A mutation in C. neoformans mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase results in increased virulence in mice.

Cryptococcus neoformans: (H99W) was serially passaged in the invertebrate wax moth fifteen times to study how fungal virulence evolves under selection and whether those adaptations affect virulence. The passaged strain (P15) and the pre-passage H99W strains were used to infect three different host models of , and Balb/c mice. While there was no difference in survival in the invertebrate models, P15 killed mice faster than H99W through both intratracheal and intravenous routes of infection and mice infected intravenously with P15 showed higher fungal burden in the brain.

Characterization of the Furfural and 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) Metabolic Pathway in the Novel Isolate Pseudomonas putida ALS1267.

The genes involved in the aerobic bacterial metabolism of furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) have been characterized in two species, Pseudomonas putida Fu1 and Cupriavidus basilensis HMF14. A third furan-metabolizing strain, Pseudomonas putida ALS1267, was recently identified that grows robustly on both furfural and HMF as sole carbon sources, with a growth rate of 0.250 h on furfural and 0.

Glucose can be transported and utilized in Escherichia coli by an altered or overproduced N-acetylglucosamine phosphotransferase system (PTS).

Escherichia coli Δglk ΔmanZ ΔptsG glucose strains that lack the glucose phosphotransferase system (PTS) and the mannose PTS as well as glucokinase have been widely used by researchers studying the PTS. In this study we show that both fast- and slow-growing spontaneous glucose revertants can be readily obtained from Δglk ΔmanZ ΔptsG glucose strains. All of the fast-growing revertants either altered the N-acetylglucosamine PTS or caused its overproduction by inactivating the NagC repressor protein, which regulates the N-acetylglucosamine PTS, and these revertants could utilize either glucose or N-acetylglucosamine as a sole carbon source.

Draft Genome Sequence of Strain ATCC 49145 Associated with Bacterial Vaginosis.

is a Gram-variable bacterium associated with bacterial vaginosis, a common vaginal inflammation in women of reproductive age. This study reports the whole-genome sequencing for the clinical isolate strain ATCC 49145. The draft genome is composed of 21 contigs containing 1,325 protein-coding sequences, 45 tRNAs and a single tmRNA (SsrA).

Transcriptional analysis and adaptive evolution of Escherichia coli strains growing on acetate.

Eighteen strains of Escherichia coli were compared for maximum specific growth rate (μ MAX) on 85 mM acetate as the sole carbon source. The C strain ATCC8739 had the greatest growth rate (0.41 h(-1)) while SCS-1 had the slowest growth rate (0.

Isolation and Characterization of Bacteria That Use Furans as the Sole Carbon Source.

Five bacterial strains were isolated from wastewater treatment facilities which were able to use furfural as the sole carbon source. Based on 16S rRNA phylogenetic analysis, these strains were identified as Cupriavidus pinatubonensis (designated ALS1280), Pigmentiphaga sp. (ALS1172), Pseudomonas sp.

Working With Socially and Medically Complex Patients: When Care Transitions Are Circular, Overlapping, and Continual Rather Than Linear and Finite.

The care coordination program described here evolved from 5 years of trial and learning related to how to best serve our high-cost, high-utilizing, chronically ill, urban core patient population. In addition to medical complexity, they have daily challenges characteristic of persons served by Safety-Net health systems. Many have unstable health insurance status.

Response surface modeling for hot, humid air decontamination of materials contaminated with Bacillus anthracis ∆Sterne and Bacillus thuringiensis Al Hakam spores.

Response surface methodology using a face-centered cube design was used to describe and predict spore inactivation of Bacillus anthracis ∆Sterne and Bacillus thuringiensis Al Hakam spores after exposure of six spore-contaminated materials to hot, humid air. For each strain/material pair, an attempt was made to fit a first or second order model. All three independent predictor variables (temperature, relative humidity, and time) were significant in the models except that time was not significant for B.

Addressing social determinants to improve healthcare quality and reduce cost.

Unlabelled: Most healthcare quality improvement and cost reduction efforts currently focus on care processes, or transitions-for example, the hospital discharge process. While identification and adoption of best practices to address these aspects of healthcare are essential, more is needed for systems that serve vulnerable populations: to account for social factors that often inhibit patients' ability to take full advantage of available healthcare. Our urban safety net healthcare system developed and implemented an innovative quality improvement approach.

Test method development to evaluate hot, humid air decontamination of materials contaminated with Bacillus anthracis ∆Sterne and B. thuringiensis Al Hakam spores.

Aims: To develop test methods and evaluate the survival of Bacillus anthracis ∆Sterne and Bacillus thuringiensis Al Hakam spores after exposure to hot, humid air.

Methods And Results: Spores (>7 logs) of both strains were dried on six different test materials. Response surface methodology was employed to identify the limits of spore survival at optimal test combinations of temperature (60, 68, 77°C), relative humidity (60, 75, 90%) and time (1, 4, 7 days).

The longitudinal study of adrenal maturation during gonadal suppression: evidence that adrenarche is a gradual process.

The physical changes that herald the onset of puberty result from the combination of adrenarche and gonadarche. To examine adrenal maturation and associated changes in growth without the confounding effects of changes in the gonadal steroid milieu, we performed a longitudinal study in 14 young girls with idiopathic central precocious puberty during long-term pituitary-gonadal suppression. Beginning at the mean age of 2.

Is obesity an outcome of gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist administration? Analysis of growth and body composition in 110 patients with central precocious puberty.

Concern has been raised that children with central precocious puberty (CPP) are prone to the development of obesity. Here we report longitudinal height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) data from 96 girls and 14 boys with CPP before, during, and after GnRH agonist (GnRHa) administration. Skinfold thickness (n = 46) and percent body fat by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (n = 21) were determined in subsets for more accurate assessment of body composition and to validate the use of the BMI SD score as an index of body fatness in our subjects.

Effect of continuous glucose therapy begun in infancy on the long-term clinical course of patients with type I glycogen storage disease.

Background: To evaluate the effects of continuous glucose therapy on metabolic control, occurrence of severe hypoglycemia, physical growth and development, and complications of glycogen storage disease type I (GSD-I).

Methods: Seventeen patients (11 males) with GSD-I were studied, mean age 14.6+/-5.

Metabolic control and renal dysfunction in type I glycogen storage disease.

This study was undertaken to determine the effect on renal function of continuous glucose therapy from early childhood. Twenty-three subjects, median age 13.9 years, range 5.

Cornstarch regimens for nocturnal treatment of young adults with type I glycogen storage disease.

The goal of treatment of type I glycogen storage disease (GSD-I) is to prevent hypoglycemia and its biochemical consequences. In seven patients with GSD-I with a mean age of 19.5 y (range: 18.

Glycogen storage disease in adults.

Objective: To identify complications amenable to prevention in adults with glycogen storage disease (GSD) types Ia, Ib, and III and to determine the effect of the disease on social factors.

Design: Case series and clinical review.

Setting: Referral medical centers in the United States and Canada.

Biochemical evidence for the requirement of continuous glucose therapy in young adults with type 1 glycogen storage disease.

To determine whether patients with GSD-1 need nocturnal glucose therapy after completing physical growth and development, studies were performed on two consecutive nights. On the first night uncooked cornstarch (UCS) was given at the calculated glucose production rate at 21:00 h and 02:00 h. On the second night UCS was given at 21:00 h but omitted at 02:00 h.

Optimal daytime feeding regimen to prevent postprandial hypoglycemia in type 1 glycogen storage disease.

To determine the optimal daytime dietary regimen for type 1 glycogen storage disease (GSD), we used uncooked cornstarch (UCS) at a basal glucose production rate (GPR) in single and divided doses, with mixed meals at 0700 and 1700 h. This regimen was compared with a 1.5 times larger single dose of UCS at 0700 h, and with dextrose at GPR at 1200 h.

Altered patterns of pituitary secretion and renal excretion of free alpha-subunit during gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist-induced pituitary desensitization.

Intact LH and free alpha-subunit (FAS) are differentially regulated during GnRH agonist (GnRHa)-induced pituitary desensitization; circulating levels of FAS rise, while LH levels decline. Increased steady state alpha and decreased LH beta mRNA levels in desensitized rat pituitaries suggest that differential regulation occurs at the level of subunit transcription. We assessed a renal contribution to these changes in serum hormone concentrations by studying LH and FAS levels in serum and urine in 15 pubertal children before and during long term GnRHa administration.

Physical growth and development of children with type 1 glycogen-storage disease: comparison of the effects of long-term use of dextrose and uncooked cornstarch.

Thirteen patients with type 1 glycogen-storage disease (GSD-1) were studied to compare the effects on biochemical control and growth of 2 y of therapy with intermittent feedings of uncooked cornstarch (UCS) at the fasting glucose production rate and therapy with continuous overnight glucose (COG) and dextrose feedings during the day. Mean biochemical abnormalities for the groups were minimized but not normalized by either COG or UCS. Growth progressed normally when COG was started by 1.

Continuous glucose for treatment of patients with type 1 glycogen-storage disease: comparison of the effects of dextrose and uncooked cornstarch on biochemical variables.

Responses to uncooked cornstarch (UCS), dextrose (Dex), and a 3:1 mixture (UCS:Dex) were determined in seven children with type 1 glycogen-storage disease (GSD-1). UCS maintained blood glucose (BG) and serum insulin concentrations between 3.5 +/- 0.

Glucose therapy for glycogenosis type 1 in infants: comparison of intermittent uncooked cornstarch and continuous overnight glucose feedings.

This study was undertaken to test the glycemic response of five infants with glycogen storage disease type 1, aged 0.7 to 1.5 years, to uncooked cornstarch under various dietary conditions, and to evaluate the long-term effects of a dietary regimen consisting of uncooked cornstarch in milk every 4 hours, in addition to three meals daily, on biochemical values and physical growth.

Sleep modulation of neuroendocrine function: developmental changes in gonadotropin-releasing hormone secretion during sexual maturation.

To assess sleep-associated changes in gonadotropin-releasing hormone secretion during sexual maturation, we studied nighttime and daytime patterns of LH and FSH secretion in two groups with qualitatively similar sex steroid levels: girls with central precocious puberty and young adult women in the early follicular phase of an ovulatory menstrual cycle. In the girls with central precocious puberty, all indices of LH secretion were significantly higher at night than during the day (mean LH levels, 12 +/- 2 versus 5 +/- 1 IU/L, p less than or equal to 0.01; LH pulse amplitude 16 +/- 2 versus 7 +/- 1 IU/L, p less than or equal to 0.

Gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist treatment of central precocious puberty: an analysis of growth data in a developmental context.

Growth and skeletal maturation was assessed in 83 girls with central precocious puberty (CPP) during pituitary-gonadal suppression induced by treatment with a gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa). The mean pretreatment chronological age (CA) was 6.3 years and the mean bone age (BA) was 10.