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Three-dimensional analysis of mandibular morphology in Otolemur.

Euclidean distance matrix analysis (EDMA) of three-dimensional data is used here to examine mandibular morphology between two species of galagos. Otolemur crassicaudatus consumes primarily exudates, while O. garnettii is more frugivorous. Acquisition of exudates involves either gouging or scraping tree bark, and may involve different forces at the mandible than incising fruits. Previous studies of mandibular morphology in exudate-feeding primates produced mixed results, some suggesting that morphological specializations reflect adaptations for greater force at the anterior dentition, while others suggest specializations for producing a large gape. This study addresses these controversies by testing predictions associated with O. crassicaudatus generating greater force at the anterior dentition or producing a larger gape relative to O. garnettii. In addition, this study tests predictions associated with specializations of the anterior dentition in O. crassicaudatus as related to exudate-feeding. Crania and mandibles from 28 O. crassicaudatus and 17 O. garnettii were digitized in three dimensions, using 18 landmarks that summarize the shape of the jaw. Two-dimensional measurements were taken to assess incisor robusticity. All three-dimensional data were analyzed using EDMA, and bootstrap tests were executed to identify specific interlandmark differences that were driving any significant (P < 0.05) overall shape differences. Two-dimensional data were analyzed using Student's t-test for independent measures. Results revealed that there was a significant shape difference in mandibles between species, and that mandibles of O. crassicaudatus showed higher condyles, longer mandibles, decreased incisor procumbency, and greater incisor robusticity relative to O. garnettii. It is suggested that the results of the present study reflect adaptations for scraping in O. crassicaudatus rather than gouging.

Animals↗

Complement activation in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus without nephritis.

OBJECTIVE: To study the association between disease activity and complement activation prospectively in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty-one SLE patients were examined monthly for 1 yr. Disease activity, autoantibodies, conventional complement tests and the following complement activation products were investigated: C1rs-C1inh complexes, C4bc, Bb, C3a, C3bc, C5a and the terminal SC5b-9 complement complex (TCC). RESULTS: Modest variation in disease activity was noted. None of the patients had nephritis. Flare was observed at 27 visits. Four patients had anti-C1q antibodies in conjunction with modestly low C1q concentrations. The complement parameters were rather constant during the observation period. Slightly to moderately decreased C4 (0.05-0.10 g/l) was found in 10 patients and severely decreased C4 (<0.05 g/l) in seven patients. Decreased C4 was not associated with increased complement activation. Complement activation products were either normal or slightly elevated. TCC was the only activation product correlating significantly with score for disease activity at flare. None of the variables tested predicted flares. CONCLUSION: Complement tests are of limited importance in routine examination of SLE without nephritis, although TCC is suggested to be one of the most sensitive markers for disease activity.

Adult↗

Severe systemic reaction to diphosphonate bone imaging agents: skin testing to predict allergic response and a safe alternative agent.

We describe a severe systemic reaction which occurred in a patient on two occasions after i.v. injection of chemically related diphosphonate bone imaging agents. Skin testing showed reactivity to multiple commercially available diphosphonate compounds but no significant response to pyrophosphates. A subsequent pyrophosphate bone scan resulted in no adverse reaction. Severe systemic reactions to diphosphonates can occur, skin testing may prove useful in evaluating allergic reactions, and pyrophosphates appear to be a safe alternative agent in patients proven or suspected allergic to diphosphonates.

Adult↗

Serum progesterone testing to predict ectopic pregnancy in symptomatic first-trimester patients.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to prospectively measure the accuracy of serum progesterone levels to detect ectopic pregnancy. METHODS: Seven hundred sixteen symptomatic first-trimester emergency department patients with abdominal pain or vaginal bleeding at a tertiary care military teaching hospital had progesterone levels measured by radioimmunoassay with results unavailable to the treating physician. All patients were monitored until a criterion standard diagnosis of intrauterine pregnancy or ectopic pregnancy was confirmed. RESULTS: A 14-month derivation phase (n=399) used receiver operating characteristic curve testing to select a cutoff value of progesterone less than 22 ng/mL. A 12-month validation phase (n=317) then retested this cutoff value. Combining both phases, there were 434 (61%) viable intrauterine pregnancies, 229 (32%) nonviable intrauterine pregnancies, and 52 (7. 3%) ectopic pregnancies, of which 17 were ruptured. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive values, and negative predictive values (95% confidence intervals) for progesterone levels less than 22 ng/mL to detect ectopic pregnancy were 100% (94% to 100%), 27% (23% to 30%), 10% (7% to 12%), and 100% (98% to 100%), respectively. CONCLUSION: Given similar disease prevalence, roughly one fourth (178/716) of symptomatic patients can be classified as low risk (0%, 95% confidence interval 0 to 2%) for having an ectopic pregnancy using a progesterone cutoff of 22 ng/mL. Whether implementation of rapid progesterone testing can safely expedite care and reduce the need for urgent diagnostic evaluation or admission remains to be determined.

Abdominal Pain↗

An elemental analysis of archaeological bone from Sicily as a test of predictability of diagenetic change.

Cortical human bone samples from three tightly dated components of a single Sicilian site were chemically analyzed employing the highly sensitive technique of inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy. Although the skeletons appeared to be excellently preserved, significant diagenesis was detected. Moreover, a majority of the elements tested showed no constant or linear variation over time, implying that diagenetic change tends not to be a predictable function of duration of interment. Variation among major long bones of a single skeleton was quite high, as was variation across the cortex. The latter may reflect chemical inhomogeneity in bone tissue or may be an artifact of postmortem change. The results demonstrate the hazards of unsuspected and unpredictable diagenesis, which must be controlled before reliable dietary inferences can be drawn.

Adolescent↗

Predicting remission outcome in acute non-lymphocytic leukemia: general principles and their application to residual marrow leukemia.

The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the importance of a rigorous and comprehensive evaluation of predictive tests in acute leukemia, especially when these may influence therapeutic decisions. To illustrate these issues, we have chosen an emerging test, early residual bone marrow leukemia, as the example and we have presented actual data from Leukemia Intergroup Studies of adults with first relapse acute non-lymphocytic leukemia induced with high-dose cytosine arabinoside. We show how the choice of a suitable cut-off value to discriminate between patients predicted to have different remission rates is influenced by several variables including the reasons for remission failure, the estimated efficacy and toxicity of the intervention to be employed, and considerations of resource utilization. We suggest that before applying a new predictive test in practice, clinicians should carefully evaluate its performance, and the consequences of its use in their own clinical settings.

Bone Marrow↗

Pulmonary function testing in predicting complications from percutaneous lung biopsy.

Percutaneous needle biopsy is an accepted method of obtaining tissue for diagnosis of lung tumors. The depth of the lesion, size of the needle, operator experience, and the presence of emphysema have been identified as factors influencing the risk of postbiopsy pneumothorax, the most common complication. In this retrospective study of 308 patients, we enquired whether pulmonary function tests (available in 138 patients) and arterial PO2 (available in 103 patients) might predict the risk of pneumothorax following percutaneous needle biopsy. We found that as airway obstruction increases (FEV1.0/FVC less than 59% of predicted) or as arterial oxygenation decreases (PO2 less than 59 mm Hg), not only does the incidence of pneumothorax increase, but symptoms are more severe in that the number of pneumothoraces requiring chest tube drainage increases as well. We suggest that airway obstruction and arterial oxygenation are factors indicative of increased risk identifying patients who need close scrutiny after the procedure.

Airway Obstruction↗

Broth-disk elution tests to predict the susceptibility of anaerobic bacteria to the ampicillin-sulbactam combination.

The ampicillin-sulbactam Wilkins-Chalgren agar dilution MICs (2 ratios) were compared with the results of broth-disk elution (BDE) tests using various numbers of disks corresponding to elution breakpoints of less than or equal to 8:8 micrograms/ml, less than or equal to 16:8 micrograms/ml, and less than or equal to 16:16 micrograms/ml. This study showed that a 2:1 ratio MIC test and a 16:8 micrograms/ml BDE breakpoint were best for anaerobic organisms; a recommendation consistent with susceptibility testing criteria for rapidly growing aerobic species. The addition of four ampicillin disks (10 micrograms) and four ampicillin-sulbactam discs (10:10 micrograms) to 5 ml of thioglycolate broth was recommended. This test would achieve greater than 99% comparative accuracy to MICs determined with the reference National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards agar dilution method.

Ampicillin↗

Scales for measuring health belief model dimensions: a test of predictive value, internal consistency, and relationships among beliefs.

Critiques of research on the Health Belief Model have been directed at the need for: (1) applying the Model to behavior related to chronic illness; (2) multivariate testing of the major dimensions of the Model; (3) developing reliable scales; and (4) explicating the relationships among the beliefs. In an attempt to respond to these concerns, data are presented from a prospective study of mothers' adherence to a diet regimen prescribed for their obese children. The Model components were found, both singly and in combination, to be correlated with the study's measure of dietary compliance. Multiple regression analysis utilizing five belief indices accounted for a substantial portion of the variance in children's weight change. Questionnaire items employed in creating indices for each Model dimension are presented, together with discussion of the internal consistency of each index. Belief intercorrelations appear to demonstrate that distinct Model dimensions exist.

Adolescent↗

Nephroscreen: a diagnostic test for predicting acute renal failure?

Acute renal failure is a frequent and often fatal complication of hospitalized patients. While the risk of acute renal failure among select patient groups is well recognized, physicians currently rely on diagnostic tests such as changes of serum creatinine and indirect assessment of the glomerular filtration rate to diagnose acute renal failure. Although these parameters capture the degree of kidney function lost, they are not warning signs of evolving kidney injury. While the clinical emergence of acute renal failure is sudden, the pathologic changes preceding loss of kidney function are not so sudden. Nephroscreen is a fast and easy-to-use urine enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test designed to quantify specific pathologic events preceding death of renal proximal tubule cells. It detects acute kidney damage days before serum creatinine rises and may open new avenues to defining acute renal failure as well as treating acute renal failure patients earlier and more effectively.

Acute Kidney Injury↗

Linkage disequilibrium and modification of risk for Huntington disease.

The major limitation in performing predictive testing for Huntington disease (HD) is the unavailability of DNA from crucial family members. In our program approximately 20% (36/183) of persons have been excluded from predictive testing because of this reason. The major aim of this study was to examine whether data derived from linkage disequilibrium could modify risk analysis for persons at risk for HD. As a first step, we assessed whether the previously reported linkage disequilibrium between alleles recognized by probe pBS674E-D at locus D4S95 remained significant in a much larger data set. A total of 1,150 chromosomes from 622 individuals--200 affected and 422 unaffected--from 118 families were assessed. Significant haplotype association was detected with AccI and MboI RFLPs at the locus D4S95, with all the families (P = .00003), as well as for a subset from the United Kingdom (P = .0037). Data derived from linkage disequilibrium studies using D4S95 modifies the risk for HD, especially in persons of U.K. descent. Utilization of this approach for risk modification of HD awaits both validation of these data and additional information concerning ethnic-specific alleles at the D4S95 locus.

Adult↗

A highly polymorphic locus very tightly linked to the Huntington's disease gene.

The genetic defect in Huntington's disease (HD), an inherited neuropsychiatric disorder of unknown etiology, has not been defined. The discovery of linkage between HD and the DNA marker D4S10(G8) raised the possibility of isolating the disease gene on the basis of its chromosomal location, in addition to providing a limited presymptomatic test for the late onset disorder. But it has been difficult to isolate other DNA markers nearer to the HD gene, and this has hampered attempts to identify the disease locus and limited the applicability and accuracy of predictive testing. Recently, several new DNA markers from the region of the genome near the HD gene have been isolated using a directed cloning strategy. We describe here the characterization of one of these new markers, D4S95, a highly polymorphic locus which displays no recombination with the HD gene in the families tested. The high degree of polymorphism at this locus and its proximity to the HD gene make it extremely useful for predictive testing and as a new starting point for attempts to clone the disease gene.

Alleles↗

A note on the use of the CEC L-33-A-93 test to predict the potential biodegradation of mineral oil based lubricants in soil.

The biodegradabilities of five unformulated mineral oils (brightstock, 150 SN base oil, white oil and two gas oils) were determined in the CEC L-33-A-93 test and during 20 weeks incubation in nutrient-supplemented soil microcosms. Biodegradation in both studies was measured as the loss of extractable hydrocarbon ('primary' biodegradation). There was a statistically significant (P < 0.01) rectilinear relationship between the extents of biodegradation in both test systems. The results indicate that the CEC method could be used as a relatively simple, quick and inexpensive test for assessing the potential biodegradation of mineral oil based lubricants in soil.

Biodegradation, Environmental↗

Injection of apomorphine--a test to predict individual different dopaminergic sensitivity?

Male rats, treated with apomorphine (APO: 2mg/kg s.c.) in an Animex-Motility-Meter, showed individually different motility patterns, each expressed by oral stereotyped behaviour and enhanced locomotor activation reproducible in a second test 4 days later. One group of the rats showed stereotyped sniffing with an increased locomotor activation, S(L,G)-rats, being predominantly "mesolimbic active" rats. The other groups could be classified as mainly licking or gnawing rats, L(S,G)-rats or G(L,S)-rats, with less increase of locomotor activation, resembling predominantly "nigrostriatal active" rats. The G(L,S)-rats seemed to be mostly "nigrostriatal active". In this study the different types of rats were treated with neuroleptic drugs in presence of APO. Haloperidol (HAL; 0.2 and 0.4 mg/kg i.p.) had a clear dose dependent antagonizing effect on APO-induced stereotypies and locomotor activity: a pronounced effect on the L(S,G)- and G(L,S)-rats and less on S(L,G)-rats. In contrast, clozapine (CLO; 10 and 15 mg/kg i.p.) did not antagonize the stereotyped behaviour in the rats tested but showed a characteristic shift in the S(L,G)- and G(L,S)-rats: the predominant stereotypy of these rats, quantified by scoring, changed to licking. In the L(S,G)-rats the predominant licking stereotypy was not changed and the locomotor activity, which was completely antagonized in the S(L,G)- and G(L,S)-rats at both CLO-doses, was affected by 15 mg/kg, only. Furthermore, after the combined treatment with APO and HAL or APO and CLO these rat-types also differed in their amount of ACTH and corticosterone release. DA-1/DA2 and/or DA-1/DA3 receptor mechanisms may be involved in these individually different motility patterns and endocrine reactions. In summary, pretesting of rats with APO and measuring the motility and endocrine parameters may give us information on a preexisting different sensitivity of individuals to react to DAergic stimulation.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗