Digital alloy interface grading of an InAlAs/InGaAs quantum cascade laser structure studied by cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy

We have studied an InGaAs/InAlAs quantum cascade laser structure with cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy. In the quantum cascade laser structure digital alloy grading was used to soften the barriers of the active region. We show that due to alloy fluctuations, softening of the barriers occurs even without the digital gradin

Procalcitonin-Guided Antibiotics after Surgery for Peritonitis: A Randomized Controlled Study.

Serum procalcitonin (PCT) is a useful biomarker to tailor the duration of antibiotics in respiratory infections. The objective of this study was to determine whether PCT levels could tailor postoperative antibiotic therapy in patients operated for peritonitis. Patients with peritonitis were randomized postoperatively. The control group received antibiotics for a defined duration according to institutional guidelines. In the study group, antibiotics were stopped based on serum PCT levels. Patients were stratified into three categories: (1) gastrointestinal perforation, (2) perforated appendicitis, and (3) postoperative complication. Primary outcome was duration of antibiotics. We included 162 patients; 83 and 79 patients in the control group and study group, respectively. In the subgroup of patients with peritonitis due to gastrointestinal perforation, we found 7 days of antibiotics in the PCT group versus 10 days in the control group (p value 0.065). There was no difference in infectious complications, mortality, median length of hospital stay, and necessity to restart antibiotics. No significant differences were found in duration of antibiotics when applying PCT guidance. However, in the subgroup of primary perforation of the gastrointestinal tract, there was a difference in duration of antibiotics in favor of the PCT group without obtaining significance, as the study was not powered for subgroup analysis. Further studies including only this subgroup should be performed

Antimicrobial and Insecticidal: Cyclic Lipopeptides and Hydrogen Cyanide Produced by Plant-Beneficial Pseudomonas Strains CHA0, CMR12a, and PCL1391 Contribute to Insect Killing.

Particular groups of plant-beneficial fluorescent pseudomonads are not only root colonizers that provide plant disease suppression, but in addition are able to infect and kill insect larvae. The mechanisms by which the bacteria manage to infest this alternative host, to overcome its immune system, and to ultimately kill the insect are still largely unknown. However, the investigation of the few virulence factors discovered so far, points to a highly multifactorial nature of insecticidal activity. Antimicrobial compounds produced by fluorescent pseudomonads are effective weapons against a vast diversity of organisms such as fungi, oomycetes, nematodes, and protozoa. Here, we investigated whether these compounds also contribute to insecticidal activity. We tested mutants of the highly insecticidal strains Pseudomonas protegens CHA0, Pseudomonas chlororaphis PCL1391, and Pseudomonas sp. CMR12a, defective for individual or multiple antimicrobial compounds, for injectable and oral activity against lepidopteran insect larvae. Moreover, we studied expression of biosynthesis genes for these antimicrobial compounds for the first time in insects. Our survey revealed that hydrogen cyanide and different types of cyclic lipopeptides contribute to insecticidal activity. Hydrogen cyanide was essential to full virulence of CHA0 and PCL1391 directly injected into the hemolymph. The cyclic lipopeptide orfamide produced by CHA0 and CMR12a was mainly important in oral infections. Mutants of CMR12a and PCL1391 impaired in the production of the cyclic lipopeptides sessilin and clp1391, respectively, showed reduced virulence in injection and feeding experiments. Although virulence of mutants lacking one or several of the other antimicrobial compounds, i.e., 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol, phenazines, pyrrolnitrin, or pyoluteorin, was not reduced, these metabolites might still play a role in an insect background since all investigated biosynthetic genes for antimicrobial compounds of strain CHA0 were expressed at some point during insect infection. In summary, our study identified new factors contributing to insecticidal activity and extends the diverse functions of antimicrobial compounds produced by fluorescent pseudomonads from the plant environment to the insect host

Transcriptome Analysis of the Desert Locust Central Nervous System: Production and Annotation of a Schistocerca gregaria EST Database

) displays a fascinating type of phenotypic plasticity, designated as ‘phase polyphenism’. Depending on environmental conditions, one genome can be translated into two highly divergent phenotypes, termed the solitarious and gregarious (swarming) phase. Although many of the underlying molecular events remain elusive, the central nervous system (CNS) is expected to play a crucial role in the phase transition process. Locusts have also proven to be interesting model organisms in a physiological and neurobiological research context. However, molecular studies in locusts are hampered by the fact that genome/transcriptome sequence information available for this branch of insects is still limited. EST information is highly complementary to the existing orthopteran transcriptomic data. Since many novel transcripts encode neuronal signaling and signal transduction components, this paper includes an overview of these sequences. Furthermore, several transcripts being differentially represented in solitarious and gregarious locusts were retrieved from this EST database. The findings highlight the involvement of the CNS in the phase transition process and indicate that this novel annotated database may also add to the emerging knowledge of concomitant neuronal signaling and neuroplasticity events. EST data constitute an important new source of information that will be instrumental in further unraveling the molecular principles of phase polyphenism, in further establishing locusts as valuable research model organisms and in molecular evolutionary and comparative entomology

Nouveaux mat\ue9riaux pour une faune cavernicole de la Suisse

Volume: 69Start Page: 25End Page: 6

Mat\ue9riaux pour une faune cavernicole de la Suisse

Volume: 63Start Page: 183End Page: 20

Chirurgie colique dans le traitement de la constipation chronique

La chirurgie colique a une place limitée et controversée dans la prise en charge de la constipation chronique. Elle nécessite une sélection rigoureuse et des investigations extensives de l'ensemble de la physiologie gastro-intestinale et du psyché. Le traitement chirurgical a un taux de succès significatif lorsque son indication est posée de manière scrupuleuse. Le patient idéal présente une constipation à temps de transit ralenti, uniquement colique. Une fonction anorectale et un profil psychologique normaux influencent favorablement le pronostic. Cette chirurgie fonctionnelle est grevée de complications significatives telles que diarrhées, incontinence anale ou iléus grêle et d'un taux de récidive Important. L'indication à la chirurgie colique pour constipation chronique ne doit donc être posée qu'avec réserve, fondée sur un tableau clinique et des investigations convaincantes

[Arthropathy - Frequently the Inaugural Symptom of Hemochromatosis]

Idiopathic hemochromatosis is a recessive autosomal disorder of iron metabolism manifested by a tissue overload affecting many organs, including the liver, the heart, the endocrine glands and the joints. Of 53 patients we studied, 66% had articular symptoms (mainly arthralgias of the metacarpophalangeal joints) and 49% had radiological lesions such as chondrocalcinosis and structural joint damage. The radiological signs were slightly more frequent in women (56.3%) than men (45.9%). Mean age at diagnosis was moderately higher in the group with arthropathy (52 years) than in the group without (44 years). Analysis of clinical, radiological and biological data, including parathormone values, did not reveal other parameters differentiating the two groups. A family study does not support the hypothesis of double heredity for hemochromatosis and arthropathy. In 20% of the patients the arthropathy was the inaugural feature of the hemochromatosis. The interval between first symptoms and diagnosis for these patients (5.3 years on average) is unfortunately long. Determination of transferrin saturation allows early diagnosis