Enhancement of off-key pecking by on-key punishment

Under a variable-interval food reinforcement schedule, some of a pigeon's pecking responses land on the wall area adjacent to the response key. These off-key pecks increase in frequency when key responses produce shocks and decrease when shock is removed.

The epidemiology of lion lentivirus infection among a population of free-ranging lions (Panthera leo) in the Kruger National Park, South Africa

Feline immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus of domestic cats that causes significant lifelong infection. Infection with this or similar lentiviruses has been detected in several nondomestic feline species, including African lions (Panthera leo). Although lion lentivirus (FIVple) infection is endemic in certain lion populations in eastern and southern Africa, little is known about its pathogenic effects or its epidemiological impact in free-ranging lions. This report describes the epidemiological investigation of lentivirus positivity of free-ranging lions in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. A nested polymerase chain reaction assay for virus detection was performed on all whole blood samples collected. In addition, serum samples were tested for cross-reactive antibodies to domestic feline lentivirus antigens and to puma lentivirus synthetic envelope peptide antigen. The results were analysed in conjunction with epidemiological data to provide a descriptive epidemiological study on lion lentivirus infection in a free-ranging population of lions. The overall prevalence of lentivirus infection was 69%, with a prevalence of 41% in the north of the park, and 80% in the south. Adult males had the highest prevalence when combining the factors of sex and age: 94%. The lowest prevalences were found among juveniles, with male juveniles at 29%. Adults were 5.58 times more likely to test positive for FIVple than juveniles, with adult males being 35 times more likely to be test positive for FIVple compared with juvenile males. This research represents the 1st epidemiological study of the lion lentivirus among free-ranging lions in the Kruger National Park.

New time-dependent approach to analyse the prognostic significance of immunohistochemical biomarkers in colon cancer and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

AIMS

Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis is a well-established method to study the accuracies of biological markers. It may, however, be suboptimal for analysing outcomes over time, such as prognosis. Here, the clinical value of time-dependent ROC curve analysis for improving the identification of high-risk patients with colon cancers and diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCL) is explored.

METHODS

Using tissue microarrays, immunohistochemistry was performed on two matched sets (N = 469, each) of colon cancers (p53, CD8(+) tumour infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), mammalian sterile-like 20 kinase 1 (MST1), mucin 2 (MUC2) and urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR)) and on 208 DLBCL (Bcl2, Bcl6, CD10, FOXP1 and Ki67). The area-under-the-curve (AUC)-over-time plots, cut-off scores for tumour marker positivity and Kaplan-Meier survival curves were analysed.

RESULTS

With the exception of uPAR, all markers were most accurate within the first 18 months following diagnosis. Expression of p53 (AUC = 0.75), uPAR (AUC = 0.64), Bcl2 (AUC = 0.58) and FOXp1 (AUC = 0.68) was linked to more aggressive tumours, while TILs (AUC = 0.38), MST1 (AUC = 0.39), MUC2 (AUC = 0.38), Bcl6 (AUC = 0.4), CD10 (AUC = 0.49) and Ki67 (AUC = 0.41) were predictive of improved survival. Cut-off scores for markers at their peak accuracies as well as survival time differences were reproducible between colon cancer groups. Only FOXp1 at its optimal cut-off of 60% had significant effects on survival in DLBCL (p = 0.019).

CONCLUSIONS

Time-dependent ROC curve analysis is a novel tool for identifying potential immunohistochemical prognostic markers across varying follow-up times. Use of this tool could facilitate the identification of high-risk patients not only with colon cancer and DLBCL but with a range of other tumour types.

Meningotheliomatöses Meningeom in einem reifen zystischen Teratom des Ovars

Mature teratomas belong to the group of germ cell tumors of the ovary. They account for 27-44% of all ovarian neoplasms and up to 58% of all benign tumors of the ovary. In mature as well as in immature teratomas, secondary tumors originating from the three embryonic tissue components may be found. These tumors can show benign or malignant behavior. We report the case of a meningothelial meningioma, found within a mature teratoma of a 32 year old female. The characteristic histomorphology and immunohistochemical expression for epithelial membrane antigen (EMA) and desmoplakin are diagnostic.

Cortical stabilization of beta-catenin contributes to NHERF1/EBP50 tumor suppressor function

Anchorage-independent growth is a hallmark of tumor growth and results from enhanced proliferation and altered cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions. By using gene-deficient mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs), we showed for the first time that NHERF1/EBP50 (Na/H exchanger regulator factor 1/ezrin-radixin-moesin binding phosphoprotein 50), an adapter protein with membrane localization under physiological conditions, inhibits cell motility and is required to suppress anchorage-independent growth. Both NHERF1 PDZ domains are necessary for the tumor suppressor effect. NHERF1 associates directly through the PDZ2 domain with beta-catenin and is required for beta-catenin localization at the cell-cell junctions in MEFs. Mechanistically, the absence of NHERF1 selectively decreased the interaction of beta-catenin with E-cadherin, but not with N-cadherin. The ensuing disorganization of E-cadherin-mediated adherens junctions as well as the observed moderate increase in beta-catenin transcriptional activity contributed most likely to the anchorage-independent growth of NHERF1-deficient MEFs. In vivo, NHERF1 is specifically localized at the apical brush-border membrane in intestinal epithelial cells and is required to maintain a fraction of the cortical beta-catenin at this level. Thus, NHERF1 emerges as a cofactor essential for the integrity of epithelial tissues by maintaining the proper localization and complex assembly of beta-catenin.

Mannheim carotid intima-media thickness consensus (2004-2006). An update on behalf of the Advisory Board of the 3rd and 4th Watching the Risk Symposium, 13th and 15th European Stroke Conferences, Mannheim, Germany, 2004, and Brussels, Belgium, 2006

Intima-media thickness (IMT) is increasingly used as a surrogate end point of vascular outcomes in clinical trials aimed at determining the success of interventions that lower risk factors for atherosclerosis and associated diseases (stroke, myocardial infarction and peripheral artery diseases). The necessity to promote further criteria to distinguish early atherosclerotic plaque formation from thickening of IMT and to standardize IMT measurements is expressed through this updated consensus. Plaque is defined as a focal structure that encroaches into the arterial lumen of at least 0.5 mm or 50% of the surrounding IMT value or demonstrates a thickness >1.5 mm as measured from the media-adventitia interface to the intima-lumen interface. Standard use of IMT measurements is based on physics, technical and disease-related principles as well as agreements on how to perform, interpret and document study results. Harmonization of carotid image acquisition and analysis is needed for the comparison of the IMT results obtained from epidemiological and interventional studies around the world. The consensus concludes that there is no need to 'treat IMT values' nor to monitor IMT values in individual patients apart from exceptions named, which emphasize that inside randomized clinical trials should be performed. Although IMT has been suggested to represent an important risk marker, according to the current evidence it does not fulfill the characteristics of an accepted risk factor. Standardized methods recommended in this consensus statement will foster homogenous data collection and analysis. This will help to improve the power of randomized clinical trials incorporating IMT measurements and to facilitate the merging of large databases for meta-analyses.

Molecular fingerprinting of the intestinal microbiota of infants in whom atopic eczema was or was not developing

BACKGROUND

The rise in atopic diseases has been linked to disturbances in the intestinal microbiota composition.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to investigate the intestinal microbiota composition in infants in whom atopic (IgE-associated) eczema was or was not developing, using a molecular fingerprinting technique.

METHODS

Within a prospective birth cohort study, fecal samples have been collected at the infant's age of 1 month. Within the context of this cohort, we conducted a nested case-control study comparing fecal samples of 26 infants who became sensitized and developed eczema within the first year of life with 52 non-sensitized non-eczematous infants. The composition of the fecal samples was examined using PCR combined with denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. Using real-time PCR, total bacterial counts and bifidobacterial counts were enumerated.

RESULTS

Neither total bacterial profiles nor the type and proportion of bifidobacteria in the feces were associated with the development of atopic eczema. The similarity of bacterial profiles was low; mean similarity was approximately 33% in both infants with or without atopic eczema. The prevalence of one specific band in total bacterial profiles was significantly higher in infants with atopic eczema compared with controls (96% vs. 71%, P = 0.01). Identification of this band revealed that it represented Escherichia coli.

CONCLUSION

Although no association was found between the development of IgE-associated eczema and the dominant gut microbiota as a whole or with the bifdobacterial microbiota, the association with E. coli indicates that differences in gut microbiota do precede the development of atopy.

Mannheim carotid intima-media thickness consensus (2004-2006). An update on behalf of the Advisory Board of the 3rd and 4th Watching the Risk Symposium, 13th and 15th European Stroke Conferences, Mannheim, Germany, 2004, and Brussels, Belgium, 2006

Intima-media thickness (IMT) is increasingly used as a surrogate end point of vascular outcomes in clinical trials aimed at determining the success of interventions that lower risk factors for atherosclerosis and associated diseases (stroke, myocardial infarction and peripheral artery diseases). The necessity to promote further criteria to distinguish early atherosclerotic plaque formation from thickening of IMT and to standardize IMT measurements is expressed through this updated consensus. Plaque is defined as a focal structure that encroaches into the arterial lumen of at least 0.5 mm or 50% of the surrounding IMT value or demonstrates a thickness >1.5 mm as measured from the media-adventitia interface to the intima-lumen interface. Standard use of IMT measurements is based on physics, technical and disease-related principles as well as agreements on how to perform, interpret and document study results. Harmonization of carotid image acquisition and analysis is needed for the comparison of the IMT results obtained from epidemiological and interventional studies around the world. The consensus concludes that there is no need to 'treat IMT values' nor to monitor IMT values in individual patients apart from exceptions named, which emphasize that inside randomized clinical trials should be performed. Although IMT has been suggested to represent an important risk marker, according to the current evidence it does not fulfill the characteristics of an accepted risk factor. Standardized methods recommended in this consensus statement will foster homogenous data collection and analysis. This will help to improve the power of randomized clinical trials incorporating IMT measurements and to facilitate the merging of large databases for meta-analyses.

Alpha-synuclein pathology of the spinal and peripheral autonomic nervous system in neurologically unimpaired elderly subjects

Studies on cases with incidental Lewy body disease (ILBD) suggest that alpha-synuclein (alphaSN) pathology of Parkinson's disease (PD) starts in lower brainstem nuclei and in the olfactory bulb. However, medullary structures as the induction site of alphaSN pathology have been questioned as large parts of the nervous system, including the spinal cord and the peripheral autonomic nervous system (PANS), have not been examined in ILBD. Thus, the time course of PD lesions in the spinal cord or PANS in relation to medullary lesions remains unknown. We collected 98 post mortem cases with no reference to PD-associated symptoms on clinical records. alphaSN pathology was found in the central nervous system, including the spinal cord, and in the PANS in 17 (17.3%) cases. alphaSN pathology was encountered in autonomic nuclei of the thoracic spinal cord, brainstem and olfactory nerves in 17/17, in sacral parasympathetic nuclei in 15/16, in the myenteric plexus of oesophagus in 14/17, in sympathetic ganglia in 14/17, and in the vagus nerve in 12/16 cases. In addition to the thoracic lateral horns, a high number of alphaSN lesions was also found in non-autonomic spinal cord nuclei. Considering supraspinal structures our cases corresponded roughly to the recently described sequential order of alphaSN involvement in PD. Our study indicates, however, that the autonomic nuclei of the spinal cord and the PANS belong to the most constantly and earliest affected regions next to medullary structures and the olfactory nerves. A larger cohort of ILBD cases will be needed to pinpoint the precise induction site of alphaSN pathology among these structures.

[Presentation of right lower quadrant pain with atypical findings]

We present a 57-year old male patient with symptoms of an acute appendicitis. Surprisingly, preoperative sonography revealed an atypical cystic mass in the right lower quadrant of the abdomen with signs of sedimentation. Laparoscopy showed a ruptured appendiceal mucocele with peritoneal adherent mucus. The patient was treated with ileocecal resection. Histopathological examination revealed an infiltrating mucinous cystadenocarcinoma of the appendix. The patient will be treated with adjuvant intraperitoneal chemotherapy. Despite typical clinical signs of appendicitis a sonographically atypical cystic mass in the right lower abdomen should raise suspicion of a mucocele, eventually on the base of a neoplasm.

A clinical rating scale for Batten disease: Reliable and relevant for clinical trials

BACKGROUND

Batten disease (juvenile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis [JNCL]) is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by blindness, seizures, and relentless decline in cognitive, motor, and behavioral function. Onset is in the early school years, with progression to death typically by late adolescence. Development of a clinical instrument to quantify severity of illness is a prerequisite to eventual assessment of experimental therapeutic interventions.

OBJECTIVE

To develop a clinical rating instrument to assess motor, behavioral, and functional capability in JNCL.

METHODS

A clinical rating instrument, the Unified Batten Disease Rating Scale (UBDRS), was developed by the authors to assess motor, behavioral, and functional capability in JNCL. Children with verified JNCL were evaluated independently by three neurologists. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were used to estimate the interrater reliability for total scores in each domain. Interrater reliability for scale items was assessed with weighted kappa statistics.

RESULTS

Thirty-one children with confirmed JNCL (10 boys, 21 girls) were evaluated. The mean age at symptom onset was 6.1 +/- 1.6 years, and the mean duration of illness was 9.0 +/- 4.4 years. The ICCs for the domains were as follows: motor = 0.83, behavioral = 0.68, and functional capability = 0.85.

CONCLUSIONS

The Unified Batten Disease Rating Scale (UBDRS) is a reliable instrument that effectively tests for neurologic function in blind and demented patients. In its current form, the UBDRS is useful for monitoring the diverse clinical findings seen in Batten disease.