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The molecular phylogeny of Gyrodactylus salmonis from brook charr, Salvelinus fontinalis, rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, cutthroat trout, O. clarkii, and Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, in Canada is presented using sequences from ITS-rDNA and the mitochondrial COX 1 gene. Sequence variation among G. salmonis specimens from the different North American hosts was consistent with within-species variation reported for other Gyrodactylus. Sequence data are compared to those from other members of the wageneri group parasitizing salmoniform fishes in northern Europe (G. derjavini, G. derjavinoides, G. lavareti, G. salaris, G. salvelini, G. teuchis and G. truttae) and Asia (G. brachymystacis). Sequence divergence between G. salmonis and the recently described G. salvelini on Arctic charr, Salvelinus alpinus, in Finland was consistent with within-species levels of variation in Gyrodactylus; however, phylogenetic analyses and morphological comparisons provided evidence of their distinctiveness such that they appear to be sister species. They grouped with G. lavareti (a parasite of a coregonid) to form a clade separate from European and Asian species of the wageneri lineage known from salmonid fish. Further study of gyrodactylids from across salmonid, coregonid and thymallid fish in the northern hemisphere would shed more light on the phylogeography of these parasites and serves as an important backdrop to understanding the evolution of their emergent virulence.

Aim This systematic review aimed to compare the validity, reliability, evaluative validity, and clinical utility of upper limb activity measures for children aged 5 to 16 years with congenital hemiplegia. Method Electronic databases were searched to identify assessments that measure upper limb activity available for use and for which published validity and reliability data for the population are obtainable. Assessment items were coded according to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) categories to determine if at least 35% of the assessment items fell within the activity component of the ICF. Assessments that met these criteria were included in the review. Results Thirty-eight measures were identified, and five met the inclusion criteria. The best measure of unimanual capacity was the Melbourne Assessment of Unilateral Upper Limb Function (MUUL); however, the Shriners Hospital Upper Extremity Evaluation (SHUEE) and the Quality of Upper Extremity Skills Test (QUEST) could also be considered, depending on the type of information required. The performance-based measure of bimanual upper limb activity in children with hemiplegia with the best psychometric properties was the Assisting Hand Assessment (AHA). The ABILHAND-Kids is a parent-report, performance-based questionnaire with excellent clinical utility and psychometric properties. Interpretation Clinicians may choose to use more than one of these measures to detect changes in unimanual or bimanual upper limb activity.

Background/Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the effects of Constraint Induced Movement Therapy (CIMT) and Bimanual Training on the Quality of Life (QOL) of school aged children with congenital hemiplegia. Design: Randomised comparison clinical trial. Participants and Setting: 43 children with congenital hemiplegia, aged between 5 and 17 years were matched for age (mean 11.1 years), gender (21 female) and side of hemiplegia (27 right). Materials/Methods: Each pair was randomly allocated to either CIMT or Bimanual therapy with both interventions delivered using a day camp model with a circus theme for the same duration (2 weeks) and intensity (60 hours over 10 days). QOL were assessed at baseline and again at 3 weeks post-intervention using the CP QOL-Child questionnaire which was completed by all parents and children 9 years or older. Data were compared within each group and also between groups. Paired t-tests were used for the within group analysis and Analysis of Covariance(ANCOVA) for the between group analysis. Results: There were no differences at baseline between the groups for either parent reported (n= 42) or child self-reported (n= 30) QOL. After intervention no statistical difference between the groups was found for the parent-reported data, for the domains of Social Wellbeing (F=1.211, p=0.28), Functioning (F=0.142, p=0.71),Participation(F=0.036, p=0.85), Emotional Wellbeing (F=0.790, p=0.78), Pain(F=0.900, p=0.35), Access (F=1.719, p=0.20) and Family (F=0.008, p=0.93). There was also no statistical difference between the groups for child self-reported QOL for the domains of Social Wellbeing (F=0.121, p=0.73), Functioning (F= 1.264, p=0.27), Participation (F=0.471, p=0.50), Emotional Wellbeing (F=0.421, p=0.42), and Pain(F=0.155, p=0.70). There was a significant improvement within the CIMT group for Social Wellbeing (t=-2.148, p=0.045) and within the Bimanual group for Emotional Wellbeing (t=-2.273, p=0.034) over time. Both groups however had a reduction in the Participation domain on both parent report and child self-report. Conclusions/Significance: An intensive program of novel rehabilitation may lead to improvements in social and emotional wellbeing. Neither method of upper limb intervention produced a superior effect on QOL. The importance of considering QOL in an intervention based trial has been highlighted in this study, which is one of the first to evaluate the QOL of children with congenital hemiplegia in an interventional trial.

Thorium concentrations at Kirtland Air Force Base training sites in Albuquerque, NM, have been previously described; however, the mechanisms of thorium migration were not fully understood. This work describes the processes affecting thorium mobility in this semiarid soil, which has implications for future remedial action. Aqueous extraction and filtration experiments have demonstrated the colloidal nature of thorium in the soil, due in part to the low solubility of thorium oxide. Colloidal material was defined as that removed by a 0.22-microm or smaller filter after being filtered to nominally dissolved size (0.45 microm). Additionally, association of thorium with natural organic matter is suggested by micro- and ultrafiltration methods, and electrokinetic data, which indicate thorium migration as a negatively charged particle or anionic complex with organic matter. Soil fractionation and digestion experiments show a bimodal distribution of thorium in the largest and smallest size fractions, most likely associated with detrital plant material and inorganic oxide particles, respectively. Plant uptake studies suggest this could also be a mode of thorium migration as plants grown in thorium-containing soil had a higher thorium concentration than those in control soils. Soil erosion laboratory experiments with wind and surface water overflow were performed to determine bulk soil material movement as a possible mechanism of mobility. Information from these experiments is being used to determine viable soil stabilization techniques at the site to maintain a usable training facility with minimal environmental impact.

The phylogeny of genera related to Pultenaea was investigated using three independent data sets: morphology and nucleotide sequences of non-coding DNA from the nucleus (ITS) and the chloroplast (trnL-F). Elucidating the relationships of two species anomalous in Pultenaea P. neurocalyx and P. selaginoides was the principal question. Despite some incongruence among the data sets, P. neurocalyx is unambiguously placed with Eutaxia, but its formal taxonomic placement either as a species of Eutaxia or as a monotypic new genus is left undecided pending a species-level analysis of that group. The precise phylogenetic position of P. selaginoides is not clear, due to incongruence between the ITS and trnL-F data sets. Its most likely relationship is with Almaleea, as indicated by both morphology (weakly) and trnL-F (strongly). To accommodate this species, a unispecific new genus, Stonesiella, is created, diagnosed by characters of the inflorescence and bracts, and the absence of all synapomorphies of the other Pultenaea-group genera. The appropriateness of recognising monotypic genera is discussed. Monophyly of Pultenaea s.str. (excluding P. selaginoides and P. neurocalyx) is supported equivocally.

Studies were conducted to investigate the nitrification potential of an industrial wastewater that contained high amounts of ammonium sulfate. Laboratory-scale, activated-sludge reactors were unable to nitrify the wastewater, but the same sludge began to nitrify within 2 weeks after the feed was changed to a synthetic wastewater. Further investigation indicated that oxime compounds in the industry's wastewater were causing nitrification inhibition. Four oximes known to exist in the industrial wastewater were studied: cyclohexanone oxime was not inhibitory up to 100 mg/L, acetaldehyde oxime and aldecarb oxime were moderately inhibitory, and methylethyl ketoxime (MEKO) was strongly inhibitory to nitrification. The mechanism of MEKO inhibition was evaluated using three different analytical approaches. Methylethyl ketoxime demonstrated pure noncompetitive inhibition patterns using all methods of data analysis. The inhibition constant K i indicates the concentration that causes 50% inhibition and was estimated to range from 0.3 to 1.9 mg/L at 25 °C for MEKO.

We identified 39 patients with chronic epilepsy (seizures > or = 2 years) proven to have primary brain tumors. These cases represent approximately 12% of the surgery cases for epilepsy in the same period. Mean age of seizure onset was 13.2 years: mean duration before operation was 10.5 years. Thirty-eight of 39 had normal neurologic examination. Twenty-six tumors were temporal, 7 were frontal, 4 were parietal, and 2 were occipital. Nine of 26 (34.6%) of the temporal group had contralateral interictal EEG spikes. Pathology was 15 ganglioglioma, 13 low-grade astroctoma, 4 oligodendroglioma, 2 low-grade mixed glioma, 1 pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma, 2 dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor, and 1 ependymoma. Postoperative seizure frequency (minimum follow-up 6 months) ranged from 15 to 16 seizure-free auras only in patients with temporal tumors and total gross tumor removal (mean follow-up 28 months) to 0 of 6 seizure-free in patients with extratemporal tumors who underwent subtotal resection or biopsy.

Up to 40% of patients with mild haemophilia A have a discrepancy whereby factor VIII (FVIII) measurements by a two-stage chromogenic assay (FVIII:C(CH)) are disproportionately reduced compared with the FVIII one-stage clotting value (FVIII:C). Which assay best reflects the coagulation potential and clinical phenotype in this patient group is of clinical significance, yet remains unclear. We have assessed the global coagulant ability of haemophilia patients with FVIII assay discrepancy using calibrated automated thrombography (CAT). A total of 18 patients with mutations Arg531His/Cys or Arg698Trp causing FVIII discrepancy were investigated, together with 12 haemophilia patients with concordant FVIII values and 15 normal controls. Factor VIII levels in all patients and controls were measured using both one-stage clotting assay and two-stage chromogenic assay. Thrombin generation was assessed in platelet-poor plasma by CAT using a low tissue factor concentration (1 pm). FVIII:C(CH) values were below normal in all patients, and in the discrepant group were between 1.5- and 8-fold lower than FVIII:C values. CAT parameters were affected in all haemophilia patients. The endogenous thrombin potential (ETP) was reduced to 58-67% of the mean normal value (1301 nm min(-1)), whereas peak thrombin was further reduced to 27-30% of the mean normal value (178 nm) in both discrepant and concordant patient groups. Analysis of the discrepant patient group showed the most significant correlation between the one-stage FVIII:C assay and ETP (r(2) = 0.44) and peak thrombin parameters (r(2) = 0.27).

Summary. New chemical analyses of EB II copper-alloy artefacts from Troy show that about seventy per cent are of high tin, low arsenic, bronze; the remaining Trojan objects are of arsenical copper but contain no more than 3 per cent of arsenic. Lead-isotope analyses suggest that at this time the Trojans made use of at least five different copper-ore deposits and that at least two of these were not in the immediate vicinity of Troy itself. At this period tin bronze was unknown in the Early Helladic, Cycladic or Minoan cultures. Low-arsenic tin bronzes do however constitute sixty-nine per cent of the copper-alloy artefacts excavated at the fortified hilltop EC IIIA settlement at Kastri on Syros, but lead-isotope analyses show that the copper in these objects is derived from three different ore deposits which are different from those exploited by the early Cycladic peoples on Amorgos, Paros, Kythnos and Chalandriani on Syros. For Kastri the alloy types are closely similar to and the copper ore sources used are identical with those employed in Troy II; in addition there are good Anatolian parallels for some of the metal types occurring at Kastri. Taken together with evidence from the pottery, the architecture and the nature of the site it seems inescapable that Kastri was a short-lived settlement of Anatolians who lived, perhaps, in somewhat uneasy juxtaposition with their Cycladic neighbours. These Anatolians came most probably from Troy or the Troad since tin bronze was virtually unknown at this period elsewhere in Anatolia, and certainly not in Cilicia, except at the central Anatolian sites of Ahlatlibel, Alishar and Alaca Huyuk.

In this report, we have examined the structure, regulation, and function of insulin receptors in cultured neurons from fetal chicken brain. The apparent molecular weight of the alpha-subunit of neuronal insulin receptors, analyzed by photoaffinity labeling and sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis under reducing conditions, was 115,000. The number of insulin receptors in the cultures increased from day 2 to day 4 during a period of extensive process formation. After 5 days in culture, there were approximately 40,000 high-affinity insulin receptors per neuron. When neurons were photoaffinity labeled at 16 degrees C and then warmed to 37 degrees C for 30 min, approximately 40% of the cell-surface receptors were recovered in the intracellular, trypsin-insensitive pool. Chronic exposure of neurons to insulin (100 ng/ml) resulted in a time-dependent loss of neuronal insulin receptors with a maximal decrease of 50% after 24 h. Insulin had no effect on glucose transport, glucose oxidation, or glycogen synthase activity in neurons. On the other hand, insulin supported the growth and differentiation of a fraction of neurons isolated from chick forebrain. We conclude that (1) cultured neurons from fetal chicken brain express the same subtype of insulin receptor previously identified in adult rat and human brain, (2) the neuronal subtype of insulin receptor undergoes internalization and down-regulation in response to insulin, and (3) neuronal insulin receptors do not acutely regulate glucose metabolism but mediate growth in neurons.

A case of lactic acidosis occurring in association with inappropriate and excessive metformin therapy and a high serum metformin concentration is described. In the other 23 cases of metformin associated lactic acidosis reported to December 1977, renal, cardiovascular and liver disease were common. Although metformin is less likely to cause lactic acidosis than phenformin, neither drug should be prescribed in the presence of renal, hepatic or cardiovascular disease.

Insulin receptors were detected in a variety of rat neuroblastoma and glioma cell lines. The binding of 125I-insulin to B103 neuroblastoma cells had characteristics typical of insulin receptors in other tissues, including high affinity for insulin, low affinity for insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), and curvilinear Scatchard plots. Using photoaffinity labeling procedures and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) gel electrophoresis to analyze the subunit structure of insulin receptors in B103 cells, the predominantly labeled protein had an apparent molecular weight of 125K and the mobility of this protein was shifted after removal of sialic acid residues. On the basis of size and susceptibility to neuraminidase, the insulin binding subunit in neuroblastoma cells was identical to the alpha-subunit of insulin receptors in adipocytes and different from the 115K subunit found in brain. The presence of an "adipocyte" form of the insulin receptor in clonal cells derived from brain is probably a consequence of transformation and results from more extensive oligosaccharide processing of the 115K receptor expressed in normal brain cells. The fully glycosylated receptors in neuroblastoma cells were capable of exerting functions typical of insulin receptors in adipocytes such as internalization of insulin and stimulation of glucose transport.

Snap beans were fertilized with 4 levels of Mg at each of 2 levels of K, and with Mn, Cu, Zn, and a micronutrient mixture at a single K level. Bean yields were not affected by any of the treatments. Top leaves, bottom leaves, and leaf petioles were taken for chemical analysis when the beans were in the early bloom stage of growth. Mg content of the bottom leaves was higher than that of the top leaves and petioles. Mg content increased with Mg applied and was higher at low K than at the high K level. Ca was also higher in the bottom leaves than in the top leaves or petioles. K content was higher in petioles than in leaves, and was higher at high K than at the low K level. No Mg effect was apparent. Mg content of petioles increased regularly with Zn < Mn < Cu < mixture treatments. Zn, Mn, and Cu increased the Ca content of the bottom leaves. Zn reduced the K content of the bottom leaves. Bottom leaves contained a higher content of cations followed by petioles and top leaves. 5 references, 6 figures, 2 tables.

ALTERATION OF METABOLIC RESPONSE TO ADRENALINE IN MAN BY PRETREATMENT WITH TRIIODOTHYRONINE AND HYDROCORTISONE *

AIMS: This report describes the baseline characteristics of patients in the Reduction of Events with Darbepoetin alfa in Heart Failure trial (RED-HF) which is testing the hypothesis that anaemia correction with darbepoetin alfa will reduce the composite endpoint of death from any cause or hospital admission for worsening heart failure, and improve other outcomes. METHODS AND RESULTS: Key demographic, clinical, and laboratory findings, along with baseline treatment, are reported and compared with those of patients in other recent clinical trials in heart failure. Compared with other recent trials, RED-HF enrolled more elderly [mean age 70 (SD 11.4) years], female (41%), and black (9%) patients. RED-HF patients more often had diabetes (46%) and renal impairment (72% had an estimated glomerular filtration rate < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2). Patients in RED-HF had heart failure of longer duration [5.3 (5.4) years], worse NYHA class (35% II, 63% III, and 2% IV), and more signs of congestion. Mean EF was 30% (6.8%). RED-HF patients were well treated at randomization, and pharmacological therapy at baseline was broadly similar to that of other recent trials, taking account of study-specific inclusion/exclusion criteria. Median (interquartile range) haemoglobin at baseline was 112 (106-117) g/L. CONCLUSION: The anaemic patients enrolled in RED-HF were older, moderately to markedly symptomatic, and had extensive co-morbidity. Fil: McMurray, John J. V.. University of Glasgow; Reino Unido Fil: Anand, Inder S.. University of Minnesota; Estados Unidos Fil: Diaz, Rafael. Estudios Clínicos Latinoamérica; Argentina Fil: Maggioni, Aldo P.. Associazione Nazionale Medici Cardiologi Ospedalieri; Italia Fil: O'Connor, Christopher. University of Duke; Estados Unidos Fil: Pfeffer, Marc A.. Brigham and Women’s Hospita; Estados Unidos Fil: Solomon, Scott D.. Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Estados Unidos Fil: Tendera, Micha. Medical University of Silesia; Polonia Fil: van Veldhuisen, Dirk J.. University of Groningen; Países Bajos Fil: Moetaz, Albizem. Amgen Inc.; Estados Unidos Fil: Cheng, Sunfa. Amgen Inc.; Estados Unidos Fil: Scarlata, Debra. Amgen Inc.; Estados Unidos Fil: Swedberg, Karl. University of Gothenburg; Suecia Fil: Young, James B.. Cleveland Clinic. Endocrinology and Metabolism Institute; Estados Unidos Fil: Toblli, Jorge Eduardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: RED-HF Committees Investigators. No especifíca