Functional status at 30 and 90 days after mild ischaemic stroke.

Background/objective: This study compares the global disability status of patients who had a mild ischaemic stroke at 30 and 90 days poststroke, as measured by the modified Rankin Scale (mRS), and identifies predictors of change in disability status between 30 and 90 days.

Methods: The study population included 1339 patients who had a ischaemic stroke enrolled in the Mild and Rapidly Improving Stroke Study with National Institutes of Health (NIH) stroke score 0-5 and mRS measurements at 30 and 90 days. Outcomes were (1) Improvement defined as having mRS >1 at 30 days and mRS 0-1 at 90 days OR mRS >2 at 30 days and mRS 0-2 at 90 days and (2) Worsening defined as an increase of ≥2 points or a worsening from mRS of 1 at 30 days to 2 at 90 days.

A new oil/membrane approach for integrated sweat sampling and sensing: sample volumes reduced from μL's to nL's and reduction of analyte contamination from skin.

Wearable sweat biosensensing technology has dominantly relied on techniques which place planar-sensors or fluid-capture materials directly onto the skin surface. This 'on-skin' approach can result in sample volumes in the μL regime, due to the roughness of skin and/or due to the presence of hair. Not only does this increase the required sampling time to 10's of minutes or more, but it also increases the time that sweat spends on skin and therefore increases the amount of analyte contamination coming from the skin surface.

Comments: overview of the 5th international workshop on Pneumocystis and the 5th general meeting of the European Concerted Action on Pneumocystis Research.

The major highlights of the meetings were the initiation of efforts to assign different species names to certain Pneumocystis organisms, and the invitation for international participation in a project to map and sequence the genome of P. carinii carinii. The oral and poster presentations demonstrated important advances have been achieved in the past year.

Ubiquinone synthesis by Pneumocystis carinii: incorporation of radiolabeled polyprenyl chain and benzoquinone ring precursors.

Radiolabeled mevalonic acid was incorporated in vitro into Pneumocystis carinii ubiquinone homologs, CoQ9 and CoQ10, demonstrating the isoprenoid branch pathway forming the polyprenyl chain of ubiquinone is functional in the organism. Radiolabeled shikimic acid, tyrosine and p-hydroxybenzoic acid were also incorporated into the two ubiquinone homologs, indicating that P. carinii also possessed the biochemical pathway for de novo synthesis of the CoQ benzoquinone ring.

Loss of heterozygosity on chromosome 17p13 (p53) and 13q14 (Rb1) in squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck.

Loss of chromosome sequences at 13q14 (Rbl) and 17p13 (p53) associated with squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck (SCCHN) was evaluated in 12 recurrent tumors and 51 primary tumors from 63 patients. The incidence of LOH at 17p13 was 19 of 50 (38%) tumors, and at 13q14 was 21 of 57 (37%). LOH affecting Rbl and/or p53 was observed in 30 of 63 (48%) SCCHN.

Protease inhibitor TPCK represses Ha-ras (Val12) transformation and nuclear factor-kappa B activation.

Certain chymotrypsin-like protease inhibitors such as TPCK exhibit a well described anti-tumorigenic activity by an as yet undescribed mechanism. One potential cellular target for TPCK in transformed cells is the ms-inducible NF-kappa B family of transcription factors. We therefore used TPCK to examine the physiologic role of NF-kappa B during Ha-ras induced transformation, independent of another major downstream effector of Ha-ras, AP-1.

Detailed analyses of individual neutral lipid classes of Pneumocystis.

Individual neutral lipid classes of Pneumocystis carinii carinii were isolated and purified by thin-layer chromatography. The fatty acids in steryl esters, triglycerides, free fatty acids, diglycerides, and monoglycerides were quantified by gas-liquid chromatography. The fatty acid compositions of these lipids were similar to those of the neutral lipid classes in whole rat lung controls, unlike comparable studies of phospholipid classes.

Kinetics of 2 genetically distinct Pneumocystis carinii populations in rat colonies.

The natural history of prototype and variant Pneumocystis carinii populations in several colonies of rats were monitored over time periods ranging from 1 to 4 years. Karyotypic profiles of organism populations from individual rats were evaluated for the proportion of prototype:variant P. carinii and the number of animals harboring co-infections were enumerated.

Identification of C31 and C32 sterols in Pneumocystis carinii hominis-infected human lungs.

Two sterols in autopsied whole lung specimens obtained from Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia patients were detected by gas-liquid chromatography and their structures were elucidated by mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry. Both were in the lanosterol series; the C31 sterol, with a methyl group at C-24, was identified as euphorbol, and the more abundant C32 sterol, with an ethyl group at C-24, is given the trivial name pneumocysterol.

Survival and infectivity of Pneumocystis carinii outside the mammalian host.

Air blower prefilters servicing HEPA-filtered Biobubble housing Pneumocystis carinii-infected rats were stored for up to five months at -80 degrees C to room temperature. After storage, 76% of immunosuppressed rats exposed to these prefilters developed P. carinii infections.

Retinoic Acid potently stimulates the production of granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor in the human monocytic thp-1 cell-line.

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) potently induces the production of several cytokines in THP-1 cells pretreated with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA). We report that all-trans retinoic acid (tRA) synergizes with LPS to enhance the production of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) in PMA-treated cells, whereas the production of granulocyte-macrophage CSF, interleukin 1-beta (IL-1-beta), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) is minimally affected by tRA. The interaction between LPS and tRA on G-CSF production is not due to IL-1-beta or TNF-alpha present in the culture medium during LPS and tRA treatment because neutralization of n-1-beta and TNF-alpha activity does not inhibit the synergy between LPS and tRA.

Expression of nm23-h1 gene in squamous-cell carcinoma of the cervix correlates with 5-year survival.

We have examined nm23-H1 protein levels in human squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix by immunohistochemistry and correlated detectable nm23-H1 with patient survival. Normal cervical tissue samples were consistently strongly immunoreactive. In contrast, cervical carcinomas stained poorly, if at all.

Nm23-h1 protein in oligodendrogliomas.

We examined nm23-H1 protein levels in human oligodendrogliomas by immunohistochemistry. This class of brain tumor does not form spontaneous metastases, but its progression from benign (oligodendroglioma) toward malignant phenotype (oligodendroglioma transitionale and glioblastoma oligodendrogliale) can be followed. Two types of tumors, ODG-II and ODG-T, were highly positive for nm23 protein.

Involvement of episomal hpv31 in a laryngeal carcinoma - persistent episomal maintenance of hpv DNA after passage through nude-mice.

We describe the involvement of HPV31 in a laryngeal carcinoma, a highly unusual anatomic site for this HPV subtype. In situ hybridization with a type-specific HPV probe identified infected tumor cells. Diagnostic Southern blot analysis confirmed that the HPV was type 31, and also revealed that the HPV DNA was episomal.