airpg: automatically accessing the inverted repeats of archived plastid genomes.

Background: In most flowering plants, the plastid genome exhibits a quadripartite genome structure, comprising a large and a small single copy as well as two inverted repeat regions. Thousands of plastid genomes have been sequenced and submitted to public sequence repositories in recent years. The quality of sequence annotations in many of these submissions is known to be problematic, especially regarding annotations that specify the length and location of the inverted repeats: such annotations are either missing or portray the length or location of the repeats incorrectly.

"Patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are usually nice persons"-How physicians experienced in ALS see the personality characteristics of their patients.

Introduction: Physicians experienced in the treatment of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) occasionally describe these patients as "nice" persons.

Methods: ALS experienced physicians (=36) were asked to assess the personality characteristics of ALS patients using a multidimensional personality questionnaire based on the five-factor model of personality. Control groups consisted of physicians experienced in Myasthenia gravis (MG) (=21) and lung cancer (LC) (=36).

Cognitive fatigue in patients with myasthenia gravis.

Introduction: Cognitive fatigue has frequently been reported in myasthenia gravis (MG). However, objective assessment of cognitive fatigability has never been evaluated.

Methods: Thirty-three MG patients with stable generalized disease and 17 healthy controls underwent a test battery including repeated testing of attention and concentration (d2-R) and Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test.

Assessment of physical fatigability and fatigue perception in myasthenia gravis.

Introduction: Fatigue includes both performance fatigability and fatigue perception.

Methods: In 32 stable patients with generalized myasthenia gravis (MG) and 17 controls, time-dependent physical performance was assessed by the arm movement test (AMT) and 6-minute walk test (6MWT). MG patients presented with low quantitative MG scores (mean 0.

Ice cream headache in students and family history of headache: a cross-sectional epidemiological study.

Headache attributed to ingestion of a cold stimulus (ICHD-3 beta 4.5.1) is also known as ice cream headache (ICH).

Reasons for visiting Polish primary care practices by patients aged 18-44 years: the largest emigrating age group.

Over 3% of the entire Polish population migrate for a job within the European Union, most are aged 18-44 years. The main destinations are Germany, the United Kingdom and Ireland. Immigration is connected with the use of many public services, including healthcare services.

Pathogenicity of Ichthyophonus hoferi for laboratory-reared Pacific herring Clupea pallasi and its early appearance in wild Puget Sound herring.

Laboratory-reared pathogen-free Pacific herring were exposed to pure cultures of Ichthyophonus hoferi, and reproduced the disease seen in naturally infected fish--thus fulfilling Koch's Postulates. Pathogen-free herring used in this study were reared from artificially spawned eggs incubated in filtered, UV-sterilized seawater, eliminating the variables associated with multiple infections, which are common in wild herring. Wild free-ranging herring were captured monthly from June through October by dip net from 'herring balls' located in the northern Puget Sound.

Effect of 7.2% hypertonic saline/6% hetastarch on left ventricular contractility in anesthetized humans.

Background: Although a positive inotropic effect of hypertonic saline has been demonstrated in isolated cardiac tissue as well as in animal preparations, no information exists about a possible positive inotropic action of hypertonic saline in humans. The aim of this investigation was to determine whether a clinically relevant positive inotropic effect can be demonstrated in humans.

Methods: Twenty-six patients without cardiovascular disease were randomized to receive 4 ml/kg of either 7.

Interaction of Pseudomonas aeruginosa with A549 pneumocyte cells.

The interaction of Pseudomonas aeruginosa with a human lung pneumocyte cell line (A549) was studied. Wild-type strain PAK adhered efficiently to the A549 cells, while an isogenic mutant, carrying a mutation in the pilin structural gene, adhered at 10 to 20% of the wild-type levels. Another nonpiliated mutant of P.

Effect of psychosocial factors on success in a program of self-glucose monitoring.

We examined prospectively the relationship of psychosocial factors to glycemic control in a program of self-glucose monitoring (SGM). Measured intelligence (IQ), educational level, and socioeconomic status (assessed by the Two-Factor Index of Social Position) were determined in 25 patients who were followed during 6 months of self-glucose monitoring. Personality categories, reflecting degrees of psychological disturbance, were assigned using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI).

Inhibition of insulin degradation by insulin-like growth factors.

The effect of insulin-like growth factors (IGF 1 and IGF 2) on insulin degradation was studied with the use of a preparation of insulin protease from rat skeletal muscle. Insulin, IGF 1 and IGF 2 inhibited 125I-insulin degradation by this enzyme. IGF 2 was the most potent inhibitor and IGF 1 was the least potent.

Comparison of two indices of glycemic control in diabetic subjects: glycosylated serum protein and hemoglobin.

Glycosylated serum protein (GSP) and glycosylated hemoglobin (GHb) were measured in 263 insulin-dependent and 41 non-insulin-dependent diabetic subjects. Both indices provided useful information in type II diabetes, but were extremely poor in judging control in type I diabetes. In both groups, there was poor correlation of the fasting serum glucose with either GSP or GHb.

Non-enzymatically glycosylated serum protein in diabetes mellitus: an index of short-term glycaemia.

We measured non-enzymatically-glycosylated serum protein by a colorimetric assay in 107 diabetic and 82 control subjects. The mean level in diabetics was more than twice that in controls. Cross sectional and longitudinal studies in diabetic patients showed that glycosylated serum protein levels correlated with both fasting serum glucose and glycosylated haemoglobin levels.

Serum glycosidase activity in diabetes mellitus.

The activity of three glycosidic enzymes, B-glucuronidase, N-acetylglucosaminidase, and B-galactosidase were measured in plasma samples from 163 diabetic subjects and 72 normal controls. No age- or sex-based variation in concentration was noted in controls. Plasma activity of B-glucuronidase and N-acetylglucosaminidase in diabetics correlated directly with the overall level of glycemia as measured by HbA1c levels.

Binding and degradation of semisynthetic tritiated insulin by IM-9 cultured human lymphocytes.

Insulin was tritiated by semisynthetic replacement of the amino-terminal phenylalanine of the B chain with tritiated phenylalanine. At 15 degrees C, (3H) insulin bound to high affinity receptors on IM-9 cultured human lymphocytes with an affinity constant of about 3 x 10(9) M-1, The Scatchard plot was curvilinear. At 37 degrees C, maximal binding occurred after about 15 min of incubation.

Nonenzymatically glycosylated serum protein: spurious elevation due to free glucose in serum.

The presence of free glucose in serum was found to interfere with accurate measurement, by a colorimetric method, of nonenzymatically glycosylated serum proteins. A mean elevation to 241% of basal levels was observed in the serum of 11 nondiabetic subjects to which glucose, in a concentration of 300 mg/dl, had been added immediately before assay. After dialysis of serum samples to remove glucose, levels of nonenzymatically glycosylated serum proteins were 0.

Insulin receptor binding and degradation in IM-9 cultured human lymphocytes - importance of extracellular degradation.

Insulin degradation in IM-9 cultured human lymphocytes occurs extracellularly. In the presence of 0.1% bovine serum albumin, insulin degradation products are formed that are soluble in 5% trichloroacetic acid.