Neuronal odor coding in the larval sensory cone of Anopheles coluzzii: Complex responses from a simple system.

Anopheles mosquitoes are the sole vectors of malaria. Although adult females are directly responsible for disease transmission and accordingly have been extensively studied, the survival of pre-adult larval stages is vital. Mosquito larvae utilize a spectrum of chemosensory and other cues to navigate their aquatic habitats to avoid predators and search for food.

An alternative pathway to eusociality: Exploring the molecular and functional basis of fortress defense.

Some animals express a form of eusociality known as "fortress defense," in which defense rather than brood care is the primary social act. Aphids are small plant-feeding insects, but like termites, some species express division of labor and castes of aggressive juvenile "soldiers." What is the functional basis of fortress defense eusociality in aphids? Previous work showed that the acquisition of venoms might be a key innovation in aphid social evolution.

Cardioacceleratory function of the neurohormone CCAP in the mosquito Anopheles gambiae.

Crustacean cardioactive peptide (CCAP) is a highly conserved arthropod neurohormone that is involved in ecdysis, hormone release and the modulation of muscle contractions. Here, we determined the CCAP gene structure in the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae, assessed the developmental expression of CCAP and its receptor and determined the role that CCAP plays in regulating mosquito cardiac function. RACE sequencing revealed that the A.

Validation of prognostic factors and survival of patients with multiple myeloma in a real-life autologous stem cell transplantation setting: a Swiss single centre experience.

Principles: High-dose chemotherapy with subsequent autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) is an important treatment option in younger patients with multiple myeloma (MM). We analysed the outcome of patients treated at our institution outside the clinical trials framework and tried to identify risk factors prognostic for survival.

Methods: Medical histories of the patients were screened for response, event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS).

Bursicon-expressing neurons undergo apoptosis after adult ecdysis in the mosquito Anopheles gambiae.

Neuropeptides are important regulators of diverse processes during development. The insect neuropeptide bursicon, a 30 kDa heterodimer, controls the hardening of the new cuticle after the shedding of the old one (ecdysis) and the inflation and maturation of adult wings. Given this specific functional role, its expression should only be required transiently because adult insects no longer undergo ecdysis.

Pegfilgrastim reduces the length of hospitalization and the time to engraftment in multiple myeloma patients treated with melphalan 200 and auto-SCT compared with filgrastim.

To reduce the duration of neutropenia after conditioning chemotherapy and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (APBSCT), granulocyte-colony stimulating factors (G-CSF) are commonly administered. We retrospectively evaluated the impact of pegfilgrastim compared to filgrastim on neutrophil engraftment, hospital stay, and supportive measures in patients with multiple myeloma after conditioning with Melphalan 200 (Mel200) followed by APBSCT. Ninety-two APBSCT after Mel200 treatment were performed in 72 patients between January 2006 and December 2009 at our institution.

Development and application of a universal Hemoplasma screening assay based on the SYBR green PCR principle.

Hemotropic mycoplasmas (hemoplasmas) are the causative agents of infectious anemia in several mammalian species. Their zoonotic potential has recently been substantiated by the identification of a feline hemoplasma isolate in an immunocompromised human patient. Although species-specific diagnostic molecular methods have been developed, their application as screening tools is limited due to the species diversity of hemoplasmas.

Molecular Investigations of Rickettsia helvetica infection in dogs, foxes, humans, and Ixodes ticks.

Rickettsia helvetica, a tick-borne member of the spotted-fever-group rickettsiae, is a suspected pathogen in humans; however, its role in animals is unknown. The aims of this study were to establish a R. helvetica-specific real-time TaqMan PCR assay and apply it to the analysis of tick vectors (to determine potential exposure risk) and blood samples from Canidae and humans (to determine prevalence of infection).

Is a change in patient-reported dysphagia after induction chemotherapy in locally advanced esophageal cancer a predictive factor for pathological response to neoadjuvant chemoradiation?

Goals Of Work: In patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer, only those responding to the treatment ultimately benefit from preoperative chemoradiation. We investigated whether changes in subjective dysphagia or eating restrictions after two cycles of induction chemotherapy can predict histopathological tumor response observed after chemoradiation. In addition, we examined general long-term quality of life (QoL) and, in particular, eating restrictions after esophagectomy.

Evaluation of a particle gel immunoassay as a screening test for syphilis.

Background: Recent trends in Western Europe show an increase in sexually transmitted infections. Surveillance data in Switzerland confirm this rising trend. Notifications of syphilis cases nearly doubled in the year 2002 and almost tripled in 2003.

Bursicon functions within the Drosophila CNS to modulate wing expansion behavior, hormone secretion, and cell death.

Hormones are often responsible for synchronizing somatic physiological changes with changes in behavior. Ecdysis (i.e.

Bursicon, the tanning hormone of insects: recent advances following the discovery of its molecular identity.

Bursicon was identified in 1965 as a peptide neurohormone that initiates the tanning of the insect cuticle immediately after the shedding of the old one during the final stages of the molting process. Its molecular identity as an approximately 30 kDa bioactive heterodimer consisting of two cystine knot proteins resisted elucidation for 43 years. The sequence of the two bursicon subunits is highly conserved among arthropods, and this conservation extends even to echinoderms.

Two peptide transmitters co-packaged in a single neurosecretory vesicle.

Numerous neurosecretory cells are known to secrete more than one peptide, in both vertebrates and invertebrates. These co-expressed neuropeptides often originate from differential cleavage of a single large precursor, and are then usually sorted in the regulated pathway into different secretory vesicle classes to allow separable release dynamics. Here, we use immuno-gold electron microscopy to show that two very different neuropeptides (the nonapeptide crustacean cardioactive peptide (CCAP) and the 30 kDa heterodimeric bursicon) are co-packaged within the same dense core vesicles in neurosecretory neurons in the abdominal ganglia of Periplaneta americana.

The bursicon gene in mosquitoes: an unusual example of mRNA trans-splicing.

The bursicon gene in Anopheles gambiae is encoded by two loci. Burs124 on chromosome arm 2L contains exons 1, 2, and 4, while burs3 on arm 2R contains exon 3. Exon 3 is efficiently spliced into position in the mature transcript.

Treatment of advanced soft-tissue sarcomas using a combined strategy of high-dose ifosfamide, high-dose doxorubicin and salvage therapies.

Having determined in a phase I study the maximum tolerated dose of high-dose ifosfamide combined with high-dose doxorubicin, we now report the long-term results of a phase II trial in advanced soft-tissue sarcomas. Forty-six patients with locally advanced or metastatic soft-tissue sarcomas were included, with age <60 years and all except one in good performance status (0 or 1). The chemotherapy treatment consisted of ifosfamide 10 g m(-2) (continuous infusion for 5 days), doxorubicin 30 mg m(-2) day(-1) x 3 (total dose 90 mg m(-2)), mesna and granulocyte-colony stimulating factor.

Monitoring activated clotting time for combined heparin and aprotinin application: in vivo evaluation of a new aprotinin-insensitive test using Sonoclot.

Objective: Kaolin-based activated clotting time assessed by HEMOCHRON (HkACT) is a clinical standard for heparin monitoring alone and combined with aprotinin during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). However, aprotinin is known to prolong not only celite-based but also kaolin-based activated clotting time. Overestimation of activated clotting times implies a potential hazardous risk of subtherapeutic heparin anticoagulation.

Prognostic factors affecting long-term outcomes in patients with resected stage IIIA pN2 non-small-cell lung cancer: 5-year follow-up of a phase II study.

The aim was to investigate the efficacy of neoadjuvant docetaxel-cisplatin and identify prognostic factors for outcome in locally advanced stage IIIA (pN2 by mediastinoscopy) non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. In all, 75 patients (from 90 enrolled) underwent tumour resection after three 3-week cycles of docetaxel 85 mg m-2 (day 1) plus cisplatin 40 or 50 mg m-2 (days 1 and 2). Therapy was well tolerated (overall grade 3 toxicity occurred in 48% patients; no grade 4 nonhaematological toxicity was reported), with no observed late toxicities.

Long-term results of a multicenter SAKK trial on high-dose ifosfamide and doxorubicin in advanced or metastatic gynecologic sarcomas.

Background: Dose intensive chemotherapy has not been tested prospectively for the treatment of gynecologic sarcomas. We investigated the antitumor activity and toxicity of high-dose ifosfamide and doxorubicin, in the context of a multidisciplinary strategy for the treatment of advanced and metastatic, not pretreated, gynecologic sarcomas.

Patients And Methods: Thirty-nine patients were enrolled onto a phase I-II multicenter trial of ifosfamide, 10 g/m2 as a continuous infusion over 5 days, plus doxorubicin intravenously, 25 mg/m2/day for 3 days with Mesna and granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor every 21 days.

Bursicon, the insect cuticle-hardening hormone, is a heterodimeric cystine knot protein that activates G protein-coupled receptor LGR2.

All arthropods periodically molt to replace their exoskeleton (cuticle). Immediately after shedding the old cuticle, the neurohormone bursicon causes the hardening and darkening of the new cuticle. Here we show that bursicon, to our knowledge the first heterodimeric cystine knot hormone found in insects, consists of two proteins encoded by the genes burs and pburs (partner of burs).