Acute myeloid leukemia with severe coagulation disorder and concomitant central nervous system bleeding - a clinical diagnostic case report

We report a case of severe central nervous system bleeding in a patient with acute monocytic leukemia. The patient was admitted to our emergency department because of massive back pain and positive meningeal signs. MR imaging yielded a spontaneous epidural hematoma of the thoracic vertebral column. Coagulation studies revealed fibrinogen levels below the linear measuring range and blood smears showed myeloid blast cells in the peripheral blood. The diagnosis of acute monocytic leukemia was confirmed by flow cytometric analysis. Despite of substitution with more than 12 g fibrinogen per day over 3 days plasma fibrinogen levels couldn't be stabilized. After starting the induction chemotherapy with cytarabine, laboratory coagulation test results were improved. Despite all intensive medical efforts, the patient died due to cerebral epidural hematoma.

Do social mating systems limit maternal immune investment in shorebirds?

Across mating systems, females differ in the amount of resources they invest in offspring. For example, polyandrous females invest in acquiring multiple matings rather than providing parental care. We examined how the amount of maternal immune investment, measured as immunoglobulin Y and lysozyme activity in eggs, was influenced by female role across three social mating systems (polyandry, polygyny, and monogamy) in shorebirds. We predicted that polyandry should impose the greatest costs on the ability to provision eggs and monogamy, where females receive benefits from biparentality, the least. Contrary to our predictions, levels of maternally derived egg immune constituents were consistently high across measures in the polyandrous species and low in the monogamous species. Our results may support a link with pace-of-life where developmental costs are greater than the energetic costs of provisioning eggs, and (or) a role for sexual selection acting on maternal immune investment.

Characterization of five tomato phospholipase D cDNAs: rapid and specific expression of LePLDbeta1 on elicitation with xylanase

Phospholipase D (PLD, EC 3.1.4.4.) has been implicated in a variety of plant processes, including signalling. In Arabidopsis thaliana a PLD gene family has been described and individual members classified into alpha-, beta- and gamma-classes. Here we describe a second PLD gene family in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) that includes three alpha- and two beta-classes. Different expression patterns in plant organs were observed for each PLD. In testing a variety of stress treatments on tomato cell suspensions, PLDbeta1 mRNA was found to rapidly and specifically accumulate in response to the fungal elicitor xylanase. The greatest increase was found 2 h after treatment with 100 microg m1(-1) xylanase (ninefold). In vivo PLD activity increased nearly threefold over a 1.5 h period of treatment. When the elicitor was injected into tomato leaves, PLDbeta1 mRNA accumulation peaked at 2 h (threefold increase), before decreasing to background levels within 72 h. Mutant, non-active xylanase was as effective as the active enzyme in eliciting a response, suggesting that xylanase itself, and not the products resulting from its activity, functioned as an elicitor. When chitotetraose was used as elicitor, no PLDbeta1 mRNA accumulation was observed, thus it is not a general response to elicitation. Together these data show that PLD genes are differentially regulated, reflecting potential differences in cellular function. The possibility that PLDbeta1 is a signalling enzyme is discussed.

Dissection of the fusarium I2 gene cluster in tomato reveals six homologs and one active gene copy

The I2 locus in tomato confers resistance to race 2 of the soil-borne fungus Fusarium oxysporum f sp lycopersici. The selective restriction fragment amplification (AFLP) positional cloning strategy was used to identify I2 in the tomato genome. A yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) clone covering approximately 750 kb encompassing the I2 locus was isolated, and the AFLP technique was used to derive tightly linked AFLP markers from this YAC clone. Genetic complementation analysis in transgenic R1 plants using a set of overlapping cosmids covering the I2 locus revealed three cosmids giving full resistance to F. o. lycopersici race 2. These cosmids shared a 7-kb DNA fragment containing an open reading frame encoding a protein with similarity to the nucleotide binding site leucine-rich repeat family of resistance genes. At the I2 locus, we identified six additional homologs that included the recently identified I2C-1 and I2C-2 genes. However, cosmids containing the I2C-1 or I2C-2 gene could not confer resistance to plants, indicating that these members are not the functional resistance genes. Alignments between the various members of the I2 gene family revealed two significant variable regions within the leucine-rich repeat region. They consisted of deletions or duplications of one or more leucine-rich repeats. We propose that one or both of these leucine-rich repeats are involved in Fusarium wilt resistance with I2 specificity.

Dissection of the fusarium I2 gene cluster in tomato reveals six homologs and one active gene copy

The I2 locus in tomato confers resistance to race 2 of the soil-borne fungus Fusarium oxysporum f sp lycopersici. The selective restriction fragment amplification (AFLP) positional cloning strategy was used to identify I2 in the tomato genome. A yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) clone covering approximately 750 kb encompassing the I2 locus was isolated, and the AFLP technique was used to derive tightly linked AFLP markers from this YAC clone. Genetic complementation analysis in transgenic R1 plants using a set of overlapping cosmids covering the I2 locus revealed three cosmids giving full resistance to F. o. lycopersici race 2. These cosmids shared a 7-kb DNA fragment containing an open reading frame encoding a protein with similarity to the nucleotide binding site leucine-rich repeat family of resistance genes. At the I2 locus, we identified six additional homologs that included the recently identified I2C-1 and I2C-2 genes. However, cosmids containing the I2C-1 or I2C-2 gene could not confer resistance to plants, indicating that these members are not the functional resistance genes. Alignments between the various members of the I2 gene family revealed two significant variable regions within the leucine-rich repeat region. They consisted of deletions or duplications of one or more leucine-rich repeats. We propose that one or both of these leucine-rich repeats are involved in Fusarium wilt resistance with I2 specificity.

Characterisation and cloning of a calmodulin-like domain protein kinase from Chlamydomonas moewusii (Gerloff)

Calcium-stimulated protein kinase activity in the flagella of the green alga Chlamydomonas moewusii (Gerloff) was characterised. Using SDS-PAGE and an on-blot phosphorylation assay, a 65-kDa protein was identified as the major calcium-stimulated protein kinase. Its activity was directly stimulated by calcium, a characteristic of the calmodulin-like domain protein kinases (CDPKs). Monoclonal antibodies raised against the CDPK alpha from soybean cross-reacted with the 65-kDa protein in the flagella, and also with other proteins in the flagellum and cell body. The same monoclonal antibodies were used to screen a C. moewusii cDNA expression library in order to isolate CDPK cDNAs from C. moewusii. The CCK1 cDNA encodes a protein with a kinase and calmodulin-like domain linked by a junction domain typical of CDPKs. From Southern analyses, evidence was obtained for a CDPK gene family in C. moewusii and C. reinhardtii.

Mortality from brain tumor and other causes in a cohort of petrochemical workers

To evaluate a suspected excess of deaths due to brain tumor (BT) among petrochemical workers, a retrospective cohort mortality study was conducted among 7,595 men ever employed at a plant in Texas City, Texas, between 1941 and 1977. Among hourly employees, overall mortality was lower than expected from U.S. national rates [standardized mortality ratio (SMR) = 79]. However, 19 BT deaths (International Classification of Diseases, seventh revision, codes 193, 223, and 237) among hourly employees were observed as against 9.6 expected (SMR = 198), and with extension of the analysis to include BT deaths occurring in 1978 and 1979, 22 deaths were observed versus 10.7 expected (SMR = 206). Fifteen years or more after being hired, 19 of these workers died from BT versus 7.2 expected (SMR = 263), and the standardized mortality ratios increased with duration of employment to 377 for hourly workers who had worked over 20 years. Although nonoccupational etiologies cannot be dismissed, these data suggest an occupational etiology for certain BT deaths in petrochemical workers.

Attitudes of college students toward sexual behavior of disabled persons

Empirical data on attitudes toward sexual behavior of disabled persons were gathered from a written, sentence-completion task in which 110 college students engaged. The task consisted of 36 sentence stubs, 18 of which probed attitudes toward sex. To facilitate expression of attitudes rather than values, respondents were instructed to respond rapidly with the first thoughts that came to mind. Responses were scored as positive or negative. Negative responders took significantly less time to complete the sentences than did positive responders. The X2 comparisons of negative responses to 5 pairs of parallel sentence stubs concerned with aspects of sex in general and the same aspects of sex in disabled women yielded statistically significant differences. Four of those differences showed more disapproval of sex for the disabled than for the able-bodied. The 5th difference indicated greater tolerance of homosexual play among disabled girls. On 9 of the 13 sentence stubs concerned with sex and disability, at least 43% of all participants gave negative responses. Similarly, order analysis disclosed that 9 of 10 aspects of sex viewed most negatively were related to sexual behavior by the disabled. It was concluded that attitudes in the sexual revolution have not as yet embraced the disabled even among college students.