Bioelectricity generation in a self-sustainable Microbial Solar Cell

The possibility to develop devices based on bioprocesses for solar energy harvesting is significant from the economic and environmental point of view. In this communication it has been demonstrated that such device can be can be made by controlling the equilibrium between photosynthetic and electrogenic cultures. This device is a membrane-less and mediator-free apparatus with a graphite plate anode and a stainless steel grid cathode with a steady electricity production of about 1 mV m(-2).

Use of Fourier-domain OCT to detect retinal nerve fiber layer degeneration in Parkinson's disease patients

PURPOSE

To demonstrate axonal loss in the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and to evaluate the ability of Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) to detect RNFL degeneration and retinal thinning in these patients.

METHODS

PD patients (n=100) and healthy subjects (n=100) were included in the study and underwent visual acuity, color vision, and OCT examinations using two next-generation Fourier-domain devices (Spectralis and Cirrus). Differences in the RNFL thicknesses were compared between patients and controls.

RESULTS

RNFL thicknesses were significantly reduced in PD patients compared with healthy subjects, especially those obtained using the Spectralis OCT, in the inferotemporal quadrant (155.6±16.5 μm in healthy eyes vs 142.1±24.9 μm in patients, P=0.040) and in the superotemporal quadrant (142.6±20.9 μm in healthy eyes vs 132.77±18.6 μm in PD patients, P=0.046). Significant differences were observed between controls and patients in relation to mean macular thickness (P=0.031), foveal thickness (P=0.030), and inferior outer thickness (P=0.019).

CONCLUSION

PD is associated with RNFL loss and retinal thinning, which is detectable by Fourier-domain OCT measurements.

Effect of optic neuritis on progressive axonal damage in multiple sclerosis patients

Objective: The objective of this research was to study the effect of optic neuritis (ON) on axonal damage in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Specifically, we compared changes over 2 years in the retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) between affected and contralateral eyes in MS patients with a prior history of ON.

Methods: Thirty-four patients with one unilateral definitive episode of ON were included and underwent a complete ophthalmic examination, optical coherence tomography (OCT), scanning laser polarimetry, visual evoked potentials (VEP) and pattern electroretinogram (pERG). All patients were re-evaluated at 12 and 24 months. Parameters were compared between ON-affected and contralateral eyes in an initial exploration and over the course of the follow-up. Correlations between parameter changes were analysed.

Results: RNFL thickness and functional parameters showed more affection in ON eyes ( p ≤ 0.05), but changes in measurements during the study were similar between both groups of eyes.

Conclusions: Progressive axonal loss can be detected in the optic nerve, but ON is not a risk factor for increased chronic damage in MS patients without ophthalmic relapses. Loss of the RNFL is caused by progressive degeneration associated with the disease.

Comparison of imiquimod 5% cream versus radiotherapy as treatment for eyelid basal cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND

To compare the efficacy, cosmesis and tolerance of two non-surgical treatments-imiquimod (IMQ) 5% cream and radiotherapy (RT)-to combat periocular nodular basal cell carcinoma (BCC).

METHODS

Twenty-seven patients with clinical and histopathological diagnosis of nodular BCC on the eyelid were included and randomly selected: 15 patients were treated with IMQ 5% cream once daily, 5 days/week for 6 weeks, and 12 patients were treated with RT.

RESULTS

All tumours showed histopathological remission within 3 months of the treatment, and sustained clinical remission was documented in each patient after 24 months' follow-up. Treatment tolerability was rated as moderate with IMQ and good with RT. Functional results were better in patients treated with IMQ. Loss of eyelashes was reported for most of the patients treated with RT.

CONCLUSIONS

IMQ and RT therapies are effective for treating eyelid nodular BCCs. Cosmesis and functional results were better with IMQ, while tolerability was higher with RT.

A method of imaging viscoelastic parameters with acoustic radiation force

Acoustic radiation force has been proposed as a method of interrogating the mechanical properties of tissue. One simple approach applies a series of focused ultrasonic pulses to generate an acoustic radiation force, then processes the echoes returned from these pulses to estimate the radiation-force-induced displacement as a function of time. This process can be repeated at a number of locations to acquire data for image formation. In previous work we have formed images of tissue stiffness by depicting the maximum displacement induced at each tissue location after a finite period of insonification. While these maximum displacement images are able to differentiate materials of disparate mechanical properties, they exploit only a fraction of the information available. In this paper we show that the time-displacement curves acquired from tissue mimicking phantoms exhibit a viscoelastic response which is accurately described by the Voigt model. We describe how the viscous and elastic parameters of this model may be determined from experimental data. Finally, we show phantom images that depict not only the maximum local displacement, but also the viscous and elastic model parameters. These images offer complementary information about the target.

Short-wavelength automated perimetry and neuroretinal rim area

PURPOSE

To determine the correlation between neuroretinal rim area and functional losses detected by short-wavelength automated perimetry (SWAP) in a population of patients with suspected glaucoma.

METHODS

Forty-two eyes of 42 ocular hypertensive subjects who met the selection criteria (intraocular pressure greater than 21 mm of Hg and normal conventional visual fields) were studied. A planimetric optic nerve head study was performed, determining the total and sectorized neuroretinal rim areas. SWAP was also done, with a modified Humphrey field analyzer.

RESULTS

There were no significant correlations between the neuroretinal rim areas and the global perimetric parameters. However, the correlations between the inferotemporal neuroretinal rim area and some superonasal visual field regions (areas 3 and 4) were significant.

CONCLUSIONS

There is a relation in the topography of some visual field areas assessed by SWAP and the inferotemporal neuroretinal rim area, which may play a role in the diagnosis and follow-up of suspected glaucoma.

[Intraoperative systematic cholangiography in celiopscopic cholecystectomy]

OBJECTIVES

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy has become the therapeutic gold standard in uncomplicated cases of cholelithiasis. This study evaluated the feasibility and the results of intra-operative cholangiography during laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

METHODS

Intra-operative cholangiography was attempted in 126 consecutive patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Common bile duct stones were detected according to the following criteria: a) clinically (history of jaundice or pancreatitis); b) biologically (aminotransferase > 2 N, alkaline phosphatase > 2 N, total bilirubin > 20 mumol/L); c) ultrasonographically (diameter of the common bile duct > 12 mm, presence of gallbladder stones < 10 mm); d) calculation of the multifactorial score of Huguier.

RESULTS

An intraoperative cholangiography was performed in 116 patients (92%), for a mean duration of 16 minutes (range: 9-25 min). Two anomalies of the biliary tree were detected. Ten common bile duct stones were detected (8.6% with 50% success of laparoscopic extraction). One false positive case had justified a surgical exploration of the common bile duct. The sensitivity of preoperative criteria was 80%. No morbidity or postoperative biliary complications were related to the intraoperative cholangiography.

CONCLUSIONS

Routine intraoperative cholangiography should be systematically performed during laparoscopic cholecystectomy, providing anatomical information of the biliary tree and detecting, in 1.7% of cases, unsuspected common bile duct stones which could be treated during the same operative procedure.

Exogenous methionine increases levels of mRNAs transcribed from pcbAB, pcbC, and cefEF genes, encoding enzymes of the cephalosporin biosynthetic pathway, in Acremonium chrysogenum

Methionine stimulated cephalosporin production in cultures of three different strains of Acremonium chrysogenum when added either at inoculation time or at 72 h to cells grown previously in the absence of methionine. When methionine was added at 72 h, the stimulation of cephalosporin biosynthesis was observed only 12 h later and required de novo protein synthesis. Methionine increased the levels of enzymes (isopenicillin N synthase and deacetylcephalosporin C acetyltransferase) expressed from genes (pcbC and cefG, respectively) located in the two clusters of cephalosporin biosynthesis genes in the wild-type A. chrysogenum strain and also in the two improved strains, CW19 and C10. Methionine-supplemented cells showed higher levels of transcripts of the four known genes (pcbAB, pcbC, cefEF and, to a slight extent, cefG) of the cephalosporin biosynthetic pathway than cells grown in the absence of methionine. The levels of the cefG transcript were much lower than those of the pcbAB, pcbC, and cefEF transcripts. The induction by methionine of transcription of the four cephalosporin biosynthesis genes and the known effect of this amino acid on the differentiation of A. chrysogenum indicate that methionine exerts a pleiotropic effect that coordinately regulates cephalosporin biosynthesis and differentiation.

Resolution of chromosomes III and VI of Aspergillus nidulans by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis shows that the penicillin biosynthetic pathway genes pcbAB, pcbC, and penDE are clustered on chromosome VI (3.0 megabases)

An improved electrophoretic molecular karyotype of Aspergillus nidulans ATCC 28901 has been obtained by contour-clamped electric field gel electrophoresis, which separates seven chromosomal bands and allows resolution of chromosomes III and VI. The three genes of the penicillin biosynthetic pathway, pcbAB, pcbC, and penDE, encoding alpha-aminoadipyl-cysteinyl-valine synthetase, isopenicillin N synthase, and isopenicillin N acyltransferase, respectively, are clustered together on a chromosome of 3.0 Mg, corresponding to linkage group VI, whereas the argB gene was located on a chromosome of 3.4 Mb, corresponding to linkage group III. Three other strains of A. nidulans contained a modified chromosome III of about 3.1 Mb that overlaps with chromosome VI, forming a doublet. Resolution of chromosomes III and VI in strain ATCC 28901 allowed unequivocal mapping of the penicillin gene cluster on chromosome VI of A. nidulans.

The cefG gene of Cephalosporium acremonium is linked to the cefEF gene and encodes a deacetylcephalosporin C acetyltransferase closely related to homoserine O-acetyltransferase

The gene (cefG) encoding the acetyl coenzyme A:deacetylcephalosporin C acetyltransferase of Cephalosporium acremonium (synonym Acremonium chrysogenum) C10 has been cloned. It contains two introns and encodes a protein of 444 amino acids with an M(r) of 49,269 that correlates well with the M(r) deduced by gel filtration. The cefG gene is linked to the cefEF gene (encoding the bifunctional deacetoxycephalosporin C synthase/hydroxylase), but it is expressed in an orientation opposite that of the cefEF gene. Two transcripts of 1.2 and 1.4 kb were found in C. acremonium that correspond to the cefEF and cefG genes, respectively; the degree of expression of the cefG gene was clearly lower than that of the cefEF gene in 48-h cultures. The cloned cefG complemented the deficiency of deacetylcephalosporin acetyltransferase in the nonproducer mutant C. acremonium ATCC 20371 and restored cephalosporin biosynthesis in this strain. Heterologous expression of the cefG genes took place in Penicillium chrysogenum. The deacetylcephalosporin acetyltransferase showed a much higher degree of homology with the O-acetylhomoserine acetyltransferases of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Ascobolus immersus than with other O-acetyltransferases. The cefEF-cefG cluster of genes encodes the enzymes that carry out the three late steps of the cephalosporin biosynthetic pathway and is not linked to the pcbAB-pcbC gene cluster that encodes the first two steps of the pathway.

Diuretic and hypotensive activities of 4-anilino derivatives of 2-methylthiopyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidines

The synthesis of a series of 12 compounds referring to 4-anilino-2-methylthiopyrido [2,3-d]pyrimidines (1-12), and the results of a study of their diuretic, saliuretic and antihypertensive activities are reported. Most of this compounds showed significant diuretic activity at the dosage of 3-24 mg/kg. The 4-Anilino-2-methylthiopirido[2,3-d]pyrimidine 1 remained active to a dosage of 1 mg/kg. The diuretic activity of these compounds implied an increase in the Na+ excretion. Some of the most active diuretics have been studied for antihypertensive effect.

IgD plasma cell leukemia associated with pyroglobulinemia and pyroglobulinuria

A 70-yr-old man with multiple myeloma IgD developed a plasma cell leukemia producing a serum IgD monoclonal peak and lambda light chains in the urine. When the serum and the urine were heated at 56 degrees C for 30 min both monoclonal bands disappeared. The precipitate failed to redissolve on heating to 100 degrees C. Ion exchange chromatography with a linear gradient of phosphate buffer, pH 8, 0.020-0.300 mol/l and column electrofocusing showed that the serum pyroglobulin was eluted with buffer concentration between 0.040-0.125 mol/l and had an isoelectric point of 5.02, while the pyroglobulin of the urine was eluted with 0.020-0.033 mol/l and had a pI = 7.16. The serum and urine pyroglobulins had a total antigenic community with their correspondent purified proteins. The isolated lambda chains did not change when they were heated at 56 degrees C for 30 min, nevertheless, the heated purified IgD shows some changes in its isoelectric point, molecular mass and antigenicity. These changes in the purified IgD suggest that the pyroprecipitability could be due to conformational features.

Fetal and maternal copper levels in patients at term with and without premature rupture of membranes

This study evaluated the relationship between serum copper levels and premature rupture of the membranes (PROM). Serum copper levels are significantly lower in fetuses and their mothers with PROM at term as compared with a control group without PROM. Birth weights of the newborns delivered following PROM are significantly lower than those in the control group despite similarity of gestational ages. The significance of these findings is discussed.

Micromethod for lead determination in whole blood by atomic absorption, with use of the graphite furnace

I describe a micro-scale method for determining lead in whole blood by utilizing a graphite furnace. Sample pretreatment consists of fivefold dilution with a dilute surfactant. The method is directly calibrated with lead standards prepared in dilute HNO3. To eliminate a small, nonspecific absorption signal from the blood matrix, simultaneous background correction is used. Interlaboratory comparison with a flame atomic absorption technique that requires extraction yielded high correlation (r equal to 0.98). Within-run precision (coefficient of variation) ranged from 2 to 4 percent. Lead in blood can be accurately measured in as little as 20 mul of blood, hence the method is suitable for routine laboratory use and for pediatric screening.