Developing a toolkit for the assessment and monitoring of musculoskeletal ageing

The complexities and heterogeneity of the ageing process have slowed the development of consensus on appropriate biomarkers of healthy ageing. The Medical Research Council–Arthritis Research UK Centre for Integrated research into Musculoskeletal Ageing (CIMA) is a collaboration between researchers and clinicians at the Universities of Liverpool, Sheffield and Newcastle. One of CIMA’s objectives is to ‘Identify and share optimal techniques and approaches to monitor age-related changes in all musculoskeletal tissues, and to provide an integrated assessment of musculoskeletal function’—in other words to develop a toolkit for assessing musculoskeletal ageing. This toolkit is envisaged as an instrument that can be used to characterise and quantify musculoskeletal function during ‘normal’ ageing, lend itself to use in large-scale, internationally important cohorts, and provide a set of biomarker outcome measures for epidemiological and intervention studies designed to enhance healthy musculoskeletal ageing. Such potential biomarkers include: biochemical measurements in biofluids or tissue samples, in vivo measurements of body composition, imaging of structural and physical properties, and functional tests. This review assesses candidate biomarkers of musculoskeletal ageing under these four headings, details their biological bases, strengths and limitations, and makes practical recommendations for their use. In addition, we identify gaps in the evidence base and priorities for further research on biomarkers of musculoskeletal ageing

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

Isolation, screening and identification of newly isolated soil streptomyces (streptomyces sp. Nrc-35) for ß-lactamase inhibitor production

During the screening study, a total of 60 different Streptomyces species were isolated from soil samples collected from different areas in Egypt. Streptomyces sp. NRC-35was selected for its high ß-lactamase inhibitor activity mediated by the production of clavulanic acid. This newly isolated strain was able to produce up to 65 mg L-1 clavulanic acid. The taxonomical properties of the strain were examined according to International Streptomyces Project (ISP) scheme. The primary identification of this isolate was based on spore morphology and cell wall chemo-type. Furthermore, culture physiological characteristics of the isolated strain, Str. NRC-35 were compared to other reference strains belong to Streptomyces species. The analysis of nucleotide sequence of the 16s Rrna indicated similiarity binary level of 91% with Streptomyces species

Effect of wearing surgical mask during controlled aerobic training on functional capacity and perceived stress in inactive men: a randomized trial

Abstract The study aims to assess the impact of wearing a surgical mask during training on inactive men’s functional capacity and perceived stress. Seventy non-smoker males with body mass index of 25–30 kg/m2 and moderate-intensity activity of fewer than 150 min/week were allocated randomly into two equal groups. The surgical mask group performed a controlled endurance exercise while wearing a surgical mask of three protection layers. The mask-less group performed a controlled endurance exercise without wearing any mask. Functional capacity and Perceived Stress were evaluated before and after the intervention. A significant improvement was observed within groups post-intervention in favor of the mask group regarding the Time Up and Go test (P < 0.05), with a 15.1% percentage improvement. Post-intervention, there was a significant change in the perceived stress score for the mask and mask-less groups (P < 0.05). The improvement in PSS was in favor of mask-less group participants as they changed from being categorized as moderate to mild stress on the PSS, with a 27.1% percentage improvement. Exercising while wearing a surgical mask Positive impacts functional capacity and negatively impacts Perceived Stress in inactive adults. An additional study evaluating the physiological effects of masks on continuous exercise is necessary

Cost-Effectiveness of CM-LOC Attachment versus Ball Attachment Retaining Single Implant Mandibular Overdentures

AIM: To investigate the cost-effectiveness of the novel CM-LOC attachment compared to the gold standard ball attachment in single implant mandibular overdenture. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Fifty-two completely edentulous patients (50 to 69 years old) seeking to improve the retention of their complete mandibular dentures by installing a single implant in the midline of the mandible were recruited for this study. The patients were equally divided into two groups. The first group received a ball attachment abutment over the implant and the second group received CM-LOC attachment abutment. The initial cost and aftercare (maintenance) cost were calculated for each attachment and compared to each other. RESULTS: The initial cost of the CM-LOC attachment was 2.2 times that of the traditional ball attachment. The after-care cost of the CM-LOC attachment was 2.39 times more than the ball attachment. The total cost of the CM-LOC attachment was 2.22 times that of the ball attachment. CONCLUSION: The ball attachment system showed better cost-effectiveness compared to the CM-LOC attachment from the beginning of the study and throughout all the treatment period during the first year

Prevalence of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Introduction: Pathogenic sequences leading to the development of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) are unclear; but one theory is that, in a genetically susceptible host, there is a “triggering agent or event inducing an inflammatory reaction in the lung that perpetuates itself and causes parenchymal fibrosis”. One potential source for a self-perpetuating triggering event could be a chronic viral infection. For this reason, evidence for an association between IPF and chronic viral infection has been sought by many investigators for several different viruses, including HCV. Objective: To estimate the prevalence of chronic hepatitis C virus infection in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis via detection of HCV antibodies in selected patients in comparison to the control group. Patients and methods: In this study we evaluated 30 patients diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis according to diagnostic criteria of American Thoracic Society (ATS) in comparison to 60 healthy control subjects. All enrolled subjects underwent a serologic test for HCV infection by detecting hepatitis C surface antigen (HCVsAg) by a third-generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test. All patients had undergone dyspnea severity assessment by the mMRC score, routine laboratory testing including arterial blood gases (ABGs), pulmonary function testing (PFTs), chest-X-ray, high resolution CT scan (HRCT), liver ultrasonography and bronchoscopy (when needed). Results: 9 IPF patients were positive for HCV (30%), while 17 control subjects were positive for HCV (28.3%) (p = 0.869). In HCV positive IPF patients there were more severe dyspnea as assessed by the mMRC score (p = 0.042∗), lower FVC (p = 0.011∗), SaO2% and PaO2 were significantly lower (p ⩽ 0.001∗ for both parameters), and more severe HRCT scanning score (p = 0.012∗), in comparison to HCV negative IPF patients. There was significant negative correlation between the HRCT score and FVC (p = 0.011∗) in HCV positive IPF patients, there was significant negative correlation between liver cirrhosis and PaO2 (p = 0.023∗), PaCO2 (p = 0.002∗) in HCV positive IPF patients. Conclusion: Despite the fact that we couldn’t confirm the hypothesis that HCV can be a causative agent in the development of IPF, however, we have shown that HCV can be a predisposing factor for the development of a more severe form of IPF. Therefore screening IPF patients for the presence of underlying HCV infection can have important therapeutic and prognostic implications in those patients

Protective efficacy of combined trivalent inactivated ISA 71 oil adjuvant vaccine against avian influenza virus subtypes (H9N2 and H5N1) and Newcastle disease virus

Aim: The objective of the present study was to prepare a trivalent inactivated vaccine of Newcastle disease virus (NDV), H5N1, and H9N2 viruses. Materials and Methods: Three monovalent and a trivalent vaccines were prepared by emulsifying inactivated NDV (LaSota strain), reassortant H5N1, and H9N2 viruses with Montanide ISA 71 oil adjuvant. Parameters used for evaluation of the efficacy of the prepared vaccines in specific pathogen-free chickens were cellular immunity assays (blastogenesis, interferon gamma, interleukin 1 [IL1], and IL6), humoral immunity by hemagglutination inhibition, protection percentage, and shedding. Results: A single immunization with trivalent vaccine-enhanced cell-mediated immunity as well as humoral immune response with 90% protection against challenges with highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 and low pathogenic (LP) avian influenza H9N2 viruses with 100% protection after challenge with NDV. Conclusion: Development and evaluation of the trivalent vaccine in the study reported the success in preparation of a potent and efficacious trivalent vaccine which is a promising approach for controlling HPAI H5N1, LP H9N2, and ND viral infections

Maspin Expression in Epithelial Skin Tumours: An Immunohistochemical Study

Background: Maspin is a member of the serpin family of protease inhibitors and is thought to inhibit carcinoma invasion, metastasis, angiogenesis and induce apoptosis. Aim: The aim of this work is to investigate maspin expression in cutaneous basal and squamous cell carcinomas by means of immunohistochemistry. Materials and Methods: This study was carried out on 43 patients, 25 basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and 18 squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) together with ten apparently healthy volunteers as a control group. Results: There was a significant difference between the malignant and control groups regarding maspin expression since all control cases showed maspin expression compared to 60.5% (26/43) positivity in malignant cases. Maspin positive expression tended to be of higher percentage in SCC (77.8%) compared to BCC (48%) (P = 0.06) and the strong intensity of maspin was also significantly in favour of SCC compared to BCC (P = 0.02). The staining of both the cytoplasm and nuclei was seen in 27.7% of SCC and 12% of BCC and was significantly in favour of older age group (P = 0.02) and the adenoid variant (P = 0.04) of the latter. Conclusions: Maspin is associated with terminal squamous differentiation. Nuclear staining of maspin is seen in both BCC and SCC with a suggested tumour suppressor role in BCC

Sandwich-like construction of a new aminated chitosan Schiff base for efficient removal of Congo red

Abstract Herein, a novel sandwich-like α-ketoglutaric acid Schiff base-aminated chitosan composite (α-kGl-AmCsSB) was fabricated by reacting α-ketoglutaric acid and aminated chitosan. The as-fabricated α-kGl-AmCsSB was inspected by diversified characterization tools to determine its morphology, surface charge, and chemical composition as well as define the linkage pathway between α-kGl and AmCs. The SEM images demonstrated a spongy network of AmCs with interconnected pores structure which turned to a quite rough surface due to the linkage of α-kGl to the free amine groups of AmCs. Notably, the XPS and FTIR spectra suggested the linkage of α-kGl to the amine group of AmCs. The experimental results implied the superior adsorption efficiency of Congo red (CR) onto α-kGl-AmCsSB since the maximum adsorption capacity (q max) reached 434.78 mg/g at 25 °C and pH 3. Based on kinetics data, the adsorption of CR on α-kGl-AmCsSB followed pseudo-second-order model. Furthermore, D-R model infers that the CR adsorption onto α-kGl-AmCsSB occurred via physical interactions since the E value  72%. More importantly, the adsorption mechanism of CR onto α-kGl-AmCsSB was proposed and discussed. Ultimately, the novel sandwich-like α-kGl-AmCsSB exhibited advanced adsorption performance toward CR along with excellent reusability. Based on these results, we recommend more modifications on α-kGl-AmCsSB for exploiting its remarkable advantages and applying it on a large scale