Subcutaneous zygomycosis due to Saksenaea vasiformis: rapid isolate identification using a modified sporulation technique

Saksenaea vasiformis, a zygomycete belonging to the order Mucorales, is a rare cause of zygomycosis with 17 cases documented world-wide. It usually infects the immunocompromised or traumatized and has a high mortality rate. Because of its failure to sporulate under normal laboratory conditions it may be difficult to identify. We describe here an unusual case report of Saksenaea vasiformis with sporulation and identification within a week using a modified sporulation technique.     

Acute aortic dissection: association with patent ductus arteriosus

The Cuban recombinant vaccine against the hepatitis B virus was applied to a group of individuals over 65 from a geriatric home in Havana City. Dose of 20 ìg were administered within a scheme from 0.1 to 6 months in order to study its immunogenicity, which was evaluated at 2, 7, and 12 months after the first dose. 47.1% of protective titres and geometrical mean of 6.04 UI/L were obtained after 60 days. 100% of seroconversion (UI/L) and seroprotection (10 UI/L) and geometric mean of 136.93 UI/L were obtained when the immune response was evaluated on the 7th month. Finally, after a year, seroconversion and seroprotection were also of 100%, and the geometric mean was of 204.61 UI/L. It was proved the high immunogenic power of this vaccine, which makes it recommendable to protect this age group from the hepatitis B virus.     

Do antral washouts have a place in the current management of chronic sinusitis?

Antral washouts have been widely used in the management of chronic sinusitis. With the advent of modern antibiotics and powerful topical nasal steroids, we sought to establish if a role remains for this procedure. One hundred and fourteen patients with chronic sinusitis were randomised into two groups. Patients in Group A received antral washouts followed by antibiotics and topical nasal steroids. Patients in the Group B received antibiotics and topical nasal steroids alone. In each group 51.6 per cent and 50 per cent of patients respectively improved with treatment. The outcome of treatment is also not influenced by endoscopic abnormality. The difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.86). The study indicates that half of patients with chronic sinusitis will improve with medical treatment but the addition of antral washout confers no additional benefits.     

NMR spectroscopy of human post mortem cerebrospinal fluid: distinction of Alzheimer''s disease from control using pattern recognition and statistics

Mutations of ras oncogenes in 37 human stomach cancers and 13 adenomas were investigated with regard to the histological phenotypes using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), allele-specific oligonucleotide hybridization and/or direct sequencing of the PCR products. The ras mutation was found only in one case (2.7%), the histology of which was poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. We found no mutation in stomach adenomas. The mutation consisted of a guanine-to-adenine transition in the first base of codon 13 of c-Ki-ras which replaced wild-type glycine with serine, indicating that a putative glycine-to-aspartic acid change is not necessarily the critical event for c-Ki-ras gene activation in codon 13. These results further confirm the infrequency of ras mutation in stomach tumors and also suggest that ras mutations are not specific to the differentiated type of stomach cancer.     

Human autoantibodies reveal titin as a chromosomal protein

Assembly of the higher-order structure of mitotic chromosomes is a prerequisite for proper chromosome condensation, segregation and integrity. Understanding the details of this process has been limited because very few proteins involved in the assembly of chromosome structure have been discovered. Using a human autoimmune scleroderma serum that identifies a chromosomal protein in human cells and Drosophila embryos, we cloned the corresponding Drosophila gene that encodes the homologue of vertebrate titin based on protein size, sequence similarity, developmental expression and subcellular localization. Titin is a giant sarcomeric protein responsible for the elasticity of striated muscle that may also function as a molecular scaffold for myofibrillar assembly. Molecular analysis and immunostaining with antibodies to multiple titin epitopes indicates that the chromosomal and muscle forms of titin may vary in their NH2 termini. The identification of titin as a chromosomal component provides a molecular basis for chromosome structure and elasticity.