Primary structure and processing of the Candida tsukubaensis alpha-glucosidase. Homology with the rabbit intestinal sucrase-isomaltase complex and human lysosomal alpha-glucosidase.

The nucleotide sequence of a 4.39-kb DNA fragment encoding the alpha-glucosidase gene of Candida tsukubaensis is reported. The cloned gene contains a major open reading frame (ORF 1) which encodes the alpha-glucosidase as a single precursor polypeptide of 1070 amino acids with a predicted molecular mass of 119 kDa.

Acceptability of binaural hearing aids: a cross-over study.

Using screening questionnaires we were able to detect individuals aged 50-65 years with hearing disability in a general practice population. Those who had better ear hearing levels of 30 dB or worse were invited to take place in a cross-over study comparing the acceptability of a monaural or binaural hearing-aid fitting. Fifty-five per cent ultimately opted for a binaural fitting and had greater hearing disability and worse mean hearing levels than those who opted for a monaural fitting.

Reduction of atherogenic risk factors by short-term weight reduction. Evidence of the efficacy of National Cholesterol Education Program guidelines for the obese.

Five hundred and ninety-nine overweight patients participated for at least 4 weeks in the weight reducing and physical activity promoting Diet and Fitness Center program at Duke University. Twenty-three percent were diabetic and 49% hypertensive. With only modest weight loss (11.

The desynchrony between complaints and signs of vestibular disorders.

As part of an early intervention study on the acceptability of auditory rehabilitative intervention, we examined patient complaints and clinical findings of balance disorders. Hallam et al. have discussed desynchrony between such findings in hospital patient populations, and the aim of the present study was to investigate these relationships in a general population.

Clinical course of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody-associated glomerulonephritis and systemic vasculitis. The Glomerular Disease Collaborative Network.

Objectives: To determine the spectrum of clinical manifestations in patients with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody (ANCA)-associated glomerulonephritis; to determine renal and patient survival in these patients; to compare survival among patients treated with corticosteroids alone, corticosteroids plus intravenous cyclophosphamide or corticosteroids plus oral cyclophosphamide; and to assess the correlation of disease manifestations and treatment response with ANCA subtypes and serial autoantibody titers.

Design: Inception cohort study; mean follow-up of 24 months.

Setting: Collaborative network of 120 university and private practice nephrologists (The Glomerular Disease Collaborative Network).

Care for the caregiver: social policies to ease their burden.

The majority of caregivers are women, and a vast number of the households are single-parent, female-headed households. Public policies reward institutionalization of the elderly and penalize "sandwich generation" caregivers. Current state governments support the traditional ideal of the family.

The growth rate of metastatic nonseminomatous germ cell testicular tumours measured by marker production doubling time--II. Prognostic significance in patients treated by chemotherapy.

Tumour growth rates have been measured in metastatic non-seminomatous germ cell testicular tumours (NSGCTT) by estimating the rate of rise of tumour marker production (TMP). TMP was calculated for the time between orchidectomy and the start of chemotherapy in a group of 58 patients with metastatic NSGCTT treated with BEP combination chemotherapy (bleomycin, etoposide and cisplatin). Calculation of TMP (iu/l/day) took account of the continuing clearance of marker from the serum.

The growth rate of metastatic non-seminomatous germ cell testicular tumours measured by marker production doubling time--I. Theoretical basis and practical application.

Changes in serum tumour marker levels in non-seminomatous germ cell testicular tumours (NSGCTT) are used to monitor tumour growth and response to treatment. A novel method of calculating the actual tumour marker production (TMP) per day is reported; estimation of the rate of change of TMP is a measure of the tumour growth or regression rate. TMP is calculated mathematically from the rate of increase in serum marker level and its natural half life.

Hearing disability in people aged 50-65: effectiveness and acceptability of rehabilitative intervention.

Objective: To determine the best means of detecting hearing disability in subjects aged 50-65 and whether rehabilitative intervention is acceptable in this age group.

Design: Questionnaire survey of patients on general practice age-sex registers. Two types of questionnaire were used, one being based on the closed set approach of the Institute of Hearing Research questionnaire, which had been used in a pilot study, and the other being a simplified version of this questionnaire developed by the Welsh Hearing Institute and based on open set questions.

Angiomyolipoma of kidney with lymph node involvement. DNA flow cytometric analysis.

We performed DNA flow-cytometric analysis in three cases of angiomyolipoma of the kidney with lymph node involvement. The primary tumors of the kidneys and tumors in the lymph nodes of all patients contained diploid DNA. All three patients have been monitored for longer than 1 year and have no evidence of recurrence or metastasis.

Formation of UDP-2-acetamido-2-deoxy-L-galactose and UDP-2-acetamido-2-deoxy-L-galacturonic acid by Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

The O-specific polysaccharide from the lipopolysaccharide of Pseudomonas aeruginosa NCTC 8505 (IATS serotype O:3) consists of a tetrasaccharide repeating unit comprising L-rhamnose, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (GlcNAc), bacillosamine, and N-acetyl-L-galactosaminuronic acid (L-GalNAcA) (Y. Tahara and S. G.

Early intervention and rehabilitation: factors influencing outcome.

Detection of hearing disability in a pre-retirement working class population of people aged 50-65 years has been achieved using simple questionnaires. Patients who reported disability were offered rehabilitation, including hearing aids, and the hearing aids use increased from 7% to 23% of the population. Those who accepted or refused hearing aids differed only minimally in mean worse or better ear hearing levels, but markedly in terms of hearing handicap.

Initiation and perpetuation of obesity and obesity resistance in rats.

A search was made for predisposing factors and sequelae of diet-induced obesity (DIO) or resistance to DIO (DR). During 3 mo on a high-energy (CM) diet, two-thirds of the male Sprague-Dawley rats ate 16% more calories over the first 30 days and developed DIO. The remaining one-third were DR, gaining the same amount of weight as chow-fed controls.

Replication and segregational stability of Bacillus plasmid pBAA1.

A cryptic plasmid, pBAA1, was identified in an industrial Bacillus strain. The plasmid is 6.8 kilobases in size and is present in cells at a copy number of approximately 5 per chromosome equivalent.

Unexpected splenic nodules in leukemic patients.

We reviewed a series of five splenectomy specimens from patients with various leukemias (three cases of chronic myelocytic leukemia, one case of acute myelocytic leukemia, and one case of hairy cell leukemia). In addition to diffuse red pulp disease, we unexpectedly encountered nodules grossly in each of the specimens. These represented sea blue histiocytosis (one case), focal hairy cell leukemia (one case), localized blast transformation (one case), and concentrated foci of treated leukemia (two cases), with a prominence of immature granulocytic precursors on a background of trilineage hyperplasia.

Fatal acute spontaneous endometritis resulting from Clostridium sordelli.

Intrauterine clostridial infections have historically been associated with puerperal sepsis, often subsequent to instrumented abortions. Isolated reports have been associated with a malignant neoplasm or degenerating leiomyoma, most often after instrumentation, radiation therapy, or chemotherapy. In these cases, well-known risk factors or obvious niduses for growth and causation of disease were identified.

Blue nevus and melanosis of the prostate. Electron-microscopic and immunohistochemical studies.

Two cases of blue nevus and one case of melanosis of the prostate were studied with ultrastructural and immunohistochemical methods. All patients complained of urinary obstruction, and the clinical impression in all was benign prostatic hyperplasia. Melanin was present in the stroma of the prostate in all cases.

Dependence of ATP citrate lyase activity on cell density of isolated rat hepatocytes.

The activities of two enzymes involved in the lipogenic process, ATP citrate lyase and NADP-linked malic enzyme were evaluated as a function of cell density in isolated rat hepatocytes. The activity of ATP citrate lyase was profoundly affected by cell density with the activity/cell being higher at low cell densities than at high cell densities. Malic enzyme was not similarly affected, nor was cellular ATP content.

Neuropsychological studies on adolescents with phenylketonuria returned to phenylalanine-restricted diets.

Nine adolescents with phenylketonuria (PKU), who had been on unrestricted diets for 2 to 11 years, underwent serial neuropsychological testing over two consecutive 4- to 5-week periods during which each was maintained on a low-phe diet supplemented in a triple-blind fashion either with L-phe (high phe) or L-alanine (low phe). Assignment to the initial condition was done randomly, and the alternate condition was substituted at the end of the first 4- to 5-week period. In 6 of 7 subjects with PKU, baseline median choice reaction times (RTs) were slower than those of controls matched for age, sex, handedness, and Full-Scale IQ (WISC-R).

Resistance to diet-induced obesity: food intake, pancreatic sympathetic tone, and insulin.

After 15 wk on a moderately high-calorie high-fat (CM) diet, 43% of 40 3-mo-old male Sprague-Dawley rats developed diet-induced obesity (DIO) (29% more weight gain), whereas 57% of diet-resistant (DR) rats gained no more weight than 20 chow-fed controls. When switched to chow for another 7 wk, DR rats ate 13% less, gained 55% less weight, and had 49% lower food efficiency, whereas DIO rats ate 4% less but had comparable weight gain and efficiency to controls. DIO rats had 29% more carcass lipid (percent of carcass weight).

Studies on the antiobesity activity of tetrahydrolipstatin, a potent and selective inhibitor of pancreatic lipase.

In summary, THL is a potent inhibitor of pancreatic lipase, which is both selective and irreversible in its action in vitro. It is also likely that THL inhibits pancreatic lipase in vivo, since its acute administration to mice and squirrel monkeys suppresses absorption of dietary triglycerides, without an apparent alteration in the absorption of fatty acids. The marked loss in body weight and carcass fat of DIO rats with subchronic administration of THL strongly suggests that inhibition of pancreatic lipase is a feasible strategy for the treatment of obesity.

Mucoid strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa are devoid of mannuronan C-5 epimerase.

Mucoid strains of Azotobacter vinelandii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Pseudomonas syringae var glycinia synthesize alginate, an extracellular copolymer comprising D-mannuronosyl and L-guluronosyl moieties. Extracellular mannuronan C-5 epimerase, which converts polymannuronate to alginate, was demonstrated in supernatant fluid from cultures of A. vinelandii.