A statistical prognostic study of pump failure in acute myocardial infarction.

Repeated measurements of maemodynamic status were made and were subsequently subjected to analysis to assess prognosis in a group of patients with acute myocardial infarction and pump failure. Two multivariate methods were used: correspondence analysis and discriminant analysis. Both these methods agreed with the highest prognostic reliability of left ventricular function indices. Using various discriminant functions a prospective study was carried out on a test sample and a rate for well-classified subjects ranging from 80% to 90% was obtained. For each discriminant function the different causes of misclassification were analysed; among them a right ventricular dysfunction was allowed to account for discrepancies between expected and observed data on inferior infarction.

Experimental study of resistance to infection by Trichophyton mentagrophytes: demonstration of memory skin cells.

The mechanisms governing the development of local immunity in experimental dermatophytosis were studied by injecting intravenously trichophytin in guinea pigs cured of a prior Trichophyton mentagrophytes infestation. Dermal cell modifications were observed which were greater in the healed zones than in those not affected during the prior dermatophyte inoculation. These modifications included lymphocyte activation and accumulation and an accumulation of basophilic leukocytes. These observations suggest that after an acute dermatophyte infection heals, immunocompetent cells remain which are more numerous at the sites of lesions and that these cells would be responsible for the increased rate of elimination of the fungus during a reinfection. This hypothesis is discussed in the framework of the relationships observed in dermatophyte infections between delayed type hypersensitivity and resistance.

The cleaved presequence is not required for import of subunit 6 of the cytochrome bc1 complex into yeast mitochondria or assembly into the complex.

Subunit 6 of the yeast cytochrome bc1 complex contains a 25 amino acid presequence that is not present in the mature form of the protein in the bc1 complex. The presequence of subunit 6 is atypical of presequences responsible for targeting proteins to mitochondria. Whereas mitochondrial targeting sequences rarely contain acidic residues and typically contain basic residues that can potentially form an amphiphilic structure, the presequence of subunit 6 contains only one basic amino acid and is enriched in acidic amino acids. If the 25 amino acid presequence is deleted, subunit 6 is imported into mitochondria and assembled into the cytochrome bc1 complex and the activity of the bc1 complex is identical to that from a wild-type yeast strain. However, if the C-terminal 45 amino acids are truncated from the protein, subunit 6 is not present in the mitochondria and the activity of the bc1 complex is diminished by half, identical to that of the bc1 complex from a yeast strain in which the QCR6 gene is deleted. These results indicate that the presequence of subunit 6 is not required for targeting to mitochondria or assembly of the subunit into the bc1 complex and that information necessary for targeting and import into mitochondria may be present in the C-terminus of the protein.

[A statistical study of haemorrhage during delivery]. / Etude statistique de l'hémorragie lors de la délivrance.

The finding of large variations in the volume of blood lost during delivery led to a search for factors likely to be correlated with the level of this obstetrical parameter. Analysis of the principle components showed that the volume of the haemorrhage during delivery was related to three factors that could be described as : maternal, ovular, and obstetrical. Multiple regression analysis has made it possible to define and quantify this relationship : the amount of blood lost increases with the weight of the placenta and with increasing duration of labour and decreases with age and parity. It does not seem to depend on the weight of the mother.

Promoter structure and intron-exon organization of a scorpion alpha-toxin gene.

The Androctonus australis scorpion venom contains alpha-toxins for which the complementary DNAs have been cloned [Bougis et al. (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 264, 19259-19265], targeting with high affinity the voltage-sensitive sodium channel. From a genomic library made of this species of scorpion, we have cloned and characterized the gene encoding the toxin AaH I'. The gene transcriptional unit is 793 base pairs long, and the gene has a single intron of 425 base pairs located near the end of the signal peptide of the toxin precursor. The transcription initiation site was determined by primer extension and corresponded to the nucleotide sequence AACAA. Upstream, a promoter region has been identified with positive acting sequence elements at consensus positions, such as a CCAAT box and a TATA box. In addition, putative elements for binding the transcriptional factors MAT-alpha 2, Pit-1, and IEF1 are also present. Analysis of DNA curvature by computer modeling revealed a strong bending centered around the transcription initiation site of the gene. The bending angle (61 degrees) estimated experimentally using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis correlates well with the value predicted by computer modeling (66 degrees). Other minor deflections of the helix axis cooperate for an overall curvature of nearly 90 degrees, which is significantly stronger than similar structures already reported in eukaryotic cells. It is worth noting that the grooves relative to the CCAAT box and the TATA box lie along the inside of the DNA curve. This observation is in agreement with the previously reported correlation between DNA bending and promoter function.

[Anthropometric study of the face in childhood from birth to 11 years (author's transl)]. / Etude anthropométrique du visage chez l'enfant de la naissance à ans.

The normal values of some facial characteristics have been established in 1,130 French children from birth to 11 years in the Lille area. Included in the study were: distances between the internal and external angles of the eye, interpupillary distance, length of the palpebral fissures, height, width and depth of the nose, width and height of the lips and of the external ear. No significant difference could be found in boys and girls.