A case of hypocholinesterasemia induced by trichlorfon

A case of hypocholinesterasemia induced by ingestion of trichlorfon is presented. A female patient took 20 gm of this insecticide for the purpose of the suicide. She was brought to the hospital one hour later, and her life was saved by gastric lavage. Cyanosis on lips and nails, pupils with sluggish light reaction and fibrillary muscle twitch were observed upon arrival. Laboratory examination performed on the admission disclosed a serum cholinesterase activity of 0.3deltapH per hour. The enzyme activity was depressed to 0.05 deltapH per hour on the second day of hospitalization. The enzyme activity then increased gradually in the two subsequent weeks and the patient recovered.</p

Locus coeruleus input to hippocampal CA3 drives single-trial learning of a novel context

The memory for a new episode is formed immediately upon experience and can last up to a lifetime. It has been shown that the hippocampal network plays a fundamental role in the rapid acquisition of a memory of a one-time experience, in which the novelty component of the experience promotes the prompt formation of the memory. However, it remains unclear which neural circuits convey the novelty signal to the hippocampus for the single-trial learning. Here, we show that during encoding neuromodulatory input from locus coeruleus (LC) to CA3, but not CA1 or to the dentate gyrus, is necessary to facilitate novel contextual learning. Silencing LC activity during exposure to a novel context reduced subsequent reactivation of the engram cell ensembles in CA3 neurons and in downstream CA1 upon reexposure to the same context. Calcium imaging of the cells reactivated in both novel and familiar contexts revealed that suppression of LC inputs at the time of encoding resulted in more variable place fields in CA3 neurons. These results suggest that neuromodulatory input from LC to CA3 is crucial for the formation of a persistent memory in the hippocampus

Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Enterococcus spp. isolated from animal feed in Japan

The rising prevalence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) of bacteria is a global health problem at the human, animal, and environmental interfaces, which necessitates the “One Health” approach. AMR of bacteria in animal feed are a potential cause of the prevalence in livestock; however, the role remains unclear. To date, there is limited research on AMR of bacteria in animal feed in Japan. In this study, a total of 57 complete feed samples and 275 feed ingredient samples were collected between 2018 and 2020. Enterococcus spp. were present in 82.5% of complete feed (47/57 samples), 76.5% of soybean meal (62/81), 49.6% of fish meal (55/111), 33.3% of poultry meal (22/66), and 47.1% of meat and bone meal (8/17) samples. Of 295 isolates, E. faecium (33.2% of total isolates) was the dominant Enterococcus spp., followed by E. faecalis (14.2%), E. hirae (6.4%), E. durans (2.7%), E. casseliflavus (2.4%), and E. gallinarum (1.0%). Of 134 isolates which were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility, resistance to kanamycin was the highest (26.1%), followed by erythromycin (24.6%), tetracycline (6.0%), lincomycin (2.2%), tylosin (1.5%), gentamicin (0.8%), and ciprofloxacin (0.8%). All Enterococcus spp. exhibited susceptibility to ampicillin, vancomycin, and chloramphenicol. Of 33 erythromycin-resistant isolates, only two showed a high minimum inhibitory concentration value (&gt;128 μg/mL) and possessed ermB. These results revealed that overall resistance to antimicrobials is relatively low; however, animal feed is a source of Enterococcus spp. It is essential to elucidate the causative factors related to the prevalence of AMR in animal feed

Large-Scale Gene Disruption in Magnaporthe oryzae Identifies MC69, a Secreted Protein Required for Infection by Monocot and Dicot Fungal Pathogens

To search for virulence effector genes of the rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae, we carried out a large-scale targeted disruption of genes for 78 putative secreted proteins that are expressed during the early stages of infection of M. oryzae. Disruption of the majority of genes did not affect growth, conidiation, or pathogenicity of M. oryzae. One exception was the gene MC69. The mc69 mutant showed a severe reduction in blast symptoms on rice and barley, indicating the importance of MC69 for pathogenicity of M. oryzae. The mc69 mutant did not exhibit changes in saprophytic growth and conidiation. Microscopic analysis of infection behavior in the mc69 mutant revealed that MC69 is dispensable for appressorium formation. However, mc69 mutant failed to develop invasive hyphae after appressorium formation in rice leaf sheath, indicating a critical role of MC69 in interaction with host plants. MC69 encodes a hypothetical 54 amino acids protein with a signal peptide. Live-cell imaging suggested that fluorescently labeled MC69 was not translocated into rice cytoplasm. Site-directed mutagenesis of two conserved cysteine residues (Cys36 and Cys46) in the mature MC69 impaired function of MC69 without affecting its secretion, suggesting the importance of the disulfide bond in MC69 pathogenicity function. Furthermore, deletion of the MC69 orthologous gene reduced pathogenicity of the cucumber anthracnose fungus Colletotrichum orbiculare on both cucumber and Nicotiana benthamiana leaves. We conclude that MC69 is a secreted pathogenicity protein commonly required for infection of two different plant pathogenic fungi, M. oryzae and C. orbiculare pathogenic on monocot and dicot plants, respectively

Significance of Negative T wave in Lead aVL

The negative T wave in lead aVL is one of the electrocardiographic features of left ventricular hypertrophy or myocardial infarction, associated with negative T wave in lead v(5), v(6) and Ⅰ. Whereas the significance of isolated negative TaVL, not associated with other abnormal negative T wave, is of much controversial. The electrocardiographic and vectorcardiographic changes of 146 cases were studied for appreciation of negative TaVL, whose TaVL were negative in 115 cases with or without negative ST, Tv(5), v(6), positive in 23 cases, and flat in 7 cases. The electrocardiographic diagnosis of left ventricular hypertrophy was found in 50 cases, of old myocardial infarction, in 24 cases, and the remaining were admitted to R(Ⅰ)>R(Ⅲ) group (41 cases) and to R(Ⅰ)R(Ⅲ) group, if associated with isolated negative TaVL, T(Ⅲ)>T(Ⅰ) and TV(Ⅰ)/TV(5)≥0.74, the same displacement as in left ventricular hypertrophy and myocardial infarction was found, suggesting ischaemic change of lateral wall. In R(Ⅰ)T(Ⅰ) and TV(Ⅰ)/TV(5)≥0.56, the spatial T loop was in anterior position, but with no pathological meaning. Negative TaVL associated with R(Ⅰ)>R(Ⅲ), T(Ⅲ)>T(Ⅰ) and TV(Ⅰ)/TV(5)T(Ⅰ) and TV(Ⅰ)/TV(5)R(Ⅲ) group (66.7%) than in R(Ⅰ)<R(Ⅲ) group (35.3%). Negative TaVL with negative ST, T change in V(5), v(6) was sign of right anterior, right anterosuperior, right posterosuperior displacement of spatial T loop, indicating more severe lesion of anterior or lateral wall

Significance of Negative T wave in Lead aVL

The negative T wave in lead aVL is one of the electrocardiographic features of left ventricular hypertrophy or myocardial infarction, associated with negative T wave in lead v(5), v(6) and Ⅰ. Whereas the significance of isolated negative TaVL, not associated with other abnormal negative T wave, is of much controversial. The electrocardiographic and vectorcardiographic changes of 146 cases were studied for appreciation of negative TaVL, whose TaVL were negative in 115 cases with or without negative ST, Tv(5), v(6), positive in 23 cases, and flat in 7 cases. The electrocardiographic diagnosis of left ventricular hypertrophy was found in 50 cases, of old myocardial infarction, in 24 cases, and the remaining were admitted to R(Ⅰ)>R(Ⅲ) group (41 cases) and to R(Ⅰ)R(Ⅲ) group, if associated with isolated negative TaVL, T(Ⅲ)>T(Ⅰ) and TV(Ⅰ)/TV(5)≥0.74, the same displacement as in left ventricular hypertrophy and myocardial infarction was found, suggesting ischaemic change of lateral wall. In R(Ⅰ)T(Ⅰ) and TV(Ⅰ)/TV(5)≥0.56, the spatial T loop was in anterior position, but with no pathological meaning. Negative TaVL associated with R(Ⅰ)>R(Ⅲ), T(Ⅲ)>T(Ⅰ) and TV(Ⅰ)/TV(5)T(Ⅰ) and TV(Ⅰ)/TV(5)R(Ⅲ) group (66.7%) than in R(Ⅰ)<R(Ⅲ) group (35.3%). Negative TaVL with negative ST, T change in V(5), v(6) was sign of right anterior, right anterosuperior, right posterosuperior displacement of spatial T loop, indicating more severe lesion of anterior or lateral wall