Problematic gaming and quality of life in online competitive videogame players: Identification of motivational profiles.

Background: Online competitive practice of video games has recently known a significant worldwide expansion. However, this practice can be associated to problematic use and deterioration of quality of life depending on multiple determinants, among which motivation is central. The purpose of this study was to identify motivational clusters and to compare them regarding quality of life, problematic use of video game, and personality traits.

Diagnostic Performance of an Automated System for Assaying Anti-Hepatitis E Virus Immunoglobulins M and G Compared with a Conventional Microplate Assay.

To evaluate the diagnostic performance of the Liaison® Murex anti-HEV IgM and IgG assays running on the Liaison® instrument and compare the results with those obtained with Wantai HEV assays. We tested samples collected in immunocompetent and immunocompromised patients during the acute (HEV RNA positive, anti-HEV IgM positive) and the post-viremic phase (HEV RNA negative, anti-HEV IgM positive) of infections. The specificity was assessed by testing HEV RNA negative/anti-HEV IgG-IgM negative samples.

Are antibodies to fine specificities of citrullinated peptides/proteins useful for stratification of rheumatoid arthritis patients?

Background: In rheumatoid arthritis (RA), antibodies to citrullinated protein (ACPA) are believed to be heterogeneous and patient stratification by antibody profiling raised clinical interest for patient management. However, heterogeneity might be partially artificial because of the use of heterogeneous methods for ACPA detection. In recent work instead, we found that ACPA were mainly directed towards a single fibrin-derived peptide, β60-74BiotNt, but a comparative analysis with the presence of other ACPA specificities is still lacking.

Occurrence and variation of egg cannibalism in brown trout Salmo trutta.

Egg cannibalism is a common behavior among fish taxa and is largely studied in species with parental care. Heterocannibalism and filial cannibalism have both been reported in salmonids, a group with no extended parental care, but the topic remained somewhat under-documented, especially in brown trout (Salmo trutta). In the present study, 83 spawning events were recorded finely with high-resolution video in three natural populations.

[Essential functions of public health: emerging topic in health care reform].

In the Americas, health sector reforms are facing the challenge of strengthening the steering and leadership role of health authorities. An important part of that role consists of fulfilling the essential public health functions (EPHFs) that are incumbent on all levels of government. For that, it's crucial to improve public health practice, as well as the instruments used to assess the current state of public health practice and the areas where it needs to be strengthened.

Comparison of functional assays for protein S: European collaborative study of patients with congenital and acquired deficiency.

Four functional assays for protein S were evaluated by 4 different laboratories, each center using its own method. The aim of this study was to compare these different assays and to establish a relationship with results of immunological assays of total and free protein S antigen and C4bBP. The same plasma samples were distributed to each center and tested in blind.

The mutation in fibrinogen Bicêtre II (gamma Asn308-->Lys) does not affect the binding of t-PA and plasminogen to fibrin.

The aim of this study was to investigate the interactions of t-PA and plasminogen with fibrin derived from an abnormal fibrinogen detected in a 40-year-old male patient who had had an episode of thrombophlebitis with pulmonary embolism. An abnormal fibrinogen was diagnosed on the basis of prolonged thrombin and reptilase times also detected in two other family members. Fibrinogen purified from plasma, in the presence of protease inhibitors, by glycine precipitations, gel filtration and affinity chromatography, was devoid of plasminogen, fibronectin, and vWf.

Functional assay of protein S in 70 patients with congenital and acquired disorders.

A functional assay for the selective measurement of the active form of protein S in plasma, based on the prolongation of an APTT, was previously developed. This assay is sensitive, reproducible and specific, not affected by other clotting factors including FVIII. This method was applied to the measurement of protein S activity in congenital and acquired disorders.

Carrier detection and prenatal diagnosis in 98 families of haemophilia A by linkage analysis and direct detection of mutations.

489 individuals from 98 families with a haemophilia A member were studied with restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) for carrier detection and prenatal diagnosis. Five intragenic polymorphisms revealed with the restriction enzymes BclI, XbaI, BglI, HindIII and AlwNI and one extragenic multiallelic polymorphism (St14) at the DXS52 locus were used. The combination of the five intragenic polymorphisms did not add significantly more information than just the BclI and XbaI polymorphisms because of strong linkage disequilibrium.

Factors affecting the stability of tPA and PAI-1 during storage and handling of human plasma for in vitro studies: implications in the determination of tPA and PAI-1 activities.

Factors that influence the physico-chemical conditions of plasma (e.g. pH, dilution, freezing, storage) and thereby the stability of tPA and PAI-1 activities, have been studied and optimized using a solid-phase fibrin-tPA activity assay.

Familial variant of antithrombin III (AT III Bligny, 47Arg to His) associated with protein C deficiency.

The association of a variant of antithrombin III (AT III Bligny) and protein C deficiency is described in a 36-year-old patient having suffered from severe thrombotic episodes. His mother has protein C deficiency and showed a single episode of thrombophlebitis following surgery. His father, sister and daughter have the variant AT III and are asymptomatic.

Prenatal diagnosis in type IIA von Willebrand disease.

A prenatal diagnosis for fetal disease was performed at 20 weeks gestation in a severely affected patient with type IIA von Willebrand disease. In the fetal cord blood sample obtained under ultrasound guidance, the level of von Willebrand ristocetin cofactor activity was similar to that of von Willebrand factor antigen, and all the multimers were present. These results were compared to those obtained in 51 normal fetuses of similar gestational age (19-21 weeks).

Hemophilia: state of the art of hematologic care 1988.

Since 1982, when the World Federation of Hemophilia first published a document on the state of the art of hemophilia diagnosis and care, there have been lights and shadows in this field. Although the widespread infection of hemophiliacs with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) contaminating clotting factor concentrates is still a threatening and formidable shadow, the gloomy picture brought about by the AIDS epidemic is partially lightened by spectacular improvements in therapy and diagnosis. Carrier detection and first-trimester prenatal diagnosis can now be performed accurately in most kindreds by analysis of DNA of the factor VIII or IX genes.

Identification of a CpG mutation in the coagulation factor-IX gene by analysis of amplified DNA sequences.

In a family with no previous bleeding history, the sister of a single, severely affected haemophilia B patient requested carrier detection and prenatal diagnosis. In Southern blots, using Taq I digested DNA and a factor-IX cDNA probe, a normal invariant band at 1.6 kb was missing in the haemophiliac suggesting the loss of the Taq I site at the 5' end of exon h.

Carrier detection in severe (type III) von Willebrand disease using two intragenic restriction fragment length polymorphisms.

DNA from a family with a female member affected with severe (type III) vWD was analysed using three restriction enzymes and a partial vWF cDNA probe. Two restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) detected with the enzymes Bgl II and Xba I proved to be informative in this family. A 36.

Haemophilia A in a female: study of a family using intragenic and extragenic restriction site polymorphisms.

Restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) were studied in a large Algerian family which includes 6 haemophiliacs and a previously described case of female haemophilia A. The female propositus is 66 years old with a normal karyotype. Her parents are first cousins.

Long-term evaluation of HIV antigen and antibodies to p24 and gp41 in patients with hemophilia. Potential clinical importance.

To investigate the relation between human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antigenemia and clinical manifestations of HIV infections, we studied 96 patients with hemophilia who were positive for HIV antibody, for a median of 34 months. Every 4 to 10 months a clinical and laboratory examination was performed and serum samples were tested for three HIV markers: HIV antigen, antibody to p24, and antibody to gp41. Twenty-two subjects (23 percent) were found to be positive for HIV antigen: 8 were positive upon entry and remained so (Group 1), and 14 became positive during the study, 4 to 26 months after HIV antibody appeared (seroconversion), 13 of whom remained positive for HIV antigen (Group 2).

Purification and further characterization of antithrombin III Milano: lack of reactivity with thrombin.

The functional abnormality of Antithrombin III "Milano", a previously described variant with monomeric and dimeric forms of abnormal AT III, has been further characterized. Affinity chromatography on heparin-Sepharose led to the separation and purification of two distinct fractions: fraction I is identical to normal AT III; fraction II (abnormal AT III) reproduces the abnormalities of the AT III "Milano", i.e.

[Acquired deficiencies in antithrombin III and C protein during treatment with L-asparaginase].

Fourteen children treated by L-Asparaginase for acute lymphoblastic leukemia had sequential coagulation studies performed including cephalin-kaolin time, Quick time, fibrinogen, factors II, VII + X and V, as well as antithrombin III and protein C, the major coagulation inhibitors. A severe antithrombin III and protein C deficiency was observed during therapy, with a coexisting hypocoagulability. This equilibrium partially explains the lack of thrombo-embolic phenomena in these children, despite the risk factors present.

Multicenter comparison of five functional and two immunological assays for protein C.

Five functional assays and two immunoassays for protein C (PC) were evaluated in parallel for the same plasma samples collected from healthy subjects, patients with congenital and acquired PC deficiencies or patients with conditions associated with high PC levels. For 7 patients starting warfarin therapy and for 15 patients during stabilized warfarin therapy, there were significant between-assay differences. For these groups immunoassays gave higher values than most functional assays and the latter also gave varied results, probably depending on their respective capacity for recognizing a carboxylated PC.

Synovectomy of the elbow in young hemophilic patients.

Synovectomy of twenty-three elbows was done in eighteen patients, eight to twenty-five years old, who had severe hemophilia and were followed for eighteen to seventy months. Episodes of bleeding recurred in four elbows, and moderate pain persisted in three. A significant improvement in mobility was observed for pronation-supination in nine elbows and for flexion-extension in fourteen.

[Antithrombin III].

The in vivo regulation of coagulation is mainly controlled by plasma inhibitors in which antithrombin III (AT III) plays an importance role. AT III is a glycoprotein which inhibits all serine proteases, except factor, VIIa, generated during the coagulation process. The proteases are inactivated by formation of an equimolecular complex and this reaction is greatly enhanced in the presence of heparin.

The role of HIV infectivity and composition of factor VIII concentrates on the immunity of haemophiliacs positive for HIV antibodies.

Forty-six subjects (44 HIV antibody-positive) with some degree of immune deficiency (at least TH/TS ratio below 1) were randomly distributed into 4 treatment groups. Each group was assigned to 1 of 4 products to be used exclusively for a 1-year period: 1 concentrate was of intermediate purity and not heat-treated, and 3 were heat-treated in order to inactivate HIV, 2 of them being of higher purity. At 4-6-month intervals, check-ups, including as markers clinical examination, platelet, lymphocyte and T cell subset counts, IgG levels and delayed hypersensitivity test, were carried out.