Controlled synthesis of the DSF cell-cell signal is required for biofilm formation and virulence in Xanthomonas campestris.

Virulence of the black rot pathogen Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc) is regulated by cell-cell signalling involving the diffusible signal factor DSF. Synthesis and perception of DSF require products of genes within the rpf cluster (for regulation of pathogenicity factors).

The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in patients with bipolar disorder.

Background: Previous studies on the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in patients with bipolar disorder have reported rates 11% and 79% higher than in their respective general populations. This study evaluates the prevalence of MetS in a group of 194 Spanish patients with bipolar disorder.

Methods: Naturalistic, multicentre, cross-sectional study.

Bacterial cyclic beta-(1,2)-glucan acts in systemic suppression of plant immune responses.

Although cyclic glucans have been shown to be important for a number of symbiotic and pathogenic bacterium-plant interactions, their precise roles are unclear. Here, we examined the role of cyclic beta-(1,2)-glucan in the virulence of the black rot pathogen Xanthomonas campestris pv campestris (Xcc). Disruption of the Xcc nodule development B (ndvB) gene, which encodes a glycosyltransferase required for cyclic glucan synthesis, generated a mutant that failed to synthesize extracellular cyclic beta-(1,2)-glucan and was compromised in virulence in the model plants Arabidopsis thaliana and Nicotiana benthamiana.

Newly discovered penicillin acylase activity of aculeacin A acylase from Actinoplanes utahensis.

Aculeacin A acylase from Actinoplanes utahensis produced by Streptomyces lividans revealed acylase activities that are able to hydrolyze penicillin V and several natural aliphatic penicillins. Penicillin K was the best substrate, showing a catalytic efficiency of 34.79 mM(-1) s(-1).

Placental neurokinin B mRNA expression increases at preterm labor.

Introduction: Neurokinin B (NKB) is a neuropeptide belonging to the family of tachykinins-related peptides that elicits contractility of human myometrial strips in vitro. The present study evaluates whether placental mRNA and peptide expression of NKB change in women at preterm labor.

Methods: A group of 26 women with singleton pregnancies were enrolled in the study.

Identification of a protective haplogenotype within CAPN10 gene influencing colorectal cancer susceptibility.

Background And Aim: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most prevalent types of cancer affecting both men and women in developed countries. Clinical and molecular evidence suggests that there are multiple biochemical pathways involved in its susceptibility, pathogenesis and prognosis. Several studies have reported a significant association between the incidence of CRC and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Human pseudoterranovosis, an emerging infection in Chile.

Fifteen cases of human pseudoterranovosis are reported for Chile, representing an emerging parasitic infection in this country caused by larvae of the nematode Pseudoterranova sp. Our observations also included an outbreak of pseudoterranovosis in 3 of 4 individuals who shared the same raw fish dish (cebiche). Most of the cases occurred in adult patients.

[What are the actual indications for a surgical parathiroidectomy?].

Secondary hyperparathyroidism (HPTH-II) is a major complication of chronic renal insufficiency (CRI). It affects more than 300,000 dialyzed CRI patients in the world and probably more than 3 million as yet non-dialyzed CRI patients. It results from an imbalance in the interaction between calcium, phosphorus, vitamin D and parathyroid hormone (PTH).

[How to slow down parathyroid hormone (PTH) secretion without the risk of inducing an adynamic bone disease].

Medical treatment for secondary hyperparathyroidism (HPTH-II) consists in correcting: hypocalcemia by providing a supply of calcium salts, vitamin D or its derivatives; hyperphosphatemia by a suitable diet and by using gastrointestinal phosphate-binders; metabolic acidosis by providing sodium bicarbonate. Very recently, this treatment armamentarium was expanded by the advent of a new therapeutic agent called a calcimimetic (cinacalcet HCL). Cinacalcet increases the calcium sensitivity of the calcium receptor (CaR) of parathyroid cells and thereby induces a rapid and sustained decrease in PTH secretion.

Lie symmetries and solitons in nonlinear systems with spatially inhomogeneous nonlinearities.

Using Lie group theory and canonical transformations, we construct explicit solutions of nonlinear Schrödinger equations with spatially inhomogeneous nonlinearities. We present the general theory, use it to show that localized nonlinearities can support bound states with an arbitrary number solitons, and discuss other applications of interest to the field of nonlinear matter waves.

Klotho: an antiaging protein involved in mineral and vitamin D metabolism.

Klotho gene mutation leads to a syndrome strangely resembling chronic kidney disease patients undergoing dialysis with multiple accelerated age-related disorders, including hypoactivity, sterility, skin thinning, muscle atrophy, osteoporosis, vascular calcifications, soft-tissue calcifications, defective hearing, thymus atrophy, pulmonary emphysema, ataxia, and abnormalities of the pituitary gland, as well as hypoglycemia, hyperphosphatemia, and paradoxically high-plasma calcitriol levels. Conversely, mice overexpressing klotho show an extended existence and a slow aging process through a mechanism that may involve the induction of a state of insulin and oxidant stress resistance. Two molecules are produced by the klotho gene, a membrane bound form and a circulating form.

Non-invasive assessment of endothelial function. Intra and inter-observer variability.

Background And Objectives: Non-invasive evaluation of endothelial function with high resolution ultrasound has become a widely accepted tool in determination of high risk subjects for early atherosclerosis. Despite its simple appearance, ultrasonographic assessment of brachial artery changes, is technically challenging and has a significant learning curve. In the present study, we evaluate the intra and inter-observer variability in assessing peripheral endothelial function with high resolution ultrasound at a tertiary referral center.

Deranged expression of follistatin and follistatin-like protein in women with ovarian endometriosis.

Objective: To evaluate the messenger RNA (mRNA) expression and peptide localization of follistatin and follistatin-like protein (FLRG) in ovarian endometriosis, compared to healthy human endometrium.

Design: Samples of ovarian endometriotic and healthy endometrial tissues were processed by semiquantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry.

Setting: Academic health centers in Siena, Italy, and Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Diarrhea due to Cyclospora-like organism in an immunocompetent patient.

Cyclospora cayetanensis infection continues to be a major cause of diarrhea particularly in immunosuppressed patients. The emergence of new related parasite pathogens, is an issue of public health concern. We report here a case where a Cyclospora-like organism was the cause of diarrhea in an immunocompetent patient from Venezuela.

Analysis of photonic crystal fibers: Scalar solution and polarization correction.

A numerical approach based on the scalar finite element method is applied to analyse the modal properties of photonic crystal fibers having a solid core and a cladding region with either circular or non-circular microstructured holes. A correction which accounts for the polarization effects due to the large refractive index difference between silica materials and air holes is included in the analysis. Numerical results show that the proposed technique is an efficient and accurate alternative to vector ones.

Molecular mechanism by which the K70E mutation in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 reverse transcriptase confers resistance to nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors.

The K70E mutation in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) reverse transcriptase (RT) has become more prevalent in clinical samples, particularly in isolates derived from patients for whom triple-nucleoside regimens that include tenofovir (TNV), abacavir, and lamivudine (3TC) failed. To elucidate the molecular mechanism by which this mutation confers resistance to these nucleoside RT inhibitors (NRTI), we conducted detailed biochemical analyses comparing wild-type (WT), K70E, and K65R HIV-1 RT. Pre-steady-state kinetic experiments demonstrate that the K70E mutation in HIV-1 RT allows the enzyme to discriminate between the natural deoxynucleoside triphosphate substrate and the NRTI triphosphate (NRTI-TP).

Human endometrium expresses urocortin II and III messenger RNA and peptides.

Urocortin II and urocortin III are recently identified corticotropin-releasing factor-related neuropeptides, and their endometrial expression throughout the menstrual cycle and in early pregnancy was evaluated in the present study by semiquantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry. The endometrial expression of urocortin II mRNA was significantly (P<.01) higher in the early proliferative phase of the menstrual cycle than in other phases and maternal decidua (MD), whereas that of urocortin III mRNA was higher (P<.

[A novel school-based strategy for the prevention of HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted disease (STDs), and teen pregnancies].

Objective: To introduce the study design of an HIV/AIDS and unplanned pregnancy prevention program targeting high school students, and to present the results from the baseline survey.

Material And Methods: A school curriculum was developed to inform adolescent students about HIV/AIDS/STD prevention, which included information on emergency contraception (EC) for adolescent students. A randomized controlled study was conducted to simultaneously evaluate the effect of this intervention.

Rapid detection of three large novel deletions of the aspartoacylase gene in non-Jewish patients with Canavan disease.

Canavan disease (CD), an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorder, is caused by mutations in the aspartoacylase (ASPA) gene. In the present study, the ASPA gene was analyzed in 24 non-Jewish patients with CD from 23 unrelated families. Within this cohort, we found three large novel deletions of approximate 92, 56, and 12.

The need for reliable serum parathyroid hormone measurements.

Serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) is a recognized marker of bone remodeling in patients with renal osteodystrophy. However, identification of N-terminal truncated PTH fragments and a new form of PTH that interfere with second-generation PTH assays may be responsible for the great variability of PTH values and the difficulties of implementing the recommendations of the National Kidney Foundation/Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative.

Urocortin expression is downregulated in human endometrial carcinoma.

Urocortin (UCN) is a 40-amino acid neuropeptide sharing 45% sequence homology with corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF). The human endometrium expresses both UCN and CRF, and CRF/UCN receptors type-1 (CRF-R1) and -2 (CRF-R2). CRF-R1 activation inhibits cell growth and proliferation of a tumor cell line derived from the human endometrium, and the UCN signaling pathway has been implicated in tumorigenesis of several tissues.

Cinacalcet HCl: a novel treatment for secondary hyperparathyroidism caused by chronic kidney disease.

Secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) develops as a result of impaired calcium homeostasis when the failing kidneys disturb the complicated interactions between parathyroid hormone (PTH), calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D. Twelve years ago, the calcium-sensing receptor (CaR) of the parathyroid gland was first cloned and identified as the principal regulator of PTH secretion. The activation of the CaR by small changes in extracellular calcium (ec(Ca2+)) regulates PTH, calcitonin secretion, urinary calcium excretion, and ultimately, bone turnover.

HIV prevention in Mexican schools: prospective randomised evaluation of intervention.

Objective: To assess effects on condom use and other sexual behaviour of an HIV prevention programme at school that promotes the use of condoms with and without emergency contraception.

Design: Cluster randomised controlled trial.

Setting: 40 public high schools in the state of Morelos, Mexico.

Urocortin 2 and urocortin 3 are expressed by the human placenta, deciduas, and fetal membranes.

Objective: Urocortin 2 (UCN2) and urocortin 3 (UCN 3) are recently identified neuropeptides showing homology to corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF). In the present study, we evaluated their expression and localization in gestational tissues (placenta, decidua, fetal membranes), and their effect on placental adrenocorticotropic hormone secretion.

Study Design: The study was performed in a tertiary clinical care center.