Optic neuritis and HIV-1 infection.

A patient is reported who developed acute optic neuritis in the context of severe immunodeficiency associated with HIV-1 infection. The clinical, laboratory, and radiological features are described and the possible associations with syphilis, multiple sclerosis, lymphoma, and HIV-1 infection are discussed.

Safety of dobutamine stress for thallium-201 myocardial perfusion tomography in patients with asthma.

Many patients undergoing investigation for coronary artery disease are unable to exercise adequately due to physical or psychological reasons. Thallium-201 imaging using dipyridamole or adenosine may then be a suitable method of assessing myocardial perfusion. In patients with asthma, these drugs are contraindicated because of the risk of provoking bronchospasm.

Effect of indomethacin on cerebral oxidized cytochrome oxidase in preterm infants.

To determine the effect of i.v. indomethacin on cerebral intracellular oxygenation, as judged by changes in the concentration of oxidized cytochrome oxidase, studies were performed using near-infrared spectroscopy on 15 infants of 23 to 29 wk gestation, aged 8 to 30 d, who required the drug for closure of a patent ductus arteriosus.

The association of malignancy with SLE: an analysis of 150 patients under long-term review.

We describe seven patients who developed malignancy before, after or at the onset of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). They comprise three cases of breast adenocarcinoma, two cases of Hodgkin's lymphoma, and one each of cholangiocarcinoma and thymoma. Only one of this group had been treated with cytotoxic agents, and five have subsequently died.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma (EATL).

Using Southern hybridization analysis, we have detected the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) genome in 36 per cent (4/11) of enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma (EATL), a frequency much higher than that seen in nodal T-cell lymphomas in which we were able to show EBV DNA in only 3 per cent (1/30) of the cases examined. Using a terminal fragment probe, monoclonal proliferation of EBV in infected cells was demonstrated in three of the four EBV-positive EATL cases (in one case, insufficient signal prevented the determination of EBV clonality). The EBV genome and an early transcript, EBER1, were identified in tumour cells by in situ hybridization.

Achondrogenesis type 2 diagnosed by transvaginal ultrasound at 12 weeks' gestation.

Ultrasound examination at 12 weeks' gestation revealed severe generalised subcutaneous oedema in a pregnancy at risk for achondrogenesis type II. Transvaginal scanning confirmed the oedema and suggested abnormal limb development. The prenatal diagnosis was confirmed by X-ray examination after transvaginal termination.

Magnitude and causes of mortality differences between married and unmarried men.

Study Objective: To determine the effect of marital status on mortality for men. In particular, to examine whether subgroups of unmarried men (widowed, single, and divorced/separated men) have a similar mortality to married men.

Design: Cohort study.

Operant conditioning after temporal lobe lesions in man: conditional and simple discrimination learning.

Temporal lobe lesions have been found to impair the acquisition of classical conditional discrimination learning in an eyelid conditioning paradigm, with sparing of simple eyelid conditioning. In the present study, subjects with left or right temporal resections were compared with normal controls on two operant conditioning tasks using a conditional and a simple discrimination paradigm analogous to the previously reported classical conditioning tasks. Subjects with right temporal lesions, and to a lesser extent those with left temporal lesions, were impaired relative to frontal lobe and control subjects in the acquisition of a conditional discrimination within an operant conditioning setting.

Paranasal sinus disease in HIV antibody positive patients.

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of radiologically-diagnosed paranasal sinus disease in HIV-1 seropositive patients.

Subjects And Setting: 476 patients admitted to a dedicated inpatient unit for HIV and AIDS at the Middlesex Hospital, London, between September 1988 and February 1992.

Design: Retrospective review of patients' case notes and radiological records.

Differential heat shock protein overexpression and its clinical relevance in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objectives: To determine which heat shock proteins (hsps) are overexpressed in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and to examine the relevance of these findings to clinical disease activity.

Methods: Hsp levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of patients with SLE and normal controls were measured. Levels were analysed with respect to detailed clinical activity scores.

Re-thinking the analysis of intergenerational social mobility: a comment on John W. Fox's "Social class, mental illness, and social mobility".

The method of analyzing social mobility described by Fox (1990) is flawed in its adjustment for between-group differences in destination status when estimating the extent of the mentally ill's mobility as compared with the general population. Use of the recommended model with hypothetical data sets resulted in a significant finding when no overall upward or downward mobility occurred, and a non-significant result when the downward mobility of a psychotic group was contrived to be massive. An alternative model for the test of group differences in mobility is suggested within the framework of log-linear analysis commended by Fox (1990).

Microvascular investigations in diabetes mellitus.

This paper reviews the current literature concerning the different investigative modalities available to assess the microcirculation in diabetic microangiopathy. The advantages and disadvantages of the different invasive and noninvasive methods available are presented objectively. We have concentrated on the tests that provide a quantitative assessment of the microcirculation, including laser Doppler fluxmetry, capillary microscopy, plethysmography, transcutaneous oximetry and radioactive isotope clearance.

The membrane defect in hereditary stomatocytosis.

Hereditary stomatocytosis and allied conditions represent a series of diseases in which abnormal movements of univalent cations across the plasma membrane play an important part in cellular disease. The primary problem lies not in the active transporters but in the basal permeability of the membrane, which is always increased, and the extent of the increase correlates with the cellular dysfunction. A number of structural abnormalities have been described in these membranes, but the most consistent and convincing is the deficiency of a hitherto uncharacterized integral membrane protein of molecular weight 31 kDa in the severe, 'overhydrated' form of the disease.

Alternative splicing of the mRNA encoding the alpha subunits of the G(o) GTP-binding protein during brain development and in neuronal cell lines.

The RNA encoding the alpha subunit of the G(o) GTP-binding protein is alternatively spliced in some tissues to produce mRNAs encoding two distinct forms of the protein which differ at the carboxyl terminus. This alternative splicing process is observed at all stages during development of the rat brain and heart and in some but not all neuronal cell lines. These effects are discussed both in terms of the regulation of the alternative splicing event and the functional role(s) of the two forms of the protein which it produces.

The timing of placental competence in pregnancy after oocyte donation.

Objective: To test the timing of placental support of pregnancy.

Design: Steroid levels in blood and urine were determined in pregnancy after ET into women with ovarian failure.

Setting: The study was carried out in a private IVF clinic and a university endocrine department.

Cell cycle arrest of proliferating neuronal cells by serum deprivation can result in either apoptosis or differentiation.

Apoptotic cell death plays a critical role in the development of the nervous system. The death of mature nondividing neurons that fail to receive appropriate input from the target field has been extensively studied. However, the mechanisms mediating the extensive cell death occurring in areas of the developing brain where proliferating neuroblasts differentiate into mature nondividing neurons have not been analyzed.

Beta 2-glycoprotein-1 (apolipoprotein H) excretion and renal tubular malfunction in diabetic patients without clinical proteinuria.

Aim: To compare the urinary excretion of beta 2-glycoprotein-1 with that of two other markers of early tubular disorder in diabetic patients without clinical proteinuria.

Methods: The urinary excretion of retinol binding protein, beta 2-glycoprotein-1, and N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase was measured in 90 known diabetic patients who had a negative reagent strip test for proteinuria.

Results: Among 43 patients with urinary albumin excretion within the reference range, 23 (53%) had raised urinary N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase activity, five (12%) increased excretion of beta 2-glycoprotein-1, and five (12%) increased loss of retinol binding protein.

Effects of structure and clustering on recall and recognition memory in clinical depression.

The present study compared retrieval of high, medium, and low structured material, using word lists consisting of uncategorized words and categorized words presented in randomized and clustered order. Clinically depressed subjects were found to be significantly impaired relative to controls only on the medium level of structure and the randomized categories list when measured by free recall. There were no effects of group nor any interactions for recognition memory, although there was a main effect for group on d' when signal detection analysis was applied.

Mood and psychiatric disturbance in HIV and AIDS: changes over time.

A sample of 26 HIV seronegative, 59 HIV seropositive asymptomatic and 7 HIV seropositive symptomatic homosexual and bisexual men were assessed over two visits, a mean of 11 months apart, using the BDI, STAI, and CIS. Significant differences emerged between the symptomatic group and the other two groups. Past psychiatric history and the somatic items in the assessments accounted for some of these differences.

Two structurally related diaziridinylbenzoquinones preferentially cross-link DNA at different sites upon reduction with DT-diaphorase.

The nucleotide sequence preferences for the formation of interstrand cross-links induced in DNA by 2,5-diaziridinyl-1,4-benzoquinone (DZQ) and 3,6-dimethyl-2,5-diaziridinyl-1,4-benzoquinone (MeDZQ) were studied using synthetic duplex oligonucleotides and denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). Reaction of these bifunctional alkylating agents with a DNA duplex containing several potential cross-linking sites resulted in the formation of cross-linked DNAs with different electrophoretic mobilities. Analysis of the principal cross-linked products by piperidine fragmentation revealed that the preferential site of cross-linking was altered from a 5'-GNC to a 5'-GC sequence upon reduction of DZQ to the hydroquinone form by the enzyme DT-diaphorase.

The control of cell division in articular chondrocytes.

Our objective was to investigate the factors that control chondrocyte division, namely, (1) steric hindrance caused by the surrounding matrix, (2) growth factors and (3) cell shape. Bovine articular cartilage explants and isolated chondrocytes were cultured in medium containing [3H]-TdR to measure DNA synthesis. The effect of enzyme treatment, growth factors and cell shape was investigated.

Specialist or generic community nursing care for HIV/AIDS patients?

Improved management of HIV-related illness means that patients spend over 80% of their time in non-institutional settings. Most community-based health care in the United Kingdom is provided by primary health care teams: general practitioners and community nurses, with support from social workers. However, in many areas specialist HIV services have assumed responsibility for the care of HIV/AIDS patients, and primary health care teams have only played a marginal role.