Manual reaction times and brain dynamics after 'awake surgery' of slow-growing tumors invading the parietal area. A case report

Primary objectives: Awake surgeries of slow-growing tumours invading the brain and guided by direct electrical stimulation induce major brain reorganizations accompanied with slight impairments post-operatively. In most cases, these deficits are so slight after a few days that they are often not detectable on classical neuropsychological evaluations. Consequently, this study investigated whether simple visuo-manual reaction time paradigms would sign some level of functional asymmetries between both hemispheres. Importantly, the visual stimulus was located in the saggital plane in order to limit attentional biases and to focus mainly on the inter-hemispheric asymmetry. Methods and procedures: Three patients (aged 41, 59 and 59 years) after resections in parietal regions and a control group (age¼44, SD¼6.9) were compared during simple uni- and bimanual reaction times (RTs). Main outcomes and results: Longer RTs were observed for the contralesional compared to the ipsilesional hand in the unimanual condition. This asymmetry was reversed for the bimanual condition despite longer RTs. Conclusion and clinical implications: Reaction time paradigms are useful in these patients to monitor more precisely their functional deficits, especially their level of functional asymmetry, and to understand brain (re)organization following slowgrowing lesions.

Quantification of thermotolerant campylobacter in Swiss water treatment plants, by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction

A total of 49 wastewater samples from 23 different wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) were analyzed using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction for the presence and quantity of thermotolerant campylobacters. Thermotolerant campylobacters were detected in 87.5% (21/24) and 64% (16/25) of untreated and treated wastewater samples, respectively. Their concentration was sufficiently high to be quantified in 20.4% (10/49) of the samples. In these samples, the concentration ranged from 68 000 to 2292 000 cells/L in untreated wastewater and from 10 800 to 28 000 cells/L in treated water. We conclude that thermotolerant campylobacters present a health hazard for workers at WWTPs in Switzerland. [Authors]

Colorectal polypectomy during insertion and withdrawal or only during withdrawal? A randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS: Removal of colorectal polyps is routinely performed during withdrawal of the endoscope. However, polyps detected during insertion of the colonoscope may be missed at withdrawal. We aimed to evaluate whether polypectomy during both insertion and withdrawal increases polyp detection and removal rates compared with polypectomy at withdrawal only, and to assess the duration of both approaches. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients were included into the study when the first polyp was detected, and randomized into two groups; in group A, polyps ≤ 10 mm in diameter were removed during insertion and withdrawal of the colonoscope, while in group B, these polyps were removed at withdrawal only. Main outcome measures were duration of colonoscopy, number of polyps detected during insertion but not recovered during withdrawal, technical ease, patient discomfort, and complications. RESULTS: 150 patients were randomized to group A and 151 to group B. Mean (± standard deviation [SD]) duration of colonoscopy did not differ between the groups (30.8 ± 15.6 min [A] vs. 28.5 ± 13.8 min [B], P = 0.176). In group A 387 polyps (mean 2.58 per colonoscopy) were detected and removed compared with 389 polyps detected (mean 2.58 per colonoscopy) in group B of which 376 were removed (13 polyps were missed, mean size [SD] 3.2 [1.3] mm; 7.3 % of patients). Patient tolerance was similar in the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Removal of polyps ≤ 10 mm during withdrawal only is associated with a considerable polyp miss rate. We therefore recommend that these polyps are removed during both insertion and withdrawal.

Pratiques d'utilisation et d'appropriation d'un dispositif d'aide à l'insertion : le cas du contrat emploi-solidarité

C'est à travers l'analyse d'une politique publique d'aide à l'emploi (le contrat emploi solidarité) que nous avons exploré les mécanismes d'insertion professionnelle d'hommes et de femmes privés d'emploi. La sur-représentation des femmes dans ce dispositif, comme dans ceux les plus éloignés de l'emploi, nous a amené à inscrire notre raisonnement dans une problématique de rapports sociaux de sexe. C'est-à-dire que nous faisons l'hypothèse que les pratiques des opérateurs de terrain s'appuyant sur les assignations de sexe, produisent un traitement différencié des politiques d'insertion entre les hommes et les femmes. Celui-ci se caractérise notamment par la non prise en compte des difficultés et des besoins spécifiques des femmes et par une absence de novation dans les formations qui leur sont proposées. Les logiques institutionnelles ainsi à l'oeuvre contribuent implicitement à un renforcement des inégalités entre les sexes et à une reproduction de la division sexuelle du travail déjà observée sur le marché de l'emploi

Differential stress reaction of human colon cells to oleic-acid-stabilized and unstabilized ultrasmall iron oxide nanoparticles.

Therapeutic engineered nanoparticles (NPs), including ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide (USPIO) NPs, may accumulate in the lower digestive tract following ingestion or injection. In order to evaluate the reaction of human colon cells to USPIO NPs, the effects of non-stabilized USPIO NPs (NS-USPIO NPs), oleic-acid-stabilized USPIO NPs (OA-USPIO NPs), and free oleic acid (OA) were compared in human HT29 and CaCo2 colon epithelial cancer cells. First the biophysical characteristics of NS-USPIO NPs and OA-USPIO NPs in water, in cell culture medium supplemented with fetal calf serum, and in cell culture medium preconditioned by HT29 and CaCo₂ cells were determined. Then, stress responses of the cells were evaluated following exposure to NS-USPIO NPs, OA-USPIO NPs, and free OA. No modification of the cytoskeletal actin network was observed. Cell response to stress, including markers of apoptosis and DNA repair, oxidative stress and degradative/autophagic stress, induction of heat shock protein, or lipid metabolism was determined in cells exposed to the two NPs. Induction of an autophagic response was observed in the two cell lines for both NPs but not free OA, while the other stress responses were cell- and NP-specific. The formation of lipid vacuoles/droplets was demonstrated in HT29 and CaCo₂ cells exposed to OA-USPIO NPs but not to NS-USPIO NPs, and to a much lower level in cells exposed to equimolar concentrations of free OA. Therefore, the induction of lipid vacuoles in colon cells exposed to OA utilized as a stabilizer for USPIO NPs is higly amplified compared to free OA, and is not observed in the absence of this lipid in NS-USPIO NPs.

Biosynthesis of pyochelin and dihydroaeruginoic acid requires the iron-regulated pchDCBA operon in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

The high-affinity siderophore salicylate is an intermediate in the biosynthetic pathway of pyochelin, another siderophore and chelator of transition metal ions, in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The 2.5-kb region upstream of the salicylate biosynthetic genes pchBA was sequenced and found to contain two additional, contiguous genes, pchD and pchC, having the same orientation. The deduced amino acid sequence of the 60-kDa PchD protein was similar to those of the EntE protein (2,3-dihydroxybenzoate-AMP ligase) of Escherichia coli and other adenylate-forming enzymes, suggesting that salicylate might be adenylated at the carboxyl group by PchD. The 28-kDa PchC protein showed similarities to thioesterases of prokaryotic and eukaryotic origin and might participate in the release of the product(s) formed from activated salicylate. One potential product, dihydroaeruginoate (Dha), was identified in culture supernatants of iron-limited P. aeruginosa cells. The antifungal antibiotic Dha is thought to arise from the reaction of salicylate with cysteine, followed by cyclization of cysteine. Inactivation of the chromosomal pchD gene by insertion of the transcription and translation stop element omega Sm/Sp abolished the production of Dha and pyochelin, implying that PchD-mediated activation of salicylate may be a common first step in the synthesis of both metabolites. Furthermore, the pchD::omega Sm/Sp mutation had a strong polar effect on the expression of the pchBA genes, i.e., on salicylate synthesis, indicating that the pchDCBA genes constitute a transcriptional unit. A full-length pchDCBA transcript of ca. 4.4 kb could be detected in iron-deprived, growing cells of P. aeruginosa. Transcription of pchD started at tandemly arranged promoters, which overlapped with two Fur boxes (binding sites for the ferric uptake regulator) and the promoter of the divergently transcribed pchR gene encoding an activator of pyochelin biosynthesis. This promoter arrangement allows tight iron-mediated repression of the pchDCBA operon.

Orthogonal protection of peptides and peptoids for cyclization by the thiol-ene reaction and conjugation

Cyclic peptides and peptoids were prepared using the thiolene Michael-type reaction. The linear precursors were provided with additional functional groups allowing for subsequent conjugation: an orthogonally protected thiol, a protected maleimide, or an alkyne. The functional group for conjugation was placed either within the cycle or in an external position. The click reactions employed for conjugation with suitably derivatized nucleoside or oligonucleotides were either cycloadditions (Diels-Alder, Cu(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne) or the same Michael-type reaction as for cyclization.

Membrane insertion and antibody recognition of a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored protein: an optical study.

The kinetics of binding of a glycolipid-anchored protein (the promastigote surface protease, PSP) to planar lecithin bilayers is studied by an integrated optics technique, in which the bilayer membrane is supported on an optical wave guide and the phase velocities of guided light modes in the wave guide are measured. From these velocities, the optical parameters of the membrane and PSP layers deposited on the waveguide are determined, yielding in particular the mass of PSP bound to the membrane, which is followed in real time. From a comparison of the binding rates of PSP and PSP from which the lipid moiety has been removed, it is shown that the lipid moiety plays a key role in anchoring the protein to the membrane. Specific and nonspecific binding of antibodies to membrane-anchored PSP is also investigated. As little as a fifth of a monolayer of PSP is sufficient to suppress the appreciable nonspecific binding of antibodies to the membrane.

Reaction-diffusion lattice gas: Theory and computer results

We report on the study of nonequilibrium ordering in the reaction-diffusion lattice gas. It is a kinetic model that relaxes towards steady states under the simultaneous competition of a thermally activated creation-annihilation $(reaction$) process at temperature T, and a diffusion process driven by a heat bath at temperature T?T. The phase diagram as one varies T and T, the system dimension d, the relative priori probabilities for the two processes, and their dynamical rates is investigated. We compare mean-field theory, new Monte Carlo data, and known exact results for some limiting cases. In particular, no evidence of Landau critical behavior is found numerically when d=2 for Metropolis rates but Onsager critical points and a variety of first-order phase transitions.

Predictors for the emergence of the 2 multi-nucleoside/nucleotide resistance mutations 69 insertion and Q151M and their impact on clinical outcome in the Swiss HIV cohort study.

The 69 insertion and Q151M mutations are multi-nucleoside/nucleotide resistance mutations (MNR). The prevalence among 4078 antiretroviral therapy (ART)-experienced individuals was <1.3%. Combined ART fully prevented MNR in subtype B infections. Case-control studies were performed to identify risk factors. Control subjects were patients with ≥ 3 thymidine-analogue mutations. The 69 insertion study (27 control subjects, 14 case patients) identified didanosine exposure as a risk (odds ratio, 5.0 per year; P = .019), whereas the Q151M study (which included 44 control subjects and 25 case patients) detected no associations. Following detection, individuals with Q151M tended to have lower suppression rates and higher mortality rates, relative to control subjects. Additional studies are needed to verify these findings in non-subtype B infections.

Reaction of sweet orange cultivars expressing the attacin A gene to 'Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus' infection

The objective of this work was to evaluate the reaction of four sweet orange cultivars expressing the attacin A gene to 'Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus' (Las) infection, a bacterium associated to huanglongbing (HLB) disease. Transgenic sweet orange plants of Hamlin, Natal, Pêra, and Valência cultivars, as well as nontransgenic controls received inocula by grafting budwood sections of HLB-infected branches. Disease progression was evaluated through observations of leaf symptoms and by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis, eight months after inoculation. A completely randomized design was used, with four experiments (one for each cultivar) performed simultaneously. Bacteria title was estimated by quantitative PCR (qPCR). HLB symptoms and Las titers were present in nontransgenic and transgenic plants expressing the attacin A gene of the four sweet orange cultivars, eight months after bacteria inoculation. Five transgenic lines (transformation events) of 'Pêra' sweet orange expressing the attacin A gene have significantly lower Las titers in comparison with nontransgenic plants of this cultivar.