Carrageenans from Australian representatives of the family Cystocloniaceae (Gigartinales, Rhodophyta), with description of Calliblepharis celatospora sp. nov., and transfer of Austroclonium to the family Areschougiaceae

Ten Australian representatives from seven of the 10 genera presently constituting the family Cystolcloniaceae have been analyzed for their cell-wall galactans. Included in our survey are the monotypic Australian-endemic genera Austroclonium, Gloiophyllis, Erythronaema, and Stictosporum, one species of Craspedocarpus, three species of Rhodophyllis, and two species of Calliblepharis. As one of the species of the latter genus is endemic to Western Australia and presently undescribed, we illustrate its habit and anatomical features in formally proposing to name it Calliblepharis celatospora Kraft, sp. nov. All the species surveyed essentially produce typical iota (iota)-carrageenans, with the exception of Austroclonium. The sulfated galactans from Austroclonium predominantly contain the repeating units of iota-, alpha (alpha)-, and 6'-O-methylated iota- and alpha-carrageenans; whether these exist as discrete polysaccharides or a complex hybrid structure was not resolved. Thus, Austroclonium carrageenans resemble the polysaccharides from Rhabdonia, Areschougia, and Erythroclonium. Although these latter three genera are currently included in the large gigartinalean family Solieriaceae, all produce significantly different carrageenans from Solieria itself and related genera such as Eucheuma, Kappaphycus, Betaphycus, Sarcodiotheca, Agardhiella, Sarconema, and Callophycus. In consideration of these findings, as well as of significant anatomical similarities, we provisionally recommend reestablishment of the family Rhabdoniaceae Kylin (as the family Areschougiaceae J. Agardh) for Rhabdonia, Areschougia, Erythroclonium, and Austroclonium.

Methadone maintenance treatment reduces heroin injection in New South Wales prisons

The purpose of this study was to examine whether methadone maintenance treatment reduces injecting risk behaviour land therefore transmission of blood-borne viral infections) among prisoners in New South Wales (NSW), using comparison of retrospective reports of drug use in prisons for people who received standard drug treatment, time-limited methadone treatment and methadone maintenance treatment, The setting for the study was the NSW prison system. One hundred and eighty-five injecting drug users who had been recently released from NSW prisons were recruited in 1993, Self-reported drug use and injecting risk behaviour were compared in inmates who received standard drug treatment (counselling), time-limited methadone treatment and methadone maintenance treatment. HIV status was determined by serology, Intervention comprised high and low dose methadone treatment and counselling. The groups were similar in terms of most basic demographic characteristics but subjects who had been maintained on methadone reported a significantly lower prevalence of heroin injection, syringe sharing and scored lower on an HIV Risk-taking Behavioural Scale than subjects who received standard drug treatment and time-limited methadone treatment, This study suggests that methadone treatment is associated with reduced injecting risk behaviour in prison with adequate (greater than 60 mg) dose and duration in treatment. These treatment conditions are known to increase effectiveness in community-based methadone programmes. Prospective studies are required to evaluate the effectiveness of methadone programmes in the prevention of HIV and other blood-borne viral infections among IDU prisoners.

The management of elderly patients with femoral fractures - A randomised controlled trial of early intervention versus standard care

Objective: To determine the effect of an early intervention program in an acute care setting on the length of stay in hospital of elderly patients with proximal femoral fractures. Setting: Acute orthopaedic ward of a large teaching hospital. Design and Participants: A randomised controlled trial comparing 38 intervention patients with 33 Standard Care patients. Intervention: Early surgery, minimal narcotic analgesia, intense daily therapy and close monitoring of patient needs via a multidisciplinary approach versus routine hospital management. Main outcome measures: Length of stay (LOS); deaths; level of independent functioning. Results: Mean LOS was shorter in the Intervention group than in the Standard Care group (21 days v. 32.5 days; P<0.01). After adjusting for other factors that could affect LOS (e.g. age, sex, pre-trauma functional levels, pre-trauma comorbidity and postsurgical complications), the Intervention program was significantly predictive of shorter LOS (P=0.01). The Intervention group did not experience greater numbers of deaths, deterioration in function or need for social support than the Standard Care group. Conclusion: This early intervention program in an acute care setting results in significantly shorter length of hospital stay for elderly patients with femoral fractures.

Tailored advice on exercise - Does it make a difference?

Objectives: A controlled trial to compare the effectiveness of verbal advice from a family physician (FP) combined with either standard or tailored written information on physical activity in increasing the levels of physical activity in sedentary patients. Design: Sedentary patients (n = 763) were recruited through ten family practices and allocated to a control group or one of two intervention groups, Brief advice on physical activity was given by the FP during the consultation and either a standard or tailored pamphlet was mailed to the home address of patients assigned to the intervention groups within two days of their visit to the FP. Results: The response to follow-up, via a postal survey at one, six, and twelve months after the index consultation was 70%, 60%, and 57%, respectively. Treating all nonresponders as sedentary, the results revealed that although more tailored subjects reported some physical activity at each follow-up compared with the standard group, these differences were not significant, Furthermore, there was no significant difference in movement across the stages of readiness to exercise at follow-up between subjects in the tailored group who received material targeting their current stage (precontemplation or contemplation) and the standard group who received generic material that addressed both stages. Conclusion: These findings do not concur with the results from previous research in the areas of nutrition and smoking cessation where additional benefits were seen with a tailored intervention. Future research on the application of the principles of tailoring to the promotion of physical activity should focus on identifying which, if any, physical, social, psychological or environmental variables should be addressed to produce improved outcomes over and above the effects of well designed generic materials. (C) 1999 American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

The functional outcome of children after a burn injury: A pilot study

Assessment of functional outcome can be used as a measure of the effectiveness of intervention during recovery from a burn injury. This pilot study identifies the factors that are likely to be most important for determining standardized functional outcome measures for children after a burn injury; it highlights the contribution of these factors to variations in children's postburn outcomes. A focus group of 8 parents and a self-report questionnaire administered to 12 children and 13 parents were the means of obtaining information for this exploratory study. Itching was found to be one of the primary impairments that contributed to reduced functional outcome during skin healing after a burn injury. The activities of children who had been burned that were most frequently affected by the injury (as reported by parents) were schoolwork and sports; these were closely followed by sleeping, playing with other children, and unliked activities. Least affected activities were enjoying the family, eating, seeing friends, watching television, and bathing or showering. Eighty-five percent of parents reported at least some level of interference with the listed daily activities. Burn injuries are likely to cause interference with several aspects of a patient's daily life. As a result, families require ongoing support and monitoring. Further research should longitudinally compare the performance of children who have been burned with other children and adolescents.

Plant cyclotides: A unique family of cyclic and knotted proteins that defines the cyclic cystine knot structural motif

Several macrocyclic peptides (similar to 30 amino acids), with diverse biological activities, have been isolated from the Rubiaceae and Violaceae plant families over recent years. We have significantly expanded the range of known macrocyclic peptides with the discovery of 16 novel peptides from extracts of Viola hederaceae, Viola odorata and Oldenlandia affinis. The Viola plants had not previously been examined for these peptides and thus represent novel species in which these unusual macrocyclic peptides are produced. Further, we have determined the three-dimensional struc ture of one of these novel peptides, cycloviolacin O1, using H-1 NMR spectroscopy. The structure consists of a distorted triple-stranded beta-sheet and a cystine-knot arrangement of the disulfide bonds. This structure is similar to kalata B1 and circulin A, the only two macrocyclic peptides for which a structure was available, suggesting that despite the sequence variation throughout the peptides they form a family in which the overall fold is conserved. We refer to these peptides as the cyclotide family and their embedded topology as the cyclic cystine knot (CCK) motif. The unique cyclic and knotted nature of these molecules makes them a fascinating example of topologically complex proteins. Examination of the sequences reveals they can be separated into two subfamilies, one of which tends to contain a larger number of positively charged residues and has a bracelet-like circularization of the backbone. The second subfamily contains a backbone twist due to a cis-Pro peptide bond and may conceptually be regarded as a molecular Moebius strip. Here we define the structural features of the two apparent subfamilies of the CCK peptides which may be significant for the likely defense related role of these peptides within plants. (C) 1999 Academic Press.

What the evolution of the amyloid protein precursor supergene family tells us about its function

The Alzheimer's disease amyloid protein precursor (APP) gene is part of a multi-gene super-family from which sixteen homologous amyloid precursor-like proteins (APLP) and APP species homologues have been isolated and characterised. Comparison of exon structure (including the uncharacterised APL-1 gene), construction of phylogenetic trees, and analysis of the protein sequence alignment of known homologues of the APP super-family were performed to reconstruct the evolution of the family and to assess the functional significance of conserved protein sequences between homologues. This analysis supports an adhesion function for all members of the APP super family, with specificity determined by those sequences which are not conserved between APLP lineages, and provides evidence for an increasingly complex APP superfamily during evolution. The analysis also suggests that Drosophila APPL and Caenorhabdotids elegans APL-1 may be a fourth APLP lineage indicating that these proteins, while not functional homologues of human APP, are similarly likely to regulate cell adhesion. Furthermore, the beta A4 sequence is highly conserved only in APP orthologues, strongly suggesting this sequence is of significant functional importance in this lineage. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sulfite : Cytochrome c oxidoreductase from Thiobacillus novellus - Purification, characterization, and molecular biology of a heterodimeric member of the sulfite oxidase family

Direct oxidation of sulfite to sulfate occurs in various photo- and chemotrophic sulfur oxidizing microorganisms as the final step in the oxidation of reduced sulfur compounds and is catalyzed by sulfite:cytochrome c oxidoreductase (EC 1.8.2.1), Here we show that the enzyme from Thiobacillus novellus is a periplasmically located alpha beta heterodimer, consisting of a 40.6-kDa subunit containing a molybdenum cofactor and an 8.8-kDa monoheme cytochrome c(552) smbunit (midpoint redox potential, Em(8.0) = +280 mV), The organic component of the molybdenum cofactor was identified as molybdopterin contained in a 1:1 ratio to the Mo content of the enzyme. Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy revealed the presence of a sulfite-inducible Mo(V) signal characteristic of sulfite:acceptor oxidoreductases. However, pH-dependent changes in the electron paramagnetic resonance signal were not detected. Kinetic studies showed that the enzyme exhibits a ping-pong mechanism involving two reactive sites. K-m values for sulfite and cytochrome c(550) were determined to be 27 and 4 mu M, respectively; the enzyme was found to be reversibly inhibited by sulfate and various buffer ions. The sorAB genes, which encode the enzyme, appear to form an operon, which is preceded by a putative extracytoplasmic function-type promoter and contains a hairpin loop termination structure downstream of sorB. While SorA exhibits significant similarities to known sequences of eukaryotic and bacterial sulfite:acceptor oxidoreductases, SorB does not appear to be closely related to any known c-type cytochromes.

Effects of a program of intervention on parental distress following infant death

A longitudinal study of 144 patents (65 fathers, 79 mothers) was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of a program of intervention in relieving the psychological distress of parents affected by infant death. Participants were assessed in terms of their psychiatric disturbance, depression, anxiety, physical symptoms, dyadic adjustment, and coping strategies. The experimental group (n = 84) was offered an intervention program comprising the use of specially designed resources and contact with a trained grief worker. A control group (n = 60) was given routine community care. Parental reactions were assessed at four to six weeks postloss (prior to the implementation of the intervention program), at six months postloss, and at 15 months postloss. A series of multivariate analyses of valiance revealed that the intervention was effective in reducing the distress of parents, particularly those assessed prior to the intervention as being at high-risk of developing mourning difficulties. Effects of the intervention were noted in terms of parents' overall psychiatric disturbance, marital quality, and paternal coping strategies.

Discovery and characterization of a family of insecticidal neurotoxins with a rare vicinal disulfide bridge

We have isolated a family of insect-selective neurotoxins from the venom of the Australian funnel-web spider that appear to be good candidates for biopesticide engineering. These peptides, which we have named the Janus-faced atracotoxins (J-ACTXs), each contain 36 or 37 residues, with four disulfide bridges, and they show no homology to any sequences in the protein/DNA databases. The three-dimensional structure of one of these toxins reveals an extremely rare vicinal disulfide bridge that we demonstrate to be critical for insecticidal activity. We propose that J-ACTX comprises an ancestral protein fold that we refer to as the disulfide-directed beta-hairpin.

High HIV incidence and prevalence among young women in rural South Africa: Developing a cohort for intervention trials

Objective: To measure prevalence and model incidence of HIV infection. Setting: 2013 consecutive pregnant women attending public sector antenatal clinics in 1997 in Hlabisa health district, South Africa. Historical seroprevalence data, 1992-1995. Methods: Serum remaining from syphilis testing was tested anonymously for antibodies to HIV to determine seroprevalence. Two models, allowing for differential mortality between HIV-positive and HIV-negative people, were used. The first used serial seroprevalence data to estimate trends in annual incidence. The second, a maximum likelihood model, took account of changing force of infection and age-dependent risk of infection, to estimate age-specific HIV incidence in 1997. Multiple logistic regression provided adjusted odds ratios (OR) for risk factors for prevalent HIV infection. Results: Estimated annual HIV incidence increased from 4% in 1992/1993 to 10% in 1996/1997. In 1997, highest age-specific incidence was 16% among women aged between 20 and 24 years. in 1997, overall prevalence was 26% (95% confidence interval [CI], 24%-28%) and at 34% was highest among women aged between 20 and 24 years. Young age (<30 years; odds ratio [OR], 2.1; p = .001), unmarried status (OR 2.2; p = .001) and living in less remote parts of the district (OR 1.5; p = .002) were associated with HIV prevalence in univariate analysis. Associations were less strong in multivariate analysis. Partner's migration status was not associated with HIV infection. Substantial heterogeneity of HIV prevalence by clinic was observed (range 17%-31%; test for trend, p = .001). Conclusions: This community is experiencing an explosive HIV epidemic. Young, single women in the more developed parts of the district would form an appropriate cohort to test, and benefit from, interventions such as vaginal microbicides and HIV vaccines.

Social-cognitive and perceived environment influences associated with physical activity in older Australians

Background, Regular physical activity in older adults can facilitate healthy aging, improve functional capacity, and prevent disease. However, factors associated with physical inactivity in older populations are poorly understood. This study attempts to identify social-cognitive and perceived environmental influences associated with physical activity participation in older populations. Methods. In a randomly selected sample of 449 Australian adults age 60 and older, we assessed self-reported physical activity and a range of social-cognitive and perceived environmental factors. Respondents were classified as sufficiently active and inactive based on energy expenditure estimates (kcal/week) derived from self-reported physical activity. Two logistic regression models, with and without self-efficacy included, were conducted to identify modifiable independent predictors of physical activity. Results. Significantly more males than females were physically active. Physical activity participation was related to age with a greater proportion of those age 65-69 being active than those age 60-64 or 70 or older. High self-efficacy, regular participation of friends and family, finding footpaths safe for walking, and access to local facilities were significantly associated with being active. Conclusion. Identifying predictors of physical activity in older populations, particularly social support, facility access, and neighbourhood safety, can inform the development of policy and intervention strategies to promote the health of older people. (C) 2000 American Health Foundation and Academic Press.