Q fever urban cases in Romania

Q fever urban sporadic cases in Romania in the 1981-87 period are reviewed as concerns their incidence, seasonality and epidemiological data. Urban cases represented 76.8% as against 23.2% rural cases from the 134 Q fever sporadic cases detected in this period. Cases were distributed throughout all months with peaks during April (18.4% of cases) and June (19.4%). Infections were not related to contact with livestock or domestic birds or with raw milk drinking. Cases could not be identified as Q fever occupational ones. 36.7% of patients were working in nonalimentary industry and only 12.6% were involved in meat industry, veterinary or human medical practices. New studies concerning unusual sources of urban infection such as dogs, cats or urban street pigeons are emphasized.     

Nothacrobeles,n. gen., with Descriptions of Four New Species (Nematoda: Cephalobidae)

A new nematode genus, Nothacrobeles, is proposed in the subfamily Acrobelinae. Four new species are described and one new combination made. The five species exhibit a progression from short-to-long, bifurcate, elaborately fringed labial probolae, the longest probolae resembling those of species of Acrobeles.     

Optimal administration of dual screening tests for detecting a characteristic with special reference to low prevalence diseases.

We consider the problem of deciding optimally whether a characteristic exists based on one or two screening tests. We discuss the relative merits of giving either one or two tests, including the order in which they might be given, as well as their costs. Operating in the Bayesian mode, we derive posterior distributions for the accuracies of the tests and the prevalence of the characteristic. Applications to detecting rare conditions, such as the AIDS virus, are discussed.     

Comparison of uptake kinetics in freshly isolated suspensions and short-term primary cultures of rat hepatocytes

The apparent kinetics of uptake of various model substrates were examined for hepatocytes in suspension and primary culture up to 72 h. The ability of hepatocytes to take up taurocholate and ouabain was decreased in culture. Vmax for uptake of both substrates diminished rapidly with increasing time in culture. An increase in Km was observed in cultures 6 h after plating, but there was no further change with prolongation of culture time. The decrease of uptake of taurocholate and ouabain during culture may be due to the reduction in the number of transport carriers plus a decrease of affinity of the carrier to substrates. The nonsaturable component of cadmium uptake was much reduced in cultured cells compared with the suspensions. The saturable process was lower in 6 h culture but increased to a level comparable with the fresh cells at longer culture time. No significant change was found in the Km between suspensions and cultures. Uptake of alpha-aminoisobutyric acid was greater in culture while that of 3-O-methyl-D-glucose was relatively stable but about one-half that found in cell suspension. Thus, uptake of two substrates, taurocholate and ouabain, is clearly compromised with increasing time in primary culture, while uptake of the other substrates does not reflect such a dramatic decrease. It is therefore apparent that the cell preparation of choice in uptake studies depends on the substrate and the nature of the experiments.     

Common antigen of oval and biliary epithelial cells (A6) is a differentiation marker of epithelial and erythroid cell lineages in early development of the mouse

Abstract. The A6 antigen - a surface-exposed component shared by mouse oval and biliary epithelial cells - was examined during prenatal development of mouse in order to elucidate its relation to liver progenitor cells. Immunohistochemical demonstration of the antigen was performed at the light and electron microscopy level beginning from the 9.5 day of gestation (26–28 somite pairs).
Up to the 11.5 day of gestation A6 antigen is found only in the visceral endoderm of yolk sac and gut epithelium, while liver diverticulum and liver are A6-negative. In the liver epithelial lineages A6 antigen behaves as a strong and reliable marker of biliary epithelial cells where it is found beginning from their emergence on the 15th day of gestation. It was not revealed in immature hepato-cytes beginning from the 16th day of gestation. However weak expression of the antigen was observed in hepato-blasts on 12–15 days of gestation possibly reflecting their ability to differentiate along either hepatocyte or biliary epithelial cell lineages.
Surprisingly, A6 antigen turned out to be a peculiar marker of the crythroid lineage: in mouse fetuses it distinguished A6 positive liver and spleen erythroblasts from A6 negative early hemopoietic cells of yolk sac origin. Moreover in the liver, A6 antigen probably distinguishes two waves of erythropoiesis: it is found on the erythroblasts from the 11.5 day of gestation onward while first extravascular erythroblasts appear in the liver on the 10th day of gestation. Both fetal and adult erythrocytes are A6-negative.
In the process of organogenesis A6 antigen was revealed in various mouse fetal organs. Usually it was found on plasma membranes of mucosal or ductular epithelial cells. Investigation of A6 antigen's physiological function would probably explain such specific localization.     

The genetic-demographic approach in anthropological research. VIII. The ethnic subdivisions of the Khakass populations

Khakass families can be considered as a fundamental ethnic determinant. Based on the family subdivision the analysis of intensity and genetic effectiveness of marriage migrations has revealed the speed of formation of a new ethnic-territorial community--Khakass nationality--on the territory of the Minusinsk hollow.     

A familial mutation in the testis-determining gene SRY shared by both sexes

A familial mutation in SRY, the gene coding for the testis-determining factor TDF, was identified in an XY female with gonadal dysgenesis, her father, her two brothers and her uncle. The mutation consists of a T to C transition in the region of the SRY gene coding for a protein motif known as the high mobility group (HMG) box, a protein domain known to confer DNA-binding specificity on the SRY protein. This point mutation results in the substitution, at amino acid position 109, of a serine residue for phenylalanine, a conserved aromatic residue in almost all HMG box motifs known. This F109S mutation was not found in 176 male controls. When recombinant wildtype SRY and SRY^F109S mutant protein were tested in vitro for binding to the target site AAC AAAG, no differences in DNA-binding activity were observed. These results imply that the F109S mutation either is a rare neutral sequence variant, or produces an SRY protein with slightly altered in vivo activity, the resulting sex phenotype depending on the genetic back-ground or environmental factors.This paper is dedicated by G. S. to Professor Ulrich Wolf on the occasion of his 60th birthday