What price medical malpractice insurance?

The Medical Review and Advisory Board has been established as a committee of the Commission on Professional Welfare of the California Medical Association to make studies and recommendations toward solution of the growing problems of professional liability insurance and malpractice actions in California. The members of the Board are: Joseph F. Sadusk, Jr., Oakland, Chairman; Wilbur Bailey, M.D., Los Angeles, vice-chairman; Howard W. Bosworth, M.D., Los Angeles; H. I. Burtness, M.D., Santa Barbara; Paul W. Frame, Jr., M.D., Sacramento; Verne G. Ghormley, M.D., Fresno; Carl M. Hadley, M.D., San Bernardino; Joseph J. O'Hara, M.D., San Diego; William F. Quinn, M.D., Los Angeles; Rees B. Rees, M.D., San Francisco; and Bernard Silber, M.D., Redwood City; Mr. Rollen Waterson, 564 Market Street, San Francisco 4, is executive secretary, and Mr. Howard Hassard is legal counsel.     

中国棕麦蛾属七新种记述(鳞翅目:麦蛾科)(英文)

棕麦蛾属DichomerisHubner1818昆虫是一类重要的森林害虫,分布于世界各地,已记载上千种。本文记述该属7新种：窄翅棕麦蛾DichomerisangustipteraLietZheng,sp.nov.,孟达棕麦蛾Dichome-rismengdanaLietZheng,sp.nov.暗棕麦蛾DichomerisobscuraLietZheng,sp.nov.,直带棕麦蛾DichomerisrectifasciaLietZheng,sp．nov,思茅棕麦蛾DichomerissimaoensisLietWang,sp．nov,铁黑棕麦蛾DichomerisferrograLietWang,sp．nov．和带棕麦蛾DichomeriszonataLietWang,sp．nov.。至此,我国已有棕麦蛾属昆虫96种。模式标本保存在陕西师范大学动物研究所。     

24,25,28-trihydroxyvitamin D2 and 24,25,26-trihydroxyvitamin D2: novel metabolites of vitamin D2

Understanding of the inactivation pathways of 25-hydroxyvitamin D2 and 24-hydroxyvitamin D2, the two physiologically significant monohydroxylated metabolites of vitamin D2, is of importance, especially during hypervitaminosis D2. In a recent study, it has been demonstrated that the inactivation of 24-hydroxyvitamin D2 occurs through its conversion into 24,26-dihydroxyvitamin D2 [Koszewski, N.J., Reinhardt, T.A., Napoli, J.L., Beitz, C.D., & Horst, R.L. (1988) Biochemistry 27, 5785]. At present, little information is available regarding the inactivation pathway of 25-hydroxyvitamin D2 except its further metabolism into 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D2 [Jones, G., Rosenthal, A., Segev, D., Mazur, Y., Frolow, F., Halfon, Y., Rabinovich, D., & Shakked, Z. (1979) Biochemistry 18, 1094]. In our present study, we investigated the metabolic fate of 25-hydroxyvitamin D2 in the isolated perfused rat kidney and demonstrated its conversion not only into 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D2 but also into two other new metabolites, namely, 24,25,28-trihydroxyvitamin D2 and 24,25,26-trihydroxyvitamin D2. The structure identification of the new metabolites was established by the techniques of ultraviolet absorption spectrophotometry and mass spectrometry and by the characteristic nature of each new metabolite's susceptibility to sodium metaperiodate oxidation. In order to demonstrate the physiological significance of the two new trihydroxy metabolites of vitamin D2, we induced hypervitaminosis D2 in a rat using [3 alpha-3H]vitamin D2 and analyzed its plasma for the various [3 alpha-3H]vitamin D2 metabolites on two different high-pressure liquid chromatography systems.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

REVIEWS

Books Review in this article:
Forest Trees and Timbers of the British Empire. Part I. Some East African Coniferae and Leguminosae. By L. C halk , M.A., D.Phil., J. B urtt D avy , M.A., Ph.D. and H. E. D esch , B.SC.
Part II. Twenty West African Timber Trees. By L. C halk , M.A., D.Phil., J. B urtt D avy , M.A., Ph.D., H. E. D esch , B.SC, M.A. and A. C. H oyle , B.Sc, M.A.
Part III. Fifteen South African High Forest Timber Trees. By L. C halk , M.A., D.Phil., M. M. C hattaway , B.SC, M.A., J. B urtt D avy , M.A., Ph.D., F. S. L aughton , B.SC. and M. H. S cott , B.SC.
Colloids in Agriculture. By C. E. M arshall .
Flore Laurentienne. By F rère M arie -V ictorin , D.SC.
Plant Viruses. By K enneth M. S mith .
Plant Life: A Text-book of Botany. By D. B. S wingle .
Gardening in East Africa: A Practical Handbook. Edited by A. J. J ex -B lake , with a foreword by Sir A rthur W. H ill .
British Stem- and Leaf-Fungi (Coelomycetes). Vol. I. Sphaeropsidales. By W. B. G rove , M.A.     

A contribution to the Dicyrtomidae (Collembola) of Hawaii

Ten new species in three subgenera of Dicyrtoma are described from the Hawaiian Islands. Specimens were received from collections made on Hawaii, Maui, Kauai and Oahu. Species definitions are based on chaetotaxy of head, legs and the circumanal region. In addition, presence or absence of lateral spines (neosminthurid setae) on the parafurcular lobes may assist in grouping species within subgenera. Previous records of dicyrtomids from Hawaii include only one species, Ptenothrix ( Papaairioides ) daubia (Folsom). The following new species are described: Ptenothrix ( Ptenothrix ) hawaiicnaeis sp.n., Ptenothrix ( Papirioides ) kauaiensis sp.n., P. ( Papirioides ) serrata sp.n., Dicyrtoma ( Calvatomina ) sylvestratilis sp.n., D. ( Calvatomina ) brevifibra sp.n., D. ( Calvatomina ) tesselata sp.n., D. ( Calvatomina ) longidigita sp.n., D. ( Calvatomina ) bellingeri sp.n., D. ( Calvatomina ) madestris sp.n., and D. ( Calvatomina ) microdentata sp.n.     

A re-evaluation of Melanospora Gorda and similar Pyrenomycetes, with a revision of the British species

A re-evaluation of Melanospora Corda and similar genera is presented, based mainly on new data obtained by SEM examination of the ascospores. Eight genera are accepted: Melanospora (nine British species, including M. longisetosa P. Cannon & D. Hawksw.), Persiciospora P. Cannon & D. Hawksw. (including P. moreaui P. Cannon & D. Hawsksw. and P. masonii (Kirschst.) P. Cannon & D. Hawksw.), Phaeostoma (one species), Scopinella (four species; two in the British Isles), Sphaerodes (six species, including S. beatonii (D. Hawksw.) P. Cannon & D. Hawksw., 5. compressa (Udagawa & Cain) P. Cannon & D. Hawksw., S.fimicola (Hansen) P. Cannon & D. Hawksw., S. perplexa (D. Hawksw.) P. Cannon & D. Hawksw., S. retispora (Udagawa & Cain) P. Cannon & D. Hawksw., 5. retispora var. inferior (Udagawa & Cain) P. Cannon & D. Hawksw.; two in the British Isles), Sphaeronaemella (one species, not known in Britain), Syspastospora P. Cannon & D. Hawksw. (one species, S. parasitica (Tul.) P. Cannon & D. Hawksw.) and Viennotidea P. Cannon & D. Hawksw. (four species, including V.fmicola (Marchal) P. Cannon & D. Hawksw., V. humicola (Samson & W. Gams) P. Cannon & D. Hawksw., V. spermosphaerici (Malloch) P. Cannon & D. Hawksw., and V. raphani (Malloch) P. Cannon & D. Hawksw.; one in the British Isles).     

Trimethoprim binds in a bacterial mode to the wild-type and E30D mutant of mouse dihydrofolate reductase

Previous crystallographic studies of the antibacterial trimethoprim in complexes with bacterial and avian dihydrofolate reductases have shown substantial differences in the mode of binding, providing plausible explanations for the origin of the remarkable species selectivity of this inhibitor (Matthews, D. A., Bolin, J. T., Burridge, J. M., Filman, D. J., Volz, K. W., Kaufman, B. T., Beddell, C. R., Champness, J. N., Stammers, D. K., and Kraut, J. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 381-391; Matthews, D. A., Bolin, J. T., Burridge, J. M., Filman, D. J., Volz, K. W., and Kraut, J. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 392-399). A major species difference between the active sites is that the only carboxylate present is always Glu in vertebrates and Asp in bacteria. Crystallographic studies of the wild-type and E30D mutant of the enzyme from mouse now reveal that in both cases trimethoprim is bound in an identical fashion to that observed with the bacterial enzyme, and there is no obvious single explanation for the origin of the 10(5)-fold selectivity of trimethoprim binding. In an earlier study of a mouse wild-type enzyme using more limited data it was proposed that trimethoprim bound in the avian mode (Stammers, D. K., Champness, J. N., Beddell, C. R., Dann, J. G., Eliopoulos, E. E., Geddes, A. J., Ogg, D., and North, A. C. T. (1987) FEBS Lett. 218, 178-184), but a re-examination indicates that the occupancy of the active site by trimethoprim is less than had been thought, and we are currently unable to make an unambiguous interpretation of the electron density maps and cannot confirm the avian mode of binding in those crystals.     

DESCRIPTION OF SEVEN NEW SPECIES OF THE GENUS DICHOMERIS HÜBNER FROM CHINA (LEPIDOPTERA: GELECHIIDAE)*

Abstract The present paper reports seven new species of the genus Dichomeris Hübner from China, with genital structures illustrated. The species are: D. anglcstiptera sp. nov., D. mengdanu sp. nov., D. obscura sp. nov., D. rectifascia sp. nov., D. simacensis sp. nov., D. ferrogra sp. nov. and D. zonata sp. nov. The type specimens are deposited in the Institute of Zoology, Shaanxi Normal University.     

Reactivity of chemically cross-linked fibrinogen and its fragments D toward the staphylococcal clumping receptor

It has been established that the binding domain for the staphylococcal clumping receptor exists in fragment D of human fibrinogen [Hawiger J., Timmons, S., Strong, D. D., Cottrell, B. A., Riley, M., & Doolittle, R. F. (1982) Biochemistry 21, 1407; Strong, D. D., Laudano, A., Hawiger, J., & Doolittle, R. F. (1982) Biochemistry 21, 1414]. To examine the role of valency in the adhesive function of fibrinogen, its fragments were prepared by digestion with plasmin in the presence of calcium and purified by a two-step chromatographic procedure. Fragments D1 and E did not induce the staphylococcal clumping reaction. After they were prepared in oligomeric form by chemical cross-linking with glutaraldehyde, fragment D1 (Mr 94,000) became functionally reactive toward the staphylococcal clumping receptor, and fragment D3 (Mr 75,000) and fragment E (Mr 50,000) remained inactive. Fragment D dimer derived from enzymatic cross-linking was not reactive. Human fibrinogen cross-linked with glutaraldehyde usually reached a 250 times higher reactivity toward the staphylococcal clumping receptor, depending on the condition of the cross-linking reaction. It is concluded that the valency of fibrinogen in regard to its receptor binding domain and the availability of this domain are essential for the staphylococcal clumping reaction.     

Practice advisory on liposuction

COMMITTEE STATEMENT: At the 69th annual meeting of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) in October of 2000, the ASPS Board of Directors convened the Task Force on Patient Safety in Office-Based Surgery Facilities. The task force was assembled in the wake of several highly publicized patient deaths involving plastic surgery and increasing state legislative and regulatory activity of office-based surgery facilities. In response to the increased scrutiny of the office-based surgery setting, the task force produced two practice advisories: "Procedures in the Office-Based Surgery Setting" and "Patient Selection in the Office-Based Surgery Setting." Since the task force's inception, professional and public awareness of patient safety issues has continued to grow. This heightened interest resulted in an increased need for plastic surgeons to communicate their views on the topic. To meet this challenge, the task force evolved into the Committee on Patient Safety, allowing the committee to address topics affecting the safety and welfare of plastic surgery patients, regardless of the facility setting. The "Practice Advisory on Liposuction" is the first advisory developed since the committee was formed. It was a lengthy and painstaking process for the committee, which included representatives from related plastic surgery organizations as well as the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA). Committee members included Ronald E. Iverson, M.D., chair; Jeffery L. Apfelbaum, M.D., ASA representative; Bruce L. Cunningham, M.D., ASPS/Plastic Surgery Educational Foundation (PSEF) Joint Outcomes Task Force representative; Richard A. D'Amico, M.D., ASPS representative; Victor L. Lewis, Jr., M.D., ASPS Health Policy Analysis Committee representative; Dennis J. Lynch, M.D., ASPS representative; Noel B. McDevitt, M.D., ASPS Deep Vein Thrombosis Task Force representative; Michael F. McGuire, M.D., The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) representative; Louis Morales, Jr., M.D., American Society of Maxillofacial Surgeons representative; Calvin R. Peters, M.D., Florida Ad Hoc Commission on Patient Safety representative; Robert Singer, M.D., American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities representative; Thomas Ray Stevenson, M.D., American College of Surgeons representative; Rebecca S. Twersky, M.D., ASA representative; Ronald H. Wender, M.D., ASA representative; and James A. Yates, ASAPS representative. The authors thank members of the committee for the insights they brought to this process. The final document represents their significant contributions to these efforts. They would also like to recognize DeLaine Schmitz and Pat Farrell of the ASPS staff for their work on and support of this project.     

A revision of the genus Drimia (Hyacinthaceae) in East Africa

The generic delimitation of Drimia and Urginea is discussed with special reference to flower and seed morphology (LM & SEM). The data support the joining of the two into one genus, Drimia. The following taxa are represented in East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda): Drimia altissima, D. brachystachys comb, nov., D. calcarata comb, nov., D. congesta, D. elata, D. indica, D. macrocarpa sp. nov., and D. porphyrantha comb. nov.     

Role of the ortholog and paralog amino acid invariants in the active site of the UDP-MurNAc-L-alanine:D-glutamate ligase (MurD).

To evaluate their role in the active site of the UDP-N-acetylmuramoyl-L-alanine:D-glutamate ligase (MurD) from Escherichia coli, 12 residues conserved either in the Mur superfamily [Eveland, S. S., Pompliano, D. L., and Anderson, M. S. (1997) Biochemistry 36, 6223-6229; Bouhss, A., Mengin-Lecreulx, D., Blanot, D., van Heijenoort, J., and Parquet, C. (1997) Biochemistry 36, 11556-11563] or in the sequences of 26 MurD orthologs were submitted to site-directed mutagenesis. All these residues lay within the cleft of the active site of MurD as defined by its 3D structure [Bertrand, J. A., Auger, D., Fanchon, E., Martin, L., Blanot, D., van Heijenoort, J., and Dideberg, O. (1997) EMBO J. 16, 3416-3425]. Fourteen mutant proteins (D35A, K115A, E157A/K, H183A, Y194F, K198A/F, N268A, N271A, H301A, R302A, D317A, and R425A) containing a C-terminal (His)(6) extension were prepared and their steady-state kinetic parameters determined. All had a reduced enzymatic activity, which in many cases was very low, but no mutation led to a total loss of activity. Examination of the specificity constants k(cat)/K(m) for the three MurD substrates indicated that most mutations affected both the binding of one substrate and the catalytic process. These kinetic results correlated with the assigned function of the residues based on the X-ray structures.     

Six new species of the genus Dicranosepsis Duda (Diptera, Sepsidae) from Vietnam, with a revised key to the species

The flies of the genus Dicranosepsis from Vietnam were investigated and classified taxonomically. Six new species (D. longa sp. nov., D. kurahashii sp. nov., D. monoseta sp. nov., D. sinuosa sp. nov., D. barbata sp. nov., and D. vietnamensis sp. nov.) are described and illustrated. Dicranosepsis is redefined and a revised key to the species is also provided.     

MTH187 from Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum has three HEAT-like Repeats

With the completion of genome sequencing projects, there are a large number of proteins for which we have little or no functional information. Since protein function is closely related to three-dimensional conformation, structural proteomics is one avenue where the role of proteins with unknown function can be investigated. In the present structural project, the structure of MTH187 has been determined by solution-state NMR spectroscopy. This protein of 12.4 kDa is one of the 424 non-membrane proteins that were cloned and purified for the structural proteomic project of Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum [Christendat, D., Yee, A., Dharamsi, A., Kluger, Y., Gerstein, M., Arrowsmith, C.H. and Edwards, A.M. (2000) Prog. Biophys. Mol. Biol., 73, 339–345]. Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum is a thermophilic archaeon that grows optimally at 65 °C. A particular characteristic of this microorganism is its ability to generate methane from carbon dioxide and hydrogen [Smith, D.R., Doucette-Stamm, L.A., Deloughery, C., Lee, H., Dubois, J., Aldredge, T., Bashirzadeh, R., Blakely, D., Cook, R., Gilbert, K., Harrison, D., Hoang, L., Keagle, P., Lumm, W., Pothier, B., Qiu, D., Spadafora, R., Vicaire, R., Wang, Y., Wierzbowski, J., Gibson, R., Jiwani, N., Caruso, A., Bush, D., Reeve, J. N. et al. (1997) J. Bacteriol., 179, 7135–7155].Electronic supplementary material Electronic supplementary material is available for this article at and accessible for authorised users. Structure data have been deposited at PDB (1TE4) and NMR data at BMRB (5629).Olivier Julien and Isabelle Gignac - Both authors contributed equally to this work.     

The 19-27 amino acid segment of gp51 adopts an amphiphilic structure and plays a key role in the fusion events induced by bovine leukemia virus.

Previous results indicate that the external glycoprotein gp51 of bovine leukemia virus plays an important role in the process of cell fusion induced by bovine leukemia virus (Bruck, C., Mathot, S., Portetelle, D., Berte, C., Franssen, J. D., Herion, P., and Burny, A. (1982) Virology 122, 342-352; Vonèche, V., Portetelle., D., Kettmann, R., Willems, L., Limbach, K., Paoletti, E., Ruysschaert, J. M., Burny, A., and Brasseur, R. (1992) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 89, 3810-3814) and suggest that a region encompassing residues 23 and 25 of gp51 is involved in this process (Portetelle, D., Couez, D., Bruck, C., Kettmann, R., Mammerickx, M., Van der Maaten, M., Brasseur, R., and Burny, A. (1989) Virology 169, 27-33; Mamoun, R., Morisson, M., Rebeyrotte, N., Busetta, B., Couez, D., Kettmann, R., Hospital, M., and Guillemain, B. (1990) J. Virol. 64, 4180-4188). X-ray diffraction studies performed on envelope glycoproteins of influenza virus indicate that the NH2-terminal part of the external glycoprotein lies very close to the fusion peptide. The same overall structure seems to exist in human immunodeficiency virus as suggested by site-directed mutagenesis followed by syncytia induction assays. Our theoretical studies indicate that a segment expanding between residues 19 and 27 of gp51 probably adopts an amphipathic beta-strand structure. We hypothesize that the amphipathic 19-27 structure of gp51 plays an important role in the process of membrane fusion by interacting with the fusion peptide or with another region of gp30. Mutational analysis disrupting the amphipathy of the 19-27 region strongly altered the fusogenic capacity of the gp51-gp30 complex.     

Antigen binding thermodynamics and antiproliferative effects of chimeric and humanized anti-p185HER2 antibody Fab fragments.

The murine monoclonal antibody 4D5 (anti-p185HER2) inhibits the proliferation of human tumor cells overexpressing p185HER2 in vitro and has been "humanized" [Carter, P., Presta, L., Gorman, C. M., Ridgway, J. B. B., Henner, D., Wong, W.-L. T., Rowland, A. M., Kotts, C., Carver, M. E., & Shepard, H. M. (1992) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. (in press)] for use in human cancer therapy. We have determined the antigen binding thermodynamics and the antiproliferative activities of chimeric 4D5 Fab (ch4D5 Fab) fragment and a series of eight humanized Fab (hu4D5 Fab) fragments differing by amino acid substitutions in the framework regions of the variable domains. Fab fragments were expressed by secretion from Escherichia coli and purified from fermentation supernatants by using affinity chromatography on immobilized streptococcal protein G or staphylococcal protein A for ch4D5 and hu4D5, respectively. Circular dichroism spectroscopy indicates correct folding of the E. coli produced Fab, and scanning calorimetry shows a greater stability for hu4D5 (Tm = 82 degrees C) as compared with ch4D5 Fab (Tm = 72 degrees C). KD values for binding to the extracellular domain (ECD) of p185HER2 were determined by using a radioimmunoassay; the delta H and delta Cp for binding were determined by using isothermal titration calorimetry. ch4D5 Fab and one of the humanized variants (hu4D5-8 Fab) bind p185HER2-ECD with comparable affinity (delta G degrees = -13.6 kcal mol-1).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

New species of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Dypsis</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ravenea</Emphasis> (Arecaceae) from Madagascar

Fourteen new species of palms (Arecaceae) from Madagascar are described and named, based on material collected over the last 15 years. Twelve species belong to the genus Dypsis, namely D. andilamenensis Rakotoarin. & J. Dransf., D. anjae Rakotoarin. & J. Dransf., D. betsimisarakae Rakotoarin. & J. Dransf., D. culminis Rakotoarin. & J. Dransf., D. dracaenoides Rakotoarin. & J. Dransf., D. gautieri Rakotoarin. & J. Dransf., D. gronophyllum Rakotoarin. & J. Dransf., D. jeremiei Rakotoarin. & J. Dransf., D. metallica Rakotoarin. & J. Dransf., D. reflexa Rakotoarin. & J. Dransf., D. sancta Rakotoarin. & J. Dransf. and D. vonitrandambo Rakotoarin. & J. Dransf. and two species belong to the genus Ravenea: R. beentjei Rakotoarin. & J. Dransf. and R. hypoleuca Rakotoarin. & J. Dransf. Despite the fact that most of these species have been recorded from protected areas that are difficult to access in the eastern region of Madagasacar, they are all threatened. Based on IUCN categories and criteria, seven are Critically Endangered and seven are Vulnerable.