Eosinophilic dermatosis of hematologic malignancy: a case report

Eosinophilic dermatosis of hematologic malignancy (EDHM) is a dermatosis characterized by tissue eosinophilia that has been previously reported as insect bite-like reaction. It is a rare condition with a wide variety of clinical presentations ranging from papules, nodules, or blisters that simulate arthropod bites, to the formation of plaques of differing sizes. We report a case of eosinophilic dermatosis of hematologic malignancy in a patient with a hematoproliferative disorder

Using surveys of Affymetrix GeneChips to study antisense expression.

We have used large surveys of Affymetrix GeneChip data in the public domain to conduct a study of antisense expression across diverse conditions. We derive correlations between groups of probes which map uniquely to the same exon in the antisense direction. When there are no probes assigned to an exon in the sense direction we find that many of the antisense groups fail to detect a coherent block of transcription. We find that only a minority of these groups contain coherent blocks of antisense expression suggesting transcription. We also derive correlations between groups of probes which map uniquely to the same exon in both sense and antisense direction. In some of these cases the locations of sense probes overlap with the antisense probes, and the sense and antisense probe intensities are correlated with each other. This configuration suggests the existence of a Natural Antisense Transcript (NAT) pair. We find the majority of such NAT pairs detected by GeneChips are formed by a transcript of an established gene and either an EST or an mRNA. In order to determine the exact antisense regulatory mechanism indicated by the correlation of sense probes with antisense probes, a further investigation is necessary for every particular case of interest. However, the analysis of microarray data has proved to be a good method to reconfirm known NATs, discover new ones, as well as to notice possible problems in the annotation of antisense transcripts

Identifying the impact of G-quadruplexes on Affymetrix 3' arrays using cloud computing.

A tetramer quadruplex structure is formed by four parallel strands of DNA/ RNA containing runs of guanine. These quadruplexes are able to form because guanine can Hoogsteen hydrogen bond to other guanines, and a tetrad of guanines can form a stable arrangement. Recently we have discovered that probes on Affymetrix GeneChips that contain runs of guanine do not measure gene expression reliably. We associate this finding with the likelihood that quadruplexes are forming on the surface of GeneChips. In order to cope with the rapidly expanding size of GeneChip array datasets in the public domain, we are exploring the use of cloud computing to replicate our experiments on 3' arrays to look at the effect of the location of G-spots (runs of guanines). Cloud computing is a recently introduced high-performance solution that takes advantage of the computational infrastructure of large organisations such as Amazon and Google. We expect that cloud computing will become widely adopted because it enables bioinformaticians to avoid capital expenditure on expensive computing resources and to only pay a cloud computing provider for what is used. Moreover, as well as financial efficiency, cloud computing is an ecologically-friendly technology, it enables efficient data-sharing and we expect it to be faster for development purposes. Here we propose the advantageous use of cloud computing to perform a large data-mining analysis of public domain 3' arrays

Effect of B-success herbal supplement on the accessory sex organs of male albino rats

This work investigated the effect of B-success herbal supplement on the accessory sex organs of male albino rats. Twenty weights matched male albino rats were divided into four groups of five rats and were given0.00, 315,630,945 mg/kg of the herbal product orally for 90 days. Animals had access to deionized water and were fed ad libitum with rat chow for 90 days. The feed and fluid consumption of the animals were measuredon daily basis while the body weight was measured weekly. Animals were anaesthetized after 90 days, bled sacrificed, epididymis, seminal vesicle and prostate were excised and weighed, protein, DNA. The epididymaltissues were also used for the determination of acid phosphatase and alkaline phosphatase. The result shows that there was significant (P. 0.05) decrease in both absolute and relative weights of seminal vesicle, prostateand epididymis in all the treated animals when compared with the control. The epididymal acid and alkaline phosphatase contents and semen count decreased significantly (p. 0.05) in all the treated animals when compared with the control. The DNA and protein contents of seminal vesicle (SV), prostate (P) and epididymis (E) of albino rats treated with the B-success herbal supplement decreased significantly (p. 0.05) in all the treated animals when compared with the control. B-success herbal supplement may have toxic effect on the accessory sex organs of male albino rats.Keywords: B–success herbal supplement, seminal vesicle (SV), prostate (P) and epididymis (E), male albino rats.

The impact of industries on surface water quality of River Ona and River Alaro in Oluyole Industrial Estate, Ibadan, Nigeria

Samples of water from two rivers (River Ona and River Alaro) in Oluyole Industrial Estate, Ibadan, Nigeria were analysed to evaluate the impact of industrial discharges on the surface water quality. The results obtained indicated that most of the parameters analysed (pH, total hardness, sulphate, chloride, nitrate and dissolved solids) were lower than the World Health Organisation (WHO) maximum permissible limit for drinking water. However, the levels of nitrate, chloride, total phosphorus, total solids and oil and grease were higher in the industrial zones than those found in the upstream of both rivers. These ranged between 3.00 – 8.55, 7.48 – 11.78, 2.14 – 3.57, 260 – 520 mg/l and 381.20 – 430.80 mg/l, respectively. Nitrate and total phosphorus which are essential nutrients for plants were the most accumulated in both rivers. The gross organic pollution indicators monitored (chemical oxygen demand and oil and grease) revealed that River Alaro was more polluted than River Ona. It was established from the results of this study that industrial discharges had negative impact on the surface water qualities of both rivers. Hence, extraction of water from both rivers for domestic and agricultural purposes requires some forms of physical and chemical treatment.Key words: River Ona, River Alaro, industrial discharges, surface water quality

Antibacterial activity of extracts of Ocimum gratissimum on bacteria associated with diarrhoea

The antibacterial potential of cold water, hot water (100oC), ethanol and chloroform extracts of Ocimum gratisssimum leaves were tested against some pathogenic bacteria known to cause diaorrhoea; Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Shigella sp. and Salmonella sp. Cold water and chloroform extracts did not show any effect on the test organisms. Only ethanol extract and hot water (100oC) extracts had inhibitory effects on the test organisms. All the test organisms were susceptible to ethanol extract with zones of inhibition which ranged from 6mm - 11mm andminimum inhibitory concentration ranging from 30 - 60mg/ml. The test organisms were also susceptible to hot water extract with zones of inhibition ranging from 5mm - 10mm and minimum inhibitory concentration of range 25 - 70mg/ml. Due to the antimicrobial activity of Ocimum gratisssimum, it is therefore conceivable that it should be used to treat cases of diarrhea caused by the test organisms.Keywords: Staphylococcus aureus, Antimicrobial activity, extracts, Diarrhoea, Bacteri

Comparison between the environmental performance of buildings made of reinforced concrete and timber

In order to reduce the environmental impact of the construction industry, the case of natural material (such as timber) is pursued. However, is the use of low-impact materials sufficient to decrease the overall environmental impact of a building? The answer is not trivial, because there are many parameters that affect sustainability, in addition to the unitary environmental impact of the building materials. Through this article, an evaluation of the total CO2 emission in buildings made of reinforced concrete and CLT panels is carried out. The entire life cycle (LCA) of the materials is considered, as well as the CO2 emissions derived from heating and chilling. The relationship between CO2 emissions and building height is also taken into account along with weather conditions.The structures and envelopes of a three - storey family house and of a multi-storey residential building are designed from a structural and thermal point of view, respectively. In order to consider the climatic effects, three locations with very different weather conditions are assumed (i.e. Catania, Turin, Oslo). The carbon footprint of three different structures is considered, namely RC frame made with cast-in-situ structural elements, precast RC panels and timber CLT structure.The quantification of the carbon footprint allows to notice how the overall structural and thermal performances, including the thermal mass, affect the environment performance

Apoptotic and chemotherapeutic properties of iron(III)-salophene in an ovarian cancer animal model

The cytotoxicity of organometallic compounds iron(III)-, cobalt(III)-, manganese(II)-, and copper(II)-salophene (-SP) on platinum-resistant ovarian cancer cell lines was compared. Fe-SP displayed selective cytotoxicity (IC 50 at ∼1 μM) against SKOV-3 and OVCAR-3 cell lines while Co-SP caused cytotoxic effects only at higher concentrations (IC50 at 60 ?M) and Cu-SP effects were negligible. High cytotoxicity of Mn-SP (30-60 μM) appeared to be nonspecific because the Mn-chloride salt reduced cell viability similarly. The effect of Fe-SP at 1 μM proved to be ovarian cancer cell selective when compared to a panel of cell lines derived from different tumors. The first irreversible step in the induction of cell death by Fe-SP occurred after 3 hrs as indicated by the mitochondrial transmembrane potential (ΔΨm) and was mainly linked to apoptotic, not necrotic events. To evaluate the toxicity of Fe-SP in vivo we conducted an acute toxicity study in rats. The LD 50 of Fe-SP is >2000 mg/kg orally and >5.5 mg/kg body weight by intraperitoneal injection. An ovarian cancer animal model showed that the chemotherapeutic relevant dose of Fe-SP in rats is 0.5-1 mg/kg body weight. The present report suggests that Fe-SP is a potential therapeutic drug to treat ovarian cancer. © 2009 Lange et al, publisher and licensee Dove Medical Press Ltd

The surface accessibility of α-bungarotoxin monitored by a novel paramagnetic probe

The surface accessibility of {alpha}-bungarotoxin has been investigated by using Gd2L7, a newly designed paramagnetic NMR probe. Signal attenuations induced by Gd2L7 on {alpha}-bungarotoxin C{alpha}H peaks of 1H-13C HSQC spectra have been analyzed and compared with the ones previously obtained in the presence of GdDTPA-BMA. In spite of the different molecular size and shape, for the two probes a common pathway of approach to the {alpha}-bungarotoxin surface can be observed with an equally enhanced access of both GdDTPA-BMA and Gd2L7 towards the protein surface side where the binding site is located. Molecular dynamics simulations suggest that protein backbone flexibility and surface hydration contribute to the observed preferential approach of both gadolinium complexes specifically to the part of the {alpha}-bungarotoxin surface which is involved in the interaction with its physiological target, the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor

HAVING A GO AT SPINAL MUSCULAR ATROPHY WITH SPINRAZA

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a neurological condition which is genetically mediated is the second most common infantile disease causing morbidity and mortality next to cystic fibrosis. It is of five different types with each type having different severity outcomes. For almost three decades, only supportive measures were advocated in the treatment of SMA. Recently, Biogen's Spinraza came out as the first disease modifying therapy to treat infantile as well as adult SMA. This review throws light on the pharmacological aspects of the drug; its approval by Food and Drug Administration and various completed clinical trials as well ongoing clinical trials