Genetic Structure and TALome Analysis Highlight a High Level of Diversity in Burkinabe Xanthomonas Oryzae pv. oryzae Populations.

Bacterial Leaf Blight of rice (BLB) caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) is a major threat for food security in many rice growing countries including Burkina Faso, where the disease was first reported in the 1980's. In line with the intensification of rice cultivation in West-Africa, BLB incidence has been rising for the last 15 years. West-African strains of Xoo differ from their Asian counterparts as they (i) are genetically distant, (ii) belong to new races and, (iii) contain reduced repertoires of Transcription Activator Like (TAL) effector genes. In order to investigate the evolutionary dynamics of Xoo populations in Burkina Faso, 177 strains were collected from 2003 to 2018 in three regions where BLB is occurring. Multilocus VNTR Analysis (MLVA-14) targeting 10 polymorphic loci discriminated 24 haplotypes and showed that Xoo populations were structured according to their geographical localization and year of collection. Considering their major role in Xoo pathogenicity, we assessed the TAL effector repertoires of the 177 strains upon RFLP-based profiling. Surprisingly, an important diversity was revealed with up to eight different RFLP patterns. Finally, comparing neutral vs. tal effector gene diversity allowed to suggest scenarios underlying the evolutionary dynamics of Xoo populations in Burkina Faso, which is key to rationally guide the deployment of durably resistant rice varieties against BLB in the country.

[Cancers of the external genital organs of male in Hérault: Results from the Hérault tumor register (RTH) over a period of 30 years (1987-2016)]. / Le cancer des organes génitaux externes de l'homme dans le département de l'Hérault: résultats de 30 ans d'enregistrement du registre des tumeurs de l'Hérault (1987­2016).

AIM: The objective of this study is to present the history of cancers of the external genital organs of male in Hérault using data from the Hérault tumor register (RTH) over a period of 30 years. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Using the RTH database, we studied the development of testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT) and penile cancer (PC) over 30 years, from 1987 to 2016. We analyzed the incidence and mortality data for these tumors. We compared these results to French, European and global data. RESULTS: In 30 years of registration we have recorded 725 cases of TGCT and 175 cases of PC. The age standardized incidence rate (ASR) of TGCT has doubled between 1987 and 2016 (4.2 per 100,000 in 1987 and 9.3 per 100,000 in 2016). It was multiplied by 2.63 in the population of patients aged 30 to 44. There is a decrease of the mortality rate with a ASR of 0.8 deaths per 100,000 in 1987, and 0.4/100 000 in 2016. The PC incidence ASR was stable between 1987 and 2016 (0.4-0.9/100,000). Mortality is stable with a ASR between 0.1 and 0.3 deaths per 100,000 between 1987 and 2016. CONCLUSION: The incidence of TGCT has increased sharply in the Hérault over the past 30 years, while a decrease in mortality has been observed. The proportion of seminomas is increasing; it has gone from 53 % to 60 % in 30 years in the Hérault. The incidence and mortality of PC shows a stability in the Hérault over the past 30 years.

[Renal cell carcinoma in the department of Hérault: Results over a 30 year period]. / Le cancer du rein dans le département de L'Hérault : résultats de 30 ans d'enregistrement.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to determine the specificities of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in the department of Herault using the Herault Tumor Registry over 30 years. METHODS: Data of this study were obtained from the Herault cancer database. We analysed the evolution of RCC from 1987 to 2016, including the incidence, mortality, cancer pathology and staging at the moment of diagnosis. We compared our results with national and international data. RESULTS: We identified 3769 newly diagnosed RCC: 2628 in men (69,7%) and 1141 in women (30,3%). In 2016, RCC was the 8th most frequent cancer, both genders combined, the 7th most frequent cancer in men and the 11th in women. New cases of RCC increased by 4.2 in men and 3.3 in women over the study period. The number of localised forms increased by 9% over 20 years. In 2016, the probability of having a RCC before the age of 75 was of 2.11% for a man and of 0.62% for a woman. CONCLUSION: Over 30 years, the incidence rate of RCC increased in the department of Herault; however, mortality decreased over the same period. This analytical data should be improved by the development of the Registry of Herault Specialised in Onco-Urology (RHESOU). LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3.

[Renal Trauma]. / Traumatismes du rein.

INTRODUCTION: Renal traumas are common, observed in 10% of patients with abdominal trauma. Most renal traumas are blunt, resulting from a direct hit or from an abrupt deceleration. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We realized a synthesis of renal trauma management for nurses. RESULTS: Clinical presentation often encompasses gross hematuria and lumbar pain. The best diagnostic tool is computed tomography (CT) urogram. Based on CT urogram images, renal traumas are classified according to the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) classification in five grades of increasing severity. The management is conservative in the vast majority of cases and has been largely simplified over the past few years, being now mostly based on observation. Radiological interventional and endoscopic procedures are used only in very selected cases and surgical exploration has become extremely rare. CONCLUSION: The prognosis has also considerably improved and renal trauma rarely result in death or loss of the kidney nowadays.

Efficient enrichment cloning of TAL effector genes from Xanthomonas.

Many plant-pathogenic xanthomonads use a type III secretion system to translocate Transcription Activator-Like (TAL) effectors into eukaryotic host cells where they act as transcription factors. Target genes are induced upon binding of a TAL effector to double-stranded DNA in a sequence-specific manner. DNA binding is governed by a highly repetitive protein domain, which consists of an array of nearly identical repeats of ca. 102 base pairs. Many species and pathovars of Xanthomonas, including pathogens of rice, cereals, cassava, citrus and cotton, encode multiple TAL effectors in their genomes. Some of the TAL effectors have been shown to act as key pathogenicity factors, which induce the expression of susceptibility genes to the benefit of the pathogen. However, due to the repetitive character and the presence of multiple gene copies, high-throughput cloning of TAL effector genes remains a challenge. In order to isolate complete TAL effector gene repertoires, we developed an enrichment cloning strategy based on •genome-informed in silico optimization of restriction digestions,•selective restriction digestion of genomic DNA, and•size fractionation of DNA fragments. Our rapid, cheap and powerful method allows efficient cloning of TAL effector genes from xanthomonads, as demonstrated for two rice-pathogenic strains of Xanthomonas oryzae from Africa.

[The Allium ureteral stent in the management of ureteral stenoses, a retrospective, multicenter study]. / Stent Allium urétéral dans la prise en charge des sténoses urétérales. Étude rétrospective multicentrique.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the performance of the Allium ureteral stent in the management of patients initially treated with double J stents for the long-term treatment of stenoses. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective multicenter study involving 36 patients who received 37 Allium ureteral stents (metallic 24 Fr) between September 2011 and January 2015 in one of three French teaching hospital centers. The mean age of the patients was 63.8 years (min-max: 33-88 years) and most were women (70%). Of these patients, 5.6% had ureteral fistulae and 94.4% stenoses. Mean stenosis length was 4.15cm (min-max: 0.5-12cm). All analyses were two-tailed with an alpha risk of 0.05. Statistical significance was set at P<0.05. Results were expressed as hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals and P-values. RESULTS: During the follow-up period, 37% of the stents were removed due to migration (complication occurring in 18.9% of the studied population), infection (10.8%) or intolerance (8.1%). The other stents were removed after 1 year. Clinical effectiveness, defined as a lack of stenosis or fistula recurrence, was 52.8% after a mean follow-up of 7.1 months. CONCLUSION: Clinically effective in more than 50% of cases, the Allium ureteral stent appears to be an alternative to indwelling double J stents. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4.

Effects of aluminum chloride on normal and uremic adult male rats. Tissue distribution, brain choline acetyltransferase activity, and some biological variables.

Normal and uremic adult male rats were given a daily ip injection of 20 mg Al (Al chloride)/kg for 14 d. The results indicate that Al induces a significant decrease in food ingestion, weight gain, and total protein concentration in the plasma. Compared with control animals, very high increases in Al levels were found in plasma and hepatic homogenates (about 36 and 19 times, respectively). In the brain homogenates, the Al increases were lower (about 23%). The brain cholineacetyltransferase activity was reduced: 10.6 and 14.9% in normal and uremic rats, respectively. The nephrectomy and the food restriction did not affect the total protein concentrations in plasma and the cerebral cholineacetyltransferase activity. Both were only found to be reduced in the rats treated by Al chloride.

Effects of postnatal aluminum exposure on biological parameters in the rat plasma.

Young rats were treated by gastric intubation with aluminum chloride (100 mg Al/kg/day) and aluminum lactate (100 and 200 mg Al/kg/day) from postnatal days 5 to 14. This treatment lead to a reduction in body weight. The plasma concentrations of total proteins and albumin decreased whereas the alpha 1 globulins increased in the treated rats. The aluminum concentrations in plasma and hepatic homogenates increased particularly at 200 mg Al lactate. The reduction in average body weight could be attributed to various causes: a decreased food consumption, a transient undernutrition, a reduction of the protein synthesis in the liver. The increase of the plasma concentration of the alpha 1 globulins revealed an inflammation process.

Aluminum transfer through milk in female rats intoxicated by aluminum chloride.

Female rats received an ip injection of aluminum chloride (10 mg Al/kg/d) during the first 12 d after parturition; this treatment led to a reduction in food intake associated with a reduction in body wt. Pups of the intoxicated dams showed a growth retardation after postnatal day 7. One day after treatment, the female rats intoxicated with aluminum had a considerably higher level of aluminum in milk than controls. The aluminum levels of plasma, liver, spleen, and kidneys were also significantly higher in treated female rats than controls. On the contrary, in the same tissues of pups from treated or not treated dams, no differences in aluminum levels were observed. No effect of aluminum treatment was detected on plasma silicon levels in dams and pups.

Effects of postnatal aluminum exposure on choline acetyltransferase activity and learning abilities in the rat.

Young rats were treated by gastric intubation with aluminum lactate (0, 100, and 200 mg Al/kg/day) from postnatal days 5 to 14 to determine the treatment's influence on brain choline acetyltransferase activity and learning abilities. The results indicated that aluminum concentrations in the cerebral areas increased in parallel to plasma aluminum at the dose of 200 mg. In the same case, choline acetyltransferase activity was reduced. At postnatal days 50 and 100, the treated rats did not show alterations in their learning abilities in the 2 tests which are based on different motivations (avoidance of an aversive light or alimentary motivation) and different ways of achievement (pressing on a lever or running in a maze). A low reduction in the general activity, particularly in the radial maze test, was only observed in rats treated with 200 mg Al/kg/day.

Developmental alterations in offspring of female rats orally intoxicated by aluminum lactate at different gestation periods.

Pregnant rats were treated orally with aluminum lactate (400 mg Al/kg/day) during three periods of gestation to determine the treatment's influence on mortality, weight gain, neuromotor maturation, and learning abilities of their pups. No effect of treatment on litter size, mortality rate, and weight gain of pups was detected. In the negative geotaxis test, the scores of pups from females treated during the second and third weeks of gestation were diminished. In the locomotor coordination and the operant conditioning tests, significant differences in the comparison of controls vs. the three treated groups were found, indicating long-term effects of early intoxication upon the central nervous system.

[Respective contributions of atomic emission spectrometry (AES) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) to trace element quantification]. / Apports respectifs de la spectrométrie d'émission atomique (SEA) et de la spectrométrie de masse des ions secondaires (SIMS) à la quantification des éléments traces.

By means of Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) it is possible to measure in situ the relative concentration of a given element in a volume of 1 micron 3. Atomic Emission Spectrometry (AES) allows absolute quantitation of tissue homogenates. The use of both techniques lead to correlate relative and absolute elemental concentrations. These methods have been applied to lithium and manganese quantitation after treatments at a therapeutic dose. The results assess the sensibility of SIMS analysis, around 0.1 ppm in biological specimens, and confirm the adequacy of the instrument to trace elements study.

Thymulin (facteur thymique serique) and zinc contents of the thymus glands of malnourished children.

Protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) leads to an immune deficiency, which is now well documented. Some investigators have suggested that the associated zinc deficiency is important in thymic involution and changes in cellular immunity. To evaluate the respective roles of nutritional deficiency, infection, and zinc in the alteration of thymic function, we measured the amounts of thymulin (facteur thymic serique, or FTS) and of Zn in the thymus glands of 58 Senegalese children who died in various stages of malnutrition. In the severe forms (marasmus, kwashiorkor, and marasmic kwashiorkor) the thymus was tiny and contained very little thymulin. The Zn content of the thymus was high whatever the nutritional state of the subject and was related significantly only to the presence of infections. In Senegalese children thymic atrophy and depleted thymulin content are associated with severe PEM but not systemic infection or depleted thymic Zn content.

[Postnatal development of zinc levels in the epididymis and testis in rats under normal and experimental conditions]. / Evolution postnatale de la teneur en zinc de l'épididyme et du testicule chez le rat dans les conditions normales et expérimentales.

Postnatal testicular and epididymal zinc concentration in the rat was investigated by means of differential pulse polarography. The zinc concentration increased gradually from birth to day 90 in the testis and up to day 60-90 in the epididymis with an abrupt increase on day 21. No marked variation in the zinc content was observed all along the epididymal duct. Experimental castration and efferent duct ligation were carried out in order to assess the influence of blood-borne and luminal androgens on epididymal zinc content. In prepubertal rats, unilateral castration and efferent duct ligation did not affect the zinc content of the epididymis. Moreover, zinc concentration was not affected by bilateral castration which induced very low plasma testosterone levels. These results suggested that epididymal zinc content did not depend upon endocrine testicular secretions, especially androgens. On the other hand, in adult rats efferent duct ligation and cryptorchidism resulted in about 50 and 70% reduction, respectively of the testicular and epididymal zinc content. A correlation was found between the absence of testicular fluid and spermatozoa or the alteration of germ cells and the decrease in epididymal and testicular zinc content.

Comparison of chemical and botanical studies of Turkish papaver belonging to the section pilosa.

The alkaloidal contents of the Turkish PAPAVER belonging to the section PILOSA have been studied by high performance liquid chromatography. According to the results obtained, the section PILOSA should be divided into two subsections; the first being characterised by the presence of the alkaloids amurine, glaucine and roemerine and the second by protopine and rhoeadine. These conclusions were confirmed by the botanical studies.

Aluminum in the joint tissues of chronic renal failure patients treated with regular hemodialysis and aluminum compounds.

We studied the concentrations of aluminum in the articular tissues of 5 hemodialysed patients treated with aluminum compounds. Aluminum crosses the synovial barrier, is found in synovial fluid (SF) and accumulates in the joint structures (synovial membrane and joint cartilage). The concentrations found in synovial tissue were 2.7 to 10 times control values, in SF 2.5 to 8 times the control concentrations and in cartilage 2.6 times the control concentrations. Transmission electron microscopy showed localization of aluminum in the lysosomal structures and wavelength dispersive microprobe analysis showed aluminum in cellular components associated with phosphate. The possible toxicity of aluminum to joints merits further investigations.

[Value of the assay of bone aluminum by pulse polarography]. / Intérêt du dosage de l'aluminium osseux par polarographie impulsionnelle.

Pulse polarography has been applied to the determination of aluminium in bone. The sensitivity, selectivity and reproducibility of the method are described. The results of bone aluminium concentrations in controls and in haemodialysed patients treated with aluminium compounds are discussed. Pulse polarography permits very precise measurements of aluminium impregnating bone.

[Measurement of aluminium in bone by pulse polarography (author's transl)]. / Intérêy du dosage de l'aluminium osseux par polarographie impulsionnelle.

Pulse polarography has been applied to the determination of aluminium in bone. The sensitivity, selectivity and reproducibility of the method are described. The results of bone aluminium concentrations in controls and in haemodialysed patients treated with aluminium compounds are discuted. Pulse polarography permits very precise measurements of aluminium impregnating bone.