Capability of Secale montanum trusted for phytoremediation of lead and cadmium in soils amended with nano-silica and municipal solid waste compost

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the capability of Secale montanum trusted for phytoremediation of contaminated soils with lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd). To conduct this study, soil samples were taken from contaminated rangelands soils around National Lead & Zinc Factory, Zanjan, Iran. In this study, which was performed in a greenhouse, after preparing the pot and treating soils with nano-silica (NS) and municipal solid waste compost (MSWC) amendments, 20 Secale seeds were cultured in each pot. The translocation factor (TF), the bio-concentration factor (BCF), and remediation factor (RF) were calculated to determine the phytoremediation capability of Secale. Six months after establishment, plant organs were harvested and Pb and Cd concentrations were measured in shoot and roots of Secale. For statistical analysis and to compare the obtained means, ANOVA and Tukey's tests were performed, respectively. The pot experiment results showed that Pb uptake and accumulation by roots of S. montanum were highest in pots amended with NS500. In comparison, Pb concentration in shoots of Secale was highest in pots amended with MSWC 2%. In general, it seems that NS500 and MSWC 2% help phytoremediation capability of Secale in the Pb-contaminated soils.

DFD-01 Reduces Transepidermal Water Loss and Improves Skin Hydration and Flexibility

Abstract

Introduction

In plaque psoriasis, the benefit of topical steroids is well established. The vehicle formulation of topical steroids may also provide benefit in addition to the effects of the steroid itself. DFD-01 (betamethasone dipropionate spray, 0.05%) is a formulation composed of a topical steroid in an emollient-like vehicle that enhances penetration to the target site of inflammation in the skin. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of DFD-01 and its vehicle on skin hydration and barrier function in compromised skin and to evaluate its effect on flexibility in healthy skin.

Methods

Eighteen healthy white volunteers were enrolled in each of two studies. In Study 1, dry shaving of volar forearms created a compromised skin barrier, through which transepidermal water loss (TEWL) was measured using an evaporimeter. Capacitance, a measure of epidermal hydration, was also measured at baseline and at 1, 2 and 4 h after application of DFD-01 or its vehicle formulation. In Study 2, intact skin flexibility was tested with a cutometer before and at 1, 2 and 4 h after application of DFD-01 or vehicle.

Results

In Study 1, both DFD-01 and its vehicle were effective at reducing TEWL through the compromised stratum corneum. Capacitance measurements confirmed this finding; razor-chafed skin treated with either DFD-01 or vehicle exhibited levels of skin hydration similar to unshaved control skin. Study 2 found softening and greater flexibility of normal skin treated with either DFD-01 or vehicle compared with nontreated control skin samples.

Conclusions

These tests suggest that the DFD-01 formulation and its vehicle are each effective at retaining moisture within a damaged skin barrier and for softening and increasing the flexibility of intact skin.

Funding

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories.

Extent and consequences of inadequate disease control among adults with a history of moderate to severe atopic dermatitis

Abstract

Since control of atopic dermatitis (AD) remains challenging but has not been adequately characterized, the objective of this study was to characterize disease control among patients with a history of moderate to severe AD. Data were from the 2014 Adelphi US AD Disease Specific Programme, a cross-sectional survey of physicians (n = 202) and their patients with history of moderate to severe AD (n = 1064, 54% female, 75% white, mean age 40 years). Inadequately controlled AD as rated by the physician was defined as currently flaring; deteriorating/changeable AD; or physician dissatisfaction with current control. The overall inadequate control rate was 58.7% (n = 625), which increased with current AD severity and was observed in 53.4% and 83.4% of patients receiving immunosuppressants and systemic corticosteroids, respectively. Relative to controls, inadequately controlled patients had poorer disease-specific quality of life, higher level of work impairment, greater itch and sleep interference with daily living (all P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed factors significantly associated with inadequate control (all P < 0.05), including Hispanic race, symptoms on the head/neck or lower limbs, itch and sleep interference with daily living. A limitation of the study was reliance on accuracy of reporting, potential selection bias and cross-sectional study design. In summary, there was a high rate and substantial impact of physician-rated inadequately controlled disease among patients with a history of moderate to severe AD, suggesting the need for more effective therapies.

Utility of Gram staining for diagnosis of Malassezia folliculitis

Abstract

Malassezia folliculitis (MalF) mimics acne vulgaris and bacterial folliculitis in clinical presentations. The role of Gram staining in rapid diagnosis of MalF has not been well studied. In our study, 32 patients were included to investigate the utility of Gram staining for MalF diagnosis. The final diagnoses of MalF were determined according to clinical presentation, pathological result and treatment response to antifungal agents. Our results show that the sensitivity and specificity of Gram staining are 84.6% and 100%, respectively. In conclusion, Gram staining is a rapid, non-invasive, sensitive and specific method for MalF diagnosis.

Keratosis follicularis squamosa (Dohi) successfully treated with benzoyl peroxide 2.5% gel

Issue Information - TOC

Teaching & Learning Tips 2: Cognitive load theory

Abstract

Challenge: Dermatology trainees include medical students, residents, and fellows. Variability in level of experience and background knowledge can make clinical teaching challenging. Research also shows novices have different ways of thinking than experts, which must be acknowledged in the preceptor-trainee interaction for optimal teaching and learning to occur. Herein we explore how "cognitive load" varies with learner level and how reducing cognitive load can enhance learning, especially for novice learners.

Sequence variants in nine different genes underlying rare skin disorders in 10 consanguineous families

Abstract

Background

Genodermatoses represent genetic anomalies of skin tissues including hair follicles, sebaceous glands, eccrine glands, nails, and teeth. Ten consanguineous families segregating various genodermatosis phenotypes were investigated in the present study.

Methods

Homozygosity mapping, exome, and Sanger sequencing were employed to search for the disease-causing variants in the 10 families.

Results

Exome sequencing identified seven homozygous sequence variants in different families, including: c.27delT in FERMT1; c.836delA in ABHD5; c.2453C>T in ERCC5; c.5314C>T in COL7A1; c.1630C>T in ALOXE3; c.502C>T in PPOX; and c.10G>T in ALDH3A2. Sanger sequencing revealed three homozygous variants: c.1718 + 2A>G in FERMT1; c.10459A>T in FLG; and c.92delT in the KRT14 genes as the underlying genetic cause of skin phenotypes.

Conclusion

This study supports the use of exome sequencing as a powerful, efficient tool for identifying genes that underlie rare monogenic skin disorders.

Evaluation of the serum zinc level in adult patients with melasma: Is there a relationship with serum zinc deficiency and melasma?

Summary

Background

Melasma is a common acquired hypermelanosis of sun-exposed skin, particularly on the face, which presents as symmetric, light- to gray-brown-colored macules and patches. There are several studies of serum zinc levels in cutaneous disorders. So far, no studies have been carried out to assess the serum zinc level in patients with melasma. The aim of this study is to determine the serum zinc level in patients with melasma compared to healthy subjects.

Materials and methods

A total of 118 patients with melasma and 118 healthy controls were enrolled in this prospective cross-sectional study. The two groups were matched for age and sex. Atomic absorption spectrophotometry was used to measure serum zinc levels. The statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software.

Results

The mean serum level of zinc in melasma patients and controls was 77.4±23.2 μg/dL and 82.2±23.9 μg/dL, respectively (P-value=.0001). Serum zinc deficiency was found in 45.8% and 23.7% of melasma patients and control subjects, respectively. A positive family history of melasma in first-degree relatives was present in 46 (39%) of the cases, and a history of taking oral contraceptive pill was found in 95 (81%) of women with melasma. The aggravating factors for melasma were stated as: sun exposure (11.1%), pregnancy (15.3%), nutrition (2.5%), oral contraceptive pills (18.6%), and emotional stress (5.9%). The malar and centrofacial patterns were seen in 3.4% and 72% of cases, respectively, whereas 24.6% of the patients had both centrofacial distribution and malar distribution, and there was no patient with mandibular pattern. Among patients with melasma, 20.3% had thyroid dysfunction, while in the control subjects, 8.4% had thyroid dysfunction (P=.001).

Conclusion

There is a significant relationship between low levels of zinc and melasma. Zinc deficiency may be involved in the pathogenesis of melasma. Also, treatment with oral zinc supplements can be tried in these patients to see the outcome. However, to make recommendations on screening for zinc deficiency in patients with melasma, future research of good methodological quality is needed.

Characterization of sweat induced with pilocarpine, physical exercise, and collected passively by metabolomic analysis

Abstract

Background/purpose

The elimination of the pain associated with needle picking is a strong motivation for the development of clinical non-invasive diagnostic methods. Sweat has been described as an alternative biological sample that may have a direct relation to the plasma composition.

Materials and methods

In this study, analysis of sweat of human volunteers obtained by induction with pilocarpine is compared with sweat samples obtained by physical exercise and by passive collection along 7 hours. The sweat samples have been analyzed by 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Results

A range of 34 different metabolites has been detected in sweat samples, including lactate, several amino acids, pyroglutamate, and urocanate. Most of the metabolites identified were quantified. The majority of the amino acids detected in sweat seem to have origin in the epidermis surface. No significant differences in sweat samples from female and male were observed by 1H NMR metabolomic analysis.

Conclusions

Principal component analysis (PCA) shows that both physical exercise and pilocarpine methods seem to be equally reproducible methods in terms of sweat metabolite composition presenting better repeatability than natural sweat collection. Nevertheless, this difference is mainly originated from amino acids with origin from the skin surface.

Influences of age, ethnic group, and skin sites on a provisory skin marking, experimentally induced, in vivo

Abstract

Background

To study capacity of skin to being imprinted by a marking head rapidly applied (10 seconds) onto the skin under a standardized pressure (15 kPa).

Material and Methods

Referential photographs of skin markings, resulting from different times of application serve at grading the extent of skin imprints. The imprinting tool, equipped with 5 linear bulbs of different sizes but same thickness (1 mm), was applied onto the cheeks of 641 women of different ages (18-80 years) of 3 different ethnic groups. In the cohort of 198 Caucasian women, the marking head was pressed onto 3 different sites (outer arm, cheek, and dorsal forearm) and the kinetics of skin recovery from cheek marking was recorded on a smaller and younger part of this Caucasian cohort, ie, 141 Caucasian women, aged 18-59 years.

Results

The recorded intensities of skin markings were found highly correlated with age in all 3 studied ethnic groups (Chinese, African-American, and Caucasian). Caucasian women seem more sensitive to the marking and the kinetics of recovery from such imprint was found highly dependent from its intensity, ie, the higher the grades, the slower the recovery. In Caucasian women, intensities were different between skin sites, where arm showed higher resistance to marking. Possible impact of photo-aging on the decreased skin resistance to such provoked deformation is likely of minor amplitude, as compared to the one induced by chronological aging.

Conclusion

This method offers a new vision on skin aging, in its variable response to a standard deformation that appears mostly driven by chronological aging.

Mumps, Measles, and Rubella Vaccine for the Treatment of a Recalcitrant Subungual Wart

Publication date: Available online 12 November 2017
Source:Actas Dermo-Sifiliográficas (English Edition)
Author(s): C. Morales-Raya, L. Maroñas-Jiménez, R. Aragón-Miguel, C. Postigo-Llorente

Algorithmic Decision-Making Based on Machine Learning from Big Data: Can Transparency Restore Accountability?

Abstract

Decision-making assisted by algorithms developed by machine learning is increasingly determining our lives. Unfortunately, full opacity about the process is the norm. Would transparency contribute to restoring accountability for such systems as is often maintained? Several objections to full transparency are examined: the loss of privacy when datasets become public, the perverse effects of disclosure of the very algorithms themselves ("gaming the system" in particular), the potential loss of companies' competitive edge, and the limited gains in answerability to be expected since sophisticated algorithms usually are inherently opaque. It is concluded that, at least presently, full transparency for oversight bodies alone is the only feasible option; extending it to the public at large is normally not advisable. Moreover, it is argued that algorithmic decisions preferably should become more understandable; to that effect, the models of machine learning to be employed should either be interpreted ex post or be interpretable by design ex ante.

In vivo assessment of polydatin, a natural polyphenol compound, on arsenic-induced free radical overproduction, gene expression, and genotoxicity

Abstract

Arsenic (As) is a well-known contaminant of global groundwater. Its exposure causes several hazardous effects on animals and human via oxidative stress. The present study examined the effect of polydatin (PD) on free radical overproduction in rats exposed to As. Thirty-five male rats randomly allocated into five equal groups. To the control group, physiological saline was given orally and to the second group only 100 mg/L As was given by drinking water for 60 days. The other groups were treated with As (100 mg/L) and PD orally at 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg/day, respectively. Treatment with As enhanced malondialdehyde level but decreased glutathione level in blood, liver, kidney, brain, lung, and heart of rats. Also, As decreased superoxide dismutase and catalase activities of erythrocyte, liver, kidney, brain, lung, and heart in rats. Furthermore, As treatment gave rise to increased DNA damage and gene expressions of interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), nuclear factor kappa beta (NFκB), p53, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in the lung, brain, kidney, and liver. However, treatment of PD ameliorated As-exposed lipid peroxidation, antioxidant enzymes activities, DNA damage, gene expressions, and histopathological changes in tissues. In conclusion, PD has a dose-dependent protective effect on lipid peroxidation and antioxidant defense mechanism in rats against As exposure.

Heavy metal distribution in Tiaoxi River’s sediment

Abstract

According to current study, seven surface sediments and three sediment cores were collected from three typical areas of Tiaoxi River, which were living area, agricultural area, and industrial area. The water quantity into the Lake Taihu from the Tiaoxi River accounted for almost one third of the total water quantity by all rivers into the Lake Taihu. To study geochemical features and pollution history of heavy metals in three typical areas of Tiaoxi River, total content and chemical fractionations of Cu, Pb, Cd, Cr, Mn, Zn, Fe, As, and Hg were analyzed for surface and core sediments using the speciation extraction procedure, proposed by the Commission of the European Communities Bureau of Reference (BCR), together with grain size and organic carbon measurements. The results showed that the concentration of nine heavy metals and the variation characteristics of Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Cr are different among five cores, which has shown that the river responses to natural and anthropogenic activities were dissimilar in various areas. BCR sequential extraction showed contents of Cr, Fe, and Cu were dominated in the remaining parts. Non-residual fractions for Zn and Mn contained major portions. Based on RAC (risk assessment core), the risk of Mn was high to very high in the three typical areas, and the risk of Zn was medium in the three typical areas.

Impact of on-site sanitation systems on groundwater sources in a coastal aquifer in Chennai, India

Abstract

On-site sanitation is the most preferred mode of sanitation due to expensive off-site sanitation. The increasing population especially in the peri-urban areas has led to increasing use of on-site sanitation systems in India. However, the habitations in the vicinity of these systems do not have centralised water supply and are dependent on groundwater sources. However, there is concern about leaching of faecal coliforms and nitrate from the septic tanks to the underlying aquifer. The present study is attempted at two sites in the coastal city of Chennai where on-site sanitation is prevailing. The sample locations (16 nos.) are selected in such a way that groundwater sources are situated in the vicinity of on-site sanitation systems. The groundwater sources are the bore wells installed by the private agencies. It is observed that parameters considered key parameters to study the impact of the on-site sanitation systems, namely Na2⁺, Cl⁻, NO₃⁻, faecal coliform and total dissolved solids, exceed the concentration limits recommended by the Bureau of Indian Standards. The piper diagram analysis identifies that the predominant cations and anions are respectively Na⁺, and Cl⁻, SO₄⁻ and HCO₃⁻.The Gibbs plot shows ground water quality is dominated by the evaporation process in both the seasons. The Cl/HCO₃ ratio in many samples confirms the seawater intrusion in the study area. Elevated concentrations of faecal coliforms in all the samples (16 nos.) confirm the significant amount of groundwater pollution from the on-site sanitation systems. It is desired that policy planners and implementation agencies should undertake detailed scientific and hydrogeological studies of the region in order to examine the feasibility of implementing on-site sanitation systems.

Distinctive accumulation patterns of heavy metals in Sardinella aurita (Clupeidae) and Mugil cephalus (Mugilidae) tissues

Abstract

The present study assessed the impact of metal pollution on two widely consumed types of wild fish Sardinella aurita and Mugil cephalus captured from the Gulf of Gabes (Tunisia) which is currently experiencing acute environmental problems. A study of the Cd, Cu, Zn, and Pb levels present in the studied site and vital in fish tissues (gills, liver, gonad, and muscle) was undertaken. As expected, muscle, liver, and gonad tissues contained the highest concentrations of all metals except for Zn. The metal levels showed a significant variation of accumulation between species with overall effects of the tested tissues. In addition, the results address the significant effects of the species/tissue interaction. Liver sections showed structural alterations consisting mainly of a significant desquamation of the tissue, a fibroblast proliferation, and a lipid droplet accumulation in both species. Additionally, the presence of skeletal abnormalities affecting the vertebral column was observed in the M. cephalus specimens. As a whole, our data provide the first evidence of distinctive metal accumulation patterns in vital fish tissues as well as the interspecific difference that can be correlated with the biological habits of the two selected models, S. aurita and M. cephalus, known respectively as pelagic and benthopelagic species.

Granuloma Annulare Possibly Secondary to Oral Treatment With Topiramate

Publication date: Available online 11 November 2017
Source:Actas Dermo-Sifiliográficas (English Edition)
Author(s): S. Heras-González, T. Piqueres-Zubiaurre, A. Martínez de Salinas-Quintana, R. González-Pérez

Microscopy in addition to chemical analyses and ecotoxicological assays for the environmental hazard assessment of coal tar-polluted soils

Abstract

Chemical analysis of soils contaminated with coal tar indicated that most organic compounds, and particularly PAHs, were contained in coarser particles (> 200 μm). Microscopic observations of this fraction, carried out on polished sections, reported the presence of organic particles in addition to mineral particles. Some organic particles had a very low porosity, and their microstructure did not evolve during biotreatment. Alternatively, other organic particles had a large porosity composed of an interconnected pore network that was open to coal tar surface and thus in contact with soil water. Interconnected porosity seemed to increase during biotreatment in relation to a decrease in the amount of organic compounds. The amount of open porosity in contact with soil water was expected to increase the desorption rate of PAHs. Consequently, the environmental hazard could depend on the amount of open porosity in addition to chemical properties of organic particles, such as their concentration in PAHs. Thus, microscopy can be complementary to chemical analysis and ecotoxicological assays to assess the best strategy for remediation but also to follow the advancement of a biotreatment.

Malathion-induced spermatozoal oxidative damage and alterations in sperm quality of endangered trout Salmo coruhensis

Abstract

The use of pesticides has been increased along with increasing the farming activities and has caused environmental impacts deleteriously. In particular, non-target organisms including fish can be affected by toxic effects of pesticides. Therefore, the impacts of malathion (MTN) on oxidative stress and sperm quality were investigated in vitro. The MTN concentrations used on this study were 0 (control), 75, 100, and 125 μg/L. Lipid peroxidation (MDA), non-enzymatic (GSH), and enzymatic (SOD, GSH-Px, and CAT) activities in spermatozoa were examined for determination of oxidative stress status. Our findings showed that motility rate and period of sperm cells significantly decreased with exposure to MTN. Biochemical assays revealed that CAT activity and levels of MDA, GSH increased in spermatozoa based on concentration while activity of GSH-Px and SOD decreased. Consequently, spermatozoa were highly sensitive to MTN exposure. MTN has disruptive effects on sperm quality and caused to oxidative stress in spermatozoa.