פרסומים

OBJECTIVE: Abnormal healing after neonatal ritual circumcision is a source of significant concern to patients' parents and their caregivers. This report presents a series of male infants who underwent ritual circumcision and subsequently developed obliteration of the normally distinct structure of the corona. METHODS: We report a case series of infants recruited from the community and a medical center. The compulsory inclusion criterion was absence of the normal landmarks of the glans penis with confirmed integrity of normal male genitalia. Illustrative cases are presented. The possible pathogenetic mechanisms leading to this condition are discussed. A literature search was conducted to discern whether this phenomenon has ever been previously reported. RESULTS: The eight cases we diagnosed were all otherwise normal. In one case, where we discovered use of an active substance on the circumcision wound, the condition persisted for an extended period but it resolved completely by 15 months of age. In all but one of the subjects the condition was transient and resolved over time. We could not reveal any previous publication on this topic. DISCUSSION: This noteworthy complication of circumcision raises debate whether it was previously existent, though unreported or a novel phenomenon. We postulate that contributing factors leading to tissue injury may possibly be injured tissue exposure to irritating substances, vascular compromise, the technique chosen to control bleeding or an idiosyncratic response to tissue trauma. More attention to the occurrence of this phenomenon is compulsory to collect more data and learn of its incidence and eventual impact. CONCLUSIONS: Obliteration of the corona, constitutes an unreported, rare albeit significant complication following circumcision. We recommend refraining from potentially inciting factors leading to this undesirable condition. More extensive experience with this disorder may enable us to employ preventive measures to eliminate it or at least provide reassurance wherever possible.

Drawing on the prevailing theoretical paradigm of post-Holocaustresearch, which defines primarily the post-traumatic subject positionsof victim and perpetrator, this paper focuses on the Chinese cinema’srepresentation of collaboration during the Cultural Revolution (CR). Itdiscusses the issue of betrayal inside the real or symbolic family, whichis still unexplored and even overlooked by Chinese cinema research.Furthermore, it analyzes the prolonged and profound identity crisisgenerated by the CR as presented by twenty-first century blockbuster(e.g. Zhang Yimou’s Coming Home) and independent films (e.g. WuWenguang’s 1966: My Time in the Red Guards and Investigating MyFather) especially through the figure of the collaborator and thedestructive dynamics of betrayal. In these films, the process I termthe ‘doubling paradigm,’ and its ‘doubling effect’ enable the spectatorto come to terms with the dimensions of pain and loss caused bycollaboration, and the ethical repercussions of revolutionary morality.Following an analysis of the four forms of collaboration which emergefrom this corpus, this discussion points to the potential contribution ofChinese ‘cinema of betrayal’ to the undertheorized subject position ofthe collaborator, beyond the Chinese case.

Drawing on the prevailing theoretical paradigm of post-Holocaustresearch, which defines primarily the post-traumatic subject positionsof victim and perpetrator, this paper focuses on the Chinese cinema’srepresentation of collaboration during the Cultural Revolution (CR). Itdiscusses the issue of betrayal inside the real or symbolic family, whichis still unexplored and even overlooked by Chinese cinema research.Furthermore, it analyzes the prolonged and profound identity crisisgenerated by the CR as presented by twenty-first century blockbuster(e.g. Zhang Yimou’s Coming Home) and independent films (e.g. WuWenguang’s 1966: My Time in the Red Guards and Investigating MyFather) especially through the figure of the collaborator and thedestructive dynamics of betrayal. In these films, the process I termthe ‘doubling paradigm,’ and its ‘doubling effect’ enable the spectatorto come to terms with the dimensions of pain and loss caused bycollaboration, and the ethical repercussions of revolutionary morality.Following an analysis of the four forms of collaboration which emergefrom this corpus, this discussion points to the potential contribution ofChinese ‘cinema of betrayal’ to the undertheorized subject position ofthe collaborator, beyond the Chinese case.

In the standard Bayesian framework the data are assumed to be generated by a distribution parametrized by ¸ in a parameter space , over which a prior distribution is defined. A Bayesian statistician quantifies the belief that the true parameter is ¸_0 in by its posterior probability given the observed data. We investigate the behavior of the posterior belief in ¸_0 when the data are generated under some parameter ¸_1, which may or may not be be the same as ¸_0. Starting from stochastic orders, specifically, likelihood ratio dominance, that obtain for resulting distributions of posteriors, we consider monotonicity properties of the posterior probabilities as a function of the sample size when data arrive sequentially. While the ¸_0-posterior is monotonically increasing (i.e., it is a submartingale) when the data are generated under that same ¸_0, it need not be monotonically decreasing in general, not even in terms of its overall expectation, when the data are generated under a different ¸_1; in fact, it may keep going up and down many times. In the framework of simple iid coin tosses, we show that under certain conditions the overall expected posterior of ¸_0 eventually becomes monotonically decreasing when the data are generated under ¸_1 ¸_0. Moreover, we prove that when the prior is uniform this expected posterior is a log-concave function of the sample size, by developing an inequality that is related to Tur¡n's inequality for Legendre polynomials.

Building damage probabilities are invaluable for assessing short-term losses from natural hazards. In many countries however, the individual building level data required for assessing reliable damage are usually unavailable. This paper shows how the post-processing of aggregate HAZUS earthquake damage assessments can yield building-level damage probabilities. On the basis of three plausible scenarios for Northern Israel, we generate and visualize a building-level combined damage probability index. We use the tools of exploratory spatial data analysis to purge any causal influences in the spatial pattern of these calculated damage probabilities. The costs and benefits of our approach are discussed.

Plant HAK/KUP/KT family members function as plasma membrane (PM) H+/K+ symporters and may modulate chemiosmotically-driven polar auxin transport (PAT). Here, we show that inactivation of OsHAK5, a rice K+ transporter gene, decreased rootward and shootward PAT, tiller number, and the length of both lateral roots and root hairs, while OsHAK5 overexpression increased PAT, tiller number, and root hair length, irrespective of the K+ supply. Inhibitors of ATP-binding-cassette type-B transporters, NPA and BUM, abolished the OsHAK5-overexpression effect on PAT. The mechanistic basis of these changes included the OsHAK5-mediated decrease of transmembrane potential (depolarization), increase of extracellular pH, and increase of PM-ATPase activity. These findings highlight the dual roles of OsHAK5 in altering cellular chemiosmotic gradients (generated continuously by PM H+-ATPase) and regulating ATP-dependent auxin transport. Both functions may underlie the prominent effect of OsHAK5 on rice architecture, which may be exploited in the future to increase crop yield via genetic manipulations.

Infections caused by antibiotic-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus have reached epidemic proportions globally. Our previous study showed antimicrobial effects of anandamide (AEA) and arachidonoyl serine (AraS) against methicillin (MET)-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains, proposing the therapeutic potential of these endocannabinoid/endocannabinoid-like (EC/EC-like) agents for the treatment of MRSA. Here, we investigated the potential synergism of combinations of AEA and AraS with different types of antibiotics against MRSA grown under planktonic growth or biofilm formation. The most effective combinations under planktonic conditions were mixtures of AEA and ampicillin (AMP), and of AraS and gentamicin (GEN). The combination with the highest synergy in the biofilm formation against all tested bacterial strains was AEA and MET. Moreover, the combination of AraS and MET synergistically caused default of biofilm formation. Slime production of MRSA was also dramatically impaired by AEA or AraS combined with MET. Our data suggest the novel potential activity of combinations of EC/EC-like agents and antibiotics in the prevention of MRSA biofilm formation. Copyright: © 2020 Feldman et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Infections caused by antibiotic-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus have reached epidemic proportions globally. Our previous study showed antimicrobial effects of anandamide (AEA) and arachidonoyl serine (AraS) against methicillin (MET)-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains, proposing the therapeutic potential of these endocannabinoid/endocannabinoid-like (EC/EC-like) agents for the treatment of MRSA. Here, we investigated the potential synergism of combinations of AEA and AraS with different types of antibiotics against MRSA grown under planktonic growth or biofilm formation. The most effective combinations under planktonic conditions were mixtures of AEA and ampicillin (AMP), and of AraS and gentamicin (GEN). The combination with the highest synergy in the biofilm formation against all tested bacterial strains was AEA and MET. Moreover, the combination of AraS and MET synergistically caused default of biofilm formation. Slime production of MRSA was also dramatically impaired by AEA or AraS combined with MET. Our data suggest the novel potential activity of combinations of EC/EC-like agents and antibiotics in the prevention of MRSA biofilm formation.

Infections caused by antibiotic-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus have reached epidemic proportions globally. Our previous study showed antimicrobial effects of anandamide (AEA) and arachidonoyl serine (AraS) against methicillin (MET)-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains, proposing the therapeutic potential of these endocannabinoid/endocannabinoid-like (EC/EC-like) agents for the treatment of MRSA. Here, we investigated the potential synergism of combinations of AEA and AraS with different types of antibiotics against MRSA grown under planktonic growth or biofilm formation. The most effective combinations under planktonic conditions were mixtures of AEA and ampicillin (AMP), and of AraS and gentamicin (GEN). The combination with the highest synergy in the biofilm formation against all tested bacterial strains was AEA and MET. Moreover, the combination of AraS and MET synergistically caused default of biofilm formation. Slime production of MRSA was also dramatically impaired by AEA or AraS combined with MET. Our data suggest the novel potential activity of combinations of EC/EC-like agents and antibiotics in the prevention of MRSA biofilm formation.

Infections caused by antibiotic-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus have reached epidemic proportions globally. Our previous study showed antimicrobial effects of anandamide (AEA) and arachidonoyl serine (AraS) against methicillin (MET)-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains, proposing the therapeutic potential of these endocannabinoid/endocannabinoid-like (EC/EC-like) agents for the treatment of MRSA. Here, we investigated the potential synergism of combinations of AEA and AraS with different types of antibiotics against MRSA grown under planktonic growth or biofilm formation. The most effective combinations under planktonic conditions were mixtures of AEA and ampicillin (AMP), and of AraS and gentamicin (GEN). The combination with the highest synergy in the biofilm formation against all tested bacterial strains was AEA and MET. Moreover, the combination of AraS and MET synergistically caused default of biofilm formation. Slime production of MRSA was also dramatically impaired by AEA or AraS combined with MET. Our data suggest the novel potential activity of combinations of EC/EC-like agents and antibiotics in the prevention of MRSA biofilm formation.

Infections caused by antibiotic-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus have reached epidemic proportions globally. Our previous study showed antimicrobial effects of anandamide (AEA) and arachidonoyl serine (AraS) against methicillin (MET)-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains, proposing the therapeutic potential of these endocannabinoid/endocannabinoid-like (EC/EC-like) agents for the treatment of MRSA. Here, we investigated the potential synergism of combinations of AEA and AraS with different types of antibiotics against MRSA grown under planktonic growth or biofilm formation. The most effective combinations under planktonic conditions were mixtures of AEA and ampicillin (AMP), and of AraS and gentamicin (GEN). The combination with the highest synergy in the biofilm formation against all tested bacterial strains was AEA and MET. Moreover, the combination of AraS and MET synergistically caused default of biofilm formation. Slime production of MRSA was also dramatically impaired by AEA or AraS combined with MET. Our data suggest the novel potential activity of combinations of EC/EC-like agents and antibiotics in the prevention of MRSA biofilm formation.

Bacterial soft rot diseases caused by Pectobacterium spp. and Dickeya spp. affect a wide range of crops, including potatoes, a major food crop. As of today, farmers mostly rely on sanitary practices, water management, and plant nutrition for control. We tested the bacterial predators Bdellovibrio and like organisms (BALOs) to control potato soft rot. BALOs are small, motile predatory bacteria found in terrestrial and aquatic environments. They prey on a wide range of Gram-negative bacteria, including animal and plant pathogens. To this end, BALO strains HD100, 1091, and a Delta merRNA derivative of HD100 were shown to efficiently prey on various rot-causing strains of Pectobacterium and Dickeya solani. BALO control of maceration caused by a highly virulent strain of Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. brasilense was then tested in situ using a potato slice assay. All BALO strains were highly effective at reducing disease, up to complete prevention. Effectivity was concentration dependent, and BALOs applied before P. carotovorum subsp. brasilense inoculation performed significantly better than those applied after the disease-causing agent, maybe due to in situ consumption of glucose by the prey, as glucose metabolism by live prey bacteria was shown to prevent predation. Dead predators and the supernatant of BALO cultures did not significantly prevent maceration, indicating that predation was the major mechanism for the prevention of the disease. Finally, plastic resistance to predation was affected by prey and predator population parameters, suggesting that population dynamics affect prey response to predation. IMPORTANCE Bacterial soft rot diseases caused by Pectobacterium spp. and Dickeya spp. are among the most important plant diseases caused by bacteria. Among other crops, they inflict large-scale damage to potatoes. As of today, farmers have few options to control them. The bacteria Bdellovibrio and like organisms (BALOs) are obligate predators of bacteria. We tested their potential to prey on Pectobacterium spp. and Dickeya spp. and to protect potato. We show that different BALOs can prey on soft rot-causing bacteria and prevent their growth in situ, precluding tissue maceration. Dead predators and the supernatant of BALO cultures did not significantly prevent maceration, showing that the effect is due to predation. Soft rot control by the predators was concentration dependent and was higher when the predator was inoculated ahead of the prey. As residual prey remained, we investigated what determines their level and found that initial prey and predator population parameters affect prey response to predation.