The zebrafish paralog six2b is required for early proximal pronephros morphogenesis.

The transcription factor Six2 plays a crucial role in maintaining self-renewing nephron progenitor cap mesenchyme (CM) during metanephric kidney development. In mouse and human, expression at single-cell resolution has detected Six2 in cells as they leave the CM pool and differentiate. The role Six2 may play in these cells as they differentiate remains unknown.

Increasing the number of biopsy cores before renal cryoablation increases the diagnostic yield.

Background And Purpose: Renal cryoablation has been established as a primary management option for many small renal masses. Biopsy is performed intraoperatively and typically consists of one core being taken. This method was used to reduce the potential for seeding tumor and to minimize bleeding, although there have been no reports of tumor formation caused by biopsy seeding and blood loss is minimal.

Cryoablation of small peripheral renal masses: a retrospective analysis.

Renal cryoablation is a minimally invasive, nephron-sparing option that has shown promise in the treatment of patients with solitary small renal lesions suspicious for malignancy. Few large clinical studies have used this promising technology, although intermediate-term data are encouraging. We present a retrospective review and report the outcomes of a large cohort of patients who underwent renal cryotherapy.

Open-label trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of zoledronic acid in preventing bone loss in patients with hormone-sensitive prostate cancer and bone metastases.

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of zoledronic acid in preventing bone loss in patients with hormone-sensitive prostate cancer and bone metastases who were receiving androgen deprivation therapy.

Methods: Patients received zoledronic acid 4 mg as a 15-minute infusion every 3 weeks for 1 year. Bone mineral density of the lumbar spine (L2 to L4) and total hip was measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry at baseline and 12 months.

Critical review of the efficacy and safety of cryotherapy of the prostate.

Modern cryoablation of the prostate is a procedure that has evolved since the early 1990s into a safer and more successful treatment of adenocarcinoma of the prostate. The improvement of this technique has taken place secondary to advancement in engineering, procedure refinement, temperature monitoring, and a better understanding of physiologic events during the freezing process. Long-term results are available that demonstrate durable efficacy equivalent to other therapies in low-risk groups.

Bilateral purely laparoscopic nephrectomy for renal masses using five ports without repositioning: a case report.

Background And Purpose: Bilateral nephrectomy is an infrequently performed procedure. The indications include bilateral masses too large for nephron-sparing surgery, recalcitrant hypertension in dialysis patients, pain, infection, reflux, or large symptomatic polycystic kidneys. Bilateral pretransplant purely laparoscopic nephrectomy for bilateral renal masses has not been reported previously.

Aerobic biodegradation of 4-methylquinoline by a soil bacterium.

Methylquinolines and related N-heterocyclic aromatic compounds are common contaminants associated with the use of hydrocarbons in both coal gasification and wood treatment processes. These compounds have been found in groundwater, and many are known mutagens. A stable, five-member bacterial consortium able to degrade 4-methylquinoline was established by selective enrichment using soil collected from an abandoned coal gasification site.

Effect of mineral and organic soil constituents on microbial mineralization of organic compounds in a natural soil.

This research addressed the effect of mineral and organic soil constituents on the fate of organic compounds in soils. Specifically, it sought to determine how the associations between organic chemicals and different soil constituents affect their subsequent biodegradation in soil. Four C-labeled surfactants were aseptically adsorbed to montmorillonite, kaolinite, illite, sand, and humic acids.

Biogeochemistry of oxalate in the antarctic cryptoendolithic lichen-dominated community.

Cryptoendolithic (hidden in rock) lichen-dominated microbial communities from the Ross Desert of Antarctica were shown to produce oxalate (oxalic acid). Oxalate increased mineral dissolution, which provides nutrients, creates characteristic weathering patterns, and may ultimately influence the biological residence time of the community. Oxalate was the only organic acid detectable by HPLC, and its presence was verified by GC/MS.

Survival of microorganisms in smectite clays: implications for Martian exobiology.

Manned exploration of Mars may result in the contamination of that planet with terrestrial microbes, a situation requiring assessment of the survival potential of possible contaminating organisms. In this study, the survival of Bacillius subtilis, Azotobacter chroococcum, and the enteric bacteriophage MS2 was examined in clays representing terrestrial (Wyoming type montmorillonite) or Martian (Fe(3+)-montmorillonite) soils exposed to terrestrial and Martian environmental conditions of temperature and atmospheric pressure and composition, but not to UV flux or oxidizing conditions. Survival of bacteria was determined by standard plate counts and biochemical and physiological measurements over 112 days.

Mineralization of glucose and lignocellulose by four arctic freshwater sediments in response to nutrient enrichment.

Microbial biomass and activity were examined in four different arctic sediments: littoral lake sediment and profundal lake sediment from Toolik Lake, Alaska, thaw pond sediment, and eroding river bank peat. The thaw pond sediment had the largest viable microbial biomass, while the profundal sediment had the smallest. Rates of glucose or acetate incorporation into lipids, glucose mineralization, and lignocellulose mineralization (all normalized per unit of biomass) were highest in the river peat sample, however.

Indigenous and enhanced mineralization of pyrene, benzo[a]pyrene, and carbazole in soils.

We studied the mineralization of pyrene, carbazole, and benzo[a]pyrene in soils obtained from three abandoned coal gasification plants in southern Illinois. The soils had different histories of past exposure to hydrocarbon contamination and different amounts of total organic carbon, microbial biomass, and microbial activity. Mineralization was measured by using serum bottle radiorespirometry.

Photosynthetic carbon incorporation and turnover in antarctic cryptoendolithic microbial communities: are they the slowest-growing communities on Earth?

The main forms of terrestrial life in the cold, desolate Ross Desert of Antarctica are lichen-dominated or cyanobacterium-dominated cryptoendolithic (hidden in rock) microbial communities. Though microbial community biomass (as measured by extractable lipid phosphate) was well within the range of values determined for other microbial communities, community lipid carbon turnover times (calculated from community lipid biomass, rates of community photosynthetic carbon incorporation into lipids versus temperature, and the in situ temperature record) were among the longest on Earth (ca. 20,000 years).

Composition and thermal properties of membrane lipids in cryptoendolithic lichen microbiota from antarctica.

In Antarctica there exists a cryptoendolithic microbiota which survives extremely low temperatures. Fatty acid analysis of the membrane phospholipids of this microbial community showed a predominance of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Artificial membranes made from the purified community phospholipids remained fluid to below -20 degrees C and had unusual hydration properties.

Distribution of inorganic species in two Antarctic cryptoendolithic microbial communities.

Chemical differences were noted between two Antarctic cryptoendolithic (hidden within rock) microenvironments colonized by different microbial communities. Microenvironments dominated by cyanobacteria (BPC) had a higher pH (pH 7-8) than those dominated by lichen (LTL) (pH 4.5-5.

Carbon metabolism of the cryptoendolithic microbiota from the Antarctic desert.

The carbon metabolism of the cryptoendolithic microbiota of sandstones from the Ross Desert of Antarctica was studied in situ and in vitro. Organic and inorganic carbon compounds were metabolized by the microbiota, with bicarbonate incorporation into community lipids occurring primarily in the light. Light intensity affected the photometabolism of carbon with a photosynthesis-intensity response optimum at about 200 to 300 micromoles of photons per m2 per s.

Biomass of the cryptoendolithic microbiota from the Antarctic desert.

Extractable lipid phosphate was used to determine the biomass of the cryptoendolithic microbiota that colonizes sandstone rocks in the Ross Desert region of Antarctica. The mean amount of lipid phosphate was 0.053 micromole/cm2 (n = 9), which equals 2.

Primary production of the cryptoendolithic microbiota from the Antarctic Desert.

Primary production in the Antarctic cryptoendolithic microbiota can be determined from biomass and photosynthetic 14CO2 incorporation measurements. Even though good nanoclimate data are available, it is difficult to determine the amount of time when abiotic conditions permit metabolism. Making appropriate assumptions concerning the metabolism of the cryptoendolithic microbiota during periods of warmth, light and moisture, the primary production of the biota was calculated to be on the order of 0.

Does iron inhibit cryptoendolithic microbial communities?

Photosynthetic activity of three cryptoendolithic microbial communities was studied under controlled conditions in the laboratory. In two of these communities, the dominant organisms were lichens, collected from Linnaeus Terrace and from Battleship Promontory. The third community, dominated by cyanobacteria, was collected from Battleship Promontory.

Physical and chemical correlates of microbial activity and biomass in composting municipal sewage sludge.

Various physical and chemical parameters were monitored to evaluate their influence on the microbial communities present in composting municipal sewage sludge. Temperature, moisture content, depth, pH, protein content, total nitrogen, total carbon, lipid phosphate biomass, and the rates of microbial incorporation of substrates into lipids were measured at several times throughout the 17- to 19-day composting runs. Temperature was found to have the most consistent and dramatic effect on microbial activity and biomass.

Transformation of a tundra river from heterotrophy to autotrophy by addition of phosphorus.

Continuous enrichment of an arctic river with only 10 parts per billion phosphate-phosphorus caused an immediate growth of attached algae for more than 10 kilometers downstream, showing that phosphorus alone limited photosynthesis. As a result of the increased photosynthesis, there was an increase in bacterial activity in films on rocks on the bottom of the stream. The major source of energy became the photosynthetic carbon fixed in the stream rather than the organic material entering from the surrounding tundra, and the overall metabolism of the stream shifted from heterotrophy to autotrophy.