The Incidence of Non-tuberculous Mycobacterium Lung Disease in Patients with Suspected Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Non-tuberculous mycobacterium (NTM) lung disease is increasing in prevalence. We analyzed the frequency of NTM lung disease among patients who are suspected of tuberculosis. NTM was isolated from about one-fourth of the mycobacterium culture-positive patients and about half of these had NTM lung disease. Therefore, NTM isolates should be routinely identified at the species level for adequate treatment.     

Plasma Biomarkers Discriminate Clinical Forms of Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis, the most common cause of neurological disability in young population after trauma, represents a significant public health burden. Current challenges associated with management of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients stem from the lack of biomarkers that might enable stratification of the different clinical forms of MS and thus prompt treatment for those patients with progressive MS, for whom there is currently no therapy available. In the present work we analyzed a set of thirty different plasma cytokines, chemokines and growth factors present in circulation of 129 MS patients with different clinical forms (relapsing remitting, secondary progressive and primary progressive MS) and 53 healthy controls, across two independent cohorts. The set of plasma analytes was quantified with Luminex xMAP technology and their predictive power regarding clinical outcome was evaluated both individually using ROC curves and in combination using logistic regression analysis. Our results from two independent cohorts of MS patients demonstrate that the divergent clinical and histology-based MS forms are associated with distinct profiles of circulating plasma protein biomarkers, with distinct signatures being composed of chemokines and growth/angiogenic factors. With this work, we propose that an evaluation of a set of 4 circulating biomarkers (HGF, Eotaxin/CCL11, EGF and MIP-1β/CCL4) in MS patients might serve as an effective tool in the diagnosis and more personalized therapeutic targeting of MS patients.     

Force to Divide: Structural and Mechanical Requirements for Actomyosin Ring Contraction

One of the unresolved questions in the field of cell division is how the actomyosin cytoskeleton remains structurally organized while generating the contractile force to divide one cell into two. In analogy to the actomyosin-based force production mechanism in striated muscle, it was originally proposed that contractile stress in the actomyosin ring is generated via a sliding filament mechanism within an organized sarcomere-like array. However, over the last 30 years, ultrastructural and functional studies have noted important distinctions between cytokinetic structures in dividing cells and muscle sarcomeres. Myosin-II motor activity is not always required, and there is evidence that actin depolymerization contributes to contraction. In this Review, the architecture and contractile dynamics of the actomyosin ring at the cell division plane will be discussed. We will report the interdisciplinary advances in the field as well as their integration into a mechanistic understanding of contraction in cell division and in other biological processes that rely on an actomyosin-based force-generating system.     

Patterns of Sleeping Site and Sleeping Tree Selection by Black-and-Gold Howler Monkeys (Alouatta caraya) in Northern Argentina

International Journal of Primatology - The selection of sleeping sites and sleeping trees in nonhuman primates is related to social and ecological factors. We investigate the role of body...     

Differences in prolyl-leucyl-glycinamide metabolism by hypothalamus,pituitary and cerebral cortex of male and female rats

l-Prolyl-l-leucyl-glycinamide is rapidly hydrolyzed by hypothalamic, hypophyseal and cortical homogenates from male or female rats. The peptidase activity is higher in the pituitary followed in decreasing order by the hypothalamus and the cerebral cortex. It is mostly localized in the supernatant fraction of a 100,000 g centrifugation and is inhibited by bacitracin.Tissues from female rats are half as active as those from male rats and show variations during the estrous cycle, with very low PLG metabolism at diestrus 1 in pituitary and hypothalamus. In contrast, the cerebral cortex at proestrus and estrus has significant lower hydrolyzing activity than at diestrus. No change of the peptidase activity is observed in tissues from ovariectomized animals after treatment with estrogen or progesterone.The results obtained suggest the existence of a correlation between peptidasic activity and melanotropin secretion.     

Application of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to analysis of ethanol fermentation kinetics in yeasts and bacteria

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is proving to be a very valuable technique for characterizing the metabolic status of a range of microbial fermentations. This non-invasive method allows us not only to determine the presence of particular metabolites, but also to monitor reaction rates, enzyme activities and transport mechanisms in vivo. Despite the low levels of the carbon-13 isotope (1.1%), natural-abundance ¹³C-NMR studies have proven useful in monitoring the progress of various fermentation processes. Furthermore, ³¹P-NMR can provide noninvasive information relating to cellular metabolism, and on the energy status of the cells. This results from the facility with NMR to identify various nucleotide phosphates and other energy-rich compounds in the cell, as well as to characterize changes in the intracellular pH from the chemical shifts of internal phosphate and other phosphorylated intermediates. In this review, we will summarize the use of NMR as an analytical tool in biotechnology and also discuss examples that illustrate how NMR can be used to obtain significant information on the characteristics of ethanol fermentations in both yeasts and bacteria.     

Cobalamin and microbial plankton dynamics along a coastal to offshore transect in the Eastern North Atlantic Ocean

Cobalamin (B12) is an essential cofactor that is exclusively synthesized by some prokaryotes while many prokaryotes and eukaryotes require an external supply of B12. The spatial and temporal availability of B12 is poorly understood in marine ecosystems. Field measurements of B12 along with a large set of ancillary biotic and abiotic factors were obtained during three oceanographic cruises in the NW Iberian Peninsula, covering different spatial and temporal scales. B12 concentrations were remarkably low (<1.5 pM) in all samples, being significantly higher at the subsurface Eastern North Atlantic Central Water than at shallower depths, suggesting that B12 supply in this water mass is greater than demand. Multiple regression models excluded B12 concentration as predictive variable for phytoplankton biomass or production, regardless of the presence of B12-requiring algae. Prokaryote production was the best predictor for primary production, and eukaryote community composition was better correlated with prokaryote community composition than with nutritional resources, suggesting that biotic interactions play a significant role in regulating microbial communities. Interestingly, co-occurrence network analyses based on 16S and 18S rRNA sequences allowed the identification of significant associations between potential B12 producers and consumers (e.g. Thaumarchaeota and Dynophyceae, or Amylibacter and Ostreococcus respectively), which can now be investigated using model systems in the laboratory.