Genotyping and antifungal susceptibility of Dipodascus capitatus isolated in a neonatal intensive care unit of a sicilian hospital

In August 2015, Dipodascus capitatus was isolated from two patients admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit. Nosocomial acquisition of the fungus was suspected and epidemiological studies were undertaken. The patients were simultaneously hospitalized, and the comparison of the two isolates by two independent molecular typing methods have confirmed clonal dissemination of a single strain of D. capitatus. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was useful for identifying the appropriated antifungal therapy in micafungin. To our knowledge these are the first described cases of neonatal D. capitatus infection and also the first report of successful treatment by micafungin.In August 2015, Dipodascus capitatus was isolated from two patients admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit. Nosocomial acquisition of the fungus was suspected and epidemiological studies were undertaken. The patients were simultaneously hospitalized, and the comparison of the two isolates by two independent molecular typing methods have confirmed clonal dissemination of a single strain of D. capitatus. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was useful for identifying the appropriated antifungal therapy in micafungin. To our knowledge these are the first described cases of neonatal D. capitatus infection and also the first report of successful treatment by micafungin

Specific Sequences in the N-terminal Domain of Human Small Heat Shock Protein HSPB6 Dictate Preferential Heterooligomerization with the Orthologue HSPB1

Small heat-shock proteins (sHSPs) are a conserved group of molecular chaperones with important roles in cellular proteostasis. Although sHSPs are characterized by their small monomeric weight, they typically assemble into large polydisperse oligomers that vary in both size and shape but are principally composed of dimeric building blocks. These assemblies can include different sHSP orthologues, creating additional complexity that may affect chaperone activity. However, the structural and functional properties of such hetero-oligomers are poorly understood. We became interested in hetero-oligomer formation between human heat-shock protein family B (small) member 1 (HSPB1) and HSPB6, which are both highly expressed in skeletal muscle. When mixed in vitro, these two sHSPs form a polydisperse oligomer array composed solely of heterodimers, suggesting preferential association that is determined at the monomer level. Previously, we have shown that the sHSP N-terminal domains (NTDs), which have a high degree of intrinsic disorder, are essential for the biased formation. Here we employed iterative deletion mapping to elucidate how the NTD of HSPB6 influences its preferential association with HSPB1 and show that this region has multiple roles in this process. First, the highly conserved motif RLFDQXFG is necessary for subunit exchange among oligomers. Second, a site ∼20 residues downstream of this motif determines the size of the resultant hetero-oligomers. Third, a region unique to HSPB6 dictates the preferential formation of heterodimers. In conclusion, the disordered NTD of HSPB6 helps regulate the size and stability of hetero-oligomeric complexes, indicating that terminal sHSP regions define the assembly properties of these proteins

Dementia and detectives: Alzheimer's disease in crime fiction

Fictional representations of dementia have burgeoned in recent years, and scholars have amply explored their double-edged capacity to promote tragic perspectives or normalising images of ‘living well’ with the condition. Yet to date, there has been only sparse consideration of the treatment afforded dementia within the genre of crime fiction. Focusing on two novels, Emma Healey’s Elizabeth is Missing and Alice LaPlante’s Turn of Mind, this article considers what it means in relation to the ethics of representation that these authors choose to cast as their amateur detective narrators women who have dementia. Analysing how their narrative portrayals frame the experience of living with dementia, it becomes apparent that features of the crime genre inflect the meanings conveyed. While aspects of the novels may reinforce problem-based discourses around dementia, in other respects they may spur meaningful reflection about it among the large readership of this genre

Hydrothermal activity, functional diversity and chemoautotrophy are major drivers of seafloor carbon cycling

Hydrothermal vents are highly dynamic ecosystems and are unusually energy rich in the deep-sea. In situ hydrothermal-based productivity combined with sinking photosynthetic organic matter in a soft-sediment setting creates geochemically diverse environments, which remain poorly studied. Here, we use comprehensive set of new and existing field observations to develop a quantitative ecosystem model of a deep-sea chemosynthetic ecosystem from the most southerly hydrothermal vent system known. We find evidence of chemosynthetic production supplementing the metazoan food web both at vent sites and elsewhere in the Bransfield Strait. Endosymbiont-bearing fauna were very important in supporting the transfer of chemosynthetic carbon into the food web, particularly to higher trophic levels. Chemosynthetic production occurred at all sites to varying degrees but was generally only a small component of the total organic matter inputs to the food web, even in the most hydrothermally active areas, owing in part to a low and patchy density of vent-endemic fauna. Differences between relative abundance of faunal functional groups, resulting from environmental variability, were clear drivers of differences in biogeochemical cycling and resulted in substantially different carbon processing patterns between habitats

'Kids sold, desperate moms need cash': Media representations of Zimbabwean women migrants

The article draws on 575 randomly selected articles from the South African Media database to explore the representation of Zimbabwean women migrants. Using critical discourse analysis (CDA), the article shows that some of the dominant construction types depict a picture of caricatured, stereotypical and stigmatised Zimbabwean migrant women without voice and individuality. In turn, the diversity of their actualities is not captured in the process of constructing the twin images of Zimbabwean women as victims and as purveyors of decadent and other negative social ills in society. We conclude that Zimbabwean women migrants appear in the SA media primarily in three negative images: suppliers of sexual services, as un-motherly, and as victims. We also conclude that there is need for media to capture the voices of migrant women recounting their everyday lived experiences in different political and socio-economic contexts in order to account for the migrant women's voices of resilience, defiance and victimhood and of agency, against the normalising and marginalising influences of political institutions and national border controls. This would also help capture the transformative nature of migration to the women, the 'home' in Zimbabwe and the 'home' in South Africa.IS

Fibre tract segmentation for intraoperative diffusion MRI in neurosurgical patients using tract-specific orientation atlas and tumour deformation modelling

Purpose:: Intraoperative diffusion MRI could provide a means of visualising brain fibre tracts near a neurosurgical target after preoperative images have been invalidated by brain shift. We propose an atlas-based intraoperative tract segmentation method, as the standard preoperative method, streamline tractography, is unsuitable for intraoperative implementation. Methods:: A tract-specific voxel-wise fibre orientation atlas is constructed from healthy training data. After registration with a target image, a radial tumour deformation model is applied to the orientation atlas to account for displacement caused by lesions. The final tract map is obtained from the inner product of the atlas and target image fibre orientation data derived from intraoperative diffusion MRI. Results:: The simple tumour model takes only seconds to effectively deform the atlas into alignment with the target image. With minimal processing time and operator effort, maps of surgically relevant tracts can be achieved that are visually and qualitatively comparable with results obtained from streamline tractography. Conclusion:: Preliminary results demonstrate feasibility of intraoperative streamline-free tract segmentation in challenging neurosurgical cases. Demonstrated results in a small number of representative sample subjects are realistic despite the simplicity of the tumour deformation model employed. Following this proof of concept, future studies will focus on achieving robustness in a wide range of tumour types and clinical scenarios, as well as quantitative validation of segmentations

Training data requirements for atlas-based brain fibre tract identification

Large volumes of annotated training data are often required for data-driven image analysis methods. We consider two techniques for identifying brain fibre bundles from diffusion MRI scans, tractfinder and TractSeg, and compare performances using different amounts of training data. Our results show that tractfinder, an atlas-based method, shows no improvement in performance beyond a relatively small number of training samples. This is an advantage in a field where generating and maintaining high quality reference data is difficult and time-consuming

Neurosurgical experience of managing optic pathway gliomas

Background: Optic pathway gliomas (OPGs), also known as visual pathway gliomas, are debilitating tumors that account for 3–5% of all pediatric brain tumors. They are most commonly WHO grade 1 pilocytic astrocytomas and frequently occur in patients with neurofibromatosis type 1. The location of these tumors results in visual loss and blindness, endocrine and hypothalamic dysfunction, hydrocephalus, and premature death. Their involvement of the visual pathways and proximity to other eloquent brain structures typically precludes complete resection or optimal radiation dosing without incurring significant neurological injury. There are various surgical interventions that can be performed in relation to these lesions including biopsy, cerebrospinal fluid diversion, and partial or radical resection, but their role is a source of debate. This study catalogues our surgical experience and patient outcomes in order to support decision-making in this challenging pathology. Methods: A retrospective review of all cases of OPGs treated in a single center from July 1990 to July 2020. Data was collected on patient demographics, radiographic findings, pathology, and management including surgical interventions. Outcome data included survival, visual function, endocrine, and hypothalamic dysfunction. Results: One hundred twenty-one patients with OPG were identified, and 50 of these patients underwent a total of 104 surgical procedures. These included biopsy (31), subtotal or gross total resection (20 operations in 17 patients), cyst drainage (17), Ommaya reservoir insertion (9), or cerebrospinal fluid diversion (27). During the study period, there was 6% overall mortality, 18% hypothalamic dysfunction, 20% endocrine dysfunction, and 42% had some cognitive dysfunction. At diagnosis 75% of patients had good or moderate visual function in at least one eye, and overall, this improved to 83% at the end of the study period. In comparison the worst eye had good or moderate visual function in 56%, and this reduced to 53%. Baseline and final visual function were poorer in patients who had a surgical resection, but improvements in vision were still found—particularly in the best eye. Discussion/conclusion: OPG are debilitating childhood tumor that have lifelong consequences in terms of visual function and endocrinopathies/hypothalamic dysfunction; this can result in substantial patient morbidity. Decisions regarding management and the role of surgery in this condition are challenging and include cerebrospinal fluid diversion, biopsy, and in highly select cases cystic decompression or surgical resection. In this paper, we review our own experience, outcomes, and surgical philosophy