Determinants of Microbial Load in Infected Diabetic Foot Ulcers: A Pilot Study

We examined the determinants of microbial load in infected diabetic foot ulcers in 62 patients (38 men and 24 women, mean age: years) with clinically infected diabetic foot ulcers. Tissue cultures were taken from ulcers by 4 mm punches. Ulcer grade (University of Texas classification), neuropathy disability score (NDS), neuropathy symptom score (NSS), ankle-brachial index (ABI), perfusion, extent, depth, infection, and sensation (PEDIS) grade of diabetic foot infection, and laboratory parameters were evaluated in all patients. Total microbial load was positively correlated with the number of isolates on tissue cultures (, ), white blood cell count (WBC) (, ), and platelet count (PLT) (, ). It also exhibited a borderline insignificant positive correlation with PEDIS infection grade (, ). In stepwise linear regression analysis, the number of isolates on tissue cultures and WBC were identified as the only two significant parameters accounting for 38% of the variation in the log of total microbial load (adjusted , ). In conclusion, patients with infected diabetic foot ulcer exhibit a positive correlation of total microbial load with the number of isolates on tissue cultures, WBC and PLT

Sudden Death and Left Ventricular Involvement in Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy

BACKGROUND: Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) is an inherited heart muscle disorder characterized by myocardial fibrofatty replacement and an increased risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD). Originally described as a right ventricular disease, ACM is increasingly recognized as a biventricular entity. We evaluated pathological, genetic, and clinical associations in a large SCD cohort. METHODS: We investigated 5205 consecutive cases of SCD referred to a national cardiac pathology center between 1994 and 2018. Hearts and tissue blocks were examined by expert cardiac pathologists. After comprehensive histological evaluation, 202 cases (4%) were diagnosed with ACM. Of these, 15 (7%) were diagnosed antemortem with dilated cardiomyopathy (n=8) or ACM (n=7). Previous symptoms, medical history, circumstances of death, and participation in competitive sport were recorded. Postmortem genetic testing was undertaken in 24 of 202 (12%). Rare genetic variants were classified according to American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics criteria. RESULTS: Of 202 ACM decedents (35.4±13.2 years; 82% male), no previous cardiac symptoms were reported in 157 (78%). Forty-one decedents (41/202; 20%) had been participants in competitive sport. The adjusted odds of dying during physical exertion were higher in men than in women (odds ratio, 4.58; 95% CI, 1.54-13.68; P=0.006) and in competitive athletes in comparison with nonathletes (odds ratio, 16.62; 95% CI, 5.39-51.24; P<0.001). None of the decedents with an antemortem diagnosis of dilated cardiomyopathy fulfilled definite 2010 Task Force criteria. The macroscopic appearance of the heart was normal in 40 of 202 (20%) cases. There was left ventricular histopathologic involvement in 176 of 202 (87%). Isolated right ventricular disease was seen in 13%, isolated left ventricular disease in 17%, and biventricular involvement in 70%. Among whole hearts, the most common areas of fibrofatty infiltration were the left ventricular posterobasal (68%) and anterolateral walls (58%). Postmortem genetic testing yielded pathogenic variants in ACM-related genes in 6 of 24 (25%) decedents. CONCLUSIONS: SCD attributable to ACM affects men predominantly, most commonly occurring during exertion in athletic individuals in the absence of previous reported cardiac symptoms. Left ventricular involvement is observed in the vast majority of SCD cases diagnosed with ACM at autopsy. Current Task Force criteria may fail to diagnose biventricular ACM before death

Palaeoenvironmental implications of a marine geoarchaeological survey conducted in the SW Argosaronic gulf, Greece

AbstractA marine geoarcheological survey was conducted at the southwestern end of the Argosaronic gulf in Greece, an area of archaeological importance. The survey was initiated by the discovery of a Late Bronze Age (LBA) shipwreck off Modi Islet. The survey which employed echo-sounding, sub-bottom profiling, side scan sonar systems and sediment coring extended to the area between Poros Island, Modi Islet and Argolid peninsula, aiming to evaluate the changes of the coastal zone extent in the past. The evolution of the palaeo-shoreline over the last 20ka is proposed based on the interpretation of the acquired bathymetric and seismic records, the estimation of the thickness of the marine sediments and the examination of existing datasets of the relative sea level changes in the area.The produced scenarios suggest that major changes marked the extent of the coastal zone since the Paleolithics. During the Upper Paleolithic period, the coast was larger by at least 11km2 and Poros and Modi islands were connected to the Peloponnesus. The sea level rise during the Mesolithic period formed a well-protected bay between Poros Island and Peloponessus and disconnected the Modi Islet from Poros Island. The coastal zone reached the present configuration around Late Bronze Age. The detection and mapping of scarps on the seismic profiles imply that the sea level rise presented standstills at least from the Last Glacial maximum until the onset of Holocene. However, the submerged coasts could be potential areas of archaeological interest since the examined area is habited continuously from the Paleolithic period.The acoustic data sets produced high resolution geomorphological maps at the wreck site which constitute data base for the monitoring of the site. In addition, the examination of the seafloor texture at the wreck site suggests that the seafloor characteristics were unfavorable for the preservation of the shipwreck

Highly conserved molecular pathways, including Wnt signaling, promote functional recovery from spinal cord injury in lampreys

© The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 742, doi:10.1038/s41598-017-18757-1.In mammals, spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to dramatic losses in neurons and synaptic connections, and consequently function. Unlike mammals, lampreys are vertebrates that undergo spontaneous regeneration and achieve functional recovery after SCI. Therefore our goal was to determine the complete transcriptional responses that occur after SCI in lampreys and to identify deeply conserved pathways that promote regeneration. We performed RNA-Seq on lamprey spinal cord and brain throughout the course of functional recovery. We describe complex transcriptional responses in the injured spinal cord, and somewhat surprisingly, also in the brain. Transcriptional responses to SCI in lampreys included transcription factor networks that promote peripheral nerve regeneration in mammals such as Atf3 and Jun. Furthermore, a number of highly conserved axon guidance, extracellular matrix, and proliferation genes were also differentially expressed after SCI in lampreys. Strikingly, ~3% of differentially expressed transcripts belonged to the Wnt pathways. These included members of the Wnt and Frizzled gene families, and genes involved in downstream signaling. Pharmacological inhibition of Wnt signaling inhibited functional recovery, confirming a critical role for this pathway. These data indicate that molecular signals present in mammals are also involved in regeneration in lampreys, supporting translational relevance of the model.We gratefully acknowledge support from the National Institutes of Health (R03NS078519 to OB; R01GM104123 to JJS; R01NS078165 to JRM), The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research and The Marine Biological Laboratory, including the Charles Evans Foundation Research Award, the Albert and Ellen Grass Foundation Faculty Research Award, and The Eugene and Millicent Bell Fellowship Fund in Tissue Engineering

Measuring co-authorship and networking-adjusted scientific impact

Appraisal of the scientific impact of researchers, teams and institutions with productivity and citation metrics has major repercussions. Funding and promotion of individuals and survival of teams and institutions depend on publications and citations. In this competitive environment, the number of authors per paper is increasing and apparently some co-authors don't satisfy authorship criteria. Listing of individual contributions is still sporadic and also open to manipulation. Metrics are needed to measure the networking intensity for a single scientist or group of scientists accounting for patterns of co-authorship. Here, I define I1 for a single scientist as the number of authors who appear in at least I1 papers of the specific scientist. For a group of scientists or institution, In is defined as the number of authors who appear in at least In papers that bear the affiliation of the group or institution. I1 depends on the number of papers authored Np. The power exponent R of the relationship between I1 and Np categorizes scientists as solitary (R>2.5), nuclear (R=2.25-2.5), networked (R=2-2.25), extensively networked (R=1.75-2) or collaborators (R<1.75). R may be used to adjust for co-authorship networking the citation impact of a scientist. In similarly provides a simple measure of the effective networking size to adjust the citation impact of groups or institutions. Empirical data are provided for single scientists and institutions for the proposed metrics. Cautious adoption of adjustments for co-authorship and networking in scientific appraisals may offer incentives for more accountable co-authorship behaviour in published articles.Comment: 25 pages, 5 figure

Acute administration of the olive constituent, oleuropein, combined with ischemic postconditioning increases myocardial protection by modulating oxidative defense

Oleuropein, one of the main polyphenolic constituents of olive, is cardioprotective against ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI). We aimed to assess the cardioprotection afforded by acute administration of oleuropein and to evaluate the underlying mechanism. Importantly, since antioxidant therapies have yielded inconclusive results in attenuating IRI-induced damage on top of conditioning strategies, we investigated whether oleuropein could enhance or imbed the cardioprotective manifestation of ischemic postconditioning (PostC). Oleuropein, given during ischemia as a single intravenous bolus dose reduced the infarct size compared to the control group both in rabbits and mice subjected to myocardial IRI. None of the inhibitors of the cardioprotective pathways, l-NAME, wortmannin and AG490, influence its infarct size limiting effects. Combined oleuropein and PostC cause further limitation of infarct size in comparison with PostC alone in both animal models. Oleuropein did not inhibit the calcium induced mitochondrial permeability transition pore opening in isolated mitochondria and did not increase cGMP production. To provide further insights to the different cardioprotective mechanism of oleuropein, we sought to characterize its anti-inflammatory potential in vivo. Oleuropein, PostC and their combination reduce inflammatory monocytes infiltration into the heart and the circulating monocyte cell population. Oleuropein's mechanism of action involves a direct protective effect on cardiomyocytes since it significantly increased their viability following simulated IRI as compared to non-treated cells. Οleuropein confers additive cardioprotection on top of PostC, via increasing the expression of the transcription factor Nrf-2 and its downstream targets in vivo. In conclusion, acute oleuropein administration during ischemia in combination with PostC provides robust and synergistic cardioprotection in experimental models of IRI by inducing antioxidant defense genes through Nrf-2 axis and independently of the classic cardioprotective signaling pathways (RISK, cGMP/PKG, SAFE)