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Interventions to improve child health depend, at least implicitly, on changing maternal knowledge and behaviour and a reallocation of maternal time. There have been few studies, however, of the time cost involved in the adoption of new health technologies and even fewer that examine changes in maternal activities in response to child illness. The present study examines maternal daytime activities and investigates changes that occur when children are ill. We examine the impact of acute childhood diarrhoea episodes on the activity patterns of the mother/caretaker in this setting. The results show that mothers alter their usual activity patterns only slightly in response to acute diarrhoea episodes in their children. They continue to perform the same variety of activities as when the children are healthy, although they are more likely to perform them with the child 'carried' on their back. There is some indication that diarrhoea perceived to be more severe did result in the mother acting as caretaker more frequently. These findings have important implications for health interventions that depend on changing the amount of maternal or caretaker time spent for child health technologies, but the implications may vary depending on the reasons for the observed lack of changes in caretaker activities.During the daytime in the rural village of Macashca in the Callejon de Huaylas, Peru, data collecters conducted 30 minute interval spot check observations on the activities of 45 children aged 4-36 months and their mothers/caretakers to examine the effect of acute childhood diarrhea episodes on the activities of the mothers/caretakers. The mothers/caretakers took more than 2 hours/day to prepare meals and 0.13 hours/day to collect fuel and water. Mothers were the caretakers for about 70% of all observations. Overall, time spent on child care duties increased only slightly during acute diarrhea episodes. It increased markedly for children aged 12-18 months, however (230 vs. 415 minutes/day; p = 0.006). When mothers perceived diarrhea to be severe, the amount of time spent in caretaker activities increased (72% vs. 62% during health; p = 0.1). Time spent on productive activities (e.g., gardening, food preparation, and work for wages) did not change greatly during acute diarrhea episodes. Possible explanations why mothers did not change their activity patterns during acute diarrhea episodes include: lack of flexibility to change their activity patterns; diarrhea may not be perceived as a threat; and lack of knowledge of, or access to, diarrheal treatments other than herbal tea. These findings demonstrate the need for public health specialists to consider the amount of time spent on child health technologies when designing health interventions. Realistic assessments of the practice and efficacy of traditional caretaker patterns during diarrheal episodes should be conducted to design feasible, culturally appropriate, effective case management programs.

201T tumour imaging is an established procedure, but little is known about its biological significance in transformed and non-transformed cells. In investigating the relationship between 201 T1 uptake and intracellular ATP, we wished to determine whether the observed difference in delayed uptake is attributable to re-uptake via Na-K ATPase by using transformed (HeLa) and non-transformed (human fibroblast: hFB) cell lines. In each cell line, ATP was measured using the Luciferin-Luciferase method (LLM). The change in 201 T1 uptake was assessed under conditions of mitochondrial suppression. Additionally, we assessed whether glycolysis is involved in 201 T1 uptake under conditions of mitochondrial suppression and anaerobic incubation. Re-uptake via Na-K ATPase (HeLa vs hFB: 37.3 vs 24.2%) showed a clear difference in delayed uptake between HeLa and hFB. With HeLa, 201 T1 uptake decreased biphasically with a reduction in ATP levels, whereas with hFB a linear correlation was evident. Despite the suppression of mitochondrial potential, a 5% glucose loading accelerated glycolysis with HeLa, and increased ATP (10.0 ± 4.0%) and 201 T1 uptake (16.2 ± 3.0% ). Conversely, neither ATP nor 201 T1 uptake increased with hFB. Our results provide evidence that 201 T1 uptake in transformed cells is related to enhanced glycolysis as well as mitochondrial ATP synthesis.

Sanitary disposal of feces is vital to combat childhood diarrhea, and its promotion is key to improving health in developing countries. Knowledge of prevailing feces disposal practices is a prerequisite to formulation of effective intervention strategies. Two studies were conducted in a shantytown area of Lima, Peru. First, information was gathered through in-depth interviews with mothers and structured observations (4 hours) of young children and their caretakers. Data on beliefs and practices related to feces disposal behaviors were obtained. Excreta were deposited by animals or humans in or near the house in 82% of households observed. Beliefs about feces depended on their source and were reflected in how likely the feces were to be cleared. While 22% of children aged > or = 18 months were observed to use a potty for defecation, 48% defecated on the ground where the stools often remained. Although almost all children were cleaned after defecation, 30% retained some fecal matter on their body or clothes. Handwashing after the child's defecation was extremely rare for both children (5%) and caretakers (20%). The hygienic disposal of feces poses problems in this type of community. Nevertheless existing practices were found that show promise for promotion on a wider scale, including greater use of potties.

Physiological scrotal hypothermia is necessary for normal spermatogenesis and fertility in mammals. Cirp is a recently identified cold-inducible RNA-binding protein that is inducible at 32 degrees C in mouse somatic cells in vitro. Cirp is constitutively expressed in the testis of mouse and structurally highly similar to RBM1, a candidate for the human azoospermia factor. To elucidate the role played by Cirp in spermatogenesis, we investigated its expression levels during spermatogenesis and after heat stress. In the mouse testis, cirp mRNA was detected in the germ cells, and the level varied depending on the stage of differentiation. Also, a high level of Cirp protein was detected immunohistochemically in the nucleus of primary spermatocytes. Expression of Cirp was decreased in the GC-2spd(ts) mouse germ cell line when culture temperature was raised from 32 degrees C to 37 degrees C. When mouse testis was exposed to heat stress by experimental cryptorchidism or immersion of the lower abdomen in warm (42 degrees C) water, the expression of Cirp was decreased in the testis within 6 hours after either treatment. In human testis with varicocele analyzed immunohistochemically, germ cells expressed less Cirp protein than those in the testis without varicocele. These results demonstrated that CIRP expression is down-regulated at elevated temperature in male germ cells of mice and humans. Analysis of Cirp expression in the testes will help elucidate the molecular mechanisms leading to male infertility.

Genomic imprinting is defined as a gamete-specific modification causing differential expression of the two alleles of a gene in somatic cells and is becoming increasingly recognized as playing an important role in a number of human diseases including cancer. We have reported that the loss of the insulin-like growth factor-2 (IGF2) gene imprinting results in the deregulation of both IGF2 alleles, which may contribute to the onset of Wilms tumor. It is important to see whether such abnormal genomic imprinting is implicated in the etiology of common adulthood cancers. In the present study we have examined the expression level and imprinting status of the IGF2 gene in human ovaries and ovarian cancers. We confirm that IGF2 is significantly expressed in ovaries and ovarian cancers. In normal ovaries, both surface epithelium and the ovary proper demonstrate monoallelic IGF2 expression. Among 27 tumors, all 11 heterozygous for the IGF2 locus show monoallelic IGF2 expression (2 of them are proven to be from the paternal allele). The data suggest that the increased IGF2 gene expression in ovarian cancer may be achieved by a mechanism other than loss of imprinting.