Sex preferences for offspring among men in the western area of Sierra Leone

This study reveals evidence of a significant sex preference among men. Programmes aimed at changing men's views on the importance of the sex of a child must be implemented in order to reduce the desired family size and eventual fertility.     

Dexamethasone selectively modulates basal and lipopolysaccharide-induced metalloproteinase and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase production by human alveolar macrophages.

To define the capacity of glucocorticoids to regulate tissue damage associated with inflammation more clearly, we have studied the effects of dexamethasone on human alveolar macrophage secretion of both a variety of metalloproteinases and also the counter-regulatory tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP). We found that dexamethasone selectively and coordinately inhibited expression of the following human metalloproteinases: interstitial collagenase, stromelysin, and the 92-kDa type IV collagenase, as well as TIMP. Both basal and LPS-stimulated cells exhibited similar degrees of inhibition, with greater than 50% decrease in secretion of all enzymes and TIMP observed at dexamethasone concentrations of greater than or equal to 10(-8) M in serum-containing medium. The effects of dexamethasone were mediated at a pretranslational level. In summary, our results indicate that glucocorticoids suppress the matrix-degrading phenotype that is characteristic of mature human mononuclear phagocytes, and block the effects of the most potent known signal for upregulation of metalloproteinase secretion. Similar actions in vivo would serve to limit tissue damage associated with the inflammatory response.     

Plasmodium cynomolgi: immunization of a rhesus monkey with exoerythrocytic stages cultured in autologous hepatocytes

To investigate the immune response to exoerythrocytic stages of malaria parasites, a rhesus monkey was immunized with autologous primary hepatocyte cultures infected with 7-day-old liver stage parasites of Plasmodium cynomolgi. A primary antibody response against EE stage antigens was obtained, and boosted after injection of homologous viable sporozoites. Antibodies directed against sporozoites and blood stages were also detected. The polyvalent immune response observed demonstrates the antigenicity of the liver stages and suggests their involvement in the general immune response against malaria.     

Protein modules

As the database of protein sequences grows it is becoming apparent that many proteins are constructed from relatively few modular units that appear many times. Determination of the three-dimensional structure of such modules by NMR has been possible due to their production in relatively large quantities by recombinant DNA techniques. The knowledge gained about the structure of individual modules can then be used to predict their properties in a variety of intact proteins.     

Survival of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts under various environmental pressures.

The survival of various isolates of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts under a range of environmental pressures including freezing, desiccation, and water treatment processes and in physical environments commonly associated with oocysts such as feces and various water types was monitored. Oocyst viability was assessed by in vitro excystation and by a viability assay based on the exclusion or inclusion of two fluorogenic vital dyes. Although desiccation was found to be lethal, a small proportion of oocysts were able to withstand exposure to temperatures as low as -22 degrees C. The water treatment processes investigated did not affect the survival of oocysts when pH was corrected. However, contact with lime, ferric sulfate, or alum had a significant impact on oocyst survival if the pH was not corrected. Oocysts demonstrated longevity in all water types investigated, including seawater, and when in contact with feces were considered to develop an enhanced impermeability to small molecules which might increase the robustness of the oocysts when exposed to environmental pressures.     

Conidiogenesis in Petriellidium boydii (Pseudallescheria boydii)

Slide cultures of the type strain of P. boydii Shear, showed percurrent production of conidia by light microscopy over a period of several hours. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy were used to examine the conidiogenesis. The conidiogenous cells developed annular ridges rather than typical annellophoric scars. Evidence that these ridges represented sequential spore production was shown by T.E.M. in the form of a discontinuity of the outer conidiophore wall at the widest point of each ridge.Since submission of this paper the taxonomy of the organism has been changed to Pseudallescheria boydii. (Mycotaxon 14: 94 1982).