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Pathogenetic mechanism and prevalence of the stable atlantoaxial subluxation in rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVE: To study the pathogenetic mechanisms responsible for and prevalence of stable atlantoaxial subluxation (AAS). METHODS: Lateral view cervical spine radiographs during flexion and extension were studied in 262 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). RESULTS: AAS was found in 130 patients, 42 (32%) of whom had a stable deformity; in a population based subseries, stable AAS was seen in 16% of the patients with ASS. Atlantoaxial impaction (AAI) was diagnosed in 98 cases and in 37 (88%) of the 42 patients with stable AAS. CONCLUSION: The main cause of the spontaneous stabilization and occasional ankylosis of the atlantoaxial area is the development of erosions and collapse in the lateral facet joints leading to AAI.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗

Theoretical dynamics of experimental populations of introduced and native blowflies (Diptera:Calliphoridae).

Equilibrium dynamics in experimental populations of Chrysomya megacephala (F.) and C. putoria (Wiedemann), which have recently invaded the Americas, and the native species Cochliomyia macellaria (F.), were investigated using nonlinear difference equations. A theoretical analysis of the mathematical model using bifurcation theory established the combination of demographic parameters responsible for producing shifts in blowfly population dynamics from stable equilibria to bounded cycles and aperiodic behavior. Mathematical modeling shows that the populations of the 2 introduced Chrysomya species will form stable oscillations with numbers fluctuating 3-4 times in successive generations. However, in the native species C. macellaria, the dynamics is characterized by damping oscillations in population size, leading to a stable population level.

Animals↗

Non-omnivorous generality promotes population stability.

Using a combination of stable isotope analysis of delta13C and delta15N and long-term census data on population abundances for meiofauna in tropical aquatic rock pools, we provide evidence that species which exhibit greater variation in delta13C, an indication of a greater range of distinct carbon sources in their diet, have more stable populations than species with lower variation in delta13C. This link between increased isotope variability and reduced population variability, however, did not hold for delta15N. This suggests that increases in population stability were due to non-omnivorous feeding on multiple carbon sources within a trophic level rather than omnivorous feeding on multiple carbon sources across trophic levels. Our findings corroborate MacArthur's original hypothesis that populations that can access a greater range of resources are more stable than those which consume a more restricted range of resources.

Animals↗

Evolutionarily Stable Reproductive Strategies in Sexual Organisms: III. The Effects of Lottery Density Dependence and Pollen Limitation

This paper extends our previous work on modelling, within a single framework, the allocation of resources to reproduction vs. survival and the male vs. female components of reproduction in perennial plants. We derive the evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS) results under pollen limitation for both hermaphroditic and dioecious plant populations held stable through density-dependent juvenile recruitment. Pollen limitation affects female reproductive allocation in our model because there is post-flowering provisioning of offspring. We find that pollen limitation is unimportant to the ESS reproductive allocation and sex allocation so long as there are enough seeds to fill the empty sites left by the death of adults. To the extent that the relationships between gamete output and resource investment are linear for both sexes or sex functions, the separate treatment of reproductive and sex allocation in modern life-history and sex-allocation theories is adequate. In such cases, the ESS sex allocation is exactly what is found in traditional sex allocation theory, and the ESS reproductive allocation of hermaphrodites or females in a dioecious species maximizes the amount of resources allocated to reproduction during an average lifespan, an analogue of the usual maximization principle in life-history theory modified to include the possibility of pollen limitation and extended seed maturation. The ESS reproductive allocation of males in a dioecious species maximizes lifetime pollen production, independent of pollen limitation and the female's resource allocation. Copyright 1997 Academic Press Limited

Journal Article↗

Evolution of Escherichia coli during growth in a constant environment.

Populations of Escherichia coli, initiated with a single clone and maintained for long periods in glucose-limited continuous culture, developed extensive polymorphisms. In one population, examined after 765 generations, two majority and two minority types were identified. Stable mixed populations were reestablished from the isolated strains. Factors involved in the development of this polymorphism included differences in the maximum specific growth rate and in the transport of glucose, and excretion of metabolites by some clones which were utilized by minority clones.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Nutritional assessment and support in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Malnourished COPD patients demonstrate energy requirements significantly above predicted needs especially during activity. Recognition of this altered metabolic state is essential to the design of any nutritional intervention program. This factor alone, however, cannot explain the wasting syndrome observed in these patients. The elevated demands appear to combine with recognized factors which act to limit caloric intake. Nutritional repletion with calorie and protein supply proportional to demand is associated with weight gain, nitrogen retention, and improvement in physiologic parameters of muscle strength. Greater success of outpatient nutritional repletion in this population is dependent on alternative feeding strategies to deal with those symptoms which limit caloric intake, especially during a disease exacerbation. Future clinical research must explore these strategies before an adequate assessment of the risk and cost-benefit ratio of nutritional intervention can be determined. Additional work is indicated in techniques to identify those patients who would benefit from calorie supplementation as well as techniques to monitor the response of these individuals. Information gathered from the continued study of this population of stable outpatients with COPD will have wide application to the entire COPD patient population. This includes those patients with respiratory failure on mechanical ventilation, where numerous complicating factors makes the study of nutritional intervention and respiratory muscle function difficult.

Body Constitution↗

Nonrandom larval dispersal can steepen marine clines.

Sharp and stable clinal variation is enigmatic when found in species with high gene flow. Classical population genetic models treat gene flow as a random homogenizing force countering local adaptation across habitat discontinuities. Under this view, dispersal over large spatial scales will lower the effectiveness of adaptation by natural selection at finer spatial scales. Thus, random gene flow will create a shallow phenotypic cline across an ecotone in response to a steep selection gradient. In sedentary marine species that disperse primarily as larvae, nonrandom dispersal patterns are expected due to coastal hydrodynamics. Surprisingly sharp phenotypic and genotypic clines have been documented in marine species with high gene flow. We are interested in the extent to which nonrandom dispersal could accentuate such clines. We model a linear species range in which populations have stable and uniform densities along a selection gradient; in contrast to random dispersal, convergent advection of larvae can amplify phenotypic differentiation if coupled with a semipermeable dispersal barrier in the convergence zone. The migration load caused by directional dispersal pushes the phenotypic mean away from the local trait optimum in downstream populations, that is, near the convergence zone. A dispersal barrier is possible as a result of colliding currents if the water and larvae are mostly displaced offshore, away from suitable settlement habitat. Disjunctions in a quantitative trait were enlarged in the convergence zone by faster current flows or a more complete dispersal barrier. With advection of larvae per generation one-third as far as the average dispersal distance by diffusion, convergence on a dispersal barrier with 40% permeability generated a trait disjunction across the convergence zone of two phenotypic standard deviations. Without directional dispersal, similar clines also developed across a habitat gap, where population density was low, or across dispersal barriers with less than 1% permeability. These findings suggest that the types of hydrographic phenomena often associated with marine transition zones can strongly affect the balance between gene flow and selection and generate surprisingly steep clines given the large-scale gene flow expected from larvae.

Animal Migration↗

Tubulin polyglycylation in Platyhelminthes: diversity among stable microtubule networks and very late occurrence during spermiogenesis.

The distribution of glycylated tubulin has been analyzed in different populations of stable microtubules in a digenean flatworm, Echinostoma caproni (Platyhelminthes). Two cellular types, spermatozoa and ciliated excretory cells, have been analyzed by means of immunofluorescence, immunogold, and immunoblotting techniques using two monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), AXO 49, and TAP 952, specifically directed against differently glycylated isoforms of tubulin. The presence of glycylated tubulin in the two cell types was shown. However, the differential reactivities of TAP 952 and AXO 49 mAbs with the two axoneme types suggest a difference in their glycylation level. In addition, within a single cell, the spermatozoon, cortical microtubules underlying the flagellar membrane, and axonemal microtubules were shown to comprise different tubulin isoforms, the latter ones only being labelled with one of the antiglycylated tubulin mAbs, TAP 952. Similarly, the antiacetylated (6-11B-1) and polyglutamylated (GT335) tubulin mAbs decorated the two types of axonemal microtubules, but not the cortical ones. From these data, a subcellular sorting of posttranslationally modified tubulin isoforms within spermatozoa, on the one hand, and a cellular sorting of glycylated isoforms inside the whole organism, on the other hand, is demonstrated in the flatworm E. caproni. Last, a sequential occurrence of tubulin posttranslational modifications was observed in the course of spermiogenesis. Acetylation appears first, followed shortly by glutamylation; glycylation takes place at the extreme end of spermiogenesis and, specifically, in a proximo-distal process. Thus in agreement with, and extending other studies [Bré et al., 1996], glycylation appears to close the sequence of posttranslational events occurring in axonemal microtubules during spermiogenesis.

Animals↗

Rat heart-derived endothelial and smooth muscle cell cultures: isolation, cloning and characterization.

This report describes the initiation, cloning and establishment of long-term serial cultures of rat heart-derived vascular endothelial (EC) and smooth muscle cells (SMC). Populations of these cells derived from both the macro-and microcirculation were obtained utilizing isolated heart perfusion technique. Elimination of potential mesothelial cell contamination was achieved by ethanol fixation of the pericardial surface prior to perfusion. Initial outgrowths from perfusate yielded both endothelial (rapid adhering) and smooth muscle (slow adhering) appearing cell populations. Subsequent pooling of individual EC colonies resulted in maintaining, with gradual subcultivation, a stable homogeneous population which was designated RHE-parent. Upon continual subculture late passage (greater than P10) RHE-parent cell cultures expressed a marked heterogeneity in endothelial phenotypes. Cloning experiments resulted in establishing two distinct EC populations designated RHE-clone 1A and RHE-clone 2A. All RHE cell cultures exhibited the typical cobblestone growth pattern and positive immunofluorescent staining for factor VIII related antigen. In contrast, rat heart-derived smooth muscle cell (RH-SMC) cultures displayed the typical multilayered 'hill and valley' pattern and positive fluorescence for SMC-specific actin and myosin antibodies. Additional EC preparations, obtained without prior fixation of the pericardial surface, revealed cell clusters which stained positive for cytokeratin. On the other hand, RHE parent and cloned populations stained exclusively for vimentin, further confirming the absence of mesothelial cell contamination in these cultures. Cell growth studies on early (less than P10) and late (greater than P10) passage RHE-parent population revealed markedly different cell growth responses and cell morphology. Both EC cloned populations and more notably RHE-parent (less than P10) cultures were capable of significant growth when maintained in limiting serum concentration. Growth studies using serum-free RHE-parent conditioned medium demonstrated mitogenic activity when tested on RHE-parent cultures indicating the presence of an endothelial cell-derived growth factor. These studies indicate that long-term RHE and RH-SMC derived cell cultures can serve as a useful model to study the biology of vascular cells derived from different sites. In addition the demonstration of mitogenic activity in these cultures will enable us to explore further the nature of this response and compare this phenomenon with growth factors identified in large vessel cell systems.

Animals↗

Postglacial expansion of the southern red-backed vole (Clethrionomys gapperi) in North America.

Dynamic climatic oscillations of the Pleistocene dramatically changed the distributions of high latitude species. Molecular investigations of a variety of organisms show that processes of postglacial colonization of boreal regions were more complex than initially thought. Phylogeographical and coalescent analyses were conducted on partial sequences of the cytochrome b gene (600 bp) from 64 individuals of Clethrionomys gapperi from North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Idaho, Washington, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, and Alaska to test hypotheses relating to Pleistocene refugia and postglacial colonization routes. Three divergent clades (east, west, central) were identified with highest net divergence (dA = 5.2%) between the eastern and western clades. Populations from the recently deglaciated higher latitudes of Canada and Alaska are closely related to lower latitude populations of the central clade (dA = 1.2%) suggesting recent expansion from this midwestern region. No representatives from the east or west clade were found at latitudes higher than 50 degrees N, indicating that postglacial colonization occurred through a midcontinental route. The high latitude population from the Northwest Territories exhibited demographic patterns and genetic diversity consistent with a stable noncolonizing population. This population is found near the Mackenzie range, where the two continental ice sheets were believed to have coalesced. Molecular variation observed in this population may be the result of leading edge population diversifying in the continental corridor or may reflect the signal of a high latitude refugial population.

Animals↗

Depletion of physiological levels of the human TID1 protein renders cancer cell lines resistant to apoptosis mediated by multiple exogenous stimuli.

The human homologue of the Drosophila tumor suppressor lethal (2) tumorous imaginal discs (l(2)tid) gene, hTID1, encodes two proteins derived from alternate mRNA splicing. The splice variants TidL and TidS were previously reported from protein overexpression and dominant-negative mutant protein studies to exhibit opposing biological activities in response to exogenous cytotoxic stimuli. TidL was found to promote apoptosis while TidS suppressed it. To elucidate the physiological function of hTID1, we depleted hTID1 proteins using the technique of RNA interference (RNAi). Here, we show that cells essentially lacking expression of hTID1 proteins are protected from cell death in response to multiple stimuli, including cisplatin, tumor necrosis factor alpha/cycloheximide and mitomycin C. We also generated stable cell populations depleted of hTID1 proteins by RNAi using DNA vectors. In addition to apoptosis resistance, stable hTID1 knockdown cells exhibited an enhanced ability for anchorage-independent growth, as measured by an increase in soft-agar colony formation. These results suggest that hTID1 functions as an important cell death regulator and raise the interesting possibility that hTID1 could exert tumor suppressor activity.

Apoptosis↗

Getting older--feeling younger: the changing health profile of the elderly.

In 1981 a survey was undertaken of the physical and mental health and social status of all those aged 75 years and over belonging to a large general practice which alone served the town of Melton Mowbray and its surrounding area. Seven years later the survey was repeated. This elderly population had increased by almost 30% in number between the two surveys despite a relatively stable practice population over this time period. After adjustment for the different age and sex distributions of the two survey populations, significant increases in independence levels were found over the time period for: getting in and out of a chair and bed, dressing, bathing and getting to and from the toilet. No differences were found for mobility around the home, feeding or continence of urine or faeces. A higher prevalence of cognitive impairment was found in 1988 than in 1981, 7.0% compared with 4.5%, but this appeared to be due to the larger number of unclassifiable respondents in 1981. A re-analysis of the data, excluding those living in the area less than five years confirmed that the differences found in health over time were not due to a group of elderly migrating into the area. This study provides evidence that the elderly of today appear fitter than previous cohorts of elderly. Service planners will need to take this into account if sensible provision of resources for this age group are to be made.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PROPERTIES OF F' STRAINS OF ESCHERICHIA COLI SUPERINFECTED WITH F-LACTOSE AND F-GALATOSE EPISOMES.

Echols, Harrison (University of Wisconsin, Madison). Properties of F' strains of Escherichia coli superinfected with F-lactose and F-galactose episomes. J. Bacteriol. 85:262-268. 1963.-A study of F' superinfection of F' strains of Escherichia coli by F Lac P and F Gal indicates that superinfecting F Lac P may achieve a stable existence along with native F Lac P in approximately 1% of the recipient F' population. The stable presence of F Gal, on the other hand, leads to a displacement or suppression of F Lac P when F Gal is used as a superinfecting agent or as the native episome. The majority of F' bacteria used as recipients neither acquire in stable form the superinfecting F-linked genes nor demonstrate gene activity immediately after attempted transfer, as judged by alkaline phosphatase synthesis directed by an F-transferred P(+) gene. This failure to show gene activity suggests that the F' bacteria which are sterile as recipients exclude transfer rather than inhibit subsequent multiplication.

Journal Article↗