Lysozyme binding to tethered bilayer lipid membranes prepared by rapid solvent exchange and vesicle fusion methods

Tethered bilayer lipid membranes (tBLMs) are important tools for studying protein–lipid interactions. The widely used methodology for the preparation of these membranes is the fusion of phospholipid vesicles from an aqueous medium onto an anchored phospholipid layer. The preparation of phospholipid vesicles is a long and tedious procedure. There is another simple method, rapid solvent exchange, for preparing lipid membranes. However, there is a lack of information on the effects of the preparation method of tBLMs on their interactions with proteins. Therefore, we present in this paper a comparative study on the binding of lysozyme onto tBLMs prepared by the abovementioned methods. The prepared tBLMs have either zwitterionic or anionic characteristics. The results show that lysozyme binding onto the prepared tBLMs is unaffected by the preparation method of the tBLMs, suggesting that the tedious fusion method might be replaced by the simple rapid solvent exchange method without altering the level of protein–lipid interactions.     

Volatile Oils from the Aerial Parts of Eremophila maculata and Their Antimicrobial Activity

The essential oils isolated from the fresh flowers, fresh leaves, and both fresh and air‐dried stems of Eremophila maculata (Scrophulariaceae) were characterized by GC‐FID and GC/MS analyses. Sabinene was the major component in most of the oils, followed by limonene, α‐pinene, benzaldehyde, (Z)‐β‐ocimene, and spathulenol. The leaf and flower essential oils showed antibacterial and antifungal activity against five Gram‐positive and four Gram‐negative bacterial strains, multi‐resistant clinical isolates from patients, i.e., methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), as well as two yeasts. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and minimum microbicidal concentrations (MMCs) were between 0.25 and 4 mg/ml.     

An individual and dynamic Body Segment Inertial Parameter validation method using ground reaction forces

Over the last decades a variety of research has been conducted with the goal to improve the Body Segment Inertial Parameters (BSIP) estimations but to our knowledge a real validation has never been completely successful, because no ground truth is available. The aim of this paper is to propose a validation method for a BSIP identification method (IM) and to confirm the results by comparing them with recalculated contact forces using inverse dynamics to those obtained by a force plate. Furthermore, the results are compared with the recently proposed estimation method by Dumas et al. (2007). Additionally, the results are cross validated with a high velocity overarm throwing movement. Throughout conditions higher correlations, smaller metrics and smaller RMSE can be found for the proposed BSIP estimation (IM) which shows its advantage compared to recently proposed methods as of Dumas et al. (2007). The purpose of the paper is to validate an already proposed method and to show that this method can be of significant advantage compared to conventional methods.     

Development and validation of a bioreactor system for dynamic loading and mechanical characterization of whole human intervertebral discs in organ culture

Intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration is a common cause of back pain, and attempts to develop therapies are frustrated by lack of model systems that mimic the human condition. Human IVD organ culture models can address this gap, yet current models are limited since vertebral endplates are removed to maintain cell viability, physiological loading is not applied, and mechanical behaviors are not measured. This study aimed to (i) establish a method for isolating human IVDs from autopsy with intact vertebral endplates, and (ii) develop and validate an organ culture loading system for human or bovine IVDs. Human IVDs with intact endplates were isolated from cadavers within 48 h of death and cultured for up to 21 days. IVDs remained viable with ~80% cell viability in nucleus and annulus regions. A dynamic loading system was designed and built with the capacity to culture 9 bovine or 6 human IVDs simultaneously while applying simulated physiologic loads (maximum force: 4 kN) and measuring IVD mechanical behaviors. The loading system accurately applied dynamic loading regimes (RMS error <2.5 N and total harmonic distortion <2.45%), and precisely evaluated mechanical behavior of rubber and bovine IVDs. Bovine IVDs maintained their mechanical behavior and retained >85% viable cells throughout the 3 week culture period. This organ culture loading system can closely mimic physiological conditions and be used to investigate response of living human and bovine IVDs to mechanical and chemical challenges and to screen therapeutic repair techniques.     

Performance bonuses and the quality of primary health care delivered by family health teams in Brazil: A difference-in-differences analysis

BackgroundPay-for-performance (P4P) programmes to incentivise health providers to improve quality of care have been widely implemented globally. Despite intuitive appeal, evidence on the effectiveness of P4P is mixed, potentially due to differences in how schemes are designed. We exploited municipality variation in the design features of Brazil’s National Programme for Improving Primary Care Access and Quality (PMAQ) to examine whether performance bonuses given to family health team workers were associated with changes in the quality of care and whether the size of bonus mattered.Methods and findingsFor this quasi-experimental study, we used a difference-in-differences approach combined with matching. We compared changes over time in the quality of care delivered by family health teams between (bonus) municipalities that chose to use some or all of the PMAQ money to provide performance-related bonuses to team workers with (nonbonus) municipalities that invested the funds using traditional input-based budgets. The primary outcome was the PMAQ score, a quality of care index on a scale of 0 to 100, based on several hundred indicators (ranging from 598 to 660) of health care delivery. We did one-to-one matching of bonus municipalities to nonbonus municipalities based on baseline demographic and economic characteristics. On the matched sample, we used ordinary least squares regression to estimate the association of any bonus and size of bonus with the prepost change over time (between November 2011 and October 2015) in the PMAQ score. We performed subgroup analyses with respect to the local area income of the family health team. The matched analytical sample comprised 2,346 municipalities (1,173 nonbonus municipalities; 1,173 bonus municipalities), containing 10,275 family health teams that participated in PMAQ from the outset. Bonus municipalities were associated with a 4.6 (95% CI: 2.7 to 6.4; p < 0.001) percentage point increase in the PMAQ score compared with nonbonus municipalities. The association with quality of care increased with the size of bonus: the largest bonus group saw an improvement of 8.2 percentage points (95% CI: 6.2 to 10.2; p < 0.001) compared with the control. The subgroup analysis showed that the observed improvement in performance was most pronounced in the poorest two-fifths of localities. The limitations of the study include the potential for bias from unmeasured time-varying confounding and the fact that the PMAQ score has not been validated as a measure of quality of care.ConclusionsPerformance bonuses to family health team workers compared with traditional input-based budgets were associated with an improvement in the quality of care.

Nasser Fardousi and colleagues investigate the association between performance bonuses and the quality of primary health care delivered by family health teams in Brazil.     

利用RAPD-PCR方法鉴定我国烟粉虱的生物型

收集了国内北京、山东、广东和海南等14个省市23个地区的蔬菜、园林花卉和杂草上的23个烟粉虱Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius)种群,根据报道合成了一个随机引物H₁₆,运用RAPD-PCR技术对所收集的烟粉虱种群进行了生物型鉴定。结果表明在23个烟粉虱种群中,有17个种群同属于危害严重的“B生物型”,这些种群主要分布在交通便利的城市或沿海地区,而非B生物型则主要分布在交通不便的山区或内陆。对烟粉虱B生物型的分布与寄主植物和环境条件进行了初步的探讨。     

生态系统供给服务评估及经济价值测算

针对目前生态系统产品供给服务评估中缺乏空间表达、未考虑产品可获得性等不足,基于ArcGIS9.2,综合考虑生态系统产品的供、需两方面因素,构建了生态系统供给服务物质量和价值量的空间表达技术方法和评估模型,并对2000年丽江老君山地区的木材产品提供进行了分析.结果表明:2000年,老君山地区实际木材产品年供给服务总量为11.12×104m3.a-1,仅为年总蓄积增加量的3.2%;木材产品供给服务总价值为6669.27万元,其中以针叶林为主(90.41%).由于研究区东部人口及道路较密集,部分区域位于保护区外,且森林植被分布零散,供给服务物质量的空间分布呈"东高西低"格局.     

Ultrastructural and hormonal changes in rat cauda epididymal spermatozoa induced by Boswellia papyrifera and Boswellia carterii

Boswellia papyrifera and Boswellia carterii diffuses smoke polluting air that adversely affects indoor environment that certainly harm human health. Therefore, this study aims at ascertaining the effect of these plants on gonadal hormones and molecular changes in rat spermatozoa. The animals were exposed to 4 g/kg body weight of B. papyrifera and B. carterii daily for 120 days along with suitable controls. Significant decreases in FSH, LH and testosterone levels were evidenced, along with a reduction of protein, sialic acid, and carnitine levels. In sperm physiology, sperm count, motility, speed decrease, whereas sperm anomalies increase. TEM observation indicates morphological changes in plasma and acrosomal membranes, cytoplasmic droplet in the tail region, vacuolated, and disorganization of the mitochondrial sheath. These findings demonstrate that B. papyrifera and B. carterii smoke affects the process of sperm formation and maturation, which indicates the detrimental effects of these plants on the reproductive system.     

Synthesis of some novel 6-benzyl(or substituted benzyl)-2-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-1,2,4-triazolo[4,3-b][1,2,4]triazines as potential antimicrobial chemotherapeutics

Glucosidation of the new 8-amino-6-benzyl(or substituted benzyl)-2,8-dihydro-1,2,4-triazolo[4,3-b][1,2,4]triazin-7(3H)-ones (3a-d) with 2,3,4,6-tetra-O-acetyl-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl bromide 4 gave the corresponding N-glucosides 5a-d. Chemical transformations leading to new functionalities have also been achieved to give compounds 7-12. Antimicrobial activity of compounds 5a-c against Aspergillus fumigatus, Penicillium italicum, Syncephalastrum racemosum, Candida albicans, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli is described.