Fusarium moniliforme and its fumonisins have been shown to be carcinogenic in lab animals and have been linked to high incidences of human esophageal cancer. In this study we report the dimorphic fungus characteristic of fumonisin-producing strains of F. moniliforme from foodstuffs in Zhejiang, China. All of the twenty strains of F. moniliforme shown produce fumonisin B1 475.9-6322.2 micrograms/g in corn medium. These strains of F. moniliforme form yeast-like colonies in Sabouraud's agar plates contained 9% NaCl at 37 degrees C incubator and shows mostly budding reproduction. In blood agar plates these strains of F. moniliforme appear grass-green haemolytic reactions. This is the first report that yeast-like growth, dimorphic pathogenic fungus feature is found in F. moniliforme. These results suggest that it is also important to program epidemiological surveys of F. moniliforme as a primary pathogenic fungus, while proceeding to produce mycotoxins of F. moniliforme in food hygiene.

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PubMedDate not supplied

Somatostatin-positive neurons in the different parts of the brain in normal aging and Alzheimer's disease.

The present work seeks to verify if there is a difference in the number of somatostatin neurons in the cortex between normal aging versus Alzheimer patients and secondly if any of these neurons are dying via apoptosis. In our specimens, immuno-histochemistry revealed that there was no difference in the number of somatostatin neurons between the two study groups. Moreover, of the apoptotic cells that were found using the terminal dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) method, none contained somatostatin. It is concluded that while there is apoptotic cell death in normal aging and Alzheimer's disease, it does not seem to occur in neurons which contain somatostatin in any significant amount.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Occupational risk of acquiring HIV infection through needlestick injuries.

Accidental needlestick exposures occur frequently among hospital personnel and account for most incidents of percutaneous injuries. Even if universal precautions were followed routinely, it is unlikely that multiple needlestick exposures could be avoided completely. Despite the likelihood of persons incurring multiple needlestick exposures, relatively little information is available on the cumulative risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection for health care workers attending unrecognized HIV-infected patients. A quantitative method to estimate annual cumulative risk from multiple exposures is offered, and the risk of HIV infection is estimated by use of a probability model for health care workers in both hospital and emergency department settings.

HIV Infections↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Hyperactivity and learning deficits in transgenic mice bearing a human mutant thyroid hormone beta1 receptor gene.

Resistance to thyroid hormone (RTH) is a human syndrome mapped to the thyroid receptor beta (TRbeta) gene on chromosome 3, representing a mutation of the ligand-binding domain of the TRbeta gene. The syndrome is characterized by reduced tissue responsiveness to thyroid hormone and elevated serum levels of thyroid hormones. A common behavioral phenotype associated with RTH is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). To test the hypothesis that RTH produces attention deficits and/or hyperactivity, transgenic mice expressing a mutant TRbeta gene were generated. The present experiment tested RTH transgenic mice from the PV kindred on behavioral tasks relevant to the primary features of ADHD: hyperactivity, sustained attention (vigilance), learning, and impulsivity. Male transgenic mice showed elevated locomotor activity in an open field compared to male wild-type littermate controls. Both male and female transgenic mice exhibited impaired learning of an autoshaping task, compared to wild-type controls. On a vigilance task in an operant chamber, there were no differences between transgenics and controls on the proportion of hits, response latency, or duration of stimulus tolerated. On an operant go/no-go task measuring sustained attention and impulsivity, there were no differences between controls and transgenics. These results indicate that transgenic mice bearing a mutant human TRbeta gene demonstrate several behavioral characteristics of ADHD and may serve a valuable heuristic role in elucidating possible candidate genes in converging pathways for other causes of ADHD.

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