Ultrastructure of the ovary of Dermatobia hominis (Diptera: Cuterebridae): III. Gonial cell degeneration

We studied the ultrastructural aspects of pre-pupae and pupae ovaries of Dermatobia hominis. Physiological degeneration of gonial cells was observed: (a) after the ovarioles differentiation, in the oogonia residing in the apical region of the ovary; (b) at the beginning of vitellogenesis, in the cystoblasts close to the terminal filament. The significance of gonial cell degeneration was correlated with the physiological changes wich occur in the ovary during development.

Parasitismo natural de bufalinos em Botucatu, SP, Brasil: III. Dinâmica do parasitismo gastro-intestinal em vacas e suas crias

Gastro-intestinal parasitism of 24 buffalo cows before parturition, and post-parturition, their infection and that of their respective calves during the following 30 weeks were studied. Willis, Hoffmann and whenever possible, the modified Gordon & Whitlock techniques were used for fecal examinations. Toxocara vitulorum eggs were the earliest forms encountered in calves feces, as follows: during the 1st week after birth, 58.33% of the calves were positive, and in the 4th week, 100% of these animals were positive. Eggs of Strongyloides sp were in the 1st week after birth in two of the calves and in the 5th week, all for them were positive. The next parasites to appear were the Coccidia of which oocysts were detected in the feces of two calves in the 2nd week after birth, and 58.33% of the calves were positive for these in the 3rd week, and in the 6th week, all calves shed oocysts in their feces. On the other hand, eggs of Strongylids were the last forms to appear in calves feces. However, despite their sporadic appearance in the feces, eggs of these parasites were observed continuously from the 11th week onwards, and at this point, the percentage of positive samples began to increase to reach its peak. Relatively to adult animals, eggs of T. vitulorum were observed in the feces of 11 cows, one or twice at most; eggs of Strongyloides sp were seen only once in the feces of four buffalo cows and eggs of Strongylids in 21 out of 24 cows. Oocysts of Coccidia were observed in 16 cows. Mechanisms of infestation of calves with these parasites are discussed.

Estudos bionômicos de Dipetalogaster maximus (Uhler, 1894) (Hemiptera, Reduviidae, Triatominae): III. Dinâmica populacional

A population dynamics study of D. maximus was caried out under laboratory condictions (28-C e 65% ñ 5% U.R.) and the methodology was the same that have been used for hearing this insects. In order to evaluate the population growth rate of this species, during a 24 months period, five colonies started with a couple recently emerged were observed. Each couple (a male and a female) was mantained in a glass container measuring 20 cm of diameter and 20 cm in height with filter paper on the botton. The insects were monthly feeding with normal mice blood, and at this day the number of eggs, nymphal stages and adults was registered. All graphical representations of the populations growth rate showed the same shape. It was found that the average of nymphal stage represented 64.31% of the hole population whereas the oviposition curved showed to be inverse to this one (28.57%) a small percentage of adults was found: males 3.85% and females 3.12%. In this study observations on the biologycal cycle, longevity and fertility rates were also carried out.

Post-traumatic mutism in children: clinical characteristics, pattern of recovery and clinicopathological correlations.

Among the numerous clinical syndromes observed after severe traumatic head injury, post-traumatic mutism is a disorder rarely reported in adults and not studied in any detail in children. We report seven children between the ages of 3 1/2 and 14 years who sustained severe head injury and developed post-traumatic mutism. We aim to give a precise clinical characterization of this disorder, discuss differential diagnosis and correlations with brain imaging and suggest its probable neurological substrate. After a coma lasting from 5 to 25 days, the seven patients who suffered from post-traumatic mutism went through a period of total absence of verbal production lasting from 5 to 94 days, associated with the recovery of non-verbal communication skills and emotional vocalization. During the first days after the recovery of speech, all patients were able to produce correct small sentences with a hypophonic and monotonous voice, moderate dysarthria, word finding difficulties but no signs of aphasia, and preserved oral comprehension. The neurological signs in the acute phase (III nerve paresis in three of seven patients, signs of autonomic dysfunctions in five of seven patients), the results of the brain imaging and the experimental animal data all suggest the involvement of mesencephalic structures as playing a key role in the aetiology of post-traumatic mutism.

Sleep structure and cardiometabolic disorders in the general population : the Hypnolaus study

Objectives: Previous studies using subjective assessments have reported associations between sleep quantity and quality and cardiometabolic disorders, but little is known regarding the associ-ations with objective sleep characteristics. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between objective sleep measure sand metabolic syndrome (MS), hypertension, diabetes and obesity. Methods: 2162 subjects (51.2% women, mean age 58,11.1) from the general population were evaluated for hypertension,diabetes, overweight/obesity and MS, and underwent a full polysom-nography (PSG). PSG measured variables included: Total sleep time(TST), percentage and time spent in slow wave sleep (SWS) and in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, sleep efficiency and arousal index(ArI) Results: In univariate analyses, MS was associated with decreased TST, SWS, REM sleep, sleep efficiency and increased ArI. After adjustment for age, gender, smoking, alcohol, physical activity, drugsthat affect sleep and depression, the ArI remained significantly higher, but the difference disappeared in subjects without significant sleep disordered breathing (SDB). Differences in sleep structure were also found according to the presence or absence of hypertension, diabetes and overweight/obesity in univariate analysis. However, these differences were attenuated after multivariate adjustment and after excluding subjects with significant SDB. Conclusions: In this population-based sample we found significant associations between sleep structure and MS, hypertension, diabetes and obesity. However, these associations were cancelled after multivariate adjustment. We conclude that normal variations in sleep contribute little if any to MS and associated disorders.

Parasite and egg burden, hepatic collagen and histologic pattern of liver granulomas in selection III high and low antibody responder mice infected with Schistosoma mansoni

Selection III mice have particular immunological characteristics: they are high (H III) or low (L III) antibody producer animals, yet both lines display similar T cell responses and macrophage activities. We submittedthese mice to infection with Schistosoma mansoni to assess in vivo parasite and egg burden, hepatic collagen and cellular composition of granulomas in both lines. Titration of anti-Schistosoma IgG by ELISA showed remarkably higher values inH III line, at both studied periods (8th and 12th weeks post-infection). Nevertheless, the number of adult worms recovered from the portal system was similar inboth lines, being not associated with anti-Schistosoma antibody levels. There isan increase in hepatic collagen from the 8th to the 12th weeks post-infection, which is paralleled by an increase in the number of eggs in the liver. This association apparently occurs at the same radio in H III and L III animals. The most important difference found between the two lines was the outstanding contrast interms of volume and eosinophil counts in the granulomas, with lesions from H IIImice clearly being larger and containing more of these cells than LIII lesions.

Inter-informant agreement and prevalence estimates for substance use disorders: direct interview versus family history method.

OBJECTIVES: Family studies typically use multiple sources of information on each individual including direct interviews and family history information. The aims of the present study were to: (1) assess agreement for diagnoses of specific substance use disorders between direct interviews and the family history method; (2) compare prevalence estimates according to the two methods; (3) test strategies to approximate prevalence estimates according to family history reports to those based on direct interviews; (4) determine covariates of inter-informant agreement; and (5) identify covariates that affect the likelihood of reporting disorders by informants. METHODS: Analyses were based on family study data which included 1621 distinct informant (first-degree relatives and spouses) - index subject pairs. RESULTS: Our main findings were: (1) inter-informant agreement was fair to good for all substance disorders, except for alcohol abuse; (2) the family history method underestimated the prevalence of drug but not alcohol use disorders; (3) lowering diagnostic thresholds for drug disorders and combining multiple family histories increased the accuracy of prevalence estimates for these disorders according to the family history method; (4) female sex of index subjects was associated with higher agreement for nearly all disorders; and (5) informants who themselves had a history of the same substance use disorder were more likely to report this disorder in their relatives, which entails the risk of overestimation of the size of familial aggregation. CONCLUSION: Our findings have important implications for the best-estimate procedure applied in family studies.

A measure of the intensity of response to alcohol to screen for alcohol use disorders in primary care.

Alcohol-dependent subjects tend to report lower level of response to alcohol (LR) in the years before the disorder developed, compared to control subjects. The Self-Rating of the Effects of alcohol (SRE) score is a quick and valid retrospective estimate of LR. This study examined the associations between alcohol abuse or dependence and early experience of alcohol as measured on retrospective SRE score (relating to the first five times alcohol was imbibed), and the presence of alcohol abuse or dependence, in patients attending primary care. Higher Early SRE score (i.e. greater early tolerance of alcohol) was obtained in patients with an alcohol-related diagnosis than in patients without those diagnoses. Using a cut-off of 2 on the Early SRE score, the Early SRE score could discriminate between patients with and without an alcohol diagnosis with moderate to high sensitivity (84%) and modest specificity (57%).

Widespread occurrence of non-canonical transcription termination by human RNA polymerase III.

Human RNA polymerase (Pol) III-transcribed genes are thought to share a simple termination signal constituted by four or more consecutive thymidine residues in the coding DNA strand, just downstream of the RNA 3'-end sequence. We found that a large set of human tRNA genes (tDNAs) do not display any T(≥4) stretch within 50 bp of 3'-flanking region. In vitro analysis of tDNAs with a distanced T(≥4) revealed the existence of non-canonical terminators resembling degenerate T(≥5) elements, which ensure significant termination but at the same time allow for the production of Pol III read-through pre-tRNAs with unusually long 3' trailers. A panel of such non-canonical signals was found to direct transcription termination of unusual Pol III-synthesized viral pre-miRNA transcripts in gammaherpesvirus 68-infected cells. Genome-wide location analysis revealed that human Pol III tends to trespass into the 3'-flanking regions of tDNAs, as expected from extensive terminator read-through. The widespread occurrence of partial termination suggests that the Pol III primary transcriptome in mammals is unexpectedly enriched in 3'-trailer sequences with the potential to contribute novel functional ncRNAs.

The immunopathology of human schistosomiasis-III: immunoglobulin isotype profiles and response to praziquantel

Immunoglobulin (Ig) isotype (IgG, IgG1, IgG2, IgG3, IgG4, IgM, IgD and IgE) levels were investigated, both pre- and post-treatment with praziquantel (PZQ), in 43 adults and children chronically infected with Schistosoma mansoni , by means of a two-site, isotype-specific immunoenzymometric assay. The patients were classified as responders (R) or non-responders (NR) on the basis of their circumoval precipitin test (COPT) results 12 months after treatment. In comparison with controls, pre-treatment R children showed significantly higher levels of IgG, IgG1, IgG4 (p<0.001) and IgE (p<0.01), and diminished IgG2 (p<0.05), while NR children showed significantly elevated levels only of IgE (p<0.05). Twelve months after therapy, R children maintained significantly lower levels of IgG2, but showed significantly decreased levels of IgG, IgG1, IgG4, and IgE, while the Ig isotype profile of NR children was unaltered. Adult R and NR showed similar isotype profiles before chemotherapy, with the exception of significantly elevated IgM levels in R. Twelve months after therapy, R adults showed significantly decreased levels of IgG, IgG1, and IgG4, while NR adults showed only diminshed IgG4 levels. These results reveal different Ig isotype profiles in untreated adults and children chronically infected with S. mansoni. The results further show that the pre-treatment Ig isotype profile may be significantly modified after an effective R to chemotherapy, accounted for by down regulation of the IgG1 isotype in association with negative seroconversion of the COPT in R patients. The COPT reaction has been associated with the highly specific egg glycoprotein antigen w1, which shows a significant reduction in reactivity six months after treatment. IgG1 may thus play a main role in the response against the w1 antigen.

Aplicacions de reconeixement de la parla: sistemes de respeaking III

En aquest projecte es fa una introducció als reconeixedors de la parla, el seu funcionament i la seva base matemàtica. Un cop tots els conceptes han quedat clars, es mostra el mètode de creació que hem seguit per obtenir el nostre propi reconeixedor de la parla, utilitzant les eines HTK, en català. S’avaluen les seves virtuts i els seus defectes a través de diferents proves realitzades als seus components. A més a més, el projecte arrodoneix la feina implementant un sistema de dictat automàtic que explota el reconeixedor de la parla utilitzant Julius.

La réhabilitation psychosociale a l'aube du XXIème siècle: III: Méthode d'évaluation interdisciplinaire et bilan biopsycho-social

During the past 20 years, therapeutic and rehabilitative modalities in the field of psychosocial rehabilitation have been diversified in becoming more specific. We have the possibility to offer individualized rehabilitation programs as well as in the general field of socio-professional goals as in the clinical field according to the patients' needs and personal assets. The content of these programs associates various forms of specialized medical and paramedical services. The indications are established trough a careful assessment. The rehabilitation unit of the University Department of Psychiatry in Lausanne has developed a multidisciplinary assessment method based on the bio-psychosocial integrative model and the vulnerability-stress model in integrating the level of experience of Wood for the analysis of the psychosocial functioning. This results in a structured assessment program, which leads to a multidisciplinary comprehensive assessment (difficulties versus adaptative resources)