A Case of Advanced Tubal Ectopic Pregnancy after Emergency Contraception

Ectopic pregnancy is a relatively common condition and an important cause of morbidity in women of childbearing age. The most frequent implantation site is the fallopian tube. Most cases are diagnosed in an early gestational period. Patients come to the attention of clinicians for pelvic pain and vaginal blood loss, and consequent diagnosis is made through clinical presentation, laboratory tests, and ultrasound. Other rarer implantation sites such as the abdominal cavity give space for ectopic pregnancy to grow until later gestational ages, delaying diagnosis. This is a rare case of a healthy 41-year-old woman with an advanced ectopic pregnancy after emergency contraception with Ulipristal Acetate. The patient went to visit for amenorrhea after taking a contraceptive. Evaluation with ultrasound demonstrated a 10 + 4 weeks’ unruptured tubal pregnancy with fetal heart rate. The patient underwent laparoscopic salpingectomy without complication. This is the first case of such an advanced ectopic pregnancy in a woman who performed emergency contraception with Ulipristal Acetate

Plant antibodies for human antifungal therapy

There is an increasing interest in the development of therapeutic antibodies (Ab) to improve the control of fungal pathogens, but none of these reagents is available for clinical use. We previously described a murine monoclonal antibody (mAb 2G8) targeting β-glucan, a cell wall polysaccharide common to most pathogenic fungi, which conferred significant protection against Candida albicans, Aspergillus fumigatus and Cryptococcus neoformans in animal models. Transfer of this wide-spectrum, antifungal mAb into the clinical setting would allow the control of most frequent fungal infections in many different categories of patients. To this aim, two chimeric mouse-human Ab derivatives from mAb 2G8, in the format of complete IgG or scFv-Fc, were generated, transiently expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana plants and purified from leaves with high yields (approximately 50 mg Ab/kg of plant tissues). Both recombinant Abs fully retained the β-glucan-binding specificity and the antifungal activities of the cognate murine mAb against C. albicans. In fact, they recognized preferentially β1,3-linked glucan molecules present at the fungal cell surface and directly inhibited the growth of C. albicans and its adhesion to human epithelial cells in vitro. In addition, both the IgG and the scFv-Fc promoted C. albicans killing by isolated, human polymorphonuclear neutrophils in ex vivo assays and conferred significant antifungal protection in animal models of systemic or vulvovaginal C. albicans infection. These recombinant Abs represent valuable molecules for developing novel, plant-derived immunotherapeutics against candidiasis and, possibly, other fungal diseases

Contribution of the Microbial Communities Detected on an Oil Painting on Canvas to Its Biodeterioration

In this study, we investigated the microbial community (bacteria and fungi) colonising an oil painting on canvas, which showed visible signs of biodeterioration. A combined strategy, comprising culture-dependent and -independent techniques, was selected. The results derived from the two techniques were disparate. Most of the isolated bacterial strains belonged to related species of the phylum Firmicutes, as Bacillus sp. and Paenisporosarcina sp., whereas the majority of the non-cultivable members of the bacterial community were shown to be related to species of the phylum Proteobacteria, as Stenotrophomonas sp. Fungal communities also showed discrepancies: the isolated fungal strains belonged to different genera of the order Eurotiales, as Penicillium and Eurotium, and the non-cultivable belonged to species of the order Pleosporales and Saccharomycetales. The cultivable microorganisms, which exhibited enzymatic activities related to the deterioration processes, were selected to evaluate their biodeteriorative potential on canvas paintings; namely Arthrobacter sp. as the representative bacterium and Penicillium sp. as the representative fungus. With this aim, a sample taken from the painting studied in this work was examined to determine the stratigraphic sequence of its cross-section. From this information, “mock paintings,” simulating the structure of the original painting, were prepared, inoculated with the selected bacterial and fungal strains, and subsequently examined by micro-Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy, in order to determine their potential susceptibility to microbial degradation. The FTIR-spectra revealed that neither Arthrobacter sp. nor Penicillium sp. alone, were able to induce chemical changes on the various materials used to prepare “mock paintings.” Only when inoculated together, could a synergistic effect on the FTIR-spectra be observed, in the form of a variation in band position on the spectrum.The FTIR analyses performed in this study were financed by the Junta de Andalucía (RNM-325 group). The molecular analyses performed in this study were financed by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) project ‘Hertha-Firnberg T137’ and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Project CTQ2008-06727-C03-03). G. Piñar also thanks the “Elise-Richter V194-B20” projects

Molecular Tools for Monitoring the Ecological Sustainability of a Stone Bio-Consolidation Treatment at the Royal Chapel, Granada

Background: Biomineralization processes have recently been applied in situ to protect and consolidate decayed ornamental stone of the Royal Chapel in Granada (Spain). While this promising method has demonstrated its efficacy regarding strengthening of the stone, little is known about its ecological sustainability.Methodology/Principal Findings: Here, we report molecular monitoring of the stone-autochthonous microbiota before and at 5, 12 and 30 months after the bio-consolidation treatment (medium/long-term monitoring), employing the well-known molecular strategy of DGGE analyses. Before the bio-consolidation treatment, the bacterial diversity showed the exclusive dominance of Actinobacteria (100%), which decreased in the community (44.2%) after 5 months, and Gamma-proteobacteria (30.24%) and Chloroflexi (25.56%) appeared. After 12 months, Gamma-proteobacteria vanished from the community and Cyanobacteria (22.1%) appeared and remained dominant after thirty months, when the microbiota consisted of Actinobacteria (42.2%) and Cyanobacteria (57.8%) only. Fungal diversity showed that the Ascomycota phylum was dominant before treatment (100%), while, after five months, Basidiomycota (6.38%) appeared on the stone, and vanished again after twelve months. Thirty months after the treatment, the fungal population started to stabilize and Ascomycota dominated on the stone (83.33%) once again. Members of green algae (Chlorophyta, Viridiplantae) appeared on the stone at 5, 12 and 30 months after the treatment and accounted for 4.25%, 84.77% and 16.77%, respectively.Conclusions: The results clearly show that, although a temporary shift in the bacterial and fungal diversity was observed during the first five months, most probably promoted by the application of the bio-consolidation treatment, the microbiota tends to regain its initial stability in a few months. Thus, the treatment does not seem to have any negative side effects on the stone-autochthonous microbiota over that time. The molecular strategy employed here is suggested as an efficient monitoring tool to assess the impact on the stone-autochthonous microbiota of the application of biomineralization processes as a restoration/conservation procedure.This work was supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Junta de Andalucía (Spain) and the “Fortalecimiento de la I+D+i” program from the University of Granada, co-financed by grant RNM-3493 and Research Group BIO-103 from Junta de Andalucía, as well as by the Spanish Government through “José Castillejo” program from the “Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte” (I+D+i 2008-2011), and by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) under Grant “Elise-Richter V194-B20”

The microbial community dwelling on a biodeteriorated 16th century painting

La pubblicazione analizza con teniche molecolari la popolazione microbica presente su una tela deteriorata del 16mo secolo. E' il primo lavoro di microbiologia molecolare eseguito su un manufatto a tel

Olive mill wastewaters anaerobid digestion in mesophilic and thermophilic batch packed-bed biofilm reactors for the accumulation of volatile fatty acids as monomers employed in the biological production of polyhydroxyalkanoates

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are bioplastic whose properties and applicability are quite similar to these of polypropylene. In order to make PHA industrial production feasible, new low-cost processes have to be developed. In this research, an innovative process for PHA production is being studied. This process consists of three stages. In the first stage (anaerobic conditions), the acidogenic fermentation transforms an organic substrate into a mixture of volatile fatty acids (VFAs), the most suitable substrate for PHA production. In the second stage (aerobic conditions), the effluent of the first stage is fed to a Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR), where the periodic feeding (\u201cfeast and famine\u201d conditions) enriches the mixed microbial culture of the PHA-producing microorganisms. In order to optimize PHA productivity, this stage is operated at the highest organic load allowed from the need of maintain strong selective pressure on the sludge. In the third (batch) stage (aerobic conditions), the excess sludge from the second stage is fed with the effluent of acidogenic fermentation in order to increase its PHA content up to the maximum value. Then this PHA-rich sludge flows to the downstream processing of PHA. Regarding the choice of the organic substrate to be used as feedstock for the process, olive mill wastewaters (OMWs) are particularly interesting. OMWs are the liquid effluent resulting from olive oil producing processes. Due to their high COD load, they are generally considered effluents of high environmental concern. The possibility of developing a biotechnological process fed with OMWs and addressed to the production of VFAs was explored in the present research. To this aim, Four packed-bed biofilm reactors (PBBRs) were employed in batch conditions in the anaerobic acidogenic digestion of an OMW. The effect on the process of the packing material and of the temperature were studied by filling two of the PBBRs with granular activated carbon (GAC) and the other two with ceramic cubes (VS), and by thermostating one GAC- and one VS-PBBR at 35\ub0C and the other two at 55\ub0C. The reactors were inoculated with an acclimated OMW-degrading consortium employed in a previous research (Bertin et al. 2004). Two one-month batch experiments were carried out by feeding the reactors with a diluted and amended OMW. For both experiments, the higher VFA production was observed in the PBBR filled with SV and operating at 35\ub0C, where more then 3 g/l of VFA accumulated, this corresponding to a conversion of about the 60% of the initial COD. Acetic acid was the main component of the VFA mixtures collected from all the PBBRs. Significant concentrations of both propionic and butirric acid were also observed. Bertin L.; Colao M.C.; Ruzzi M.; Fava F. "Technological features and molecular microbial characterisation of a granular activated carbon packed-bed biofilm reactor capable of an effective anaerobic digestion of olive mill wastewaters." FEMS MICROBIOLOGY ECOLOGY, 48:413-423 (2004