Tumoral CD105 is a novel independent prognostic marker for prognosis in clear-cell renal cell carcinoma

International audienceBackground: Angiogenesis is essential for tumour growth and metastasis. There are conflicting reports as to whether microvessel density (MVD) using the endothelial marker CD105 (cluster of differentiation molecule 105) in clear-cell renal cell carcinomas (ccRCC) is associated with prognosis. Recently, CD105 has been described as a RCC cancer stem cell marker.Methods: A total of 102 ccRCC were analysed. Representative tumour sections were stained for CD105. Vascularity (endothelial CD105) was quantified by MVD. The immunohistochemistry analysis detected positive (if present) or negative (if absent) CD105 tumoral staining. This retrospective population-based study was evaluated using Kaplan–Meier method, t-test and Cox proportional hazard model.Results: We found that the expression of endothelial CD105 (MVD) negatively correlated with nuclear grade (P<0.001), tumour stage (P<0.001) and Leibovitch score (P<0.001), whereas the expression of tumoral CD105 positively correlated with these three clinicopathological factors (P<0.001). In multivariate analysis, tumoral CD105 was found to be an independent predictor of poor overall survival (P=0.002).Conclusions: We have shown for the first time that tumoral CD105 is an independent predictive marker for death risk and unfavourable prognosis in patients with ccRCC after curative resection

Saccharothrix sp. PAL54, a new chloramphenicol-producing strain isolated from a Saharan soil

An actinomycete strain designated PAL54, producing an antibacterial substance, was isolated from a Saharan soil in Ghardaïa, Algeria. Morphological and chemical studies indicated that this strain belonged to the genus Saccharothrix. Analysis of the 16S rDNA sequence showed a similarity level ranging between 96.9 and 99.2% within Saccharothrix species, with S. longispora DSM 43749T, the most closely related. DNA–DNA hybridization confirmed that strain PAL54 belonged to Saccharothrix longispora. It showed very strong activity against pathogenic Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria responsible for nosocomial infections and resistant to multiple antibiotics. Strain PAL54 secreted the antibiotic optimally during mid-stationary and decline phases of growth. One antibacterial compound was isolated from the culture broth and purified by HPLC. The active compound was elucidated by uv-visible and NMR spectroscopy and by mass spectrometry. The results showed that this compound was a D(-)-threo chloramphenicol. This is the first report of chloramphenicol production by a Saccharothrix species

Why and How Knowledge Discovery Can Be Useful for Solving Problems with CBR

International audienceIn this talk, we discuss and illustrate links existing between knowledge discovery in databases (KDD), knowledge representation and reasoning (KRR), and case-based reasoning (CBR). KDD techniques especially based on Formal Concept Analysis (FCA) are well formalized and allow the design of concept lattices from binary and complex data. These concept lattices provide a realistic basis for knowledge base organization and ontology engineering. More generally, they can be used for representing knowledge and reasoning in knowledge systems and CBR systems as well

Screening Estrogenic Activities of Chemicals or Mixtures In Vivo Using Transgenic (cyp19a1b-GFP) Zebrafish Embryos

The tg(cyp19a1b-GFP) transgenic zebrafish expresses GFP (green fluorescent protein) under the control of the cyp19a1b gene, encoding brain aromatase. This gene has two major characteristics: (i) it is only expressed in radial glial progenitors in the brain of fish and (ii) it is exquisitely sensitive to estrogens. Based on these properties, we demonstrate that natural or synthetic hormones (alone or in binary mixture), including androgens or progestagens, and industrial chemicals induce a concentration-dependent GFP expression in radial glial progenitors. As GFP expression can be quantified by in vivo imaging, this model presents a very powerful tool to screen and characterize compounds potentially acting as estrogen mimics either directly or after metabolization by the zebrafish embryo. This study also shows that radial glial cells that act as stem cells are direct targets for a large panel of endocrine disruptors, calling for more attention regarding the impact of environmental estrogens and/or certain pharmaceuticals on brain development. Altogether these data identify this in vivo bioassay as an interesting alternative to detect estrogen mimics in hazard and risk assessment perspective

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P &lt; 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Investigation of Proton Diffusion Coefficient for PbO2 Prepared from Intermediate Oxides

Lead dioxide was extracted from used batteries, and used to synthesize the following intermediate oxides by heating at different temperatures: Pb12O19, Pb12O17, and Pb3O4. Each of the prepared intermediate oxide was subject to sulfuric acid with 1.28 g cm–3. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results showed that the sample prepared from Pb12O19 only had a pattern similar to that of the starting PbO2 with α-PbO2 and β-PbO2 phases. The measurements of H+ proton diffusion coefficient (DH+) of the different samples showed that the sample prepared from Pb12O19 had better electrochemical performances than the starting PbO2. This kinetics reflects the proton insertion mechanism in PbO2, i.e. the sample prepared from Pb12O19 has a large amount of structural water in OH– hydroxyl form. This amount contributes more in the PbO2 reduction mechanism. In addition, the DH+ value of the sample prepared from Pb12O19 is significantly higher than that of starting PbO2, which confirms this hypothesis. X-ray diffraction analysis, thermogravimetric and differential thermogravimetry analysis, and cyclic voltammetry reduction at different scanning rates were used to investigate the samples. This work contributes to environment preservation by recycling of used lead dioxide and reduction of the hazard of its disposal on water.Scopu

Characteristics of ciprofloxacin-resistant enterobacteriaceae isolates recovered from wastewater of an Algerian hospital

Introduction: Hospital effluents are a source of environmental pollution by drugs, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and resistance genes. Quinolones, particularly ciprofloxacin, are commonly detected in these effluents, contributing to the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. The objective of this study was to characterize ciprofloxacin-resistant Enterobacteriaceae in hospital effluents. Methodology: Isolates were selected on Tergitol-7 agar supplemented with ciprofloxacin and genotyped by ERIC-PCR. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was done using the disk diffusion method, and minimum inhibitory concentrations were determined using the agar dilution method. Resistance genes, integrons, phylogenetic groups, and sequence types were identified by PCR and sequencing. Results: A total of 17 ciprofloxacin-resistant isolates were characterized: Escherichia coli, Escherichia vulneris, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Klebsiella oxytoca, Citrobacter freundii, and Citrobacter koseri/farmeri. Isolates presented concomitant resistance to nalidixic acid, ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, and pefloxacin. A diversity in mutation patterns in gyrA and parC genes and new amino-acid substitutions in GyrA subunit were observed. Quinolone plasmidic resistance genes qnrB1, qnrB2, qnrB5/19, qnrS1, and aac(6)-Ib-cr were detected. Resistance to other antibiotic classes was observed. Class 1 integrons and resistance genes blaCTX-M-15, blaOXA-1, sul1, sul2, sul3, tetA, tetB, aadA1/2, aadA5, aph(3)-Ia, aac(3)II, dfrA1, dfrA5, dfrA7, and dfrA12 were detected. Bacterial tolerance to cadmium, zinc, and mercury was observed with the presence of the merA gene. E. coli isolates belonged to phylogenetic groups A, B1, and D and to sequence types ST405, ST443, ST101, ST10, and ST347. Conclusions: This study highlighted bacterial multidrug resistance linked to ciprofloxacin and, consequently, the risk of bacterial exposure to this antibiotic. © 2016 Anssour et al

Prevalencia de la resistencia a betalactámicos en cepas clínicas de Escherichia coli procedentes de un hospital en Argelia

La prevalencia de la resistencia a los betalactámicos entre las enterobacterias es alta en todo el mundo, pero en Argelia no se dispone de suficientes datos. Se determinó la sensibilidad a los betalactámicos de 203 cepas clínicas de Escherichia coli mediante difusión en agar y se analizó la producción de betalactamasas de espectro extendido (BLEE) mediante la técnica de la sinergia del doble disco. Este análisis mostró cinco fenotipos bien definidos: 1) 62 cepas (30,5%) fueron sensibles a todos los betalactámicos; 2) 135 cepas (66,5%) presentaron un fenotipo caracterizado por betalactamasas de amplio espectro (BLEA); 3) 3 cepas (1,5%) se definieron como productoras de BLEE; 4) 2 cepas (1%) fueron productoras de cefalosporinasa tipo AmpC; y 5) una (0,5%) presentó un fenotipo de disminución de la permeabilidad celular a los betalactámicos. La determinación del punto isoeléctrico mostró betalactamasas con puntos isoeléctricos de 5,4 o 7,6 para las cepas con fenotipo BLEA; ¡"9,0 para 2 cepas productoras de BLEE; 5,4, 7,6 y ¡"9,0 para la tercera cepa productora de BLEE; y 5,4 y ¡"9,0 para las cepas productoras de cefalosporinasa AmpC. La hidrólisis de cefotaxima se corresponde con las bandas básicas con un punto isoeléctrico de ¡"9,0. El ensayo de conjugación mostró una transferencia de los fenotipos de resistencia de penicilinasas y cefalosporinasa AmpC y sus correspondientes betalactamasas a E. coli BM21 en asociación con plásmidos de 71,4 kb para las cepas productoras de cefalosporinasa AmpC y de 40-56 kb para las productoras de penicilinasas. Este resultado mostró que el fenotipo productor de cefalosporinasa AmpC está mediado por plásmidos. Las cepas productoras de BLEE no transfirieron su resistencia mediante el ensayo de conjugación. La reacción en cadena de la polimerasa utilizando primers específicos para los genes blaTEM, blaAmpC y blaCTX-M mostró una amplificación específica con el primer para blaCTX-M en dos cepas productoras de BLEE; los primers para blaTEM y blaCTX-M para la tercera cepa productora de BLEE; y los primers para blaTEM y blaAmpC para las cepas productoras de cefalosporinasa AmpC y sus cepas transconjugantes correspondientes. El estudio mostró una alta tasa de cepas productoras de penicilinasas y una baja frecuencia de fenotipos productores de AmpC y BLEE. Las betalactamasas productoras de cefalosporinasa AmpC estaban mediadas por plásmidos y las BLEE pertenecieron al tipo CTM-M