Draft Genome Sequence of Enterococcus mundtii QAUEM2808, Isolated from Dahi, a Fermented Milk Product.

Enterococcus mundtii QAUEM2808 has been isolated from dahi, an indigenous fermented milk product of Pakistan. Here, we report the draft genome sequence for this strain, which consists of 160 contigs corresponding to 2,957,514 bp and a G+C content of 38.5%.

Mother's education and utilisation of health care services in Pakistan.

PIP: Consistent with a large body of research identifying a positive association between maternal education and utilization of health care services, the present study found that mothers in Pakistan with higher educational status were more likely to avail themselves of prenatal and delivery services. The focus of the survey was the last birth among a subsample of women from the 1991 Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey who had delivered in the preceding six years. Respondents indicated whether they had obtained prenatal and/or delivery care from a traditional midwife or a modern medical professional (doctor, nurse, lady health visitor, family welfare worker, trained birth attendant). As expected, educated, literate women were more likely than their illiterate counterparts to utilize a modern source for both prenatal care and delivery. This trend was more pronounced for women with a middle-school education than those with a primary-level education. Other variables associated with use of modern medical facilities included urban residence, parity one, and high paternal education. The effect of education is less significant in urban areas where modern health care is easily accessible. This implies that interventions in rural areas aimed at both raising female educational status and improving accessibility to modern health facilities would have a significant impact on eliminating differentials in health care utilization.^ieng

c-erbB-2 oncoprotein in screen-detected breast carcinoma: an immunohistological study.

This study was aimed at comparing screen-detected and symptomatic breast carcinomas with regard to the prevalence of positive immunostaining for c-erb-B-2 oncoprotein. Paraffin sections of 81 breast carcinomas detected through the National Screening Programme were examined for the over-expression of c-erbB-2 oncoprotein using the avidin-biotin immunoperoxidase technique and 2 different specific antibodies: 21N and 4D5. Twenty-one other carcinomas detected in symptomatic patients were similarly examined for comparison. The screen-detected lesions were of 2 types: palpable and impalpable which required needle localization prior to surgical removal. Of the 81 screen-detected tumours, only 8 were c-erbB-2 positive, compared with 5 out of 21 non-screen-detected tumours. When only invasive carcinomas were considered, 5 out of 63 screen-detected cases were positive, compared with 5 out of 15 symptomatic cases. Four out of the 5 screen-detected positive invasive carcinomas were clinically palpable. Our results show an obvious trend towards a lower prevalence of c-erbB-2 oncoprotein over-expression in screen-detected carcinomas. As this over-expression is thought to be associated with increased tumour aggressiveness, the findings suggest a low prevalence of aggressive tumours in screen-detected lesions, particularly impalpable invasive carcinomas, identified so far.

Immunohistochemical localisation of pS2 protein in ductal carcinoma in situ and benign lesions of the breast.

The expression of pS2 was examined histochemically in paraffin sections taken from biopsy material from patients diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). Often intense immunoreactivity, to an anti-pS2 monoclonal antibody, was observed in comedo, solid, cribriform and micropapillary types of DCIS, with significant positivity found in 63-67% of cases. In 15 samples analysed, we found a good correlation between pS2 expression and presence of progesterone receptor positive cells, but not with estrogen receptor. There was only a limited degree of correspondence between the cells staining with these anti-sera. Some pS2 positive cells were also seen in normal acini in areas adjacent to cancer but much less frequently in sections of normal breast from reduction mammoplasty. Most normal areas were negative, as were cysts. In benign proliferative conditions (seen in sections with and without DCIS) such as adenosis, sclerosing adenosis, mild and florid ductal epithelial hyperplasia, significant pS2 positivity was seen in about 50% of cases. These results suggest that there is a progressive increase in pS2 from normal to benign to cancer cells and that this gene is expressed in both the invasive and pre-invasive forms of breast cancer.

Oestrogen and progesterone receptors in screen-detected breast carcinoma: an immunohistological study using paraffin sections.

The presence of oestrogen and progesterone receptors was studied in paraffin sections of 81 screen-detected breast carcinomas using the monoclonal antibodies ER-ICA and PgR-ICA (Abbott) and the immunoperoxidase technique. The immunohistological results were compared with the results of the standard dextran-coated charcoal biochemical assay in 28 tumours which were big enough to provide tumour tissue for this assay. Sixty-three cases (78%) were oestrogen receptor positive and 62 (77%) were progesterone receptor positive. There was no statistical difference between receptor positivity in palpable or impalpable, in situ or invasive tumours. In the 28 cases where the biochemical assay was carried out, the two methods gave similar results in 23 (82%) and 21 (75%) tumours for oestrogen and progesterone receptors respectively. The majority of the remaining tumours, with one exception, were positive with immunohistology and negative with biochemistry. A good correlation was also present between the mean numerical biochemical values and the semiquantitative histological scores for both receptors. It is concluded that assessment of receptor status of small screen-detected carcinomas is feasible using routinely processed paraffin sections. There is reasonably good correlation with the results obtained by the standard dextran-coated charcoal biochemical assay, but more genuine receptor positive cases are detected by immunohistology.

HER2 (c-erbB-2) oncoprotein expression in colorectal adenocarcinoma: an immunohistological study using three different antibodies.

Paraffin wax sections of 70 surgically resected colorectal adenocarcinomas were examined for the overexpression of HER2/c-erbB-2 oncoprotein using three different specific antibodies and the avidin-biotin immunoperoxidase technique. The patients included 38 men and 32 women aged between 47 and 80 years. The tumours were derived from various parts of the large intestinal tract, and represented all three stages of Dukes' classification and the three histological grades of differentiation. Many tumour sections also included adjacent normal or transitional mucosa. Eight tubular adenomas found in the colectomy specimens in association with some carcinomas were also examined. No positive membrane staining was seen in any of the 70 carcinomas, four adenomas, two hyperplastic polyps, nor in the adjacent normal or transitional mucosa. It is suggested that the overexpression of c-erbB-2 gene product is unlikely to be as common and as pronounced in colorectal adenocarcinoma as it is in ductal carcinoma of the breast.

Monoclonal antibody B72.3 immunostaining of breast carcinoma. Patterns of staining and relationship to mucin content and GCDFP-15 reactivity.

Around 80% of breast carcinomas express the tumor-associated glycoprotein-72, as demonstrated by positive immunostaining with the monoclonal antibody B72.3. We have investigated the pattern of B72.3 immunostaining in 88 breast carcinomas of different types, with the use of an immunoperoxidase technique. As tumor-associated glycoprotein-72 has mucinlike properties and is usually present in cells that show apocrine differentiation, we have also compared the results of B72.3 immunostaining in these tumors with the staining results for mucin and GCDFP-15, which is another antibody that recognizes apocrine differentiation. A variable degree of B72.3 immunostaining was seen in 60 cases (68%). The staining patterns varied with the histological type and sometimes within the same type. A significant relationship was demonstrated between B72.3 positivity and the presence of acidic mucin in the tumors, but not with their staining for GCDFP-15. The extent, distribution, and pattern of immunostaining for B72.3 varies in different types of breast carcinoma; this fact has to be taken into consideration if radiolabeled B72.3 monoclonal antibodies are going to be used for therapeutic purposes.

c-erbB-2 expression in different histological types of invasive breast carcinoma.

Sections of 149 breast carcinomas were examined for the over-expression of c-erbB-2 oncoprotein using the avidin-biotin immunoperoxidase technique and two different specific antibodies. These included the polyclonal antibody 21N and the monoclonal antibody 4D5. The tumours were divided into two main groups. The first included 75 cases of invasive ductal and classic invasive lobular carcinomas. The second group consisted of 74 cases with histological types known to have a good prognosis, including mucinous, alveolar variant of invasive lobular, medullary, tubular, cribriform and papillary carcinomas. Fifteen (20%) tumours of the first group were positive with the two antibodies. Fourteen of these were of the ductal type and one was a mixed invasive ductal and lobular carcinoma. Ten of the pure ductal cases had areas of comedo carcinoma. The intraductal elements in a further tumour were positively stained with 21N antibody only. None of the second group of tumours, which included histological types known to have good prognosis, stained with 4D5, although one mucinous carcinoma was positively stained with 21N. These findings suggest that in invasive breast carcinoma immunostaining for c-erbB-2 is mainly seen in a subgroup of ductal tumours, and that almost all other histological types, especially those associated with good prognosis, lack this expression.

Monoclonal antibody B72.3 in benign breast lesions.

It has been suggested that the monoclonal antibody B72.3 may be useful as a diagnostic tool in fine needle aspirates of breast masses because it recognises "tumour associated glycoprotein (TAG)-72". The antigen was sought in paraffin wax sections of 43 normal and benign breast biopsy specimens, using the avidin-biotin complex technique, to assess the extent of its presence in non-malignant tissue. Strong focal staining was seen in 21 (49%) cases. In 29 cases of fibrocystic change staining was present in 17 (59%). All areas of apocrine metaplasia were positive, as well as a few normal ducts and acini and occasional areas of adenosis. Focal positivity was present in five out of 12 foci of ductal epithelial hyperplasia and in three out of seven radial scars. Staining was absent in two areas of lobular hyperplasia, three areas of sclerosing adenosis, and in a focus of lactational change. Focal positivity was also seen in two out of five fibroadenomas and in two out of three intraduct papillomas. Five normal subareolar sections and a section of normal lactating breast were negative. It is concluded that B72.3 monoclonal antibody can show focal reactivity with a variety of normal and benign epithelial mammary structures, and it is doubtful that its use would be of any help in differentiating benign from malignant cells in fine needle aspirates.

Demonstration of progesterone receptors in paraffin wax sections of breast carcinoma.

Several immunohistological methods for the demonstration of progesterone receptors were tried on routinely processed paraffin wax sections of breast carcinoma, using Abbott's PgR-ICA monoclonal antibody. The best results were obtained with the avidin-biotin-immunoperoxidase complex method with no prior trypsinisation or DNAse digestion, and with imidazole added to the final diaminobenzidine developing solution. A simple semiquantitative scoring system was used to assess the staining results which were then compared with the results obtained by a standard dextran-coated charcoal biochemical assay. Of 31 cases examined, the results of the two methods were concordant in 25 (81%) of cases. This is near the higher end of the concordance range obtained by several other authors using frozen sections. The discordance encountered in a few cases was possibly the result of sampling errors which are more likely to occur with the chemical rather than the histological method. It is concluded that the method described here is fairly reliable and would greatly simplify the process of assessment of progesterone receptors in breast, and possibly other tumours.