Methanol improves methane uptake in starved methanotrophic microorganisms

Methanotrophs in enrichment cultures grew and sustained atmospheric methane oxidation when supplied with methanol. If they were not supplied with methanol or formate, their atmospheric methane oxidation came to a halt, but it was restored within hours in response to methanol or formate. Indigenous forest soil methanotrophs were also dependent on a supply of methanol upon reduced methane access but only when exposed to a methane-free atmosphere. Their immediate response to each methanol addition, however, was to shut down the oxidation of atmospheric methane and to reactivate atmospheric methane oxidation as the methanol was depleted.

Coma with Vertical Gaze Palsy: Relevance of Angio-CT in Acute Percheron Artery Syndrome

Background

A 63-year-old woman with chronic atrial fibrillation treated with warfarin was admitted to emergency for coma and complete vertical gaze palsy. Investigations: Brain CT and MRI, echo-colour Doppler sonography of the supraaortic vessels, angio-CT of the intracranial vessels, EEG, transesophageal echocardiogram, biohumoral tests. Brain CT and MRI scans showed bilateral thalamic lesions with involvement of the right midbrain; EEG showed a diffuse alpha rhythm prevalent on the posterior regions; echo-colour Doppler sonography of the supraaortic vessels showed marked reduction of blood flow in the right vertebral artery; angio-CT scans showed occlusion of the right vertebral artery and a significant filling defect of the first part of the right posterior cerebral artery (P1) from which the artery of Percheron arises. A follow-up angio-CT showed a complete recanalization of P1. Diagnosis: Percheron artery syndrome. Treatment and Management: Aspirin, neurorehabilitation.

Trends in skin cancer incidence by socioeconomic position in Scotland, 1978-2004

Background:

Non-melanoma skin cancer has been little studied in relation to deprivation.

Methods:

Incident cases diagnosed in 1978–2004 were extracted from the Scottish Cancer Register and assigned to quintiles of Carstairs deprivation scores. Age-standardised incidence rates (ASRs) (European standard population) were calculated by deprivation quintile, sex, period of diagnosis, for the three main types of skin cancer.

Results and conclusion:

As age-standardised incidence of each skin cancer increased significantly over time across all deprivation categories, rates were consistently highest in the least deprived quintile.

Ibuprofen-induced meningitis in a male with systemic lupus erythematosus

A 36-year-old male with systemic lupus erythematosus developed aseptic meningitis after ingestion of ibuprofen. He was unconscious, had a universal rash, high fever and a pathological CSF. Being severely ill he was treated with high doses of corticosteroids and plasmapheresis and recovered within a week.

Bilateral papilledema with normal CT-scan in neurosarcoidosis

A 74-year-old woman was admitted with fever, muscle and joint pain and a mild hypercalcemia. Rather suddenly she turned unconscious and bilateral papilledema was found. A subsequent CT of the brain, however, did not disclose signs of space-occupying masses or increased intracranial pressure. She died two days later and at autopsy there were no signs of incarceration. Microscopic examination revealed non-caseating epithelioid granulomas throughout the meninges and brain consistent with sarcoidosis.

3He spin-dependent cross sections and sum rules

We present a measurement of the spin-dependent cross sections for the 3He over -->(e over -->,e')X reaction in the quasielastic and resonance regions at a four-momentum transfer 0.1< or =Q2< or =0.9 GeV2. The spin-structure functions have been extracted and used to evaluate the nuclear Burkhardt-Cottingham and extended Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn sum rules for the first time. The data are also compared to an impulse approximation calculation and an exact three-body Faddeev calculation in the quasielastic region.

Minimally invasive and selective hydrodynamic gene therapy of liver segments in the pig and human

This paper highlights our experience of the transfer of hydrodynamic gene therapy (HGT) from the large animal, the pig, into clinical practice. The modification of balloon catheters and the development of a minimally invasive technique to allow selective isolation of liver segments for HGT in the large animal and human are described. Finally, our preliminary results from a phase I clinical study of HGT for thrombopoietin (TPO) in cirrhotic patients with thrombocytopenia are discussed. Based on these provisional data, minimally invasive selective HGT of liver segments appears to be technically safe, but further work is required to optimize the efficiency of gene transfer in order to achieve clinical benefit.

Mismatch negativity analysis in drug-resistant epileptic patients implanted with vagus nerve stimulator

It is well known that some epileptic patients does not respond to conventional treatments, despite multiple combination of antiepileptic drugs, and they are therefore considered drug-resistant. For these patients, vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) represents a successful alternative to traditional therapy, and it is generally well tolerated; beside benefits on seizure frequency, VNS showed positive effects on cognition and mood. Aim of this study was to investigate short-term memory changes in a group of 12 patients implanted with VNS, through Mismatch Negativity wave (MMN). After 1 year of follow-up, MMN latencies and amplitudes did not show significant changes following VNS implantation, independently on current intensity, as compared with pre-implantation values. In two patients, MMN values, which were abnormal before VNS implantation, showed a major reduction in latency and an increase in amplitude after implantation, suggesting a likely positive effect of VNS on pre-attentive processes investigated by MMN.

Infectious correlates of HIV-1 shedding in the female upper and lower genital tracts

OBJECTIVES

To determine the effects of vaginal, cervical, and endometrial infections on shedding of HIV-1 RNA in the female genital tract.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional.

METHODS

Antiretroviral-naive women from Nairobi, Kenya with CD4 cell counts >or= 350 cells/mul had plasma and endocervical wick samples collected for HIV quantification by real-time RNA reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Vaginal and cervical Gram stains and endometrial biopsies were obtained. Vaginal Gram stain was used to diagnose bacterial vaginosis and to quantify Lactobacillus levels.

RESULTS

Twenty-six of 50 (52%) women had detectable endocervical HIV-1 RNA with a median endocervical viral load of 1760 copies/ml (range: undetectable to 1 1,030,000 copies/ml). Women with decreased Lactobacillus had 15.8-fold [95% confidence interval (CI), 2.0-123] greater endocervical HIV-1 RNA than women with normal Lactobacillus levels. Women with plasma cell (PC) endometritis [>or= 1 PC/high-power field (hpf)] had a 15.8-fold (95% CI, 2.0-120) higher endocervical HIV RNA level than women without PC endometritis. Both these associations remained after controlling for plasma viral load. Cervicitis (>or= 30 polymorphonuclear leukocytes/hpf), however, was not associated with endocervical HIV-1 RNA shedding (P = 0.81).

CONCLUSIONS

In HIV-1-infected, antiretroviral-naive women without symptoms of pelvic inflammatory disease infection, abnormal vaginal flora and inflammatory cells in the endometrium affected HIV-1 shedding from the lower genital tract. These data suggest that both the upper and lower genital tracts contribute to female HIV-1 genital shedding.

Characterization of the 12C4 survivin monoclonal antibody and insight into the expression of survivin in human adult tissues

AIMS

To elucidate the expression and regulation of survivin in normal tissues.

METHODS AND RESULTS

A novel monoclonal antibody (12C4) to survivin was generated. Application of this antibody to determine survivin expression in human normal adult tissues revealed that most adult tissues do not express survivin and, where it is present, survivin is largely restricted to a small subset of epithelial cells and cells with proliferative potential such as thymus. Survivin expression among positive tissues showed individual variations, ranging from zero to < 5% positive cells in epithelial cell populations. Testis is the only human adult tissue highly expressing survivin, with 60-70% positivity in the nuclei of spermatogonia. Consistent with deregulated expression of survivin associated with oncogenesis, we found that certain ligands and transcription factors differentially modulate survivin promoter activity in cancer cells versus normal/untransformed cells.

CONCLUSION

Deregulation of survivin transcription controls in individual epithelial cells may contribute to oncogenesis in various human adult tissues.

A brief review of the fossil record of the Ediacaran–Cambrian transition in the area of Montes de Toledo–Guadalupe, Spain

The area of western Montes de Toledo to Guadalupe boasts a thick succession of mainly siliciclastic sediment spanning terminal Ediacaran to lower Cambrian strata as indicated by a relatively sparse but diverse palaeontological record. A terminal Ediacaran age is based on the occurrence of Cloudina in platform carbonates of the lower part of the Ibor group and in correlative levels of olistostromes at the base of the Río Huso group. Higher in the Río Huso group are found trace fossils which indicate a Cambrian age, notably Treptichnus bifurcus, which overlaps the local stratigraphic range of macroscopic carbonaceous disc-shaped fossils identified as Beltanelliformis. Strata underlying the Río Huso group contain treptichnids. The fossil record of the terminal Ediacaran–Lower Cambrian of this area is in part comparable to Cloudina-bearing sediments from other regions, in particular Namibia, where treptichnid trace fossils also overlap the range of Cloudina. The possibility of a wider biostratigraphic significance of this should be further tested, including its relation to the base of the Cambrian.