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“Several land snail species are highly polymorphic regarding their shell colouration. This polymorphism has been related to predatory effects as well as climatic reasons, assuming that dark morphs benefit from being more cryptic and therefore less prone to predation, whereas pale morphs are at an advantage under solar radiation, as they are suspected to heat up less. However, the assumption of different thermal capacities of these morphs is based on experiments with little standardisation or little environmental relevance. In this LXH254 mw study, we aimed at measuring thermal capacities of two different morphs (pale versus dark-brown

banded) of the Mediterranean land snail Theba pisana, applying a standardised and environmentally relevant test set-up, in order to prove whether darker morphs indeed do heat up more than Torin 1 order lighter coloured morphs. We did not find any differences in the thermal capacity of the different morphs and conclude that thermal capacity of the shell is predominantly defined by its material rather than its coloration. These results are discussed with regard to previous studies on thermal characteristics of different land snail morphs and correlations between climate and morph distribution. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
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infectious disease imaging techniques cannot differentiate between infection and sterile inflammation or between different types of infections. Recently, radiolabeled FIAU was found to be a substrate for the thymidine kinase (TK) enzyme of multiple pathogenic bacteria, leading

to its translational use in the imaging of bacterial infections. Patients with immunodeficiencies, however, are susceptible to a different group of pathogenic bacteria when compared to immunocompetent subjects. In this study, we wanted to predict the usefulness of radiolabeled FIAU in the detection of bacterial infections commonly occurring in patients with immunodeficiencies, in vitro, prior to attempting in vivo imaging with I-124-FIAU-PET.

Methods: We obtained representative strains of bacterial pathogens isolated from actual patients with genetic immunodeficiencies. We evaluated the bacterial susceptibility of different strains to the effect of incubation with FIAU, which however would implicate the presence of the thymidine kinase (TK) enzyme. We also incubated the bacteria with C-14-FIAU and consequently measured its rate of incorporation in the bacterial DNA using a liquid scintillation counter.

Results: Unlike the other bacterial strains, the growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was not halted by FIAU at any concentration. All the tested clinical isolates demonstrated different levels of C-14-FIAU uptake, except for P. aeruginosa.

Conclusion: Radiolabeled FIAU has been successful in delineating bacterial infections, both in preclinical and pilot translational studies.