Leishmaniasis with oral mucosa involvement

doi: 10.1111/j.1741‐2358.2011.00512.x Leishmaniasis with oral mucosa involvement Introduction: The term leishmaniasis comprises a group of diseases caused by different protozoan species of the genus Leishmania. There are three main clinical forms of leishmaniasis: visceral, cutaneous and mucocutaneous. Exclusive involvement of the mucosa is very rare. Objectives: To present a case of mucocutaneous leishmaniasis in an elderly patient, discuss the clinical presentation, diagnostic process and treatment emphasizing the distinctions from other granulomatous lesions. Case report: A 71‐year‐old male presenting with a symptomatic lesion on the hard and soft palate, which had developed over a period of 6 months was evaluated. The oral exam revealed a lesion with multiple ulcerated nodules on the hard and soft palate extending to the oropharynx. The diagnostic hypothesis was chronic infectious disease (paracoccidioidomycose, tuberculosis and leishmaniasis) or squamous cell carcinoma. Histopathological, histochemical and immunohistochemical analysis were performed. A chest x‐ray revealed a normal pulmonary pattern. The Montenegro skin test was positive. The definitive diagnosis was leishmaniasis with exclusive oral manifestation and the patient was treated with liposomal amphotericin. Conclusions: Localized oral mucosa leishmaniasis is an uncommon event in an immunocompetent patient. Dentists play an important role in the diagnosis of oral leishmaniasis, which has systemic repercussions.     

Decidual spiral artery remodeling during early post-implantation period in mice: investigation of associations with decidual uNK cells and invasive trophoblast

Circumferential remodeling of spiral arteries (SAs) during pregnancy is crucial for regulating maternal blood flow into the placenta and clinically important. However its mechanism is still ill defined in humans and mice. In mice, several important aspects of decidual SA remodeling (SAR) remain unexplored and were addressed here using morphometrics by examining SAs within the mesometrial half of the decidua basalis between embryonic day 6.5 (E6.5) and midgestation (E10.5). The data presented here provide evidence that supports the following novel conclusions about SAR: (a) SAs (defined by their muscular walls) appear between E6.5 and E7.5, undergo 'outward hypertrophic' SAR (SA lumen widening with muscular wall thickening) during the E7.5-E8.5 and E9.5-E10.5 periods, and 'outward hypotrophic' SAR (SA lumen widening with muscular wall thinning) during the E8.5-E9.5 interval. (b) 'Outward hypotrophic' SAR is associated with decreases in the overall number, but not density, of SA media nuclei, suggesting loss of SA muscular wall cells. Proximity of placenta-derived invasive trophoblast to SAs appears not be involved in SAR, as these cells were undetectable in the mesometrial region of decidua basalis throughout the E6.5-E10.5 period. Although the maternally derived lymphocytes of the decidual uterine natural killer (uNK) cell type are required for decidual SAR, the timing of this, the uNK cell parameter involved and the type of SAR they influence have not been adequately explored. Evidence is presented here that not all decidual SAR during this period is uNK cell-dependent. Rather, the data suggest that uNKs only influence 'outward hypotrophic' SAR during the E8.5-E9.5 period. Evidence is presented that the uNK cell parameter involved is the attainment of a certain maturation state (based on uNK cell size) by SA wall uNKs of the Dolichos biflorus agglutinin (DBA) lectin-positive uNK cell subset. This work also suggests that the previously shown loss of contractile mural cell character from the SA wall does not depend on either uNKs or trophoblast proximity. The novel implications of the present data for early mouse pregnancy are discussed.     

Longitudinal Intergenerational Birth Cohort Designs: A Systematic Review of Australian and New Zealand Studies

Background

The longitudinal birth cohort design has yielded a substantial contribution to knowledge of child health and development. The last full review in New Zealand and Australia in 2004 identified 13 studies. Since then, birth cohort designs continue to be an important tool in understanding how intrauterine, infant and childhood development affect long-term health and well-being. This updated review in a defined geographical area was conducted to better understand the factors associated with successful quality and productivity, and greater scientific and policy contribution and scope.

Methods

We adopted the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) approach, searching PubMed, Scopus, Cinahl, Medline, Science Direct and ProQuest between 1963 and 2013. Experts were consulted regarding further studies. Five inclusion criteria were used: (1) have longitudinally tracked a birth cohort, (2) have collected data on the child and at least one parent or caregiver (3) be based in Australia or New Zealand, (4) be empirical in design, and (5) have been published in English.

Results

10665 records were initially retrieved from which 23 birth cohort studies met the selection criteria. Together these studies recruited 91,196 participants, with 38,600 mothers, 14,206 fathers and 38,390 live births. Seventeen studies were located in Australia and six in New Zealand. Research questions initially focused on the perinatal period, but as studies matured, longer-term effects and outcomes were examined.

Conclusions

This review demonstrates the significant yield from this effort both in terms of scientific discovery and social policy impact. Further opportunities have been recognised with cross-study collaboration and pooling of data between established and newer studies and international studies to investigate global health determinants.     

Baselines for Lifetime of Organic Solar Cells

The process of accurately gauging lifetime improvements in organic photovoltaics (OPVs) or other similar emerging technologies, such as perovskites solar cells is still a major challenge. The presented work is part of a larger effort of developing a worldwide database of lifetimes that can help establishing reference baselines of stability performance for OPVs and other emerging PV technologies, which can then be utilized for pass‐fail testing standards and predicting tools. The study constitutes scanning of literature articles related to stability data of OPVs, reported until mid‐2015 and collecting the reported data into a database. A generic lifetime marker is utilized for rating the stability of various reported devices. The collected data is combined with an earlier developed and reported database, which was based on articles reported until mid‐2013. The extended database is utilized for establishing the baselines of lifetime for OPVs tested under different conditions. The work also provides the recent progress in stability of unencapsulated OPVs with different architectures, as well as presents the updated diagram of the reported record lifetimes of OPVs. The presented work is another step forward towards the development of pass‐fail testing standards and lifetime prediction tools for emerging PV technologies.     

Export pathway selectivity of Escherichia coli twin arginine translocation signal peptides

The Escherichia coli genome encodes at least 29 putative signal peptides containing a twin arginine motif characteristic of proteins exported via the twin arginine translocation (Tat) pathway. Fusions of the putative Tat signal peptides plus six to eight amino acids of the mature proteins to three reporter proteins (short-lived green fluorescent protein, maltose-binding protein (MBP), and alkaline phosphatase) and also data from the cell localization of epitope-tagged full-length proteins were employed to determine the ability of the 29 signal peptides to direct export through the Tat pathway, through the general secretory pathway (Sec), or through both. 27/29 putative signal peptides could export one or more reporter proteins through Tat. Of these, 11 signal peptides displayed Tat specificity in that they could not direct the export of Sec-only reporter proteins. The rest (16/27) were promiscuous and were capable of directing export of the appropriate reporter either via Tat (green fluorescent protein, MBP) or via Sec (PhoA, MBP). Mutations that conferred a >or=+1 charge to the N terminus of the mature protein abolished or drastically reduced routing through the Sec pathway without affecting the ability to export via the Tat pathway. These experiments demonstrate that the charge of the mature protein N terminus affects export promiscuity, independent of the effect of the folding state of the mature protein.     

Genetic analysis of G protein-coupled receptor expression in Escherichia coli: inhibitory role of DnaJ on the membrane integration of the human central cannabinoid receptor

The overexpression of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and of many other heterologous membrane proteins in simple microbial hosts, such as the bacterium Escherichia coli, often results in protein mistargeting, aggregation into inclusion bodies or cytoplasmic degradation. Furthermore, membrane protein production is very frequently accompanied by severe cell toxicity. In this work, we have employed a genetic strategy to isolate E. coli mutants that produce markedly increased amounts of the human central cannabinoid receptor (CB1), a pharmacologically significant GPCR that expresses very poorly in wild-type E. coli. By utilizing a CB1 fusion with the green fluorescent protein (GFP) and fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), we screened an E. coli transposon library and identified an insertion in dnaJ that resulted in a large increase in CB1-GFP fluorescence and a dramatic enhancement in bacterial production of membrane-integrated CB1. Furthermore, the dnaJ::Tn5 inactivation suppressed the severe cytotoxicity associated with CB1 production. This revealed an unexpected inhibitory role of the chaperone/ co-chaperone DnaJ in the protein folding or membrane insertion of bacterially produced CB1. Our strategy can be easily adapted to identify expression bottlenecks for different GPCRs or any other integral membrane protein, provide useful and unanticipated mechanistic insights, and assist in the construction of genetically engineered E. coli strains for efficient heterologous membrane protein production.     

An internal carbon source for improving biological nutrient removal

This study investigates the potential of mechanically disintegrated surplus activated sludge (SAS) to be used as an internal carbon source for biological nutrient removal (BNR) using two laboratory tests. In the phosphorus release test, the addition of disintegrated sludge as a carbon source was able to enhance phosphate (PO(4)-P) release by 14.9 mg l(-1) PO(4)-P when compared with acetate (7.9 mg l(-1) PO(4)-P), considering the 4.3 mg l(-1) PO(4)-P released in the control vessel, without carbon addition. Similarly, in the denitrification test, the nitrate (NO(3)-N) consumption rate was improved after the addition of disintegrated sludge (14.9 mg NO(3)-Ng(-1)VSS h(-1)) compared with acetate (7.0 mg NO(3)-Ng(-1)VSS h(-1)), taking in consideration the rate obtained in the control vessel (6.9 mg NO(3)-Ng(-1)VSS h(-1)). Two to five minutes of SAS disintegration time in the deflaker (2300-6200 kJ kg(-1) total solids) is recommended for this application.