Fungemia due to Trichosporon mucoides in a diabetes mellitus patient: a rare case report

Trichosporon species are widely distributed in nature and can occasionally belong to the human microbiota. For many years, Trichosporon beigelii, the only species of this genus, was found as the aetiological agent of superficial skin infection called white piedra. However, many cases of invasive trichosporonosis caused by different newly delineated species of Trichosporon have been published in increasing numbers in recent past years, especially in immunocompromised persons. We report a rare case of fungemia due to Trichosporon mucoides in a diabetes mellitus patient, which will add to the emerging list of trichosporonosis infections.

Fish consumption is associated with a decreased risk of death among adults with diabetes: 18-year follow-up of a national cohort

BACKGROUND

There is a paucity of studies examining the beneficial effects of fish consumption on cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) among adults with diabetes, who experience a substantially high risk of CVDs.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We analyzed the data of 1136 adults with diabetes mellitus aged 18 years and older who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988-1994, and were followed up through December 31, 2010. We used Cox regression to estimate the adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for the relative risk across the levels of fish consumption. A total of 698 deaths were recorded at the end of 11,465 person-years follow-up with a mortality rate of 60.88 per 1000 person-years. CVDs were listed as a contributing cause for 326 deaths, thus accounting for 46.4% of total deaths. Stroke-specific mortality rate among patients who ate fish less than once a week was more than twice as high as that among patients who ate fish more than twice a week, 6.23 vs. 2.36 per 1000 person-years, respectively. The corresponding CVD-specific rate was 34.38 vs. 22.99 per 1000 person-years, respectively. The adjusted HRs of death due to stroke were 1.00 (reference), 0.55 (95% confidence interval = 0.28-1.07), and 0.30 (0.11-0.80) among patients who ate fish <1, 1-2, and 2 + times a week, and the corresponding HRs of death due to CVDs were 1.00 (reference), 0.78 (0.60-1.02), and 0.69 (0.50-0.96), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

A high consumption of fish was associated with a low risk of death due to CVDs, especially stroke, among adults with diabetes.

Sigma virus and male reproductive success in Drosophila melanogaster

The risk of disease transmission can affect female mating rate, and thus sexual conflict. Furthermore, the interests of a sexually transmitted organism may align or diverge with those of either sex, potentially making the disease agent a third participant in the sexual arms race. In Drosophila melanogaster, where sexual conflict over female mating rate is well established, we investigated how a common, non-lethal virus (sigma virus) might affect this conflict. We gave uninfected females the opportunity to copulate twice in no-choice trials: either with two uninfected males, or with one male infected with sigma virus followed by an uninfected male. We assessed whether females respond behaviorally to male infection, determined whether male infection affects either female or male reproductive success, and measured offspring infection rates. Male infection status did not influence time to copulation, or time to re-mating. However, male infection did affect male reproductive success: first males sired a significantly greater proportion of offspring, as well as more total offspring, when they were infected with sigma virus. Thus viral infection may provide males an advantage in sperm competition, or, possibly, females may preferentially use infected sperm. We found no clear costs of infection in terms of offspring survival. Viral reproductive success (the number of infected offspring) was strongly correlated with male reproductive success. Further studies are needed to demonstrate whether virus-induced changes in reproductive success affect male and female lifetime fitness, and whether virus-induced changes are under male, female, or viral control.

Interesting observations on Primary Atrophic Rhinitis

Primary Atrophic Rhinitis (PAR) which has baffled the physicians of the past and the present ENT surgeons, till now, is found to have strong clinical evidence to suggest it to be of Hanseniatic origin. A rational review of literature, elicitation of the cardinal signs of leprosy - in its indeterminate paucibacillary form, and the similarity of the symptomatology between these two diseases corroborate this view. This is further sustained by observing it cured with antileprotic drugs which brings a new hope for these patients. It also unfolds a new horizon on further research on this disease.

In silico investigation on sensing of tyramine by boron and silicon doped C60 fullerenes

The present communication deals with the adsorption of tyramine neurotransmitter over the surface of pristine, Boron (B) and Silicon (Si) doped fullerenes. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations have been used to investigate tyramine adsorption on the surface of fullerenes in terms of stability, shape, work function, electronic characteristics, and density of state spectra. The most favourable adsorption configurations for tyramine have been computed to have adsorption energies of - 1.486, - 30.889, and - 31.166 kcal/mol, respectively whereas for the rest three configurations, it has been computed to be - 0.991, - 6.999, and - 8.796 kcal/mol, respectively. The band gaps for all six configurations are computed to be 2.68, 2.67, 2.06, 2.17, 2.07, and 2.14 eV, respectively. The band gap of pristine, B and Si doped fullerenes shows changes in their band gaps after adsorption of tyramine neurotransmitters. However, the change in band gaps reveals more in B doped fullerene rather than pristine and Si doped fullerenes. The change in band gaps of B and Si doped fullerenes leads a change in the electrical conductivity which helps to detect tyramine. Furthermore, natural bond orbital (NBO) computations demonstrated a net charge transfer of 0.006, 0.394, and 0.257e from tynamine to pristine, B and Si doped fullerenes.