Removal of pharmaceuticals, polybrominated flame retardants and UV-filters from sludge by the fungus Trametes versicolor in bioslurry reactor.

Conventional wastewater treatments are inefficient in the removal of many organic pollutants. The presence of these contaminants in the final sludge represents a source of environmental pollution due to the increasing use of biosolids in land application. A biotechnological approach which employed the fungus Trametes versicolor in a sludge-bioslurry reactor was assessed in order to remove several groups of emerging pollutants.

Protective mechanisms of green tea polyphenols in skin.

Skin is frequently exposed to a variety of environmental, chemical, and genotoxic agents that contribute to disease and carcinogenesis. Ultraviolet light (UVR) is the main external stress that leads to immunosuppression, oxidative stress, premature aging, and tumor formation. Scientists and health professionals emphasize the importance of prevention strategies to circumvent such unfavorable outcomes.

Multifocal ectopic Purkinje-related premature contractions: a new SCN5A-related cardiac channelopathy.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe a new familial cardiac phenotype and to elucidate the electrophysiological mechanism responsible for the disease.

Background: Mutations in several genes encoding ion channels, especially SCN5A, have emerged as the basis for a variety of inherited cardiac arrhythmias.

Methods: Three unrelated families comprising 21 individuals affected by multifocal ectopic Purkinje-related premature contractions (MEPPC) characterized by narrow junctional and rare sinus beats competing with numerous premature ventricular contractions with right and/or left bundle branch block patterns were identified.

Reconstruction of residual mandibular defects by iliac crest bone graft in war-wounded Iraqi civilians, 2006-2011.

Our aim was to assess the long-term results, complications, and factors associated with failure of mandibular reconstructions among wounded Iraqi civilians with mandibular defects. Success was measured by the quality of bony union, and assessed radiographically and by physical examination. Failures were defined as loss of most or all of the bone graft, or inability to control infection.

Identification of a strong genetic background for progressive cardiac conduction defect by epidemiological approach.

Introduction: Progressive cardiac conduction defect (PCCD) is a frequent disease attributed to degeneration and fibrosis of the His bundle. Over the past years, gene defects have been identified demonstrating that PCCD could be a genetic disease. The aim of this study was to show a familial aggregation for PCCD using a genetic epidemiological approach to improve in fine genetic knowledge of the transmission of the disease.

Analytical method for the determination of halogenated norbornene flame retardants in environmental and biota matrices by gas chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry.

A new methodology for the analysis of Dechlorane Plus and related compounds (DPMA, Dec 602, Dec 603 and Dec 604) by gas chromatography coupled to negative chemical ionization tandem mass spectrometry (GC-NCI-MS-MS) was developed for three different matrices, including environmental (sediment and sludge) and biota (fish) samples. Analytical parameters such as linearity, repeatability and reproducibility, recoveries, limits of detection and limits of quantification were evaluated, showing satisfactory values for the developed methodology. Moreover, a comparison with the analysis by GC-NCI-MS was carried out.

Dechlorane Plus and related compounds in aquatic and terrestrial biota: a review.

Dechlorane Plus, dechlorane 602, dechlorane 603 and dechlorane 604 are flame retardants that have been used for a long time as a substitute for mirex, but they have not been noticed as environmental contaminants until recently (2006). Regardless of their large molecular size and very high lipophilicity (log K(OW) > 9), Dechlorane Plus and related compounds have been detected in different aquatic and terrestrial species, supporting their bioaccumulation and biomagnification. Moreover, some studies showed different behaviour of the syn-Dechlorane Plus and anti-Dechlorane Plus isomers in the environment and different biomagnification factors in biota.

Stepped care for maternal mental health: a case study of the perinatal mental health project in South Africa.

As one article in a series on Global Mental Health Practice, Simone Honikman and colleagues from South Africa provide a case study of the Perinatal Mental Health Project, which delivered mental health care to pregnant women in a collaborative, step-wise manner, making use of existing resources in primary care.

Minimally invasive approaches for the correction of adult spinal deformity.

Introduction: Spinal deformity surgery is historically associated with significant blood loss and medical complications. Minimally invasive deformity correction is a promising approach to spinal deformity surgery where deformity correction and fusion can be achieved with less tissue trauma, reduced blood loss and potentially less complications.

Materials And Methods: We discuss technical aspects of minimally invasive deformity correction, review the transpsoas and presacral approaches for discectomy and fusion, and review multilevel posterior percutaneous pedicle instrumentation and rod placement for deformity correction.

Can a simple flotation method lower the limit of detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in extrapulmonary samples analyzed by the GeneXpert MTB/RIF assay?

The rapid and accurate diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) in children and extrapulmonary TB in adults continues to be a challenge. In this study, we determined the lower limit of detection (LOD) of the GeneXpert MTB/RIF assay with nonrespiratory specimens and investigated the utility of flotation procedures for concentrating the bacilli. Clinical specimens (9 cerebrospinal fluid [CSF], 13 gastric aspirate, 8 tissue, and 17 stool) were spiked with single-celled Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and the LOD of the GeneXpert assay was determined.

Combined DTP-HBV-HIB vaccine versus separately administered DTP-HBV and HIB vaccines for primary prevention of diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae B (HIB).

Background: Advantages to combining childhood vaccines include reducing the number of visits, injections and patient discomfort, increasing compliance and optimising prevention. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that routine infant immunisation programmes include a vaccination against Haemophilus influenzae (H. influenzae) type B (HIB) in the combined diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP)-hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination.

Extrusion of expandable stacked interbody device for lumbar fusion: case report of a complication.

Study Design: A case report.

Objective: We report on the device failure of a polyetherether-ketone expandable cage device with posterior migration of one of its components.

Summary Of Background Data: Posterior migration of transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion cage devices has been reported with static devices, and ours is the first report of an expandable TLIF device failure and posterior migration of one of its components.

Quantitative trait loci associated with chemical composition of the chicken carcass.

Major objectives of the poultry industry are to increase meat production and to reduce carcass fatness, mainly abdominal fat. Information on growth performance and carcass composition are important for the selection of leaner meat chickens. To enhance our understanding of the genetic architecture underlying the chemical composition of chicken carcasses, an F(2) population developed from a broiler × layer cross was used to map quantitative trait loci (QTL) affecting protein, fat, water and ash contents in chicken carcasses.

SNP identification and polymorphism analysis in exon 2 of the horse myostatin gene.

The myostatin gene (MSTN) belongs to the TGF-β superfamily of secreted growth and differentiation factors and is responsible for embryonic and adult skeletal muscle development. In this study, exon 2 of the MSTN gene, which encodes part of the TGF-β pro-peptide, was sequenced in 332 horses of 20 different breeds and compared with the horse MSTN gene sequence deposited in GenBank. The sequences obtained revealed the presence of 11 haplotypes represented by 10 variable nucleotide mutations, eight of them corresponding to amino acid sequence changes.

Clinical findings and diagnosis in human granulocytic anaplasmosis: a case series from Massachusetts.

Objective: To describe clinical findings and the use of a tick-associated pathogen panel in a series of patients with human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA) at a suburban Boston hospital.

Patients And Methods: Medical records were reviewed for inpatients and outpatients at Newton-Wellesley Hospital with a positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) result for Anaplasma phagocytophilum during the study period March 1 through November 30, 2009. A PCR panel was used to test for tick-borne pathogens.

Reconstruction of nonunion tibial fractures in war-wounded Iraqi civilians, 2006-2008: better late than never.

Objective: To describe medical care and surgical outcome after functional reconstructive surgery in late-presenting patients who already had at least one prior operation.

Design: Retrospective review of medical care and surgical outcome from August 2006 to December 2008 using patient records for initial data with active follow-up for the latest outcome information.

Setting: Médecins sans Frontières surgical programme in Jordan Red Crescent Hospital, Amman, Jordan.

A connexin40 mutation associated with a malignant variant of progressive familial heart block type I.

Background: Progressive familial heart block type I (PFHBI) is a hereditary arrhythmia characterized by progressive conduction disturbances in the His-Purkinje system. PFHBI has been linked to genes such as SCN5A that influence cardiac excitability but not to genes that influence cell-to-cell communication. Our goal was to explore whether nucleotide substitutions in genes coding for connexin proteins would associate with clinical cases of PFHBI and if so, to establish a genotype-cell phenotype correlation for that mutation.

Headache following intracranial neuroendovascular procedures.

Aims: Predicting who will develop post-procedure headache (PPH) following intracranial endovascular procedures (IEPs) would be clinically useful and potentially could assist in reducing the excessive diagnostic testing so often obtained in these patients. Although limited safety data exist, the use of triptans or dihydroergotamine (DHE) often raise concern when used with pre/post-coiled aneurysms. We sought to determine risk factors for PPH following IEP, to evaluate the utility of diagnostic testing in patients with post-coil acute headache (HA), and to record whether triptans and DHE have been used safely in this clinical setting.

Photodynamic therapy: current evidence and applications in dermatology.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) involves the activation of a photosensitizing drug, which preferentially localizes to diseased skin, by irradiation with light to cause selective cytotoxic damage. Since its discovery in the early 20th century and the development of topical photosensitizers 2 decades ago, PDT is increasingly being used in dermatology for a wide range of neoplastic, inflammatory, and infectious cutaneous conditions. Topical 5-aminolevulinic acid and methyl aminolevulinic acid, the most commonly used agents in PDT, have received Food and Drug Administration approval for the treatment of actinic keratoses, and many second-generation photosensitizers are under investigation.

PDT in squamous cell carcinoma of the skin.

Topical photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been demonstrated to be an effective and safe treatment option for pre-malignancies such as actinic keratoses (AK) and Bowen's disease (BD), with an increasing amount of evidence indicating good long term outcomes. Studies comparing PDT to other options such as cryotherapy and 5-fluorouracil generally demonstrate that PDT is equal to or better than these therapies with respect to patient satisfaction, cosmesis, and efficacy for AK and BD. While there are studies using squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) cells to elucidate the cellular and molecular mechanisms of PDT, this therapy is currently not indicated for treating SCC and surgery is still the first line of therapy.

Acute effects of fractional laser on photo-aged skin.

Background: Nonablative fractional photothermolysis (FP) laser treatment has shown clinical efficacy on photo-aged skin. Few studies have examined the molecular responses to FP.

Objective: To characterize the dynamic alterations involved in dermal matrix remodeling after FP laser treatment.

Role of greater occipital nerve blocks and trigger point injections for patients with dizziness and headache.

Background: The trigeminocervical system is integral in cervicogenic headache. Cervicogenic headache frequently coexists with complaints of dizziness, tinnitus, nausea, imbalance, hearing complaints, and ear/eye pain. Controversy exists as to whether this constellation of symptoms may be cervically mediated.

Complications and outcomes after spinal deformity surgery in the elderly: review of the existing literature and future directions.

Object: The elderly population (age > 60 years) is the fastest-growing age group in the US. Spinal deformity is a major problem affecting the elderly and, therefore, the demand for surgery for spinal deformity is becoming increasingly prevalent in elderly patients. Much of the literature on surgery for adult deformity focuses on patients who are younger than 60 years, and therefore there is limited information about the complications and outcomes of surgery in the elderly population.

Laboratory diagnosis of Clostridium difficile infection can molecular amplification methods move us out of uncertainty?

The laboratory diagnosis of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) continues to be challenging. Recent guidelines from professional societies in the United States note that enzyme immunoassays for toxins A and B do not have adequate sensitivity to be used alone for detecting CDI, yet the optimal method for diagnosing this infection remains unclear. Nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) that target chromosomal toxin genes (usually the toxin B gene, tcdB) show high sensitivity and specificity, provide rapid results, and are amenable to both batch and on-demand testing, but these tests were not universally recommended for routine use in the recent guidelines.