Heavy Hymenolepis nana Infection Possibly Through Organic Foods: Report of a Case

We encountered a patient with heavy Hymenolepis nana infection. The patient was a 44-year-old Korean man who had suffered from chronic hepatitis (type B) for 15 years. A large number of H. nana adult worms were found during colonoscopy that was performed as a part of routine health screening. The parasites were scattered throughout the colon, as well as in the terminal ileum, although the patient was immunocompetent. Based on this study, colonoscopy may be helpful for diagnosis of asymptomatic H. nana infections.     

Survival of the mutant clone. III. Catastrophic selection. The inadequacy of the selection coefficient for assessing clone fate]

Majorant estimations of the probabilities pr for the surviving of the clone of the dividing cells have been obtained in the catastrophic situation (monotonous diminishing of the clone almost to zero during the period of time from t=0 to t=T, T approximately 100 generation). At t=0 the clone consisted of 10(6) individuals. Average selection coefficient (s) was found to determine pr only roughly, that is the clone with s greater than --0.09 survives almost in all cases, whereas the clone with s greater than --0.13 becomes extinct practically always. Within this interval ps-inversion can be observed, i.e. preferential surviving of the clone with a worse s value. Results of three communications lead to the conclusion that the mutants with small selective advantage practically cannot be selected.     

One-pot biotransformation of racemic styrene oxide into (R)-1,2-phenylethandiol by two recombinant microbial epoxide hydrolases

An enantioconvergent biotransformation of racemic styrene oxide by using two recombinant microbial epoxide hydrolases (EHs) in one pot has been investigated to prepare enantiopure vicinal diols. The recombinant whole cell possessing EH gene from Aspergillus niger LK or Rhodotorula glutinis exhibited a complementary enantioselectivity and regioselectivity, compared to the recombinant cell containing Caulobacter crescentus EH gene. When two recombinant microbial EHs were used in combination, 1.3 g of enantiopure (R)-1,2-phenylethandiol with more than 90% enantiopurity and 95% overall yield was obtained from 1.2 g of racemic styrene oxide in a preparative-scale batch enantioconvergent biotransformation.     

The evaluation and prognosis of the psychophysiological status of a human operator

In experiments on 56 healthy subjects (18-20 years old) the quality of their activity was determined during compensatory watching the mark at complicating regimes of work. Depending on the difficulty of the task five groups of subjects were singled out with optimum working capacity in one of four working conditions: normal, ordinary and strenuous work, model of stress situation. It is established that the change of the number of significant correlative connections between main parameters of psychophysiological state of man-operator reflects the condition of his functional systems. On the basis of computation of total range of organization values of both R-R intervals of the ECG and duration of expiration, the success of the man-operator work in complex conditions of activity is predicted.     

Effects of auditory stimuli on the lifespan of Drosophila melanogaster

It is well known that music can have calming effects on humans, other mammals and birds. Reducing environmental stress or enhancing the resistance to certain stressors has been shown to extend lifespan in several organisms. Evidence also suggests that mild temporary stress may also enhance stress resistance and ultimately slow the aging process. This study explored the possibility that music may influence the lifespan of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, possibly by affecting responses to stress. Flies received either background sounds (control), or background sounds supplemented with music (experimental). The experimental group had classical music playing constantly at an average of 20 dB above background sound. The median lifespan of females receiving music was 42 days compared to the median of 45 days without music, but the difference was not significant. For males median lifespans were 42 days with music exposure, and 47 days without music and the difference was significant. These results suggest that exposure to classical music decreased the lifespan of male Drosophila. Both experimental and control populations showed age-dependent increases in mortality, indicating that music affects the normal aging process rather than showing overt toxicity. These results suggest that certain auditory stimuli may be stressful and can be used as insect management.     

对一株铜绿假单胞菌22种耐药基因的研究

目的研究铜绿假单胞菌多重耐药情况和相关机制。方法采用聚合酶链反应（PCR）法对一株多重耐药铜绿假单胞菌进行β-内酰胺酶基因、氨基糖苷类修饰酶（AMEs）基因、喹诺酮类耐药基因、耐消毒剂基因（qacE△1-sul1）和整合酶基因检测,并对VIM基因进行了测序。结果PCR扩增结果显示该菌株aac（6′）-Ⅰb、blaCARB、gyrA、oprD2、ant（2″）-Ⅰ、qacE△1-sul1、blaIMP-I、blaTEM、blaVEB、aac（3）-Ⅱ、ant（3″）-Ⅰ、intⅠ1、blaVIM基因均为阳性,而aac（3）-Ⅰ、aac（6′）-Ⅱ、blaGES、blaGIM、blaOXA-10群、blaPER、blaSPM、blaSHV、blaDHA基因均为阴性,VIM基因扩增产物测序后经BLAST同源性分析表明为VIM-2型。结论铜绿假单胞菌存在多重耐药基因。管壁涂有季胺类、双胍类消毒剂和磺胺的II代导管的抑菌效果需重新评价。     

A novel small molecule HSP90 inhibitor,NXD30001, differentially induces heat shock proteins in nervous tissue in culture and in vivo

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are attractive therapeutic targets for neurodegenerative diseases, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), characterized by aberrant formation of protein aggregates. Although motor neurons have a high threshold for activation of HSP genes, HSP90 inhibitors are effective inducers. This study evaluated NXD30001, a novel, small molecule HSP90 inhibitor based on the radicicol backbone, for its ability to induce neuronal HSPs and for efficacy in an experimental model of ALS based on mutations in superoxide-dismutase 1 (SOD1). In motor neurons of dissociated murine spinal cord cultures, NXD30001-induced expression of HSP70/HSPA1 (iHSP70) and its co-chaperone HSP40/DNAJ through activation of HSF1 and exhibited a protective profile against SOD1^G93A similar to geldanamycin, but with less toxicity. Treatment prevented protein aggregation, mitochondrial fragmentation, and motor neuron death, important features of mutant SOD1 toxicity, but did not effectively prevent aberrant intracellular Ca²⁺ accumulation. NXD30001 distributed to brain and spinal cord of wild-type and SOD1^G93A transgenic mice following intraperitoneal injection; however, unlike in culture, in vivo levels of SOD1 were not reduced. NXD30001-induced expression of iHSP70 in skeletal and cardiac muscle and, to a lesser extent, in kidney, but not in liver, spinal cord, or brain, with either single or repeated administration. NXD30001 is a very useful experimental tool in culture, but these data point to the complex nature of HSP gene regulation in vivo and the necessity for early evaluation of the efficacy of novel HSP inducers in target tissues in vivo.