptor requires FHY1.

The phytochrome family of red/far-red (R/FR)-responsive photoreceptors plays a key role throughout the life cycle of plants . Arabidopsis has five phytochromes, phyA-phyE, among which phyA and phyB play the most predominant functions . Light-regulated nuclear accumulation of the phytochromes is an important regulatory step of this pathway, but to this date no factor specifically required for this event has been identified .

MRI-assessed volume of left and right hippocampi in females correlates with the relative length of the second and fourth fingers (the 2D:4D ratio).

Atrophy of the left or right side of the hippocampus has been related to cognitive deficits and psychiatric disease. In this study, we examined the correlation between the hippocampal volume laterality index and the relative lengths of the second (index finger) and fourth (ring finger) digits (2D:4D) in healthy female subjects. The 2D:4D ratio is fixed in utero, and the ratio is higher in women than in men.

Polymorphism of the heat-shock protein gene Hsp70-2, but not polymorphisms of the IL-10 and CD14 genes, is associated with the outcome of Crohn's disease.

Objective: In Crohn's disease (CD) a Th-1 dominant immune reaction is induced, which could be associated with genetic predisposition. Several previous studies have investigated the roles of CD14, heat-shock protein (Hsp)70 and IL-10 gene polymorphisms in the development of the disease. The results are contradictory and inter-racial differences are implicated.

Functional characterization of phytochrome interacting factor 3 for the Arabidopsis thaliana circadian clockwork.

Light, in a quality- and quantity-dependent fashion, induces nuclear import of the plant photoreceptors phytochromes and promotes interaction of these receptors with transcription factors including PHYTOCHROME INTERACTING FACTOR 3 (PIF3). PIF3 was shown to form in vitro a ternary complex with the G-box element of the promoters of LATE ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL (LHY) and CIRCADIAN CLOCK ASSOCIATED 1 (CCA1) and the Pfr conformer of phytochromes. CCA1 and LHY together with TIMING OF CAB EXPRESSION 1 (TOC1) constitute a transcriptional feed-back loop that is essential for a functional circadian clock in Arabidopsis.

Plant circadian clocks increase photosynthesis, growth, survival, and competitive advantage.

Circadian clocks are believed to confer an advantage to plants, but the nature of that advantage has been unknown. We show that a substantial photosynthetic advantage is conferred by correct matching of the circadian clock period with that of the external light-dark cycle. In wild type and in long- and short-circadian period mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana, plants with a clock period matched to the environment contain more chlorophyll, fix more carbon, grow faster, and survive better than plants with circadian periods differing from their environment.

Signalling and gene regulation in response to ultraviolet light.

In contrast to phytochrome-, cryptochrome- and phototropin-sensing systems, about which considerable knowledge has accumulated, the ultraviolet-B (UVB) photoreceptor is not yet known at the molecular level. Information about the downstream signalling events that underlie UVB-provoked physiological responses is limited. Recent whole-genome transcript profiling, isolation of mutants that are impaired in specific UVB-induced responses and detailed photobiological studies suggest that responses that are triggered by shorter wavelength UVB and longer wavelength UVB are mediated by two different sensory systems.

Clinical significance of granuloma in Crohn's disease.

Aim: Granuloma is considered the hallmark of microscopic diagnosis in Crohn's disease (CD), but granulomas can be detected in only 21-60% of CD patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of granulomas by multiple endoscopic biopsies in patients with CD and to examine whether group of patients with or without granuloma exhibit a different clinical course.

Methods: Fifty-six patients with newly diagnosed CD were included in the study.