Centrally adaptations in unilateral idiopathic clubfoot children following conservative treatment.

Adaptations in tiptoe rising were studied in unilateral idiopathic clubfoot (ICF) children, who underwent conservative treatment. The current study concerned 10 ICF children and 10 healthy children of the same range of ages (8-12 year). All ICF children were rated "good" or "very good" treatment results, but showed residual m. Triceps surae atrophy and mild foot alignment flaws. Tiptoe rising task was performed with subjects standing quietly with the feet on separate force platforms. Subjects were instructed to rise onto tiptoes as fast as possible and to maintain the tiptoe erect posture for a few seconds. Surface EMG of muscles Gastrocnemius, Tibialis anterior, Peroneus longus were recorded on both sides, simultaneously with vertical reaction forces (RZ) and centres of pressure (CP) displacements, during a series of 10-15 trials. Foot preferentiality was without influence on the EMG and biomechanical activities of the control group. Although not aware of a deficit in performance, ICF children show less vertical acceleration than healthy children. Timing and magnitude of muscular activities, and Cp and RZ variables of ICF children, evidenced alterations in both affected and sound side, when compared to healthy subjects. Alterations in the affected side activities were well explained by Triceps surae atrophy. Alterations in the sound side were considered as adaptations of central nervous system (CNS), preserving a global symmetry of the task. These results highlight the CNS capacity to adapt even for mild deficiencies. They stressed that it is mandatory to follow ICF children, even if they recovered a normal life.     

Escherichia coli “TatExpress” strains export several g/L human growth hormone to the periplasm by the Tat pathway

Escherichia coli is a heavily used platform for the production of biotherapeutic and other high-value proteins, and a favored strategy is to export the protein of interest to the periplasm to simplify downstream processing and facilitate disulfide bond formation. The Sec pathway is the standard means of transporting the target protein but it is unable to transport complex or rapidly folding proteins because the Sec system can only transport proteins in an unfolded state. The Tat system also operates to transport proteins to the periplasm, and it has significant potential as an alternative means of recombinant protein production because it transports fully folded proteins. Here, we have tested the Tat system's full potential for the production of biotherapeutics for the first time using fed-batch fermentation. We expressed human growth hormone (hGH) with a Tat signal peptide in E. coli W3110 “TatExpress” strains that contain elevated levels of the Tat apparatus. This construct contained four amino acids from TorA at the hGH N-terminus as well as the initiation methionine from hGH, which is removed in vivo. We show that the protein is efficiently exported to the periplasm during extended fed-batch fermentation, to the extent that it is by far the most abundant protein in the periplasm. The protein was shown to be homogeneous, disulfide bonded, and active. The bioassay showed that the yields of purified periplasmic hGH are 5.4 g/L culture whereas an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay gave a figure of 2.39 g/L. Separate analysis of a TorA signal peptide linked to hGH construct lacking any additional amino acids likewise showed efficient export to the periplasm, although yields were approximately two-fold lower.     

How social network structure affects decision-making in Drosophila melanogaster

Animals use a number of different mechanisms to acquire crucial information. During social encounters, animals can pass information from one to another but, ideally, they would only use information that benefits survival and reproduction. Therefore, individuals need to be able to determine the value of the information they receive. One cue can come from the behaviour of other individuals that are already using the information. Using a previous extended dataset, we studied how individual decision-making is influenced by the behaviour of conspecifics in Drosophila melanogaster. We analysed how uninformed flies acquire and later use information about oviposition site choice they learn from informed flies. Our results suggest that uninformed flies adjust their future choices based on how coordinated the behaviours of the informed individuals they encounter are. Following social interaction, uninformed flies tended either to collectively follow the choice of the informed flies or to avoid it. Using social network analysis, we show that this selective information use seems to be based on the level of homogeneity of the social network. In particular, we found that the variance of individual centrality parameters among informed flies was lower in the case of a ‘follow’ outcome compared with the case of an ‘avoid’ outcome.     

New synthesis of 2β-hydroxy-19-oxoandrost-4-ene-3,17-dione and its 2β-O analog

Treatment of 19-[oxygenated]-androst-4-ene-3,17-dione with Mn(AcO)₃ and ClCH₂COOH in benzene gave epimeric mixtures of the corresponding 2ξ-chloroacetates and 2ξ-acetates. The products were processed to give the title compound. For the synthesis of the 2-¹⁸O analog, ClCH₂C¹⁸OOH was used, which was prepared from ClCH₂COCl.     

Forces,failles et opportunités de la recherche française en écologie trophique

The French National Institute of Ecology and Environment (INEE) aims at fostering pluridisciplinarity in Environmental Science and, for that purpose, funds ex muros research groups (GDR) on thematic topics. Trophic ecology has been identified as a scientific field in ecology that would greatly benefit from such networking activity, as being profoundly scattered. This has motivated the seeding of a GDR, entitled “GRET”. The contours of the GRET's action, and its ability to fill these gaps within trophic ecology at the French national scale, will depend on the causes of this relative scattering. This study relied on a nationally broadcasted poll aiming at characterizing the field of trophic ecology in France. Amongst all the unique individuals that fulfilled the poll, over 300 belonged at least partly to the field of trophic ecology. The sample included all French public research institutes and career stages. Three main disruptions within the community of scientist in trophic ecology were identified. The first highlighted the lack of interfaces between microbial and trophic ecology. The second evidenced that research questions were strongly linked to single study fields or ecosystem type. Last, research activities are still quite restricted to the ecosystem boundaries. All three rupture points limit the conceptual and applied progression in the field of trophic ecology. Here we show that most of the disruptions within French Trophic Ecology are culturally inherited, rather than motivated by scientific reasons or justified by socio-economic stakes. Comparison with the current literature confirms that these disruptions are not necessarily typical of the French research landscape, but instead echo the general weaknesses of the international research in ecology. Thereby, communication and networking actions within and toward the community of trophic ecologists, as planned within the GRET's objectives, should contribute to fill these gaps, by reintegrating microbes within trophic concepts and setting the seeds for trans- and meta-ecosystemic research opportunities. Once the community of trophic ecologists is aware of the scientific benefit in pushing its boundaries forwards, turning words and good intentions into concrete research projects will depend on the opportunities to obtain research funding.     

Role of hepatic arterial embolisation in the carcinoid syndrome.

Eighteen patients with severe symptoms of the carcinoid syndrome were assessed for hepatic embolisation. Four were too ill, and one had mild symptoms; thus 13 received a periembolisation regimen of cyproheptadine, fenclonine, aprotinin, methylprednisolone, tobramycin, flucloxacillin, and metronidazole. Embolisation was not performed in one patient with an occluded portal vein and was unsatisfactory in two others, in one because she was moribund and in the other because the hepatic artery had been ligated. Dramatic improvement in symptoms occurred in the nine patients in whom embolisation was successfully carried out, with abolition of flushing, severe abdominal pain, and wheeze and reduction in diarrhoea from 10.5 (SD 7.6) to 1.6 (0.9) stools/day. Urinary excretion of 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid fell from 1048 (716) to 289 (184) mumol/24 h (200 (137) to 55 (35) mg/24 h). Complications included one death from septicaemia, a hepatic abscess requiring surgical drainage, abdominal pain in three patients, pleural effusion in two, and transient encephalopathy in one. Relief of symptoms lasted for one to 24 months, and second embolisation in two patients produced further remissions of four to six months. Five patients died, one to 40 months after embolisation, in four cases because of metastases or heart failure. Hepatic embolisation is the treatment of choice for symptoms of the carcinoid syndrome resistant to medical treatment.     

Ultrastructural Study of Long-Term Measles Infection in Cultures of Hamster Dorsal-Root Ganglion

The morphogenesis of the Edmonston strain of measles is described in cultures of hamster dorsal-root ganglion maintained for as long as 63 days postinoculation. The patterns observed confirmed those previously reported in both neural and non-neural tissue. However, in the present tissue, the development of viral material could be followed chronologically within different cell types such as neurons and Schwann cells. Active replication was visualized up to 63 days postinoculation. The appearance of cytoplasmic nucleocapsid preceded that of intranuclear nucleocapsid, the latter occurring after 14 days. These intranuclear inclusions were formed after the transformation of the nucleoli into bizarre pleomorphic bodies which eventually segregated into clumps of nucleocapsid. These intranuclear inclusions mimic those seen in subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, now known to be etiologically related to a measles-like virus.