Molecular Detection of Ehrlichia canis in Dogs in Malaysia

An epidemiological study of Ehrlichia canis infection in dogs in Peninsular Malaysia was carried out using molecular detection techniques. A total of 500 canine blood samples were collected from veterinary clinics and dog shelters. Molecular screening by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed using genus-specific primers followed by PCR using E. canis species-specific primers. Ten out of 500 dogs were positive for E. canis. A phylogenetic analysis of the E. canis Malaysia strain showed that it was grouped tightly with other E. canis strains from different geographic regions. The present study revealed for the first time, the presence of genetically confirmed E. canis with a prevalence rate of 2.0% in naturally infected dogs in Malaysia.     

Report From the 39th Annual Meeting of the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation, London, 7–10 April 2013

Antifungal prophylaxis reduces the risks of invasive fungal infection (IFI), all-cause mortality and fungal-related mortality in highly immunosuppressed haemato-oncology patients, but questions remain about the role of therapeutic drug monitoring in this patient population. There is also continuing debate concerning the benefits and risks of empirical versus pre-emptive antifungal therapy when breakthrough IFI occurs during prophylaxis. These topics were discussed during the 39th Annual Meeting of the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation, held in London in April 2013.     

Common and Distinct Clinical Features in Adult Patients with Anti-Aminoacyl-tRNA Synthetase Antibodies: Heterogeneity within the Syndrome

Objective

To identify similarities and differences in the clinical features of adult Japanese patients with individual anti-aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase antibodies (anti-ARS Abs).

Methods

This was a retrospective analysis of 166 adult Japanese patients with anti-ARS Abs detected by immunoprecipitation assays. These patients had visited Kanazawa University Hospital or collaborating medical centers from 2003 to 2009.

Results

Anti-ARS Ab specificity included anti-Jo-1 (36%), anti-EJ (23%), anti-PL-7 (18%), anti-PL-12 (11%), anti-KS (8%), and anti-OJ (5%). These anti-ARS Abs were mutually exclusive, except for one serum Ab that had both anti-PL-7 and PL-12 reactivity. Myositis was closely associated with anti-Jo-1, anti-EJ, and anti-PL-7, while interstitial lung disease (ILD) was correlated with all 6 anti-ARS Abs. Dermatomyositis (DM)-specific skin manifestations (heliotrope rash and Gottron’s sign) were frequently observed in patients with anti-Jo-1, anti-EJ, anti-PL-7, and anti-PL-12. Therefore, most clinical diagnoses were polymyositis or DM for anti-Jo-1, anti-EJ, and anti-PL-7; clinically amyopathic DM or ILD for anti-PL-12; and ILD for anti-KS and anti-OJ. Patients with anti-Jo-1, anti-EJ, and anti-PL-7 developed myositis later if they had ILD alone at the time of disease onset, and most patients with anti-ARS Abs eventually developed ILD if they did not have ILD at disease onset.

Conclusion

Patients with anti-ARS Abs are relatively homogeneous. However, the distribution and timing of myositis, ILD, and rashes differ among patients with individual anti-ARS Abs. Thus, identification of individual anti-ARS Abs is beneficial to define this rather homogeneous subset and to predict clinical outcomes within the “anti-synthetase syndrome.”     

英国的侧盘菌属:属的概况及大型孢子种的研究(英文)

对侧盘菌属在英国的研究概况进行了评述,研究侧重于Otidea apophysata和O.platyspora两个具有大型子囊孢子的种。同时,对4个错误地用于大型孢子种的名称进行了订正:O. abietina(Pseudotis属的模式种)是含糊名称(nomen ambiguum);O.cochleata也为含糊名称;O. felina是O.alutacea的同物异名,并为后者指定了选模式;将O.umbrina处理为O.bufonia的同物异名。此外,确定了Otidea violacea的分类地位。     

Albumin permeability across endothelial monolayers under pulsatile shear stress

Recent studies suggest that the temporal gradient of shear stress that is generated by blood flow plays an important role in the pathology of arteriosclerosis. We focused on the temporal gradient of shear stress and measured the permeability of albumin under steady or pulsatile shear stress conditions. Porcine aortic endothelial cells were seeded on a membrane filter and subjected to steady or pulsatile shear stress (1 Hz) at 1 Pa for 48 h, and the permeability of albumin was measured over time. The permeability increased gradually under steady flow but increased acutely under pulsatile shear stress. In particular, the maximum permeability of albumin differed under these conditions. The value was 4.2 × 10^?5 cm/s at 18 h under pulsatile shear stress and 2.8 × 10^?5 cm/s at 48 h under steady shear stress. The permeable route of albumin was examined using isoproterenol, which decreases junctional permeability. The increase in albumin permeability with pulsatile shear stress was decreased by isoproterenol. These results suggest that the increased permeability of albumin with pulsatile shear stress was related to trafficking through paracellular junctions. Thus, pulsation may promote a mechanotransduction process that differs from that of steady shear stress, and these pulsation effects likely play an important role in the permeability of macromolecules.     

Derivation of endothelial cells from human embryonic stem cells in fully defined medium enables identification of lysophosphatidic acid and platelet activating factor as regulators of eNOS localization

The limited availability of human vascular endothelial cells (ECs) hampers research into EC function whilst the lack of precisely defined culture conditions for this cell type presents problems for addressing basic questions surrounding EC physiology. We aimed to generate endothelial progenitors from human pluripotent stem cells to facilitate the study of human EC physiology, using a defined serum-free protocol. Human embryonic stem cells (hESC-ECs) differentiated under serum-free conditions generated CD34⁺KDR⁺ endothelial progenitor cells after 6 days that could be further expanded in the presence of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The resultant EC population expressed CD31 and TIE2/TEK, took up acetylated low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and up-regulated expression of ICAM-1, PAI-1 and ET-1 following treatment with TNFα. Immunofluorescence studies indicated that a key mediator of vascular tone, endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), was localised to a perinuclear compartment of hESC-ECs, in contrast with the pan-cellular distribution of this enzyme within human umbilical vein ECs (HUVECs). Further investigation revealed that that the serum-associated lipids, lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) and platelet activating factor (PAF), were the key molecules that affected eNOS localisation in hESC-ECs cultures. These studies illustrate the feasibility of EC generation from hESCs and the utility of these cells for investigating environmental cues that impact on EC phenotype. We have demonstrated a hitherto unrecognized role for LPA and PAF in the regulation of eNOS subcellular localization.     

Volunteer Bias in Recruitment,Retention, and Blood Sample Donation in a Randomised Controlled Trial Involving Mothers and Their Children at Six Months and Two Years: A Longitudinal Analysis

Background

The vulnerability of clinical trials to volunteer bias is under-reported. Volunteer bias is systematic error due to differences between those who choose to participate in studies and those who do not.

Methods and Results

This paper extends the applications of the concept of volunteer bias by using data from a trial of probiotic supplementation for childhood atopy in healthy dyads to explore 1) differences between a) trial participants and aggregated data from publicly available databases b) participants and non-participants as the trial progressed 2) impact on trial findings of weighting data according to deprivation (Townsend) fifths in the sample and target populations. 1) a) Recruits (n = 454) were less deprived than the target population, matched for area of residence and delivery dates (n = 6,893) (mean [SD] deprivation scores 0.09[4.21] and 0.79[4.08], t = 3.44, df = 511, p<0.001). b) i)As the trial progressed, representation of the most deprived decreased. These participants and smokers were less likely to be retained at 6 months (n = 430[95%]) (OR 0.29,0.13–0.67 and 0.20,0.09–0.46), and 2 years (n = 380[84%]) (aOR 0.68,0.50–0.93 and 0.55,0.28–1.09), and consent to infant blood sample donation (n = 220[48%]) (aOR 0.72,0.57–0.92 and 0.43,0.22–0.83). ii)Mothers interested in probiotics or research or reporting infants’ adverse events or rashes were more likely to attend research clinics and consent to skin-prick testing. Mothers participating to help children were more likely to consent to infant blood sample donation. 2) In one trial outcome, atopic eczema, the intervention had a positive effect only in the over-represented, least deprived group. Here, data weighting attenuated risk reduction from 6.9%(0.9–13.1%) to 4.6%(−1.4–+10.5%), and OR from 0.40(0.18–0.91) to 0.56(0.26–1.21). Other findings were unchanged.

Conclusions

Potential for volunteer bias intensified during the trial, due to non-participation of the most deprived and smokers. However, these were not the only predictors of non-participation. Data weighting quantified volunteer bias and modified one important trial outcome.

Trial Registration

This randomised, double blind, parallel group, placebo controlled trial is registered with the International Standard Randomised Controlled Trials Register, Number (ISRCTN) 26287422. Registered title: Probiotics in the prevention of atopy in infants and children.     

A Genome-Wide Scan for Breast Cancer Risk Haplotypes among African American Women

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) simultaneously investigating hundreds of thousands of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) have become a powerful tool in the investigation of new disease susceptibility loci. Haplotypes are sometimes thought to be superior to SNPs and are promising in genetic association analyses. The application of genome-wide haplotype analysis, however, is hindered by the complexity of haplotypes themselves and sophistication in computation. We systematically analyzed the haplotype effects for breast cancer risk among 5,761 African American women (3,016 cases and 2,745 controls) using a sliding window approach on the genome-wide scale. Three regions on chromosomes 1, 4 and 18 exhibited moderate haplotype effects. Furthermore, among 21 breast cancer susceptibility loci previously established in European populations, 10p15 and 14q24 are likely to harbor novel haplotype effects. We also proposed a heuristic of determining the significance level and the effective number of independent tests by the permutation analysis on chromosome 22 data. It suggests that the effective number was approximately half of the total (7,794 out of 15,645), thus the half number could serve as a quick reference to evaluating genome-wide significance if a similar sliding window approach of haplotype analysis is adopted in similar populations using similar genotype density.     

Hydrophylita (Lutzimicron) emporos Shih & Polaszek (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) from Taiwan,Parasitising Eggs,and Phoretic on Adults,of the Damselfly Psolodesmus mandarinus mandarinus (Zygoptera: Calopterygidae)

Hydrophylita emporos n. sp. reared from eggs of Psolodesmus mandarinus mandarinus McLachlan (Zygoptera: Calopterygidae) in Taiwan is described. This is the first species of Hydrophylita to be described from the Old World, and the first record of phoresy in the genus. Adult females were observed aggregating at the base of the female damselfly’s abdomen. When the damselfly begins ovipositing, females move to the tip of the abdomen, enter the water and quickly locate eggs for parasitising. The article contains links to video footage of this process.