リンク集 RSS/ATOM 記事

by Bipin Adhikari, Koukeo Phommasone, Tiengkham Pongvongsa, Xayaphone Soundala, Palingnaphone Koummarasy, Gisela Henriques, Thomas J. Peto, Lorenz von Seidlein, Nicholas J. White, Nicholas P. J. Day, Arjen M. Dondorp, Paul N. Newton, Phaik Yeong Cheah, Mayfong Mayxay, Christopher Pell Background In the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), malaria elimination efforts are targeting the asymptomatic parasite reservoirs. Understanding community perceptions about asymptomatic malaria infections and interventions that target this reservoir is critical to the design of community engagement. This article examines knowledge, attitudes, perceptions and practices related to asymptomatic malaria infections and mass drug administration (MDA) in malaria-endemic villages in southern Savannakhet Province, Laos. Methods A questionnaire consisting of questions on socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, attitudes, perceptions and practices on malaria and MDA was administered to each household head or ...

by Kara A. Tinker, Elizabeth A. Ottesen Praying mantids are predators that consume a wide variety of insects. While the gut microbiome of carnivorous mammals is distinct from that of omnivores and herbivores, the role of the gut microbiome among predatory insects is relatively understudied. Praying mantids are the closest known relatives to termites and cockroaches, which are known for their diverse gut microbiota. However, little is known about the mantid gut microbiota or their importance to host health. In this work, we report the results of a 16S rRNA gene-based study of gut microbiome composition in adults and late-instar larvae of three mantid species. We found that the praying mantis gut microbiome exhibits substantial variation in bacterial diversity and community composition. The hindgut of praying mantids were often dominated by microbes that are present in low abundance or not found in the guts of their insect prey. Future studies will explore the role of these microbes in ...

by Siemowit Muszyński, Ewa Tomaszewska, Piotr Dobrowolski, Małgorzata Kwiecień, Dariusz Wiącek, Izabela Świetlicka, Małgorzata Skibińska, Monika Szymańska-Chargot, Jolanta Orzeł, Michał Świetlicki, Marta Arczewska, Mariusz Szymanek, Mykola Zhyla, Monika Hułas-Stasiak, Halyna Rudyk, Agnieszka Tomczyk-Warunek This study was focused on analyzing the effects of dietary inclusion of raw chickpea seed as a replacement of soybean meal as a primary protein source on bone structure in broiler chickens. Broiler chickens (n = 160) received in their diet either soybean meal (SBM) or raw chickpea seeds (CPS) as a primary protein source throughout the whole rearing period (n = 80 in each group). On the 42 th day randomly selected chickens from each group (n = 8) were slaughtered. Collected tibiotarsus were subjected to examination of the biomechanical characteristics of bone mid-diaphysis, microstructure of the growth plate and articular cartilages; the analysis of mineral content and c ...

by D. J. Buurman, T. Blokzijl, E. A. M. Festen, B. T. Pham, K. N. Faber, E. Brouwer, G. Dijkstra Introduction TNF-α-neutralizing antibodies, such as infliximab (IFX) and adalimumab (ADA), are effective in the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), but they are expensive and become ineffective when patients develop anti-IFX or anti-ADA antibodies (ATI and ATA, respectively). Second-generation anti-TNF-α antibodies, such as Golimumab, Etanercept, Certolizumab-pegol and IFX biosimilars, may solve these issues. Aim To determine the neutralizing capacity of first- and second generation anti-TNF-α antibodies and to determine whether ATI show cross-reactivity with the IFX biosimilar CT-P13 (Inflectra). Methods TNF-α neutralization was measured using a quantitative TNF-α sensor assay consisting of HeLa 8D8 cells that express the Green Fluorescence Protein (GFP) under control of a NF-кB response element. All available anti-TNF-α drugs and the IFX biosimilar CT-P13 (Inflectra) w ...

by Kurt A. Fesenmyer, Daniel C. Dauwalter, Carol Evans, Todd Allai Riparian and aquatic habitats support biodiversity and key environmental processes in semi-arid and arid landscapes, but stressors such as conventional livestock grazing, wildfire, and drought can degrade their condition. To enhance habitat for fish and wildlife and increase resiliency in these critical areas, land managers in the interior western United States increasingly use alternative grazing strategies, beaver management, or beaver dam surrogates as low-effort, low-expense restoration approaches. In this study we used historical archives of satellite and aerial imagery spanning three decades to characterize riparian vegetation productivity and document beaver dam occurrences, then evaluated vegetation productivity relative to land management associated with livestock grazing and beaver dam densities while accounting for climate and wildfire. After controlling for stream characteristics such as stream size, elevat ...

by Dolores Parras-Burgos, Daniel G. Fernández-Pacheco, Francisco Cavas-Martínez, José Nieto Martínez, Francisco J. F. Cañavate Given current high market competitiveness, it is necessary to differentiate between products that perform the same function. For this objective, designer can recur to various sources of inspiration in the searching of the more attractive form during the conceptual design stage. One of these sources can be nature, which offers a large number of geometries and textures that can be used from a shape point of view to help the designer in the creative process. This work presents an agent-based approach for a design-aided tool to provide users with some ideas, beginning with simple parts/concepts, and then increasing the complexity level according to the answers offered by designer. The proposed paradigm was implemented using the JADE agent-based platform. In order to validate the platform, several product categories were offered to fifteen different users and ...

by Takeshi Tsuruta, Kiyoshi Sakai, Junna Watanabe, Wataru Katagiri, Hideharu Hibi In nerve regeneration studies, various animal models are used to assess nerve regeneration. However, because of the difficulties in functional nerve assessment, a visceral nerve injury model is yet to be established. The superior laryngeal nerve (SLN) plays an essential role in swallowing. Although a treatment for SLN injury following trauma and surgery is desirable, no such treatment is reported in the literature. We recently reported that stem cells derived from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED) have a therapeutic effect on various tissues via macrophage polarization. Here, we established a novel animal model of SLN injury. Our model was characterized as having weight loss and drinking behavior changes. In addition, the SLN lesion caused a delay in the onset of the swallowing reflex and gain of laryngeal residue in the pharynx. Systemic administration of SHED-conditioned media (SHED-CM) promoted ...

by Javier Jerez-Roig, Marina Bosque-Prous, Maria Giné-Garriga, Caritat Bagur-Calafat, Dyego L. Bezerra de Souza, Ester Teixidó-Compañó, Albert Espelt The main objective of this work was to estimate the prevalence of disability in European community-dwelling older adults, as well as to investigate differences in the profile of disabled older adults between European regions (Northern, Central, Eastern and Southern). A cross-sectional study based on wave 6 (2015) of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) was conducted. Community-dwelling participants aged 65–84 were selected (n = 33,369). Disability was defined as presenting at least one functional limitation in basic activities of daily living (BADL). Sociodemographic, health services, lifestyle and health-related variables were analyzed. Statistical analysis was carried out through the Chi-square and ANOVA tests for bivariate analysis, and Poisson regression for multivariate analysis. Overall prevalence of ...

by Christian Baumgartner, Verena Spath-Blass, Verena Niederkofler, Katharina Bergmoser, Sonja Langthaler, Alexander Lassnig, Theresa Rienmüller, Daniela Baumgartner, Aarti Asnani, Robert E. Gerszten Metabolic biomarkers may play an important role in the diagnosis, prognostication and assessment of response to pharmacological therapy in complex diseases. The process of discovering new metabolic biomarkers is a non-trivial task which involves a number of bioanalytical processing steps coupled with a computational approach for the search, prioritization and verification of new biomarker candidates. Kinetic analysis provides an additional dimension of complexity in time-series data, allowing for a more precise interpretation of biomarker dynamics in terms of molecular interaction and pathway modulation. A novel network-based computational strategy for the discovery of putative dynamic biomarker candidates is presented, enabling the identification and verification of unexpected metabolic ...

by Shotaro Masuoka, Natsuko Kusunoki, Ryo Takamatsu, Hiroshi Takahashi, Kazuaki Tsuchiya, Shinichi Kawai, Toshihiro Nanki Objective The objective of the present study was to investigate Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection as an environmental factor for the development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods Synovial tissues were collected during surgery from 128 RA and 98 osteoarthritis (OA) patients. DNA was extracted from synovial tissues. The EBV gene was assessed by nested PCR for the amplification of EBV nuclear antigen-1 (EBNA-1). The nucleotide sequence of the PCR product was elucidated. HLA-DRB1 genotyping was also performed. Results EBV DNA was more frequently detected in the synovial tissues of RA patients (32.8%) than OA patients (15.3%) (p