Chemistry and Toxicology of Major Bioactive Substances in Inocybe Mushrooms

Mushroom poisoning has always been a threat to human health. There are a large number of reports about ingestion of poisonous mushrooms every year around the world. It attracts the attention of researchers, especially in the aspects of toxin composition, toxic mechanism and toxin application in poisonous mushroom. Inocybe is a large genus of mushrooms and contains toxic substances including muscarine, psilocybin, psilocin, aeruginascin, lectins and baeocystin. In order to prevent and remedy mushroom poisoning, it is significant to clarify the toxic effects and mechanisms of these bioactive substances. In this review article, we summarize the chemistry, most known toxic effects and mechanisms of major toxic substances in Inocybe mushrooms, especially muscarine, psilocybin and psilocin. Their available toxicity data (different species, different administration routes) published formerly are also summarized. In addition, the treatment and medical application of these toxic substances in Inocybe mushrooms are also discussed. We hope that this review will help understanding of the chemistry and toxicology of Inocybe mushrooms as well as the potential clinical application of its bioactive substances to benefit human beings.     

Local residence time,residence revolution,and residence volume distributions in twin‐screw extruders

This work was aimed at studying the overall, partial, and local residence time distributions (RTD); overall, partial and local residence revolution distributions (RRD) and overall, partial and local residence volume distributions (RVD) in a co‐rotating twin screw extruder, on the one hand; and establishing the relationships among them, on the other hand. Emphasis was placed on the effects of the type and geometry of mixing elements (a gear block and various types of kneading elements differing in staggering angle) and process parameters on the RTD, RRD and RVD. The overall and partial RTD were directly measured in‐line during the extrusion process and the local ones were calculated by deconvolution based on a statistical theory. The local RTD allowed comparing the mixing performance of mixing elements. Also it was confirmed both experimentally and theoretically that specific throughput, defined as a ratio of throughput (Q) over screw speed (N), controlled all the above three types of residence distributions, be they local, partial or overall. The RRD and RVD do not provide more information on an extrusion process than the corresponding RTD. Rather they are different ways of representing the same phenomena. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 48:19–28, 2008. © 2007 Society of Plastics Engineers     

The effect of alumina particulate morphology on the properties of reinforced poly(propylene) and poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) composites

The effect of alumina particulates on a thermoplastic matrix is investigated, in particular the effect altering the alumina particle size and morphology has on the mechanical properties. Different grades of alumina are used and two thermoplastic matrices; namely poly(propylene) and poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate). Investigations showed that optimum properties were achieved with the alumina of smallest particle size and lowest aspect ratio. Preliminary work has also been performed on the use of silane coupling agents and they have proved effective in increasing the tensile properties of the composites.     

Emotional and sensory focus as mediators of dental pain among patients differing in desired and felt dental control.

Giving patients instructions to focus on sensory (vs emotional) stimuli during a root canal procedure significantly reduced self-reported pain, but only among patients who were classified as having strong desire for control and low felt control in dental situations. Among patients with low felt control and low desire for control, sensory-focus instructions produced greater pain reports than did emotion-focus instructions. Finally, high desire–low felt patients reported higher levels of expected pain before treatment than did other patient subgroups. These data suggested limiting conditions for H. Leventhal's (1982) theory of emotion and supported the idea that desire for control might moderate the effects of perceived control. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Efficacy of a two-component acellular pertussis vaccine in infants

OBJECTIVE: This case-control study investigated the protective efficacy against pertussis of three doses of a two-component acellular pertussis vaccine (manufactured by Biken in Japan) combined with diphtheria and tetanus toxoids (manufactured by Connaught Laboratories in the US) in infants. METHODS: A case-control study was performed in 63 pediatric practices in Germany. Prospective recruitment of 16,780 infants ages 6 to 17 weeks took place between February, 1993, and July, 1994. According to parental choice infants received either Biken acellular pertussis vaccine combined with diphtheria and tetanus toxoids (DTacP) (74.6%) at approximately 2, 4 and 6 months of age, or a licensed German diphtheria-tetanus toxoids-whole cell pertussis vaccine (10.9%), diphtheria-tetanus toxoids vaccine (12.5%) or no vaccine (2.0%). Prospective surveillance of pertussis cases between February, 1993, and May, 1995, was accomplished by culturing all infants < or =2 years of age presenting with cough > or = 7 days. A pertussis case was defined as any cough of 21 days or longer plus a positive Bordetella pertussis culture or household contact exposure. RESULTS: We identified 241 pertussis cases prospectively by 11,017 B. pertussis cultures and 949 controls matched for age were selected from the same pediatric practices. Medical history and demographic and vaccine status data were collected from each case and for four controls. Data were analyzed through conditional logistic regression taking into account individual matching and adjusting for potential confounding variables. DTacP combined with diphtheria and tetanus toxoids vaccine was 82% protective (95% confidence interval, 68 to 90), diphtheria-tetanus toxoids-whole cell pertussis vaccine was 96% protective (95% confidence interval, 78 to 99). Protection against typical B. pertussis infection characterized by paroxysmal cough lasting > or =21 days was 96% (95% confidence interval, 87 to 99) for DTacP and was 97% (95% confidence interval, 79 to 100) for diphtheria-tetanus toxoids-whole cell pertussis vaccine. Adjustment for potentially confounding variables did not change the results significantly. CONCLUSIONS: Three doses of the two-component acellular pertussis vaccine protected infants against pertussis disease during the period before the recommended booster vaccination. For typical pertussis disease as defined by the WHO efficacy was high and similar to that of a licensed German diphtheria-tetanus toxoids-whole cell pertussis vaccine.     

Children's beliefs about drinking

This paper reports the results of a study in which age (grade level), racial/ethnic, and gender differences in beliefs and perceived norms about drinking were examined in a multi-ethnic urban sample of 4th through 7th grade children. Results showed that older children held beliefs and perceived norms that were more favorable toward drinking than younger children. The major difference between older and younger children lay in their differential estimates of the likelihood of certain consequences occurring and not in their evaluation of these consequences of drinking. Further, older children not only displayed less motivation to comply with their parents and greater motivation to comply with their peers, but they also perceived their parents, as well as their peers, as less disapproving of drinking than did younger children. There were few gender or race/ethnicity differences at these ages in children's beliefs and perceived norms about drinking.     

The Co-Culture of Staphylococcal Biofilm and Fibroblast Cell Line: The Correlation of Biological Phenomena with Metabolic NMR1 Footprint

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most prevalent pathogens associated with several types of biofilm-based infections, including infections of chronic wounds. Mature staphylococcal biofilm is extremely hard to eradicate from a wound and displays a high tendency to induce recurring infections. Therefore, in the present study, we aimed to investigate in vitro the interaction between S. aureus biofilm and fibroblast cells searching for metabolites that could be considered as potential biomarkers of critical colonization and infection. Utilizing advanced microscopy and microbiological methods to examine biofilm formation and the staphylococcal infection process, we were able to distinguish 4 phases of biofilm development. The analysis of staphylococcal biofilm influence on the viability of fibroblasts allowed us to pinpoint the moment of critical colonization—12 h post contamination. Based on the obtained model we performed a metabolomics analysis by ¹H NMR spectroscopy to provide new insights into the pathophysiology of infection. We identified a set of metabolites related to the switch to anaerobic metabolism that was characteristic for staphylococcal biofilm co-cultured with fibroblast cells. The data presented in this study may be thus considered a noteworthy but preliminary step in the direction of developing a new, NMR-based tool for rapid diagnosing of infection in a chronic wound.