Hearing in primary school children in an iodine-deficient population in Chinamhora, Zimbabwe.

Chinamhora, Zimbabwe is an area of known endemic goiter and iodine deficiency. Out of 211 primary school children living in the area who had been recruited for a study of the effects of iodine administration, 121 were randomly selected for audiometric testing. All had normal hearing.

The effects of retinoic acid on rat epidermal cells in vitro: changes in patterns of protein phosphorylation in relation to growth and differentiation.

Keratinocytes proliferate, stratify, and differentiate in vitro but if the calcium concentration of the medium is reduced to 0.07 mM Ca2+ (low calcium medium) the cells proliferate but do not stratify or differentiate. Keratinocytes proliferating in low calcium medium synthesized DNA at a higher rate than cultures of stratifying keratinocytes and this correlated with increased phosphorylation of a membrane-associated Mr 23,200 phosphoprotein (pp23) relative to cytosolic phosphoproteins of Mr 26,500 (pp27a and pp27b).

Microsequence analysis of peptides and proteins: trimethylsilylisothiocyanate as a reagent for COOH-terminal sequence analysis.

A reinvestigation of the isothiocyanate-based chemistry for cyclic degradations of peptides and proteins revealed that the reagent trimethylsilylisothiocyanate (TMS-ITC) gives superior results in terms of coupling efficiency and lack of complicating side reactions. Acetic anhydride (10 min at various temperatures) was used to activate the carboxyl terminus, and 6 N HCl (30 min at room temperature) was used for cleavage as originally described by G.R.

Molecular cloning of a gene belonging to the carcinoembryonic antigen gene family and discussion of a domain model.

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is a glycoprotein important as a tumor marker for colonic cancer. Immunological and biochemical studies have shown it to be closely related to a number of other glycoproteins, which together make up a gene family. We have cloned a member of this gene family by using long oligonucleotide probes (42-54 nucleotides) based on our protein sequence data for CEA and NCA (nonspecific cross-reacting antigen) and on human codon usage.

Transient acquired blood group B antigen associated with diverticular bowel disease.

Transient acquired B red cell antigen was found in a patient with inflammatory bowel disease. Removal of the affected portion of the bowel was associated with disappearance of the B antigen. This phenomenon has usually been recorded in association with neoplasms of the bowel, but appears to be a marker for the release of bacterial enzymes into the systemic circulation associated with breakdown of the normal bowel barrier to such materials.

Simultaneous deletion of the intervening sequences from the human interferon-gamma gene by oligodeoxynucleotide-directed mutagenesis.

Oligodeoxynucleotide (oligo)-directed mutagenesis was used to simultaneously delete the three intervening sequences (IVS) from the human interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) gene. Prior to the deletion experiment, the two largest IVS of the native gene were shortened by restriction enzyme digestion and subsequent ligation (IVS-1 was reduced from 1239 bp to 399 bp and IVS-3 from 2425 bp to 183 bp). This modified gene was cloned into vector M13mp9.

Synergy between interleukin-2 and a second factor in the long-term growth of human T cells.

It has recently been shown that factors in addition to interleukin-2 (IL-2) are required for the proliferation or differentiation of at least some murine T-cell lines. We have previously shown that conditioned medium from human mononuclear cells stimulated with phorbol ester and staphylococcal enterotoxin A is superior to commercial sources of IL-2 for the long-term growth of human T cells. We have identified in these supernatants a non-IL-2 factor (synergistic factor, SF) which synergizes with JURKAT IL-2 in the long-term growth of human T cells.

Molecular cloning of the gene encoding rabbit tumor necrosis factor.

A rabbit genomic DNA library was screened using a cloned cDNA encoding rabbit tumor necrosis factor (TNF) as a probe. The entire gene sequence appears to be contained within a 3.2-kb Eco RI fragment.

Differences between terminally ill patients who know, and those who do not know, that they are dying.

Four GPs each selected 6 patients, 2 terminally ill with knowledge of diagnosis and prognosis, 2 terminally ill without knowledge, and 2 chronically ill. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the patients, and the transcripts' content was analyzed. There were large group differences in the predicted direction in frequency of utterances that indicated knowledge, which both validated the content analysis and verified the GPs' capacity to categorize patients according to knowledge.

Role ambiguity in general practice: the care of patients dying at home.

Semi-structured interviews were given to 22 GPs to investigate their perceptions and strategies when dealing with dying patients. There seemed no clear division in practice between policies of telling and not telling patients about their illness. Most patients find out eventually, but GPs differ in the extent to which they aim for open discussions of the matter.

Association between household triatomine density and incidence of Trypanosoma cruzi infection during a nine-year study in Castro Alves, Bahia, Brazil.

We studied the association between human incidence of Trypanosoma cruzi infection and household infestation density of Panstrongylus megistus in Castro Alves, Bahia, Brazil. During a 9-year period, 19 persons seroconverted; 17 were children, 17 lived in nonplastered houses, and 13 lived in houses infested with triatomines. Although 6 seroconverting persons lived in houses where triatomines could not be found, the risk of seroconversion was significantly greater in infested houses and 16 times greater in densely infested houses (greater than 15 bugs/person-hour of search).

Effects of cardioselective and nonselective beta-adrenergic blockade on the performance of highly trained runners.

Twenty-five highly trained runners with a maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max) of 64.7 +/- 4.3 ml .

Cardiorespiratory alterations consequent to endurance exercise training during chronic beta-adrenergic blockade with atenolol and propranolol.

A study was undertaken to determine if normal healthy subjects can increase their endurance capacity consequent to endurance training during chronic beta-adrenergic blockade. Forty-seven subjects, 17 to 34 years of age, were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatments (placebo, propranolol, 160 mg/day, and atenolol, 100 mg/day) and then completed a 15-week aerobic exercise training program. All groups reduced their submaximal steady-state heart rates consequent to training; submaximal oxygen uptake was slightly reduced; submaximal stroke volume was increased only in the placebo and atenolol groups; submaximal cardiac output was generally lower; and arterial-mixed venous oxygen difference was increased after training in all 3 groups, suggesting decreased muscle blood flow and increased oxidative capacity.

Cloning and expression in Escherichia coli of the gene for human tumour necrosis factor.

Tumour necrosis factor (TNF) was found originally in mouse serum after intravenous injection of bacterial endotoxin into mice primed with viable Mycobacterium bovis, strain Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG). TNF-containing serum from mice is cytotoxic or cytostatic to a number of mouse and human transformed cell lines, but less or not toxic to normal cells in vitro. It causes necrosis of transplantable tumours in mice.

Megaesophagus and seroreactivity to Trypanosoma cruzi in a rural community in northeast Brazil.

The relationship of symptoms and radiographic abnormalities suggestive of esophageal motility disorders with electrocardiographic (ECG) alterations and seroreactivity to Trypanosoma cruzi was studied in a defined population in a rural area endemic for Chagas' disease in Bahia, Brazil. Between January and June 1981, 680 individuals 5 years of age or older were examined with serologic tests, ECGs and questionnaires for esophageal motility disorder. Of these, 39.

Production of mitogen-free immune interferon and T-cell growth factor by human peripheral blood lymphocytes induced with biotin-labeled staphylococcal enterotoxin A.

A method for the facile removal of mitogens or inducers of lymphokine production from cell culture medium of stimulated cells is described. The technique is based on the covalent attachment of biotin to mitogen or inducer and the removal of the biotinylated products from stimulated cell culture medium using immobilized avidin. Using this procedure, biotin-labeled staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA-B) was shown not to differ significantly from unmodified SEA in its capacity to stimulate mitogenesis and induce production of immune interferon (IFN) and T-cell growth factor (TCGF) in cultures of human mononuclear cells from peripheral blood.

Acid treatment enhances IL-2 activity of conditioned medium.

Although conditioned medium (CM) from human lymphocytes or mononuclear cells is the most readily available source of interleukin-2 (IL-2) for human T cell culture, its IL-2 activity in our experience is inconsistent. It is likely that this is, at least in part, due to the presence of toxic substances in the CM. Using CM from TPA/SEA induced human mononuclear cells, we have found that acid treatment (pH 2.

Communication between general practitioners and patients dying at home.

Semi-structured interviews were carried out with four general practitioners and some of their terminally ill patients in order to investigate how doctors solve the problem of communication with these patients about the outcome of the illness. Three of the doctors preferred not to give explicit information, or to talk about the outcome, even when they knew that the patient realised that he or she was dying. Within this constraint they developed different ways of coping with the problem of how to talk to the patient.

The effects of indomethacin on in vitro peripheral blood mononuclear cell reactivity in human schistosomiasis.

The peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMN) proliferative responses of cells from patients with schistosomiasis were studied in the presence and absence of indomethacin in the culture medium. PBMN cultures were exposed to antigenic extracts of either adult S. mansoni worms (SWAP) or cercariae (CAP), and assayed for the incorporation of tritiated thymidine.

A possible etiology of the infertile 46XX male subject.

We report on an infertile male patient with the predominant 46XX female karyotype. A testicular biopsy revealed widely separated testicular tubules, absence of sperm formation and large numbers of Leydig cells. Chromosome studies, including measurements of the X chromosomes, showed a significant difference between the lengths of the short arm of the 2 X chromosomes.

Four-day, forty-hour workweek for neonatal intensive care nurses.

The four-day, 40-hour alternative work schedule was presented to professional nurses in the special care nursery at a hospital and medical center in Chicago, Illinois. Within a few months, every nurse in the unit, in addition to those newly recruited, elected to work the alternative schedule. The project was evaluated at 12 and 18 months, with encouraging results.