Propagation of Respiratory Aerosols by the Vuvuzela

Vuvuzelas, the plastic blowing horns used by sports fans, recently achieved international recognition during the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament in South Africa. We hypothesised that vuvuzelas might facilitate the generation and dissemination of respiratory aerosols. To investigate the quantity and size of aerosols emitted when the instrument is played, eight healthy volunteers were asked to blow a vuvuzela. For each individual the concentration of particles in expelled air was measured using a six channel laser particle counter and the duration of blowing and velocity of air leaving the vuvuzela were recorded. To allow comparison with other activities undertaken at sports events each individual was also asked to shout and the measurements were repeated while using a paper cone to confine the exhaled air. Triplicate measurements were taken for each individual. The mean peak particle counts were 658×103 per litre for the vuvuzela and 3.7×103 per litre for shouting, representing a mean log10 difference of 2.20 (95% CI: 2.03,2.36; p<0.001). The majority (>97%) of particles captured from either the vuvuzela or shouting were between 0.5 and 5 microns in diameter. Mean peak airflows recorded for the vuvuzela and shouting were 6.1 and 1.8 litres per second respectively. We conclude that plastic blowing horns (vuvuzelas) have the capacity to propel extremely large numbers of aerosols into the atmosphere of a size able to penetrate the lower lung. Some respiratory pathogens are spread via contaminated aerosols emitted by infected persons. Further investigation is required to assess the potential of the vuvuzela to contribute to the transmission of aerosol borne diseases. We recommend, as a precautionary measure, that people with respiratory infections should be advised not to blow their vuvuzela in enclosed spaces and where there is a risk of infecting others

Assessment of the Anthelmintic Efficacy of Albendazole in School Children in Seven Countries Where Soil-Transmitted Helminths Are Endemic

Soil-transmitted helminths (roundworms, whipworms and hookworms) infect millions of children in (sub)tropical countries, resulting in malnutrition, growth stunting, intellectual retardation and cognitive deficits. Currently, there is a need to closely monitor anthelmintic drug efficacy and to develop standard operating procedures, as highlighted in a World Health Organization–World Bank meeting on “Monitoring of Drug Efficacy in Large Scale Treatment Programs for Human Helminthiasis” in Washington DC at the end of 2007. Therefore, we have evaluated the efficacy of a commonly used treatment against these parasitic infections in school children in Africa, Asia and South-America using a standardized protocol. In addition, different statistical approaches to analyzing the data were evaluated in order to develop standardized procedures for data analysis. The results demonstrate that the applied treatment was highly efficacious against round- and hookworms, but not against whipworms. However, there was large variation in efficacy across the different trials which warrants further attention. This study also provides new insights into the statistical analysis of efficacy data, which should be considered in future monitoring and evaluation studies of large scale anthelmintic treatment programs. Finally, our findings emphasize the need to update the World Health Organization recommended efficacy threshold for the treatment of STH

Distinct Regulatory Functions of Calpain 1 and 2 during Neural Stem Cell Self-Renewal and Differentiation

Calpains are calcium regulated cysteine proteases that have been described in a wide range of cellular processes, including apoptosis, migration and cell cycle regulation. In addition, calpains have been implicated in differentiation, but their impact on neural differentiation requires further investigation. Here, we addressed the role of calpain 1 and calpain 2 in neural stem cell (NSC) self-renewal and differentiation. We found that calpain inhibition using either the chemical inhibitor calpeptin or the endogenous calpain inhibitor calpastatin favored differentiation of NSCs. This effect was associated with significant changes in cell cycle-related proteins and may be regulated by calcium. Interestingly, calpain 1 and calpain 2 were found to play distinct roles in NSC fate decision. Calpain 1 expression levels were higher in self-renewing NSC and decreased with differentiation, while calpain 2 increased throughout differentiation. In addition, calpain 1 silencing resulted in increased levels of both neuronal and glial markers, β-III Tubulin and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). Calpain 2 silencing elicited decreased levels of GFAP. These results support a role for calpain 1 in repressing differentiation, thus maintaining a proliferative NSC pool, and suggest that calpain 2 is involved in glial differentiation

Intraperitoneal drain placement and outcomes after elective colorectal surgery: international matched, prospective, cohort study

Despite current guidelines, intraperitoneal drain placement after elective colorectal surgery remains widespread. Drains were not associated with earlier detection of intraperitoneal collections, but were associated with prolonged hospital stay and increased risk of surgical-site infections.Background Many surgeons routinely place intraperitoneal drains after elective colorectal surgery. However, enhanced recovery after surgery guidelines recommend against their routine use owing to a lack of clear clinical benefit. This study aimed to describe international variation in intraperitoneal drain placement and the safety of this practice. Methods COMPASS (COMPlicAted intra-abdominal collectionS after colorectal Surgery) was a prospective, international, cohort study which enrolled consecutive adults undergoing elective colorectal surgery (February to March 2020). The primary outcome was the rate of intraperitoneal drain placement. Secondary outcomes included: rate and time to diagnosis of postoperative intraperitoneal collections; rate of surgical site infections (SSIs); time to discharge; and 30-day major postoperative complications (Clavien-Dindo grade at least III). After propensity score matching, multivariable logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards regression were used to estimate the independent association of the secondary outcomes with drain placement. Results Overall, 1805 patients from 22 countries were included (798 women, 44.2 per cent; median age 67.0 years). The drain insertion rate was 51.9 per cent (937 patients). After matching, drains were not associated with reduced rates (odds ratio (OR) 1.33, 95 per cent c.i. 0.79 to 2.23; P = 0.287) or earlier detection (hazard ratio (HR) 0.87, 0.33 to 2.31; P = 0.780) of collections. Although not associated with worse major postoperative complications (OR 1.09, 0.68 to 1.75; P = 0.709), drains were associated with delayed hospital discharge (HR 0.58, 0.52 to 0.66; P &lt; 0.001) and an increased risk of SSIs (OR 2.47, 1.50 to 4.05; P &lt; 0.001). Conclusion Intraperitoneal drain placement after elective colorectal surgery is not associated with earlier detection of postoperative collections, but prolongs hospital stay and increases SSI risk

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)1.

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field

Midday Drop of Relative Leaf Water Content to Drought Tolerance in Soybean

An experiment was conducted in a Venylhouse of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University during September to December 2012 to determine the effect of midday drop of relative water content (RWC) on drought tolerance of soybean genotypes. Four soybean genotypes viz. Shohag, BARI Soybean-6, BD2331 and BGM2026 were used in the study. Plants were grown in pots under stress and control condition. A marked difference in RWC between morning and midday was observed both in stressed and control plants. BARI Soybean-6 showed higher RWC than rest of the genotypes and BGM2026 showed the lowest at all growth stages. The reduced RWC of BARI Soybean-6 under water stress at vegetative, flowering and pod developing stages were 11.35, 13.52 and 15.04% at 1.00 PM as compared to control, respectively. The reduced RWC of BGM2026 at vegetative, flowering and pod developing stages were 18.99, 20.64 and 23.05% at 1.00 PM, respectively. In stressed plants, midday drop of relative water content was minimal in BARI Soybean-6 (8.97%) and maximum in BGM2026 (17.89%) at 1.00 PM. Under water stress condition BARI Soybean-6 gave the highest seed yield (5.23 g plant-1) and BGM2026 the lowest (3.21 g plant-1) which might be attributed to the drastic reduction in 100-seed weight of RWC in the variety BGM2026 due to the significant reduction in RWC in this variety. Considering the midday drop of RWC and seed yield, it may be concluded that BGM2026 is susceptible and BARI Soybean-6 is drought tolerant among the genotypes