Large scale purification protocol for carnocin KZ 213 from Carnobacterium piscicola.

Large scale purification of a class IIa bacteriocin has been developed to recover pure carnocin KZ 213 produced by Carnobacterium piscicola 213. Most previous protocols reported in the literature for the purification of small peptides have used reversed phase chromatography but scale-up is difficult. The first step of this new protocol is hydrophobic interaction chromatography, the second and third steps are cation exchange chromatography. The protocol leads to a complete recovery of carnocin KZ 213 with 95% purity and to a concentration factor of 83. From 10 l culture supernatant, 5.8 mg carnocin KZ 213 have been produced with a specific activity of 8,500 UA g(-1). The protocol is easy to implement for larger volumes.

Mechanotransduction in striated muscle via focal adhesion kinase.

Contractile tissues demonstrate a pronounced capacity to remodel their composition in response to mechanical challenges. Descriptive evidence suggests the upstream involvement of the phosphotransfer enzyme FAK (focal adhesion kinase) in the molecular control of load-dependent muscle plasticity. Thereby FAK evolves as a myocellular transducer of mechanical signals towards downstream transcript expression in myofibres. Recent advances in somatic gene therapy now allow the exploration of the functional involvement of this enzyme in mechanotransduction in intact muscle.

Production, formulation and antagonistic activity of the biocontrol like-yeast Aureobasidium pullulans against Penicillium expansum.

Aureobasidium pullulans (de Bary) Arnaud (Ach 1-1) was grown in a glucose fed-batch fermentor to 106 g dry wt l(-1) in 48 h. The cells were dried in a fluidized bed dryer with a final viability of 62%. After 7 months at 4 degrees C, the viability was 28% of the initial value (= 2.3 x 10(10 )c.f.u. g(-1) dry matter). A protection level of 89% was achieved with the biomass preparation at 1 x 10(8 )c.f.u. ml(-1) after 28 and 7 days for apples stored respectively at 5 and 25 degrees C against Penicillium expansum. Our process is suitable to produce large quantities of the strain Ach 1-1 as biological control agent for apple preservation.

PET scans for decision-making in metastatic renal cell carcinoma: a single-institution evaluation.

OBJECTIVE: Therapeutic decision-making in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (MRCC) is based on conventional radiological evaluation. Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) scans may modify this strategy. METHODS: Patients with MRCC for whom a therapeutic decision had been made underwent an FDG-PET scan in order to complete the standard radiological evaluation. RESULTS: Twenty-four patients and 26 FDG-PET scans were eligible. In 18 patients, metastatic disease was evaluable on the computed tomography (CT) scan; the FDG-PET scan was positive in 16 patients and negative in 10. In 2 patients, the FDG-PET scan was positive while they were considered disease free on radiological evaluation. In 5 patients (20.8%), the previous therapeutic decision was changed. Thirteen patients had a pathological evaluation for 19 sites. One patient out of 13 had a false-positive FDG-PET scan, while 4 sites out of 6 were false-negative. The sensitivity was 75% (95% CI: 47.6-92.7) and the predictive positive value was 92.3% (95% CI: 64-99.8). With a median follow-up of 24 months, 3 patients developed new metastatic sites. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that, when positive, an FDG-PET scan may modify the decision made; when negative, it should not modify decision-making especially for surgery, owing to its sensitivity.

Recovery of nuclease produced by Lactococcus lactis using expanded bed ion exchange chromatography.

Expanded bed-ionic exchange chromatography (EB-IEC) was used for the recovery and purification of recombinant staphylococcal nuclease secreted by Lactococcus lactis. At the end of the fermentation process, the nuclease activity reached 39 U ml(-1). The EB-IEC performances were firstly evaluated with clarified culture broth. The isocratic elution with 0.5 M NaCl led to approximately 80% of nuclease recovery. Proceeding with 3-fold bed expansion resulted in a reduction of the resin capacity by a factor of 32% compared to the process in a packed bed configuration. Simplification of the early purification steps was reached by loading immediately the unclarified culture broth previously diluted to reduce conductivity. Presence of Cells did not affect the chromatography performances resulting in 55-fold purification with the same yield.

["Sonorous man"--an approach to the singing voice through the process of Psychophony]. / "L'Homme sonore"--approche de la voix chantée par la Psychophonie.

Dealing with the voice requires total management, not only of the voice itself, but also of the bodily and psychological status. In fact, the patient who presents with vocal cord pathology is usually unaware of what has caused abuse of his voice. It is therefore our task to restore comfort, but also well-being. Here we cover the way in which we intend to guide him towards a new way of voice behaviour so that he now concentrates not only on the acoustic qualities of the sound he makes, but also on the quality of resonance as well as of posture and movement. To achieve this, we must embark on areas often related to play and to rich mental imagery in order to support his efforts. The patient or pupil must refine his perception of vibration and touch in order to enhance his proprioceptive skills.

Coexistence of dominant and recessive familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis with the D90A Cu,Zn superoxide dismutase mutation within the same country.

The Cu,Zn superoxide dismutase (Cu,Zn SOD) mutations described in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) have, for the most part, a dominant influence. However, while a few cases with a heterozygous D90A mutation have been described in different countries, D90A has been recently proven to be recessively inherited with a common founder effect in Scandinavia. We screened French ALS families for Cu,Zn SOD mutations. The presence of the D90A allele was found in two index-cases, and their families were subsequently studied. In the first family the ALS patients were homozygotes for D90A, while in the second, all ALS patients were heterozygotes. In both families the disease was found to initially involve the lower limbs with slower progression than in sporadic cases, and frequent atypical signs such as paresthesia and urgency of micturition. We determined the D90A allele frequency in controls (n = 200) and sporadic ALS patients (n = 408). No D90A allele was found. This is the first report of coexistence of dominant and recessive families with the D90A Cu,Zn SOD mutation within the same country.

[Pseudomigraine with transient neurological signs and lymphocytic pleiocytosis]. / Pseudomigraine avec signes neurologiques transitoires et pléiocytose lymphocytaire.

We report the case of a 32-year-old man without previous medical history of migraine, who presented with severe headache and temporary focal neurological deficits. Lumbar puncture revealed aseptic lymphocytic pleiocytosis. The patient completly recovered within 2 months. This condition was suggestive of a transient syndrome of headache with neurologic deficits and CSF pleiocytosis. The main characteristics and the physiopathology of this uncommon disorder are discussed.

Hemorrhagic transformation in acute ischemic stroke. The MAST-E study. MAST-E Group.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Hemorrhagic transformation (HT) is the most critical complication of thrombolytics in clinical trials in acute stroke. The aim of this study was to determine the rates and the predictors of HT in the Multicenter Acute Stroke Trial-Europe (MAST-E) study. METHODS: We performed a post hoc analysis of MAST-E data designed to assess the safety and efficacy of streptokinase administered intravenously within 6 hours of stroke onset. HT included all intracerebral hemorrhages and symptomatic hemorrhages (SHT) associated with clinical worsening. The predictors of HT and SHT were determined using multivariate modeling. RESULTS: Among the 310 patients included, 159 patients had HT and 37 SHT (97 and 33 in the streptokinase group and 62 and 4 in the placebo group, respectively). Patients with SHT had significantly more atrial fibrillation, diabetes mellitus, no heparin use, streptokinase treatment, and early CT signs. In the multivariate analysis, HT was predicted by early CT signs and streptokinase treatment. SHT was predicted by diabetes mellitus, early CT signs, streptokinase treatment, and the interaction between streptokinase treatment and decreased level of consciousness. Among the streptokinase-treated patients, the same predictors remained. CONCLUSIONS: The relative risks of HT after streptokinase were in the same range in MAST-E as in other streptokinase and tPA trials. Early CT signs were strong predictors of both HT and SHT, stressing that these patients are at high risk of bleeding. In our study, the predictors of HT and SHT were similar to those of tPA trials in acute stroke.

[Superficial siderosis of the central nervous system]. / Hémosidérose du système nerveux central.

We report five cases of superficial siderosis of the central nervous system. All patients developed progressive deafness and cerebellar ataxia associated with pyramidal tract signs or mental deterioration. The cerebrospinal fluid examinations usually revealed an elevated protein level, without other abnormalities. Magnetic resonance imaging typically showed a hypointense rim around the cerebral and cerebellar hemispheres, the brainstem and the spinal cord on T2-weighted images. A definite source of bleeding was only found in two patients. The literature on superficial siderosis is reviewed. The etiologies and the pathogenesis are discussed.

[Molecular study of a false outbreak of ticarcillin-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections in a clinical hematology department]. / Etude moléculaire d'une pseudo-épidémie d'infections à Pseudomonas aeruginosa résistant à la ticarcilline dans un service d'hématologie clinique.

Molecular methods for bacterial strain typing are becoming available outside teaching hospitals and large structures. Although it seems reasonable to use conventional markers, most notably the serotype, whenever possible, the limitations of these methods are particularly conspicuous with P. aeruginosa. Combined use of several methods such as quantitative antibiotic susceptibility testing and serotype determination has proved adequate for characterizing P. aeruginosa strains in some cases. In the case of the outbreak reported herein, this approach failed to provide high quality epidemiological data. In contrast, pulsed field gel electrophoresis ruled out epidemic spread of a P. aeruginosa strain in the clinical hematology department.