Lipoprotein (a), Lipid Profile and Mean Platelet Volume in Hypothyroid Patients in Sana'a, Yemen: A Case-Control Study

Objectives: This study aimed to measure lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)], lipid profile and mean platelet volume (MPV) in hypothyroid patients compared to healthy controls.Methods: An unmatched case-control study was conducted involving 100 subjects (50 overt hypothyroidism patients and 50 healthy controls admitted to the University of Science and Technology Hospital, Al-Thawra Hospital and Al-Jomhori Hospital- Sana'a, Yemen during the period from May 2013 to March 2014. Data were collected by in-person interview using a structured questionnaire followed by weight and height measurements. Fresh blood samples were collected and analyzed using electrochemiluminescent, spectrophotometric and immunoturbidimetric methods for estimating Lp(a), lipid profile and MPV parameters.Results: Hypothyroid patients had a significantly higher concentration of Lp(a) compared to the control. Total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) levels were also significantly higher in hypothyroid patients. Serum level of free triiodothyronine (FT3) was negatively correlated with Lp(a), TC and LDL-C (r=–0.380, p=0.007; r=–0.354, p=0.012; r=–0.350, p=0.013, respectively). However, serum thyroid-stimulating hormone was positively correlated with Lp(a), TC and LDL-C (r=0.344, p=0.015; r=0.299, p=0.035; r=0.405, p=0.004, respectively) among hypothyroid patients. MPV levels, on the other hand, showed a strong positive correlation with (r=0.611, p=0.001).Conclusions: These findings indicate that overt hypothyroidism patients tend to have increased Lp(a) and atherogenic lipids that may contribute to increasing risk of atherosclerosis. However, hypothyroid patients showed no significant difference compared to the controls regarding the MPV

A Simple and Highly Structured Procaine Hydrochloride as Fluorescent Quenching Chemosensor for Trace Determination of Mercury Species in Water

An ultrasensitive, simple and highly selective spectrofluorometric strategy for quantifying traces of mercury(II) in environmental water has been established using the fluorescent probe procaine hydrochloride (PQ+.Cl−). The procedure was based upon the formation of the ternary ion associate complex [(PQ+)2.(HgI4)2−] between PQ+.Cl− and mercury(II) in iodide media at pH 9.0–10.0 with its subsequent extraction onto dichloromethane accompanied by a change in fluorescence intensity at λex/em = 268/333 nm. The developed strategy exhibited a linear range of 1–114 μg L−1 with lower limit of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) of mercury(II) 1.3 and 3.98 nM, respectively. Intra and inter-day laboratory accuracy and precision for trace analysis of mercury(II) in water were performed. Complexed mercury(II) in environmental water, chemical speciation and successful literature comparison was performed. The proposed system offered excellent selectivity towards mercury(II) ions examined in the presence of competent ions in excess, relevant to real water samples. The method was applied for analysis of mercury(II) in tap water samples. Statistical comparison (Student’s t and F tests) of the proposed method with the reference ICP-OES method revealed no significant differences in the accuracy and precision

Capability of 19-litre polycarbonate plastic water cooler containers for efficient solar water disinfection (SODIS): field case studies in India, Bahrain and Spain.

The small treated volume (typically ~2 litres) associated with polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles that are most frequently used in solar water disinfection (SODIS), is a major obstacle to uptake of this water treatment technology in the developing world. In order to address this problem we have conducted a series of experiments in Spain, Bahrain and India, to assess the efficacy of large volume (19 litres) transparent plastic (polycarbonate) water cooler/dispenser containers (WDCs) as SODIS reactors to inactivate Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis, under strong natural sunlight. Reduction values of 6 log10 units (LRV = 6.0) have been observed using WDCs in each location. Additional comparisons between 2-L PET bottles and 19-L indicate that WDCs provide bacterial inactivation similar in both systems. SODIS disinfection experiments in turbid water (100 NTU) in both reactors showed very good inactivation efficiency. LRVs of 7.2 and 7.8 were obtained for E. coli in WDC and 2-L PET bottles, respectively, and in the case of E. faecalis LRV = 5.7 and 7.9 were observed. These studies demonstrate that under conditions of strong sunlight and mild temperature, 19 litre water dispenser containers can be used to provide adequate volumes of SODIS treated water for households or larger community applications such as schools or clinics in the developing world

National mapping of schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminthiasis and anaemia in Yemen: Towards better national control and elimination

Background Schistosomiasis (SCH) and soil-transmitted helminthiasis (STH) are known to be endemic in Yemen. However, the distribution of both diseases had not previously been assessed by a well-structured national mapping study covering all governorates. The main aim of this study was, therefore, to map the prevalence of SCH and STH in Yemen in order to better inform implementation of effective national control and elimination interventions. The assessment of the distribution of anaemia was also included as a well-known consequence of infection with both SCH and STH. Secondarily, the study aimed to provide a broad indication of the impact of large-scale treatment on the distribution of infection. Methodology and principal findings To achive these aims, 80,432 children (10–14 years old) from 2,664 schools in 332 of Yemen’s 333 districts were included, in 2014, into this national cross-sectional survey. Countrywide, 63.3% (210/332) and 75.6% (251/332) of districts were found to be endemic for SCH and STH respectively. More districts were affected by intestinal than urogenital SCH (54.2% and 31.6% respectively). SCH infection was mostly mild and moderate, with no districts reporting high infection. One quarter (24.4%) of Yemeni districts had high or moderate levels of Ascaris lumbricoides infection. Infection with Trichuris trichiura was the second most common STH (44.9% of districts infected) after A. lumbricoides (68.1%). Hookworm was the least prevalent STH (9.0%). Anaemia was prevalent in 96.4% of districts; it represented a severe public health problem (prevalence ≥ 40%) in 26.5% of districts, and a mild to moderate problem in two thirds of the districts (33.7% and 36.1% respectively). Conclusion This study provided the first comprehensive mapping of SCH, STH, and anaemia across the country. This formed the basis for evaluating and continuing the national control and elimination programme for these neglected tropical diseases in Yemen

Cryopreservation of human cancers conserves tumour heterogeneity for single-cell multi-omics analysis

Background: High throughput single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-Seq) has emerged as a powerful tool for exploring cellular heterogeneity among complex human cancers. scRNA-Seq studies using fresh human surgical tissue are logistically difficult, preclude histopathological triage of samples, and limit the ability to perform batch processing. This hindrance can often introduce technical biases when integrating patient datasets and increase experimental costs. Although tissue preservation methods have been previously explored to address such issues, it is yet to be examined on complex human tissues, such as solid cancers and on high throughput scRNA-Seq platforms. Methods: Using the Chromium 10X platform, we sequenced a total of ~ 120,000 cells from fresh and cryopreserved replicates across three primary breast cancers, two primary prostate cancers and a cutaneous melanoma. We performed detailed analyses between cells from each condition to assess the effects of cryopreservation on cellular heterogeneity, cell quality, clustering and the identification of gene ontologies. In addition, we performed single-cell immunophenotyping using CITE-Seq on a single breast cancer sample cryopreserved as solid tissue fragments. Results: Tumour heterogeneity identified from fresh tissues was largely conserved in cryopreserved replicates. We show that sequencing of single cells prepared from cryopreserved tissue fragments or from cryopreserved cell suspensions is comparable to sequenced cells prepared from fresh tissue, with cryopreserved cell suspensions displaying higher correlations with fresh tissue in gene expression. We showed that cryopreservation had minimal impacts on the results of downstream analyses such as biological pathway enrichment. For some tumours, cryopreservation modestly increased cell stress signatures compared to freshly analysed tissue. Further, we demonstrate the advantage of cryopreserving whole-cells for detecting cell-surface proteins using CITE-Seq, which is impossible using other preservation methods such as single nuclei-sequencing. Conclusions: We show that the viable cryopreservation of human cancers provides high-quality single-cells for multiomics analysis. Our study guides new experimental designs for tissue biobanking for future clinical single-cell RNA sequencing studies

Entomological aspects and the role of human behaviour in malaria transmission in a highland region of the Republic of Yemen

© 2016 Al-Eryani et al. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/ publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. The attached file is the published version of the article

STAT3 gain-of-function mutations connect leukemia with autoimmune disease by pathological NKG2Dhi CD8+T cell dysregulation and accumulation

The association between cancer and autoimmune disease is unexplained, exemplified by T cell large granular lymphocytic leukemia (T-LGL) where gain-of-function (GOF) somatic STAT3 mutations correlate with co -exist-ing autoimmunity. To investigate whether these mutations are the cause or consequence of CD8+ T cell clonal expansions and autoimmunity, we analyzed patients and mice with germline STAT3 GOF mutations. STAT3 GOF mutations drove the accumulation of effector CD8+ T cell clones highly expressing NKG2D, the receptor for stress-induced MHC-class-I-related molecules. This subset also expressed genes for granzymes, perforin, interferon-y, and Ccl5/Rantes and required NKG2D and the IL-15/IL-2 receptor IL2RB for maximal accumula-tion. Leukocyte-restricted STAT3 GOF was sufficient and CD8+ T cells were essential for lethal pathology in mice. These results demonstrate that STAT3 GOF mutations cause effector CD8+ T cell oligoclonal accumu-lation and that these rogue cells contribute to autoimmune pathology, supporting the hypothesis that somatic mutations in leukemia/lymphoma driver genes contribute to autoimmune disease.Peer reviewe

Perceived needs of disease vector control programs: A review and synthesis of (sub)national assessments from South Asia and the Middle East.

Systems for disease vector control should be effective, efficient, and flexible to be able to tackle contemporary challenges and threats in the control and elimination of vector-borne diseases. As a priority activity towards the strengthening of vector control systems, it has been advocated that countries conduct a vector-control needs assessment. A review was carried out of the perceived needs for disease vector control programs among eleven countries and subnational states in South Asia and the Middle East. In each country or state, independent teams conducted vector control needs assessment with engagement of stakeholders. Important weaknesses were described for malaria, dengue and leishmaniases regarding vector surveillance, insecticide susceptibility testing, monitoring and evaluation of operations, entomological capacity and laboratory infrastructure. In addition, community mobilization and intersectoral collaboration showed important gaps. Countries and states expressed concern about insecticide resistance that could reduce the continued effectiveness of interventions, which demands improved monitoring. Moreover, attainment of disease elimination necessitates enhanced vector surveillance. Vector control needs assessment provided a useful planning tool for systematic strengthening of vector control systems. A limitation in conducting the vector control needs assessment was that it is time- and resource-intensive. To increase the feasibility and utility of national assessments, an abridged version of the guidance should focus on operationally relevant topics of the assessment. Similar reviews are needed in other regions with different contextual conditions