Missed opportunities for perinatal HIV prevention among HIV-exposed infants born 1996-2000, pediatric spectrum of HIV disease cohort.

Objective: Despite dramatic reductions in perinatal human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission in the United States, obstacles to perinatal HIV prevention that include lack of prenatal care; failure to test pregnant women for HIV before delivery; and lack of prenatal, intrapartum, or neonatal antiretroviral (ARV) use remain. The objective of this study was to describe trends in perinatal HIV prevention methods, perinatal transmission rates, and the contribution of missed opportunities for perinatal HIV prevention to perinatal HIV infection.

Methods: We analyzed data obtained from infant medical records on 4755 HIV-exposed singleton deliveries in 1996-2000, from 6 US sites that participate in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Pediatric Spectrum of HIV Disease Project.

Effects of packing material on the biofiltration of benzene, toluene and xylene vapours.

Biofiltration was used to eliminate volatile organic compounds from air streams in bench-scale reactors inoculated with an adapted consortium. Organic and inert supports were tested on 100 days of operation. The supports were: peat, vermiculite, a mixture of vermiculite and activated carbon, tree bark and, porous glass Rashig rings.

Enhancing phenanthrene biomineralization in a polluted soil using gaseous toluene as a cosubstrate.

Laboratory experiments were conducted to study the potential of adding gaseous toluene, as a readily degradable carbon source, to enhance phenanthrene mineralization in polluted soil (1,000 mg/kg(dry soil)) aged for 400 days. Experiments were conducted in 0.5-L column reactors packed with a mixture of (80:20 w(wet)/w(wet)) spiked soil and vermiculite and fed with 1 g m(-3)reactor h(-1) toluene load in air.

Migration of trace elements from pyrite tailings in carbonate soils.

In the carbonate soils contaminated by a toxic spill from a pyrite mine (Aznalcóllar, southern Spain), a study was made of a thin layer (thickness = 4 mm) of polluted soil located between the pyrite tailings and the underlying soil. This layer, reddish-yellow in color due to a high Fe content, formed when sulfates (from the oxidation of sulfides) infiltrated the soil, causing acidification (to pH 5.6 as opposed to 8.

Soil pollution by oxidation of tailings from toxic spill of a pyrite mine.

On the 25th April 1998, toxic water and tailings from a pyrite mine of Aznalcóllar (southern Spain) spilled into the Agrio and Guadiamar River Basin affecting some 40 km2. In five sectors throughout the basin, we monitored the physical and chemical properties of the tailings as well as the degree of pollution in the soils on four different sampling dates: 5 May, 20 May, 4 June and 22 July 1998. The characteristics of the tailings deposited on the soils are shown to be related to distance from the spill.

Microglial activation and dopaminergic cell injury: an in vitro model relevant to Parkinson's disease.

Microglial activation and oxidative stress are significant components of the pathology of Parkinson's disease (PD), but their exact contributions to disease pathogenesis are unclear. We have developed an in vitro model of nigral injury, in which lipopolysaccharide-induced microglial activation leads to injury of a dopaminergic cell line (MES 23.5 cells) and dopaminergic neurons in primary mesencephalic cell cultures.

STEM Analysis of Caenorhabditis elegans muscle thick filaments: evidence for microdifferentiated substructures.

In the thick filaments of body muscle in Caenorhabditis elegans, myosin A and myosin B isoforms and a subpopulation of paramyosin, a homologue of myosin heavy chain rods, are organized about a tubular core. As determined by scanning transmission electron microscopy, the thick filaments show a continuous decrease in mass-per-length (MPL) from their central zones to their polar regions. This is consistent with previously reported morphological studies and suggests that both their content and structural organization are microdifferentiated as a function of position.

Lack of definitive severe mitochondrial signs and symptoms among deceased HIV-uninfected and HIV-indeterminate children < or = 5 years of age, Pediatric Spectrum of HIV Disease project (PSD), USA.

Background: In response to recent reports of mitochondrial dysfunction in HIV-uninfected infants exposed to antiretroviral (ARV) prophylaxis, the Perinatal Safety Review Working Group reviewed deaths in five large HIV-exposed perinatal cohorts in the United States to determine if similar cases of severe mitochondrial toxicity could be detected. We describe the results of this review for the PSD cohort.

Methods: Hospitalization, clinic and death records for deceased HIV-uninfected and HIV-indeterminate children who were less than 5 years of age were reviewed.

Survival in children with perinatal HIV infection and very low CD4 lymphocyte counts.

Objectives: To evaluate clinical conditions associated with mortality in HIV-infected children with CD4+ counts <100 cells/microl.

Methods: The Pediatric Spectrum of HIV Disease Project is a longitudinal medical record review study with eight study sites in the United States, which have been enrolling children since 1989. Survival time from baseline very low CD4 count (<100 cells/microl) to death was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method.

Characterisation and management of incinerator wastes.

Management of municipal and hospital wastes by means of incineration processes generates solid residues, such as bottom and fly ashes and air pollution control residues with high content of heavy metals, inorganic salts and other organic compounds. Characterisation of 24 ash samples, collected from four municipal solid waste incinerators (MSWI) and six hospital medical waste incinerators (HMWI) located in the Basque Country Region (Northern Spain), were carried out at the request of Spanish Regulations and European Economic Community guidelines. The ecotoxicity values, EC(50), of the TCLP leachates show a high variability ranging from 12,967 to 1,000,000mgl(-1) in MSWI samples and from 2917 to 333,150mgl(-1) in HMWI samples.

Differential assembly of alpha- and gamma-filagenins into thick filaments in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Muscle thick filaments are highly organized supramolecular assemblies of myosin and associated proteins with lengths, diameters and flexural rigidities characteristic of their source. The cores of body wall muscle thick filaments of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans are tubular structures of paramyosin sub-filaments coupled by filagenins and have been proposed to serve as templates for the assembly of native thick filaments. We have characterized alpha- and gamma-filagenins, two novel proteins of the cores with calculated molecular masses of 30,043 and 19,601 and isoelectric points of 10.

Neuropsychological performance of Hispanic and non-Hispanic older adults: an epidemiologic survey.

Performance on a brief battery of neuropsychological tests was compared for 797 Hispanic and non-Hispanic white older adults (65-97 years) participating in a community-based epidemiological survey of Bernalillo County, New Mexico. Tests included measures of memory (Fuld Object Memory Evaluation), attention (Digit Span), verbal fluency (category naming), visuoconstruction (clock drawing), and psychomotor speed and cognitive flexibility (Color Trails). Statistically significant ethnic group differences were observed on all tests in analyses that also considered effects of age, education, gender, depressive symptoms, and a global measure of medical illness.

Pollution of soils by the toxic spill of a pyrite mine (Aznalcollar, Spain).

On 25 April 1998 the retention walls broke open in a pond containing the residues from a pyrite mine of Aznalcollar (southern Spain), spilling some 45 x 10(5) m3 of polluted water and toxic tailings into the Agrio and Guadiamar River basin, affecting some 55 km2. On 5 May, seven sectors in the affected area were studied, analysing tailings, polluted water, and contaminated as well as uncontaminated soils. The principal pollutants were: Zn, Pb, Cu, As, Sb, Bi, Cd and Tl.

Financial aspects of haemophilia care in Puerto Rico and other Latin American countries.

The present cost of optimal care in haemophilia is very high. The paradigm of comprehensive care approach, including the essential elements of continuous integrated multidisciplinary health services and the provision of home care with early use of antihaemophilic products requires abundant economic resources that usually are not readily available in nonaffluent countries. A cost-effective comprehensive paediatric haemophilia programme has been operating in Puerto Rico during the last 15 years that provides quality care to over 90% of paediatric haemophiliacs, and is financed mainly by the local government health system.

Outcome of recruitment and report on participation rate in the New Mexico Elder Health Survey.

The purpose of this paper is to report on the outcome of recruitment and participation rate in the New Mexico Elder Health Survey. This survey is the first community based epidemiological survey to examine health and health related issues of elderly (65 years or older) Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites in Bernalillo County (Albuquerque), New Mexico. This survey was conducted from May 1993 to September 1995.

Unc-45 mutations in Caenorhabditis elegans implicate a CRO1/She4p-like domain in myosin assembly.

The Caenorhabditis elegans unc-45 locus has been proposed to encode a protein machine for myosin assembly. The UNC-45 protein is predicted to contain an NH2-terminal domain with three tetratricopeptide repeat motifs, a unique central region, and a COOH-terminal domain homologous to CRO1 and She4p. CRO1 and She4p are fungal proteins required for the segregation of other molecules in budding, endocytosis, and septation.

beta-Filagenin, a newly identified protein coassembling with myosin and paramyosin in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Muscle thick filaments are stable assemblies of myosin and associated proteins whose dimensions are precisely regulated. The mechanisms underlying the stability and regulation of the assembly are not understood. As an approach to these problems, we have studied the core proteins that, together with paramyosin, form the core structure of the thick filament backbone in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.

Comparison of cultural bias in two cognitive screening instruments in elderly Hispanic patients in New Mexico.

The authors compared the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Fuld Object-Memory Exam (FULD) in a Hispanic non-immigrant population in New Mexico. Results demonstrated that performance on the MMSE was affected by lower education and income levels. Performance on the FULD was not affected by these variables.

Assemblases and coupling proteins in thick filament assembly.

Thick filaments are stable assemblies of myosin that are characteristic of specific muscle types from both vertebrates and invertebrates. In general, their structure and assembly require remarkably precise determination of lengths and diameters, structural differentiation and nonequivalence of myosins, a high degree of inelasticity and rigidity, and dynamic regulation of assembly and disassembly in response to both extracellular and intracellular signals. Directed assembly of myosin in which additional proteins function in key roles, therefore, is more likely to be significant than the simple self assembly of myosin into thick filaments.

Natural history of human immunodeficiency virus disease in perinatally infected children: an analysis from the Pediatric Spectrum of Disease Project.

Objective: To describe the progression of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease through clinical stages from birth to death among a large number of perinatally infected children.

Methods: The Pediatric Spectrum of Disease (PSD) project, coordinated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has conducted active surveillance for HIV disease since 1988 in seven geographic regions. PSD data are collected from medical and social service records every 6 months through practitioners at each participating hospital clinic.

Age at menarche at sea level and high altitude in Peruvian women of different ethnic background.

The objective of the present study was to determine recalled age at menarche in women of Quechua and non-Quechua ancestry living in the cities of Lima (altitude 150 m), Cusco (altitude 3,400 m), and Cerro de Pasco (altitude 4,340 m), Perú. The sample included 296 Mestizo urban women, 20-30 years, who were natives of Lima (n = 72), Cusco (n = 81), and Cerro de Pasco (n = 143). Ethnic composition was determined by two parental surnames, and women were classified as Quechua when one or both surnames were of Quechua origin and non-Quechua when both surnames were of Spanish origin.

Myosin and paramyosin of Caenorhabditis elegans embryos assemble into nascent structures distinct from thick filaments and multi-filament assemblages.

The organization of myosin heavy chains (mhc) A and B and paramyosin (pm) which are the major proteins of thick filaments in adult wild-type Caenorhabditis elegans were studied during embryonic development. As a probe of myosin-paramyosin interaction, the unc-15 mutation e73 which produces a glu342lys charge change in pm and leads to the formation of large paracrystalline multi-filament assemblages was compared to wild type. These three proteins colocalized in wild-type embryos from 300 to 550 min of development after first cleavage at 20 degrees C on the basis of immunofluorescence microscopy using specific monoclonal antibodies.

Magnetic resonance imaging detection of early experimental periostitis. Comparison of magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, and plain radiography with histopathologic correlation.

This study characterizes the appearance of periosteal reaction by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and evaluates the efficacy of MRI versus computed tomography (CT), and plain film radiography (PF) in detecting early, experimentally induced periostitis. Acute Staphylococcus aureus osteomyelitis was induced in 30 legs of 20 New Zealand white rabbits. The rabbits were then imaged with MR, contrast-unenhanced CT, and PF 4 days after infection.

Purified thick filaments from the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans: evidence for multiple proteins associated with core structures.

The thick filaments of the nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, arising predominantly from the body-wall muscles, contain two myosin isoforms and paramyosin as their major proteins. The two myosins are located in distinct regions of the surfaces, while paramyosin is located within the backbones of the filaments. Tubular structures constitute the cores of the polar regions, and electron-dense material is present in the cores of the central regions (Epstein, H.