Biodeterioration of Mayan buildings at uxmal and tulum,Mexico

Uxmal and Tulum are two important Mayan sites in the Yucatan peninsula. The buildings are mainly composed of limestone and grey/black discoloration is seen on exposed walls and copious greenish biofilms on inner walls. The principal microorganisms detected on interior walls at both Uxmal and Tulum were cyanobacteria; heterotrophic bacteria and filamentous fungi were also present. A dark‐pigmented mitosporic fungus and Bacillus cereus, both isolated from Uxmal, were shown to be acidogenic in laboratory cultures. Cyanobacteria belonging to rock‐degrading genera Synechocystis and Gloeocapsa were identified at both sites. Surface analysis previously showed that calcium ions were present in the biofilms on buildings at Uxmal and Tulum, suggesting the deposition of biosolubilized stone. Apart from their potential to degrade the substrate, the coccoid cyanobacteria supply organic nutrients for bacteria and fungi, which can produce organic acids, further increasing stone degradation.     

Refinement of Imaging Predictors of Recurrent Events following Transient Ischemic Attack and Minor Stroke

Background

TIA and minor stroke have a high risk of recurrent stroke. Abnormalities on CT/CTA and MRI predict recurrent events in TIA and minor stroke. However there are many other imaging abnormalities that could potentially predict outcome that have not been assessed in this population. Also the definition of recurrent events used includes deterioration due to stroke progression or recurrent stroke and whether imaging is either of these is not known.

Aims

To improve upon the clinical, CT/CTA and MRI parameters that predict recurrent events after TIA and minor stroke by assessing further imaging parameters. Secondary aim was to explore predictors of stroke progression versus recurrent stroke.

Methods

510 consecutive TIA and minor stroke patients had CT/CTA and most had MRI. Primary outcome was recurrent events (stroke progression or recurrent stroke) within 90 days. Further imaging parameters were assessed for prediction of recurrent events (combined outcome of stroke progression and recurrent stroke). We also explored predictors of symptom progression versus recurrence individually.

Results

36 recurrent events (36/510, 7.1% (95% CI: 5.0–9.6)) including 19 progression and 17 recurrent strokes. On CT/CTA: white matter disease, prior stroke, aortic arch focal plaque≥4 mm, or intraluminal thrombus did not predict recurrent events (progression or recurrent stroke). On MRI: white matter disease, prior stroke, and microbleeds did not predict recurrent events. Parameters predicting the individual outcome of symptom progression included: ongoing symptoms at initial assessment, symptom fluctuation, intracranial occlusion, intracranial occlusion or stenosis, and the CT/CTA metric. No parameter was strongly predictive of a distinct recurrent stroke.

Conclusions

There was no imaging parameter that could improve upon our original CT/CTA or MRI metrics to predict the combined outcome of stroke progression or a recurrent stroke after TIA and minor stroke. We are better at using imaging to predict stroke progression rather than recurrent stroke.     

Direct Observation of Treatment Provided by a Family Member as Compared to Non-Family Member among Children with New Tuberculosis: A Pragmatic,Non-Inferiority,Cluster-Randomized Trial in Gujarat,India

Background

The World Health Organization recommends direct observation of treatment (DOT) to support patients with tuberculosis (TB) and to ensure treatment completion. As per national programme guidelines in India, a DOT provider can be anyone who is acceptable and accessible to the patient and accountable to the health system, except a family member. This poses challenges among children with TB who may be more comfortable receiving medicines from their parents or family members than from unfamiliar DOT providers. We conducted a non-inferiority trial to assess the effect of family DOT on treatment success rates among children with newly diagnosed TB registered for treatment during June–September 2012.

Methods

We randomly assigned all districts (n = 30) in Gujarat to the intervention (n = 15) or usual-practice group (n = 15). Adult family members in the intervention districts were given the choice to become their child’s DOT provider. DOT was provided by a non-family member in the usual-practice districts. Using routinely collected clinic-based TB treatment cards, we compared treatment success rates (cured and treatment completed) between the two groups and the non-inferiority limit was kept at 5%.

Results

Of 624 children with newly diagnosed TB, 359 (58%) were from intervention districts and 265 (42%) were from usual-practice districts. The two groups were similar with respect to baseline characteristics including age, sex, type of TB, and initial body weight. The treatment success rates were 344 (95.8%) and 247 (93.2%) (p = 0.11) among the intervention and usual-practice groups respectively.

Conclusion

DOT provided by a family member is not inferior to DOT provided by a non-family member among new TB cases in children and can attain international targets for treatment success.

Trial Registration

Clinical Trials Registry–India, National Institute of Medical Statistics (Indian Council of Medical Research) CTRI/2015/09/006229     

The role of fish-poultry integration on fish growth performance,yields and economic benefits among smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa,Tanzania

Aquaculture practices from sub-Saharan Africa are characterised by low production, owing to improper technology. Production can be increased through integrating fish farming with other existing on-farm activities, particularly livestock husbandry. We assessed the role of fish-poultry integration on all male Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus growth performance, yields and economic benefits among smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, Tanzania. The study also compared phytoplankton species composition, abundance and biomass between the fish-poultry integration and non-integrated system. After 180 days of the experiment, all male O. niloticus cultured under fish-poultry integration exhibited significantly higher growth rates than those in the non-integrated system (p < 0.05). Gross fish yield (GFY), net fish yield (NFY) and net annual yields (NAY) obtained from fish-poultry integration were significantly higher than those from non-integrated system (p < 0.05). Partial enterprise budget analysis revealed that fish-poultry integration was more profitable than the non-integrated system. Moreover, fish-poultry integrated system produced significantly higher phytoplankton abundance and biomass than those from the non-integrated system. Results demonstrate that rural smallholder farmers can achieve higher growth rate, farm net yields and income by integrating all male O. niloticus with other on-farm activities than practising a stand-alone fish culture system.     

Controlled study of critical parent and family factors in the obesigenic environment

Objective: Critical gaps remain in our understanding of the obesigenic family environment. This study examines parent and family characteristics among obese youth presenting for treatment in a clinic setting. Research Methods and Procedures: Families of 78 obese youth (BMI z‐score = 2.4; age, 8 to 16 years; 59% girls; 49% African‐American) were compared with 71 non‐overweight (BMI z‐score = ?0.02) demographically matched comparisons. Parents completed measures assessing family demographics, psychological distress (Symptom Checklist 90‐Revised), and family functioning both broadly (Family Environment Scale: Conflicted, Support, Control) and at mealtimes (About Your Child's Eating‐Revised: Mealtime Challenges, Positive Mealtime Interaction). Height and weight were obtained from all participants. Results: Compared with mothers and fathers of non‐overweight youth, parents of obese youth had significantly higher BMIs (p < 0.001). Mothers of obese youth reported significantly greater psychological distress (p < 0.01), higher family conflict (p < 0.05), and more mealtime challenges (p < 0.01). Less positive family mealtime interactions were reported by both mothers (p < 0.01) and fathers (p < 0.05) of obese youth. These group differences did not vary by child sex or race. Logistic regression analyses indicated that maternal distress and mealtime challenges discriminated between obese and non‐overweight youth after controlling for maternal BMI. Family conflict was explained, in part, by maternal distress. Discussion: Obese youth who present for treatment in a clinic setting are characterized by psychosocial factors at the parent and family level that differ from non‐overweight youth. These data are critical because they identify factors that may be serving as barriers to a family's or youth's ability to implement healthy lifestyle behaviors but that are potentially modifiable.     

Isolation of novel GRO genes and a phylogenetic analysis of the CXC chemokine subfamily in mammals

Approximately 15 different alpha, or CXC, chemokines have thus far been isolated from 11 species of mammals. Among the best studied chemokines are the 12 human proteins that are encoded by 11 paralogous genes. In order to better understand the evolution and function of this group of genes, we isolated and characterized six novel GRO and GRO-related cDNA sequences from the cow (Bos taurus), the sheep (Ovis aries), the rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), and the guinea pig (Cavia porcellus). The amino acid sequence of the diverged guinea pig GRO or KC gene is only 50%-60% similar to presumed orthologs from other species, while the sheep and cow GRO proteins are 90%-99% similar to each other. The presence of multiple GRO genes in the cow, the rabbit, and the sheep is consistent with what has been observed for humans. Phylogenetic analyses of amino acid sequences from 44 proteins indicate that genes orthologous to many of the 11 known from humans exist in other species. One such gene, interleukin 8, or IL8, has been isolated from nine species, including the rodent guinea pig; however, this gene is absent in the rat and the mouse, indicating a unique gene loss event in the rat/mouse (muroid rodent) lineage. The KC (or MIP2) gene of rodents appears to be orthologous to the GRO gene found in other taxonomic orders. Combined evidence from different sources suggests that IP10 and MIG share sister taxon relationships on the evolutionary tree, while the remaining paralogous genes represent independent lineages, with limited evidence for kinship between them. This observation indicates that these genes originated nearly contemporaneously via a series of gene duplication events. Relative-rate tests for synonymous and nonsynonymous nucleotide substitutions in the KC and IL8 genes did not detect rate heterogeneity; however, there are several notable features regarding the IL8 genes. For example, the IL8 proteins from two Old World monkeys are as similar to one another as they are to the IL8 protein from humans, and all observed nucleotide differences between the IL8 genes of the two monkeys cause amino acid changes; in other words, there are no synonymous differences between them.     

X-ray crystal structure of human dopamine sulfotransferase, SULT1A3. Molecular modeling and quantitative structure-activity relationship analysis demonstrate a molecular basis for sulfotransferase substrate specificity

Humans are one of the few species that produce large amounts of catecholamine sulfates, and they have evolved a specific sulfotransferase, SULT1A3 (M-PST), to catalyze the formation of these conjugates. An orthologous protein has yet to be found in other species. To further our understanding of the molecular basis for the unique substrate selectivity of this enzyme, we have solved the crystal structure of human SULT1A3, complexed with 3'-phosphoadenosine 5'-phosphate (PAP), at 2.5 A resolution and carried out quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) analysis with a series of phenols and catechols. SULT1A3 adopts a similar fold to mouse estrogen sulfotransferase, with a central five-stranded beta-sheet surrounded by alpha-helices. SULT1A3 is a dimer in solution but crystallized with a monomer in the asymmetric unit of the cell, although dimer interfaces were formed by interaction across crystallographic 2-fold axes. QSAR analysis revealed that the enzyme is highly selective for catechols, and catecholamines in particular, and that hydrogen bonding groups and lipophilicity (cLogD) strongly influenced K(m). We also investigated further the role of Glu(146) in SULT1A3 using site-directed mutagenesis and showed that it plays a key role not only in defining selectivity for dopamine but also in preventing many phenolic xenobiotics from binding to the enzyme.     

Myocardial taurine,development and vulnerability to ischemia

Summary. Depleting intracellular taurine in heart cells improves their resistance to ischemia and reperfusion injury. The aim of this work was to see whether physiologically low levels of endogenous taurine also reflect a reduced vulnerability of the myocardium to cardiac insults. The myocardial concentration of taurine was measured during different stages of development and compared with vulnerability to ischemia and reperfusion injury in the rat and in pediatric patients undergoing cardiac surgery.Rat hearts with relatively lower levels of taurine were significantly more resistant to an ischemic inult and there was a strong negative correlation between taurine content and recovery. Childrens hearts had significantly lower taurine levels compared to infants hearts which was consistent with their known increased resistance to an ischemic cardioplegic insult (Imura et al., 2001). This work shows that the changes in the concentration of myocardial taurine during development correlate with vulnerability to ischemia where low myocardial taurine is associated with improved recovery upon reperfusion.