Perception of facial profiles: influence of female sex hormones and personality traits.

OBJECTIVES: The observational study investigated whether women's perception of the facial profile is related to changes in sex hormones during the menstrual cycle and under the influence of personality traits. SETTING AND SAMPLE POPULATION: Participants were heterosexual Caucasian normally menstruating women not using oral contraceptives (N = 30, aged 20-44 years). MATERIAL AND METHODS: The profile attractiveness was assessed by grading of thirteen men's and women's Caucasian profile distortions by a visual analogue scale (0 = least to 100 = most attractive) in the non-ovulating phase and ovulating phase of the menstrual cycle. Male profiles were graded twice-in social and emotional contexts. Personality traits were assessed by Big Five Inventory. RESULTS: The most attractive male profiles in both phases and contexts were a straight profile or mild lip retrusion. According to cluster analysis, non-ovulating females distinguish skeletal from dentoalveolar alterations; however, maxillary retrognathism was considered to be closer to an attractive profile, which were resulting from dentoalveolar manipulations only. Ovulating females, when considering emotional relationship, exhibit lowest preference for males with convex profiles and extreme concave profile, while they consider males with slightly prominent chins due to maxillary retrognathism, mandibular prognathism or pronounced lip retrusion closer to the most attractive males. No clear patterns of influence of personality traits were detected. Moderate lip protrusion was the most attractive female profile in ovulating and straight profile in non-ovulating phase. CONCLUSION: The favorable profiles, on average, are the same regardless of the female hormonal status and personality traits.

The expression and role of insulin-like growth factor II in malignant hemangiopericytomas.

Hemangiopericytoma is a rare soft tissue tumor originating from contractile pericapillary pericytes. To address the issue of molecular genetic events that participate in genesis and progression of hemangiopericytoma we analyzed insulin-like growth factor (IGF) II and IGF I receptor in 29 tumors collected from a human tumor bank network. Seven of these tumors were associated with severe hypoglycemia; six were retroperitoneal and one was located in the leg. Of 22 tumors tested 12 (54.5%) exhibited IGF II mRNA, while almost 90% (17 of 19) of hemangiopericytomas exhibited IGF I receptor mRNA. Sera from some patients whose tumors expressed IGF II mRNA contained elevated levels of IGF II. Removal of the tumor eliminated most of the IGF II immunoreactivity from the sera. The potential role of IGF II as a growth-promoting factor was examined on three malignant primary hemangiopericytoma cell cultures. Extracellular addition of IGF II significantly enhanced cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner. Antisense oligodeoxynucleotides that specifically inhibit IGF II mRNA, at a concentration of 40 or 80 micrograms/ml, inhibited the growth of hemangiopericytoma cells significantly, by 40%. Simultaneous administration of antisense deoxyoligonucleotides to both IGF II and IGF I receptor inhibited tumor cell proliferation by even 80%. Our data suggest that tumor cells produce IGF II, and that this in turn stimulates their proliferation by autocrine mechanisms.

PCR amplification of DNA from stained cytological smears.

DNA from archival Papanicolaou stained smears was successfully amplified using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to see if it could be used for retrospective genome studies such as detection of the presence of human papilloma virus (HPV) and changes in p53 gene expression. DNA was isolated and purified by treatment with proteinase K, phenol/chloroform, and isoamyl alcohol. Segments of the human beta actin and TGF beta 1 gene were amplified by PCR. Of all stains used in the preparation of Papanicolaou smears, only eosin was detectable as a greenish band in ethidium bromide treated DNA gels under ultraviolet illumination.

Concomitant point mutation of tumor suppressor gene p53 and oncogene c-N-ras in malignant neuroendocrine pancreatic tumor.

Activation by point mutation of ras family genes as well as point mutations of the p53 tumor suppressor gene are found in many tumors. Here we describe a rare case of malignant neuroendocrine pancreatic tumor with multiple metastases in different organs showing strong positivity for synaptophysin, glucagon-like peptide 1, pan-cytokeratin, moderate positivity for chromogranin, Phe-5 and calcitonin and weak positivity for vasointestinal peptide. We found a point mutation at codon 61 of the c-N-ras oncogene, and point mutations in the p53 tumor suppressor gene in the primary tumor as well as in its metastases in liver. The mutation in the c-N-ras gene was a cytosine to adenine transversion, resulting in the amino-acid lysine. Allele specific hybridization showed that the mutation involved one of two c-N-ras alleles as the oligonucleotide for the normal codon also hybridized to amplified tumor DNA. Concomitant mutation of the p53 tumor suppressor gene at codons 248 and 249 was found. The mutation in codon 248 was a cytosine to guanine transversion resulting in the amino-acid glycine. The mutation in codon 249 was a third base, G- > T, transversion leading to a change from arginine to serine. This is the first time that concomitant point mutations in c-N-ras and p53 have been found in a neuroendocrine pancreatic tumor. Based upon these and our previous results, we concluded that these genetic changes may play a role in the development of this particular pancreatic tumor.

Airway function and respiratory symptoms in sanitation workers.

The prevalence of acute and chronic respiratory symptoms and lung-function changes was studied in a group of 81 municipal sanitation workers. In addition, the prevalence of chronic respiratory symptoms and lung function was studied in 65 control workers. There were significantly higher prevalences of all chronic respiratory symptoms among the sanitation workers than among the control workers. Sanitation workers (smokers and nonsmokers) 40 years of age or older had higher prevalences of all chronic respiratory symptoms than younger workers. In addition, sanitation workers (both smokers and nonsmokers) employed for 10 years or longer had significantly higher prevalences of chronic respiratory symptoms than control workers. There was also a high prevalence of acute symptoms, which developed among the sanitation workers during work shifts. Of these symptoms, prevalences were highest for dryness of the nose and throat, followed by throat and eye irritation. Lung-function testing demonstrated significantly diminished forced vital capacity (FVC) and 1-second forced expiratory volume (FEV1) for the 81 sanitation workers compared with control values. These differences only become significant after 10 or more years of employment in the sanitation industry and were not entirely explained by smoking. These differences were smaller and not statistically significant for maximum flow rates at 50% and the last 25% of the vital capacity. Our data suggest that sanitation worker--particularly those with long periods of work exposure--may develop acute and/or chronic respiratory symptoms accompanied by decreases in lung function (primarily FVC and FEV1).

Maternal neonatal outcome in quadruplet and quintuplet versus triplet gestations.

OBJECTIVE: Examination and comparison of the natural histories of triplet versus quadruplet and quintuplet gestations. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective study of sixty-four multifetal pregnancies (fifty-two sets of triplets, nine sets of quadruplets and three sets of quintuplets) cared for during past 12 years in our department. Quintuplets and quadruplets were compared with triplet pregnancies according to gestational age, birthweight, pregnancy complications and perinatal outcome. Student's t-test, Fisher exact test and chi2 test were used for statistical analysis, considering P value of <0.05 as statistically significant. RESULTS: Although mean gestational age at delivery between triplets and higher order gestations was not significantly different, birthweight of quadruplets and quintuplets was significantly lower. Pregnancy complications, including intrauterine growth retardation, were equally distributed between the groups. Early neonatal and perinatal mortality were significantly higher in quadruplets and quintuplets than in triplets. Surprisingly, survival of growth retarded fetuses was better than survival of their eutrophic counterparts. The spontaneous loss rate was 11.5% for entire triplet gestation and 16.7% for quadru- and quintuplet pregnancies. CONCLUSIONS: As the spontaneous loss rate of triplets and higher order pregnancies observed in our study is quite similar to pregnancy loss rate caused by multifetal pregnancy reduction, conservative management of multifetal pregnancies in specialised tertiary centers seems to be a prudent solution.

[Occupational asthma]. / Profesionalna astma.

The definition of occupational asthma is described. Causative agents which may be responsible for the development of occupational asthma are listed. Among factors responsible for the development of occupational asthma, immunological and nonimmunological mechanisms are specially described. The clinical characteristics of the disease, diagnostic methods, differential diagnosis, prognosis and prevention of occupational asthma are described. Procedures for determining exposure, occupations in which most frequently occupational asthma can develop, as well as preventive measures are reported.

Angular tunneling ionization probability of fixed-in-space H2 molecules in intense laser pulses.

We propose a new approach to obtain molecular frame photoelectron angular distributions from molecules ionized by intense laser pulses. With our method we study the angular tunnel ionization probability of H2 at a wavelength of 800 nm over an intensity range of 2-4.5 x 10(14) W/cm2. We find an anisotropy that is stronger than predicted by any existing model. To explain the observed anisotropy and its strong intensity dependence we develop an analytical model in the framework of the strong-field approximation. It expresses molecular ionization as a product of atomic ionization rate and a Fourier transform of the highest occupied molecular orbital filtered by the strong-field ionization process.

Laser-induced electron tunneling and diffraction.

Molecular structure is usually determined by measuring the diffraction pattern the molecule impresses on x-rays or electrons. We used a laser field to extract electrons from the molecule itself, accelerate them, and in some cases force them to recollide with and diffract from the parent ion, all within a fraction of a laser period. Here, we show that the momentum distribution of the extracted electron carries the fingerprint of the highest occupied molecular orbital, whereas the elastically scattered electrons reveal the position of the nuclear components of the molecule. Thus, in one comprehensive technology, the photoelectrons give detailed information about the electronic orbital and the position of the nuclei.

Attosecond strobing of two-surface population dynamics in dissociating H2+.

Using H2+ and D2+, we observe two-surface population dynamics by measuring the kinetic energy of the correlated ions that are created when H2+ (D2+) ionize in short (40-140 fs) and intense (10(14) W/cm2) infrared laser pulses. Experimentally, we find a modulation of the kinetic energy spectrum of the correlated fragments. The spectral progression arises from a hitherto unexpected spatial modulation on the excited state population, revealed by Coulomb explosion. By solving the two-level time-dependent Schrödinger equation, we show that an interference between the net-two-photon and the one-photon transition creates localized electrons which subsequently ionize.

Intense-laser-field ionization of the hydrogen molecular ions H2+ and D2+ at critical internuclear distances.

Fragmentation of H2+ and D2+ in ion beams has been studied with short intense laser pulses (100 fs, I=5x10(13)-1x10(15) W/cm2) and by a high-resolution two-dimensional velocity imaging technique. In the Coulomb explosion channel, at intensities just above the threshold for this process, we observe a clear structure in the kinetic energy spectra not previously found or predicted. The peaks can be attributed to single vibrational levels. We interpret this observation as a dissociative allocation of the electron to a proton followed by enhanced ionization at a well-defined "critical" overstretched internuclear distance. When using longer pulses we observe three separate Coulomb explosion velocity groups corresponding to critical distances of about 8, 11, and 15 a.u.

Respiratory function in vineyard and orchard workers.

A group of 174 male vineyard and orchard workers was studied for the prevalence of acute and chronic respiratory symptoms and lung function changes. In addition, 115 male control workers were studied for the prevalence of chronic respiratory symptoms. There was a significantly higher prevalence of dyspnea and chest tightness in exposed compared to control workers. In particular, exposed nonsmokers had significantly higher prevalences of dyspnea and chest tightness than controls this was found for exposed nonsmokers with both short (< or = 10 years) and long (> 10 years) exposure. Smokers exposed for more than 10 years had significantly higher prevalences of chronic cough, chronic phlegm, chronic bronchitis, and chest tightness than smokers with shorter exposures (p < 0.01 or p < 0.05). Workers employed for more than 10 years had higher prevalences of most of the acute (shipt-related) symptoms than those workers with shorter employment; however, the differences were significant only for cough in smokers (p < 0.05). Significantly lower than predicted FVC values were measured in smokers and nonsmokers after both short and long duration of employment. Differences between measured and predicted FEV1, FEF50, and FEF25 were significant for workers employed for more than 10 years. A separate analysis of individual data as a percent of predicted values demonstrated that many workers had FVC (5.2%), FEV1 (6.3%), FEF50 (27.6%), and FEF25 (40.2%) lower than 70% of predicted values. These data suggest that vineyard and orchard workers may develop acute and chronic respiratory symptoms and lung function changes which are, in part, related to environmental factors and to cigarette consumption.

HIV seropositivity in a Yugoslav prison population.

An estimated number of HIV infected individuals in Yugoslavia might be about 3000. I.v. drug users are by far the most affected population group. Prevalence of HIV seropositivity among imprisoned drug users in Belgrade approaches 50%. An effective control of unvoluntary homosexual contacts in prisons is not feasible. Having in mind a moral obligation of the society to preserve the health of its confined members, we advocate the right of (voluntary or on request screened) HIV seronegative individuals to chose to share the cell with inmates shown to be HIV seronegative as well.

A follow-up study of respiratory function in workers exposed to acid aerosols in a food-processing industry.

A follow-up investigation was performed on 49 female workers studied 2 years earlier in a vegetable-pickling plant. Acute and chronic respiratory symptoms and ventilatory capacity measurements were recorded during the original and the follow-up studies. Maximal expiratory flow-volume (MEFV) curves were recorded during the Monday morning work shift. The forced vital capacity (FVC), 1-s forced expiratory volume (FEV1), and flow rates at 50% and the last 25% of the FVC (FEF50, FEF25) were measured. There were small increases in the prevalence of chronic symptoms between the two studies for both smokers and nonsmokers, but these did not reach statistical significance. Five workers at the time of the initial study had a diagnosis of occupational asthma; only one of these was still working at the time of follow-up. Workers lost to the follow-up had lower lung function than those seen at follow-up. In workers who were followed, larger than expected mean annual declines were noted for all ventilatory capacity parameters in both smokers (FVC 0.070 1, FEV1 0.070 1; FEF50 0.3551/s, FEF25 0.270 1/s) and nonsmokers (FVC 0.045 1, FEV1 0.045 1, FEF50 0.285 1/s; FEF25 0.130 1/s). The decrease was particularly pronounced for FEF50 and FEF25. The accelerated decline in ventilatory capacity tests noted in the female nonsmokers suggests an independent effect on lung function of work exposure in this environment. Our data confirm that work in the pickling industry, particularly in small, poorly regulated plants, has deleterious effects on respiratory function.