sp. nov., a novel actinobacterium isolated from Algerian oil production waters.

A non-motile, straight-rod-shaped, Gram-stain-positive and facultative anaerobic bacterium (ie., strain G1) was isolated from production waters from an Algerian oilfield. Growth was observed in the presence of 0.

Occurrence and persistence of carbapenemases genes in hospital and wastewater treatment plants and propagation in the receiving river.

This study aims to investigate the prevalence of clinically relevant carbapenemases genes (bla, bla and bla) in water samples collected over one-year period from hospital (H), raw and treated wastewater of two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) as well as along the Zenne River (Belgium). The genes were quantified in both particle-attached (PAB) and free-living (FLB) bacteria. Our results showed that absolute abundances were the highest in H waters.

Antibiotic resistance along an urban river impacted by treated wastewaters.

Urban rivers are impacted ecosystems which may play an important role as reservoirs for antibiotic-resistant (AR) bacteria. The main objective of this study was to describe the prevalence of antibiotic resistance along a sewage-polluted urban river. Seven sites along the Zenne River (Belgium) were selected to study the prevalence of AR Escherichia coli and freshwater bacteria over a 1-year period.

Application of a multidisciplinary and integrative weight-of-evidence approach to a 1-year monitoring survey of the Seine River.

Quality assessment of environments under high anthropogenic pressures such as the Seine Basin, subjected to complex and chronic inputs, can only be based on combined chemical and biological analyses. The present study integrates and summarizes a multidisciplinary dataset acquired throughout a 1-year monitoring survey conducted at three workshop sites along the Seine River (PIREN-Seine program), upstream and downstream of the Paris conurbation, during four seasonal campaigns using a weight-of-evidence approach. Sediment and water column chemical analyses, bioaccumulation levels and biomarker responses in caged gammarids, and laboratory (eco)toxicity bioassays were integrated into four lines of evidence (LOEs).

Bacterial community composition in three freshwater reservoirs of different alkalinity and trophic status.

In order to investigate the factors controlling the bacterial community composition (BCC) in reservoirs, we sampled three freshwater reservoirs with contrasted physical and chemical characteristics and trophic status. The BCC was analysed by 16S rRNA gene amplicon 454 pyrosequencing. In parallel, a complete dataset of environmental parameters and phytoplankton community composition was also collected.

Seasonal variations and resilience of bacterial communities in a sewage polluted urban river.

The Zenne River in Brussels (Belgium) and effluents of the two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) of Brussels were chosen to assess the impact of disturbance on bacterial community composition (BCC) of an urban river. Organic matters, nutrients load and oxygen concentration fluctuated highly along the river and over time because of WWTPs discharge. Tag pyrosequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA genes revealed the significant effect of seasonality on the richness, the bacterial diversity (Shannon index) and BCC.

Identification of antimicrobial resistant bacteria in rivers: insights into the cultivation bias.

In the present study, the antimicrobial resistant (AR) bacteria were quantified and identified in different river samples using in parallel a culture-based approach and a culture-independent one. The objective was to evaluate the importance of the cultivation bias when studying antimicrobial resistance among environmental bacteria. Three different river samples covering a gradient of anthropic influence were tested and three different antimicrobial compounds were used as selective agents: amoxicillin, tetracycline and sulfamethoxazole.

Quantification of fecal coliform inputs to aquatic systems through soil leaching.

In order to assess the fecal contamination of rivers in the Seine watershed through soil leaching, 78 small streams located in rural areas were sampled upstream from any wastewater outfall. Culturable fecal coliforms (FC) and beta-D-glucuronidase activity (specific of Escherichia coli) were measured in the samples. Data showed a significant correlation between both estimates of fecal contamination.

Using light scatter signal to estimate bacterial biovolume by flow cytometry.

Background: In the past decade, flow cytometry has become a useful and precise alternative to microscopic bacterial cell counts in aquatic samples. However, little evidence of its usefulness for the evaluation of bacterial biovolumes has emerged in from the literature.

Methods: The light scattering and cell volume of starved bacterial strains and natural bacterial communities from the Black Sea were measured by flow cytometry and epifluorescence microscopy, respectively, in order to establish a relationship between light scattering and cell volume.

Eccrine syringofibroadenoma surrounding a squamous cell carcinoma: a case report.

A 91-year-old man presented with a 9.0 x 7.0 cm exophytic mass on the dorsum of the right foot, surrounded by a scaling hyperkeratotic plaque-like lesion that had been present for many years.

Microencephaly in children congenitally infected with human immunodeficiency virus--a gross-anatomical morphometric study.

A quantitative technique involving serial sectioning and semiautomatic morphometric analysis was used to assess the severity of the reduction in size of the major brain structures in cerebral hemispheres of children congenitally infected with HIV-1. Cerebral hemispheres from 12 children (18-48 months of age) who died of AIDS were sectioned into 5-mm-thick serial slabs and photographed. The cross-sectional areas of grossly recognizable brain structures were digitized, and the volumes were calculated according to Cavalieri's principle.

The degenerative diseases or syndromes in maturing central nervous system.

The diagnosis of degenerative diseases or syndromes in the nervous system in based on their morphological picture. The changes occur in selected CNS structures or systems being induced in the course of more or less known processes sometimes with known, more often unknown etiology. Degenerative syndromes may be classified according to the topography of changes.

The white matter changes in microencephalic HIV infected infants. A preliminary report.

The brains of six infants 14-34 months of age and with microencephaly (brain weight deficit 20-55.5%) were chosen from a group of cases vertically infected with HIV. The center of our investigations was focused on the white matter changes of which two types were observed in the examined brains.

Opportunistic infections of the central nervous system in children with HIV infection: report of 9 autopsy cases and review of literature.

Central nervous system (CNS) abnormalities attributed to direct effects of HIV infection are seen in most of children with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Secondary CNS infections with opportunistic and common pathogens are infrequent in this age group. We report 9 cases of opportunistic infection of the CNS found among 65 autopsy cases of pediatric AIDS.

Pathological basis of spinal cord cavitation in syringomyelia: analysis of 105 autopsy cases.

This report summarizes neuropathological, clinical, and general autopsy findings in 105 individuals with nonneoplastic syringomyelia. On the basis of detailed histological findings, three types of cavities were distinguished: 1) dilations of the central canal that communicated directly with the fourth ventricle (47 cases); 2) noncommunicating (isolated) dilations of the central canal that arose below a syrinx-free segment of spinal cord (23 cases); and 3) extracanalicular syrinxes that originated in the spinal cord parenchyma and did not communicate with the central canal (35 cases). The incidence of communicating syrinxes in this study reflects an autopsy bias of morbid conditions such as severe birth defects.

Stenosis of central canal of spinal cord in man: incidence and pathological findings in 232 autopsy cases.

The central canal of the spinal cord is generally regarded as a vestigial structure that is obliterated after birth in 70% to 80% of the general population. This report describes the first detailed histological study of the human central canal in 232 subjects ranging in age from 6 weeks' gestation to 92 years. Whole spinal cords were harvested at autopsy and sectioned serially from the conus medullaris to the upper medulla.

Spinal cord pathology.

The subject of spinal cord pathology can be addressed in several ways. This article tackles spinal cord pathology by examining the topic according to purely nosologic criteria. Topics discussed include malformations, traumatic injuries, vascular and circulatory diseases, tumors, infections and inflammatory diseases, demyelinating diseases, toxic-metabolic and nutritional diseases, degenerative diseases, and miscellaneous other disorders.

Prominent white matter cavitation in an infant with Alexander's disease.

The clinical history and autopsy findings are reported on a case of infantile Alexander's disease (AD). The patient, a white baby girl, developed seizures at age 4 months accompanied by internal hydrocephalus. She died at age 11 months following a progressive, downhill course of profound psychomotor retardation, recurrent seizures and cachexia.

Active muscle length reduction progressively damages soleus in hindlimb-suspended rabbits.

This study describes the morphologic changes in rabbit soleus muscle following hindlimb suspension (HS) for 1 to 4 weeks (group A); or following HS with hindfeet passively dorsiflexed, by means of an elastic band, for 1 to 2 weeks (group B). In the latter, elastic band use allowed phasic contractions of foot extensor muscles against resistance and prevented 35% chronic soleus shortening, which occurred in group A animals. In group A, the soleus revealed progressive muscle atrophy and myofibrillar damage.

Sinonasal primitive neuroectodermal tumor arising in a long-term survivor of heritable unilateral retinoblastoma.

Background: Patients who survive retinoblastoma (RB) are at risk for having second nonocular tumors, usually osteosarcomas, which often are fatal. Such patients almost always have bilateral RB.

Methods: This article reports a woman who, at the age of 1 year had been cured of a unilateral RB by radiation therapy and enucleation.

Myofibrillar disruption in the rabbit soleus muscle after one-week hindlimb suspension.

Relevant muscle- and species-specific differences may be found in the reaction of muscles to hindlimb suspension. This problem has been studied in 5 rabbits following a one-week hindlimb suspension, and in 5 ground-based controls. The soleus and the tibialis were prepared for light and transmission electron microscopy.

Radioimmunodetection of human glioma xenografts by radiolabelled monoclonal antibodies.

Radiolabelled monoclonal antibodies (131I-MUC 8-22, 131I-MUC 2-63) were used for external scintigraphy of human glioma xenografts. To induce transplantation tumors. 5 x 10(6) cells (85HG-66) of an in vitro established human malignant astrocytoma (N66/85) were inoculated s.

Amebic meningoencephalitis in a patient with AIDS caused by a newly recognized opportunistic pathogen. Leptomyxid ameba.

A fatal case of meningoencephalitis due to a leptomyxid ameba in a patient with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is presented. This opportunistic organism has not been previously recognized as a human pathogen. A 36-year-old male intravenous drug abuser died after an 18-day hospital course heralded by fever and headache and followed by nuchal rigidity and hemiparesis.

Morphological, immunocytochemical and growth characteristics of three human glioblastomas established in vitro.

The human glioblastoma-derived cell lines 86HG-39, 87HG-28 and 87HG-31, used for the production of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against glioma-associated antigens (GAA), were characterized in terms of morphology, growth behaviour, chromosomes and antigen expression. In the primary tumours, differential expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein, S100 protein, Leu-7 and GAA as defined by mAbs MUC 2-39, MUC 2-63 and MUC 8-22 was demonstrated. Receptors for epidermal growth factor (EGFr) and nerve growth factor (NGFr) were found in many cells in short-term cultures, but the transferrin receptor (Tr) was found in only a few cells of 87HG-28.