Environmental and bioclimatic factors influencing yeasts and molds distribution along European shores.

The present study employed data collected during the Mycosands survey to investigate the environmental factors influencing yeasts and molds distribution along European shores applying a species distribution modelling approach. Occurrence data were compared to climatic datasets (temperature, precipitation, and solar radiation), soil datasets (chemical and physical properties), and water datasets (temperature, salinity, and chlorophyll-a concentration) downloaded from web databases. Analyses were performed by MaxEnt software. Results suggested a different probability of distribution of yeasts and molds along European shores. Yeasts seem to tolerate low temperatures better during winter than molds and this reflects a higher suitability for the Northern European coasts. This difference is more evident considering suitability in waters. Both distributions of molds and yeasts are influenced by basic soil pH, probably because acidic soils are more favorable to bacterial growth. Soils with high nitrogen concentrations are not suitable for fungal growth, which, in contrast, are optimal for plant growth, favored by this environment. Finally, molds show affinity with soil rich in nickel and yeasts with soils rich in cadmium resulting in a distribution mainly at the mouths of European rivers or lagoons, where these metals accumulate in river sediments.

Mycosands: Fungal diversity and abundance in beach sand and recreational waters - Relevance to human health.

The goal of most studies published on sand contaminants is to gather and discuss knowledge to avoid faecal contamination of water by run-offs and tide-retractions. Other life forms in the sand, however, are seldom studied but always pointed out as relevant. The Mycosands initiative was created to generate data on fungi in beach sands and waters, of both coastal and freshwater inland bathing sites. A team of medical mycologists and water quality specialists explored the sand culturable mycobiota of 91 bathing sites, and water of 67 of these, spanning from the Atlantic to the Eastern Mediterranean coasts, including the Italian lakes and the Adriatic, Baltic, and Black Seas. Sydney (Australia) was also included in the study. Thirteen countries took part in the initiative. The present study considered several fungal parameters (all fungi, several species of the genus Aspergillus and Candida and the genera themselves, plus other yeasts, allergenic fungi, dematiaceous fungi and dermatophytes). The study considered four variables that the team expected would influence the results of the analytical parameters, such as coast or inland location, urban and non-urban sites, period of the year, geographical proximity and type of sediment. The genera most frequently found were Aspergillus spp., Candida spp., Fusarium spp. and Cryptococcus spp. both in sand and in water. A site-blind median was found to be 89 Colony-Forming Units (CFU) of fungi per gram of sand in coastal and inland freshwaters, with variability between 0 and 6400 CFU/g. For freshwater sites, that number was 201.7 CFU/g (0, 6400 CFU/g (p = 0.01)) and for coastal sites was 76.7 CFU/g (0, 3497.5 CFU/g). For coastal waters and all waters, the median was 0 CFU/ml (0, 1592 CFU/ml) and for freshwaters 6.7 (0, 310.0) CFU/ml (p < 0.001). The results advocate that beaches should be monitored for fungi for safer use and better management.

N-acetylcysteine decreases binge eating in a rodent model.

Binge-eating behavior involves rapid consumption of highly palatable foods leading to increased weight gain. Feeding in binge disorders resembles other compulsive behaviors, many of which are responsive to N-acetylcysteine (NAC), which is a cysteine prodrug often used to promote non-vesicular glutamate release by a cystine-glutamate antiporter. To examine the potential for NAC to alter a form of compulsive eating, we examined the impact of NAC on binge eating in a rodent model. Specifically, we monitored consumption of standard chow and a high-fat, high carbohydrate western diet (WD) in a rodent limited-access binge paradigm. Before each session, rats received either a systemic or intraventricular injection of NAC. Both systemic and central administration of NAC resulted in significant reductions of binge eating the WD without decreasing standard chow consumption. The reduction in WD was not attributable to general malaise as NAC did not produce condition taste aversion. These results are consistent with the clinical evidence of NAC to reduce or reverse compulsive behaviors, such as, drug addiction, skin picking and hair pulling.

Pathogenicity of Candida albicans isolates from bloodstream and mucosal candidiasis assessed in mice and Galleria mellonella.

The working hypothesis of this study was to elucidate a possible association between the pathogenic potential of Candida albicans strains with a clinical entity, systemic versus superficial candidiasis. Specifically, we assessed the pathogenicity of two groups of clinical C. albicans isolates: isolates from bloodstream infection (S) versus isolates from vaginitis patients (M), in two experimental in vivo systems - mice and Galleria melonella, in comparison to a control strain (CBS 562). Mice and G. mellonella larvae were inoculated with CBS 562 and the different S and M isolates, and followed up for survival rate and survival time during 30 and 7 days, respectively. Candida kidney colonization of mice was assessed by histopathology and colony-forming units' enumeration. The results revealed: (1) S and M isolates had different behavior patterns in the two models and varied in different parameters; (2) no statistically significant difference in pathogenicity between S and M isolates as whole groups was noted; (3) S14 was the most virulent isolate and close to the standard strain CBS 562 in both models. This study is distinctive in its outline combining two different groups of C. albicans clinical isolates originating from two different clinical entities that were assessed in vivo concurrently in two models.

Evaluation of antifungal combinations of nystatin-intralipid against Aspergillus terreus using checkerboard and disk diffusion methods.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of combinations of nystatin-intralipid, found previously to be more active than nystatin, with antifungals of different mode of activity, against Aspergillus terreus. METHODS: Antifungal activity of combinations of nystatin-intralipid with voriconazole, caspofungin, terbinafine or 5-fluorocytosine were evaluated by the checkerboard and disk diffusion methods. The results were compared to those obtained with nystatin. RESULTS: The combination of nystatin-intralipid with caspofungin exhibited better antifungal activity than each drug alone and resulted in a synergistic interaction in three out of six tested strains of A. terreus. No such effect was obtained with Nystatin and caspofungin. Nystatin-intralipid or nystatin with voriconazole yielded indifferent interactions. When nystatin-intralipid was combined with terbinafine, a strong antagonism was produced in all six A. terreus strains. This effect was observed both by checkerboard and disk diffusion methods. In contrast no interaction or only slight antagonism was observed in the combination of nystatin with terbinafine. Disk diffusion method revealed similar inhibition zones when disks impregnated with 5-fluorocytosine were placed on plain, nystatin-intralipid or nystatin containing agar plates. CONCLUSIONS: Among four tested combinations, only combination of nytatin-intralipid with caspofungin, a representative of the echinocandin class of antifungals, resulted in synergistic interaction. Antagonism obtained by combining nystatin-intralipid with terbinafine can be explained by existence of hydrophobic interaction between these two compounds interfering with their antifungal action. The fact that nystatin-intralipid and nystatin interact differently with other antifungals, may indicate differences in their mechanisms of activity.

A systematic approach for development of an OPLS-like force field and its application to hydrofluorocarbons.

A systematic, formal approach to optimization of force field parameters for molecular simulations is presented. The procedure is based on response surface mapping methodology that allows simultaneous parameter optimization against multiple property targets while constraining the number of required computationally expensive numerical experiments. The approach was implemented for prediction of vapor-liquid equilibrium properties of alkanes, alkenes, and their fluorinated derivatives via Monte Carlo molecular simulations. To further reduce computational costs, a bootstrap procedure that involves a sequence of parameter optimization for four pairs of compounds (ethane and propane, ethene and propene, perfluoroethane and perfluoropropane, and 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene and (E)-1,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene) was used. The results of simulations utilizing the optimized force field parameters agree well with associated reference equations of state.

[The dysplasia of myelopoiesis in patients with acute lymphoblastic leucosis].

Nowadays, the analysis of hematopoiesis in patients with acute lymphoblastic leucosis includes only quantitative characteristics of residue myeloid process of bone marrow. The evaluation of myelodysplasia is unexplored still. The analysis of myelopoiesis was carried on sampling of 108 patients with primary acute lymphoblastic leucosis (27 - T-acute lymphohlastic leucosis, 81 - B-acute Iymphoblastic leucosis). The characteristics of dysplasia of granulocytes, erythroid cells and megakaryocytes were based on the parameters of WHO classification of acute myeloid leucosis (2001). The monolinear dysplasia was established in 35 patients (32.4%). multilinear dysplasia--in 9 patients (8.3%). Under T- acute lymphoblastic leucosis the bilinear dysplasia was detected reliably more often and absence of dysplasia more rare than under B-acute lymphoblastic leucosis. The signs of dysplasia of various myeloid lines had no inter-correlation and had no dependencies from indicators of expression of early antigens (CCD34 and TdT) and myeloid antigens (CD13, CD33). The comparison of factual data with indicators of dysplasia under acute mteloid leucosis (181 patients) demonstrated that rates of uni- and multilinear dysplasia under T-acute Iymphoblastic leucosis and acute myeloid leucosis have no significant difference. The myelodysplasia is detected reliably (more often under B-acute lymphoblastic leucosis as compared with acute myeloid leucosis.

[Current diagnosis of myeloproliferative neoplasms (2008 WHO classification)].

The paper discusses the new 2008 WHO classification of myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) and compares it with its previous 2001 edition. The introduction of the last version of the WHO classification into clinical practice has been due to new molecular biological and histological evidence in patients with MPN. The classification contains substantial alterations made in a number of nosological entities and the new diagnostic marker for MPN - JAK2 gene mutation being proposed. Mastocytosis-specific c-KIT anomaly is identified. A new form of hematopoietic system tumors, such as myeloid and lymphoid neoplasias with eosinophilia and mutations of the PDGFR A and B and FGFR1 genes, is singled out and characterized. New differential diagnostic parameters of a histological study of bone marrow trepans in MPN are proposed.

NIST Gas Hydrate Research Database and Web Dissemination Channel.

To facilitate advances in application of technologies pertaining to gas hydrates, a freely available data resource containing experimentally derived information about those materials was developed. This work was performed by the Thermodynamic Research Center (TRC) paralleling a highly successful database of thermodynamic and transport properties of molecular pure compounds and their mixtures. Population of the gas-hydrates database required development of guided data capture (GDC) software designed to convert experimental data and metadata into a well organized electronic format, as well as a relational database schema to accommodate all types of numerical and metadata within the scope of the project. To guarantee utility for the broad gas hydrate research community, TRC worked closely with the Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA) task group for Data on Natural Gas Hydrates, an international data sharing effort, in developing a gas hydrate markup language (GHML). The fruits of these efforts are disseminated through the NIST Sandard Reference Data Program [1] as the Clathrate Hydrate Physical Property Database (SRD #156). A web-based interface for this database, as well as scientific results from the Mallik 2002 Gas Hydrate Production Research Well Program [2], is deployed at http://gashydrates.nist.gov.

[Diagnostic value of study of bone marrow trepanobiopsy imprints in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphomas].

Bone marrow (BM) trepanobiopsy imprints were studied in 85 patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL) and they were compared with aspirates. All the patients were divided into 2 groups, depending on the presence (n=17) and absence (n=65) of BM lesion established on the basis of the data of histological and immunohistochemical studies of trepanobiopsy specimens. The trepanobiopsy imprints allow one to more clearly evaluate BM cellularity and to determine peripheral blood dilution. The composition of myelograms in the imprints was similar to that of aspirates. Histologically verified BM lesion was observed in the imprints of 16 patients and less frequently in the aspirates of 14 patients. Studies of trepanobiopsy imprints present a means of reading the myelogram and reveal BM lesion more rapidly than a histological finding is obtained.

New global communication process in thermodynamics: impact on quality of published experimental data.

Thermodynamic data are a key resource in the search for new relationships between properties of chemical systems that constitutes the basis of the scientific discovery process. In addition, thermodynamic information is critical for development and improvement of all chemical process technologies. Historically, peer-reviewed journals are the major source of this information obtained by experimental measurement or prediction. Technological advances in measurement science have propelled enormous growth in the scale of published thermodynamic data (almost doubling every 10 years). This expansion has created new challenges in data validation at all stages of the data delivery process. Despite the peer-review process, problems in data validation have led, in many instances, to publication of data that are grossly erroneous and, at times, inconsistent with the fundamental laws of nature. This article describes a new global data communication process in thermodynamics and its impact in addressing these challenges as well as in streamlining the delivery of the thermodynamic data from "data producers" to "data users". We believe that the prolific growth of scientific data in numerous and diverse fields outside thermodynamics, together with the demonstrated effectiveness and versatility of the process described in this article, will foster development of such processes in other scientific fields.

Assessing plant response to ambient ozone: growth of young apple trees in open-top chambers and corresponding ambient air plots.

Open-top chambers (OTCs) and corresponding ambient air plots (AA) were used to assess the impact of ambient ozone on growth of newly planted apple trees at the Montague Field research center in Amherst, MA. Two-year-old apple trees (Malus domestica Borkh 'Rogers Red McIntosh') were planted in the ground in circular plots. Four of the plots were enclosed with OTCs where incoming air was charcoal-filtered (CF); four were enclosed with OTCs where incoming air was not charcoal-filtered (NF) and four were not enclosed, allowing access to ambient air conditions (AA). Conditions in both CF and NF OTCs resulted in increased tree growth and changed incidence of disease and arthropod pests, compared to trees in AA. As a result, we were not able to use the OTC method to assess the impact of ambient ozone on growth of young apple trees in Amherst, MA.

An approach to teaching dermatologists about complementary medicine.

OBJECTIVES: There is increasing evidence for the extensive use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) among patients with dermatologic ailments amid a scarcity of information about teaching health providers on how to engage with patients who use CAM or request information about it. An approach to educating dermatologists and nurses about CAM is described in this paper. DESIGN: A course on CAM and dermatology was offered to 17 dermatologists and nurses at a dermatology department in a university hospital in Israel. The course objective was to expose participants to common methods in CAM, emphasizing the role of an evidence-based approach and patient-doctor communication relating to CAM. RESULTS: Course evaluation revealed that participants acknowledged the existence of evidence-based research as an important consideration before referring their patients to CAM. CONCLUSIONS: Teaching CAM to dermatologists and nurses using evidence-based medicine and a patient-centered approach could enable them to provide informed and balanced advice to their patients.

Complementary medicine and psoriasis: linking the patient's outlook with evidence-based medicine.

BACKGROUND: There is increasing evidence for the extensive use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) by patients with psoriasis. Clinical research in the arena of CAM and psoriasis treatment is evolving and includes some randomized controlled trials. OBJECTIVE: To study CAM use among patients with psoriasis attending a dermatology clinic in a major university hospital in northern Israel. Prevalence, reasons for CAM use and its relevance to doctor-patient communication were emphasized. METHODS: Semistructured interviews were conducted with psoriasis patients in a dermatology clinic. Consent was obtained for 78 patients. Post-visit questionnaires were given to 5 physicians. RESULTS: Seventy-eight patients with psoriasis were interviewed and 77 were studied. Sixty-two percent used CAM. Fifty-eight percent of users had seen a CAM practitioner. The study found a trend of CAM use among patients with psoriasis from Arab compared to Jewish descent (p=0.087). CAM users reported on average 2 different CAM modalities. Herbal medicine and nutritional treatments ranked first, followed by homeopathy, traditional Chinese medicine and nutritional supplements. The main reason for CAM use was stated to be to do everything to heal the disease, followed by a quest for improved quality of life. Others mentioned an interest in a less toxic treatment, disappointment with conventional treatment and stress reduction. Well over half of the study participants and their dermatologists did not initiate a discussion about CAM use. The dermatologists' ability to predict CAM use in their patients was relatively low. CONCLUSION: There is growing evidence of extensive CAM use among patients with psoriasis. Most patients use CAM as a complementary treatment, rather than an alternative to conventional treatment. Teaching CAM should be integrated into the dermatology residency curriculum. Dermatologists need to increase their awareness of CAM use by their patients in order to improve therapeutic communication.

Assessing plant response to ambient ozone: growth of ozone-sensitive loblolly pine seedlings treated with ethylenediurea or sodium erythorbate.

One-year-old seedlings from an ozone-sensitive half-sib family of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) were transplanted into replicated plots in blocks in a large forest clearing near Nacogdoches, Texas. Seedlings were either non-treated (controls) or treated bi-weekly with foliar sprays of ethylenediurea (EDU), at 150, 300 or 450 ppm or sodium erythorbate (NaE), at 515, 1030, or 1545 ppm, for three growing seasons. Results from the final third year harvest indicated that both EDU and NaE increased all growth parameters, with significant differences only for EDU at 450 ppm. Both EDU and NaE would be useful for long-term studies on assessing the effects of ambient ozone on established native plants.

[Between metaphor and certainty: teaching an introductory course in complementary medicine].

In recent years it has been recognized that it is increasingly important to teach complementary medicine (CAM) in medical schools, residency programs and CME courses. We report our experience in teaching an elective introductory course in CAM to residents and specialists in the department of family medicine in the Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at the Technion, Haifa, Israel. Teaching four modules in CAM (herbal medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, homeopathy and nutritional medicine) during a 16-session course induced a positive change in the students attitude toward CAM and increased their interest in evidence-based CAM. In addition, the students increased their use of CAM for both themselves and their families, decreased their overall tendency to refer patients to CAM practitioners but increased their actual referral rate for patients who were considered to benefit from complementary treatment. The majority of the course participants considered teaching physicians CAM to be of great importance.

Impaired detection of variable duration embedded tones in ectopic NZB/BINJ mice.

Utilizing rodent models, prior research has demonstrated a significant association between focal neocortical malformations (i.e. induced microgyria, molecular layer ectopias), which are histologically similar to those observed in human dyslexic brains, and rate-specific auditory processing deficits as seen in language impaired populations. In the current study, we found that ectopic NZB/BINJ mice exhibit significant impairments in detecting a variable duration 5.6 kHz tone embedded in a 10.5 kHz continuous background, using both acoustic reflex modification and auditory event-related potentials (AERP). The current results add further support to the association between focal cortical malformations and impaired auditory processing, and the notion that these auditory effects may occur regardless of the cortical location of the anomaly.

Altered interneuron development in the cerebral cortex of the flathead mutant.

One approach to defining mechanisms essential to neocortical development is to analyze the phenotype of novel spontaneous mutations that dramatically affect the generation and differentiation of different neocortical neurons. Previously we have shown that there is a large decrease in the total number of cortical neurons in the flathead mutant rat, and in this paper we show that the flathead (fh/fh) mutation causes an even larger decrease in the number of interneurons. The decrease in relative interneuron number is different in different cortical lamina and for different interneuron subtypes. Specifically, the percentage of GABA and calretinin- positive cells in upper layers of somatosensory cortex is not appreciably decreased in homozygous mutants, while other interneuron subtypes in somatosensory cortex and all GABA-positive interneuron types in entorhinal cortex are decreased. In addition, the soma and dendritic arbors of interneurons in flathead are greatly hypertrophied, while those of pyramidal neurons are not. Furthermore, we found that at embryonic day 14, flathead mutants display high levels of cell death throughout both the neocortical and ganglionic eminence (GE) proliferative zones with a larger increase in cell death in the GE than in the neocortical VZ. In addition, we provide evidence that there is widespread cytokinesis failure resulting in binucleate pyramidal cells and interneurons, and the number of binucleate interneurons is greater than the number of binucleate pyramidal neurons. Together, these results demonstrate that the fh mutation causes dramatic alterations in interneuron development, and suggest that the flathead mutation causes differential cytokinesis failure and cell death in different types of neocortical progenitors.

The three dimensional structure of the type I insulin-like growth factor receptor.

Ever since the discovery of insulin and its role in the regulation of glucose metabolism, there has been great interest in the molecule itself, the insulin-like growth factors (IGFs), and their receptors (IR and IGF-R). These receptors form a subfamily of tyrosine kinase receptors which are large, transmembrane proteins consisting of several structural domains. Their ectodomains have a similar arrangement of two homologous domains (L1 and L2) separated by a Cys rich region. The C-terminal half of their ectodomains consists of three fibronectin type 3 repeats, and an insert domain that contains the alpha-beta cleavage site. This review summarises the key developments in the understanding of the structure of this family of receptors and their relation to other multidomain proteins. Data presented will include multiple sequence analyses, single molecule electron microscope images of the IGF-1R, insulin receptor (IR), and IR-Fab complexes, and the three dimensional structure of the first three domains of the IGF-1R determined to 2.6 A resolution by x ray crystallography. The L domains each adopt a compact shape consisting of a single stranded, right handed beta-helix. The Cys rich region is composed of eight disulphide bonded modules, seven of which form a rod shaped domain with modules associated in an unusual manner.

The growing need to teach about complementary and alternative medicine: questions and challenges.

With the increased popularity of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), there is a growing interest in the topic among physicians, residents, and medical students, who feel an increased need to have proper instruction about CAM therapies. Medical schools and residency programs are starting to respond to this demand, having realized that to provide better care and foster an improved patient-doctor relationship, physicians should become informed consultants, and be able to provide educated advice about CAM to their patients and help them integrate any CAM therapies shown to be safe and effective into their health care. The authors acknowledge that opinions differ about the adequacy of research findings to certify the safety and efficacy of specific therapies, and stress that physicians' decisions about CAM use should be subject to the same exacting criteria employed by researchers to evaluate any new therapies. The authors report on CAM curriculum developments in Germany, Canada, and the United States that illustrate various approaches to the question, "What should be taught in a CAM course?" In most cases, the approach is to teach about CAM therapies, although in others, therapies that the curriculum planners considered useful and safe are being integrated into the medical curriculum.