Using micropower impulse radar technology to screen for pneumothorax: an international bi-institutional study

Pneumothoraces (PTXs) are a common entity in thoracic trauma. Micropower impulse radar (MIR) has been able to detect PTXs in surgical patients. However, this technology has not been tested previously on trauma patients. The purpose of this study was to determine the sensitivity and specificity of MIR to detect clinically significant PTXs. We hypothesized that MIR technology can effectively screen trauma patients for clinically significant PTXs.

What a patient with refractory idiopathic detrusor overactivity should know about botulinum neurotoxin type a injection

PURPOSE: We documented the effects of intradetrusor injections of botulinum neurotoxin type A (Botox(R)) for refractory idiopathic detrusor overactivity so that prospective patients maybe properly informed about possible improvement in quality of life, the duration of interinjection intervals and the risk of clean intermittent self-catheterization. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 81 consecutive patients with refractory idiopathic detrusor overactivity treated with intradetrusor injections of 200 U botulinum neurotoxin type A at 20 sites per injection course were evaluated in this prospective, nonrandomized, open label cohort study. The primary outcome was changes in quality of life, as assessed by the short form of the Urogenital Distress Inventory and the Incontinence Impact Questionnaire before and after treatment. Secondary outcomes were the interinjection interval and the need for clean intermittent self-catheterization. RESULTS: After intradetrusor botulinum neurotoxin type A injections there was significant improvement in quality of life, which was sustained after repeat injections. Mean Urogenital Distress Inventory and Incontinence Impact Questionnaire scores decreased from 56 to 26 and 59 to 21 after injection 1 in 81 patients, from 52 to 30 and 51 to 24 after injection 2 in 24, from 40 to 19 and 43 to 17 after injection 3 in 13, from 44 to 17 and 61 to 15 after injection 4 in 6 and from 51 to 17 and 63 to 14 after injection 5 in 4, respectively. The median interinjection interval was 15, 12, 14 and 13 months between injections 1 and 2, 2 and 3, 3 and 4, and 4 and 5, respectively. Considering a post-void residual urine of greater than 100 ml with lower urinary tract symptoms as the indication for clean intermittent self-catheterization, the overall clean intermittent self-catheterization rate after treatment was 43%. CONCLUSIONS: Intradetrusor botulinum neurotoxin type A injections for refractory idiopathic detrusor overactivity significantly improved quality of life. This effect was sustained after repeat injection. More than 2 of 5 patients with refractory idiopathic detrusor overactivity required clean intermittent self-catheterization after botulinum neurotoxin type A injections and all prospective patients should be informed about this.

Sex differences in the prevalence and clinical outcomes of subclinical peripheral artery disease in the Health, Aging, and Body Composition (Health ABC) study

The objective of the study was to determine if there are sex-based differences in the prevalence and clinical outcomes of subclinical peripheral artery disease (PAD). We evaluated the sex-specific associations of ankle-brachial index (ABI) with clinical cardiovascular disease outcomes in 2797 participants without prevalent clinical PAD and with a baseline ABI measurement in the Health, Aging, and Body Composition study. The mean age was 74 years, 40% were black, and 52% were women. Median follow-up was 9.37 years. Women had a similar prevalence of ABI < 0.9 (12% women versus 11% men; P = 0.44), but a higher prevalence of ABI 0.9-1.0 (15% versus 10%, respectively; P < 0.001). In a fully adjusted model, ABI < 0.9 was significantly associated with higher coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality, incident clinical PAD and incident myocardial infarction in both women and men. ABI < 0.9 was significantly associated with incident stroke only in women. ABI 0.9-1.0 was significantly associated with CHD death in both women (hazard ratio 4.84, 1.53-15.31) and men (3.49, 1.39-8.72). However, ABI 0.9-1.0 was significantly associated with incident clinical PAD (3.33, 1.44-7.70) and incident stroke (2.45, 1.38-4.35) only in women. Subclinical PAD was strongly associated with adverse CV events in both women and men, but women had a higher prevalence of subclinical PAD.

Mats of psychrophilic thiotrophic bacteria associated with cold seeps of the Barents Sea

This study focused on the bacterial diversity associated with microbial mats of deep-sea cold seeps at the Norwegian continental margin. Study sites included the Storegga and Nyegga areas as well as the Håkon Mosby mud volcano, where the mats occurred at temperatures permanently close to the freezing point of seawater. Two visually different mat types, i.e. small gray mats and extensive white mats, were studied with the aim to determine the identity of the mat-forming sulfide oxidizers, and to investigate which environmental factors (e.g. sulfate reduction and methane oxidation rates) shown here could explain the observed diversity. Sequence data have been submitted to the EMBL database under accession No. FR847864-FR847887 (giant sulfur bacteria), No. FR827864 (Menez Gwen filament; see Supplementary Material) and No. FR875365-FR877509 (except FR875905; remaining partial sequences).

Fauna associated with Bathymodiolus azoricus mussel beds within hydrothermal fields of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Structure of assemblages associated with mussel aggregations of Bathymodiolus azoricus was investigated. Mussel beds were found on hydrothermal vent fields on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (Menez Gwen, Lucky Strike, and Rainbow) at depths 850-2400 m. The community structure of the mussel bed assemblages varied between studied areas. Large number of species was unique to mussel beds of the Menez Gwen field; the most observed taxa were not specialized hydrothermal species. All other nonunique species were found within the Lucky Strike region. The lowest mussel assemblage structure evenness was observed in the shallowest Menez Gwen area (850 m depth). We assume that two types of mussel assemblages (nematode-dominated and copepod-dominated) exist within the Lucky Strike field. The assemblages of B. azoricus differ significantly from assemblages of B. thermophilus inhabiting Pacific hydrothermal vents.

The International Bathymetric Chart of the Southern Ocean (IBCSO) Version 1.0

The International Bathymetric Chart of the Southern Ocean (IBCSO) Version 1.0 is a new digital bathymetric model (DBM) portraying the seafloor of the circum-Antarctic waters south of 60° S. IBCSO is a regional mapping project of the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO). IBCSO Version 1.0 DBM has been compiled from all available bathymetric data collectively gathered by more than 30 institutions from 15 countries. These data include multibeam and single beam echo soundings, digitized depths from nautical charts, regional bathymetric gridded compilations, and predicted bathymetry. Specific gridding techniques were applied to compile the DBM from the bathymetric data of different origin, spatial distribution, resolution, and quality. The IBCSO Version 1.0 DBM has a resolution of 500 x 500 m, based on a polar stereographic projection, and is publicly available together with a digital chart for printing from the project website (http://www.ibcso.org) and from the two data sets shown at the bottom of this page.

Trace metals in shells of mussels and clams from deep-sea hydrothermal vent fields of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and East Pacific Rise

Bioaccumulation of trace metals in carbonate shells of mussels and clams was investigated at seven hydrothermal vent fields of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (Menez Gwen, Snake Pit, Rainbow, and Broken Spur) and the Eastern Pacific (9°N and 21°N at the East Pacific Rise and the southern trough of Guaymas Basin, Gulf of California). Mineralogical analysis showed that carbonate skeletons of mytilid mussel Bathymodiolus sp. and vesicomyid clam Calyptogena m. are composed mainly of calcite and aragonite, respectively. The first data were obtained for contents of a variety of chemical elements in bivalve carbonate shells from various hydrothermal vent sites. Analyses of chemical compositions (including Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Cd, Pb, Ag, Ni, Cr, Co, As, Se, Sb, and Hg) of 35 shell samples and 14 water samples from mollusk biotopes revealed influences of environmental conditions and some biological parameters on bioaccumulation of metals. Bivalve shells from hydrothermal fields with black smokers are enriched in Fe and Mn by factor of 20-30 relative to the same species from the Menez Gwen low-temperature vent site. It was shown that essential elements (Fe, Mn, Ni, and Cu) more actively accumulated during early ontogeny of the shells. High enrichment factors of most metals (n x 100 - n x 10000) indicate efficient accumulation function of bivalve carbonate shells. Passive metal accumulation owing to adsorption on shell surfaces was estimated to be no higher than 50% of total amount and varied from 14% for Fe to 46% for Mn.

Heavy metal concentrations in fauna from hydrothermal fields of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Distributions of Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Ni, Co, Cr, Pb, As, Ag, Cd, Se, Sb, and Hg in 128 samples of tissues of organisms that inhabit hydrothermal vent fields of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (Menez Gwen, Snake Pit, and Rainbow) depending on the abiotic environmental parameters were studied. The majority of the elements studied showed direct correlations between their concentrations in fluids released and in tissues of hydrothermal organisms. A higher degree of bioaccumulation of metals was revealed in Bathymodiolus mussels and Rimicaris shrimps from the Rainbow hydrothermal vent field as compared to their analogues from the Menez Gwen and Snake Pit fields. This corresponds to maximal concentrations of the majority of the metals studied in the Rainbow high-temperature hydrothermal fluids. The highest degree of bioaccumulation of heavy metals was found in gills of symbiotrophic mussels Bathymodiolus and in maxillipeds of ectosymbiotic shrimps Rimicaris, i.e., in organs that function in dependence on chemosynthetic bacteria. Within the Rainbow vent field, the shrimps, which inhabit in biotopes with more high-temperature conditions and therefore are more strongly subjected to influence of fluids, were found to contain higher metal contents than mollusks. Fe-Mn hydroxide films that cover mussel shells might serve as important reservoirs of other metals related to Fe and Mn.

Population genetic and dispersal modeling data for Bathymodiolus mussels from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

The zip folder comprises a text file and a gzipped tar archive. 1) The text file contains individual genotype data for 90 SNPs, 9 microsatellites and the mitochondrial ND4 gene that were determined in deep-sea hydrothermal vent mussels from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (genus Bathymodiolus). Mussel specimens are grouped according to the population (pop)/location from which they have been sampled (first column). The remaining columns contain the respective allele/haplotype codes for the different genetic loci (names in the header line). The data file is in CONVERT format and can be directly transformed into different input files for population genetic statistics. 2) The tar archive contains NetCDF files with larval dispersal probabilities for simulated annual larval releases between 1998 and 2007. For each simulated vent location (Menez Gwen, Lucky Strike, Rainbow, Vent 1-10) two NetCDF files are given, one for an assumed pelagic larval duration of 1 year and the other one for an assumed pelagic larval duration of 6 months (6m).

Purification and characterization of sortase, the transpeptidase that cleaves surface proteins of Staphylococcus aureus at the LPXTG motif

Surface proteins of Staphylococcus aureus are linked to the bacterial cell wall by sortase, an enzyme that cleaves polypeptides at the threonine of the LPXTG motif. Surface proteins can be released from staphylococci by treatment with hydroxylamine, resulting in the formation of threonine hydroxamate. Staphylococcal extracts, as well as purified sortase, catalyze the hydroxylaminolysis of peptides bearing an LPXTG motif, a reaction that can be inhibited with sulfhydryl-modifying reagents. Replacement of the single conserved cysteine at position 184 of sortase with alanine abolishes enzyme activity. Thus, sortase appears to catalyze surface-protein anchoring by means of a transpeptidation reaction that captures cleaved polypeptides as thioester enzyme intermediates.

The Role of the Membrane-spanning Domain Sequence in Glycoprotein-mediated Membrane Fusion

The role of glycoprotein membrane-spanning domains in the process of membrane fusion is poorly understood. It has been demonstrated that replacing all or part of the membrane-spanning domain of a viral fusion protein with sequences that encode signals for glycosylphosphatidylinositol linkage attachment abrogates membrane fusion activity. It has been suggested, however, that the actual amino acid sequence of the membrane-spanning domain is not critical for the activity of viral fusion proteins. We have examined the function of Moloney murine leukemia virus envelope proteins with substitutions in the membrane-spanning domain. Envelope proteins bearing substitutions for proline 617 are processed and incorporated into virus particles normally and bind to the viral receptor. However, they possess greatly reduced or undetectable capacities for the promotion of membrane fusion and infectious virus particle formation. Our results imply a direct role for the residues in the membrane-spanning domain of the murine leukemia virus envelope protein in membrane fusion and its regulation. They also support the thesis that membrane-spanning domains possess a sequence-dependent function in other protein-mediated membrane fusion events.

Staphylococcus aureus sortase mutants defective in the display of surface proteins and in the pathogenesis of animal infections

Many Gram-positive bacteria covalently tether their surface adhesins to the cell wall peptidoglycan. We find that surface proteins of Staphylococcus aureus are linked to the cell wall by sortase, an enzyme that cleaves polypeptides at a conserved LPXTG motif. S. aureus mutants lacking sortase fail to process and display surface proteins and are defective in the establishment of infections. Thus, the cell wall envelope of Gram-positive bacteria represents a surface organelle responsible for interactions with the host environment during the pathogenesis of bacterial infections.