What's good for the host is good for the bug

Tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, kills approximately two million people each year. The infection is characterized by an inflammatory response culminating in the formation of a granuloma, a collection of immune cells that controls the infection. However, the granuloma can be the source of immunopathology that encourages transmission. Recent data support the idea that mycobacterial products can positively and negatively regulate the inflammatory response. Our contention is that induction of the immune response and subsequent granuloma formation is beneficial to the host for control of infection, and is also beneficial to the bacillus, as a place to hide and as a means for transmitting the infection to naive hosts.     

What is mzXML good for?

mzXML (extensible markup language) is one of the pioneering data formats for mass spectrometry-based proteomics data collection. It is an open data format that has benefited and evolved as a result of the input of many groups, and it continues to evolve. Due to its dynamic history, its structure, purpose and applicability have all changed with time, meaning that groups that have looked at the standard at different points during its evolution have differing impressions of the usefulness of mzXML. In discussing mzXML, it is important to understand what mzXML is not. First, mzXML does not capture the raw data. Second, mzXML is not sufficient for regulatory submission. Third, mzXML is not optimized for computation and, finally, mzXML does not capture the experiment design. In general, it is the authors’ opinion that XML is not a panacea for bioinformatics or a substitute for good data representation, and groups that want to use mzXML (or other XML-based representations) directly for data storage or computation will encounter performance and scalability problems. With these limitations in mind, the authors conclude that mzXML is, nonetheless, an indispensable data exchange format for proteomics.     

When BAD is good for beta cells

BAD, a proapoptotic member of the Bcl-2 family of proteins, is regulated by phosphorylation. A recent study (Danial et al., 2008) suggests a phosphorylation-state-dependent bifunctional role of BAD in the regulation of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and beta cell mass.     

NO news is good news for plants

The organization of redox signaling and the use of nitric oxide (NO) to transmit information, modulate biological processes or create cellular damage are highly complex. Recent reports provide an exceptional picture of NO production, of the regulation of NO bioactivity through detoxification reactions and of biochemical events by which NO transduces signals into cellular responses, in particular during disease resistance. Furthermore, other exciting reports on NO function in germination, growth and reproduction support the view that NO is a 'do it all' molecule that plays a crucial role during the entire lifespan of the plant.     

When good enough is best

In this issue of Neuron, Rinberg et al. show that mice use a speed-accuracy tradeoff in odor discrimination. Shorter sampling results in high performance for easy problems, and enforced longer sampling results in higher accuracy for difficult problems, but mice freely choose intermediate sampling durations and accuracy varies with difficulty. Reward value and task requirements may determine sampling time choice and performance levels.     

Pure human urine is a good fertiliser for cucumbers

Human urine obtained from separating toilets was tested as a fertiliser for cultivation of outdoor cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) in a Nordic climate. The urine used contained high amounts of nitrogen with some phosphorus and potassium, but numbers of enteric microorganisms were low even though urine had not been preserved before sampling. The cucumber yield after urine fertilisation was similar or slightly better than the yield obtained from control rows fertilised with commercial mineral fertiliser. None of the cucumbers contained any enteric microorganisms (coliforms, enterococci, coliphages and clostridia). In the taste assessment, 11 out of 20 persons could recognise which cucumber of three cucumbers was different but they did not prefer one over the other cucumber samples, since all of them were assessed as equally good.     

Serum leptin is not a diagnostic marker for familial Mediterranean fever attacks

The aim of our study is to determine whether there is a relationship between familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) attacks and serum leptin levels. We enrolled 25 patients (22 males and 3 females) and 25 healthy controls (21 males and 4 females) with a mean age of 24.42 +/- 1.22 (Mean +/- SEM) years and 24.30 +/- 1.19 years (Mean +/- SEM), respectively. We investigated serum levels of leptin, interleukin-6 (IL-6) erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP),fibrinogen, and leukocyte counts before the attack and 8-12 hours after the attack started. The same parameters have been investigated in the control subjects. The mean serum leptin levels before the attacks were 6.45 +/- 1.05 (Mean +/- SEM) and during the attacks were 7.59 +/- 1.3 (Mean +/- SEM) in FMF group,respectively. There was a slight increase in serum leptin levels during the attacks but it was not statistically significant (P > .05). The mean serum leptin levels were 16.12 +/- 2.81 in the control group which were not different from the mean serum leptin levels before and during the attack periods in the study group (P > .05). However, there were statistical differences in the serum levels of IL-6, ESR, CRP, fibrinogen, and leukocyte counts before and during the attack periods (P > .05). No correlation was found between serum leptin levels and IL-6, ESR, CRP, fibrinogen, and leukocyte counts (P > .05). Serum leptin levels do not increase during FMF attacks and therefore it is not useful for diagnostic purposes and follow-up during treatment.