Metallothionein cDNA cloning, metallothionein expression and heavy metals in Scapharca inaequivalvis along the Northern Adriatic coast of Italy

The aims of this work were: (1) identification of the metallothionein (MT) gene coding sequence in order to prepare an MT probe in Scapharca inaequivalvis and (2) quantification of Cd, Zn, Cu, MT and MTmRNA expression in tissues of molluscs from three areas along the Northern Adriatic coast of Italy. By RT-PCR we cloned the MTcDNA of S. inaequivalvis using the RNA extracted from hepatopancreas of specimens exposed to Cd. The 61 amino acids sequence of MT was deduced and was 70% identical to S. brughtonii MT. Cd concentration in molluscs from the wild was significantly higher in gills from specimens sampled near Ravenna. Zn concentration in the same tissue was significantly higher in Ravenna with respect to Porto Garibaldi while no difference with respect to Cesenatico was detected. Cu levels showed significant differences among sites in gills and mantle whereas values in the hepatopancreas were similar in all sites. The low MT levels were indicative of a low metal exposure; few differences were found in MTmRNA concentrations, which resulted significantly higher in hepatopancreas of molluscs from Porto Garibaldi.     

A randomized, prospective, double-blind study on the efficacy of dead sea salt nasal irrigations

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this randomized, prospective, double-blind study was to compare nasal irrigation using hypertonic Dead Sea salt (DSS) solution with hypertonic saline in the treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis and improvement of quality of life (QOL). METHODS: With Institutional Review Board approval, 42 adults seeking treatment for chronic rhinosinusitis in a tertiary university-affiliated medical center were studied. After history and endonasal examination, computed tomography imaging, and QOL survey (Standardized Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire [RQLQ(S)]), patients were randomized to self-administered hypertonic saline spray and irrigation twice daily or hypertonic DSS spray and irrigation. Patients were reassessed weekly and at 1 month. RESULTS: Both groups had similar symptoms and RQLQ(S) scores before treatment and had significant improvement after treatment. However, the DSS patients had significantly better symptom relief and only the DSS group showed improved RQLQ(S) scores. CONCLUSIONS: We present a short-term study providing level I evidence on the superiority of DSS over saline nasal irrigation for treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis.     

海战伤大鼠伤后早期体温及糖耐量变化特点研究

目的 通过观测海战伤大鼠伤后12h复温过程及糖耐量的变化规律,探讨海战伤对复温及血糖代谢的影响.方法 成年雄性SD大鼠,30只,随机分为5组,每组6只.麻醉对照组（C组）腹膜切开缝合组（L组）、腹部开放伤45min组（L45组）、腹部开放合并林格氏液浸泡45min组（L＋R45组）及腹部,开放合并海水浸泡45min组（L＋S45组）,在伤后12h内不同时间点进行体温测量,伤后12h行腹腔注射糖耐量实验（IPGTT）,随后计算各组IPGTT血糖值曲线下面积（AUC）.结果 术前各组大鼠体温、糖耐量无明显差异.术后L＋S45组术后即刻体温最低,复温速度最慢,12h时AUC最高.结论 海战伤能够导致严重低体温以及糖代谢紊乱,可能是海战伤预后不良原因之一.早期封闭伤口、脱离低温高渗环境、改善血糖代谢可能提高海战伤救治效果.     

La maladie de l’oreille du surfeur : l’imaginaire du soi naturalisé à partir d’une pathologie due à l’immersion en milieu aquatique

GoalsStarting from the example of the exostosis of the external auditory canal, a modification due to the impact of the sea on the body, this article considers how this pathology is experienced and interpreted by those who contract it. After defining “surfer's ear” from an anthropo-medical point of view, we will address the meaning that individuals give to it, such as the belief of becoming fish.MethodologyOver the course of several years of field observation and interviews, mainly on the beaches of the Atlantic Pyrenees, we were able to compare different individuals’ discourses about how the surfing body, immersed in nature, is perceived and experienced.ResultsThis helps to understand thoughts that can link people to the ocean, and more widely to nature, in our contemporary Western society. Thus, penetrating and being penetrated by this living water implies a sensual relationship with the environment, in a search both for erotic pleasure and an enveloping maternal security, lost from birth.DiscussionThis relationship to the environment implements a sensory ecology where the human becomes nature, and nature takes human form. This is an occasion for the reinvention of links, not in an opposition between human and non-human, but by reminding humans that they can find balance in abandoning themselves to nature.ConclusionPathologies of the ear define an imaginary clinic of the body. The body is thus rendered unfit by the physical sensations of marine pathology but, above all, by the belief in a psychic envelopment in water.     

2013-2018年山东省食品镉污染状况调查与分析

目的 了解2013-2018年山东省食品中镉污染状况。方法 2013-2018年在山东省范围内应用完全随机采样法采集市售18类28 867份食品,按照国家标准操作程序进行实验室检测。结果 镉含量合格率为98.85%（28 535/28 867）。镉含量较高的食品为藻类、水产品、坚果及籽类和食用菌,均值分别为0.7085 mg/kg、0.2656 mg/kg、0.0633 mg/kg和0.0633 mg/kg;镉含量较低的食品为饮料酒类、乳类和水果类,均值分别为0.0021 mg/kg、0.0027 mg/kg和0.0030 mg/kg。408份海蟹的镉检出率为92.89%（379/408）,超标率为42.65%（174/408）,蟹膏、蟹黄镉超标率分别为90.24%、82.86%,最高超标38.80倍。结论 山东省市售食品镉超标率较低。水产品特别是海蟹的蟹膏、蟹黄部分超标严重,建议居民谨慎食用海蟹蟹膏、蟹黄。     

The onset of phagocytosis and identity in the embryo of Lytechinus variegatus

The stage at which phagocytosis can first be characterized in the embryos of the sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus was investigated by microinjecting the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae into its blastocoele. Secondary mesenchyme cells were first observed phagocytosing during the mid-gastrula stage. Subsequently, as the incubation time increased, the number of yeast per phagocyte rose. Using vital fluorescence dyes, stained free yeast were seen in the blastocoele during late-gastrula stage, indicating cell death and suggesting specific factors, such as proteases, in the extracellular environment. The starting point of phagocytic activity reflects a biological capacity for distinguishing between self and nonself. Thus, the phagocytosis of yeast by mesenchymal cells beginning in the mid-gastrula stage in L. variegatus may indicate the moment of acquisition of ‘identity’ (self) in this organism. Comparative aspects of embryo and adult phagocytes in L. variegatus are also discussed.     

Ecocultural basis of cognition: farmers and fishermen are more holistic than herders

It has been proposed that social interdependence fosters holistic cognition, that is, a tendency to attend to the broad perceptual and cognitive field, rather than to a focal object and its properties, and a tendency to reason in terms of relationships and similarities, rather than rules and categories. This hypothesis has been supported mostly by demonstrations showing that East Asians, who are relatively interdependent, reason and perceive in a more holistic fashion than do Westerners. We examined holistic cognitive tendencies in attention, categorization, and reasoning in three types of communities that belong to the same national, geographic, ethnic, and linguistic regions and yet vary in their degree of social interdependence: farming, fishing, and herding communities in Turkey's eastern Black Sea region. As predicted, members of farming and fishing communities, which emphasize harmonious social interdependence, exhibited greater holistic tendencies than members of herding communities, which emphasize individual decision making and foster social independence. Our findings have implications for how ecocultural factors may have lasting consequences on important aspects of cognition.     

Diversity of yeasts associated with the sea surface microlayer and underlying water along the northern coast of Taiwan

Yeast communities inhabiting the sea surface microlayer (SSML) on the northern coast of Taiwan were examined using a cultivation method and compared with those inhabiting the underlying water (UW) at a 50-cm depth. Culturable yeasts were recovered from the SSML and UW samples collected in the morning during 4 field campaigns, and 420 strains were isolated. The 420 isolates were grouped into 43 species using a polyphasic molecular approach, including sequence analysis of the 26S rDNA D1/D2 domain and 5.8S-ITS region. From the SSML samples, 12 genera and 39 species, including 7 new species of Cryptococcus sp. (1), Candida spp. (4), and Rhodotorula spp. (2), were isolated. From the UW samples, 10 genera and 21 species, including one new species of Rhodotorula sp. (1), were isolated. Rhodotorula mucilaginosa was the most abundant species present in the yeast community in SSML (37.6%) and UW (21.6%) samples. Basidiomycetous yeasts (63.6%) and pigmented yeasts (64.5%) comprised the major yeast population. The yeast community in the SSML had a higher species number and abundance than the UW. Moreover, although the majority of yeast community species were from the SSML, individual species distribution in the SSML was unequal.