Family size and children's education in Matlab, Bangladesh

This study examines the relationship between family size and children's education in Bangladesh for two periods - 1982 with high fertility and 1996 with low fertility - using data from the Matlab Health and Demographic Surveillance System of the ICDDR,B: Centre for Health and Population Research. Children aged 8-17 years (27,448 in 1982 and 32,635 in 1996) were selected from households where the mother was aged 30-49 years and the father was the head of household. Children's education was measured in terms of completed years of schooling: at least class 1 (among 8-17 year olds), at least class 5 (among 12-17 year olds) and at least class 7 (among 15-17 year olds). After controlling for all variables in the multivariate analyses, level of children's education was not found to be associated with family size during the high fertility period. The family size-education relationship became negative during the low fertility period. In both periods children of educated mothers from wealthier households and those who lived close to primary/high schools had more education, but this socioeconomic difference reduced substantially over time. Boys had more education than girls during the high fertility period but this difference disappeared during the low fertility period. As birth rates fall and the proportion of children from small families increases an increase in children's education is to be expected.     

The link of ERCC2 rs13181 and ERCC4 rs2276466 polymorphisms with breast cancer in the Bangladeshi population

Molecular Biology Reports - Breast cancer (BC) is the most common disease in women and the leading cause of death from cancer globally. Epidemiological studies examined that nucleotide excision...     

Evaluating the Effects of Sustainable Chemical and Organic Fertilizers with Water Saving Practice on Corn Production and Soil Characteristics

The rapidly growing world population, water shortage, and food security are promising problems for sustainable agriculture. Farmers adopt higher irrigation and fertilizer applications to increase crop production resulting in environmental pollution. This study aimed to identify the long-term effects of intelligent water and fertilizers used in corn yield and soil nutrient status. A series of field experiments were conducted for six years with treatments as: farmer accustomed to fertilization used as control (CON), fertilizer decrement (KF), fertilizer decrement + water-saving irrigation (BMP1); combined application of organic and inorganic fertilizer + water-saving irrigation (BMP2), and combined application of controlled-release fertilizer (BMP3). A significant improvement was observed in soil organic matter (14.9%), nitrate nitrogen (106.7%), total phosphorus (23.9%), available phosphorus (26.2%), straw yield (44.8%), and grain yield (54.7%) with BMP2 treatment as compared to CON. The study concludes that integrating chemical and organic fertilizers with water-saving irrigation (BMP2) is a good approach to increasing corn productivity, ensuring water safety and improving soil health. The limitations of the current study include the identification of fertilizer type and its optimum dose, irrigation water type, and geographical position.

     

A dynamin-related protein required for nuclear remodeling in Tetrahymena

Dynamin-related proteins (DRPs) are GTPases that reversibly assemble on cellular membranes [1]. Individual DRPs (here "DRP" includes authentic dynamins) function in fission or tubulation of the plasma membrane, trans-Golgi network, mitochondria, peroxisomes, chloroplasts, and endosomes [1] and in mitochondrial fusion [2]. Many of these functions are widespread; they are present in animals, plants, trypanosomes, Giardia, ciliates, alga, and slime molds [3-8]. Lineage-specific expansions of the gene family created specialized DRPs. In animals, such DRPs include MxB, which has been reported to regulate nuclear-pore transport [9]. Whereas many unicellular organisms possess a small number of DRPs, expansions occurred in some protist lineages. The eight DRPs in the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila might contribute to aspects of ciliate complexity. Each ciliate cell contains distinct germline and somatic nuclei, whose differentiation and maintenance must require distinct machinery [10, 11]. Here we show that Drp6p, previously shown to be targeted to the nuclear envelope [3], is required for macronuclear development. Drp6p activity, which is distinct from that of the only other known nuclear DRP, is modulated by a combination of stage-specific subcellular targeting and assembly dynamics. This work demonstrates a novel DRP activity and presents a system in which environmental and developmental cues can be used for manipulating key aspects of regulation.     

Genetic architecture of seed longevity in bread wheat (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Triticum aestivum</Emphasis> L.)

The deterioration in the quality of ex situ conserved seed over time reflects a combination of both physical and chemical changes. Intraspecific variation for longevity is, at least in part, under genetic control. Here, the grain of 183 bread wheat accessions maintained under low-temperature storage at the IPK-Gatersleben genebank over some decades have been tested for their viability, along with that of fresh grain subjected to two standard artificial ageing procedures. A phenotype–genotype association analysis, conducted to reveal the genetic basis of the observed variation between accessions, implicated many regions of the genome, underling the genetic complexity of the trait. Some, but not all, of these regions were associated with variation for both natural and experimental ageing, implying some non-congruency obtains between these two forms of testing for longevity. The genes underlying longevity appear to be independent of known genes determining dormancy and pre-harvest sprouting.     

IgY‐binding peptide screened from a random peptide library as a ligand for IgY purification

Chicken egg yolk immunoglobulin (IgY) is a functional substitute for mammalian IgG for antigen detection. Traditional IgY purification methods involve multi‐step procedures resulting in low purity and recovery of IgY. In this study, we developed a simple IgY purification system using IgY‐specific peptides identified by T7 phage display technology. From disulfide‐constrained random peptide libraries constructed on a T7 phage, we identified three specific binding clones (Y4‐4, Y5‐14, and Y5‐55) through repeated biopanning. The synthetic peptides showed high binding specificity to IgY‐Fc and moderate affinity for IgY‐Fc (K_d: Y4‐4 = 7.3 ± 0.2 μM and Y5‐55 = 4.4 ± 0.1 μM) by surface plasmon resonance analysis. To evaluate the ability to purify IgY, we performed immunoprecipitation and affinity high‐performance liquid chromatography using IgY‐binding peptides; the result indicated that these peptides can be used as affinity ligands for IgY purification. We then used a peptide‐conjugated column to purify IgY from egg yolks pre‐treated using an optimized delipidation technique. Here, we report the construction of a cost‐effective, one‐step IgY purification system, with high purity and recovery. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Peptide Science published by European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

Association between Proton Pump Inhibitor Therapy and Clostridium difficile Infection: A Contemporary Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Introduction

Emerging epidemiological evidence suggests that proton pump inhibitor (PPI) acid-suppression therapy is associated with an increased risk of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI).

Methods

Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, ISI Web of Science, and Scopus were searched from 1990 to January 2012 for analytical studies that reported an adjusted effect estimate of the association between PPI use and CDI. We performed random-effect meta-analyses. We used the GRADE framework to interpret the findings.

Results

We identified 47 eligible citations (37 case-control and 14 cohort studies) with corresponding 51 effect estimates. The pooled OR was 1.65, 95% CI (1.47, 1.85), I² = 89.9%, with evidence of publication bias suggested by a contour funnel plot. A novel regression based method was used to adjust for publication bias and resulted in an adjusted pooled OR of 1.51 (95% CI, 1.26–1.83). In a speculative analysis that assumes that this association is based on causality, and based on published baseline CDI incidence, the risk of CDI would be very low in the general population taking PPIs with an estimated NNH of 3925 at 1 year.

Conclusions

In this rigorously conducted systemic review and meta-analysis, we found very low quality evidence (GRADE class) for an association between PPI use and CDI that does not support a cause-effect relationship.