Economic evaluation of water loss saving due to the biological control of water hyacinth at New Year’s Dam,Eastern Cape province,South Africa

Water hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes is considered the most damaging aquatic weed in the world. However, few studies have quantified the impact of this weed economically and ecologically, and even fewer studies have quantified the benefits of its control. This paper focuses on water loss saving as the benefit derived from biological control of this plant between 1990 and 2013 at New Year’s Dam, Alicedale, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Estimates of water loss due to evapotranspiration from water hyacinth vary significantly; therefore, the study used three different rates, high, medium and low. A conservative raw agriculture value of R 0.26 per m³ was used to calculate the benefits derived by the water saved. The present benefit and cost values were determined using 10% and 5% discount rates. The benefit/cost ratio at the low evapotranspiration rate was less than one, implying that biological control was not economically viable but, at the higher evapotranspiration rates, the return justified the costs of biological control. However, at the marginal value product of water, the inclusion of the costs of damage to infrastructure, or the adverse effects of water hyacinth on biodiversity, would justify the use of biological control, even at the low transpiration rate.     

Monocarbonyl Analogs of Curcumin with Potential to Treat Colorectal Cancer

Curcumin has a plethora of biological properties, making this compound potentially effective in the treatment of several diseases, including cancer. However, curcumin clinical use is compromised by its poor pharmacokinetics, being crucial to find novel analogs with better pharmacokinetic and pharmacological properties. Here, we aimed to evaluate the stability, bioavailability and pharmacokinetic profiles of monocarbonyl analogs of curcumin. A small library of monocarbonyl analogs of curcumin 1a–q was synthesized. Lipophilicity and stability in physiological conditions were both assessed by HPLC-UV, while two different methods assessed the electrophilic character of each compound monitored by NMR and by UV-spectroscopy. The potential therapeutic effect of the analogs 1a–q was evaluated in human colon carcinoma cells and toxicity in immortalized hepatocytes. Our results showed that the curcumin analog 1e is a promising agent against colorectal cancer, with improved stability and efficacy/safety profile.     

Expression of CYP1A in liver of A/Sn and CC57BR mice differing in sensitivity to hepatocarcinogenesis induced by o-aminoazotoluene

The induction of P450 cytochromes Cyp1a1 and Cyp1a2 in the liver of male mice differing in sensitivity to the carcinogenic effect of o-aminoazotoluene (OAT) has been studied. The level of Cyp1a1 and Cyp1a2 mRNA was assayed by quantitative competitive polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In both OAT-treated strains, the level of Cyp1a1 mRNA increased more than 1000-fold, while the amount of Cyp1a2 mRNA increased only two- or threefold. Interstrain differences in the Cyp1a mRNA level were revealed. The level of Cyp1a1 mRNA in liver of OAT-induced A/Sn mice was three times higher than in CC57BR mice. The amount of Cyp1a2 mRNA in control and OAT-treated mice was 7 and 13 times higher, respectively, than in CC57BR mice. The enzyme activities of cytochromes P450 1a were assayed. An increase in Cyp1a1 mRNA level in OAT-treated mice correlated with an enhancement of the benzo[a]pyrene hydrolase and 7-ethoxyresofurin o-deethylase activities; the correlation between the level of Cyp1a2 mRNA and 7-ethoxyresofurin o-demethylase activity was much less pronounced. Interstrain variation in Cyp1a1 and Cyp1a2 activities was also shown at the enzyme activity level. We suppose that quantitative differences in the Cyp1a2 mRNA level play a key role in OAT-induced hepatocarcinogenesis.     

Ethnic Peculiarities of the Lipid Profile in Adolescent Representatives of Some Indigenous Ethnic Groups of Siberia

The indicators of lipid metabolism were analyzed comparatively in 258 adolescent girls and boys representing major ethnic groups of Eastern Siberia: indigenous Tofalars, Evenks and Buryats and alien Europoids (Caucasoids). The adolescent lipid profile in these groups was found to be ethnos-specific. In contemporary Tofalars and Buryats, its indicators are stable, while the overall lipid profile shows an anti-atherogenic trend. By contrast, Evenks and Europoids show an increasing level of cholesterol-containing blood components.     

Is the association between optimistic cardiovascular risk perceptions and lower rates of cardiovascular disease mortality explained by biomarkers of systemic inflammation or endothelial function? A case-cohort study

Background  

More optimistic perceptions of cardiovascular disease risk are associated with substantively lower rates of cardiovascular death among men. It remains unknown whether this association represents causality (i.e. perception leads to actions/conditions that influence cardiovascular disease occurrence) or residual confounding by unmeasured factors that associate with risk perceptions and with physiological processes that promote cardiovascular disease (i.e. inflammation or endothelial dysfunction).     

Study of thermo-stabilizing effect of tocopherol on rhodopsin in the presence of fatty acids using the method of differential scanning calorimetry

By the method of differential scanning calorimetry it was shown that the addition of arachidonic acid to photoreceptor membranes is accompanied by concentration-dependent shift of thermograms curve of rhodopsin value. Addition of tocopherol to photoreceptor membranes prevents the turbulent effect of the fatty acid on opsin and rhodopsin. The obtained data are discussed from the point of view of membrane protective properties of tocopherol.     

Heat denaturation of opsin in warm-blooded animals as a possible mechanism of light-induced retinal damage

The rate of thermal denaturation of bovine and rat opsin in the photoreceptor membranes was studied within a wide temperature range (between 37 and 70 degrees C). It was found that the rate of thermal denaturation of opsin at a physiological temperature (37 degrees C) might be commensurable or even exceed the known rate of rhodopsin renewal produced by photoreceptor disk formation and shedding. Lipid peroxidation caused an increase in the rate of opsin denaturation at a physiological temperature. It is assumed that accumulation of denatured opsin in the photoreceptor membranes during raised illumination together with lipid peroxidation induction may be one of the mechanisms leading to vision deterioration under raised illumination.     

Outcomes among children and adults at risk of severe dengue in Sri Lanka: Opportunity for outpatient case management in countries with high disease burden

BackgroundHealthcare systems in dengue-endemic countries are often overburdened due to the high number of patients hospitalized according to dengue management guidelines. We systematically evaluated clinical outcomes in a large cohort of patients hospitalized with acute dengue to support triaging of patients to ambulatory versus inpatient management in the future.Methods/Principal findingsFrom June 2017- December 2018, we conducted surveillance among children and adults with fever within the prior 7 days who were hospitalized at the largest tertiary-care (1,800 bed) hospital in the Southern Province, Sri Lanka. Patients who developed platelet count ≤100,000/μL (threshold for hospital admission in Sri Lanka) and who met at least two clinical criteria consistent with dengue were eligible for enrollment. We confirmed acute dengue by testing sera collected at enrollment for dengue NS1 antigen or IgM antibodies. We defined primary outcomes as per the 1997 and 2009 World Health Organization (WHO) classification criteria: dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF; WHO 1997), dengue shock syndrome (DSS; WHO 1997), and severe dengue (WHO 2009). Overall, 1064 patients were confirmed as having acute dengue: 318 (17.4%) by NS1 rapid antigen testing and 746 (40.7%) by IgM antibody testing. Of these 1064 patients, 994 (93.4%) were adults ≥18 years and 704 (66.2%) were male. The majority (56, 80%) of children and more than half of adults (544, 54.7%) developed DHF during hospitalization, while 6 (8.6%) children and 22 (2.2%) adults developed DSS. Overall, 10 (14.3%) children and 113 (11.4%) adults developed severe dengue. A total of 2 (0.2%) patients died during hospitalization.ConclusionsOne-half of patients hospitalized with acute dengue progressed to develop DHF and a very small number developed DSS or severe dengue. Developing an algorithm for triaging patients to ambulatory versus inpatient management should be the future goal to optimize utilization of healthcare resources in dengue-endemic countries.     

Treatment with apolipoprotein A-1 mimetic peptide reduces lupus-like manifestations in a murine lupus model of accelerated atherosclerosis

Introduction

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of L-4F, an apolipoprotein A-1 mimetic peptide, alone or with pravastatin, in apoE^-/-Fas^-/-C57BL/6 mice that spontaneously develop immunoglobulin G (IgG) autoantibodies, glomerulonephritis, osteopenia, and atherosclerotic lesions on a normal chow diet.

Methods

Female mice, starting at eight to nine weeks of age, were treated for 27 weeks with 1) pravastatin, 2) L-4F, 3) L-4F plus pravastatin, or 4) vehicle control, followed by disease phenotype assessment.

Results

In preliminary studies, dysfunctional, proinflammatory high-density lipoproteins (piHDL) were decreased six hours after a single L-4F, but not scrambled L-4F, injection in eight- to nine-week old mice. After 35 weeks, L-4F-treated mice, in the absence/presence of pravastatin, had significantly smaller lymph nodes and glomerular tufts (P_{L, LP} < 0.05), lower serum levels of IgG antibodies to double stranded DNA (dsDNA) (P_L < 0.05) and oxidized phospholipids (oxPLs) (P_{L, LP} < 0.005), and elevated total and vertebral bone mineral density (P_{L, LP} < 0.01) compared to vehicle controls. Although all treatment groups presented larger aortic root lesions compared to vehicle controls, enlarged atheromas in combination treatment mice had significantly less infiltrated CD68⁺ macrophages (P_LP < 0.01), significantly increased mean α-actin stained area (P_LP < 0.05), and significantly lower levels of circulating markers for atherosclerosis progression, CCL19 (P_{L, LP} < 0.0005) and VCAM-1 (P_L < 0.0002).

Conclusions

L-4F treatment, alone or with pravastatin, significantly reduced IgG anti-dsDNA and IgG anti-oxPLs, proteinuria, glomerulonephritis, and osteopenia in a murine lupus model of accelerated atherosclerosis. Despite enlarged aortic lesions, increased smooth muscle content, decreased macrophage infiltration, and decreased pro-atherogenic chemokines in L-4F plus pravastatin treated mice suggest protective mechanisms not only on lupus-like disease, but also on potential plaque remodeling in a murine model of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and accelerated atherosclerosis.