Fifteen new species of Penicillium.

We introduce 15 new species of Penicillium isolated from a diverse range of locations, including Canada, Costa Rica, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Tanzania, USA and the Dry Valleys of Antarctica, from a variety of habitats, including leaf surfaces in tropical rain forests, soil eaten by chimpanzees, infrabuccal pockets of carpenter ants, intestinal contents of caterpillars and soil. The new species are classified in sections Aspergilloides (1), Canescentia (2), Charlesia (1), Exilicaulis (3), Lanata-Divaricata (7) and Stolkia (1). Each is characterised and described using classical morphology, LC-MS based extrolite analyses and multigene phylogenies based on ITS, BenA and CaM. Significant extrolites detected include andrastin, pulvilloric acid, penitrem A and citrinin amongst many others.

Employee assistance programs: a worldwide perspective.

Once limited to U.S. corporations, employee assistance programs (EAPs) are now spreading around the world. The authors review global EAP trends and identify similarities and differences among EAPs in North America, Europe, Central and South America, the Asia-Pacific region, and the Caribbean. Through affiliations between international professional associations and services to multinational corporations, the EAP field is quietly creating globalized behavioral health services.

Acute renal failure associated with immunoglobulin therapy.

Four cases of acute renal failure induced by intravenous immunoglobulin are presented, and the literature on the subject is reviewed. The clinical course varies from asymptomatic serum creatinine elevation to anuric renal failure occurring within days of the institution of therapy, followed by the rapid recovery of renal function after termination of therapy. The renal histology demonstrates severe tubular vacuolization with cellular swelling and preservation of the brush border. Glomerular endothelial, mesangial, and epithelial cells also may demonstrate swelling and vacuolization. There is no evidence for inflammatory or immune complex-mediated etiologies. The immunoglobulins or carbohydrate additives in the preparations appear to have a unique and reversible effect on the glomerular and tubular cell function.

Effect of the antiprogestin RU486 on uterine sensitivity to oxytocin in ewes in late pregnancy.

The effect of RU486, a synthetic progesterone receptor antagonist, on basal uterine prostaglandin (PG) release and release in response to oxytocin injection has been investigated in late-pregnant sheep (days 135-140 of gestation). Fifteen hours after i.m. injection of RU486 (50 mg; n = 5) or vehicle alone (n = 4), bolus injections of oxytocin (50, 500 and 5000 mU) were administered via a uterine artery ipsilateral to the pregnant uterine horn at 2-hourly intervals. Utero-ovarian vein concentrations of 13,14-dihydro-15-keto PGF2 alpha (PGFM) and PGE2 were determined before and during oxytocin stimulation. Basal concentrations of both PGFM and PGE2 were significantly (P < 0.001) increased in ewes 15 h after RU486 administration compared with ewes receiving vehicle alone. Concentrations of PGFM, but not PGE2, increased significantly (P < 0.001) following injection of each dose of oxytocin in both treated and untreated animals. The response to oxytocin, measured both as the area under the curve and as the peak height of PGFM release, was significantly (P < 0.05) greater in RU486-treated ewes. There was no significant effect of oxytocin on the area or peak height of PGE2 response in either RU486-treated or control animals. These results demonstrate that treatment of late-pregnant ewes with RU486 results in an increase in basal uterine PGFM and PGE2 as well as oxytocin-stimulated PGFM release.

Effect of oxytocin and estradiol on uterine prostaglandin release in nonpregnant and early-pregnant ewes.

The effects of exogenous oxytocin (OT) and estradiol-17 beta (E2) on plasma concentrations of prostaglandin (PG) E2 and 13, 14-dihydro-15-keto-PGF2 alpha (PGFM) were investigated on Day 14-15 (NP) of the estrous cycle and Days 14-16 (PI) and 21-25 (EP) of pregnancy in the ewe. Basal concentrations of PGFM were significantly elevated in utero-ovarian venous (UOV) plasma on Day 14 of pregnancy (4.05 +/- 0.81 nM, mean +/- SEM) compared to that observed on Day 14 of the cycle or Days 21-25 of pregnancy (2.29 +/- 1.3 nM and 1.06 +/- 0.56 nM, respectively). PGFM release increased significantly following intera-arterial bolus injections of 50, 500, and 5000 mU OT at 2-h intervals in all experimental groups. There was no significant difference in area and peak height of the PGFM response between the 3 groups studied. The time to peak PGFM response was, however, significantly longer in the PI group. No significant changes in concentration of PGFM were observed in any experimental group following 1-h infusions of E2 at 5, 50, and 500 pmol/min. Long-term (15-18 h) infusion of E2 at 83 pmol/min increased the peak height of the OT-induced PGFM response at both stages of gestation studied. PGE2 concentrations in UOV plasma were less than 0.05 nM in all samples studied. These results demonstrate that PG release can be induced in response to OT during the period in which ovine trophoblastic protein-1 (oTP-1) is released by the conceptus. During pregnancy, oTP-1 does not appear to inhibit the E2 induction of uterine OT receptors.