Comprehensive evaluation of autohydrogenotrophic membrane biofilm reactor treating OTC-enriched water medium

Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering - In the recent years, there has been considerable debate about the potential impacts of antibiotics present in various environments on the public health and...     

GID E3 ligase supramolecular chelate assembly configures multipronged ubiquitin targeting of an oligomeric metabolic enzyme

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Listening to Women's Voices: The Quality of Care of Women Experiencing Severe Maternal Morbidity, in Accra, Ghana

Background

Women who survive severe obstetric complications can provide insight into risk factors and potential strategies for prevention of maternal morbidity as well as maternal mortality. We interviewed 32 women, in an urban facility in Ghana, who had experienced severe morbidity defined using a standardized WHO near-miss definition and identification criteria. Women provided personal accounts of their experiences of severe maternal morbidity and perceptions of the care they received.

Methods and Findings

The study took place in a referral facility in urban Accra, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with women who had either a maternal near miss (n = 17) or a potentially life-threatening complication (n = 15). The most common themes surrounding the traumatic delivery were the fear of dying and concern over the potential (or actual) loss of the baby. For many women, the loss of a baby negatively influenced how they viewed and coped with this experience. Women’s perceptions of the quality of the care highlighted several key factors such as the importance of information, good communication and attitudes, and availability of human (i.e., more doctors) and physical resources (i.e., more beds, water) at the facility.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that experiences of women with severe maternal morbidity may inform different aspects of quality improvement in the facilities, which in turn have a positive impact on future health seeking behavior, service utilization and reduction in maternal morbidity and mortality.     

Peripheral blood mononuclear cell microRNAs in coronary artery disease

The accuracy of risk prediction for coronary artery disease can be improved with the use of novel molecular or genetic biomarkers. In this study, we investigated the difference of five selected microRNAs (miR or miRNA) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and controls, assessed by coronary angiography. The study population consisted of 85 subjects, aged between 18 and 75 years and underwent invasive coronary angiography. Subjects with more than 30% stenosis in at least one coronary artery, patients with a history of prior percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary by-pass surgery were allocated to the patient group; whereas the subjects without at least 30% stenosis consisted the control group. Groups were similar in age, presence of hypertension, and smoking status. However, the proportion of males and subjects taking angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers, beta blockers, nitrates, and statins were higher in the patient group. miR-221 and miR-155 were downregulated (P = .02 and .001, respectively), while miR-21 levels were significantly increased (P = .003) in the patient group compared to controls. Changes in miR-145 and miR-126 did not reach statistical significance (P > .05). miRNA- 21, miR-155, and miR-221 were differentially expressed between the patients and controls. miRNAs are promising biomarkers for CAD diagnosis, however, this requires further research with larger groups.     

Conjugation of type I antifreeze protein to polyallylamine increases thermal hysteresis activity

Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) are ice binding proteins found in some plants, insects, and Antarctic fish allowing them to survive at subzero temperatures by inhibiting ice crystal growth. The interaction of AFPs with ice crystals results in a difference between the freezing and melting temperatures, termed thermal hysteresis, which is the most common measure of AFP activity. Creating antifreeze protein constructs that reduce the concentration of protein needed to observe thermal hysteresis activities would be beneficial for diverse applications including cold storage of cells or tissues, ice slurries used in refrigeration systems, and food storage. We demonstrate that conjugating multiple type I AFPs to a polyallylamine chain increases thermal hysteresis activity compared to the original protein. The reaction product is approximately twice as active when compared to the same concentration of free proteins, yielding 0.5 °C thermal hysteresis activity at 0.3 mM protein concentration. More impressively, the amount of protein required to achieve a thermal hysteresis of 0.3 °C is about 100 times lower when conjugated to the polymer (3 μM) compared to free protein (300 μM). Ice crystal morphologies observed in the presence of the reaction product are comparable to those of the protein used in the conjugation reaction.     

Serological,Molecular and Entomological Surveillance Demonstrates Widespread Circulation of West Nile Virus in Turkey

West Nile virus (WNV), a mosquito-borne flavivirus with significant impact on human and animal health, has recently demonstrated an expanded zone of activity globally. The aim of this study is to investigate the frequency and distribution of WNV infections in potential vectors and several mammal and avian species in Turkey, where previous data indicate viral circulation. The study was conducted in 15 provinces across Turkey during 2011–2013. In addition, the entomological study was extended to 4 districts of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. WNV exposure was determined in humans, horses, sheep and ducks from Mersin, Sanliurfa, Van and Kars provinces of Turkey, via the detection of neutralizing antibodies. WNV RNA was sought in human and equine samples from Mersin, Adana and Mugla provinces. Field-collected mosquitoes from 92 sites at 46 locations were characterized morphologically and evaluated for viral RNA. Neutralizing antibodies were identified in 10.5% of the 1180 samples studied and detected in all species evaluated. Viral nucleic acids were observed in 5.9% of 522 samples but only in horses. A total of 2642 mosquito specimens belonging to 15 species were captured, where Ochlerotatus caspius (52.4%), Culex pipiens sensu lato (24.2%) comprise the most frequent species. WNV RNA was detected in 4 mosquito pools (1.9%), that comprise Oc. caspius Cx. pipiens s.l. and DNA barcoding revealed the presence of Cx. quinquefasciatus and Cx. perexiguus mosquitoes in infected Culex pools. All WNV partial sequences were characterized as lineage 1 clade 1a. These findings indicate a widespread WNV activity in Turkey, in Eastern Thrace and Mediterranean-Aegean regions as well as Southeastern and Northeastern Anatolia.     

Evaluation of Commercially Available Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction Assays for the Diagnosis of Invasive Aspergillosis in Patients with Haematological Malignancies

Mycopathologia - Early diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis (IA) is a challenge. Non-specific clinical and radiologic findings, as well as difficulties in conventional diagnostic method application,...     

Cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania infantum transmitted by Phlebotomus tobbi

Transmission of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) caused by Leishmania infantum was studied in South Anatolia, Turkey. Small, non-ulcerating lesions prevailed and patients were negative in rK39 tests for antibody detection for human visceral leishmaniasis (VL). The most abundant sand fly species, Phlebotomus tobbi, was found positive for Leishmania promastigotes with a prevalence of 1.4% (13 out of 898 dissected females). The isolated strains were identical with those obtained from patients with CL and were typed as L. infantum. Phylogenetic analysis revealed similarity to MON-188 and a clear difference from the MON-1 clade. Blood-meal identification showed that P. tobbi feeds preferentially on cattle and humans. This finding, the high number of CL patients and relative scarcity of dogs in the focus, suggests that the transmission cycle could be anthroponotic.     

Cardiac protection by mitoKATP channels is dependent on Akt translocation from cytosol to mitochondria during late preconditioning

This investigation elucidates the Akt/mitochondrial ATP-sensitive K(+) (mitoK(ATP)) channel signaling pathway in late pharmacological preconditioning, using the mitoK(ATP) channel openers BMS-191095 (BMS) and diazoxide (DE). BMS (1 mg/kg ip) and DE (7 mg/kg ip) alone or BMS plus wortmannin (WTN, 15 microg/kg ip), an inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, and BMS plus 5-hydroxydecanoic acid (5-HD, 5 mg/kg ip), an inhibitor of mitoK(ATP) channels, were administered to male mice. Twenty-four hours later, hearts were isolated and subjected to 40 min of ischemia and 120 min of reperfusion via Langendorff's apparatus. Both BMS and DE reduced left ventricular end-diastolic pressure and increased left ventricular developed pressure as well as reduced LDH release. Coadministration of BMS and WTN abolished the beneficial effects of BMS on cardiac function. Moreover, BMS and DE accelerated Akt phosphorylation in cardiac tissue as determined by Western blot analysis and also significantly reduced apoptosis compared with ischemic control. WTN significantly suppressed BMS-induced Akt phosphorylation, whereas 5-HD had no effect on Akt phosphorylation in cytosol, and the effect of BMS on apoptosis was abolished. It is concluded that the cardioprotective effect by mitoK(ATP) channels is attributed to the translocation of phosphorylated Akt from cytosol to mitochondria.