Clinical diagnosis of crusted scabies: Reverse focal pattern of plantar keratoderma

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Traction haemostasis

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Microbial Contamination of Smartphone Touchscreens of Italian University Students

Abstract

In this study, the microbial contamination of smartphones from Italian University students was analyzed. A total of 100 smartphones classified as low, medium, and high emission were examined. Bacteria were isolated on elective and selective media and identified by biochemical tests. The mean values of cfu/cm² were 0.79 ± 0.01; in particular, a mean of 1.21 ± 0.12, 0.77 ± 0.1 and 0.40 ± 0.10 cfu/cm² was present on smartphones at low, medium, and high emission, respectively. The vast majority of identified microorganisms came from human skin, mainly Staphylococci, together with Gram-negative and positive bacilli and yeasts. Moreover, the main isolated species and their mixture were exposed for 3 h to turned on and off smartphones to evaluate the effect of the electromagnetic wave emission on the bacterial cultivability, viability, morphology, and genotypic profile in respect to the unexposed broth cultures. A reduction rate of bacterial growth of 79 and 46% was observed in Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis broth cultures, respectively, in the presence of turned on smartphone. No differences in viability were observed in all detected conditions. Small colony variants and some differences in DNA fingerprinting were detected on bacteria when the smartphones were turned on in respect to the other conditions. The colonization of smartphones was limited to human skin microorganisms that can acquire phenotype and genotypic modifications when exposed to microwave emissions.

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Effects of Phenolic Compounds on Growth of Colletotrichum spp. In Vitro

Abstract

Colletotrichum acutatum is responsible for anthracnose fruit rot, one of the most devastating diseases in strawberry. Phenolic compounds have been described as contributors to anthracnose resistance in strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa, Duch.). Six isolates of Colletotrichum acutatum and four isolates of three other Colletotrichum species, C. gloeosporioides, C. fragariae, and C. graminicola, associated with disease symptoms were investigated in this study. The potential inhibitory effect of phenolic acids (gallic acid, caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, ferulic acid, trans-cinnamic acid, p-coumaric acid, salicylic acid), flavonoids (catechin, quercetin, naringenin), and ellagic acid, which are naturally found in strawberry, were screened against two different spore suspension concentrations of the Colletotrichum isolates at 5, 10, 50 mM in vitro. Among the phenolic acids and flavonoids tested in this study, only trans-cinnamic acid, ferulic acid, and p-coumaric acid inhibited fungal growth. The inhibitory effects were concentration-dependent but also varied with the spore suspension concentration of the isolates. The results demonstrated that trans-cinnamic acid had the greatest inhibitory effect on all Colletotrichum spp. isolates tested.

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β2 Adrenergic-Neurotrophin Feedforward Loop Promotes Pancreatic Cancer

Publication date: Available online 14 December 2017
Source:Cancer Cell
Author(s): Bernhard W. Renz, Ryota Takahashi, Takayuki Tanaka, Marina Macchini, Yoku Hayakawa, Zahra Dantes, H. Carlo Maurer, Xiaowei Chen, Zhengyu Jiang, C. Benedikt Westphalen, Matthias Ilmer, Giovanni Valenti, Sarajo K. Mohanta, Andreas J.R. Habenicht, Moritz Middelhoff, Timothy Chu, Karan Nagar, Yagnesh Tailor, Riccardo Casadei, Mariacristina Di Marco, Axel Kleespies, Richard A. Friedman, Helen Remotti, Maximilian Reichert, Daniel L. Worthley, Jens Neumann, Jens Werner, Alina C. Iuga, Kenneth P. Olive, Timothy C. Wang
Catecholamines stimulate epithelial proliferation, but the role of sympathetic nerve signaling in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is poorly understood. Catecholamines promoted ADRB2-dependent PDAC development, nerve growth factor (NGF) secretion, and pancreatic nerve density. Pancreatic Ngf overexpression accelerated tumor development in LSL-Kras^+/G12D;Pdx1-Cre (KC) mice. ADRB2 blockade together with gemcitabine reduced NGF expression and nerve density, and increased survival of LSL-Kras^+/G12D;LSL-Trp53^+/R172H;Pdx1-Cre (KPC) mice. Therapy with a Trk inhibitor together with gemcitabine also increased survival of KPC mice. Analysis of PDAC patient cohorts revealed a correlation between brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression, nerve density, and increased survival of patients on nonselective β-blockers. These findings suggest that catecholamines drive a feedforward loop, whereby upregulation of neurotrophins increases sympathetic innervation and local norepinephrine accumulation.

Graphical abstract

Teaser

Renz et al. show that catecholamines promote ADRB2-dependent pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma development and secretion of neurotrophins (NT), which in turn promote tumor innervation leading to increased NE and tumor growth. Blockade of ADRB2 or NT receptors improves gemcitabine's therapeutic effect.


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Dual Targeting of Oncogenic Activation and Inflammatory Signaling Increases Therapeutic Efficacy in Myeloproliferative Neoplasms

Publication date: Available online 14 December 2017
Source:Cancer Cell
Author(s): Maria Kleppe, Richard Koche, Lihua Zou, Peter van Galen, Corinne E. Hill, Lauren Dong, Sofie De Groote, Efthymia Papalexi, Amritha V. Hanasoge Somasundara, Keith Cordner, Matthew Keller, Noushin Farnoud, Juan Medina, Erin McGovern, Jaime Reyes, Justin Roberts, Matthew Witkins, Franck Rapaport, Julie Teruya-Feldstein, Jun Qi, Raajit Rampal, Bradley E. Bernstein, James E. Bradner, Ross L. Levine
Genetic and functional studies underscore the central role of JAK/STAT signaling in myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). However, the mechanisms that mediate transformation in MPNs are not fully delineated, and clinically utilized JAK inhibitors have limited ability to reduce disease burden or reverse myelofibrosis. Here we show that MPN progenitor cells are characterized by marked alterations in gene regulation through differential enhancer utilization, and identify nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) signaling as a key pathway activated in malignant and non-malignant cells in MPN. Inhibition of BET bromodomain proteins attenuated NF-κB signaling and reduced cytokine production in vivo. Most importantly, combined JAK/BET inhibition resulted in a marked reduction in the serum levels of inflammatory cytokines, reduced disease burden, and reversed bone marrow fibrosis in vivo.

Graphical abstract

Teaser

Kleppe et al. show that aberrant JAK2 signaling in myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) leads to chromatin changes that promote NF-κB signaling. BET inhibitors reduce NF-κB-induced inflammation and bone marrow fibrosis in MPN models, and combination treatment with BET and JAK inhibitors shows improved efficacy.


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Movement Disorders: Volume 32, Number 12, December 2017

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