Cerebrospinal fluid Th1/Th2 cytokine profiles in children with enterovirus 71‐associated meningoencephalitis

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) infection can cause severe neurological complications including meningoencephalitis (ME) in some patients with hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD). However, to date no studies have reported changes in cytokine concentrations and their correlations with clinical variables in patients with ME following EV71 infection. In this study, responses of Th1/Th2 cytokine, including IL‐2, IL‐4, IL‐6, IL‐10, TNF‐α and IFN‐γ, in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from patients with EV71‐related HFMD with ME and patients with febrile convulsions (FC) were analyzed using cytometric bead array technology. It was found that CSF IL‐6 and IFN‐γ concentrations were significantly higher in patients with EV71‐related ME than in those with FC. Additionally, both CSF IL‐6 and IFN‐γ concentrations were correlated with CSF cytology, fever duration and duration of hospital stay. More interestingly, a positive correlation between CSF IL‐6 and IFN‐γ concentrations was observed. Finally, receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed that when a cutoff value of 9.40 pg/mL was set for IL‐6, the sensitivity and specificity were 84.5% and 85.5%, respectively, for discriminating EV71‐related ME from FC. In conclusion, IL‐6 and IFN‐γ may be associated with EV71‐induced neuropathology.     

A prospective epidemiologic survey on the prevalence of onychomycosis and dermatophytosis in male boarding school residents

Dermatophyte infections and onychomycosis are not usually serious in term of mortality; however, they may have significant clinical consequences such as secondary bacterial infections, chronicity, therapeutic difficulties and esthetic disfigurement in addition to serving as a reservoir of infection. Our aim was to determine the prevalence of onychomycosis and dermatophytosis in a selected high risk group, consisting of male boarding school residents. A total of 410 males inhabiting two houses were evaluated by two dermatologists. In cases of clinical suspicion, appropriate samples were taken for direct microscopy and culture. The results showed that the prevalences of tinea pedis (athletes foot) and pure pedal onychomycosis were 51.5% (n:211) and 4.4% (n:18), respectively. Thirty cases of those with tinea pedis were complicated by toenail onychomycosis. Tinea cruris was present only in five cases with tinea pedis. Interestingly 71.1% of those with tinea pedis and 45.8% of those with onychomycosis, associated with or without tinea pedis were unaware of their diseases. The most common fungal isolate was Trichophyton rubrum (76.6%) followed by Epidermophyton floccosum (11.6%), T. interdigitale (10.55%). Approximately one third of the cultures from nail specimens yielded pure growths of nondermatophyte moulds or Candida albicans. In conclusion, we found unexpectedly high prevalences of occult athletes foot and toenail onychomycosis among the male residents of student houses. Our results indicate that health-care workers of such common boarding-houses should be more aware of clinical and subclinical dermatophyte infections and onychomycosis, and have more active approaches to educational measures and management strategies to prevent further infections. To our knowledge, this is the first epidemiologic study on the prevalences of dermatophytosis and onychomycosis in boarding-houses from Turkey.     

太行山南麓坡面土壤碳氮空间变异性及其影响因素

太行山南麓是我国华北平原的重要生态屏障,研究该区域土壤养分的空间变异性对土石山区林业生态建设具有重要意义.本研究以太行山南麓典型坡面(人工林坡地和自然荒坡地)为对象,采用网格法布设采样点,运用经典统计学、地统计学和约束性排序相结合的方法对土壤养分的空间变异性进行分析.结果 表明:1)太行山南麓的土壤全碳(TC)含量为6...     

Testing Reliability of Body Size Measurements Using Hind Foot Length in Roe Deer

Abstract: We quantified the repeatability of >900 individual measures of hind foot length from 2 French populations of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) monitored by capture-recapture. We found a high repeatability (i.e., high intra-class correlation, 0.76, 95% CI = 0.72–0.83 and 0.92, 95% CI = 0.91–0.95) in both populations. We also found that inexperienced observers reached a high level of intra- (1.00, 95% CI = 0.96–1.00) and inter-observer repeatability (0.99, 95% CI = 0.98–1.00) when measuring hind foot length of harvested animals with a tool specifically designed for this task. Managers should pay particular attention to limit measurement errors because unreliable measurements require an increased sample size to assess individual variation and can mask biological patterns.     

Effects of method of straw disposal and depth of cultivation on populations of Fusarium spp. in soil and on brown foot rot in continuous winter wheat

Soil samples (0–10 cm depth) taken from plots of continuous winter wheat at intervals between January 1993 and July 1996 were dilution-plated on PCNB agar to identify and enumerate colony-forming units (cfus) of Fusarium spp. Cfus of the main wheat pathogen, F. culmorum, were more numerous in soil from plots that were shallow-cultivated to 10 cm after each harvest than in those that were ploughed. They were also usually more numerous in plots in which straw had been chopped and incorporated (by shallow cultivation or ploughing) than in those in which straw had been burnt. Increasing amounts of straw tended to increase the number of cfus. Deeper sampling (15–25 cm) showed that ploughing resulted in a more even, but diluted, distribution of cfus down the soil profile. Populations of some commonly found species that are not pathogenic on wheat {F. oxysporum, F. equiseti, F. flocciferum and F. merismoides) were sometimes also affected by straw disposal or cultivation treatments. Alternative methods of estimating population densities (baiting soil with wheat kernels or wheat seedlings, or plating-out straw fragments) showed generally similar effects of treatments on populations of F. culmorum; the relative merits of the methods are considered. Large differences in population densities of all species occurred within and between seasons. The smallest populations were found in January 1995 but, in the case of F. culmorum, they increased to relatively large numbers in July 1995. The summer of 1995 was warm and dry and especially favourable for development of fusarium foot rot. Severe disease occurred only in this year and was less frequent after ploughing than after tine-cultivation but more frequent after straw burning than after straw incorporation. The implications of these observations for understanding the role of propagules of F. culmorum in soil as inoculum for foot rot are discussed.     

The sporophyte-gametophyte junction in the moss Acaulon muticum (Pottiaceae): EARLY STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

The sporophyte-gametophyte junction in Acaulon muticum is composed of the sporophyte foot, the surrounding gametophyte vaginula, and an intervening placental space. At an early stage of development the foot has a large basal cell, characterized by extensive wall ingrowths beginning at the lowermost tip of the basal cell and extending along its tangential walls. Sporophyte cells in contact with the basal cell develop ingrowths on their outer tangential walls and on radial walls in contact with the basal cell. All sporophyte cells at this stage are characterized by numerous mitochondria, strands of endoplasmic reticulum, and dictyosomes, particularly in the cytoplasm adjacent to areas of extensive wall development. Plastids typically contain abundant starch reserves. As development proceeds, wall ingrowths become more extensive on all walls in the sporophyte foot but are never found on the upper wall of the basal cell in contact with the remainder of the sporophyte. Plastids in the foot contain fewer starch reserves later in development. Wall ingrowths are not visible in the cells of the gametophyte vaginula until well after extensive development has occurred in the sporophyte foot. Stacks or layers of endoplasmic reticulum are characteristic of the cells of the gametophyte vaginula, along with numerous mitochondria, dictyosomes, and well-developed plastids. Starch reserves typically are less abundant in cells of the gametophyte. The early development of extensive wall elaborations in the cells of the sporophyte foot, and particularly in the basal cell, may favor the rapid movement of water and nutrients from the gametophyte into the sporophyte at a time when rapid development in this minute, ephemeral moss is critical.     

Patient-specific modelling of the foot: automated hexahedral meshing of the bones

Subject-specific finite element modelling is a powerful tool for carrying out controlled investigations of the effects of geometric and material property differences on performance and injury risk. Unfortunately, the creation of suitable meshes for these models is a challenging and time-intensive task. This paper presents an automated method of generating fully hexahedral meshes of the bones of the feet which requires only surface representations as inputs. The method is outlined and example meshes, using two human feet and the foot of a Japanese macaque, are given to demonstrate its flexibility. Mesh quality is also evaluated for the calcaneus, first metatarsal, navicular and talus. Streamlining the generation of finite element meshes of the foot will ease investigations into the patient-specific biomechanics of injury.