Mobile nocturnal long-term monitoring of wheezing and cough.

Changes in normal lung sounds are an important sign of pathophysiological processes in the bronchial system and lung tissue. For the diagnosis of bronchial asthma, coughing and wheezing are important symptoms that indicate the existence of obstruction. In particular, nocturnal long-term acoustic monitoring and assessment make sense for qualitative and quantitative detection and documentation. Previous methods used for lung function diagnosis require active patient cooperation that is not possible during sleep. We developed a mobile device based on the CORSA standard that allows the recording of respiratory sounds throughout the night. To date, we have recorded 133 patients with different diagnoses (80 male, 53 female), of whom 38 were children. In 68 of the patients we could detect cough events and in 87 we detected wheezing. The recording method was tolerated by all participating adults and children. Our mobile system allows non-invasive and cooperation-independent nocturnal monitoring of acoustic symptoms in the domestic environment, especially at night, when most ailments occur.     

Creating multiple time-shared laser traps with simultaneous displacement detection using digital signal processing hardware

We present a design for implementing multiple laser traps for single-molecule studies through time-sharing using commercially available digital signal processing hardware in a computer running a standard multitasking operating system. This design enables four to six independent laser traps with a visitation frequency of 10,000s(-1)trap(-1) and a timing jitter of +/-0.5 micros to be created. The design also achieves nanometer-resolution detection of displacement in all of the traps simultaneously via back focal-plane interferometry and only a single quadrant photodiode detector. Practical design considerations and limitations together with the use of fiberlasers in laser traps are discussed. Using this device, the mechanokinetics of multiple molecular motors or adhesion proteins may be measured simultaneously. We present the example biological application of two kinesin-coated beads in separate traps moving on different portions of a microtubule.     

Inhibition of phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C: Studies on synthetic substrates,inhibitors and a synthetic enzyme

Enzyme inhibition studies on phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (PI-PLC) from B. Cereus were performed in order to gain an understanding of the mechanism of the PI-PLC family of enzymes and to aid inhibitor design. Inhibition studies on two synthetic cyclic phosphonate analogues (1,2) of inositol cyclic-1:2-monophosphate (cIP), glycerol-2-phosphate and vanadate were performed using natural phosphatidylinositol (PI) substrate in Triton X100 co-micelles and an NMR assay. Further inhibition studies on PI-PLC from B. Cereus were performed using a chromogenic, synthetic PI analogue (DPG-PI), an HPLC assay and Aerosol-OT (AOT), phytic acid and vanadate as inhibitors. For purposes of comparison, a model PI-PLC enzyme system was developed employing a synthetic Cu(II)-metallomicelle and a further synthetic PI analogue (IPP-PI). The studies employing natural PI substrate in Triton X100 co-micelles and synthetic DPG-PI in the absence of surfactant indicate three classes of PI-PLC inhibitors: (1) active-site directed inhibitors (e.g. 1,2); (2) water-soluble polyanions (e.g. tetravanadate, phytic acid); (3) surfactant anions (e.g. AOT). Three modes of molecular recognition are indicated to be important: (1) active site molecular recognition; (2) recognition at an anion-recognition site which may be the active site, and; (3) interfacial (or hydrophobic) recognition which may be exploited to increase affinity for the anion-recognition site in anionic surfactants such as AOT. The most potent inhibition of PI-PLC was observed by tetravanadate and AOT. The metallomicelle model system was observed to mimic PI-PLC in reproducing transesterification of the PI analogue substrate to yield cIP as product and in showing inhibition by phytic acid and AOT.     

Ethics and scientific publication

This article summarizes the major categories of ethical violations encountered during submission, review, and publication of scientific articles. We discuss data fabrication and falsification, plagiarism, redundant and duplicate publication, conflict of interest, authorship, animal and human welfare, and reviewer responsibility. In each section, pertinent historical background and citation of relevant regulations and statutes are provided. Furthermore, a specific case(s) derived from actual situations is(are) presented. These cases were chosen to highlight the complexities that investigators and journals must face when dealing with ethical issues. A series of discussion questions follow each case. It is our hope that by increasing education and awareness of ethical matters relevant to scientific investigation and publication, deviations from appropriate conduct will be reduced.     

Heterogeneous Distribution of Fetal Microchimerism in Local Breast Cancer Environment

Fetal cells enter maternal circulation during pregnancy and persist in the woman’s body for decades, achieving a form of physiological microchimerism. These cells were also evidenced in tumors. We investigated the frequency and concentration of fetal microchimerism in the local breast cancer environment. From 19 patients with confirmed breast neoplasia, after breast surgical resection, we collected three fresh specimens from the tumor core, breast tissue at tumor periphery, and adjacent normal breast tissue. The presence of male DNA was analyzed with a quantitative PCR assay for the sex determining region gene (SRY) gene. In the group of women who had given birth to at least one son, we detected fetal microchimerism in 100% of samples from tumors and their periphery and in 64% (9 of 14) of those from normal breast tissue. The tissues from the tumor and its periphery carry a significantly increased number of SRY copies compared to its neighboring common breast tissue (p = 0.005). The median of the normalized SRY-signal was about 77 (range, 3.2–21467) and 14-fold (range, 1.3–2690) greater in the tumor and respectively in the periphery than in the normal breast tissue. In addition, the relative expression of the SRY gene had a median 5.5 times larger in the tumor than in its periphery (range, 1.1–389.4). We found a heterogeneous distribution of fetal microchimerism in breast cancer environment. In women with sons, breast neoplasia harbors male cells at significantly higher levels than in peripheral and normal breast tissue.     

Impact of Soil Cadmium on Land Snails: A Two-Stage Exposure Approach under Semi-Field Conditions Using Bioaccumulative and Conchological End-Points of Exposure

Land snails are highly tolerant to cadmium exposure and are able to accumulate soil cadmium independently of food ingestion. However, little information exists on the kinetics of cadmium retention in terrestrial gastropods exposed to an increase in the soil cadmium content, over time. There is also little knowledge about how exposure to cadmium-polluted soils influences shell growth and architecture. In this context, we examined cadmium accumulation in the hepatopancreas and shell of juvenile Cantareus aspersus exposed to elevating high levels of cadmium in soil. Also, the toxicity of cadmium to snails was assessed using a range of conchological endpoints, including shell height, width, volume, allometry and integrity. Test snails, aged three months, were reared under semi-field conditions, fed an uncontaminated diet and exposed first, for a period of 30 days, to a series of soil cadmium concentrations, and then, for a second period of 30 days, to soils with higher cadmium content. Cadmium showed a dose-dependent accumulation in both the hepatopancreas and shell. The kinetics of cadmium retention in the hepatopancreas of snails previously exposed to cadmium-spiked soils was significantly influenced by a new exposure event. The shell was not a relevant bioaccumulator for soil cadmium. Under the present experimental conditions, only high cadmium exposure significantly affected either the shell growth or snail survival. There was no consistent effect on shell allometry, but the shell integrity, especially in rapidly growing parts, appeared to be affected by high cadmium exposure. Our results attest to the value of hepatopancreas for describing cadmium retention in land snails and to the difficulty of using conchological parameters in field surveys for estimating the environmental hazard of soil cadmium.     

HPLC on chiral support with polarimetric detection: application to conglomerate discovery

In conglomerates, each single crystal contains only one of the two possible enantiomeric forms--either dextrorotatory or levorotatory. The analysis of a single crystal by liquid chromatography on chiral support associated with chiroptical detection is a very efficient tool to reveal the occurrence of a conglomerate. In terms of rapidity and easiness, this method compares favorably with the classical methods used to show this occurrence. Two examples are provided.     

X-ray crystal structures of rabbit N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase I (GnT I) in complex with donor substrate analogues

The Golgi-resident glycosyltransferase, UDP-N-acetyl-d-glucosamine:alpha-3-d-mannoside beta-1,2-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase I (GnT I), initiates the conversion of high-mannose oligosaccharides to complex and hybrid structures in the biosynthesis of N-linked glycans. Reported here are the X-ray crystal structures of GnT I in complex with UDP-CH2-GlcNAc (a non-hydrolyzable C-glycosidic phosphonate), UDP-2-deoxy-2-fluoro-glucose, UDP-glucose and UDP. Collectively, these structures provide evidence for the importance of the GlcNAc moiety and its N-acetyl group in donor substrate binding, as well as insight into the role played by the flexible 318-330 loop in substrate binding and product release. In addition, the UDP-CH2-GlcNAc complex reveals a well-defined glycerol molecule poised for nucleophilic attack on the C1 atom of the donor substrate analogue. The position and orientation of this glycerol molecule have allowed us to model the binding of the Manalpha1,3Manbeta1 moiety of the acceptor substrate and, based on the model, to suggest a rationalization for the main determinants of GnT I acceptor specificity.     

Electroconvulsive Therapy Induces Neurogenesis in Frontal Rat Brain Areas

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective therapy for several psychiatric disorders, including severe major depression, mania and certain forms of schizophrenia. It had been proposed that ECT acts by modulating local plasticity via the stimulation of neurogenesis. In fact, among antidepressant therapies, ECT is the most robust enhancer of neurogenesis in the hippocampus of rodents and non-human primates. The existence of ECT-triggered neurogenesis in other brain areas, particularly in those adjacent to the other main locus of neurogenesis, the subventricular zone (SVZ), had so far remained unknown. Here we show that ECT also strongly enhances neurogenesis in frontal brain areas, especially in the rostro-medial striatum, generating specific, small-size calretinin-positive interneurons. We provide here the first evidence that ECT stimulates neurogenesis in areas outside the hippocampus. Our data may open research possibilities that focus on the plastic changes induced by ECT in frontal limbic circuitry.