[18F]FDG-6-P as a novel in vivo tool for imaging staphylococcal infections

Background Management of infection is a major clinical problem. Staphylococcus aureus is a Gram-positive bacterium which colonises approximately one third of the adult human population. Staphylococcal infections can be life-threatening and are frequently complicated by multi-antibiotic resistant strains including methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). Fluorodeoxyglucose ([18F]FDG) imaging has been used to identify infection sites; however, it is unable to distinguish between sterile inflammation and bacterial load. We have modified [18F]FDG by phosphorylation, producing [18F]FDG-6-P to facilitate specific uptake and accumulation by S. aureus through hexose phosphate transporters, which are not present in mammalian cell membranes. This approach leads to the specific uptake of the radiopharmaceutical into the bacteria and not the sites of sterile inflammation. Methods [18F]FDG-6-P was synthesised from [18F]FDG. Yield, purity and stability were confirmed by RP-HPLC and iTLC. The specificity of [18F]FDG-6-P for the bacterial universal hexose phosphate transporter (UHPT) was confirmed with S. aureus and mammalian cell assays in vitro. Whole body biodistribution and accumulation of [18F]FDG-6-P at the sites of bioluminescent staphylococcal infection were established in a murine foreign body infection model. Results In vitro validation assays demonstrated that [18F]FDG-6-P was stable and specifically transported into S. aureus but not mammalian cells. [18F]FDG-6-P was elevated at the sites of S. aureus infection in vivo compared to uninfected controls; however, the increase in signal was not significant and unexpectedly, the whole-body biodistribution of [18F]FDG-6-P was similar to that of [18F]FDG. Conclusions Despite conclusive in vitro validation, [18F]FDG-6-P did not behave as predicted in vivo. However at the site of known infection, [18F]FDG-6-P levels were elevated compared with uninfected controls, providing a higher signal-to-noise ratio. The bacterial UHPT can transport hexose phosphates other than glucose, and therefore alternative sugars may show differential biodistribution and provide a means for specific bacterial detection

Step by step: reconstruction of terrestrial animal movement paths by dead-reckoning

Background: Research on wild animal ecology is increasingly employing GPS telemetry in order to determine animal movement. However, GPS systems record position intermittently, providing no information on latent position or track tortuosity. High frequency GPS have high power requirements, which necessitates large batteries (often effectively precluding their use on small animals) or reduced deployment duration. Dead-reckoning is an alternative approach which has the potential to ‘fill in the gaps’ between less resolute forms of telemetry without incurring the power costs. However, although this method has been used in aquatic environments, no explicit demonstration of terrestrial dead-reckoning has been presented.Results: We perform a simple validation experiment to assess the rate of error accumulation in terrestrial dead-reckoning. In addition, examples of successful implementation of dead-reckoning are given using data from the domestic dog Canus lupus, horse Equus ferus, cow Bos taurus and wild badger Meles meles.Conclusions: This study documents how terrestrial dead-reckoning can be undertaken, describing derivation of heading from tri-axial accelerometer and tri-axial magnetometer data, correction for hard and soft iron distortions on the magnetometer output, and presenting a novel correction procedure to marry dead-reckoned paths to ground-truthed positions. This study is the first explicit demonstration of terrestrial dead-reckoning, which provides a workable method of deriving the paths of animals on a step-by-step scale. The wider implications of this method for the understanding of animal movement ecology are discussed

New insights on the quaternary stratigraphy of the Livorno area as deduced by borehole investigations

This paper deals with an interesting non-marine mollusc assemblage found in a sandy-mud deposit comprised between two calcarenitic layers linked to marine environment and correlated with oxygen isotope stage (OIS) 5e and 5c. The ecological and environmental characteristics of the recovered species suggest a woodland environment with abundant open areas and local marshy areas subject to frequent drying up. The presence of species quite characteristic of mountainous areas suggest conditions cooler than today. Stable isotope analyses performed on some well-preserved shells suggest a mean annual temperature of about 1°C lower than the present in the study area. According to these features, the non-marine mollusc assemblage is correlated with OIS 5d

Characterization of mutants of a highly cross-reactive calcium-binding protein from Brassica pollen for allergen-specific immunotherapy

Transfuzijsko liječenje je postupak kojim se bolesnik liječi krvnim pripravcima priređenim iz ljudske krvi. Liječenje se provodi prema procjeni kliničkog stanja bolesnika,odgovarajućim laboratorijskim pokazateljima i korisnosti liječenja s obzirom na mogućnost pojave neželjene reakcije. Usprkos svim postupcima koji se poduzimaju za što sigurnije transfuzijsko liječenje bolesnika uvijek postoji rizik pojave neželjene transfuzijske reakcije. Oko 1% transfundiranih bolesnika razvije neželjene reakcije na krvne pripravake. Većinom se radi o blagim reakcijama bez kliničkih posljedica. Međutim, neke mogu biti teške i uzrokovati smrt bolesnika. Na učestalost transfuzijskih rekacija utječu metode proizvodnje krvnih pripravaka kao i nadzor bolesnika tijekom transfuzijskog liječenja te model prijavljivanja transfuzijske reakcije. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je utvrditi učestalost transfuzijskih reakcija u Kliničkom bolničkom centru Zagreb (KBC Zagreb) u razdoblju 2002.-2018. godine. Također,u ovom radu biti će opisan sustav prijavljivanja transfuzijskih reakcija u KBC Zagreb te će se analizirati vrste reakcija prema krvnim pripravcima. U promatranom razdoblju zabilježeno je ukupno 1393 transfuzijske reakcije od kojih je najveći broj febrilnih nehemolitičkih transfuzijskih reakcija te alergijskih reakcija. Reakcije se najčešće javljaju kod eritrocitnih i trombocitnih krvnih pripravaka. Sigurno transfuzijsko liječenje ovisi o složenim, integriranim i međusobno ovisnim postupcima. Nužna je suradnja kliničkih odjela, transfuzijske službe, laboratorija i stručnih službi. Prije transfuzije obvezna je identifikacija bolesnika i pripravka te pravovremena reakcija u slučaju pojave komplikacija

Characterization of mutants of a highly cross-reactive calcium-binding protein from Brassica pollen for allergen-specific immunotherapy

Abstract not availableTetiana Garmatiuk, Ines Swoboda, Anna Twardosz-Kropfmüller, Fabio Dall’Antonia, Walter Keller, Mohan B.Singh, Prem L. Bhalla, Takashi Okada, Kinya Toriyama, Milena Weber, Minoo Ghannadan, Wolfgang R. Sperr, Katharina Blatt, Peter Valent, Brigitte Klein, Verena Niederberger, Mirela Curin, Nadja Balic, Susanne Spitzauer and Rudolf Valent