In 1969-1970 there was a sharp outbreak of hepatitis associated with hemodialysis in two Edinburgh hospitals; mortality was 24% among renal patients and 31% in staff members. The epidemiology of the outbreak, the measures taken to control it, and the efforts made to exclude hepatitis B virus infections during an eight-year period after the outbreak, were reviewed in the light of a retesting of stored specimens by modern diagnostic techniques for hepatitis A and B viruses. This review reveals that the outbreak involved some dual infections with both hepatitis B and non-A, non-B hepatitis viruses and that the occurrence of two infections at once was probably related to the exceptional virulence of the outbreak. The review also reaffirms that the routine serotesting of renal patients and staff members and the dialysis of infected patients in a geographically separate isolation facility are effective methods of controlling the spread of hepatitis B virus in hemodialysis units.

Child↗

PubMedDate not supplied

An integrated software suite for surface-based analyses of cerebral cortex.

The authors describe and illustrate an integrated trio of software programs for carrying out surface-based analyses of cerebral cortex. The first component of this trio, SureFit (Surface Reconstruction by Filtering and Intensity Transformations), is used primarily for cortical segmentation, volume visualization, surface generation, and the mapping of functional neuroimaging data onto surfaces. The second component, Caret (Computerized Anatomical Reconstruction and Editing Tool Kit), provides a wide range of surface visualization and analysis options as well as capabilities for surface flattening, surface-based deformation, and other surface manipulations. The third component, SuMS (Surface Management System), is a database and associated user interface for surface-related data. It provides for efficient insertion, searching, and extraction of surface and volume data from the database.

Anatomy, Artistic↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Bone sialoprotein promotes bone metastasis of a non-bone-seeking clone of human breast cancer cells.

Bone sialoprotein (BSP) is a major non-collagenous protein in mineralized tissues. BSP is also implied to be involved in tumor metastasis through its unique structure. Using the human breast cancer cell line MDA-231, we established both brain-seeking and bone-seeking cell clones. The brain-seeking cells (MDA4-231BR) showed no bone metastasis in an animal model. In this experiment, MDA-231BR cells were transfected with BSP cDNA and inoculated into the hearts of nude mice. All five nude mice which received BSP-transfected MDA-231BR cells developed bone metastases, while no bone lesions were observed in the control group. Histological examination revealed invasion of tumor cells into the endosteal space and erosion of the bone margin. Some animals were crippled due to large lesions. These results suggest that BSP may impart to breast cancer cells the capacity to metastasize and thus play an important role in bone metastasis of malignant tumors.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Experimental caprine retrovirus infection in sheep.

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Animals↗