Clonal Complex Chromosome Aberration in Non-Ossifying Fibroma

Cytogenetic information of non-ossifying fibromas (NOFs) is exceptionally limited. This fact relies, in part, on their benign nature but mainly because most cases evolve undetected or there is no need for surgical intervention. We report the case of a NOF arising in the left tibia of a 14-year-old male with an invariable clonal translocation. The karyotype was denoted as 42-46,XY,t(11;3;14)(q23;p21;p11). There are only two previous reported cases of clonally aberrant NOF. Records from additional cases will be essential to assess whether consistent karyotypic aberrations define this lesion. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2010;54:764 767. (C) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Migration of Husbands, Remittances and Agricultural Production: Impacts when Wives Head Households in Rural Kenya

This paper uses data collected from migrants' wives in the Nyeri district of Kenya. The main objective is to determine whether migration and remittances contribute to the development of agriculture. Our results suggest that most migrants are pushed out of rural areas, belong to the group of low-paid workers in urban areas, send little and irregular remittances to their wives back in rural areas and that these remittances are mainly used for consumption purposes and do not contribute to any significant development in agriculture. Our results also indicate that altruism or social obligation might be the main reason for migrants sending remittances back to their rural wives.

CCR5-dependent regulatory T cell migration mediates fungal survival and severe immunosuppression

Paracoccidioidomycosis, a debilitating pulmonary mycosis, is caused by the dimorphic fungus Paracoccidioides brasiliensis. The infection results in the formation of granulomas containing viable yeast cells that are the fungal sources for disease reactivation. Because CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T cells (Tregs) are in the lesions of patients with paracoccidioidomycosis, the migration of Treg cells is dependent on the axis chemokine-chemokine receptors, and CCR5 ligands are produced in P. brasiliensis-induced lesions, we investigated the role of CCR5 in the control of the infection. The results showed that CCR5(-/-) mice are more efficient in controlling fungal growth and dissemination and exhibited smaller granulomas than wild-type (WT) mice. In the absence of CCR5, the percentage of CD4(+)CD25(+) T cells expressing Foxp3, glucocorticoid-induced TNFR (GITR), CD103, CD45(low), and CTLA-4 in the granulomas was significantly decreased. Interestingly, P. brasiliensis infection resulted in an absence of T cell proliferation in response to Con A in WT but not CCR5(-/-) mice that was abrogated by anti-CTLA-4 mAb and anti-GITR mAb. Moreover, the adoptive transfer of CD4(+)CD25(+) but not CD4(+)CD25(-) T cells from infected WT to infected CCR5(-/-) mice resulted in a significant increase in fungal load. Overall, CCR5 is a key receptor for the migration of Treg cells to the site of P. brasiliensis infections leading to down-modulation of effector immune response and the long-term presence of the fungus in the granulomas. Thus, a tight control of Treg cell migration to the granulomatous lesions could be an important mechanism for avoiding exacerbation and reactivation of the disease.

Inferring migration flows from the migration propensities of infants: Mexico and Indonesia

The need for methods of indirectly estimating migration flows is particularly important in developing countries, where migration data are often incomplete and inaccurate. This paper focuses on the use of an indirect internal migration estimation method applied to Mexican and Indonesian census data. It shows that the mobility propensities of infants can be used to infer the corresponding propensities of all other age groups. However, the promise of this method is reduced in instances of inadequate data, and great care must be taken to identify outlying values in the data and to correct obviously erroneous patterns. Future work increasingly will be directed to this issue.

Immunohistochemical approach reveals involvement of inducible nitric oxide synthase in rat late development

To better understand the role of nitric oxide (NO) in mammal development, specifically in the transition of the fetal stages at birth, we studied the timing of cell-specific expression of inducible NO synthase (iNOS) isoform during gestational periods of rats, mainly at the late stages of intra-uterine development. Before experimentation, the samples were collected (from 17th to 21st gestational days), fixed in 10% buffered formalin and embedded in paraffin for histological procedures. Hereafter, the sections (5 mu m thickness) obtained from different embryos were immunostained by avidin-biotin-immunoperoxidase technique, by using antibody against iNOS isoform. The most of cell immunopositive was suggestive of granulocyte-like cells and those cells were resident close to the blood vessels in different organs, such as: lung, liver or bone marrow environment. Sometimes we noted immunopositive cells in the blood flow, as reported in the thymus. In agreement, iNOS expression, obtained by western blotting analysis, showed the same profile. Together, our data shows that iNOS expression increased gradually during the late stages of rat development (from E17 to E21) and it was executed by cells close to blood vessels. Thus, we can clearly to predict that this expression was finely modulated and it contributes for time-line dependent NO production during rat late development.

A new candidate locus for bilateral perisylvian polymicrogyria mapped on chromosome Xq27

Polymicrogyria (PMG) is characterized by an excessive number of small and prominent brain gyri, separated by shallow sulci. Bilateral perisylvian polymicrogyria (BPP) is the most common form of PMG. Clinical signs include pseudobulbar paresis, mental retardation, and epilepsy. Familial forms of BPP have been described and a candidate locus was previously mapped to chromosome Xq28, distal do marker DXS8103. The objective of this study was to perform linkage analysis in one family segregating BPP. A total of 15 individuals, including 8 affected patients with BPP were evaluated. Family members were examined by a neurologist and subjected to magnetic resonance imaging scans. Individuals were genotyped for 18 microsatellite markers, flanking a 42.3 cM interval on ch Xq27-q28. Two-point and multipoint linkage analysis was performed using the LINKAGE package and haplotype reconstruction was performed by GENEHUNTER software. Our results showed a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations in affected individuals with BPP, ranging from normal to mild neurological abnormalities. Two-point linkage analysis yield a Zmax=2.06 at theta=0.00 for markers DXS1205 and DXS1227. Multipoint lod-scores indicate a candidate interval of 13 cM between markers DSXS1205 and DXS8043, on ch Xq27.2-Xq27.3. These results point to a new locus for BPP in a more centromeric location than previously reported. (C) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Marine macroalgal biodiversity hotspots: why is there high species richness and endemism in southern Australian marine benthic flora?

The southern Australian marine macroalgal flora has the highest levels of species richness and endemism of any regional macroalgal flora in the world. Analyses of species composition and distributions for the southern Australian flora have identified four different floristic elements, namely the southern Australian endemic element, the widely distributed temperate element, the tropical element and a cold water element. Within the southern Australian endemic element, four species distribution patterns are apparent, thought to largely result from the Jurassic to Oligocene fragmentation of East Gondwana, the subsequent migration of Tethyan ancestors from the west Australian coast and the later invasion of high latitude Pacific species. Climatic deterioration from the late Eocene to the present is thought responsible for the replacement of the previous tropical south coast flora by an endemic temperate flora which has subsequently diversified in response to fluctuating environmental conditions, abundant rocky substrata and substantial habitat heterogeneity. High levels of endemism are attributed to Australia's long isolation and maintained, as is the high species richness, by the lack of recent mass extinction events. The warm water Leeuwin Current has had profound influence in the region since the Eocene, flowing to disperse macroalgal species onto the south coast as well as ameliorating the local environment. It is now evident that the high species richness and endemism we now observe in the southern Australian marine macroalgal flora can be attributed to a complex interaction of biogeographical, ecological and phylogenetic processes over the last 160 million years.

CDKN2A is not the principal target of deletions on the short arm of chromosome 9 in neuroendocrine (Merkel cell) carcinoma of the skin

The majority of small-cell lung cancers (SCLCs) express p16 but not pRb, Given our previous study showing loss of pRb in Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC)/neuroendocrine carcinoma of the skin and the clinicopathological similarities between SCLC acid MCC, we wished to determine if this was also the case in MCC, Twenty-nine MCC specimens from 23 patients were examined for deletions at 10 loci on 9p and I on 9p. No loss of heterozygosity (LO H) was peen in 9 patients including 2 for which tumour and cell line DNAs were examined. Four patients had LOH for all informative loci on 9p, Ten tumours showed more limited regions of loss on 9p, and from these 2 common regions of deletion were determined, Half of all informative cases had LOH at D95168, the most telomeric marker examined, and 3 specimens showed loss of only D9S168, A second region (InFNA-D9S126) showed L0H in 10(44%) cases, and case MCC26 showed LOH for only D9S126, implicating genes centromeric of the CDKN2A locus. No mutations in the coding regions of p16 were seen in 7 cell lines tested, and reactivity to anti-p16 antibody was seen in all Il tumour specimens examined and in 6 of 7 cell lines from 6 patients. Furthermore, all cell lines examined reacted with anti-p 14' antibody, These results suggest that neither transcript of the CDKN2A locus is the target of deletions on 9p in MCC and imply the existence of tumour-suppressor genes mapping both centromeric and telomeric of this locus. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Blocking systemic nitric oxide production alters neuronal activation in brain structures involved in cardiovascular regulation during polymicrobial sepsis

In a previous study, we concluded that overproduction of nitric oxide (NO) by inducible nitric Oxide synthase (iNOS) in the late phase of sepsis prevents hypothalamic activation, blunts vasopressin secretion and contributes to hypotension, irreversible shock and death. The aim of this follow-up study was to evaluate if the same neuronal activation pattern happens in brain structures related to cardiovascular functions. Male Wistar rats received intraperitoneal injections of aminoguanidine, an iNOS inhibitor, or saline 30 min before cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) or sham surgeries. The animals were perfused 6 or 24 h after the surgeries and the brains were removed and processed for Fos immunocytochemistry We observed an increase (P < 0.001) in c-fos expression 6 h after CLP in the area postrema (AP), nucleus of he tractus solitarius (NTS), ventral lateral medulla (VLM), locus coeruleus (LC) and parabrachial nucleus (PB). At 24 h after CLP, however, c-fos expression was strongly decreased in all these nuclei (P < 0.05), except for the VLM. Aminoguanidine reduced c-fos expression in the AP and NTS at 6 h after CLR but showed an opposite effect at 24 h, with an increase in the AP, NTS, and also in the VLM. No such effect was observed in the LC and PB at 6 or 24 h. In all control animals, c-fos expression was minimal or absent. We conclude that in the early phase of sepsis iNOS-derived NO may be partially responsible for the activation of brain structures related to cardiovascular regulation. During the late phase, however, this activation is reduced or abolished. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.