Primary chemical and physical characterization of acute toxic components in wastewaters.

A chemical and physical primary characterization work sheet was developed based on the Microtox test, a bacterial bioluminescence system used as a rapid estimate of acute aquatic toxic effects. Measurements of the variation in light reduction upon different pretreatments provided information about the chemical and physical properties of the main toxic component(s) in test wastewater samples. This primary characterization of a wastewater sample was performed within 1 day. Tests of pure toxic chemical compounds and wastewaters with known and unknown primary toxicants are presented. Outlines to the chemical analysis and identification of toxic components may be deduced from the primary characterization. The provisional characterization may also provide information on wastewater treatment techniques.     

Altered thalamic membrane phospholipids in schizophrenia: a postmortem study.

BACKGROUND: Membrane lipids are important mediators of neuronal function. In a postmortem study, we measured membrane lipid components in the left thalamus of schizophrenic patients. This region might play an important role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and has not been studied thus far with respect to its membrane lipid composition. METHODS: The study included 18 chronic schizophrenic patients and 23 healthy control subjects. Using lipid extraction and thin-layer chromatography, we measured membrane phospholipids, galactocerebrosides 1 and 2, and sulfatides in thalamus homogenate. RESULTS: The main membrane phospholipid phosphatidylcholine and the major myelin membrane components sphingomyelin and galactocerebrosides 1 and 2 were found to be decreased in schizophrenic patients. In contrast, phosphatidylserine was increased. These lipid contents did not correlate with postmortem intervals and medication doses. There was no difference in the membrane phospholipids lysophosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol, and phosphatidylglycerol or in sulfatides. CONCLUSIONS: Our results confirm findings of magnetic resonance imaging, postmortem, and gene expression studies. They support the notion of an increased phospholipid breakdown in schizophrenia as a sign for decreased myelination and oligodendrocyte dysfunction.     

Different effects of smoking or use of smokeless tobacco on platelet MAO-B activity in type 1 alcohol-dependent subjects

BACKGROUND: Low platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO)-B activity has been proposed as a marker for alcohol-dependence. Findings are, however, contradictory and the influence of confounding factors have been thoroughly investigated. Thus, it is now well established that cigarette smoking reduces platelet MAO-activity. However, not much is known about the influence of smokeless tobacco, i.e. snuff or chewing tobacco, on platelet MAO-B activity. The aim of the present study was to compare platelet MAO-B activity in type 1 alcohol-dependent subjects with concomitant use of smokeless tobacco (i.e. snuff users), use of smoking tobacco (i.e. cigarette smokers), and in those without any tobacco use. METHODS: Platelet MAO-B activity was examined in three groups of alcohol-dependent subjects: snuff users (n = 14), cigarette smokers (n = 33), and non-tobacco users (N = 46). RESULTS: In the alcohol-dependent subjects concomitant cigarette smokers, but not snuff users, were found to have significantly lower platelet MAO-B activity as compared to non-tobacco users (platelet MAO-B activity 4.0 +/- 1.5, 5.1 +/- 1.5 and 5.0 +/- 1.9 microkat/kg protein, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The findings in the present study suggests that in the alcohol-dependent subjects the concomitant use of smokeless tobacco, i.e. snuffing, does not have an inhibitory effect on platelet MAO-B activity. This may have implications for future research. Thus, alcohol-dependent subjects with concomitant tobacco use should be grouped separately according to the form of the tobacco used, i.e. smoking or smokeless tobacco.     

On the evolutionary history of Ephedra: Cretaceous fossils and extant molecules

Gnetales comprise three unusual genera of seed plants, Ephedra, Gnetum, and Welwitschia. Their extraordinary morphological diversity suggests that they are survivors of an ancient, more diverse group. Gnetalean antiquity is also supported by fossil data. Dispersed "ephedroid" (polyplicate) pollen first appeared in the Permian >250 million years ago (Myr), and a few megafossils document the presence of gnetalean features in the early Cretaceous. The Cretaceous welwitschioid seedling Cratonia cotyledon dates the split between Gnetum and Welwitschia to before 110 Myr. Ages and character evolution of modern diversity are, however, controversial, and, based on molecular data, it has recently been suggested that Ephedra is very young, only 8-32 Myr. Here, we present data on the evolutionary history of Ephedra. Fossil seeds from Buarcos, Portugal, unequivocally link one type of Cretaceous polyplicate pollen to Ephedra and document that plants with unique characters, including the peculiar naked male gametophyte, were established already in the Early Cretaceous. Clades in our molecular phylogeny of extant species correspond to geographical regions, with African species in a basal grade/clade. The study demonstrates extremely low divergence in both molecular and morphological characters in Ephedra. Features observed in the fossils are present in all major extant clades, showing that modern species have retained unique reproductive characters for >110 million years. A recent origin of modern species of Ephedra would imply that the Cretaceous Ephedra fossils discussed here were members of widespread, now extinct sister lineage(s), and that no morphological innovations characterized the second diversification.     

A novel physiological testing device to study knee biomechanics in vitro

Background

To properly study knee kinetics, kinematics and the effects of injury and surgical treatment in vitro, the knee should be constrained as little as possible, while imposing physiological loads. A novel dynamic biomechanical knee system (BKS) is presented here. The aim of this study was to test the feasibility and reproducibility of the system and demonstrate its features with an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) lesion model.

Monocyte and microglial activation in patients with mood-stabilized bipolar disorder

Background

Bipolar disorder is associated with medical comorbidities that have been linked to systemic inflammatory mechanisms. There is, however, limited evidence supporting a role of neuroinflammation in bipolar disorder. Here we tested whether microglial activation and associated tissue remodelling processes are related to bipolar disorder by analyzing markers in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum from patients and healthy controls.

Methods

Serum was sampled from euthymic patients with bipolar disorder and healthy controls, and CSF was sampled from a large subset of these individuals. The levels of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), YKL-40, soluble cluster of differentiation 14 (sCD14), tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-2 (TIMP-2), were measured, and we adjusted comparisons between patients and controls for confounding factors.

Results

We obtained serum samples from 221 patients and 112 controls and CSF samples from 125 patients and 87 controls. We found increased CSF levels of MCP-1 and YKL-40 and increased serum levels of sCD14 and YKL-40 in patients compared with controls; these differences remained after controlling for confounding factors, such as age, sex, smoking, blood–CSF barrier function, acute-phase proteins and body mass index. The CSF levels of MCP-1 and YKL-40 correlated with the serum levels, whereas the differences between patients and controls in CSF levels of MCP-1 and YKL-40 were independent of serum levels.

Limitations

The cross-sectional study design precludes conclusions about causality.

Conclusion

Our results suggest that both neuroinflammatory and systemic inflammatory processes are involved in the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder. Importantly, markers of immunological processes in the brain were independent of peripheral immunological activity.     

Human papillomavirus type 197 is commonly present in skin tumors

Non‐melanoma skin cancers commonly contain Human Papillomavirus (HPV), but the types found have varied depending on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primer systems used. Whole genome amplified DNA (not amplified by any specific PCR primers) from 91 skin lesions [41 squamous cell skin carcinomas (SCCs), 8 keratoacanthomas, 22 actinic keratoses, 3 basal cell carcinomas and 17 SCCs in situ] were sequenced. All samples were sequenced both at 160 Mb and 1.8 Gb sequencing depth per sample. The sequences from 10 different HPVs in 47/91 specimens were found. Sequences represented four established HPV types (HPV types 16, 22, 120, 124), two previously known putative types (present in GenBank) and four previously unknown HPV sequences (new putative types). The most commonly detected virus was cloned, sequenced and designated as HPV197. Type‐specific real‐time PCR detected HPV197 in 34/91 specimens. For comparison, a pool of the same samples after general primer PCR amplification was also sequenced. This revealed 40 different HPVs, but only two HPV types were detected both with sequencing without prior PCR and with sequencing PCR amplicons, suggesting that sequencing without prior PCR gives a more unbiased representation of the HPVs present. In summary, it was found that HPV can be sequenced from most skin disease specimens and HPV197 appeared to be the most commonly present virus.     

Erratum to: Long-term results of surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis: a randomised controlled trial

European Spine Journal -     

Comparison of five point-of-care D-dimer assays with the standard laboratory method

Introduction: D‐dimer (DD) assays are effective for the exclusion of deep‐vein thrombosis (DVT), but point‐of‐care (POC) DD assays have not been fully evaluated. Methods: We have compared five POC DD assays (Pathfast, Cardiac, Vidas, Stratus and NycoCard) with our routine DD method (Tinaquant), testing 60 samples from patients with suspected DVT. Results: Using 0.5 μg/mL as a cut‐off value, four samples tested negative with Tinaquant were positive with Pathfast. There were no Tinaquant‐positive samples tested negative with Pathfast, while the overall agreement (k = 0.81) was very good. Four samples were discrepant between Tinaquant and Cardiac (cut‐off, 0.4 μg/mL), while k = 0.72. One of two Tinaquant‐negative samples was shown to be positive for either Vidas (cut‐off, 0.5 μg/mL) or Stratus (cut‐off, 0.4 μg/mL), respectively. The agreement with Tinaquant was excellent for both Vidas (k = 0.92) and Stratus (k = 0.94). Total CV was <10% for all four assays. Eight samples (of 27) were negative with NycoCard although they were positive with Tinaquant, while CV was 41%. Conclusion: Vidas cannot be considered a POC assay because the sample has to be centrifuged before testing. Our findings have also shown that the use of NycoCard is inappropriate. Stratus and Pathfast have a similar analytical profile in comparison with the Tinaquant method. Cardiac is potentially less sensitive but may still be acceptable for use. It seems that the employment of these three assays for rapid bed‐side analysis offers a possibility to adequately rule out DVT in outpatients within minutes after admission.