Discrimination of Helicobacter pullorum and Campylobacter lari by analysis of whole cell fatty acid extracts

Helicobacter pullorum and Campylobacter lari are rarely isolated from humans with acute enteritis. Hitherto the two species could only be identified by genotypic techniques. Gas liquid chromatography of whole cell fatty acid extracts is described as the first phenotypic method for discrimination of the two species. Cholesteryl glucoside, a characteristic feature of the genus Helicobacter, but seldom found in other bacteria, could not be detected in Helicobacter pullorum. Therefore, rapid determination of this glycolipid may serve as a discrimination marker for Helicobacter pullorum from most other Helicobacter specie

Discrimination of Helicobacter pullorum and Campylobacter lari by analysis of whole cell fatty acid extracts

Helicobacter pullorum and Campylobacter lari are rarely isolated from humans with acute enteritis. Hitherto the two species could only be identified by genotypic techniques. Gas liquid chromatography of whole cell fatty acid extracts is described as the first phenotypic method for discrimination of the two species. Cholesteryl glucoside, a characteristic feature of the genus Helicobacter, but seldom found in other bacteria, could not be detected in Helicobacter pullorum. Therefore, rapid determination of this glycolipid may serve as a discrimination marker for Helicobacter pullorum from most other Helicobacter species

DNA methylation in human epigenomes depends on local topology of CpG sites

In vertebrates, methylation of cytosine at CpG sequences is implicated in stable and heritable patterns of gene expression. The classical model for inheritance, in which individual CpG sites are independent, provides no explanation for the observed non-random patterns of methylation. We first investigate the exact topology of CpG clustering in the human genome associated to CpG islands. Then, by pooling genomic CpG clusters on the basis of short distances between CpGs within and long distances outside clusters, we show a strong dependence of methylation on the number and density of CpG organization. CpG clusters with fewer, or less densely spaced, CpGs are predominantly hyper-methylated, while larger clusters are predominantly hypo-methylated. Intermediate clusters, however, are either hyper- or hypo-methylated but are rarely found in intermediate methylation states. We develop a model for spatially-dependent collaboration between CpGs, where methylated CpGs recruit methylation enzymes that can act on CpGs over an extended local region, while unmethylated CpGs recruit demethylation enzymes that act more strongly on nearby CpGs. This model can reproduce the effects of CpG clustering on methylation and produces stable and heritable alternative methylation states of CpG clusters, thus providing a coherent model for methylation inheritance and methylation patterning.Cecilia Lövkvist, Ian B. Dodd, Kim Sneppen and Jan O. Haerte

Corticosterone enhances CSD susceptibility via glucocorticoid receptor activation in familial hemiplegic migraine 1 Cacna1a knock-in mice

Paroxysmal Cerebral Disorder

Structural Invariants in Individuals Language Use: The "Ego Network" of Words

The cognitive constraints that humans exhibit in their social interactions have been extensively studied by anthropologists, who have highlighted their regularities across different types of social networks. We postulate that similar regularities can be found in other cognitive processes, such as those involving language production. In order to provide preliminary evidence for this claim, we analyse a dataset containing tweets of a heterogeneous group of Twitter users (regular users and professional writers). Leveraging a methodology similar to the one used to uncover the well-established social cognitive constraints, we find that a concentric layered structure (which we call ego network of words, in analogy to the ego network of social relationships) very well captures how individuals organise the words they use. The size of the layers in this structure regularly grows (approximately 2–3 times with respect to the previous one) when moving outwards, and the two penultimate external layers consistently account for approximately 60% and 30% of the used words (the outermost layer contains 100% of the words), irrespective of the number of the total number of layers of the user

News, intelligence and 'little lies' : rumours between the Cherokees and the British 1740-1785

Rumour and information are one of the most fundamental ways in which people engage with one another. Rumours can change the way that individuals and groups see each other and the actions that they take. Sociologists and anthropologists have long used rumour as a way to explore the experiences of their subjects. Historians of early America have, in recent years, begun to make use of rumour as a way of examining the, often hidden, world of interactions between American Indians and white Europeans. This thesis will expand upon this work by exploring the changing role of rumour within an intercultural relationship over several decades. This thesis will focus on rumour in the relationship between the Cherokee Nation and the colonists of the British Empire. It will explore the ways that rumour influenced these interactions and the impact of the rapidly changing backcountry environment of the latter eighteenth century, both on rumour and on the wider Cherokee- British relationship. This thesis will argue that rumour shifted in the course of the eighteenth century from being a diplomatic tool which could be used- either to create further panic and confusion or to calm and smooth over problems- to an uncontrollable force which would deepen and exacerbate the divisions between Cherokees and the British. Rumour played an important role in politics and society in the eighteenth century backcountry and its changing function offers a way to better understand the shifting currents of life in early America

Migraine headaches in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS): Comparison of two prospective cross-sectional studies

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Headaches are more frequent in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) than healthy control (HC) subjects. The 2004 International Headache Society (IHS) criteria were used to define CFS headache phenotypes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Subjects in Cohort 1 (HC = 368; CFS = 203) completed questionnaires about many diverse symptoms by giving nominal (yes/no) answers. Cohort 2 (HC = 21; CFS = 67) had more focused evaluations. They scored symptom severities on 0 to 4 anchored ordinal scales, and had structured headache evaluations. All subjects had history and physical examinations; assessments for exclusion criteria; questionnaires about CFS related symptoms (0 to 4 scale), Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI) and Medical Outcome Survey Short Form 36 (MOS SF-36).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Demographics, trends for the number of diffuse "functional" symptoms present, and severity of CFS case designation criteria symptoms were equivalent between CFS subjects in Cohorts 1 and 2. HC had significantly fewer symptoms, lower MFI and higher SF-36 domain scores than CFS in both cohorts. Migraine headaches were found in 84%, and tension-type headaches in 81% of Cohort 2 CFS. This compared to 5% and 45%, respectively, in HC. The CFS group had migraine without aura (60%; MO; CFS+MO), with aura (24%; CFS+MA), tension headaches only (12%), or no headaches (4%). Co-morbid tension and migraine headaches were found in 67% of CFS. CFS+MA had higher severity scores than CFS+MO for the sum of scores for poor memory, dizziness, balance, and numbness ("Neuro-construct", p = 0.002) and perceived heart rhythm disturbances, palpitations and noncardiac chest pain ("Cardio-construct"; p = 0.045, t-tests after Bonferroni corrections). CFS+MO subjects had lower pressure-induced pain thresholds (2.36 kg [1.95-2.78; 95% C.I.] n = 40) and a higher prevalence of fibromyalgia (47%; 1990 criteria) compared to HC (5.23 kg [3.95-6.52] n = 20; and 0%, respectively). Sumatriptan was beneficial for 13 out of 14 newly diagnosed CFS migraine subjects.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>CFS subjects had higher prevalences of MO and MA than HC, suggesting that mechanisms of migraine pathogenesis such as central sensitization may contribute to CFS pathophysiology.</p> <p>Clinical Trial Registration</p> <p>Georgetown University IRB # 2006-481</p> <p>ClinicalTrials.gov <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00810329">NCT00810329</a></p

Functional analysis of missense variants in the TRESK (KCNK18) K+ channel

A loss of function mutation in the TRESK K2P potassium channel (KCNK18), has recently been linked with typical familial migraine with aura. We now report the functional characterisation of additional TRESK channel missense variants identified in unrelated patients. Several variants either had no apparent functional effect, or they caused a reduction in channel activity. However, the C110R variant was found to cause a complete loss of TRESK function, yet is present in both sporadic migraine and control cohorts, and no variation in KCNK18 copy number was found. Thus despite the previously identified association between loss of TRESK channel activity and migraine in a large multigenerational pedigree, this finding indicates that a single non-functional TRESK variant is not alone sufficient to cause typical migraine and highlights the genetic complexity of this disorder

Differential expression of presynaptic genes in a rat model of postnatal hypoxia: relevance to schizophrenia

Obstetric complications play a role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. However, the biological consequences during neurodevelopment until adulthood are unknown. Microarrays have been used for expression profiling in four brain regions of a rat model of neonatal hypoxia as a common factor of obstetric complications. Animals were repeatedly exposed to chronic hypoxia from postnatal (PD) day 4 through day 8 and killed at the age of 150 days. Additional groups of rats were treated with clozapine from PD 120–150. Self-spotted chips containing 340 cDNAs related to the glutamate system (“glutamate chips”) were used. The data show differential (up and down) regulations of numerous genes in frontal (FR), temporal (TE) and parietal cortex (PAR), and in caudate putamen (CPU), but evidently many more genes are upregulated in frontal and temporal cortex, whereas in parietal cortex the majority of genes are downregulated. Because of their primary presynaptic occurrence, five differentially expressed genes (CPX1, NPY, NRXN1, SNAP-25, and STX1A) have been selected for comparisons with clozapine-treated animals by qRT-PCR. Complexin 1 is upregulated in FR and TE cortex but unchanged in PAR by hypoxic treatment. Clozapine downregulates it in FR but upregulates it in PAR cortex. Similarly, syntaxin 1A was upregulated in FR, but downregulated in TE and unchanged in PAR cortex, whereas clozapine downregulated it in FR but upregulated it in PAR cortex. Hence, hypoxia alters gene expression regionally specific, which is in agreement with reports on differentially expressed presynaptic genes in schizophrenia. Chronic clozapine treatment may contribute to normalize synaptic connectivity