Evolution of middle-late Pleistocene human cranio-facial form: A 3-D approach

The classification and phylogenetic relationships of the middle Pleistocene human fossil record remains one of the most intractable problems in paleoanthropology. Several authors have noted broad resemblances between European and African fossils from this period, suggesting a single taxon ancestral to both modern humans and Neanderthals. Others point out ‘incipient’ Neanderthal features in the morphology of the European sample and have argued for their inclusion in the Neanderthal lineage exclusively, following a model of accretionary evolution of Neanderthals. We approach these questions using geometric morphometric methods which allow the intuitive visualization and quantification of features previously described qualitatively. We apply these techniques to evaluate proposed cranio-facial ‘incipient’ facial, vault, and basicranial traits in a middle-late Pleistocene European hominin sample when compared to a sample of the same time depth from Africa. Some of the features examined followed the predictions of the accretion model and relate the middle Pleistocene European material to the later Neanderthals. However, although our analysis showed a clear separation between Neanderthals and early/recent modern humans and morphological proximity between European specimens from OIS 7 to 3, it also shows that the European hominins from the first half of the middle Pleistocene still shared most of their cranio-facial architecture with their African contemporaries.     

Poly(L-lysine)-modified iron oxide nanoparticles for stem cell labeling

New surface-modified iron oxide nanoparticles were developed by precipitation of Fe(II) and Fe(III) salts with ammonium hydroxide and oxidation of the resulting magnetite with sodium hypochlorite, followed by the addition of poly( L-lysine) (PLL) solution. PLL of several molecular weights ranging from 146 ( L-lysine) to 579 000 was tested as a coating to boost the intracellular uptake of the nanoparticles. The nanoparticles were characterized by TEM, dynamic light scattering, FTIR, and ultrasonic spectrometry. TEM revealed that the particles were ca. 6 nm in diameter, while FTIR showed that their surfaces were well-coated with PLL. The interaction of PLL-modified iron oxide nanoparticles with DMEM culture medium was verified by UV-vis spectroscopy. Rat bone marrow stromal cells (rMSCs) and human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) were labeled with PLL-modified iron oxide nanoparticles or with Endorem (control). Optical microscopy and TEM confirmed the presence of PLL-modified iron oxide nanoparticles inside the cells. Cellular uptake was very high (more than 92%) for PLL-modified nanoparticles that were coated with PLL (molecular weight 388 00) at a concentration of 0.02 mg PLL per milliliter of colloid. The cellular uptake of PLL-modified iron oxide was facilitated by its interaction with the negatively charged cell surface and subsequent endosomolytic uptake. The relaxivity of rMSCs labeled with PLL-modified iron oxide and the amount of iron in the cells were determined. PLL-modified iron oxide-labeled rMSCs were imaged in vitro and in vivo after intracerebral grafting into the contralateral hemisphere of the adult rat brain. The implanted cells were visible on magnetic resonance (MR) images as a hypointense area at the injection site and in the lesion. In comparison with Endorem, nanoparticles modified with PLL of an optimum molecular weight demonstrated a higher efficiency of intracellular uptake by MSC cells.     

In vivo dynamics of Drosophila nuclear envelope components

Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) are multisubunit protein entities embedded into the nuclear envelope (NE). Here, we examine the in vivo dynamics of the essential Drosophila nucleoporin Nup107 and several other NE-associated proteins during NE and NPCs disassembly and reassembly that take place within each mitosis. During both the rapid mitosis of syncytial embryos and the more conventional mitosis of larval neuroblasts, Nup107 is gradually released from the NE, but it remains partially confined to the nuclear (spindle) region up to late prometaphase, in contrast to nucleoporins detected by wheat germ agglutinin and lamins. We provide evidence that in all Drosophila cells, a structure derived from the NE persists throughout metaphase and early anaphase. Finally, we examined the dynamics of the spindle checkpoint proteins Mad2 and Mad1. During mitotic exit, Mad2 and Mad1 are actively imported back from the cytoplasm into the nucleus after the NE and NPCs have reformed, but they reassociate with the NE only later in G1, concomitantly with the recruitment of the basket nucleoporin Mtor (the Drosophila orthologue of vertebrate Tpr). Surprisingly, Drosophila Nup107 shows no evidence of localization to kinetochores, despite the demonstrated importance of this association in mammalian cells.     

Poor survival of ABG I hip prosthesis in younger patients

Background: Hydroxyapatite coated (HAC) hip implants have been used in clinical practice for more than two decades. However, the majority of studies have reported only intermediate term outcomes that are not reliable for predicting long-term behavior in all implants. The aim of this study was to determine the performance of HAC total hip arthroplasty in younger patients over a 10-year follow-up period. Methods and Results: This was an observational retrospective study of a 137 consecutive hips with the ABG I prosthesis. Of these, 128 were available for the last investigation. Median duration of follow-up was 10.9 years. The mean age at time of index surgery was 46+/-6.7 years. Probability of implant survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The overall 12-year cumulative survival was 0.55 (95% CI, 0.443-0.659). Periprosthetic osteolysis (57 %) was the most frequent reason for failure followed by aseptic loosening (28 %). When only aseptic loosening was included in the analysis, the same figures for cup and stem were 0.873 (95% CI, 0.808-0.938) and 0.992 (95% CI, 0.976- 1.0), respectively. Patients with a smaller cup size were those at high risk for revision due to wear-related complications (odds ratio, OR=4.3; 95% CI, 1.734-10.555). Conclusion: This study reports one of the poorest 12-year survivorship data for cementless acetabular component in the literature. The main reason for premature failure was osteolysis, strongly related to high wear rate of polyethylene.     

MCL-1 (myosin light chains-1) in differential diagnosis of dyspnea

Myosin light chains-1 (MLC-1) have been recently associated with the markers of heart function (NYHA, LVEF, NT-proBNP). Verification of the relationship between markers of heart function (New York Heart Association classification (NYHA), left ventricle ejection fraction determination (LVEF), N terminal prohormone of natriuretic peptide B type BNP (NT-proBNP) and concentrations of myosin light chains-1 (MLC-1) was assessed. Patients examined for dyspnea without signs of acute coronary syndrome. All patients underwent echocardiography (calculation of left ventricle ejection fraction--LVEF) and in the serum of all subjects NT-proBNP (ELEIA) and MLC-1 (ELISA) were determined. In the 38 patients (21 men, 17 women), mean age of 58 years (+/-12 years as 1 SD), a significant negative correlation was found between NT-proBNP and LVEF (r = - 0.47; p = 0.02, Spearman). The median levels of NT pro-BNP were closely associated with NYHA classification (type II--584 ng/l, type III--2792 ng/l, type IV--6400 ng/l; p < 0.05). Individuals with clinical NYHA IV differed significantly in median MLC-1 concentrations from persons with clinical NYHA classification II and III (type II--5.7 ng/l, type III--8.9 ng/l, type IV--17 ng/l; p < 0.05). A significant negative correlation between MLC-1 and LVEF (-0.35; p < 0.03) and significant positive correlations between MLC-1 and NT-proBNP (0.42; p < 0.012) were found. In conclusion MLC-1 cannot be used as a diagnostic marker in differential diagnosis of dyspnea.     

Possibilities and problems with identification and determination of "new" hypnotics

Authors discuss problems with identification and determination of flunitrazepam and zolpidem in biological material (BM). Over the recent years, these two structurally different substances have become the most frequently used as well as abused hypnotic drugs. This study presents applicability of immunochemical methods in the screening of flunitrazepam, one of the most commonly prescribed drugs among the benzodiazepines. Herein described techniques, a liquid-liquid (L-L) extraction, solid phase extraction (SPE) and the so-called "freeze out" method are used for isolation of the above mentioned compounds from BM. Besides the thin layer chromatography (TLC) and gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (GC-MS) applied in qualitative analysis, the study also describes a gas chromatography with electron capture detector (GC-ECD) and gas chromatography with nitrogen phosphorus detector (GC-NPD) optimized for the determination of flunitrazepam and zolpidem in blood (serum). Successful analyses of these two substances are of major importance, especially in interpreting the results of forensic toxicological examinations.     

Trichobilharzia regenti: the developmental differences in natural and abnormal hosts

Trichobilharzia regenti is a bird nasal parasite causing human cercarial dermatitis. Schistosomula are able to migrate via the bird nervous system and then, they mature and lay eggs in the nasal cavity. To some extent they can also migrate and develop in mammals. The present study has shown the developmental differences of T. regenti in the natural (ducks) and the abnormal (mice; inbred strains BALB/c, SCID) hosts. The study describes the following parameters of developing worms: length and width of the body, length and content of the intestine, development of the reproductive organs and characterization of surface and intestinal epithelium by lectin probes. The differences in length and width of schistosomula localized in the spinal cord of various hosts cannot be simply explained and may depend on yet unknown host factors. Moreover, there must be several physiological changes during the migration through the skin, the nervous tissue and the nasal cavity, enabling uptake and digestion of different host components. For example the intestine of schistosomula was mostly filled with light-brown pigmented granules until 6 days p.i. (probably of nervous tissue origin) while the older schistosomula and adult intestine was mostly full of dark-brown pigment (probably of blood origin). Reproductive organs were observed from day 9 p.i. in worms from ducks. Whereas ConA and PSA specifically bound to the surface and intestinal epithelium of schistosomula and adults, only the labelled UEA-I lectin could be used as a surface marker of cercaria-schistosomulum transformation. The results confirmed retarded development of parasites in abnormal hosts; the factor responsible for this phenomenon should be clarified in the future.     

Th1/Th2 cytokine pattern in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and induced sputum in pulmonary sarcoidosis

Background

Recent studies suggest that angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors may have beneficial effects for patients at risk for some types of infections. We examined the effect of prior outpatient use of ACE inhibitors on mortality for patients hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia.

Methods

A retrospective cohort study conducted at two tertiary teaching hospitals. Eligible subjects were admitted with a diagnosis of, had a chest x-ray consistent with, and had a discharge ICD-9 diagnosis of pneumonia. Subjects were excluded if they were "comfort measures only" or transferred from another acute care hospital. Subjects were considered to be on a medication if they were taking it at the time of presentation.

Results

Data was abstracted on 787 subjects at the two hospitals. Mortality was 9.2% at 30-days and 13.6% at 90-days. At presentation 52% of subjects were low risk, 34% were moderate risk, and 14% were high risk. In the multivariable conditional logistic regression analysis, after adjusting for potential confounders, the use of ACE inhibitors at presentation (odds ratio 0.44, 95% confidence interval 0.22–0.89) was significantly associated with 30-day mortality.

Conclusion

Prior outpatient use of an ACE inhibitor was associated with decreased mortality in patients hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia despite their use being associated with comorbid illnesses likely to contribute to increased mortality. Confirmatory studies are needed, as well as research to determine the mechanism(s) of this protective effect.