Strategic mining of cyanobacterial patents from the USPTO patent database and analysis of their scope and implications

Patent analysis with the help of the strategic mining of patents from databases is important and useful within the framework of application-oriented research and its commercialization. In the analysis reported here, we have mined cyanobacterial patents from the patent database of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In order to make an assessment of the commercial potentials of cyanobacteria, we conducted the patent search (from 1976 to April 2006) using certain generic terms and the 84 genera of cyanobacteria as keywords. The search was performed in two major ways – searching the abstracts and claims of the patents cumulatively and searching the entire patent documents by the mode of ‘all fields’ in USPTO. In the abstract- and claims-based search, 234 patents were obtained after the removal of overlapping patents among the keywords. An additional 31 patents were added following the ‘all fields’ search; these patents were not covered in the search that was based on abstracts and claims. The entire package of 265 patents, of which 244 were related to cyanobacteria, was then analyzed. Information derived from these patents identified five major areas of cyanobacterial utilization. Cyanobacteria have been patented as a source of a wide spectrum of products, for medical, agriculture and environmental applications, for gene-based products, for methods of cultivation and for methods of control. The chronological development in granting cyanobacterial patents was also traced. This study demonstrates that such strategic mining and analysis of patent data can be used as an index for future development.     

Secretory delivery of heterologous proteins in attenuated <Emphasis Type="Italic">Vibrio anguillarum</Emphasis> for potential use in vaccine design

To synthesize and secrete heterologous proteins in an attenuated Vibrio anguillarum strain for potential multivalent live vaccine development, different antigen-delivery systems based on bacterial-originated secretion signal peptides (SPs) were designed and identified in this work. Four SPs were derived from hemolysin of Escherichia coli, RTX protein of V. cholerae, hemolysin of V. anguillarum, zinc-metalloprotease of V. anguillarum, respectively, and their abilities to support secretion of green fluorescent protein (GFP) in an attenuated V. anguillarum strain MVAV6203 were assayed. Immunodetection of GFP showed that the capability of the tested signal leaders to direct secretion of GFP varied greatly. Although all the four signal peptide-fused GFPs could be expressed correctly and trapped intracellularly in recombinant strains, only the EmpA signal peptide could confer efficient secretion to GFP. For the investigation of its potential application in live bacteria carrier vaccines, a heterologous protein EseB of Edwardsiella tarda was fused to the SP(empA) antigen-delivery system and introduced into the strain MVAV6203. Further analysis of EseB demonstrated that the constructed SP(empA) antigen-delivery system could be used to secrete foreign protein in attenuated V. anguillarum and be available for carrier vaccines development.     

Behavioural versus physiological mediation of life history under predation risk

Predator-generated variation in prey energy intake remains the dominant explanation of adaptive response to predation risk in prey life history, morphology and physiology across a wide range of taxa. This "behavioural hypothesis" suggest that chemical or visual signals of predation risk reduce prey energy intake leading to a life history characterized by a small size and late age at maturity. However, size-selective predation can induce either smaller size-early age or large size-late age life history. The alternative "physiological hypothesis" suggests that size-selective cues decouple the relationship between energy and life history, acting instead directly on development. Here we use a series of experiments in a fish-daphnid predator-prey system to ask whether size-selective predator cues induce a physiological mediation of development, overshadowing behaviourally based changes in food intake. We found fish chemical cues reduce the net energy intake in Daphnia magna, suggesting a behaviourally mediated reduction in energy. Experimental manipulation of food levels show further that reductions in food lead to later but smaller size at maturity. However, in line with the physiological hypothesis, we show that D. magna matures earlier and at a smaller size when exposed to fish predation cues. Furthermore, our data shows that they do this by increasing their development rate (earlier maturity) for a given growth rate, resulting in a smaller size at maturity. Our data, from a classic size-selective predation system, indicate that predator-induced changes in this system are driven by physiological mediation of development rather than behavioural mediation of energy intake.     

Which Urban Migrants Default from Tuberculosis Treatment in Shanghai,China?

Background

Migration is a major challenge to tuberculosis (TB) control worldwide. TB treatment requires multiple drugs for at least six months. Some TB patients default before completing their treatment regimen, which can lead to ongoing infectiousness and drug resistance.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective analysis of 29,943 active TB cases among urban migrants that were reported between 2000 to 2008 in Shanghai, China. We used logistic regression models to identify factors independently associated with treatment defaults in TB patients among urban migrants during 2005-2008.

Results

Fifty-two percent of the total TB patients reported in Shanghai during the study period were among urban migrants. Three factors increased the odds of a treatment default: case management using self-administered therapy (OR, 5.84, 95% CI, 3.14-10.86, p<0.0005), being a retreatment case (OR, 1.47, 95% CI, 1.25-1.71, p<0.0005), and age >60 years old (OR, 1.33, 95% CI, 1.05-1.67, p=0.017). The presence of a cavity in the initial chest radiograph decreased the odds for a treatment default (OR, 0.87, 95% CI, 0.77-0.97, p=0.015), as did migration from central China (OR, 0.85, 95% CI, 0.73-0.99, p=0.042), case management by family members (OR, 0.73, 95% CI 0.66-0.81, p<0.0005), and the combination of case detection by a required physical exam and case management by health care staff (OR, 0.64, 95% CI, 0.45-0.93, p=0.019).

Conclusion

Among TB patients who were urban migrants in Shanghai, case management using self-administered therapy was the strongest modifiable risk factor that was independently associated with treatment defaults. Interventions that target retreated TB cases could also reduce treatment defaults among urban migrants. Health departments should develop effective measures to prevent treatment defaults among urban migrants, to ensure completion of therapy among urban migrants who move between cities and provinces, and to improve reporting of treatment outcomes.     

Recommendations on treatment for IPF

Patient management in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is largely based on societal guidelines and recommendations. A recent update by the American Thoracic Society (ATS), European Respiratory Society (ERS), Japanese Respiratory Society (JRS) and Latin American Thoracic Association (ALAT) provided updated guidance on the diagnosis and management of IPF, along with recommendations on pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic approaches to patient management. The treatment guidance is based on GRADE criteria, which rates the quality of evidence according to previously published methodology. Here we discuss how to interpret the recent guideline updates and the implications of this guidance for clinical practice. In addition we discuss the assessment and recommendations for a number of pharmacological agents that have been the focus of clinical trials over the past years. Although no single pharmacological agent was recommended by the guidelines committee, we discuss how since then, more recent data have resulted in the approval of pirfenidone in Europe, and preliminary negative findings regarding the safety of a triple therapy regimen consisting of prednisone, azathioprine and N-acetylcysteine have raised the question of whether it is no longer a treatment option. As clinicians, we must interpret the available guidance and recommendations as we consider each individual patient and as we discuss the available clinical data and the patient’s own preferences in our approach to the management of this disease.     

Understanding Miro GTPases: Implications in the Treatment of Neurodegenerative Disorders

The Miro GTPases represent an unusual subgroup of the Ras superfamily and have recently emerged as important mediators of mitochondrial dynamics and for maintaining neuronal health. It is now well-established that these enzymes act as essential components of a Ca²⁺-sensitive motor complex, facilitating the transport of mitochondria along microtubules in several cell types, including dopaminergic neurons. The Miros appear to be critical for both anterograde and retrograde mitochondrial transport in axons and dendrites, both of which are considered essential for neuronal health. Furthermore, the Miros may be significantly involved in the development of several serious pathological processes, including the development of neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders. In this review, we discuss the molecular structure and known mitochondrial functions of the Miro GTPases in humans and other organisms, in the context of neurodegenerative disease. Finally, we consider the potential human Miros hold as novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of such disease.     

The Roles of Sex,Mass and Individual Specialisation in Partitioning Foraging-Depth Niches of a Pursuit-Diving Predator

Intra-specific foraging niche partitioning can arise due to gender differences or individual specialisation in behaviour or prey selection. These may in turn be related to sexual size dimorphism or individual variation in body size through allometry. These variables are often inter-related and challenging to separate statistically. We present a case study in which the effects of sex, body mass and individual specialisation on the dive depths of the South Georgia shag on Bird Island, South Georgia are investigated simultaneously using a linear mixed model. The nested random effects of trip within individual explained a highly significant amount of the variance. The effects of sex and body mass were both significant independently but could not be separated statistically owing to them being strongly interrelated. Variance components analysis revealed that 45.5% of the variation occurred among individuals, 22.6% among trips and 31.8% among Dives, while R² approximations showed gender explained 31.4% and body mass 55.9% of the variation among individuals. Male dive depths were more variable than those of females at the levels of individual, trip and dive. The effect of body mass on individual dive depths was only marginally significant within sexes. The percentage of individual variation in dive depths explained by mass was trivial in males (0.8%) but substantial in females (24.1%), suggesting that differences in dive depths among males was largely due to them adopting different behavioural strategies whereas in females allometry played an additional role. Niche partitioning in the study population therefore appears to be achieved through the interactive effects of individual specialisation and gender upon vertical foraging patch selection, and has the potential to interact in complex ways with other axes of the niche hypervolume such as foraging locations, timing of foraging and diet.     

Sensory cues for the gradual frequency fall responses of the gymnotiform electric fish, Rhamphichthys rostratus

The sensory cues for a less known form of frequency shifting behavior, gradual frequency falls, of electric organ discharges (EODs) in a pulse-type gymnotiform electric fish, Rhamphichthys rostratus, were identified. We found that the gradual frequency fall occurs independently of more commonly observed momentary phase shifting behavior, and is due to perturbation of sensory feedback of the fish's own EODs by EODs of neighboring fish. The following components were identified as essential features in the signal mixture of the fish's own and the neighbor's EOD pulses: (1) the neighbor's pulses must be placed within a few millisecond of the fish's own pulses, (2) the neighbor's pulses, presented singly at low frequencies (0.2–4 Hz), were sufficient, (3) the frequency of individual pulse presentation must be below 4 Hz, (4) amplitude modulation of the sensory feedback of the fish's own pulses induced by such insertions of the neighbor's pulses must contain a high frequency component: sinusoidal amplitude modulation of the fish's own EOD feedback at these low frequencies does not induce gradual frequency falls. Differential stimulation across body surfaces, which is required for the jamming avoidance response (JAR) of wave-type gymnotiform electric fish, was not necessary for this behavior. We propose a cascade of high-pass and low-pass frequency filters within the amplitude processing pathway in the central nervous system as the mechanism of the gradual frequency fall response.Abbreviations EOD electric organ discharge - f frequency of EOD or pacemaker command signal - JAR jamming avoidance response - S ₁ stimulus mimicking fish's own EOD - f ₁ frequency of S₁ - S ₂ stimulus mimicking neighbor's EOD - f ₂ frequency of S₂     

Effect of pH on the activity of proteinases in intestinal mucosa,chyme, and microbiota of fish from the Cuciurgan reservoir

Proteolytic activities of the intestinal mucosa, chyme, and enteral microbiota have been studied in a wide range of pH values in five fish species from the Cuciurgan reservoir (Moldova). Differences in pH dependence of the intestinal proteinase activity of fish are determined by their feeding type. The maximum activity of proteinases is found in the pumpkinseed Lepomis gibbosus. The minimum activity of proteinases has been demonstrated by the zander Zander lucioperca. The pH optimum of the mucosa and chyme in all fish species (except for the European perch Perca fluviatilis) is 10. The pH optimum of the intestinal microflora varies from 6.0 (in the common carp Cyprinus carpio) to 10 (in the crucian carp Carassius carassius), whereas that in the perch from the Cuciurgan and Rybinsk reservoirs is 7. The majority of fish species, mostly Zander lucioperca and Lepomis gibbosus, are characterized by high proteniase activity of the microbiota, in the pH ranging from 6 to 9. It is assumed that proteinases in the enteral microbiota of fish are able to make up for the relatively low activity of those synthesized by their digestive system in the range of low pH values.