Drosophila primary microRNA-8 encodes a microRNA-encoded peptide acting in parallel of miR-8.

Background: Recent genome-wide studies of many species reveal the existence of a myriad of RNAs differing in size, coding potential and function. Among these are the long non-coding RNAs, some of them producing functional small peptides via the translation of short ORFs. It now appears that any kind of RNA presumably has a potential to encode small peptides.

Quantifying Tubulin Concentration and Microtubule Number Throughout the Fission Yeast Cell Cycle.

The fission yeast serves as a good genetic model organism for the molecular dissection of the microtubule (MT) cytoskeleton. However, analysis of the number and distribution of individual MTs throughout the cell cycle, particularly during mitosis, in living cells is still lacking, making quantitative modelling imprecise. We use quantitative fluorescent imaging and analysis to measure the changes in tubulin concentration and MT number and distribution throughout the cell cycle at a single MT resolution in living cells.

Pediatric neck masses: how clinical and radiological features can drive diagnosis.

Pediatric neck masses are a common occurrence and often represent a diagnostic challenge. The primary aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the clinical and radiological features of neck masses in children and how they can drive diagnosis. The secondary aim was to create a diagnostic algorithm based on clinical features.

Comparative Genomics and Proteomic Analysis of Assimilatory Sulfate Reduction Pathways in Anaerobic Methanotrophic Archaea.

Sulfate is the predominant electron acceptor for anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) in marine sediments. This process is carried out by a syntrophic consortium of anaerobic methanotrophic archaea (ANME) and sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) through an energy conservation mechanism that is still poorly understood. It was previously hypothesized that ANME alone could couple methane oxidation to dissimilatory sulfate reduction, but a genetic and biochemical basis for this proposal has not been identified.

Aerobic and Anaerobic Methanotrophic Communities Associated with Methane Hydrates Exposed on the Seafloor: A High-Pressure Sampling and Stable Isotope-Incubation Experiment.

High-pressure (HP) environments represent the largest volumetric majority of habitable space for microorganisms on the planet, including the deep-sea and subsurface biosphere. However, the importance of pressure as an environmental variable affecting deep microbial life and their biogeochemical functions in carbon cycling still remains poorly understood. Here, we designed a new high-volume HP-sediment core sampler that is deployable on the payload of a remotely operated vehicle and can maintain HP conditions throughout multi-month enrichment incubations including daily amendments with liquid media and gases and daily effluent sampling for geochemical or microbiological analysis.

Starvation and recovery in the deep-sea methanotroph Methyloprofundus sedimenti.

In the deep ocean, the conversion of methane into derived carbon and energy drives the establishment of diverse faunal communities. Yet specific biological mechanisms underlying the introduction of methane-derived carbon into the food web remain poorly described, due to a lack of cultured representative deep-sea methanotrophic prokaryotes. Here, the response of the deep-sea aerobic methanotroph Methyloprofundus sedimenti to methane starvation and recovery was characterized.

Members of the methanotrophic genus Methylomarinum inhabit inland mud pots.

Proteobacteria capable of converting the greenhouse gas methane to biomass, energy, and carbon dioxide represent a small but important sink in global methane inventories. Currently, 23 genera of methane oxidizing (methanotrophic) proteobacteria have been described, although many are represented by only a single validly described species. Here we describe a new methanotrophic isolate that shares phenotypic characteristics and phylogenetic relatedness with the marine methanotroph Methylomarinum vadi.

Standard and immunoproteasome expression in pediatric tonsillectomy patients.

Background: Pro-inflammatory cytokines including TNF-α and IFN-γ, play an important role during the recurrent tonsillitis illness and proteasome and immunoproteasome stimulation.

Methods: mRNA expression analysis of proteasome and immunoproteasome subunits was performed by PBMC whole blood isolation from children tonsillectomy patients. Total RNA was extracted from PBMC and retro-transcribed in cDNA.

The Plant Peptidome: An Expanding Repertoire of Structural Features and Biological Functions.

Peptides fulfill a plethora of functions in plant growth, development, and stress responses. They act as key components of cell-to-cell communication, interfere with signaling and response pathways, or display antimicrobial activity. Strikingly, both the diversity and amount of plant peptides have been largely underestimated.

Evaluation of IFN-γ polymorphism+874 T/A in patients with recurrent tonsillitis by PCR real time mismatch amplification mutation assay (MAMA real time PCR).

Interferon gamma (IFN-γ) is an important cytokine that plays a crucial role in the balance between normal and pathological immune response. Defect of IFN-γ can give a predisposition to infectious disease, autoimmune pathologies and tumours. Different polymorphisms in this gene have been described, in particular the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)+874∗T/A that may affect IFN-γ gene expression.

Diagnosis and management of deep neck infections in children: the experience of an Italian paediatric centre.

Deep neck infection (DNI) is a severe occurrence in children. We've examined the presenting signs and symptoms, the value of single diagnostic procedures, the rate of complications and the impact of the therapeutic options on the final outcome, in children with a DNI. We retrospectively evaluated patients, aged 0-18 years, who were admitted for a DNI, from January 2006 through December 2012, at Regina Margherita Children's Hospital, Turin, Italy.

Methyloprofundus sedimenti gen. nov., sp. nov., an obligate methanotroph from ocean sediment belonging to the 'deep sea-1' clade of marine methanotrophs.

We report the isolation and growth characteristics of a gammaproteobacterial methane-oxidizing bacterium (Methylococcaceae strain WF1(T), 'whale fall 1') that shares 98 % 16S rRNA gene sequence identity with uncultivated free-living methanotrophs and the methanotrophic endosymbionts of deep-sea mussels, ≤94.6 % 16S rRNA gene sequence identity with species of the genus Methylobacter and ≤93.6 % 16S rRNA gene sequence identity with species of the genera Methylomonas and Methylosarcina.

Ear, nose and throat foreign bodies: the experience of the Pediatric Hospital of Turin.

Aim: Ear, nose and throat (ENT) foreign body (FB) injuries represent an emerging problem in the paediatric population because of their human and social costs. The aim of the study is the site-specific evaluation of FB injuries in the paediatric population referred to the emergency department of the Pediatric Hospital of Turin.

Methods: This retrospective analysis was carried out sifting medical reports between 2002 and 2011.

In situ visualization of newly synthesized proteins in environmental microbes using amino acid tagging and click chemistry.

Here we describe the application of a new click chemistry method for fluorescent tracking of protein synthesis in individual microorganisms within environmental samples. This technique, termed bioorthogonal non-canonical amino acid tagging (BONCAT), is based on the in vivo incorporation of the non-canonical amino acid L-azidohomoalanine (AHA), a surrogate for l-methionine, followed by fluorescent labelling of AHA-containing cellular proteins by azide-alkyne click chemistry. BONCAT was evaluated with a range of phylogenetically and physiologically diverse archaeal and bacterial pure cultures and enrichments, and used to visualize translationally active cells within complex environmental samples including an oral biofilm, freshwater and anoxic sediment.

Mining the genome of Arabidopsis thaliana as a basis for the identification of novel bioactive peptides involved in oxidative stress tolerance.

Although evidence has accumulated on the role of plant peptides in the response to external conditions, the number of peptide-encoding genes in the genome is still underestimated. Using tiling arrays, we identified 176 unannotated transcriptionally active regions (TARs) in Arabidopsis thaliana that were induced upon oxidative stress generated by the herbicide paraquat (PQ). These 176 TARs could be translated into 575 putative oxidative stress-induced peptides (OSIPs).

Autonomous application of quantitative PCR in the deep sea: in situ surveys of aerobic methanotrophs using the deep-sea environmental sample processor.

Recent advances in ocean observing systems and genomic technologies have led to the development of the deep-sea environmental sample processor (D-ESP). The D-ESP filters particulates from seawater at depths up to 4000 m and applies a variety of molecular assays to the particulates, including quantitative PCR (qPCR), to identify particular organisms and genes in situ. Preserved samples enable laboratory-based validation of in situ results and expanded studies of genomic diversity and gene expression.

Abundance and distribution of diverse membrane-bound monooxygenase (Cu-MMO) genes within the Costa Rica oxygen minimum zone.

Diverse copper-containing membrane-bound monooxygenase-encoding sequences (Cu-MMOs) have recently been described from the marine environment, suggesting widespread potential for oxidation of reduced substrates. Here, we used the well-defined oxygen and methane gradients associated with the Costa Rican oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) to gain insight into the physico-chemical parameters influencing the distribution and abundance of Cu-MMO-encoding marine microorganisms. Two Methylococcales-related Cu-MMO-encoding lineages, termed groups OPU1 and OPU3, demonstrated differences in their relative abundance, with both pmoA and candidate 16S rRNA genes correlating significantly with reduced environmental oxygen concentrations and depth.

Effects of guidelines on adeno-tonsillar surgery on the clinical behaviour of otorhinolaryngologists in Italy.

Background: Several guidelines on adeno-tonsillar disease have been proposed in recent years and some discrepancies in relation both to clinical manifestations and indications for surgical treatment have emerged. The aim of the study was to verify what influence (adeno)-tonsillectomy guidelines have had on the clinical behaviour of ENT specialists in Italy. Our study is a retrospective and multi-centre case series with chart review.

A novel family of functional operons encoding methane/ammonia monooxygenase-related proteins in gammaproteobacterial methanotrophs.

Genomes of alphaproteobacterial and verrucomicrobial methane-oxidizing bacteria (MOB) encode sequence-divergent copies of particulate methane monooxygenase [pMMO = (PmoABC); pmoCAB]. In contrast, sequenced gammaproteobacterial MOB (Gamma-MOB) genomes contain single or multiple near-identical copies of pmoCAB operons. In betaproteobacterial ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (Beta-AOB), near-identical amoCAB operons encode ammonia monooxygenase (AMO), a homologue of pMMO.

Distributions of putative aerobic methanotrophs in diverse pelagic marine environments.

Aerobic methane oxidization in the pelagic ocean serves an important role in limiting methane release to the atmosphere, yet little is known about the identity and distribution of bacteria that mediate this process. The distribution of putative methane-oxidizing marine groups, OPU1, OPU3 and Group X, was assessed in different ocean provinces using a newly developed fingerprinting method (monooxygenase intergenic spacer analysis (MISA)) in combination with pmoA clone library analysis and quantitative PCR (qPCR). The distribution of these three distinct monooxygenase groups, previously reported from pelagic marine environments, was examined in 39 samples including active methane seeps in the Gulf of Mexico and Santa Monica Bay, submarine canyon heads along the California continental margin, an oligotrophic subtropical gyre and areas proximal to a hydrothermal vent in the North Fiji back-arc basin.

Adeno-tonsillar surgery in Italy.

Indications to surgery for adeno-tonsillar inflammatory disorders and analysis of the effectiveness of surgical treatment, compared with watchful waiting strategy, continue to be the subject of scientific debate. The present investigation focuses on the surgical activity of 14 Italian Otorhinolaryngological Units between 1999 and 2004. Surgical interventions (adeno-tonsillectomy, adenoidectomy, tonsillectomy) on 26915 children (age range: 2-11 years) were considered.

Planktonic and sediment-associated aerobic methanotrophs in two seep systems along the North American margin.

Methane vents are of significant geochemical and ecological importance. Notable progress has been made toward understanding anaerobic methane oxidation in marine sediments; however, the diversity and distribution of aerobic methanotrophs in the water column are poorly characterized. Both environments play an essential role in regulating methane release from the oceans to the atmosphere.

Giant tracheocele following primary tracheostomy closure in a 3 year old child.

Tracheocele is a rare pathology, especially complication of tracheal surgery. We present a case of a 3 year old pediatric patient with secondary tracheocele arising after simple surgical closure of tracheostomy. It appeared 2 months after intervention that cervical mass swelling during respiratory acts.

Nickel Gluconate-Mercurius Heel-Potentised Swine Organ Preparations: a new therapeutical approach for the primary treatment of pediatric ranula and intraoral mucocele.

Objective: Many authors consider surgical therapy of pediatric ranula and intraoral mucocele as the election treatment. Recently, an intracystic sclerosing injection with OK-432 has been proposed as a ranula primary treatment. This preliminary study evaluates the effectiveness of the use of Nickel Gluconate-Mercurius Heel-Potentised Swine Organ Preparations as the primary treatment of pediatric ranula and intraoral mucocele.