In vitro antibacterial activity of a 7-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-nutanocoumarin from Chaptalia nutans (Asteraceae)

Ethanolic crude extracts from the roots of Chaptalia nutans, traditionally used in Brazilian folk medicine, were screened against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa by using the disk diffusion test technique. S. aureus with 14 mm inhibition zone was considered susceptible. E. coli and P. aeruginosa without such a zone were considered resistant. As a result of this finding, the ethanolic crude extract was fractionated on silica gel column chromatography into five fractions. The ethyl acetate fraction was active against S. aureus and Bacillus subtilis. Further column chromatography separation of the ethyl acetate fraction afforded 30 fractions, which were assayed against S. aureus. Fractions 16 and 17 showed inhibition zones with S. aureus, indicating the presence of active compounds, and were subjected to purification by repeated preparative thin layer chromatography. The pure compound 7-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-nutanocoumarin inhibited B. subtilis and S. aureus at concentrations of 62.5 µg/ml and 125 µg/ml, respectively. The antibacterial property of C. nutans appears to have justified its use for the treatment of wounds, which are contaminated through bacterial infections.

Transmit: Health protection service bulletin. 2011: Issue 7

This edition of Transmit leads with the arrangements for the management of seasonal flu during the 2011/12 campaign. It provides an overview of the vaccination programme, including details on who should be vaccinated, and includes a link to the updated chapter in the Green Book.The bulletin has duty room guidance on the management of invasive group A streptococcal disease (iGAS) and the news section gives an encouraging update on measles in Northern Ireland.A number of routine reports are also summarised in this edition of Transmit. Statistics and graphs are provided to outline the latest reports on:· Immunisations and vaccine preventable diseases· Respiratory pathogens, quarters one and two 2011, Northern Ireland· Quarterly reporting of MRSA and Clostridium difficile infections (CDI) · Cryptosporidium 2010

Aplicación para Windows Phone 7 : FoodBalance

Proyecto que pretende realizar una aplicación de nombre FoodBalance para la plataforma Windows Phone 7.5. La aplicación, a grandes rasgos, contendrá un amplio abanico de comidas con recetas, valor nutricional, calorías, ingredientes, etc. Además, la aplicación también podrá generar dietas totalmente personalizables.

Bases de dades XML natives per gestionar documents MPEG-7

Aquest projecte estudia fonamentalment el llenguatge XML i l'ús que se'n fa com a mitjà per a compartir informació entre sistemes i aplicacions diferents, gràcies a la utilització del format text com a base de creació.

BD:XML natives per a documents MPEG-7

Aquest projecte avalua diferents BD:XML natives per a desar i recuperar documents XML basats en l'estàndard MPEG-7. Es tracta d'un estàndard que proposa un llenguatge per descriure el contingut (metadades) de documents multimèdia, és a dir, àudio i vídeo. El seu format de representació és XML i es basa en un esquema ja predefinit (XMLSchema d'MPEG-7).

Indications of public health in the English regions - 7: mental health

This report is the eigth in the series, "Indications of Public Health in the English Regions" commissioned by the Chief Medical Officer and has been produced jointly by the Association of Public Health Observatories (APHO) and the North East PHO. This report presents a wide range of data on the factors which can give rise to poor mental health, the mental health status of populations, provision of interventions of care for mental illness, service user experience and traditional outcomes such as suicide. In 2006, the United Kingdom rated third highest across 25 EU member states for the number of drinks consumed in one sitting. This Regional Indications report is produced alongside the new national strategy Safe. Sensible. Social: The next steps in the National Alcohol Strategy.

p.L1612P, a novel voltage-gated sodium channel Nav1.7 mutation inducing a cold sensitive paroxysmal extreme pain disorder.

BACKGROUND: Mutations in the SCN9A gene cause chronic pain and pain insensitivity syndromes. We aimed to study clinical, genetic, and electrophysiological features of paroxysmal extreme pain disorder (PEPD) caused by a novel SCN9A mutation. METHODS: Description of a 4-generation family suffering from PEPD with clinical, genetic and electrophysiological studies including patch clamp experiments assessing response to drug and temperature. RESULTS: The family was clinically comparable to those reported previously with the exception of a favorable effect of cold exposure and a lack of drug efficacy including with carbamazepine, a proposed treatment for PEPD. A novel p.L1612P mutation in the Nav1.7 voltage-gated sodium channel was found in the four affected family members tested. Electrophysiologically the mutation substantially depolarized the steady-state inactivation curve (V1/2 from -61.8 ± 4.5 mV to -30.9 ± 2.2 mV, n = 4 and 7, P < 0.001), significantly increased ramp current (from 1.8% to 3.4%, n = 10 and 12) and shortened recovery from inactivation (from 7.2 ± 5.6 ms to 2.2 ± 1.5 ms, n = 11 and 10). However, there was no persistent current. Cold exposure reduced peak current and prolonged recovery from inactivation in wild-type and mutated channels. Amitriptyline only slightly corrected the steady-state inactivation shift of the mutated channel, which is consistent with the lack of clinical benefit. CONCLUSIONS: The novel p.L1612P Nav1.7 mutation expands the PEPD spectrum with a unique combination of clinical symptoms and electrophysiological properties. Symptoms are partially responsive to temperature but not to drug therapy. In vitro trials of sodium channel blockers or temperature dependence might help predict treatment efficacy in PEPD.

Cutting edge: IL-7 regulates the peripheral pool of adult ROR gamma+ lymphoid tissue inducer cells.

During fetal life, CD4(+)CD3(-) lymphoid tissue inducer (LTi) cells are required for lymph node and Peyer's patch development in mice. In adult animals, CD4(+)CD3(-) cells are found in low numbers in lymphoid organs. Whether adult CD4(+)CD3(-) cells are LTi cells and are generated and maintained through cytokine signals has not been directly addressed. In this study we show that adult CD4(+)CD3(-) cells adoptively transferred into neonatal CXCR5(-/-) mice induced the formation of intestinal lymphoid tissues, demonstrating for the first time their bona fide LTi function. Increasing IL-7 availability in wild-type mice either by IL-7 transgene expression or treatment with IL-7/anti-IL-7 complexes increased adult LTi cell numbers through de novo generation from bone marrow cells and increased the survival and proliferation of LTi cells. Our observations demonstrate that adult CD4(+)lineage(-) cells are LTi cells and that the availability of IL-7 determines the size of the adult LTi cell pool.

An exogenous mouse mammary tumor virus with properties of Mls-1a (Mtv-7).

The classical minor lymphocyte stimulating (Mls) antigens, which induce a strong primary T cell response in vitro, are closely linked to endogenous copies of mouse mammary tumor viruses (MMTV). Expression of Mls genes leads to clonal deletion of T cell subsets expressing specific T cell receptor (TCR) V beta chains. We describe the isolation and characterization of a new exogenous (infectious) MMTV with biological properties similar to the Mls antigen Mls-1a. In vivo administration of either Mls-1a-expressing B cells or the infectious MMTV (SW) led to an increase of T cells expressing V beta 6 followed by their deletion. Surprisingly, different kinetics of deletion were observed with the exogenous virus depending upon the route of infection. Infection through the mucosa led to a slow deletion of V beta 6+ T cells, whereas deletion was rapid after subcutaneous infection. Sequence analysis of the open reading frames in the 3' long terminal repeat of both this exogenous MMTV (SW) and of Mtv-7 (which is closely linked to Mls-1a) revealed striking similarities, particularly in the COOH terminus, which has been implicated in TCR V beta recognition. The identification of an infectious MMTV with the properties of a strong Mls antigen provides a new, powerful tool to study immunity and tolerance in vivo.

INK4a/Arf is required for suppression of EGFR/DeltaEGFR(2-7)-dependent ERK activation in mouse astrocytes and glioma.

Amplification of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) or expression of its constitutively activated mutant, DeltaEGFR(2-7), in association with the inactivation of the INK4a/Arf gene locus is a frequent alteration in human glioblastoma. The notion of a cooperative effect between these two alterations has been demonstrated in respective mouse brain tumor models including our own. Here, we investigated underlying molecular mechanisms in early passage cortical astrocytes deficient for p16(INK4a)/p19(Arf) or p53, respectively, with or without ectopic expression of DeltaEGFR(2-7). Targeting these cells with the specific EGFR inhibitor tyrphostin AG1478 revealed that phosphorylation of ERK was only abrogated in the presence of an intact INK4a/Arf gene locus. The sensitivity to inhibit ERK phosphorylation was independent of ectopic expression of DeltaEGFR(2-7) and independent of the TP53 status. This resistance to downregulate the MAPK pathway in the absence of INK4a/Arf was confirmed in cell lines derived from our mouse glioma models with the respective initial genetic alterations. Thus, deletion of INK4a/Arf appears to keep ERK in its active, phosphorylated state insensitive to an upstream inhibitor specifically targeting EGFR/DeltaEGFR(2-7). This resistance may contribute to the cooperative tumorigenic effect selected for in human glioblastoma that may be of crucial clinical relevance for treatments specifically targeting EGFR/DeltaEGFR(2-7) in glioblastoma patients.

The Formal Independence of Regulators: A Comparison of 17 Countries and 7 Sectors

This article seeks to explain the pattern of delegation to independent regulatory agencies in Western Europe. Two types of arguments are advanced to explain variations in the formal independence of regulators. Firstly, the need for governments to increase their credible commitment capacity may lead them to delegate regulation to an agency that is partly beyond their direct control. Secondly, delegation may be a response to the political uncertainty problem, which arises when governments are afraid of being replaced by another coalition with different preferences, which could decide to change existing policy choices. In addition, veto players may constitute a functional equivalent of delegation, since they influence policy stability and therefore tend to mitigate both the credibility and the political uncertainty problems. These arguments are consistent with the results of the empirical analysis of the formal independence of regulators in seventeen countries and seven sectors.