Time-to-event estimation of birth prevalence trends: A method to enable investigating the etiology of childhood disorders including autism.

An unbiased, widely accepted estimate of the rate of occurrence of new cases of autism over time would facilitate progress in understanding the causes of autism. The same may also apply to other disorders. While incidence is a widely used measure of occurrence, birth prevalence-the proportion of each birth year cohort with the disorder-is the appropriate measure for disorders and diseases of early childhood.

Forensic entomology when the evidence is "no insect." Best carrion fly species for predicting maximum postmortem interval in the United Arab Emirates.

The carrion insect species that most quickly deposit offspring on a corpse are, when available, likely to yield a more useful estimate of postmortem interval (PMI) compared to later arrivals. This is in part because the age of the oldest larva will be as close as possible to the PMI when doing a development analysis, and because the preappearance interval (PAI), the time the corpse was exposed before insect colonization, corresponds to the narrowest window of time since death for an insect-free corpse when doing a succession analysis. Given replicated training data a prediction of exposure time for a corpse can be in the form of a confidence set, and the maximum value of that set for an insect-free corpse is a probabilistic version of PAI.

Competition Among Three Forensically Important Blow Fly Species (Diptera: Calliphoridae): Phormia regina, Lucilia sericata, and Chrysomya rufifacies.

Avoiding competition is thought to explain insect successional patterns on carrion, but few studies have looked at competition directly. We use replacement series experiments with three species of blow flies: Phormia regina (Meigen) (Diptera: Calliphoridae), Lucilia sericata (Meigen) (Diptera:Calliphoridae), and Chrysomya rufifacies (Macquart) (Diptera:Calliphoridae) to characterize competitive relationships. From experimental results, P.

Anthropogenic disturbance homogenizes seagrass fish communities.

Anthropogenic activities have led to the biotic homogenization of many ecological communities, yet in coastal systems this phenomenon remains understudied. In particular, activities that locally affect marine habitat-forming foundation species may perturb habitat and promote species with generalist, opportunistic traits, in turn affecting spatial patterns of biodiversity. Here, we quantified fish diversity in seagrass communities across 89 sites spanning 6° latitude along the Pacific coast of Canada, to test the hypothesis that anthropogenic disturbances homogenize (i.

Characteristics of diffuse muscular coactivation (DMC) in persons with fibromyalgia -- part 2.

This study examined the electrical characteristics (Root Mean Square -- RMS and median frequency) of Diffuse Muscular Coactivation (DMC) associated with the tender points of fibromyalgia. DMC is defined as an increase from resting levels (tonus) in the electrical activity of any muscle during a movement which does not involve that muscle and is not part of the agonist -- antagonist unit. The results show an increase in RMS in fibromyalgia sufferers as compared to controls.

Diffuse muscular coactivation (DMC) as a potential source of pain in fibromyalgia -- part 1.

Fibromyalgia is characterized by diffuse pain, the origin of which remains obscure. This study explored a phenomenon labeled Diffuse Muscle Coactivation (DMC) as a possible source of pain in fibromyalgia. DMC is defined as an increase from resting levels (tonus) in the electrical activity of any muscle during a movement which does not involve that muscle and is not part of the agonist-antagonist unit.

Isolation of poly A(+) RNA from Schistosoma mansoni and immunoprecipitation of its in vitro translation products.

Total RNA was extracted from S. mansoni by homogenization in 4 M guanidine thiocyanate followed by centrifugation through cesium chloride. Poly A(+) RNA was isolated by oligo(dT)-cellulose chromatography.

Ultrastructural localization of phenothiazines and tetracycline: a new histochemical approach.

To provide high resolution information on the subcellular localization of the phenothiazines and tetracycline, we have developed a new histochemical method that circumvents the difficulties inherent in classical electron microscopic tissue preparatory procedures. Specific and reliable localizations of these drugs were accomplished by their rapid precipitation with phosphotungstic acid (PTA) at pH 7. A cell suspension of Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells was incubated with a given drug (2.

Effects of hycanthone and praziquantel on monoamine oxidase and cholinesterases in Schistosoma mansoni.

The effects of hycanthone and praziquantel on the activities of monoamine oxidases and cholinesterases were studied in the 600-g supernatant from homogenates of Schistosoma mansoni and mouse liver or brain. Hycanthone was shown to be a very potent inhibitor of monoamine oxidases from worms and mouse liver. Hycanthone also inhibited the specific and nonspecific cholinesterases of S.

Development of a cell-free protein-synthesizing system from Schistosoma mansoni and a comparison of the effects of hycanthone and praziquantel on this system.

A cell-free, protein-synthesizing system was developed using polysomes and pH 5 fractions isolated from Schistosoma mansoni. Under optimal conditions, the system incorporated 35-S methionine into TCA-precipitable protein at a rate of approximately 1.8 pmoles/hr/microgram polysomal RNA.

Effects of lysozyme on Trypanosoma lewisi.

Daily lysozyme (hen egg) injections, beginning on day 6 of Trypanosoma lewisi infections in rats, significantly reduced the number of circulating trypanosomes. The effect was dose dependent. Maximum reduction (50%) occurred 24 hours after one treatment of 80 mg was given intraperitoneally (I.

Rapid distribution of tryptophol (3-indole ethanol) to the brain and other tissues.

Tryptophol (3-indole ethanol) is a compound which induces sleep, and is formed: (a) in the liver after disulfiram treatment, and (b) by the parasite in trypanosomal sleeping sickness. We prepared, purified, and characterized radiolabeled tryptophol for the purpose of defining its tissue distribution in animals. Tryptophol was found to be highly lipophilic, with an octanol:water partition coefficient of 29.

Rapid detection of malaria and other bloodstream parasites by fluorescence microscopy with 4'6 diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI).

DAPI is a fluorescent dye which appears to complex specifically with DNA. We have used this probe to detect and identify malarial infections by fluorescence microscopy. Experiments were conducted using Plasmodium berghei yoeli--infected mouse blood, P.

Schistosoma mansoni: identification of chemicals that attract or trap its snail vector, Biomphalaria glabrata.

A new bioassay for chemical attractants of aquatic snails demonstrated that Biomphalaria glabrata could be attracted to or trapped in the vicinity of homogenates of lettuce. Fractionation of homogenates revealed the amino acids glutamate and proline and the primary attractants. Attraction was specific for the L form of glutamate.

Diurnal periodicity of uridine uptake by Hymenolepis diminuta.

A diurnal pattern in the uptake of uridine was displayed by the rat cestode Hymenolepis diminuta. No periodicity in the uptake of uracil was observed over a 48-hr period. A high level of uridine uptake occurred at 6 PM.

The in vitro effects of farnesol and derivatives on Hymenolepis diminuta.

Employing an in vitro maintenance system, in which 8-day-old Hymenolepis diminuta survives for 24 hr (Fioravanti and MacInnis, 1976), it was found that farnesol or farnesal supplementation of the medium had no beneficial effects on maintenance and these substances induced necrosis at higher concentrations. Similar experiments utilizing Schiller's (1965) culture system demonstrated that neither farnesol, farnesal, nor farnesyl methyl ether exhibited growth promoting effects and were toxic to the worms at higher concentrations. In addition, neither the 2-cis, 6-trans nor the 2-trans, 6-trans-isomers of farnesol promoted growth in the Schiller system and at higher concentrations resulted in severe necrosis within 24 hr.

Metabolic indices for evaluating the in vitro maintenance of Hymenolepis diminuta in the presence and absence of various additives.

An in vitro maintenance system for H. diminuta was devised by modifying the cultivation procedure of Schiller (1965). In this diphasic maintenance system, tissue culture medium (Triple Eagle's or NCTC-135) was used, in lieu of whole blood, as the 30% supplement to the agar phase.