Coxiella burnetii(C. burneii)was first recognized as the agent of Q fever in 1937. Q fever is an acute self-limited febrile illness. However, it manifests with several clinical symptoms depending upon the organs that are involved. The association of C. burnetii with human neoplasia has been rarely reported. We prospectively studied the 55 patients with fever of unknown origin, pneumonia, hepatosplenomegaly, lymphadenopathy, leukemia, lymphoma, and immunodeficiency and 14 persons who contacted the Q fever patients. The patient's sera were tested for antibodies specific for C. burnetii, using indirct fluorescent antibody techniques (IFA). 1) We serologically confirmed 23 C. burnetii infection. The 23 children with Q fever ranged in age from 0 to 15 years, with mean age of 4 years 11 months. Seventeen were boys and 6 were girls. 2) Characteristic symptoms and signs were fever (9/12 cases), rash (8/14 cases), hepatosplenomegaly (8/8 cases)and lymphadenopathy (14/27 cases). Five cases among 14 asymptomatic cases who contacted Q fever patients showed positive IFA test. One suffered from irregular uterine contraction, 4 weeks after contact with a Q fever patient. 3) There were no history of exposure to domestic animal carriers or contaminated dust, or drinking raw milk except one family. Three attending doctors and her father infected by a patient with Q fever. These suggested the person to person transmission of Q fever in a family and house staffs infected by a patient of Q fever. 4) Q fever (9 cases), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (2 cases), acute myelomonocytic leukemia (1 case), hairy cell leukemia (1case), Kawasaki disease (4 cases) and congenital dyserythropoietic anemia (1 case) showed positive IFA test. 5) Of 9 cases who suffered from lnly Q fever, 7 cases were confirmed hairy cell formation in their peripheral blood. One case was diagnosed as hairy cell leukemia after bone marrow study. Of 7 cases who showed hairy cells, all had hepatomegaly, 6 cases had lymphedenopathy and 5 cases showed splenomegaly. All except 1 case who was not followed cured after treatment. 6) We treated Q fever patients with rifampin and/or ciprofloxacin, and/or tetracyclin (over 8 year-old of age)for 2-4 weeks. One 25 month-old patient with hairy cell leukemia was treated with rifampin, ciprofloxacin and tetracyclin for 4 weeks, and rifampin for 8 months. A pregnant patient was administered with rifampin, and treated with rifampin and ciprofloxacin after delivery. We gave rifampin in one nweborn baby. In conclusion, we suggest that Q fever should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients with FUO, hepatosplenomegaly and/or immunodeficiency.
Anemia, Dyserythropoietic, Congenital ; Animals, Domestic ; Antibodies ; Bone Marrow ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Ciprofloxacin ; Coxiella burnetii* ; Coxiella* ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Drinking ; Dust ; Exanthema ; Fathers ; Female ; Fever ; Fever of Unknown Origin ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique ; Hepatomegaly ; Humans ; Internship and Residency ; Leukemia ; Leukemia, Hairy Cell ; Leukemia, Myelomonocytic, Acute ; Lymphatic Diseases ; Lymphoma ; Milk ; Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome ; Pneumonia ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma ; Prospective Studies ; Q Fever* ; Rifampin ; Splenomegaly ; Uterine Contraction

No abstract available.
Prions*

No abstract available.
Prions*

DNA flow cytometric analysis was performed on paraffin-embedded tissue from 10 cases of squamous cell eareinoma (SCC) and 10 cases of basal cell carcinoma(BCC). These results were applicable to do a better prognosis in BCC than SCC. In 10 cases of SCC, the DNA index was 1.34 and aneuploidy was identified in 9. In 10 cases of BCC, the DNA index was 1.30 and aneuploidy was identified in 6.
Aneuploidy ; Carcinoma, Basal Cell* ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell* ; DNA* ; Flow Cytometry* ; Prognosis ; Skin*

The DNA ploidy using fresh tissues from 304 cervial cancer were analyzed by flow cytometry in order to evaluate the correlation between DNA ploidy patterns and prognostic factors of uterine cervical cancer. There were l67 diploid cases(55%) and 137 aneuploid(45%). No significant correlation was noted in stage, age and lymph node metastases between diploid and aneuploid tumor. But S-phase fraction and DNA index were higher slightly in cases of lymph node metastases cornpaired to non-metastases. This results suggest that the DNA ploidy cannot be used as an independent prognostic fac- tor, but further evaluation will be needed in order to conclude definite relationship between prognoseic factor and S-phase fraction or DNA index.
Aneuploidy ; Diploidy ; DNA* ; Flow Cytometry ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Ploidies ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms*

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the practice effect of the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) after providing the subjects with knowledge of the results (KR). METHODS: Sixteen subjects with post-stroke hemiparesis volunteered to participate in this study. The 6MWT was performed by having the subjects take repeated walks along a 20-m walkway for 6 minutes; and the maximum distance walked was recorded. Two trials of the 6MWT were conducted under three conditions: no-KR, immediate-KR (providing knowledge of the time taken to complete each 20-m distance), and summary-KR (providing knowledge of the time taken to complete 60 m). RESULTS: The practice effects of all 3 conditions were determined by using the paired t-test, intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) with <0.75, and the Bland-Altman plot. The findings of the paired t-test showed a significant difference under the immediate-KR condition only; however, no significant differences were noted under the no-KR and summary-KR conditions. In a data agreement analysis across the two trials using the ICC, none of the obtained values under the three conditions were in an acceptable range indicative of a practice effect. In the Bland-Altman plot, a greater data variation was observed under the immediate-KR condition than under the other two conditions. When comparing the conditions, the immediate-KR condition differed significantly from the no-KR condition. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings do not support the presence of a practice effect across the 6MWT. However, a practice effect seems to be clinically possible when the immediate-KR condition is incorporated into this test.
Gait ; Paresis ; Stroke

No abstract available.
Otitis Media* ; Otitis*

No abstract available.
Anoxia* ; Cochlea* ; Diuretics* ; Guinea*

No abstract available.
DNA*

No abstract available.
Acoustic Impedance Tests*