Circumcaval ureter with synchronous ipsilateral transitional cell carcinoma of the renal pelvis and the urinary bladder: report of a case and review of the literature

We report a case of concomitant transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) in a circumcaval ureter and invasive bladder cancer. The diagnosis was based on the findings of excretory urography (IVU) and contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT). IVU showed a typical J-shaped deformity in the dilated right proximal ureteric segment with moderate hydronephrosis and a filling defect in the renal pelvis, while abdominal CT with contrast showed right hydronephrosis with an intrapelvic tumor. The patient underwent radical cystoprostatectomy and nephroureterectomy. No recurrence was detected after 12 months of follow-up.Key Words: Circumcaval, retrocaval, ureter, bladder, transitional cell carcinom

De l'eau aux dattes : aperçu de la filière datte tunisienne et perspectives d'interventions

La modernisation et l'extension des aménagements hydrauliques dans les oasis du Sud tunisien renchérissent le coût de l'eau tout en accentuant la pression sur la ressource. Or ces oasis sont majoritairement orientées vers la production d'une variété de datte destinée principalement au marché international, la Deglet el Nour. La valorisation de l'eau par ces systèmes de production, et plus généralement, leur durabilité économique et écologique sont donc dépendantes du fonctionnement et des performances de la filière datte, particulièrement dans sa composante exportatrice. Partant des nombreuses études réalisées, complétées par un ensemble d'interviews réalisé dans le cadre du projet Sirma, cet article présente un aperçu de l'organisation et du fonctionnement de la filière. Celle-ci comprend 3 grands types d'acteurs : des producteurs nombreux, de petite taille et atomisés, des conditionneurs-exportateurs peu nombreux mais intégrant faiblement l'amont et l'aval, et des collecteurs jouant le rôle d'intermédiaires entre les précédents. La filière fonctionne essentiellement sous la forme d'un marché spot, sans réelle maîtrise des quantités et qualités livrées. Des stratégies d'investissement dans des capacités de stockage apparaissent néanmoins avec le décalage à venir entre la période de récolte (octobre à décembre) et le ramadan, pic de consommation. Quelques perspectives d'intervention sont tirées de ce premier diagnostic, replacées dans une problématique plus générale de supply chain management

Implantation cochléaire et malformation de l’oreille interne

Les indications de l'implant cochléaire se sont élargies depuis 1995. La plupart des candidats à l'implant sont des enfants sourds profonds congénitaux. L'implant peut actuellement se discuter dans certains cas particuliers notamment chez des enfants présentant une malformation de l'oreille interne (vésicule unique, malformation de type Mondini, Mondini-like, dilatation de l'aqueduc du vestibule). Les risques sont chirurgicaux et infectieux : geyser à la cochléostomie, paralysie faciale, otoliquorrhée secondaire et méningite. Nous rapportons le cas d’une fille âgée de 4 ans et 8 mois qui a présenté suite à un traumatisme minime une surdité brutale totale bilatérale qui n’a pas récupéré sous traitement médical. L’audiométrie avait confirmé la surdité bilatérale et l’examen orthophonique a retrouvé un langage oral bien conservé. Une imagerie a été pratiquée mettant en évidence une dilatation bilatérale des aqueducs du vestibule et des sacs endolymphatiques avec un aspect normal de la cochlée et des canaux semi-circulaires. La patiente a bénéficiée d’une implantation cochléaire gauche avec des suites simples et un excellent résultat à 2 ans.Mots-clés : Implant cochléaire, malformation de l’oreille interne

Analysis of Tunisian date palm germplasm using simple sequence repeat primers

Inter Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) markers involve polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of DNA using a single primer composed of a microsatellite sequence. ISSR technology rapidly reveals high polymorphic fingerprints and determines genetic diversity. We used genetic markers generated from selected ISSR primers to assess genetic diversity among a set of Tunisian date palm varieties. Seven primers were used to cluster 12 date palm varieties and 77 polymorphic markers were sufficient to identify all of the varieties. These discrete molecular markers were used to estimate genetic distances among the 12 accessions and to examine their genetic relationships. Data analysis identified phenetic groups that were in agreement with those obtained according to agronomic traits and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. Among the 12 simple sequence repeat (SSR) motifs tested, the most abundant were AG. Key Words: Genetic diversity; ISSR polymorphisms; date palm; Pheonix dactylifera. African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 3 (4), 2004: 215-21

Oral colistin sulfate in pigs: pharmacokinetics and effect on fecal Escherichia coli excretion of weaned pigs challenged with Escherichia coli F4 (K88)

Colistin sulfate (CS), a polymyxin antibiotic, is used in Canada for the treatment of post-weaning diarrhea in pigs as an alternative to neomycin. The aim of the present study was to evaluate some pharmcokinetics parameters of CS and its effect on the evolution of the intestinal Escherichia coli population in pigs challenged with enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC): F4

Impacts of colistin sulfate on fecal Escherichia coli resistance and on growth performance of piglets in a post-weaning diarrhea model

Colistin sulfate (CS) is used in Canada for the treatment of post weaning diarrhea (PWD), to overcome conventional therapeutic antibiotics failures. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of a conventional oral regimen of CS for the treatment of PWD, on the development of E. coli CS resistance and to evaluate the effect of ETEC: F4 infection on CS intestinal absorption. A total of 48 pigs were used, challenge was carried out by oral administration of 109CFU of a hemolytic ETEC: F4 strain resistant to nalidixic acid. CS was administered at a dose of 50.000 UI/kg twice a day for 5 days. Feces were examined clinically and bacteriologically before and after challenge to evaluate presence of diarrhea and E. coli fecal excretion. ETEC: F4 virulence factors were monitored and CS plasma concentrations were quantified by an HPLC-MS/MS. From one until six days after CS administration, a significant reduction in the fecal excretion of ETEC: F4, total E. coli, ETEC: F4 virulence factors and in diarrhea scores was observed in the challenged treated group compared to the challenged untreated group (p\u3c0.0001). No significant difference in growth performances was observed in treated compared to non-treated pigs (p\u3e0.71). A significant selection pressure on E. coli total population was observed following CS treatment (p\u3c0.0001). Challenge with ETEC: F4 resulted in an increase in intestinal absorption of CS. Our study is the first to demonstrate in an experimental model of PWD, that CS at a dose of 50,000 IU/kg is effective in reducing fecal excretion of E. coli. However, this regimen was associated with a selection pressure on E. coli CS resistance, and did not improve growth performance in challenged pigs. Thus, the use of this antibiotic in pig should be revised

Paradigm of tunable clustering using binarization of consensus partition matrices (Bi-CoPaM) for gene discovery

Copyright @ 2013 Abu-Jamous et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Clustering analysis has a growing role in the study of co-expressed genes for gene discovery. Conventional binary and fuzzy clustering do not embrace the biological reality that some genes may be irrelevant for a problem and not be assigned to a cluster, while other genes may participate in several biological functions and should simultaneously belong to multiple clusters. Also, these algorithms cannot generate tight clusters that focus on their cores or wide clusters that overlap and contain all possibly relevant genes. In this paper, a new clustering paradigm is proposed. In this paradigm, all three eventualities of a gene being exclusively assigned to a single cluster, being assigned to multiple clusters, and being not assigned to any cluster are possible. These possibilities are realised through the primary novelty of the introduction of tunable binarization techniques. Results from multiple clustering experiments are aggregated to generate one fuzzy consensus partition matrix (CoPaM), which is then binarized to obtain the final binary partitions. This is referred to as Binarization of Consensus Partition Matrices (Bi-CoPaM). The method has been tested with a set of synthetic datasets and a set of five real yeast cell-cycle datasets. The results demonstrate its validity in generating relevant tight, wide, and complementary clusters that can meet requirements of different gene discovery studies.National Institute for Health Researc

Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase Activating Peptide (1-38) and its analog (Acetyl-[Ala15, Ala20] PACAP 38-polyamide) reverse methacholine airway hyperresponsiveness in rats

O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar funcionalmente e estruturalmente efeito broncodilatador do peptídeo ativador da adenilato ciclase pituitária (PACAP1-38) e da acetil-[Ala15, Ala20]PACAP 38-poliamida, potente análogo do PACAP-38, nos ratos desafiados pelo metacolina (MeCh). Ratos Wistar machos foram aleatoriamente divididos em cinco grupos. Grupos 1 e 2, inalando aerossóis de solução salina ou doses crescentes de MeCh (0,5, 1, 2,12, 4,25, 8,5, 17, 34 e 68 mg/L). Os outros grupos recebendo terbutalina (Terb) (250 µg/rato) (10-6M), PACAP-38 (50 µg/rato) (0.1 mM) ou análogo do PACAP-38 (50 µg/rato) associados a MeCh na dose de 4,25 mg/L. A resistência pulmonar total (RL) foi registrada antes e 2 min após a administração de Mech pelo equipamento pneumomultiteste. A administração MeCh induziu aumento significativo e dose dependente (pThe aim of this study was to investigate both functionally and structurally bronchodilator effects of Pituitary adenylate cyclase activating peptide (PACAP38) and acetyl-[Ala15, Ala20] PACAP38-polyamide, a potent PACAP38 analog, in rats challenged by methacholine (MeCh). Male Wistar rats were divided randomly into five groups. Groups 1 and 2 inhaled respectively aerosols of saline or increasing doses of MeCh (0.5, 1, 2.12, 4.25, 8.5, 17, 34 and 68mg/L). The other groups received terbutaline (Terb) (250 µg/rat) (10-6 M), PACAP38 (50 µg/rat) (0.1 mM) or PACAP38 analog (50 µg/rat) associated to MeCh from the dose of 4.25 mg/L. Total lung resistances (RL) were recorded before and 2 min after MeCh administration by pneumomultitest equipment. MeCh administration induced a significant and a dose-dependent increase (

In Vitro Evaluation of a Soluble Leishmania Promastigote Surface Antigen as a Potential Vaccine Candidate against Human Leishmaniasis

International audiencePSA (Promastigote Surface Antigen) belongs to a family of membrane-bound and secreted proteins present in severalLeishmania (L.) species. PSA is recognized by human Th1 cells and provides a high degree of protection in vaccinated mice.We evaluated humoral and cellular immune responses induced by a L. amazonensis PSA protein (LaPSA-38S) produced in aL. tarentolae expression system. This was done in individuals cured of cutaneous leishmaniasis due to L. major (CCLm) or L.braziliensis (CCLb) or visceral leishmaniasis due to L. donovani (CVLd) and in healthy individuals. Healthy individuals weresubdivided into immune (HHR-Lm and HHR-Li: Healthy High Responders living in an endemic area for L. major or L. infantuminfection) or non immune/naive individuals (HLR: Healthy Low Responders), depending on whether they produce high orlow levels of IFN-c in response to Leishmania soluble antigen. Low levels of total IgG antibodies to LaPSA-38S were detectedin sera from the studied groups. Interestingly, LaPSA-38S induced specific and significant levels of IFN-c, granzyme B and IL-10 in CCLm, HHR-Lm and HHR-Li groups, with HHR-Li group producing TNF-a in more. No significant cytokine response wasobserved in individuals immune to L. braziliensis or L. donovani infection. Phenotypic analysis showed a significant increasein CD4+ T cells producing IFN-c after LaPSA-38S stimulation, in CCLm. A high positive correlation was observed between thepercentage of IFN-c-producing CD4+ T cells and the released IFN-c. We showed that the LaPSA-38S protein was able toinduce a mixed Th1 and Th2/Treg cytokine response in individuals with immunity to L. major or L. infantum infectionindicating that it may be exploited as a vaccine candidate. We also showed, to our knowledge for the first time, the capacityof Leishmania PSA protein to induce granzyme B production in humans with immunity to L. major and L. infantum infectio