Representations of swine flu: Perspectives from a Malaysian pig farm

© The Author(s), 2010. This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below.Novel influenza viruses are seen, internationally, as posing considerable health challenges, but public responses to such viruses are often rooted in cultural representations of disease and risk. However, little research has been conducted in locations associated with the origin of a pandemic. We examined representations and risk perceptions associated with swine flu amongst 120 Malaysian pig farmers. Thirty-seven per cent of respondents felt at particular risk of infection, two-thirds were somewhat or very concerned about being infected. Those respondents who were the most anxious believed particular societal “out-groups” (homosexuals, the homeless and prostitutes) to be at higher infection risk. Although few (4%) reported direct discrimination, 46% claimed friends had avoided them since the swine flu outbreak. Findings are discussed in the context of evolutionary, social representations and terror management theories of response to pandemic threat

Developmental axon pruning mediated by BDNF-p75NTR–dependent axon degeneration

The mechanisms that regulate the pruning of mammalian axons are just now being elucidated. Here, we describe a mechanism by which, during developmental sympathetic axon competition, winning axons secrete brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in an activity-dependent fashion, which binds to the p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) on losing axons to cause their degeneration and, ultimately, axon pruning. Specifically, we found that pruning of rat and mouse sympathetic axons that project to the eye requires both activity-dependent BDNF and p75NTR. p75NTR and BDNF are also essential for activity-dependent axon pruning in culture, where they mediate pruning by directly causing axon degeneration. p75NTR, which is enriched in losing axons, causes axonal degeneration by suppressing TrkA-mediated signaling that is essential for axonal maintenance. These data provide a mechanism that explains how active axons can eliminate less-active, competing axons during developmental pruning by directly promoting p75NTR-mediated axonal degeneration

Relationship between Antibody Susceptibility and Lipopolysaccharide O-Antigen Characteristics of Invasive and Gastrointestinal Nontyphoidal Salmonellae Isolates from Kenya

Background: Nontyphoidal Salmonellae (NTS) cause a large burden of invasive and gastrointestinal disease among young children in sub-Saharan Africa. No vaccine is currently available. Previous reports indicate the importance of the O-antigen of Salmonella lipopolysaccharide for virulence and resistance to antibody-mediated killing. We hypothesised that isolates with more O-antigen have increased resistance to antibody-mediated killing and are more likely to be invasive than gastrointestinal. Methodology/Principal findings: We studied 192 NTS isolates (114 Typhimurium, 78 Enteritidis) from blood and stools, mostly from paediatric admissions in Kenya 2000-2011. Isolates were tested for susceptibility to antibody-mediated killing, using whole adult serum. O-antigen structural characteristics, including O-acetylation and glucosylation, were investigated. Overall, isolates were susceptible to antibody-mediated killing, but S. Enteritidis were less susceptible and expressed more O-antigen than Typhimurium (p\u3c0.0001 for both comparisons). For S. Typhimurium, but not Enteritidis, O-antigen expression correlated with reduced sensitivity to killing (r = 0.29, 95% CI = 0.10-0.45, p = 0.002). Both serovars expressed O-antigen populations ranging 21-33 kDa average molecular weight. O-antigen from most Typhimurium were O-acetylated on rhamnose and abequose residues, while Enteritidis O-antigen had low or no O-acetylation. Both Typhimurium and Enteritidis O-antigen were approximately 20%-50% glucosylated. Amount of S. Typhimurium O-antigen and O-antigen glucosylation level were inversely related. There was no clear association between clinical presentation and antibody susceptibility, O-antigen level or other O-antigen features. Conclusion/Significance: Kenyan S. Typhimurium and Enteritidis clinical isolates are susceptible to antibody-mediated killing, with degree of susceptibility varying with level of O-antigen for S. Typhimurium. This supports the development of an antibody-inducing vaccine against NTS for Africa. No clear differences were found in the phenotype of isolates from blood and stool, suggesting that the same isolates can cause invasive disease and gastroenteritis. Genome studies are required to understand whether invasive and gastrointestinal isolates differ at the genotypic level

Estimating the extent of degradation of ruminant feeds from a description of their gas production profiles observed in vitro : derivation of models and other mathematical considerations

Equations to describe gas production profiles, obtained using manual or automated systems for in vitro fermentation of ruminant feeds, were derived from first principles by considering a simple three-pool scheme. The pools represented were the potentially degradable and undegradable feed fractions, and accumulated gases. The equations derived and investigated mathematically were the generalized Mitscherlich, generalized Michaelis–Menten, Gompertz, and logistic. They were obtained by allowing the fractional rate of degradation to vary with time. The equations permit the extent of ruminal degradation (hence the supply of microbial protein to the duodenum) to be evaluated, thus linking the gas production technique to animal production

Endemicity of acinetobacter calcoaceticus-baumannii complex in an intensive care unit in Malaysia

Introduction. Acinetobacter calcoaceticus-baumannii complex (ACB complex) is a leading opportunistic pathogen in intensive care units (ICUs). Effective control of spread requires understanding of its epidemiological relatedness. This study aims to determine the genetic relatedness and antibiotic susceptibilities of ACB complex in an ICU in Malaysia. Methodology. Pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), E-test, and disk diffusion were used for isolates characterization. Results. During the study period (December 2011 to June 2012), 1023 patients were admitted to the ICU and 44 ACB complex (blood

An illustrative analysis of atypical gas production profiles obtained from in vitro digestibility studies using fecal inoculum

14 páginas, 2 tablas, 6 figuras.Gas production profiles typically show a monotonically increasing monophasic pattern. However, atypical gas production profiles exist whereby at least two consecutive phases of gas production or additional extraneous features that distort the typical profile are present. Such profiles are more likely to occur with the use of a fecal inoculum and are much less well described. The presence of multiple phases or non-descript extraneous features makes it difficult to apply directly recommended modeling approaches such as standard response functions or classical growth functions. To overcome such difficulties, extensions of the Mitscherlich equation and a numerical modeling option also based on the Mitscherlich are explored. The numerical modeling option uses an estimate of relative rate obtained from the smoothed data profile and an estimate of maximum gas produced together with any lag time information drawn from the raw data to construct a simple Mitscherlich equation. In summary, this article illustrates the analysis of atypical gas production profiles obtained using a fecal inoculum and explores the methodology of numerical modeling to reconstruct equivalent typical growth-like trends.This research was funded in part by The Canada Research Chairs program, grant number 045867 (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Ottawa)

An Illustrative analysis of atypical gas production profiles obtained from in vitro digestibility studies using fecal inoculum

[EN] Gas production profiles typically show a monotonically increasing monophasic pattern. However, atypical gas production profiles exist whereby at least two consecutive phases of gas production or additional extraneous features that distort the typical profile are present. Such profiles are more likely to occur with the use of a fecal inoculum and are much less well described. The presence of multiple phases or non-descript extraneous features makes it difficult to apply directly recommended modeling approaches such as standard response functions or classical growth func-tions. To overcome such difficulties, extensions of the Mitscherlich equation and a numerical modeling option also based on the Mitscherlich are explored. The numerical modeling option uses an estimate of relative rate obtained from the smoothed data profile and an estimate of maximum gas produced together with any lag time information drawn from the raw data to construct a simple Mitscherlich equation. In summary, this article illustrates the analysis of atypical gas production profiles obtained using a fecal inoculum and explores the methodology of numerical modeling to reconstruct equivalent typical growth-like trendsSIThis research was funded in part by The Canada Research Chairs program, grant number 045867 (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Ottawa

Distinct Pathways Mediate the Sorting of Tail-Anchored Proteins to the Plastid Outer Envelope

Background: Tail-anchored (TA) proteins are a distinct class of membrane proteins that are sorted post-translationally to various organelles and function in a number of important cellular processes, including redox reactions, vesicular trafficking and protein translocation. While the molecular targeting signals and pathways responsible for sorting TA proteins to their correct intracellular destinations in yeasts and mammals have begun to be characterized, relatively little is known about TA protein biogenesis in plant cells, especially for those sorted to the plastid outer envelope. Methodology/Principal Findings: Here we investigated the biogenesis of three plastid TA proteins, including the 33-kDa and 34-kDa GTPases of the translocon at the outer envelope of chloroplasts (Toc33 and Toc34) and a novel 9-kDa protein of unknown function that we define here as an outer envelope TA protein (OEP9). Using a combination of in vivo and in vitro assays we show that OEP9 utilizes a different sorting pathway than that used by Toc33 and Toc34. For instance, while all three TA proteins interact with the cytosolic OEP chaperone/receptor, AKR2A, the plastid targeting information within OEP9 is distinct from that within Toc33 and Toc34. Toc33 and Toc34 also appear to differ from OEP9 in that their insertion is dependent on themselves and the unique lipid composition of the plastid outer envelope. By contrast, the insertion of OEP9 into the plastid outer envelope occurs in a proteinaceous-dependent, but Toc33/34-independent manner and membrane lipids appear to serve primarily to facilitate normal thermodynamic integration of this TA protein. Conclusions/Significance: Collectively, the results provide evidence in support of at least two sorting pathways for plastid TA outer envelope proteins and shed light on not only the complex diversity of pathways involved in the targeting and insertion of proteins into plastids, but also the molecular mechanisms that underlie the delivery of TA proteins to their proper intracellular locations in general

Comfort Women in Indonesia: A Consideration of the Prewar Socio-legal context in Indonesia and Japan

14 páginas, 5 figuras, 10 tablas.A mechanistic lactation model, based on a theory of mammary cell proliferation and cell death, was studied and compared to the equation of Wood (1967). Lactation curves of British Holstein Friesian cows (176 curves), Spanish Churra sheep (40 curves) and Spanish Murciano-Granadina goats (30 curves) were used for model evaluation. Both models were fitted in their original form using non-linear least squares estimation. The parameters were compared among species and among parity groups within species. In general, both models provided highly significant fits to lactation data and described the data accurately. The mechanistic model performed well against Wood's 1967 equation (hereafter referred to as Wood's equation), resulting in smaller residual mean square values in more than two-thirds of the datasets investigated, and producing parameter estimates that allowed appropriate comparisons and noticeable trends attributed to shape. Using Akaike or Bayesian information criteria, goodness-of-fit with the mechanistic model was superior to that with Wood's equation for 1 Lie cow lactation curves, with no significant differences between models when fitted to goat or sheep lactation curves. The rate parameters of the mechanistic model, representing specific proliferation rate of mammary secretory cells at parturition, decay associated with reduction in cell proliferation capacity with time and specific death rate of mammary secretory cells, were smaller for primiparous than for multiparous cows. Greater lactation persistency of cows compared to goats and sheep, and decrease in persistency with parity, were shown to be represented by different values of the specific secretory cell death rate parameter in the mechanistic model. The plausible biological interpretation and fitting properties of the mechanistic model enable it to be used in complex models of whole-cow digestion and metabolism and as a tool in selection programmes and by dairy producers for management decisions.Canada Research Chairs ProgramPeer reviewe

Update on the Kelch-like (KLHL) gene family

Abstract The Kelch-like (KLHL) gene family encodes a group of proteins that generally possess a BTB/POZ domain, a BACK domain, and five to six Kelch motifs. BTB domains facilitate protein binding and dimerization. The BACK domain has no known function yet is of functional importance since mutations in this domain are associated with disease. Kelch domains form a tertiary structure of β-propellers that have a role in extracellular functions, morphology, and binding to other proteins. Presently, 42 KLHL genes have been classified by the HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC), and they are found across multiple human chromosomes. The KLHL family is conserved throughout evolution. Phylogenetic analysis of KLHL family members suggests that it can be subdivided into three subgroups with KLHL11 as the oldest member and KLHL9 as the youngest. Several KLHL proteins bind to the E3 ligase cullin 3 and are known to be involved in ubiquitination. KLHL genes are responsible for several Mendelian diseases and have been associated with cancer. Further investigation of this family of proteins will likely provide valuable insights into basic biology and human disease.</jats:p