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

Phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride elicits and intensifies the clinical expression of neuropathic insults

It has been recently reported that phenyl-methanesulfonyl fluoride (PMSF) when given to hens after a neuropathic organophosphate (OP) promotes organophosphate-induced delayed polyneuropathy (OPIDP). Chicks are resistant to OPIDP despite high inhibition/aging of neuropathy target esterase (NTE), the putative target of OPIDP initiation. However, when PMSF (300 mg/kg s.c.) is given to chicks after di-butyl 2,2-dichlorovinyl phosphate (DBDCVP, 1 or 5 mg/kg s.c.), OPIDP is promoted. Inhibition/aging of at least 30% of NTE was thought to be an essential prerequisite for promotion to be elicited in adult hens. However, we observed in hens that when NTE is maximally affected (>90%) by phenyl N-methyl N-benzyl carbamate (40 mg/kg i.V.), a non-ageable inhibitor of NTE, and then PMSF is given (120 mg/kg/day s.c. × 3 days) clinical signs of neuropathy become evident. Methamidophos (50 mg/kg p. o. to hens), which produces in vivo a reactivatable form of inhibited NTE, was shown either to protect from or promote OPIDP caused by DBDCVP (0.45 mg/kg s. c), depending on the sequence of dosing. Because very high doses of methamidophos cause OPIDP, we considered this effect to be a “self-promoted” OPIDP. We concluded that NTE inhibitors might have different intrinsic activities for producing OPIDP once NTE is affected. Aging might differentiate highly neuropathic OPs, like DBDCVP, from less neuropathic OPs, like methamidophos, or from the least neuropathic carbamates, which require promotion in order for neuropathy to be expressed. Retrograde axonal transport in motor fibers was measured as the accumulation of 125 I-tetanus toxin in spinal cord after injection in the gastrocnemius muscle of chicks treated either with DBDCVP (5 mg/kg s.c.) or with DBDCVP followed by PMSF (300 mg/kg s.c). Retrograde axonal transport was reduced in both groups (to about 50%, 10 days after dosing) and returned to normal 27 days after dosing. However, DBDCVP-treated chicks had a mild neuropathy which recovered relatively quickly, whereas chicks to which PMSF was also given had more severe signs which did not recover by day 27. We concluded that promotion affects a site other than NTE and that it acts at a point downstream from initiation. PMSF was also shown to promote 2,5-hexanedione (2,5-HD) neuropathy. 2,5-HD was given to hens at doses (200 mg/kg/day i.p. × 8 days) which caused mild and reversible neuropathy. When PMSF (120 mg/kg/day × 2 days at the end of 2,5-HD treatment) was given, more severe and irreversible signs of neuropathy were observed. We conclude that promotion might be a common feature in neuropathies of different origin.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46158/1/204_2006_Article_BF02307272.pd

Ethical considerations regarding animal experimentation

Animal experimentation is widely used around the world for the identification of the root causes of various diseases in humans and animals and for exploring treatment options. Among the several animal species, rats, mice and purpose-bred birds comprise almost 90% of the animals that are used for research purpose. However, growing awareness of the sentience of animals and their experience of pain and suffering has led to strong opposition to animal research among many scientists and the general public. In addition, the usefulness of extrapolating animal data to humans has been questioned. This has led to Ethical Committees’ adoption of the ‘four Rs’ principles (Reduction, Refinement, Replacement and Responsibility) as a guide when making decisions regarding animal experimentation. Some of the essential considerations for humane animal experimentation are presented in this review along with the requirement for investigator training. Due to the ethical issues surrounding the use of animals in experimentation, their use is declining in those research areas where alternative in vitro or in silico methods are available. However, so far it has not been possible to dispense with experimental animals completely and further research is needed to provide a road map to robust alternatives before their use can be fully discontinued

Methodology for clinical research

A clinical research requires a systematic approach with diligent planning, execution and sampling in order to obtain reliable and validated results, as well as an understanding of each research methodology is essential for researchers. Indeed, selecting an inappropriate study type, an error that cannot be corrected after the beginning of a study, results in flawed methodology. The results of clinical research studies enhance the repertoire of knowledge regarding a disease pathogenicity, an existing or newly discovered medication, surgical or diagnostic procedure or medical device. Medical research can be divided into primary and secondary research, where primary research involves conducting studies and collecting raw data, which is then analysed and evaluated in secondary research. The successful deployment of clinical research methodology depends upon several factors. These include the type of study, the objectives, the population, study design, methodology/techniques and the sampling and statistical procedures used. Among the different types of clinical studies, we can recognize descriptive or analytical studies, which can be further categorized in observational and experimental. Finally, also pre-clinical studies are of outmost importance, representing the steppingstone of clinical trials. It is therefore important to understand the types of method for clinical research. Thus, this review focused on various aspects of the methodology and describes the crucial steps of the conceptual and executive stages

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”

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

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

Anaerobic digestion of sludges coming from biological wastewater treatment plants

Organic pollutants such as PAHs, PCBs and pesticides tend to accumulate in the primary and secondary sludges of biological plants treating domestic and industrial wastewaters. Thus, those sludges have to be submitted to a dedicated treatment, that generally consists in their thermal destruction. Anaerobic digestion could represent an alternative technology for the decontamination of such sludges. In fact, it can mediate the biodegradation of the occurring contaminants, the depletion of pathogenic microrganisms and the production of a biogas with a high content of methane. The effects of the anaerobic digestion (both under mesophilic and thermophilic conditions) on the final decontamination and disinfection of a sludge coming from a domestic water treatment plant and spiked with a mix of xenobiotics were investigated along with the possibility of enhancing the process by adding yeast extract. Methane production and xenobiotic removal were more efficient under mesophilic conditions while a complete disinfection of the sludge was achieved at 55\ub0C. Yeast extract allowed to obtain better performances under mesophilic conditions both in terms of sludge decontamination and disinfection

Decontamination and valorization of sludges deriving from biological wastewater treatment plants through anaerobic digestion

Organic pollutants such as PAHs, PCBs and pesticides tend to accumulate in the primary and secondary sludges of biological plants treating domestic and industrial wastewaters. Thus, those sludges have to be submitted to a dedicated treatment, that generally consists in their thermal destruction. Anaerobic digestion could represent an alternative technology for the disposal of such sludges, as it can mediate both their decontamination and their valorization, through the production of a biogas with a high content of methane. In this study, two sludges coming from domestic water treatment plants were spiked with PCBs or with a mix of PAHs and chlorinated aromatic compounds and employed in the development of anaerobic microcosms. The effects of the anaerobic digestion on the sludges were evaluated in terms of methane production, biodegradation of the occurring contaminants and depletion of pathogenic microrganisms, both in mesophilic or thermophilic conditions. The contribute to the digestive process of the sole fermentative eubacteria or of the sole methanogenic and sulfate-reducing bacteria, along with the possibility of enhancing its performances by stimulating the indigenous anaerobic consortium with yeast extract, were also determined. Methane production and xenobiotic removal were more efficient under mesophilic conditions, while a complete disinfection of the sludge was achieved at 55\ub0C. Yeast extract allowed to obtain better performances under mesophilic conditions both in terms of sludge decontamination and disinfection. All the selected microbial population seemed to be involved in the biodegradation of the contaminants