Prevalence ofCandida ciferrii in elderly patients with trophic disorders of the legs

In order to define the prevalence ofCandida ciferrii in onychomycosis, the fungal biota associated with toe nail onyxis was examined in 50 elderly patients with trophic disorders of the legs and in 220 patients without clinical evidence of trophic disorders.Candida ciferrii was more frequent in the first group of patients since it was recovered from 24% of these patients, whereas its prevalence was only 1.4% in the control group. Moreover, the positivity of the direct examination of toe nail scrapings, the absence of any other associated pathogens, and the repeated isolation of this yeast species for some of the patients confirmed its pathogenicity.Abbreviations 5-FC 5-fluorocytosine - IHEM Institut d'Hygiène et d'Epidémiologie, Section Mycologie - YPDA yeast extract-peptone-dextrose-agar     

Phylogenetic Use of Noncoding Regions in the GenusGentianaL.: ChloroplasttrnL (UAA) Intron versus Nuclear Ribosomal Internal Transcribed Spacer Sequences

Sequence divergence was estimated within noncoding sequences of both chloroplast DNA (cpDNA)trnL (UAA) intron and nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) internal transcribed spacer sequences (ITS1 and ITS2) for 10 species of the genusGentianaL. (Gentianaceae). Comparisons of evolutionary rates among these sequences (cpDNA versus nrDNA, ITS1 versus ITS2) were performed. It appears that sequence divergence is on average two to three times higher in ITSs than in thetrnL intron sequences and higher in ITS1 than in ITS2. Both the cpDNA intron and ITSs of nrDNA give concordant phylogenetic trees. However, the ITS-based phylogeny displays higher bootstrap values. At the intrageneric level, at least inGentiana,ITSs (especially ITS2) sequences seem to be more appropriate in the assessment of plant phylogenies. Nevertheless, the cpDNAtrnL intron seems to be preferable at the intergeneric level.     

Patterns of CRISPR/Cas9 activity in plants,animals and microbes

The CRISPR/Cas9 system and related RNA‐guided endonucleases can introduce double‐strand breaks (DSBs) at specific sites in the genome, allowing the generation of targeted mutations in one or more genes as well as more complex genomic rearrangements. Modifications of the canonical CRISPR/Cas9 system from Streptococcus pyogenes and the introduction of related systems from other bacteria have increased the diversity of genomic sites that can be targeted, providing greater control over the resolution of DSBs, the targeting efficiency (frequency of on‐target mutations), the targeting accuracy (likelihood of off‐target mutations) and the type of mutations that are induced. Although much is now known about the principles of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing, the likelihood of different outcomes is species‐dependent and there have been few comparative studies looking at the basis of such diversity. Here we critically analyse the activity of CRISPR/Cas9 and related systems in different plant species and compare the outcomes in animals and microbes to draw broad conclusions about the design principles required for effective genome editing in different organisms. These principles will be important for the commercial development of crops, farm animals, animal disease models and novel microbial strains using CRISPR/Cas9 and other genome‐editing tools.     

Chordoma in children: Case-report and review of literature

We report an exceptional case of a very late local failure in a 9-year-old boy presenting with a chordoma of the cranio-cervical junction. The child was initially treated with a combination of surgical resection followed by high dose photon–proton radiation therapy. This aggressive therapy allowed a 9-year remission with minimal side-effects. Unfortunately, he subsequently presented with a local failure managed with a second full-dose course of protons. The child died one year later from local bleeding of unclear etiology.Keyword: Chordoma, Sarcoma, Protontherapy, Children     

Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy as a sensitive and useful tool for revealing potential overlaps between the epitopes of monoclonal antibodies on viral particles

Although the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is well established for quantitating epitopes on inactivated virions used as vaccines, it is less suited for detecting potential overlaps between the epitopes recognized by different antibodies raised against the virions. We used fluorescent correlation spectroscopy (FCS) to detect the potential overlaps between 3 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs 4B7-1H8-2E10, 1E3-3G4, 4H8-3A12-2D3) selected for their ability to specifically recognize poliovirus type 3. Competition of the Alexa488-labeled mAbs with non-labeled mAbs revealed that mAbs 4B7-1H8-2E10 and 4H8-3A12-2D3 compete strongly for their binding sites on the virions, suggesting an important overlap of their epitopes. This was confirmed by the cryo-electron microscopy (cryo EM) structure of the poliovirus type 3 complexed with the corresponding antigen-binding fragments (Fabs) of the mAbs, which revealed that Fabs 4B7-1H8-2E10 and 4H8-3A12-2D3 epitopes share common amino acids. In contrast, a less efficient competition between mAb 1E3-3G4 and mAb 4H8-3A12-2D3 was observed by FCS, and there was no competition between mAbs 1E3-3G4 and 4B7-1H8-2E10. The Fab 1E3-3G4 epitope was found by cryoEM to be close to but distinct from the epitopes of both Fabs 4H8-3A12-2D3 and 4B7-1H8-2E10. Therefore, the FCS data additionally suggest that mAbs 4H8-3A12-2D3 and 4B7-1H8-2E10 bind in a different orientation to their epitopes, so that only the former sterically clashes with the mAb 1E3-3G4 bound to its epitope. Our results demonstrate that FCS can be a highly sensitive and useful tool for assessing the potential overlap of mAbs on viral particles.     

A simple and rapid one-time method to evaluate the non-acidic gas content from bioprocesses

This paper presents a rapid less than 2 min and low-cost method involving the use of alkali solution to capture the acidic gasses from a biogas, thereby providing an estimate of the percentage of non-acidic gasses. Such a method was mentioned in the literature but never fully described or optimized. After sampling an aliquot of gas from bioprocess, gas was injected in a sealed flask with a 3 M NaOH solution, and after equilibrium was obtained, the non-acidic gas volume was measured. The method was first calibrated with certified gasses with an accuracy observed between 98 and 105 %. Regarding the validation step, certified standard gas mixtures and nine biogas-laboratory batch reactors were used, the overall accuracy reported was 103 + 3 %. This rapid and low-cost method may either be used in laboratory conditions as a quick and low cost alternative to standard analysis equipment or in addition as a routine field control method used on full-scale plants.     

Coordination Pattern Adaptability: Energy Cost of Degenerate Behaviors

This study investigated behavioral adaptability, which could be defined as a blend between stability and flexibility of the limbs movement and their inter-limb coordination, when individuals received informational constraints. Seven expert breaststroke swimmers performed three 200-m in breaststroke at constant submaximal intensity. Each trial was performed randomly in a different coordination pattern: ‘freely-chosen’, ‘maximal glide’ and ‘minimal glide’. Two underwater and four aerial cameras enabled 3D movement analysis in order to assess elbow and knee angles, elbow-knee pair coordination, intra-cyclic velocity variations of the center of mass, stroke rate and stroke length and inter-limb coordination. The energy cost of locomotion was calculated from gas exchanges and blood lactate concentration. The results showed significantly higher glide, intra-cyclic velocity variations and energy cost under ‘maximal glide’ compared to ‘freely-chosen’ instructional conditions, as well as higher reorganization of limb movement and inter-limb coordination (p<0.05). In the ‘minimal glide’ condition, the swimmers did not show significantly shorter glide and lower energy cost, but they exhibited significantly lower deceleration of the center of mass, as well as modified limb movement and inter-limb coordination (p<0.05). These results highlight that a variety of structural adaptations can functionally satisfy the task-goal.     

Domestic hens succeed at serial reversal learning and perceptual concept generalisation using a new automated touchscreen device

Improving the welfare of farm animals depends on our knowledge on how they perceive and interpret their environment; the latter depends on their cognitive abilities. Hence, limited knowledge of the range of cognitive abilities of farm animals is a major concern. An effective approach to explore the cognitive range of a species is to apply automated testing devices, which are still underdeveloped in farm animals. In screen-like studies, the uses of automated devices are few in domestic hens. We developed an original fully automated touchscreen device using digital computer-drawn colour pictures and independent sensible cells adapted for cognitive testing in domestic hens, enabling a wide range of test types from low to high complexity. This study aimed to test the efficiency of our device using two cognitive tests. We focused on tasks related to adaptive capacities to environmental variability, such as flexibility and generalisation capacities as this is a good start to approach more complex cognitive capacities. We implemented a serial reversal learning task, categorised as a simple cognitive test, and a delayed matching-to-sample (dMTS) task on an identity concept, followed by a generalisation test, categorised as more complex. In the serial reversal learning task, the hens performed equally for the two changing reward contingencies in only three reversal stages. In the dMTS task, the hens increased their performance rapidly throughout the training sessions. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge, we present the first positive result of identity concept generalisation in a dMTS task in domestic hens. Our results provide additional information on the behavioural flexibility and concept understanding of domestic hens. They also support the idea that fully automated devices would improve knowledge of farm animals’ cognition.