Penile agenesis associated with Treacher Collins syndrome

No Abstrac

The distribution of organic contaminant in aged tar-oil contaminated soils

One of the most common soil contamination sources in Germany are former manufactured gas plants. Many of them were destroyed during the World War II or abandoned in late XXth century. As the result a lot of potentially fertile soils were contaminated with specific viscous tar oil wastes. We studied a small tar oil waste basin. The age of the contamination was assessed to be at least 30 years. Natural attenuation processes resulted in formation of three soil layers. The upper layer (about 7cm in thickness) was rooted by weak grass vegetation and had features of newly formed humic-like organic matter. The total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) content was 28 mg/g. Below this layer (7-15 cm) we observed the most contaminated stratum with 90 mg/g TPH. The layer underneath (15-22 cm) had smaller concentrations of 16 mg/g TPH. Underlying strata had no visual evidence of contamination. Microbial biomass analyses showed that the most contaminated layer had 2-3 times more bacteria than the control soils. We suppose that during the aging processes a new microbial consortium capable of transforming high-molecular weight hydrocarbons has developed. Optical and FTIR-microscopy allowed us to observe the microstructure of contaminated soils. The tar oil formed dense spherical aggregates within the soil, which contained almost no mineral phase. Root channels and macropores were identified as preferential pathflows for the viscous tar oil, as they seemed to be coated with hydrocarbons even in less contaminated underlayers. We presume that open pores could initially act as remediation spots with aerobic conditions. Future oil migration might clog these pores, cease oxidation processes and slow down the remediation. High contents of total Fe and both dithionite-extractable and oxalate-extractable Fe as well as the occurrence of large siderite crystals in the most contaminated layer suggested that there might be isolated zones with anaerobic conditions to support this assumption

Albatrellus confluens (Alb. & Schwein.) Kotl. & Pouz.: natural fungal compounds and synthetic derivatives with in vitro anthelmintic activities and antiproliferative effects against two human cancer cell lines

Neglected tropical diseases affect the world's poorest populations with soil-transmitted helminthiasis and schistosomiasis being among the most prevalent ones. Mass drug administration is currently the most important control measure, but the use of the few available drugs is giving rise to increased resistance of the parasites to the drugs. Different approaches are needed to come up with new therapeutic agents against these helminths. Fungi are a source of secondary metabolites, but most fungi remain largely uninvestigated as anthelmintics. In this report, the anthelmintic activity of Albatrellus confluens against Caenorhabditis elegans was investigated using bio-assay guided isolation. Grifolin (1) and neogrifolin (2) were identified as responsible for the anthelmintic activity. Derivatives 4-6 were synthesized to investigate the effect of varying the prenyl chain length on anthelmintic activity. The isolated compounds 1 and 2 and synthetic derivatives 4-6, as well as their educts 7-10, were tested against Schistosoma mansoni (adult and newly transformed schistosomula), Strongyloides ratti, Heligmosomoides polygyrus, Necator americanus, and Ancylostoma ceylanicum. Prenyl-2-orcinol (4) and geranylgeranyl-2-orcinol (6) showed promising activity against newly transformed schistosomula. The compounds 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 were also screened for antiproliferative or cytotoxic activity against two human cancer lines, viz. prostate adenocarcinoma cells (PC-3) and colorectal adenocarcinoma cells (HT-29). Compound 6 was determined to be the most effective against both cell lines with IC50 values of 16.1 microM in PC-3 prostate cells and 33.7 microM in HT-29 colorectal cells

Relativistic theory of magnetic scattering of x rays: Application to ferromagnetic iron

We present a detailed description of a first-principles formalism for magnetic scattering of circularly polar- ized x rays from solids in the framework of the fully relativistic spin-polarized multiple-scattering theory. The scattering amplitudes are calculated using a standard time-dependent perturbation theory to second order in the electron-photon interaction vertex. Particular attention is paid to understanding the relative importance of the positive- and negative-energy solutions of the Dirac equation to the scattering amplitude. The advantage of the present theory as compared with other recent works on magnetic x-ray scattering is that, being fully relativistic, spin-orbit coupling and spin-polarization effects are treated on an equal footing. Second, the electron Green’s function expressed in terms of the path operators in the multiple-scattering theory allows us to include the contribution of the crystalline environment to the scattering amplitude. To illustrate the use of the method we have done calculations on the anomalous magnetic scattering at the K , L_II , and L_III absorption edges of ferromagnetic iron

Rare glutamic acid methyl ester peptaibols from Sepedonium ampullosporum Damon KSH 534 exhibit promising antifungal and anticancer activity

Fungal species of genus Sepedonium are rich sources of diverse secondary metabolites (e.g., alkaloids, peptaibols), which exhibit variable biological activities. Herein, two new peptaibols, named ampullosporin F (1) and ampullosporin G (2), together with five known compounds, ampullosporin A (3), peptaibolin (4), chrysosporide (5), c(Trp-Ser) (6) and c(Trp-Ala) (7), have been isolated from the culture of Sepedonium ampullosporum Damon strain KSH534. The structures of 1 and 2 were elucidated based on ESI-HRMS(n) experiments and intense 1D and 2D NMR analyses. The sequence of ampullosporin F (1) was determined to be Ac-Trp(1)-Ala(2)-Aib(3)-Aib(4)-Leu(5)-Aib(6)-Gln(7)-Aib(8)-Aib(9)-Aib(10)-GluOMe(11)-Leu(12)-Aib(13)-Gln(14)-Leuol(15), while ampullosporin G (2) differs from 1 by exchanging the position of Gln(7) with GluOMe(11). Furthermore, the total synthesis of 1 and 2 was carried out on solid-phase to confirm the absolute configuration of all chiral amino acids as L. In addition, ampullosporin F (1) and G (2) showed significant antifungal activity against B. cinerea and P. infestans, but were inactive against S. tritici. Cell viability assays using human prostate (PC-3) and colorectal (HT-29) cancer cells confirmed potent anticancer activities of 1 and 2. Furthermore, a molecular docking study was performed in silico as an attempt to explain the structure-activity correlation of the characteristic ampullosporins (1–3)

Anthelmintic activity and cytotoxic effects of compounds isolated from the fruits of Ozoroa insignis del. (Anacardiaceae)

Ozoroa insignis Del. is an ethnobotanical plant widely used in traditional medicine for various ailments, including schistosomiasis, tapeworm, and hookworm infections. From the so far not investigated fruits of Ozoroa insignis, the anthelmintic principles could be isolated through bioassay-guided isolation using Caenorhabditis elegans and identified by NMR spectroscopic analysis and mass spectrometric studies. Isolated 6-[8(Z)-pentadecenyl] anacardic (1), 6-[10(Z)-heptadecenyl] anacardic acid (2), and 3-[7(Z)-pentadecenyl] phenol (3) were evaluated against the 5 parasitic organisms Schistosoma mansoni (adult and newly transformed schistosomula), Strongyloides ratti, Heligmosomoides polygyrus, Necator americanus, and Ancylostoma ceylanicum, which mainly infect humans and other mammals. Compounds 1-3 showed good activity against Schistosoma mansoni, with compound 1 showing the best activity against newly transformed schistosomula with 50% activity at 1microM. The isolated compounds were also evaluated for their cytotoxic properties against PC-3 (human prostate adenocarcinoma) and HT-29 (human colorectal adenocarcinoma) cell lines, whereby compounds 2 and 3 showed antiproliferative activity in both cancer cell lines, while compound 1 exhibited antiproliferative activity only on PC-3 cells. With an IC50 value of 43.2 microM, compound 3 was found to be the most active of the 3 investigated compounds

Colorectal Polyps in Carriers of the APC I1307K Polymorphism

The probability of colorectal cancer is moderately increased among carriers of the APC I1307K polymorphism. However, it is not known if endoscopic surveillance of this high-risk group is warranted. The prevalence of polyps and adenomas in specimens of colorectal cancer who are carriers and noncarriers of the APC I1307K polymorphism is compared.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/41394/1/10350_2005_Article_167.pd

Heterozygote advantage at HLA class I and II loci and reduced risk of colorectal cancer

Objective: Reduced diversity at Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) loci may adversely affect the host's ability to recognize tumor neoantigens and subsequently increase disease burden. We hypothesized that increased heterozygosity at HLA loci is associated with a reduced risk of developing colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods: We imputed HLA class I and II four-digit alleles using genotype data from a population-based study of 5,406 cases and 4,635 controls from the Molecular Epidemiology of Colorectal Cancer Study (MECC). Heterozygosity at each HLA locus and the number of heterozygous genotypes at HLA class -I (A, B, and C) and HLA class -II loci (DQB1, DRB1, and DPB1) were quantified. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the risk of CRC associated with HLA heterozygosity. Individuals with homozygous genotypes for all loci served as the reference category, and the analyses were adjusted for sex, age, genotyping platform, and ancestry. Further, we investigated associations between HLA diversity and tumor-associated T cell repertoire features, as measured by tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs; N=2,839) and immunosequencing (N=2,357). Results: Individuals with all heterozygous genotypes at all three class I genes had a reduced odds of CRC (OR: 0.74; 95% CI: 0.56-0.97, p= 0.031). A similar association was observed for class II loci, with an OR of 0.75 (95% CI: 0.60-0.95, p= 0.016). For class-I and class-II combined, individuals with all heterozygous genotypes had significantly lower odds of developing CRC (OR: 0.66, 95% CI: 0.49-0.87, p= 0.004) than those with 0 or one heterozygous genotype. HLA class I and/or II diversity was associated with higher T cell receptor (TCR) abundance and lower TCR clonality, but results were not statistically significant. Conclusion: Our findings support a heterozygote advantage for the HLA class-I and -II loci, indicating an important role for HLA genetic variability in the etiology of CRC

Mount Cameroon - ein natürliches Freilandlabor zur systematischen Analyse des Einflusses von Zeit, Niederschlag und Temperatur auf die Pedogenese aus vulkanischen Gesteinen

Die Genese von Böden aus vulkanischen Gesteinen ist nicht nur wegen der spezifischen chemischen und mineralogischen Prozesse besonders interessant; mit Blick darauf, dass diese Böden oft außerordentlich hohe Gehalte an organischem Kohlenstoff (Corg) enthalten, ist sie auch hochrelevant. Die hier vorgestellte Studie zielt auf eine quantitative Analyse des Einflusses der Faktoren Zeit (t), mittlerer Jahresniederschlag (MAP) und Jahresmitteltemperatur (MAT) auf die Pedogenese aus basaltischen Pyroklastika unter feucht-tropischen Bedingungen ab. Mount Cameroon bietet optimale Voraussetzungen dazu, den Einfluss dieser Faktoren auf die Pedogenese unabhängig voneinander zu quantifizieren. Der Einfluss des Faktors t wird an Bodenbildungsstadien auf Basaltströmen unterschiedlichen Alters quantifiziert, vom jüngsten Basaltstrom aus dem Jahr 2000 bis zu einige Tausend Jahre alten Basaltströmen. Der Einfluss des Faktors MAP wird entlang eines MAP-Gradienten von >9000 mm a-1 im Westen (an der Küste) bis 2000 mm a-1 im Osten erfasst, der des Faktors MAT entlang des vertikalen MAT-Gradienten von 26-29 °C am Fuß des Mount Cameroon bis 0 °C auf dem Gipfel in 4095 m ü. NN. Die Pedogenese führt überwiegend zu Silandic Andosols, die sich später zu Nitisols weiterentwickeln. Erste Daten von Böden mit bekannter Faktorenkombination geben Hinweise darauf, wie schnell mit zunehmendem Bodenalter die Fed/Fet-Verhältnisse, die Gehalte an Ton und Corg sowie Sio, Alo und Feo zunehmen. Gesamt- und Tonmineralanalysen stützen die Interpretation dieser Daten im Hinblick auf die Bildung von short-range order minerals. Die Röntgendiffraktogramme zeigen jedoch auch erhebliche Gehalte an Magnetit und Gibbsit an, sodass bei der Interpretation der Feo- und Alo-Werte Vorsicht geboten ist. Die Abnahme der molaren (Ca+Mg+K+Na)/Al- und Si/Al-Verhältnisse aufgrund fortschreitender Verwitterung, Entbasung und Desilifizierung unter dem Einfluss des Faktors t wird ebenso quantifiziert. Diese Indices werden zusätzlich durch die Faktoren MAP und MAT beeinflusst. Mit fortschreitendem Bodenalter sind zudem zunehmende Quarzgehalte in den Böden zu beobachten. Da das Ausgangsgestein quarzfrei ist, ist dies ein Hinweis auf Eintrag von Saharastaub, der für Böden des Mount Cameroon in der Literatur bereits beschrieben wurde. Sowohl die Magnetit- und Gibbsitgehalte als auch der Staubeintrag sind daher bei der Beurteilung der Indices im Hinblick auf fortschreitende Bodenentwicklung zu berücksichtigen