A Study of Renal Tuberculosis with Particular Reference to the Results of Modern Treatment

This work is based on the writer's personal experience of 828 patients with renal tuberculosis treated in Robroyston Hospital over a period of 20 years. It is fortunate that for half of that time the author had at his disposal specific anti-tuberculosis drugs and so it was possible to compare the results of such treatment with the results which obtained in the years prior to the introduction of streptomycin

Tuberculous Epididymitis: A Clinical and Aetiological Study

Abstract Not Provided

MLN64 Transport to the Late Endosome Is Regulated by Binding to 14-3-3 via a Non-canonical Binding Site

MLN64 is an integral membrane protein localized to the late endosome and plasma membrane that is thought to function as a mediator of cholesterol transport from endosomal membranes to the plasma membrane and/or mitochondria. The protein consists of two distinct domains: an N-terminal membrane-spanning domain that shares homology with the MENTHO protein and a C-terminal steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR)-related lipid transfer (START) domain that binds cholesterol. To further characterize the MLN64 protein, full-length and truncated proteins were overexpressed in cells and the effects on MLN64 trafficking and endosomal morphology were observed. To gain insight into MLN64 function, affinity chromatography and mass spectrometric techniques were used to identify potential MLN64 interacting partners. Of the 15 candidate proteins identified, 14-3-3 was chosen for further characterization. We show that MLN64 interacts with 14-3-3 in vitro as well as in vivo and that the strength of the interaction is dependent on the 14-3-3 isoform. Furthermore, blocking the interaction through the use of a 14-3-3 antagonist or MLN64 mutagenesis delays the trafficking of MLN64 to the late endosome and also results in the dispersal of endocytic vesicles to the cell periphery. Taken together, these studies have determined that MLN64 is a novel 14-3-3 binding protein and indicate that 14-3-3 plays a role in the endosomal trafficking of MLN64. Furthermore, these studies suggest that 14-3-3 may be the link by which MLN64 exerts its effects on the actin-mediated endosome dynamics

Unresponsive wakefulness syndrome: a new name for the vegetative state or apallic syndrome

BACKGROUND: Some patients awaken from coma (that is, open the eyes) but remain unresponsive (that is, only showing reflex movements without response to command). This syndrome has been coined vegetative state. We here present a new name for this challenging neurological condition: unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (abbreviated UWS). DISCUSSION: Many clinicians feel uncomfortable when referring to patients as vegetative. Indeed, to most of the lay public and media vegetative state has a pejorative connotation and seems inappropriately to refer to these patients as being vegetable-like. Some political and religious groups have hence felt the need to emphasize these vulnerable patients' rights as human beings. Moreover, since its first description over 35 years ago, an increasing number of functional neuroimaging and cognitive evoked potential studies have shown that physicians should be cautious to make strong claims about awareness in some patients without behavioral responses to command. Given these concerns regarding the negative associations intrinsic to the term vegetative state as well as the diagnostic errors and their potential effect on the treatment and care for these patients (who sometimes never recover behavioral signs of consciousness but often recover to what was recently coined a minimally conscious state) we here propose to replace the name. CONCLUSION: Since after 35 years the medical community has been unsuccessful in changing the pejorative image associated with the words vegetative state, we think it would be better to change the term itself. We here offer physicians the possibility to refer to this condition as unresponsive wakefulness syndrome or UWS. As this neutral descriptive term indicates, it refers to patients showing a number of clinical signs (hence syndrome) of unresponsiveness (that is, without response to commands) in the presence of wakefulness (that is, eye opening)

Large clonal expansions of human virus‐specific memory cytotoxic T lymphocytes within the CD57+ CD28– CD8+ T‐cell population

The proportion of human peripheral blood CD8+ T cells that are CD57+ CD28– is low at birth but increases with age and in individuals infected with human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). These CD57+ CD28– CD8+ T cells contain large oligoclonal T‐cell expansions whose antigen specificity is unknown. We identified clonal expansions of virus‐specific memory cytotoxic T‐lymphocyte precursors (CTLp) in both healthy carriers of HCMV and in asymptomatic HIV‐infected subjects. In each subject, from the T‐cell receptor (TCR) β‐chain hypervariable sequence of each immunodominant CTL clone, we designed complementary oligonucleotide probes to quantify the size and phenotypic segregation of individual virus‐specific CTL clones in highly purified populations of peripheral blood CD8+ T cells. We found large clonal expansions of virus‐specific CTL clonotypes in CD57+ CD28– CD8+ T cells. Using limiting dilution analysis, we found functional peptide‐specific CTLp at high frequency in CD57+ CD28– cells. Thus, memory CTL specific for persistent viruses account for many oligoclonal expansions within CD57+ CD28– CD8+ T cells

Carrot Carotenoid Genetics and Genomics

International audienceCarotenoids are essential for photosynthesis, and they are the ultimate source of all dietary vitamin A. They account for the striking diversity of orange, yellow, and red carrot storage root color, and this likely contributes to the fact that carotenoids are the most extensively studied class of compounds in carrot, where their biosynthesis and accumulation have been evaluated across diverse genetic backgrounds and environments. Many genes in the 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol-4-phosphate pathway (MEP) and carotenoid biosynthetic pathways have been identified and characterized in carrot, and genes in those pathways are expressed in carrot roots of all colors, including white carrots which contain at most trace amounts of carotenoids. The active functioning of genes in the carotenoid pathway in carrot roots of all colors should be expected since pathway products serve as precursors for hormones important in plant development. 1-Deoxy-d-xylulose-5-phosphate synthase (DXS) in the MEP pathway and the phytoene synthase and lycopene β-cyclase (PSY, LCYB) genes in the carotenoid pathway provide some level of overall regulation or modulation of these respective pathways, and these genes are incrementally upregulated in carrots with higher carotenoid content but variation in their expression does not account for the diverse content and composition of carotenoids in different colors of carrots. In contrast, genetic polymorphism in the Y and Y2 genes accounts for much for the variation in carotenoids accumulated in white, yellow, and orange carrots, and with the sequencing of the carrot genome, the genetic basis for these genes is becoming revealed. A candidate for the Y gene, DCAR_032551, is not a member of either the MEP or carotenoid biosynthesis pathway but rather a regulator of photosystem development and carotenoid storage. A clear candidate for the Y2 gene has not been identified, but no carotenoid biosynthetic gene was found in the genomic region defined by fine mapping of Y2. The Or gene, which regulates chromoplast development in other crops, was also recently associated with the presence of carotenoids in carrot. The discovery of genes outside the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway that contributes to carotenoid colors of carrots is but one exciting consequence of sequencing the carrot genome