Analytical solution for bending vibration of a thin-walled cylinder rolling on a time-varying force.

This paper presents the analytical solution of radial vibration of a rolling cylinder submitted to a time-varying point force. In the simplest situation of simply supported edges and zero in-plane vibration, the cylinder is equivalent to an orthotropic pre-stressed plate resting on a visco-elastic foundation. We give the closed-form solution of vibration as a series of normal modes whose coefficients are explicitly calculated. Cases of both deterministic and random forces are examined. We analyse the effect of rolling speed on merging of vibrational energy induced by Doppler's effect for the example of rolling tyre.

[Catamenial hemoptysis during hormone replacement treatment]. / Hémoptysie cataméniale sous traitement hormonal substitutif.

INTRODUCTION: Catamenial haemoptysis is a rare clinical entity resulting from the presence of ectopic intra pulmonary endometrial tissue, either parenchymatous or endobronchial. The main diagnostic criterion is the periodic character of the haemoptysis which is synchronous with menstruation. CASE REPORT: The authors report a case of catamenial haemoptysis due to endobronchial endometriosis in a 46 year old menopausal woman receiving hormone replacement treatment (HRT). She presented with 3 episodes of haemoptysis synchronous with the first days of her menstrual cycle. A thoracic CT scan showed ground glass lesions with micronodulation. Bronchoscopy showed violacious lesions bleeding on contact. The endobronchial and CT abnormalities had disappeared by day 5. After withdrawal of the HRT the haemoptysis did not recur during a follow-up of 2 years. CONCLUSION: Endobronchial endometrioisis remains a rare occurrence. This is the first case reported in a menopausal woman with artificial cycles receiving hormone replacement therapy.

[Hypersensitivity pneumonitis in a chicory worker]. / Pneumopathie d'hypersensibilité chez une endivière.

INTRODUCTION: We report a case of occupational hypersensitivity pneumonitis in a patient handling chicory leaves. CASE REPORT: The diagnosis was based symptoms of broncho-alveolitis with pyrexia, positive precipitins to moulds present on chicory, especially Fusarium, and the disappearance of the clinical and radiological manifestations following cessation of exposure to chicory. CONCLUSION: "Chicory worker's lung" is an occupational disease which should be considered in cases of respiratory symptoms suggestive of hypersensitivity pneumonitis and chronic exposure to chicory leaves.

Successful induction of tolerance to infliximab in patients with Crohn's disease and prior severe infusion reactions.

AIM: To appraise the tolerance and efficacy of an induction of tolerance protocol to infliximab permitting the re-administration of the drug to patients with Crohn's disease having had infusion reactions requiring suspension of treatment. METHODS: Fourteen patients were included in the induction of tolerance protocol. Each infusion of infliximab (5 mg/kg) was divided into 11 escalating 15 min increments over a 3-h time period. The induction of tolerance procedure was repeated for subsequent infusions. RESULTS: Ten patients (71.4%) received all the three infusions for the induction treatment. Nine (64.3%) had a significant response and six (48.8%) still benefited from infliximab infusions. Seven patients (50%) achieved a complete remission, after a mean of 2.5 (two to three) infusions. Four patients (28.6%) had no response and the protocol was stopped. Three patients (21.4%) experienced mild immediate hypersensitivity reactions, which were controlled, two patients (14.2%) experienced severe immediate hypersensitivity reactions, leading to interruption of the treatment and one patient developed a delayed hypersensitivity reaction. CONCLUSION: Our induction of tolerance protocol allows some patients who have experienced severe or repetitive infusion reactions to infliximab to be safely retreated with the drug in a hospitalized setting, with a clinical response achieved in a majority of these patients.

[Pulmonary involvement in polymyositis and dermatomyositis]. / Atteintes pulmonaires des polymyosites et dermatopolymyosites.

Polymyositis is characterised by an inflammatory reaction in skeletal muscle with a variable degree of muscular weakness and associated with skin lesions in the case of dermatomyositis. Involvement of the muscles of deglutition and the diaphragm may lead to inhalation pneumonia and acute or chronic respiratory failure, often hypercapnic. The other respiratory manifestations are diffuse interstitial pneumonitis (DIP), usually non-specific, and very occasionally pulmonary arterial hypertension. The development of DIP during polymyositis is a grave prognostic factor, respiratory involvement being one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality. The onset of DIP is acute in between 30 and 47% of cases. Anti-synthetase antibodies (particularly anti-JO-1) are positive in about 75% of cases. Treatment is usually with a combination of immunosuppressants and corticosteroids without any immunosuppressants therapy having shown a superiority.

[Desensitisation to infliximab in patients with Crohn's disease]. / Accoutumance médicamenteuse a l'infliximab dans la maladie de Crohn.

BACKGROUND: Infliximab is a chimeric monoclonal antibody directed against tumour necrosis factor-alpha that has been shown to improve chronic refractory and fistulating Crohn's disease. Infliximab infusions have been associated both with immediate and delayed reactions. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Desensitisation was performed in four patients who had experienced immediate reactions to infliximab infusions and in one who had developed a delayed reaction. No therapeutic alternatives were available for these patients. Before desensitisation, skin tests were performed. RESULTS: Skin-tests were negative for all patients. Desensitisation was performed with serial dilutions of infliximab with monitoring of vital signs before each increment. After parenteral desensitisation, all five patients were able to tolerate infliximab infusion without complications or any requirement for antihistamines or steroids. However, two patients who had initially presented with an immediate reaction to infliximab experienced arthralgia and myalgia similar to a "serum sickness-type" of reaction 6 to 10 days after desensitisation. CONCLUSION: Even if there is no evidence of an allergic mechanism in infusion reactions to infliximab, successful desensitization can be achieved for patients experiencing acute reactions. The mechanism of desensitisation remains presently unknown. It is not yet possible to say if desensitization will be effective in preventing delayed reactions.

[Immediate allergy to oral corticosteroids]. / Allergie immédiate aux glucocorticoïdes de synthèse oraux.

INTRODUCTION: Corticosteroids are widely used for the management of many diseases because of anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties. Sulfite intolerance is well known but immediate hypersensitivity to corticosteroids is rarer and must be reported. EXEGESIS: We report a case of a 38-year-old man, followed since 1986 for asthma with sulfite intolerance. He twice developed urticaria after ingesting betalactam antibiotics associated with corticosteroids of the group A, according to the Matura and Goossens's classification. The allergy inquiry confirmed not only a beta-lactame allergy but also in corticosteroids of the group A. Intradermal reactions with methylprednisolone and hydrocortisone were positive at 7 mm for methylprednisolone on 1/1000 dilution and at 4 mm for hydrocortisone on 1/10 dilution. Thus immediate allergy to corticosteroids was confirmed. But those skin tests were negative for corticosteroids of group B and C. In order to propose an alternative therapy for acute asthma, an intravenous injection of 4 mg of betamethasone was performed without inducing immediate and delayed allergic reactions. CONCLUSION: Corticosteroid allergy is rare and can be fatal. Many asthmatic or acetylsalicylic acid intolerant patients may be concerned. The diagnostic of corticosteroid allergy have to be confirmed by clinical history and skin tests of the different groups to try to identify one or more allergens and to propose a alternative treatment if necessary.

Tumour suppressor protein p53 released by nuclease digestion increases at the onset of rat liver regeneration.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Protein kinase CK2 (CK2) increases when cells are committed to proliferate, as in liver regeneration. This enzyme phosphorylates the tumour suppressor protein p53, whose expression controls the levels of many other cell cycle proteins. The aim of this study was to determine if CK2 was affected by p53. METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats (200-250 g) were subjected to either partial hepatectomy or laparotomy and the levels and subcellular distribution of p53 were studied, following the approach used earlier for CK2. The levels of both proteins were also studied in the human cell lines HL-60 (devoid of p53) and HepG2 (with normal p53 levels) and in fibroblasts from transgenic p53-deficient mice (p53-/-) or homozygous for wild-type p53 (p53+/+). Computer-assisted search was used to detect p53 consensus sequences in genes for CK2 subunits Binding of p53 protein to some of these sequences was assayed by electrophoretic mobility shift assay. RESULTS: Rat liver p53 protein was present mainly in the fraction extracted from intact nuclei by nucleases (S1) and showed a transient increase at 6 h post partial hepatectomy, as observed previously with nuclear CK2. The human CK2a gene presents the consensus sequence for trans-activation by p53 and specific binding of p53 protein to some of these sequences was detected in vitro. Total CK2a was higher in HepG2 than in HL-60 cells but total CK2 and its cytosolic/ nuclear distribution was similar in mice (p53+/+) fibroblasts and (p53-/-) fibroblasts. CONCLUSIONS: p53 is present in the nuclease-extracted S1 fraction from liver cells, as described for CK2, and undergoes similar changes at the beginning of rat liver regeneration. However, the data on cultured cells suggest that the expression of CK2 and its subcellular localization are p53-independent events.

Clinical significance of circulating anti-p53 antibodies in European patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

p53 alterations are considered to be predictive of poor prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and may induce a humoral response. Anti-p53 serum antibodies were assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using purified recombinant human p53 on 130 European HCC patients before treatment and during the clinical course of the disease. p53 immunohistochemistry was performed on tumours from the 52 patients who underwent surgery, and DNA sequencing analysis was initiated when circulating anti-p53 antibodies were detected. Nine (7%) HCC patients had anti-p53 serum antibodies before treatment. During a mean period of 30 months of follow-up, all the negative patients remained negative, even when recurrence was observed. Of the nine positive patients, eight were still positive 12-30 months after surgery. The presence of anti-p53 serum antibodies was correlated neither with mutation of the p53 gene nor the serum alpha-fetoprotein levels and clinicopathological characteristics of the tumours. However, a greater incidence of vascular invasion and accumulation of p53 protein were observed in the tumours of these patients (P<0.03 and P<0.01 respectively) as well as a better survival rate without recurrence (P = 0.05). In conclusion, as was recently shown in pancreatic cancer, anti-p53 serum antibodies may constitute a marker of relative 'good prognosis' in a subgroup of patients exhibiting one or several markers traditionally thought to be of bad prognosis.

Further characterisation of the p53 responsive element--identification of new candidate genes for trans-activation by p53.

The p53 protein is known to trans-activate a number of genes by specific binding to a consensus sequence containing two decamers of the type: PuPuPuCA/TT/AGPyPyPy. In order to identify new p53 trans-activated genes, we defined a set of criteria for computer search of p53-responsive elements. Based on experimental data, we proposed an extended consensus sequence composed of the two decamers of the El-Deiry consensus sequence flanked by two additional ones. A maximum of 3 bp substitutions was accepted for the two decamers of the El-Deiry consensus sequence, as well as for each additional decamer, except when the two decamers of the El-Deiry consensus sequence are contiguous. In this case, each additional decamer is allowed to bear one base insertion or deletion between the median C and G. This set of criteria was validated by identifying within the promoter region of the IGF-BP3 gene the existence of a novel p53-responsive element whose functional significance was verified. By limiting our computer search to Vertebrate genes involved in cell cycle regulation, cellular adhesion or metastatic processes and to gene families most often found in HOVERGEN database, 7785 gene sequences were first analysed. Among the oncogenes, kinases, proteases and structural proteins, 55 new genes were selected; six of them were retrieved in more than one species.

Selective interactions between mammary epithelial cells and fibroblasts in co-culture.

Paracrine interactions between breast-cancer cells (MCF7) and stromal fibroblasts were studied in relation to the presence of steroid hormones, using co-cultures in which the 2 populations were separated by a microporous membrane. Densities and DNA-synthesis rates of the co-existing populations were interrelated. Proliferation was, therefore, viewed as the cumulative result of several factors, some of which are non-specific, e.g., are density-dependent, and some are specifically related to the feeders' origin and/or to culture conditions. Specific effects were measured and evaluated by stepwise analysis of covariance. MCF7 stimulated proliferation of fibroblasts differentially. Malignant-tumour fibroblasts were stimulated more than non-pathological ones. The magnitude of these effects was dependent on the presence of steroids. A similar analytical method was used for evaluating differential stromal influences on 4 epithelial phenotypic characters commonly used as prognostic markers. The estrogen-receptor, progesterone-receptor, pS2 and cathepsine-D phenotypes of MCF7, as well as their interrelations, were dependent on the origin of the fibroblasts, i.e., embryonic or adult, normal or tumoral.

South western blot mapping: a procedure for simultaneous characterization of DNA binding proteins and their specific genomic DNA target sites.

A method called "South Western blot mapping" for rapid characterization of both DNA binding proteins and their specific sites on genomic DNA is described. Proteins are separated on a sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) polyacrylamide gel, renatured by removing SDS in the presence of urea, and blotted onto nitrocellulose by diffusion. The genomic DNA region of interest is digested by restriction enzymes selected to produce fragments of appropriate but different sizes, which are subsequently end-labeled and allowed to bind to the separated proteins. The specifically bound DNA is eluted from each individual protein-DNA complex and analyzed by acrylamide gel electrophoresis. Evidence that tissue-specific DNA binding proteins may be detected by this technique is presented. Moreover, their sequence-specific binding allows the purification of the corresponding selectively bound DNA fragments and may improve protein-mediated cloning of DNA regulatory sequences.

In vitro characterization of tissue-specific nuclear proteins preferentially bound to the mouse beta-globin gene during MEL cell terminal differentiation.

Using DNA restriction fragments of the mouse beta-globin gene and other promoter-containing DNA fragments (LTR-MMTV and pBR322) as controls, we have characterized by protein blotting, in extracts of mouse erythroleukemia (MEL) cells, specific nuclear DNA binding proteins with a preferential affinity for the beta-globin DNA. Some proteins (110 and 75 kDa) appear in differentiated MEL cells while others (100, 95, and 35 kDa) are present in immature MEL and normal erythroblast cells and bind selectively to the far-upstream region of the gene. These proteins could modulate either positively or negatively the expression of the beta-globin gene and maybe, of other genes, during the terminal differentiation of erythroid cells.

[Trapped popliteal vein and artery]. / Artère et veine poplitées piégées.

A report is made of 3 observations of vascular constrictions in the knee hollow of three young adults: two constrictions of the popliteal artery, one by abnormal insertion of a tendon of the gastrocnemius muscle and of the arterial passage, the other by a fibrous band surrounding the artery. In one observation, the disorder was revealed by acute ischemia of one limb. The third observation was of a sural phlebitis with secondary repetition at the constriction of the popliteal vein by Soleaire's arcade. In all cases examination using the Doppler effect, in baseline and especially dynamic position, gives a diagnosis and allows postoperative monitoring. Bilateral arteriography, both static and dynamic, allows a precise diagnosis to be given and reveals the extent of vascular lesions, which conditions the operative technique. Treatment is always surgical, with exploration of the contralateral side if a constriction is suspected, even if it is asymptomatic.

[Nuclear proteins preferentially bound to the beta-globin gene: cellular specificity and variation during terminal differentiation of mouse erythroblasts]. / Protéines nucléaires se liant préférentiellement au gène beta-globine: spécificité cellulaire et variations au cours de la différenciation terminale des érythroblastes de souris.

Restriction fragments of the mouse beta major globin gene and of the long terminal repeat (LTR) DNA fragment of the mouse mammary tumor provirus as a control, were used to analyze the specificity of DNA-protein interactions in nuclear extracts of mouse erythroleukemia (MEL) cells and of other differentiated mouse cultured cell lines. After gel electrophoresis and transfer to nitrocellulose, DNA-binding proteins with a preferential affinity for the cloned beta-globin genomic sequence were characterized and related to the level of globin gene expression during induction of differentiating mouse erythroblasts. Two proteins (110 K and 75 K) appear in differentiated MEL cells while another one (100 K), for which we have localized the binding site on the beta-globin gene, is present only in immature MEL cells.

[Pericardial effusion with involvement of the superior aortic recessus of the pericardium. An x-ray computed tomographic case]. / Epanchement péricardique avec atteinte du récessus supérieur aortique du péricarde. Observation tomodensitométrique.

Computed tomography imaging in a patient with a pericardial effusion showed fluid collection in the superior recessus of pericardium confirmed by mediastinoscopy. Topographic and morphologic criteria and anatomic bases of the radiologic diagnosis are described, and emphasis placed on the fact that because of density variations in pericardial effusions the latter has to be added to the already long list of abnormal opacities of Barety's space.

Tissue-specific formation of transcription-initiation complexes at the 5' end of the mouse beta major globin gene.

Accurate initiation of transcription in vitro requires, in addition to RNA polymerase II, factors present in soluble extracts of cultured cells. We have developed transcription system in vitro, which permits us to visualize the transcription-initiation complexes on a mouse beta globin restricted fragment from a recombinant beta globin bacteriophage DNA. Using the lambda fragments as internal controls this system has allowed us to assess the specificity of transcription with RNA polymerase II. Comparing extracts from cells and tissues expressing the globin genes (Friend cells, spleen and blood from phenylhydrazine-induced anemic mice) with those which do not (thymus, liver, PCC3 cells), we observed that specific initiation of transcription on the beta globin gene occurs only with soluble extracts from erythroid tissues. This tissue-specific transcription is partially sensitive to alpha-amanitin and occurs at the 5' end of the globin gene.

Tissue-specific binding of total and beta-globin genomic deoxyribonucleic acid to non-histone chromosomal proteins from mouse erythropoietic cells.

The synthesis and DNA binding activity of purified nuclear non-histone proteins from mouse erythroblasts and myoblasts have been compared by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, affinity chromatography, and protein blotting. The labeled non-histone proteins bound to mouse total DNA clearly differ between erythroid and muscle cell lines, but these differences mainly reflect the qualitative changes observed in their pattern of synthesis. By contrast, a cloned genomic mouse beta-globin DNA fragment binds specifically several proteins (100K, 65K, 50K, 45K, and 34K) from erythropoietic Friend cells and does not bind any protein in the corresponding fraction from myoblasts. The specificity of these DNA protein interactions requires a NaCl concentration of 0.1 M and a low protein/DNA ratio. In these conditions lambda DNA binds the above proteins to only a small extent. During the dimethyl sulfoxide induced terminal differentiation of Friend mouse erythroleukemia (MEL) cells, there is an apparent overall decrease of total as well as globin DNA binding to the nuclear non-histone proteins but not to the histones, whereas no significant qualitative changes are detected.