Humoral immune response in aspergillosis: an immunodominant glycoprotein of 35 kDa from Aspergillus flavus

A glycoprotein preparation containing 70% carbohydrates and 30% proteins was isolated from the mycelium of two strains of Aspergillus flavus and fractionated by ConA-Sepharose affinity chromatography. An immunodominant 35-kDa antigen was detected in a ConA-bound fraction (B fraction). It contained mannose and galactose in a 1.4:1.0 ratio. This antigen seems to be able to elicit an antibody response in patients with aspergillosis and in rabbits immunized with A. flavus whole cells. The carbohydrate units of the BF fraction appeared to be responsible for the antigenicity, since treatment with periodate removed most of the antibody binding capacity.     

Clinical applications of three-dimensional photography in breast surgery

Three-dimensional imaging in breast surgery has several uses clinically. The most practical applications are for the evaluation of breast asymmetries, both congenital and acquired, and for the evaluation of factors affecting breast shape in augmentation mammaplasty. Other uses of three-dimensional imaging that we have found clinically helpful are for evaluation of patients desiring reduction mammaplasty and for evaluation of patients undergoing unilateral breast reconstruction to determine the expander and permanent implant size that gives the best symmetry with the contralateral breast. We present five cases in which we investigate the use of three-dimensional imaging clinically by using the images to determine quantitative information about the breast, such as volume or projection. Overall, three-dimensional imaging is very helpful in providing objective information about the breast for use in preoperative planning. In addition, by analyzing clinical cases, it can provide objective data about the breast and surgical mammaplasty (especially augmentation mammaplasty) that may help surgeons better understand those factors that contribute to breast shape and influence surgical outcomes. There are currently some limitations of this system, influenced by patients with significant ptosis or obesity, which may introduce errors into the three-dimensional data, making them unreliable. However, we believe three-dimensional imaging has great clinical potential in surgical mammaplasty.     

Understanding down-regulation of photosynthesis under water stress: future prospects and searching for physiological tools for irrigation management

Photosynthetic down-regulation and/or inhibition under water stress conditions are determinants for plant growth, survival and yield in drought-prone areas. Current knowledge about the sequence of metabolic events that leads to complete inhibition of photosynthesis under severe water stress is reviewed. An analysis of published data reveals that a key regulatory role for Rubisco in photosynthesis is improbable under water stress conditions. By contrast, the little data available for other Calvin cycle enzymes suggest the possibility of a key regulatory role for some enzymes involved in the regeneration of RuBP. There are insufficient data to determine the role of photophosphorylation. Several important gaps in our knowledge of this field are highlighted. The most important is the remarkable scarcity of data about the regulation/inhibition of photosynthetic enzymes other than Rubisco under water stress. Consequently, new experiments are urgently needed to improve our current understanding of photosynthetic down-regulation under water stress. A second gap is the lack of knowledge of photosynthetic recovery after irrigation of plants which have been subjected to different stages of water stress. This knowledge is necessary in order to match physiological down-regulation by water stress with controlled irrigation programmes.     

STUDY ON THE PROLIFERATIVE STATE OF HAEMOPOIETIC STEM CELLS (CFU)

Hydroxyurea was used to study the proliferation rate of haemopoietic stem cells (CFUJ in normal mice, after irradiation or transplantation into irradiated recipients. It was demonstrated that the proliferation rate of endogenous CFU_S (endo-CFU,) and exogenous CFU_S (exo-CFU_s) are identical. After irradiation (650 R) the surviving endo-CFU_s begin to proliferate immediately. By contrast exo-CFU, transplanted into the irradiated recipient mouse (850 R), begin to proliferate only after about 30 hr. However, injection of isoproterenol (which stimulates adenyl cyclase) or dibutyryl cyclic adenosine 3′,5′-monophosphate shortly after marrow cell graft, triggers the transplanted CFU_S into cell cycle as shown by an almost immediately increased sensitivity to hydroxyurea. Isoproterenol is capable of inducing DNA synthesis also in stem cells of normal mice but it takes about 20 hr before CFU, become to be increasingly sensitive to hydroxyurea.     

A Suitable <Emphasis Type="Italic">Xylella fastidiosa</Emphasis> CVC Strain for Post-Genome Studies

The genome sequence of the pathogen Xylella fastidiosa Citrus Variegated Chlorosis (CVC) strain 9a5c has revealed many genes related to pathogenicity mechanisms and virulence determinants. However, strain 9a5c is resistant to genetic transformation, impairing mutant production for the analysis of pathogenicity mechanisms and virulence determinants of this fastidious phytopathogen. By screening different strains, we found out that cloned strains J1a12, B111, and S11400, all isolated from citrus trees affected by CVC, are amenable to transformation, and J1a12 has been used as a model strain in a functional genomics program supported by FAPESP (São Paulo State Research Foundation). However, we have found that strain J1a12, unlike strains 9a5c and B111, was incapable of inducing CVC symptoms when inoculated in citrus plants. We have now determined that strain B111 is an appropriate candidate for post-genome studies of the CVC strain of X. fastidiosa.     

Converting to digital photography: a model for a large group or academic practice

Digital photography has become an economical and efficient substitute for conventional photography. We recently converted our resident clinical photography to a digital format to make archiving more efficient and to save the costs of clinical photography. We present a model that can be applied to a large group or academic practice outlining the conversion of our clinical photography to digital format. We discuss the costs that we have incurred during the past 3 years of conventional photography, the economic benefit and costs for conversion to digital, and a 5-year projection of savings using digital photography. We also discuss the advantages of digital photography and the equipment needed for the conversion.     

Comparative context analysis of codon pairs on an ORFeome scale

Codon context is an important feature of gene primary structure that modulates mRNA decoding accuracy. We have developed an analytical software package and a graphical interface for comparative codon context analysis of all the open reading frames in a genome (the ORFeome). Using the complete ORFeome sequences of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Candida albicans and Escherichia coli, we show that this methodology permits large-scale codon context comparisons and provides new insight on the rules that govern the evolution of codon-pair context.     

Comparison of techniques for the measurement of skin temperature during exercise in a hot,humid environment

Exercising or working in a hot, humid environment can results in the onset of heat-related illness when an individual''s temperature is not carefully monitored. The purpose of the present study was to compare three techniques (data loggers, thermal imaging, and wired electrodes) for the measurement of peripheral (bicep) and central (abdominal) skin temperature. Young men and women (N = 30) were recruited to complete the present study. The three skin temperature measurements were made at 0 and every 10-min during 40-min (60% VO₂max) of cycling in a hot (39±2°C), humid (45±5% RH) environment. Data was statistically analyzed using the Bland-Altman method and correlation analysis. For abdominal skin temperature, the Bland-Altman limits of agreement indicated that data loggers (1.5) were a better index of wired than was thermal imaging (3.5), For the bicep skin temperature the limits of agreement was similar between data loggers (1.9) and thermal (1.9), suggesting the both were suitable measurements. We also found that when skin temperature exceeded 35°C, we observed progressively better prediction between data loggers, thermal imaging, and wired skin sensors. This report describes the potential for the use of data loggers and thermal imaging to be used as alternative measures of skin temperature in exercising, human subjects.