In vitro susceptibility of 120 strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolated in Kyrghyzstan.

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization has established a worldwide program for gonococcal antimicrobial surveillance, but so far no data on gonococcal susceptibility in Central Asia are available. GOAL: The need for biological data on the susceptibility of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in Kyrghyzstan, to enable adaptation of the national treatment protocol for gonococcal infections, led Médecins Sans Frontières and Epicentre to conduct a survey in collaboration with the Alfred Fournier Institute in Paris and the health authorities in Bishkek. STUDY DESIGN: In vitro susceptibility of N gonorrhoeae strains was determined with use of the reference agar-plate dilution technique. RESULTS: Results for 11 antibiotics tested on 120 strains of gonococci showed a low proportion (11.7%) of penicillinase-producing N gonorrhoeae and high proportions of intermediate or resistant strains to the majority of the antibiotics tested, including fluoroquinolones (>or=25% of strains resistant). All the strains were susceptible to spectinomycin, and only two strains had decreased susceptibility to cefixime. CONCLUSION: The therapeutic choices available in Kyrghyzstan appear to be limited to cephalosporins and spectinomycin

Death rates from malaria epidemics, Burundi and Ethiopia.

Death rates exceeded emergency thresholds at 4 sites during epidemics of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Burundi (2000-2001) and in Ethiopia (2003-2004). Deaths likely from malaria ranged from 1,000 to 8,900, depending on site, and accounted for 52% to 78% of total deaths. Earlier detection of malaria and better case management are needed

Synthesis and characterization of polymers for nonlinear optical applications

International audienceA difunctional NLO Azo-Dye chromophore has been synthesized and polymerization has been performed with a comonomer bearing a side-chain epoxy group. Deposition of the polymer on glass substrates was performed by spin-coating, resulting in uniform films up to 2 µm thickness. The orientation of the chromophore was performed under a " pin-to-plane " positive corona discharge followed by a heat-treatment in order to obtain reticulation of the films. Molecular orientation has been investigated using UV-Vis. and Raman spectroscopy. Poling of the films results in a decay of absorbency as well as in a blue shift of the spectrum. At the same time, the 1600 cm-1 band disappears from the Raman spectra, indicating orientation of the chromophores. Cross-linking has been studied by FTIR and all-optical poling and showed an improved stability of the electro-optic thin films

Future climate effects on suitability for growth of oil palms in Malaysia and Indonesia

The production of palm oil (PO) is highly profitable. The economies of the principal producers, Malaysia and Indonesia, and others, benefit considerably. Climate change (CC) will most likely have an impact on the distribution of oil palms (OP) (Elaeis guineensis). Here we present modelled CC projections with respect to the suitability of growing OP, in Malaysia and Indonesia. A process-oriented niche model of OP was developed using CLIMEX to estimate its potential distribution under current and future climate scenarios. Two Global Climate Models (GCMs), CSIRO-Mk3.0 and MIROC-H, were used to explore the impacts of CC under the A1B and A2 scenarios for 2030, 2070 and 2100. Decreases in climatic suitability for OP in the region were gradual by 2030 but became more pronounced by 2100. These projections imply that OP growth will be affected severely by CC, with obvious implications to the economies of (a) Indonesia and Malaysia and (b) the PO industry, but with potential benefits towards reducing CC. A possible remedial action is to concentrate research on development of new varieties of OP that are less vulnerable to CC.The Portuguese-based authors thank the FCT Strategic Project of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit, the project RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462) and the Project "BioEnv - Biotechnology and Bioengineering for a sustainable world", REF. NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000048, co-funded by the Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2 - O Novo Norte), QREN, FEDER

Examination of the Effects of Heterogeneous Organization of RyR Clusters, Myofibrils and Mitochondria on Ca2+ Release Patterns in Cardiomyocytes

Spatio-temporal dynamics of intracellular calcium, [Ca2+]i, regulate the contractile function of cardiac muscle cells. Measuring [Ca2+]i flux is central to the study of mechanisms that underlie both normal cardiac function and calcium-dependent etiologies in heart disease. However, current imaging techniques are limited in the spatial resolution to which changes in [Ca2+]i can be detected. Using spatial point process statistics techniques we developed a novel method to simulate the spatial distribution of RyR clusters, which act as the major mediators of contractile Ca2+ release, upon a physiologically-realistic cellular landscape composed of tightly-packed mitochondria and myofibrils.We applied this method to computationally combine confocal-scale (~ 200 nm) data of RyR clusters with 3D electron microscopy data (~ 30 nm) of myofibrils and mitochondria, both collected from adult rat left ventricular myocytes. Using this hybrid-scale spatial model, we simulated reaction-diffusion of [Ca2+]i during the rising phase of the transient (first 30 ms after initiation). At 30 ms, the average peak of the simulated [Ca2+]i transient and of the simulated fluorescence intensity signal, F/F0, reached values similar to that found in the literature ([Ca2+]i 1 μM; F/F0 5.5). However, our model predicted the variation in [Ca2+]i to be between 0.3 and 12.7 μM (~3 to 100 fold from resting value of 0.1 μM) and the corresponding F/F0 signal ranging from 3 to 9.5. We demonstrate in this study that: (i) heterogeneities in the [Ca2+]i transient are due not only to heterogeneous distribution and clustering of mitochondria; (ii) but also to heterogeneous local densities of RyR clusters. Further, we show that: (iii) these structureinduced heterogeneities in [Ca2+]i can appear in line scan data. Finally, using our unique method for generating RyR cluster distributions, we demonstrate the robustness in the [Ca2+]i transient to differences in RyR cluster distributions measured between rat and human cardiomyocytes

Low dose cranial irradiation-induced cerebrovascular damage is reversible in mice

BACKGROUND: High-dose radiation-induced blood-brain barrier breakdown contributes to acute radiation toxicity syndrome and delayed brain injury, but there are few data on the effects of low dose cranial irradiation. Our goal was to measure blood-brain barrier changes after low (0.1 Gy), moderate (2 Gy) and high (10 Gy) dose irradiation under in vivo and in vitro conditions. METHODOLOGY: Cranial irradiation was performed on 10-day-old and 10-week-old mice. Blood-brain barrier permeability for Evans blue, body weight and number of peripheral mononuclear and circulating endothelial progenitor cells were evaluated 1, 4 and 26 weeks postirradiation. Barrier properties of primary mouse brain endothelial cells co-cultured with glial cells were determined by measurement of resistance and permeability for marker molecules and staining for interendothelial junctions. Endothelial senescence was determined by senescence associated β-galactosidase staining. PRINCIPLE FINDINGS: Extravasation of Evans blue increased in cerebrum and cerebellum in adult mice 1 week and in infant mice 4 weeks postirradiation at all treatment doses. Head irradiation with 10 Gy decreased body weight. The number of circulating endothelial progenitor cells in blood was decreased 1 day after irradiation with 0.1 and 2 Gy. Increase in the permeability of cultured brain endothelial monolayers for fluorescein and albumin was time- and radiation dose dependent and accompanied by changes in junctional immunostaining for claudin-5, ZO-1 and β-catenin. The number of cultured brain endothelial and glial cells decreased from third day of postirradiation and senescence in endothelial cells increased at 2 and 10 Gy. CONCLUSION: Not only high but low and moderate doses of cranial irradiation increase permeability of cerebral vessels in mice, but this effect is reversible by 6 months. In-vitro experiments suggest that irradiation changes junctional morphology, decreases cell number and causes senescence in brain endothelial cells

Neurohypophysial Receptor Gene Expression by Thymic T Cell Subsets and Thymic T Cell Lymphoma Cell Lines

Abstract Neurohypophysial oxytocin (OT) and vasopressin (VP) genes are transcribed in thymic epithelium, while immature T lymphocytes express functional neurohypophysial receptors. Neurohypophysial receptors belong to the G protein-linked seven-transmembrane receptor superfamily and are encoded by four distinct genes, OTR, V1R, V2R and V3R. The objective of this study was to identify the nature of neurohypophysial receptor in thymic T cell subsets purified by immunomagnetic selection, as well as in murine thymic lymphoma cell lines RL12-NP and BW5147. OTR is transcribed in all thymic T cell subsets and T cell lines, while V3R transcription is restricted to CD4+ CD8+ and CD8+ thymic cells. Neither V1R nor V2R transcripts are detected in any kind of T cells. The OTR protein was identified by immunocytochemistry on thymocytes freshly isolated from C57BL/6 mice. In murine fetal thymic organ cultures, a specific OTR antagonist does not modify the percentage of T cell subsets, but increases late T cell apoptosis further evidencing the involvement of OT/OTR signaling in the control of T cell proliferation and survival. According to these data, OTR and V3R are differentially expressed during T cell ontogeny. Moreover, the restriction of OTR transcription to T cell lines derived from thymic lymphomas may be important in the context of T cell leukemia pathogenesis and treatment

Zinc speciation in organic waste drives its fate in amended soils

Recycling of organic waste (OW) as fertilizer on farmland is a widespread practice that fosters sustainable development via resource reuse. However, the advantages of OW fertilization should be weighed against the potentially negative environmental impacts due to the presence of contaminants such as zinc (Zn). Current knowledge on the parameters controlling the environmental fate of Zn following OW application on cultivated soils is scant. We addressed this shortcoming by combining soil column experiments and Zn speciation characterization in OWs and amended soils. Soil column experiments were first carried out using two contrasted soils (sandy soil and sandy clay loam) that were amended with sewage sludge or poultry manure and cropped with lettuce. The soil columns were irrigated with identical amounts of water twice a week, and the leachates collected at the column outlet were monitored and analyzed. This scheme (OW application and lettuce crop cycle) was repeated for each treatment. Lettuce yields and Zn uptake were assessed at the end of each cycle. The soil columns were dismantled and seven soil layers were sampled and analyzed at the end of the second cycle (total experiment time: 12 weeks). X-ray absorption spectroscopy analyses were then conducted to assess Zn speciation in OW and OW-amended soils. The results of this study highlighted that (i) the fate of Zn in water–soil–plant compartments was similar, regardless of the type of soil and OW, (ii) >97.6% of the Zn input from OW accumulated in the soil surface layer, (iii) Zn uptake by lettuce increased with repeated OW applications, and (iv) no radical change in Zn speciation was observed at the end of the 12-week experiment, and phosphate was found to drive Zn speciation in both OW and amended soils (i.e., amorphous Zn-phosphate and Zn sorbed on hydoxylapatite). These results suggest that Zn speciation in OW is a key determinant controlling the environmental fate of this element in OW-amended soils

Національно-демократичні об'єднання та політичні партії в Україні кінця XIX - початку XX століття

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has become increasingly important for the treatment and relief of neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease, tremor, dystonia and psychiatric illness. As DBS implantations and any other stereotactic and functional surgical procedure require accurate, precise and safe targeting of the brain structure, the technical aids for preoperative planning, intervention and postoperative follow-up have become increasingly important. The aim of this paper was to give and overview, from a biomedical engineering perspective, of a typical implantation procedure and current supporting techniques. Furthermore, emerging technical aids not yet clinically established are presented. This includes the state-of-the-art of neuroimaging and navigation, patient-specific simulation of DBS electric field, optical methods for intracerebral guidance, movement pattern analysis, intraoperative data visualisation and trends related to new stimulation devices. As DBS surgery already today is an important technology intensive domain, an "intuitive visualisation" interface for improving management of these data in relation to surgery is suggested