Influence of processing and substrate variety on survival and development of Tribolium confusum (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)

Tribolium confusum is a major pest of grains and grain products. Some legumes hitherto not used as major food are gaining interest due to increase in human population and the need of food and feeds. Susceptibility of fresh and processed Glycine max and Cajanus cajan flours, and white wheat flour (control) to T. confusum was studied towards effective storage techniques and cheap insect diet. Ten copulating pairs of the beetle were introduced into twenty grams of each flour. Number of eggs laid, emerged larvae, pupae, eclosed adults, and duration of development of each stage was used as indices of survival of T. confusum. Proximate composition, saponin; and α-amylase and protease inhibitors determined suitability of flours as insect diet. This work discusses the significance of proximate composition and anti-nutrient properties in fresh and roasted processed flours on the development and survival of T. confusum.     

First Nations status and emergency department triage scores in Alberta: a retrospective cohort study

Background:Previous studies have found that race is associated with emergency department triage scores, raising concerns about potential health care inequity. As part of a project on quality of care for First Nations people in Alberta, we sought to understand the relation between First Nations status and triage scores.Methods:We conducted a population-based retrospective cohort study of health administrative data from April 2012 to March 2017 to evaluate acuity of triage scores, categorized as a binary outcome of higher or lower acuity score. We developed multivariable multilevel logistic mixed-effects regression models using the levels of emergency department visit, patient (for patients with multiple visits) and facility. We further evaluated the triage of visits related to 5 disease categories and 5 specific diagnoses to better compare triage outcomes of First Nations and non–First Nations patients.Results:First Nations status was associated with lower odds of receiving higher acuity triage scores (odds ratio [OR] 0.93, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.92–0.94) compared with non–First Nations patients in adjusted models. First Nations patients had lower odds of acute triage for all 5 disease categories and for 3 of 5 diagnoses, including long bone fractures (OR 0.82, 95% CI 0.76–0.88), acute upper respiratory infection (OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.84–0.98) and anxiety disorder (OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.60–0.74).Interpretation:First Nations status was associated with lower odds of higher acuity triage scores across a number of conditions and diagnoses. This may reflect systemic racism, stereotyping and potentially other factors that affected triage assessments.

Health outcomes are markedly worse for First Nations than non–First Nations people. Although this is largely because of inequities in the social determinants of health,^1–4 inequities in the provision of health care also exist.^5,6 Emergency departments serve as a point of accessible health care. Status First Nations patients make up 4.8% of unique patients and 9.4% of emergency visits in Alberta,⁷ and Canadian studies describe First Nations patients’ experiences with racism when seeking emergency care.^8,9Evaluating triage contributes empirically to understanding the health care of First Nations patients insofar as triage is a quantifiable, intermediate process by which systemic racism¹⁰ may influence patient outcomes. The Canadian Triage Acuity Scale¹¹ is a 5-level scale used to classify the severity of patient symptoms. Triage nurses use a brief assessment, medical history, and presenting signs and symptoms to assign each patient a triage score that determines the priority in which the patient should be seen by a provider. Therefore, accurate triage is important for patient health outcomes.¹² In practice, triage is a social interaction where local practice, biases, stereotypes and communication barriers come into play. Studies have found that women receive less acute triage scores than men,^13,14 and that racial minority^13,15–17 and Indigenous^18–20 patients receive less acute triage scores than white or non-Indigenous patients. Indeed, Indigenous patients in Canada have described a perception “of social triaging in the [emergency department], whereby decisions about who is seen first seemed to them [to be] based less on triaged clinical priorities but on the social positioning of the patient.”²¹ Differential triage scores for minority populations raise health equity concerns.As part of a larger mixed-methods project evaluating the quality of emergency care for First Nations people in Alberta, we sought to evaluate quantitative differences in emergency visit characteristics and outcomes of First Nations and non–First Nations people in Alberta. Specifically, we aimed to estimate the relation between First Nations status and acuity of triage, and to evaluate whether predictors of acuity differ by First Nations status.     

Growth and adhesion of Enterococcus faecium L-forms

Abstract Comparisons of growth and surface colonisation of Enterococcus faecium L-forms and their cell-walled forms were undertaken to produce information about their ability to form sessile cells. The growth of L-forms in liquid culture was slower than that of the parent. This was reflected in their longer lag phase and slower specific growth rates: 0.16 h⁻¹ for the L-form and 0.81 h⁻¹ for the parent. Although E. faecium L-forms attached to a silastic rubber surface, the attached population density was 10–100-fold less than that of the parent. Confluent biofilms on the silastic surfaces were not observed for either bacterial form. Comparison of the attachment of E. faecium L-form and parent may provide important information on how bacteria overcome host defence mechanisms and antibiotic treatment.     

Urotensin II promotes hypertrophy of cardiac myocytes via mitogen-activated protein kinases

Urotensin II and its receptor are coexpressed in the heart and up-regulated during cardiac dysfunction. In cultured neonatal cardiomyocytes, we mimicked this up-regulation using an adenovirus to increase expression of the urotensin receptor. In this model system, urotensin II promoted strong hypertrophic growth and phenotypic changes, including cell enlargement and sarcomere reorganization. Urotensin II potently activated the MAPKs, ERK1/2 and p38, and blocking these kinases with PD098059 and SB230580, respectively, significantly inhibited urotensin II-mediated hypertrophy. In contrast, urotensin II did not activate JNK. The activation of ERK1/2 and p38 as well as cellular hypertrophy was independent of protein kinase C, and calcium and phosphoinositide 3-kinase, yet dependent on the capacity of the urotensin receptor to trans-activate the epidermal growth factor receptor. Urotensin II promoted the tyrosine phosphorylation of epidermal growth factor receptors, which was inhibited by the selective epidermal growth factor receptor kinase inhibitor, AG1478. These data indicate that perturbations in cardiac homeostasis, which lead to up-regulation of urotensin II receptors, promote urotensin II-mediated cardiomyocyte hypertrophy via ERK1/2 and p38 signaling pathways in an epidermal growth factor receptor-dependent manner.     

Biology of the first generation of a laboratory colony of Nyssomyia intermedia (Lutz & Neiva, 1912) and Nyssomyia neivai (Pinto, 1926) (Diptera: Psychodidae)

The phlebotomine sand flies Nyssomyia intermedia (Lutz & Neiva, 1912) and Nyssomyia neivai (Pinto, 1926) are very close and may be involved in the transmission of Leishmania spp. Ross, 1903 in Brazil. The biology of the first laboratory-reared generations of these species, descended from insects captured in Além Paraíba (N. intermedia) and Corinto (N. neivai) in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, is described here. The captured females were fed on hamsters and maintained individually in rearing pots. Laboratory temperature and relative humidity were maintained at 25-26 masculineC and 80% respectively. The productivity of the first generation of N. intermedia was greater than that of N. neivai, and its development time clearly shorter, particularly for the second and third larval instars.     

DNA-protein cross-linking via guanine oxidation: dependence upon protein and photosensitizer

DNA-protein cross-links form when guanine undergoes a 1-electron oxidation in a flash-quench experiment, and the importance of reactive oxygen species, protein, and photosensitizer is examined here. In these experiments, a strong oxidant produced by oxidative quenching of a DNA-bound photosensitizer generates an oxidized guanine base that reacts with protein to form the covalent adduct. These cross-links are cleaved by hot piperidine and are not the result of reactive oxygen species, since neither a hydroxyl radical scavenger (mannitol) nor oxygen affects the yield of DNA-histone cross-linking, as determined via a chloroform extraction assay. The cross-linking yield depends on protein, decreasing as histone > cytochrome c > bovine serum albumin. The yield does not depend on the cytochrome oxidation state, suggesting that reduction of the guanine radical by ferrocytochrome c does not compete effectively with cross-linking. The photosensitizer strongly influences the cross-linking yield, which decreases in the order Ru(phen)(2)dppz(2+) [phen = 1,10-phenanthroline; dppz = dipyridophenazine] > Ru(bpy)(3)(2+) [bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine] > acridine orange > ethidium, in accordance with measured oxidation potentials. A long-lived transient absorption signal for ethidium dication in poly(dG-dC) confirms that guanine oxidation is inefficient for this photosensitizer. From a polyacrylamide sequencing gel of a (32)P-labeled 40-mer, all of these photosensitizers are shown to damage guanines preferentially at the 5' G of 5'-GG-3' steps, consistent with a 1-electron oxidation. Additional examination of ethidium shows that it can generate cross-links between histone and plasmid DNA (pUC19) and that the yield depends on the quencher. Altogether, these results illustrate the versatility of the flash-quench technique as a way to generate physiologically relevant DNA-protein adducts via the oxidation of guanine and expand the scope of such cross-linking reactions to include proteins that may associate only transiently with DNA.     

Description of Pintomyia limafalcaoae and Pintomyia antioquiensis,two new species of phlebotomine sand fly (Diptera,Psychodidae) from the Colombian Andes

Two new species of phlebotomine sand fly from Colombian Andes are described, belonging to the subgenus Pifanomyia of the genus Pintomyia. P. (P.) limafalcaoae sp. nov. for which both sexes are described, is assigned to the series pia while P. (P.) antioquiensis sp. nov., known only from the male, is included in the series verrucarum. The subgenus Pifanomyia is characterized and identification keys presented for the two new species.     

Plasmodium falciparum: in vitro activity of sulfadoxine and dapsone in field isolates from Kenya: point mutations in dihydropteroate synthase may not be the only determinants in sulfa resistance

We have determined the relationship between point mutations in the gene that encodes the sulfa target, dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS) and the chemosensitivity profile to sulfadoxine and dapsone in 67 isolates from Kilifi, Kenya. We assessed the presence of mutations at codons 436, 437, 540, 581, and 613 of dhps. The results showed that the dhps genotype had a strong influence on the sensitivity to sulfadoxine and dapsone, but that the correlation was far from perfect. Eleven isolates carried a wild-type dhps allele, but were resistant to sulfadoxine (IC(50) values >10 microg/ml), and 4/28 isolates were classed as sensitive to sulfadoxine (IC(50) values <10 microg/ml), but carried a triple mutant (436/437/613) allele of dhps. These data show that in low folate medium in vitro, the dhps genotype alone did not account completely for sulfadoxine or dapsone resistance; other factors such as the utilisation of exogenous folate must also be considered.