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This study explores if advanced NSCLC patients with ECOG PS 2 and age

Background: The presence of human papillomavirus (HPV), the HPV type and viral load in early stage cervical carcinoma were investigated in order to elucidate whether any of these factors were important for clinical outcome., Patients and Methods: Twelve patients who were disease-free 5 years after diagnosis were matched and compared with 12 patients who died within 2 years. The presence of HPV, HPV type and viral load in their tumours was examined by PCR., Results: The distribution and load of HPV was similar in the 2 patient groups. HPV-16 was, however, significantly more common in tumours of the surviving patients than in those of patients who died (88.9% and 18.2%, respectively, p = 0.0152)., Conclusion: HPV-16 was significantly more common in early stage carcinomas of patients surviving more than 5 years in comparison to early stage carcinomas of patients with a poor prognosis.

We reviewed clinical and epidemiologic features of 56 human Capnocytophaga canimorsus isolates submitted during a 32-year period to California's Microbial Diseases Laboratory for identification. An increasing number of isolates identified as C. canimorsus have been submitted since 1990. Many laboratories still have difficulty correctly identifying this species.

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) in tonsillar carcinoma is correlated with favourable clinical outcome. Here, p16(INK4A), in situ HPV DNA hybridisation (ISH) and HPVL1 capsid detection were evaluated in tonsillar carcinoma to predict the response to radiotherapy (RT) and prognosis., Materials and Methods: Fifty-one pre-treatment paraffin-embedded tonsillar cancer biopsies were analysed. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used for p16(INK4A) and HPVL1 capsid analysis and PCR and ISH for HPV detection., Results: High-risk HPV DNA was detected by PCR in 49% of the tumours. P16(INK4a) staining was correlated to HPV In the high-grade p16(INK4a) staining group, 94% had a complete RT response. High p16(INK4a) staining as well as the HPV PCR-positive cases had a favourable prognosis. HPV DNA ISH and L1 IHC could not predict RT response or clinical outcome., Conclusion: P16(INK4a) overexpression was correlated to HPV in tonsillar carcinoma and is useful for predicting RT response and prognosis in tonsillar carcinoma patients.

Campylobacter curvus is a rarely encountered Campylobacter species in human, animal, and environmental samples. During the course of two investigations, one involving a search for possible bacterial agents causing bloody gastroenteritis and a second concerning a small outbreak of Brainerd's diarrhea in northern California, 20 strains of C. curvus or C. curvus-like organisms were isolated by a microfiltration technique and prolonged incubation. The results suggest that C. curvus may be an underappreciated Campylobacter that may be involved in sporadic and outbreak cases of bloody or chronic diarrhea in humans.

The frequency of human papilloma virus (HPV) and its influence on clinical outcome was analyzed retrospectively in pre-treatment paraffin embedded biopsies from 110 patients with tongue cancer. The presence of HPV DNA was examined in 85 mobile tongue tumors and 25 base of tongue tumors by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with 2 general primer pairs, GP5+/6+ and CPI/IIG. When HPV-DNA was found, HPV-type specific primers and direct sequencing were used for HPV sub-type verification. Twelve of 110 (10.9%) samples were HPV-positive; 9 for HPV-16, 1 for HPV-33, 1 for HPV-35 and 1 could not be analyzed because of shortage of DNA. HPV was significantly more common in base of tongue tumors (10/25, 40.0%) compared to tumors of the mobile tongue (2/85, 2.3%). The influence of HPV on clinical outcome in mobile tongue cancer could not be studied, due to that HPV was present in too few cases. Of the 19 patients with base of tongue cancer that were included in the survival analysis, however, 7 patients with HPV-positive base of tongue cancer had a significantly favorable 5-year survival rate compared to the 12 HPV-negative patients. In conclusion, HPV is significantly more common in base of tongue cancer than in mobile tongue cancer, and has a positive impact on disease-specific survival in patients with base of tongue cancer., ((c) 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Ten normal subjects were scanned identically at three separate sites (Little Rock, Houston, and New Orleans) to evaluate the reproducibility of brain metabolite ratios in single-voxel (1)H point-resolved spectroscopy sequence (PRESS) magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy in vivo. All scans were processed by a single individual at a single site. Coefficients of variation of the measured metabolite ratios generally were in the range found for previous single-voxel, single-site reproducibility studies. No differences were found among the sites for ratios of N-acetylaspartate to creatine (NAA/Cr) or choline to Cr (Cho/Cr) in left thalamus by multivariate ANOVA. Metabolite ratios of Cr or Cho relative to local brain H(2)O did not vary among the sites. However, by multivariate ANOVA, NAA/H(2)O differed between Little Rock and New Orleans, but not between those sites and Houston. Intraclass correlation coefficients suggested reasonable reproducibility between Little Rock and New Orleans, but not between those sites and Houston.

The purpose of this article is to review the current knowledge on the status and significance of human papillomavirus (HPV) in tonsillar cancer. Current data in scientific reports and data from the Karolinska Hospital and Karolinska Institute, Sweden, demonstrate that approximately half of all tonsillar cancer is HPV-positive. Moreover, patients with HPV-positive cancer have a lower risk of relapse and longer survival compared to patients with HPV-negative tonsillar cancer. The favourable outcome for patients harbouring HPV-positive tonsillar cancer cannot be attributed to increased radiosensitivity, since there is no significant difference in sensitivity to radiotherapy between HPV-positive and -negative tonsillar cancer. However, HPV-positive cancer exhibits less genetic instability i.e. shows a lower degree of aneuploidy and a tendency to have fewer chromosomal aberrations, when compared to HPV-negative tonsillar cancer.

Aim: The efficacy of a mechanical, gravity-independent resistance exercise (RE) system to induce strength gains and muscle hypertrophy was validated. Designed for space crew in orbit, this technique offers resistance during coupled concentric and eccentric actions by utilizing the inertia of a rotating flywheel(s), set in motion by the trainee., Methods: Ten middle-aged (30-53 years) men and women performed four sets of seven maximal, unilateral (left limb) knee extensions two or three times weekly for 5 weeks. Knee extensor force and electromyographic (EMG) activity of the three superficial quadriceps muscles were measured before and after this intervention. In addition, with the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), volume of individual knee extensor and ankle plantar flexor muscles was assessed., Results: Over the 12 training sessions, the average concentric (CON) and eccentric (ECC) force generated during exercise increased by 11% (P < 0.05). Likewise, maximal isometric strength (maximal voluntary contraction, MVC) at 90 and 120 degrees knee angle increased by (P < 0.05) 11 and 12% respectively, after training. Neither individual quadriceps muscle showed a change (P > 0.05) in maximal integrated EMG (iEMG) activity. Quadriceps muscle volume increased by 6.1% (P < 0.05). Although the magnitude of response varied, all individual quadriceps muscles showed increased (P < 0.05) volume after training. As expected, ankle plantar flexor volume of the trained limb was unchanged (P > 0.05). Likewise, MVC, CON and ECC force, iEMG and knee extensor and plantar flexor muscle volume were unaltered (P > 0.05) in the right, non-trained limb., Conclusion: The results of this study show that the present RE regimen produces marked muscle hypertrophy and important increases in maximal voluntary strength and appears equally effective as RE paradigms using gravity-dependent weights, in this regard.

Our objective was to examine attitudes on reporting alcohol-impaired drivers by physicians of different specialties who are most likely to treat motor vehicle crash (MVC) patients. Specific objectives included examining 1) degree of comfort with reporting to police or Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), 2) variability in attitudes across specialties surveyed, 3) perceived barriers to reporting, and 4) general attitudes on treating alcoholism. Physicians reported that they felt more comfortable with reporting to a medical review board of DMV than to police in all three of the case examples, which included treating a patient who is a clinically diagnosed alcohol-impaired MVC driver (66% DMV report, 36% police report), MVC driver at legal limit of blood alcohol concentration (63% DMV report, 32% police report), and an MVC driver with a very high blood alcohol concentration (81% DMV report, 53% police report). There was no difference between specialties in comfort with reporting, though emergency medicine physicians were less likely to screen and refer patients for counseling. The primary reasons given for not reporting an alcohol-impaired driver were physician-patient confidentiality and perceived threat of civil action by patients.

This study examines proliferative activity in tumor cells of patients with histologically documented invasive breast carcinoma treated with magnetic resonance-guided interstitial laser photocoagulation (MR-GILP). Immunohistochemical marker for proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), a nuclear protein abundant in actively proliferating cells, is used. The study demonstrates the effectiveness of MR-GILP in ablating tumor cells of infiltrating breast cancer. The diagnosis of infiltrating breast carcinoma was confirmed by core needle biopsies. Using a specially designed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device, rotating delivery of excitation off-resonance (RODEO), tumors were measured ranging from 1.8 to 4.0 cm in greatest dimension. Seven formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded archival tissues from seven patients with infiltrating carcinoma, status post-MR-GILP, were analyzed. Using PCNA immunoperoxidase (Biomeda Corp.), the proliferative capability of the remaining tumor cells around the focus of laser photocoagulation was determined. The lesions were digitally acquired using a Nikon Eclipse E800 microscope with an automated stage. Images were analyzed using Cool SNAP image editing software (version 1.0). Appropriate thresholds were set for positive staining and limited concentric radial measurements of equal area between all samples were compared at radial millimeter intervals from the center of laser ablation. The integrated area occupied by PCNA-positive cells per radial millimeter from the charcoal site (the center of the laser) increased as the distance from this site increased (a mean average at each radial measurement revealed: at the 1 mm radius the positive integrated area was 0.0024 mm2; at 2 mm, 0.0145 mm2; at 3 mm, 0.0351 mm2; at 4 mm, 0.0696 mm2; at 5 mm, 0.1025 mm2; and at 6 mm, 0.1263 mm2). MR-GILP is an effective mean of ablating breast carcinoma. This treatment option may represent an alternative to lumpectomy for a single lesion < or =1 cm, or make patients with two separate lesions eligible for lumpectomy.

The description of Massilia timonae, a nonfermentative aerobic gram-negative rod, was based on a single strain. A subsequent report of a second isolate has been recently published. Phenotypic descriptions of these two strains were based primarily on commercial test kit results. We have identified three additional strains as M. timonae by 16S rRNA sequence analysis and have characterized them phenotypically in parallel with the type strain of M. timonae, CIP 105350, by conventional test methods. A fourth strain, designated M. timonae-like, was also characterized. All four strains were isolated from human patients: two were blood isolates, one was isolated from cerebrospinal fluid, and one was isolated from bone. The four strains and the type strain were quite similar phenotypically. However, in contrast to the original description, the strains were found to be oxidase positive and arginine dihydrolase negative and to have lateral flagella as well as a single polar flagellum. Additionally the strains produced acid oxidatively from some carbohydrates. Other phenotypic characteristics, including cellular fatty acids, agreed with the original description. Based on our emended description, M. timonae and M. timonae-like strains can be differentiated from other aerobic nonfermentative gram-negative rods by conventional biochemical tests combined with cellular fatty acid analysis.

A tone conditioned stimulus (CS) previously paired with a grid shock unconditioned stimulus (US) can greatly enhance the early electromyographic (EMG) component (R1) of the rat eyeblink reflex. The hypothesis that the central nucleus of the amygdala (ACe) is an essential part of the circuitry mediating conditioned R1 enhancement was tested. After bilateral ACe lesions (L) or a sham operation (S), rats received paired presentations of the CS and US (P) or explicitly unpaired CS and US presentations (U), resulting in 4 groups: P/S, P/L, U/S, and U/L. ACe lesions completely prevented conditioned R1 enhancement, which was only exhibited in Group P/S. In the latter group, the "preextinction" conditioned enhancement effect was roughly a 2-fold increase in the R1 magnitude. Circuit-level mechanisms are discussed, and some advantages of the eyeblink EMG response in this general conditioning paradigm are considered.

We examined the size of the four muscles of the quadriceps femoris in young and old men and women to assess whether the vastus lateralis is an appropriate surrogate for the quadriceps femoris in human studies of aging skeletal muscle. Ten young (24 +/- 2 yr) and ten old (79 +/- 7 yr) sedentary individuals underwent magnetic resonance imaging of the quadriceps femoris after 60 min of supine rest. Volume (cm3) and average cross-sectional area (CSA, cm2) of the rectus femoris (RF), vastus lateralis (VL), vastus intermedius (VI), vastus medialis (VM), and the total quadriceps femoris were decreased (P < 0.05) in older compared with younger women and men. However, percentage of the total quadriceps femoris taken up by each muscle was similar (P > 0.05) between young and old (RF: 10 +/- 0.3 vs. 11 +/- 0.4; VL: 33 +/- 1 vs. 33 +/- 1; VI: 31 +/- 1 vs. 31 +/- 0.4; VM: 26 +/- 1 vs. 25 +/- 1%). These results suggest that each of the four muscles of the quadriceps femoris atrophy similarly in aging men and women. Our data support the use of vastus lateralis tissue to represent the quadriceps femoris muscle in aging research.

Fluorine-19 NMR spectra were acquired from extracts of tissues from heads of rats given the antipsychotic drug trifluoperazine (TFP). Contributions to the in vivo (19)F spectra from tissues other than brain were negligible. The in vivo (19)F resonance at -62.3 ppm from CCl(3)F consisted of 6-8 resolved resonances in vitro. Some in vitro resonances were assigned to previously identified TFP metabolites. Multiple resonances in vitro partially explain the relatively large line width seen in vivo for TFP. Unidentified metabolites were observed at about -74 to -75 ppm in a number of spectra of extracts of brain and muscle., (Copyright 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Localized in vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy at 4.7 T was used to examine the brains of rats that were given the antipsychotic drugs haloperidol, clozapine, or olanzapine for 1 week. Spectra were collected before and during treatment. The ratios of N-acetylaspartate (NAA) to creatine (Cr) and choline to Cr were determined from the spectra. No significant differences in these ratios were seen among the rats given the various antipsychotic medications or between the control rats and the treated rats. No significant time-dependent changes were seen in most cases, except for a small reduction of NAA/Cr after 7 days of olanzapine administration. These results suggest that differences in brain metabolite ratios in vivo in schizophrenics relative to controls, at least for short-term treatment, arise from the disease, and not as a metabolic effect of the medication.

The accuracy and performance of the revised MicroScan Rapid Gram-Negative Identification Type 3 Panel (Dade MicroScan Inc., West Sacramento, Calif.) were examined in a multicenter evaluation. The revised panel database includes data for 119 taxa covering a total of 150 species, with data for 12 new species added. Testing was performed in three phases: the efficacy, challenge, and reproducibility testing phases. A total of 405 fresh and stock gram-negative isolates comprising 54 species were tested in the efficacy phase; 96.8% of these species were identified correctly in comparison to the identification obtained either with the API 20E system (bioMérieux Vitek, Hazelwood, Mo.) or by the conventional tube method. The number of correctly identified isolates in the challenge phase, including new species added to the database, was 221 of 247, or 89.5%, in comparison to the number correctly identified by the conventional tube method. A total of 465 isolates were examined for intra- and interlaboratory identification reproducibility and gave an agreement of 464 of 465, or 99.8%. The overall reproducibility of each individual identification test or substrate was 14,373 of 14,384, or 99.9%. The new Rapid Gram-Negative Identification Type 3 Panel gave accurate and highly reproducible results in this multiple-laboratory evaluation.

The phenotypic and genetic characteristics of spirochetes isolated from the blood of one U.S. and six French patients with severe clinical disease or impaired immunity were examined. All spirochetes were anaerobic, weakly beta-hemolytic, positive for hippurate hydrolysis, and negative for beta-glucosidase activity. Cell lengths ranged from 4 to 8 microm, and each isolate had between 8 and 12 periplasmic flagella per cell. These features were consistent with the spirochetes' being Serpulina pilosicoli, the agent of intestinal spirochetosis. All isolates were positive in a PCR assay amplifying a portion of the S. pilosicoli 16S rRNA gene, and they all grouped with fecal isolates of S. pilosicoli in multilocus enzyme electrophoresis (MLEE). The blood isolates could be differentiated from each other by MLEE, although the U.S. and two French isolates were closely related. Apparently S. pilosicoli may translocate from the large intestine to establish spirochetemia. The clinical significance of this finding remains uncertain and requires further investigation.

The American screwworm, Cochliomyia hominivorax Coquerel, was detected in northwestern Libya in 1988. By August 1990, a screwworm epizootic extended over 26,000 km2 but collapsed in December and disappeared in April 1991. The relative contributions of winter weather and sterile insect releases on screwworm eradication in Libya were assessed by using temperature data and population demography. A screwworm overwintering threshold mean temperature of approximately 9.7 degrees C for 3 mo is supported strongly by published experimental and epizootiological data. In Libya, temperatures were above this overwintering threshold at Zawia, Sorman, and Tripoli weather stations. At Gharyan, in the interior highlands, mean winter temperatures from 1 December 1990 to 28 February 1991 were less than the putative overwintering threshold. No kill of screwworm pupae or adults was likely as a result of low temperatures near any weather station in the winter of 1990-1991. Evidence of screwworm overwintering in 1990-1991 was provided by the detection of a natural infestation in April and trap captures of numerous wild adult females in February, March, and April. Successful screwworm overwintering was highly probable in the coastal plain of Libya but unlikely in much of the interior highlands. The high rate of animal inspections by eradication personnel achieved as much as a 30% chance of detecting a screwworm case in domestic animals. Generation times and expectation of life among feral adult flies were estimated. Case reports for January to June 1991 were consistently less than estimates based on historical experience in Libya 1989-1990 and in Texas 1962-1983. Phenological simulations of sterile mating rates in feral screwworm flies supports the contention that sterile fly releases led to a greatly reduced case incidence from January to the time that eradication was declared in October 1991.

Difficulties were encountered in the recognition of a nutritionally deficient streptococcus which continued to display aberrant morphologic forms (especially bulbous swellings and filament formation) despite provision of growth factors. With isolates displaying diverse morphologic entities not characteristic of a given species, e.g., Streptobacillus moniliformis or Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae, nutritionally deficient streptococci should be considered.

The GABAA receptor, as assessed by ligand binding and chloride flux measurement in vivo and in vitro, is down-regulated in response to chronic benzodiazepine exposure. The mRNA levels of the alpha 1 and gamma 2 subunits of the receptor are also reduced. We have isolated the promoter of the gene encoding the alpha 1 subunit of the GABAA receptor to elucidate the regulatory mechanism of its expression. A DNA segment 650 bp long has been isolated that includes 151 bp of untranslated 5' end of the cDNA sequence and 500 bp of potential promoter-enhancer region. The transcriptional activity of this DNA segment linked to the firefly luciferase gene showed a strong orientation specificity. The promoter activity was localized to a 60-bp segment by deletion mapping. Mobility shift binding assay results suggest that this segment may interact with one or more factors in HeLa cell nuclear extracts to form a transcriptional complex. Primary cultures of embryonic chick cortical cells transfected with the promoter-luciferase construct were treated chronically with lorazepam. Transcriptional activity of this promoter construct was strongly repressed by chronic administration of lorazepam.

We investigated the phenotypic, structural, and pathogenic properties of 11 Aeromonas schubertii strains recovered from extraintestinal sites. Most A. schubertii strains were autoagglutination positive, possessed a high surface charge but low hydrophobicity, and fell into one or two biogroups on the basis of carbon substrate utilization patterns. Fatty acid methyl ester analysis of A. schubertii revealed this species to contain a relatively high percentage of branched fatty acids (i-13:0, i-15:0, i-17:1, i-17:0) compared with A. hydrophila. Immunologic and biochemical analysis of the lipopolysaccharides of A. schubertii strains allowed for two groups to be distinguished, namely, (i) a collection of six strains belonging to serogroup O:11 that possessed a characteristic homogeneous O polysaccharide side chain profile by silver staining and immunoblotting techniques and (ii) a second antigenically diverse group (five strains) that either exhibited a heterogeneous side chain profile or were side chain deficient. A, schubertii O:11 strains were all found to contain a 55-kDa major protein associated with the outer membrane fraction which was glycine-hydrochloride extractable; non-O:11 strains did not harbor a similar protein molecule. Screening of A. schubertii strains for reputed virulence factors indicated (i) that slightly more than half of the isolates produce an apparent contact-dependent hemolysin that is not cell associated or released extracellularly, (ii) a potent cytotoxin active against HEp-2 cells that is devoid of hemolytic activity, and (iii) lack of enterotoxigeniclike activity as determined by suckling mouse assays. All A. schubertii strains were pathogenic for mice as determined by 50% lethal dose assays, although no single factor correlated with mouse pathogenicity.

The New World Screwworm (NWS, Cochliomyia hominivorax) is an obligate parasite of warm-blooded animals. The female lays up to 300 eggs in any break in the skin, and the resulting larvae (screwworms) burrow into surrounding living flesh. Infested animals frequently die, while the annual cost of controlling the pest in domestic animals is about US $10 per head. NWS is endemic in tropical Latin America. In 1988, it was detected in Libya, presumable introduced with imported sheep. By 1990, the infestation had spread to an area of 25,000 km2 containing some 2 million livestock. In early 1991, an internationally funded eradication programme was undertaken by FAO, using sterile insects. Each week, 40 million pupae were flown from a production plant in Mexico, and the emerged adults were distributed by over the infested area. Within a few months, the infestation has been eradicated. Whereas 12,000 infested animals were found in 1990, only 6 were detected in 1991. The programme involved the shipping and distribution of 1.3 billion sterile insects, animal inspections totalling 40 million and laboratory examination of 280,000 trapped flies. While the programme cost close to US $75 million, a benefit/cost ration of 50:1 has been estimated.

The New World screwworm fly, Cochliomyia hominivorax (Coquerel) (Diptera: Calliphoridae), became established in the Old World for the first time during 1988, in the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. An obligate parasite of mammals in its larval stages, causing wound myiasis, it is one of the most serious insect pests of livestock in the Americas. To avert a major disaster for the livestock industry and wildlife of Africa and southern Europe, the Libyan Government and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations launched a massive screwworm eradication programme, based on the sterile insect technique, SIT. An initial containment operation involved veterinary teams working in the infested area (25,000 km2 around Tripoli), regularly inspecting livestock and, if necessary, treating them with insecticide. Quarantine stations were also set up, to prevent the movement of infested livestock out of the area. Sterile flies from the Mexican-American Commission for Eradication of Screwworms were first released in December 1990 at the rate of 3.5 million per week. This built up to 40 million per week by May 1991. The release of sterile flies was terminated on 17 October 1991, 6 months after the last detected case of screwworm myiasis in Libya. Intensive surveillance and quarantine activities will, however, continue through 1992. During 1992 the Libyan Government should be able to officially declare the New World screwworm eradicated from Libya, making it one of the most important success stories of pest control.

An outbreak of Pontiac fever occurred among 34 of 56 people attending conferences at a hotel in Santa Clara County, California, in 1988. Two groups had an acute febrile upper respiratory illness, with a mean attack rate of 82% and a mean incubation period of 56 hours. Symptoms resolved spontaneously within 5 days. Legionella anisa, which had not previously been associated with outbreaks of Pontiac fever or legionnaires' disease, was isolated from a decorative fountain in the hotel lobby. In addition, 5 of 8 pairs of serum samples from cases showed a more than fourfold rise in antibody titre to the L anisa recovered from the fountain. 42% of hotel employees had titres greater than or equal to 256 against L anisa, whereas none of 48 serum samples from matched controls had titres greater than or equal to 128. The findings raise concern about water treatment protocols for extent of disease that might be caused by exposure to aerosols containing L anisa and other Legionella species.

Two-day-old rats were given unilateral lesions of the caudate-putamen, globus pallidus, or hippocampus and their postural orientation was observed for 30 min immediately after surgery. All groups with damage to the caudate-putamen and/or globus pallidus showed a significant postural deviation toward the side ipsilateral to the lesion. At this age, neurogenesis in the basal ganglia is complete but synapses, neurotransmitters, and enzymes for neurotransmitter synthesis are far below adult levels. These results indicate that the basal ganglia have a role in motor function prior to their full maturation as measured by neuroanatomical and biochemical techniques.

A new species of bacteria that is an etiologic agent of human pneumonia has been isolated and characterized. Clinical symptoms of infection with this organism are not readily distinguishable from those caused by Legionella pneumophila infection. The organism was isolated from respiratory tract specimens from four patients. Two cases of infection apparently originated in California and one in Georgia, and a fourth was of unknown geographic origin. The name Legionella longbeachae species nova is proposed for this organism. The type strain of L. longbeachae is Long Beach 4 (= American Type Culture Collection 33462).

Using bone marrow smears of the type prepared routinely in clinical practice, we determined megakaryocyte ploidy distributions in five normal persons, eight patients with both normal platelet counts and normal bone marrow morphology, and 18 patients with quantitative platelet disorders. To include 2N and 4N megakaryocytes in the ploidy distribution histograms, all megakaryocytes were identified by serial immunologic labelling with rabbit antiserum to human platelet glycoproteins and rhodamine-conjugated goat anti-rabbit igG. Cell nuclei were concurrently Feulgen stained with bis-aminophenyl-oxdiazole, and the nuclear fluorescent signals were quantified photometrically. A modal megakaryocyte ploidy value of 32N was seen in 10 of the 13 persons with normal platelet counts, and geometric mean megakaryocyte ploidy values averaged 24.9N +/- 7.0N (arithmetic mean +/- SD). In these normal control individuals, 2N and 4N megakaryocytes accounted for 11.1% of all megakaryocytes, and 2.6% of the megakaryocytes were 128N. Shifts to a higher mean ploidy were observed in five of seven patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, resulting from increased percentages of 64N and 128N megakaryocytes at the expense of 4N, 8N, and 16N cells. Shifts to lower ploidy were demonstrated in two patients with acute myelogenous leukemia and one patient each with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura and isoimmune thrombocytopenia. Four of five patients with essential thrombocythemia had strikingly abnormal megakaryocyte ploidy histograms characterized by the presence of unusually high ploidy 256N and 512N megakaryocytes. These 256N and 512N cells were virtually unique to the patients with essential thrombocythemia.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

A Legionella-like organism (strain 82A3105; ATCC 43736) was isolated from a lung aspirate taken from a patient with pneumonia. Results of physiologic, gas-liquid chromatographic, genetic, and serologic tests showed that strain 82A3105 and four additional clinical isolates belong to a new Legionella pneumophila serogroup, serogroup 13.

A strain of Legionella pneumophila (designated Concord 3) was isolated from a postmortem lung specimen of a patient with pneumonia. Direct fluorescent-antibody and immunoelectrophoresis tests, using absorbed and unabsorbed reagents prepared to this and other strains of legionellae, indicated that the Concord 3 strain represents a new serogroup of L. pneumophila, serogroup 8.

Legionella gormanii, previously isolated only from the environment, was grown from the bronchial brush specimen of a patient with pneumonia. The organism was characterized by serologic, biochemical, and DNA hybridization studies.

Serum has been shown to have an inhibitory effect on the growth of human megakaryocyte colony-forming units (CFU-Meg), both in the methylcellulose and plasma clot systems. Charcoal-dextran (CD) treatment of fetal bovine serum (FBS), a method that is known to adsorb free hormones and various other substances from their protein-bound counterparts, has been used for the improvement of human erythroid colony growth. We now report a CD treatment of FBS to improve human CFU-Meg growth, using a modified plasma clot colony assay. We found 22.9 +/- 1.9 (SEM) colonies in cultures containing CD-treated FBS, as compared to 7.1 +/- 0.9 colonies with control FBS (different at p less than or equal to 0.0001). Serum treated with dextran alone produced 5.0 +/- 1.6 colonies, which did not differ from control FBS. Cultures containing CD-treated human AB serum, human AB plasma, and citrated bovine plasma yielded significantly (p less than 0.05) fewer colonies than those with CD-treated FBS. Endotoxin, cortisol, T3, T4, insulin, estradiol, testosterone, and erythropoietin levels were not changed in a consistent direction by the CD treatment. Our treatment of FBS with CD allows improved growth of human CFU-Meg colonies and likely represents the removal of an as-yet-undefined inhibitor(s) of CFU-Meg. This technique provides the ability to assay for stimulators or potentiators less hampered by the influence of an undefined inhibitor(s).