Lemierre Syndrome in a Teenager Presenting as Pulmonary Septic Embolism

Lemierre syndrome is easily missed and may be more common than generally believed. Usually a complication of a deep neck abscess, it can present suddenly with shortness of breath and hypoxemia. Accurate diagnosis and orientation are mandatory for the treatment of an otherwise potentially life-threatening disease. We describe a case of an adolescent with Lemierre syndrome and septic pulmonary embolism.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Invasive Meningococcal Disease Unraveling a Novel Mutation in the C5 Gene in a Portuguese Family

Although bacterial meningitis is a rare presentation of a congenital immunodeficiency, invasive meningococcal disease is classically associated with complement deficiencies. We report a patient from a consanguineous kindred presenting with an invasive meningococcal disease caused by serogroup B meningococcus that revealed an underlying C5 deficiency caused by a novel mutation in the C5 gene.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Results from on-the-ground efforts to promote sustainable cattle ranching in the Brazilian Amazon

Agriculture in Brazil is booming. Brazil has the world’s second largest cattle herd and is the second largest producer of soybeans, with the production of beef, soybeans, and bioethanol forecast to increase further. Questions remain, however, about how Brazil can reconcile increases in agricultural production with protection of its remaining natural vegetation. While high hopes have been placed on the potential for intensification of low-productivity cattle ranching to spare land for other agricultural uses, cattle productivity in the Amazon biome (29% of the Brazilian cattle herd) remains stubbornly low, and it is not clear how to realize theoretical productivity gains in practice. We provide results from six initiatives in the Brazilian Amazon, which are successfully improving cattle productivity in beef and dairy production on more than 500,000 hectares of pastureland, while supporting compliance with the Brazilian Forest Code. Spread across diverse geographies, and using a wide range of technologies, participating farms have improved productivity by 30-490%. High-productivity cattle ranching requires some initial investment (R$1300-6900/ha or US$410-2180/ha), with average pay-back times of 2.5-8.5 years. We conclude by reflecting on the challenges that must be overcome to scale up these young initiatives, avoid rebound increases in deforestation, and mainstream sustainable cattle ranching in the Amazon.E.K.H.J.zE was funded by BBSRC grant BB/J014540/1 and the Tim Whitmore 215 Trust Fund

Techniques for Arbuscular Mycorrhiza Inoculum Reduction

It is well established that arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi can play a significant role in sustainable crop production and environmental conservation. With the increasing awareness of the ecological significance of mycorrhizas and their diversity, research needs to be directed away from simple records of their occurrence or casual speculation of their function (Smith and Read 1997). Rather, the need is for empirical studies and investigations of the quantitative aspects of the distribution of different types and their contribution to the function of ecosystems. There is no such thing as a fungal effect or a plant effect, but there is an interaction between both symbionts. This results from the AM fungi and plant community size and structure, soil and climatic conditions, and the interplay between all these factors (Kahiluoto et al. 2000). Consequently, it is readily understood that it is the problems associated with methodology that limit our understanding of the functioning and effects of AM fungi within field communities. Given the ubiquous presence of AM fungi, a major constraint to the evaluation of the activity of AM colonisation has been the need to account for the indigenous soil native inoculum. This has to be controlled (i.e. reduced or eliminated) if we are to obtain a true control treatment for analysis of arbuscular mycorrhizas in natural substrates. There are various procedures possible for achieving such an objective, and the purpose of this chapter is to provide details of a number of techniques and present some evaluation of their advantages and disadvantages. Although there have been a large number of experiments to investigated the effectiveness of different sterilization procedures for reducing pathogenic soil fungi, little information is available on their impact on beneficial organisms such as AM fungi. Furthermore, some of the techniques have been shown to affect physical and chemical soil characteristics as well as eliminate soil microorganisms that can interfere with the development of mycorrhizas, and this creates difficulties in the interpretation of results simply in terms of possible mycorrhizal activity. An important subject is the differentiation of methods that involve sterilization from those focussed on indigenous inoculum reduction. Soil sterilization aims to destroy or eliminate microbial cells while maintaining the existing chemical and physical characteristics of the soil (Wolf and Skipper 1994). Consequently, it is often used for experiments focussed on specific AM fungi, or to establish a negative control in some other types of study. In contrast, the purpose of inoculum reduction techniques is to create a perturbation that will interfere with mycorrhizal formation, although not necessarily eliminating any component group within the inoculum. Such an approach allows the establishment of different degrees of mycorrhizal formation between treatments and the study of relative effects. Frequently the basic techniques used to achieve complete sterilization or just an inoculum reduction may be similar but the desired outcome is accomplished by adjustments of the dosage or intensity of the treatment. The ultimate choice of methodology for establishing an adequate non-mycorrhizal control depends on the design of the particular experiments, the facilities available and the amount of soil requiring treatment

Modulation of Mrp1 (ABCc1) and Pgp (ABCb1) by Bilirubin at the Blood-CSF and Blood-Brain Barriers in the Gunn Rat

Accumulation of unconjugated bilirubin (UCB) in the brain causes bilirubin encephalopathy. Pgp (ABCb1) and Mrp1 (ABCc1), highly expressed in the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier (BCSFB) respectively, may modulate the accumulation of UCB in brain. We examined the effect of prolonged exposure to elevated concentrations of UCB on expression of the two transporters in homozygous, jaundiced (jj) Gunn rats compared to heterozygous, not jaundiced (Jj) littermates at different developmental stages (2, 9, 17 and 60 days after birth). BBB Pgp protein expression was low in both jj and Jj pups at 9 days (about 16–27% of adult values), despite the up-regulation in jj animals (2 and 1.3 fold higher than age matched Jj animals at P9 and P17–P60, respectively); Mrp1 protein expression was barely detectable. Conversely, at the BCSFB Mrp1 protein expression was rather high (60–70% of the adult values) in both jj and Jj at P2, but was markedly (50%) down-regulated in jj pups starting at P9, particularly in the 4th ventricle choroid plexuses: Pgp was almost undetectable. The Mrp1 protein down regulation was accompanied by a modest up-regulation of mRNA, suggesting a translational rather than a transcriptional inhibition. In vitro exposure of choroid plexus epithelial cells obtained from normal rats to UCB, also resulted in a down-regulation of Mrp1 protein. These data suggest that down-regulation of Mrp1 protein at the BSCFB, resulting from a direct effect of UCB on epithelial cells, may impact the Mrp1-mediated neuroprotective functions of the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier and actually potentiate UCB neurotoxicity