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Adaptive responses to hypoxia occur in many biological systems. A well-characterized example is the hypoxic induction of the synthesis of erythropoietin, a hormone which regulates erythropoiesis and hence blood oxygen content. The restricted expression of the erythropoietin gene in subsets of cells within kidney and liver has suggested that this specific oxygen-sensing mechanism is restricted to specialized cells in those organs. Using transient transfection of reporter genes coupled to a transcriptional enhancer lying 3' to the erythropoietin gene, we show that an oxygen-sensing system similar, or identical, to that controlling erythropoietin expression is wide-spread in mammalian cells. The extensive distribution of this sensing mechanism contrasts with the restricted expression of erythropoietin, suggesting that it mediates other adaptive responses to hypoxia.

Over a period of 2 months, 35 of 69 (51%) cases of juvenile diarrhoea studied in eastern Malaysia were associated with rotavirus excretion; rotavirus associated diarrhoea occurred most commonly in the 6-24 month age group. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) of genome ribonucleic acid showed that only 4 rotavirus electropherotypes could be detected. Of those, 2 predominated and 2 were detected only once each; one of these may have been a reassortment of the two predominant electropherotypes. Analysis of the clinical features of patients excreting rotavirus subgroup 1 or 2, determined by PAGE, demonstrated that rotavirus subgroup 1 was associated with more hypotonic dehydration and need for intravenous therapy: lethargy was significantly more common among those excreting rotavirus subgroup 2.

We describe the first reported case of rupture of a pseudoaneurysm of a sapheneous vein coronary arterial bypass graft presenting with acute superior caval venous obstruction. The patient was successfully treated by urgent surgical excision of the graft.