Code pénal général de l'empire d'Autriche : avec des appendices contenant les règlements généraux les plus récents / traduit sur la dernière édition officielle par M. Victor Foucher,...

Collection : Collection des lois civiles et criminelles des Etats modernes ; 1ère livraison

Inverse relation between FASN expression in human adipose tissue and the insulin resistance level.

BACKGROUND Adipose tissue is a key regulator of energy balance playing an active role in lipid storage and may be a dynamic buffer to control fatty acid flux. Just like PPARgamma, fatty acid synthesis enzymes such as FASN have been implicated in almost all aspects of human metabolic alterations such as obesity, insulin resistance or dyslipemia. The aim of this work is to investigate how FASN and PPARgamma expression in human adipose tissue is related to carbohydrate metabolism dysfunction and obesity. METHODS The study included eighty-seven patients which were classified according to their BMI and to their glycaemia levels in order to study FASN and PPARgamma gene expression levels, anthropometric and biochemical variables. RESULTS The main result of this work is the close relation between FASN expression level and the factors that lead to hyperglycemic state (increased values of glucose levels, HOMA-IR, HbA1c, BMI and triglycerides). The correlation of the enzyme with these parameters is inversely proportional. On the other hand, PPARgamma is not related to carbohydrate metabolism. CONCLUSIONS We can demonstrate that FASN expression is a good candidate to study the pathophysiology of type II diabetes and obesity in humans.

Code criminel de l'empire du Brésil, adopté par les chambres législatives dans la session de 1830 / traduit par M. Victor Foucher,...

Collection : Collection des lois civiles et criminelles des états modernes ; 2e livraison

Status of radiation protection at different hospitals in Nepal.

Nepal has a long history of medical radiology since1923 but unfortunately, we still do not have any Radiation Protection Infrastructure to control the use of ionizing radiations in the various fields. The objective of this study was an assessment of the radiation protection in medical uses of ionizing radiation. Twenty-eight hospitals with diagnostic radiology facility were chosen for this study according to patient loads, equipment and working staffs. Radiation surveys were also done at five different radiotherapy centers. Questionnaire for radiation workers were used; radiation dose levels were measured and an inventory of availability of radiation equipment made. A corollary objective of the study was to create awareness in among workers on possible radiation health hazard and risk. It was also deemed important to know the level of understanding of the radiation workers in order to initiate steps towards the establishment of Nepalese laws, regulation and code of radiological practice in this field. Altogether, 203 Radiation workers entertained the questionnaire, out of which 41 are from the Radiotherapy and 162 are from diagnostic radiology. The radiation workers who have participated in the questionnaire represent more than 50% of the radiation workers working in this field in Nepal. Almost all X-ray, CT and Mammogram installations were built according to protection criteria and hence found safe. Radiation dose level at the reference points for all the five Radiotherapy centers are within safe limit. Around 65% of the radiation workers have never been monitored for radiation. There is no quality control program in any of the surveyed hospitals except radiotherapy facilities.

Structural and mean level analyses of the Five-Factor Model and Locus of Control: Further evidence from Africa

The present study examines the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality and locus of control in French-speaking samples in Burkina Faso (N = 470) and Switzerland (Ns = 1,090, 361), using the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and Levenson's Internality, Powerful others, and Chance (IPC) scales. Alpha reliabilities were consistently lower in Burkina Faso, but the factor structure of the NEO-PI-R was replicated in both cultures. The intended three-factor structure of the IPC could not be replicated, although a two-factor solution was replicable across the two samples. Although scalar equivalence has not been demonstrated, mean level comparisons showed the hypothesized effects for most of the five factors and locus of control; Burkinabè scored higher in Neuroticism than anticipated. Findings from this African sample generally replicate earlier results from Asian and Western cultures, and are consistent with a biologically-based theory of personality.

The level of ascorbate peroxidase is enhanced in benznidazole-resistant populations of Trypanosoma cruzi and its expression is modulated by stress generated by hydrogen peroxide

Ascorbate peroxidases (APX) are class I heme-containing enzymes that convert hydrogen peroxide into water molecules. The gene encoding APX has been characterized in 11 strains of Trypanosoma cruzi that are sensitive or resistant to benznidazole (BZ). Bioinformatic analysis revealed the presence of two complete copies of the T. cruzi APX (TcAPX) gene in the genome of the parasite, while karyotype analysis showed that the gene was present in the 2.000-kb chromosome of all of the strains analyzed. The sequence of TcAPX exhibited greater levels of similarity to those of orthologous enzymes from Leishmania spp than to APXs from the higher plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Northern blot and real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analyses revealed no significant differences in TcAPX mRNA levels between the T. cruzi strains analyzed. On the other hand, Western blots showed that the expression levels of TcAPX protein were, respectively, two and three-fold higher in T. cruzi populations with in vitro induced (17 LER) and in vivo selected (BZR) resistance to BZ, in comparison with their corresponding susceptible counterparts. Moreover, the two BZ-resistant populations exhibited higher tolerances to exogenous hydrogen peroxide than their susceptible counterparts and showed TcAPX levels that increased in a dose-dependent manner following exposure to 100 and 200 µM hydrogen peroxide.

Biotic effects of the Chicxulub impact, K-T catastrophe and sea level change in Texas

Biotic effects of the Chicxulub impact, the K-T event and sea level change upon planktic foraminifera were evaluated in a new core and outcrops along the Brazos River, Texas, about 1000 km from the Chicxulub impact crater on Yucatan, Mexico. Sediment deposition occurred in a middle neritic environment that shallowed to inner neritic depths near the end of the Maastrichtian. The sea level fall scoured submarine channels, which were infilled by a sandstone complex with reworked Chicxulub impact spherules and clasts with spherules near the base. The original Chicxulub impact ejecta layer was discovered 45-60 cm below the sandstone complex, and predates the K-T mass extinction by about 300,000 years. Results show that the Chicxulub impact caused no species extinctions or any other significant biotic effects. The subsequent sea level fall to inner neritic depth resulted in the disappearance of all larger (>150 mu m) deeper dwelling species creating a pseudo-mass extinction and a survivor assemblage of small surface dwellers and low oxygen tolerant taxa. The K-T boundary and mass extinction was identified 40-80 cm above the sandstone complex where all but some heterohelicids, hedbergellids and the disaster opportunistic guembelitfids went extinct, coincident with the evolution of first Danian species and the global delta(13)C shift. These data reveal that sea level changes profoundly influenced marine assemblages in near shore environments, that the Chicxulub impact and K-T mass extinction are two separate and unrelated events, and that the biotic effects of this impact have been vastly overestimated. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Pyochelin-mediated signalling in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

SUMMARY: Iron is an essential element for nearly all organisms but it is poorly available in most environments and not sufficient to support microbial growth. Bacteria have evolved a range of strategies to acquire this important metal, the most common of these being siderophore-mediated iron uptake. Siderophores are high-affinity iron chelators which are released to the extracellular environment where they complex iron and deliver it to the bacterial cell, via specific uptake systems. The Gram-negative bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa produces two siderophores, pyoverdine and pyochelin, which both contribute to the virulence of this opportunistic human pathogen. The genes responsible for pyochelin-mediated iron uptake are grouped in the P. aeruginosa chromosome. The pyochelin biosynthetic genes are organized in two divergent operons, pchDCBA and pchEFGHI, which flank the regulatory gene pchR. The fptA gene, encoding the ferric pyochelin outer membrane receptor, occurs immediately downstream of the pchEFGHI genes. The biosynthesis of the siderophore and its receptor is subjected to dual regulation enabling P. aeruginosa to respond not only to the intracellular iron level but also to the presence of the siderophore in the extracellular environment. Negative regulation is mediated by the widespread Fur protein which employs ferrous iron as a corepressor and binds to a consensus sequence in the promoter region of iron-regulated genes. Positive regulation occurs during iron starvation and requires the AraC-type transcriptional regulator PchR. This regulator, together with pyochelin, induces the expression of pyochelin biosynthesis and uptake genes via a mechanism which was partly unraveled during this thesis. A 32-bp conserved sequence element (PchR-box) was identified in promoter regions of pyochelin-controlled genes. The PchR-box in the pchR-pchDCBA intergenic region was found to be essential for the induction of the pchDCBA operon and for the repression of the divergently transcribed pchR gene. PchR was purified as a fusion with maltose-binding protein (MBP). Mobility shift assays demonstrated specific binding of MBP-PchR to the PchR-box in the presence, but not in the absence of pyochelin. PchR-box mutations which interfered with pyochelin-dependent regulation in vivo, also affected pyochelin-dependent PchR-box recognition in vitro. These results show that pyochelin is the intracellular effector required for PchR-mediated regulation. The fact that extracellular pyochelin triggers this regulation implies that the siderophore can enter the cytoplasm. This conclusion was corroborated by analysing the importance of known and putative pyochelin uptake genes for pyochelin-dependent gene regulation. The pyochelin receptor gene fptA is followed by three genes, fptB, fptC, and fptX, which were shown here to be co-transcribed with fPtA. While fPtX encodes an inner membrane pen-I-lease, the functions of FptB and FptC are currently unknown. FptA and FptX, which are both required for pyochelin-mediated iron uptake, were found to be also needed for pyochelin-dependent gene regulation. FptB and FptC however, were not required and their role, if any, in the uptake of the PchR effector pyochelin remains elusive. RESUME Le fer est un élément essentiel pour la quasi-totalité des organismes, mais dans la plupart des environnements, il est difficilement accessible et insuffisant à la croissance microbienne. Les bactéries ont développé de multiples stratégies pour acquérir ce précieux métal, la plus commune étant l'acquisition au moyen de sidérophores. Les sidérophores sont des petites molécules dotées d'une forte affinité pour le fer qui, une fois relâchées dans l'environnement extracellulaire, vont complexer le fer et le délivrer à la cellule bactérienne par l'intermédiaire de systèmes d'acquisition spécifiques. La bactérie Gram-négative Pseudomonas aeruginosa produit deux sidérophores, la pyoverdine et la pyochéline, qui contribuent également à la virulence de ce pathogène opportuniste. Les gènes impliqués dans l'acquisition du fer à l'aide de la pyochéline sont regroupés sur t. le chromosome de P. aeruginosa. Les gènes de biosynthèse de la pyochéline sont organisés en deux opérons divergents, pchDCBA et pchEFGHI, qui flanquent le gène régulateur pchR. Le gène fptA, codant pour le récepteur de la pyochéline dans la membrane externe, est situé immédiatement en aval des gènes pchEFGHL La biosynthèse du sidérophore et de son récepteur est soumise à une double régulation permettant à P. aeruginosa de réagir non seulement à la quantité de fer intracellulaire, mais également à la présence du sidérophore dans le milieu extracellulaire. La répression se fait par l'intermédiaire de la protéine Fur, qui nécessite le fer ferreux comme co-répresseur et se lie à une séquence consensus dans la région promotrice des gènes régulés par le fer. L'induction se produit lorsque le fer est limitant, et requiert PchR, un régulateur transcriptionnel de la famille AraC. En présence de pyochéline, ce régulateur induit l'expression des gènes de biosynthèse et du récepteur de la pyochéline par l'intermédiaire d'un mécanisme partiellement résolu dans ce travail. Une séquence conservée (PchR-box) a été identifiée dans la région promotrice des gènes régulés par la pyochéline. La PchR-box située dans la région intergénique pchR-pchDCBA s'est révélée être importante pour l'induction de l'opéron pchDCBA et la répression du gène divergent pchR. PchR a été purifiée en tant que protéine de fusion avec une protéine liant le maltose (MBP). Des expériences de gel retard ont démontré la liaison spécifique de la protéine MBP-PchR sur la PchR-box en présence, mais non en absence de pyochéline. Les mutations de la PchR-box qui ont affecté la régulation pyochéline-dépendante in vivo, ont également eu un effet sur la liaison de la protéine in vitro. Ces résultats démontrent que la pyochéline est l'effecteur intracellulaire nécessaire à la régulation par PchR. Le fait que la pyochéline extracellulaire soit capable d'activer cette régulation implique que le sidérophore entre dans le cytoplasme. Cette conclusion a été corroborée par l'évaluation du rôle des gènes connus ou putatifs de l'incorporation du fer via la pyochéline sur la régulation pyochéline-dépendente. Le gène fPtA, codant pour le récepteur de la pyochéline, est suivi de trois gènes, fptB,fptC, et fptX, co-transcrits avec,ffitA. Si sffitX code pour une perméase de la membrane interne, la fonction de FptB et FptC reste obscure. FptA et FptX, nécessaires à l'acquisition du fer par l'intermédiaire de la pyochéline, se sont également révélés être requis pour la régulation pyochéline-dépendante des gènes pchDCBA, pchEFGHI et fptABCX. FptB et FptC n'ont quant à eux vraisemblablement pas de rôle majeur à jouer, si ce n'est aucun, dans l'incorporation de la pyochéline.