A Study of the Electrophoretic Mobilities of Multiple Myeloma Proteins

Over a period of several years our laboratory has been carrying out electrophoretic analysis of plasma, serum and body fluids from individuals with various diseases. One disease in which we have been interested is that of multiple myeloma

A User Centered Design Approach for Patient Interfaces to a Diabetes IT Platform

Improving patient self-management can have a greater impact than improving any clinical treatment (WHO). We propose here a systematic and comprehensive user centered design approach for delivering a technological platform for diabetes disease management. The system was developed under the METABO research project framework, involving patients from 3 different clinical centers in Parma, Modena and Madrid

Differences in Frontal Plane Knee Kinematics by Grip, Load, and Concentric Subphase in the Front Squat

Although the back squat is one of few exercises that has been extensively analyzed, the body of literature examining its counterpart, the front squat, is not as robust. The front squat is a vital exercise known for its quadricep development capabilities and unique front-rack positioning. This grip position renders the front squat more difficult, and thus proper form is more vital to prevent injury. PURPOSE: To evaluate the association between grip (standard front-rack, cross-grip, and strap-assisted), load (50% and 80% of 1-RM), and subphases of the concentric portion of the squat on frontal plane knee varus and valgus movement in the front squat. METHODS: Data was gathered from eight participants. Inclusion criteria were at least 60% on the Lower Extremity Functional Scale, self-report of performing front squats at least every two weeks for the past six months, and squatting below parallel. Two sessions were completed. First, consent, anthropometrics, and a 1-RM were obtained. Next, each subject was randomized to perform four repetitions of each grip at 50% and 80% of their 1-RM. During this session, a 29-marker set for 3D motion capture was used to collect joint angle data for each squat. We used data from knee frontal plane angles to analyze the concentric portion of the squat which we broke into subphases (1: 25%, 2: 50%, 3: 75% and 4: 100%) by frame. Only the second repetition from the left leg was analyzed. We performed a three-way repeated measures ANOVA for within-subject factors of grip technique (front-rack, cross-grip, strap-assisted), load (50%, 80%), and sub-phase of the concentric part of the squat (1, 2, 3, 4). We performed a sensitivity analysis with data from the second repetition of the right leg. Analyses were performed using R, version 4.0.3. Significance was set at p\u3c0.05. RESULTS: The eight participants (6 males, 2 females) were 173.10 ± 8.00cm (mean ± sd) in height, 78.20 ± 12.30kg in mass, 25 ± 3yrs of age, reported 6 ± 4 yrs of training experience, and had a 1-RM of 114.10 ± 31.00kg. There were no significant main effects for grip or load on knee varus/valgus movement in the frontal plane. However, there was a significant main effect for subphases of the concentric portion of the squat (p\u3c0.001). Except for between phases 3 and 4, there were significant differences between all pairwise comparisons of phases (p\u3c0.001 for all remaining except between 2 and 3, p = 0.002); whereas varus movement was found in phase 1, valgus movement was found in phase 2. Sensitivity analyses on the right leg yielded similar results. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that the subphases of the concentric portion of the front squat, but not grip or load, were significantly associated with varus/valgus movement of the knee. Therefore, strength coaches can choose a grip and load that is most appropriate for the specific athlete without significant impact on varus/valgus movement. However, regardless of grip or load, strength coaches should tune in closely to the concentric subphases of the front squat. In particular, to better prevent injury, strength coaches should focus on the first and second subphases phases where significant frontal plane movement may occur

Cloning and characterization of a caesalpinoid (\u3ci\u3eChamaecrista fasciculata\u3c/i\u3e) hemoglobin: The structural transition from a nonsymbiotic hemoglobin to a leghemoglobin

Nonsymbiotic hemoglobins (nsHbs) and leghemoglobins (Lbs) are plant proteins that can reversibly bind O2 and other ligands. The nsHbs are hexacoordinate and appear to modulate cellular concentrations of NO and maintain energy levels under hypoxic conditions. The Lbs are pentacoordinate and facilitate the diffusion of O2 to symbiotic bacteroids within legume root nodules. Multiple lines of evidence suggest that all plant Hbs evolved from a common ancestor and that Lbs originated from nsHbs. However, little is known about the structural intermediates that occurred during the evolution of pentacoordinate Lbs from hexacoordinate nsHbs. We have cloned and characterized a Hb (ppHb) from the root nodules of the ancient caesalpinoid legume Chamaecrista fasciculata. Protein sequence, modeling data, and spectral analysis indicated that the properties of ppHb are intermediate between that of nsHb and Lb, suggesting that ppHb resembles a putative ancestral Lb. Predicted structural changes that appear to have occurred during the nsHb to Lb transition were a compaction of the CD-loop and decreased mobility of the distal His inhibiting its ability to coordinate directly with the heme-Fe, leading to a pentacoordinate protein. Other predicted changes include shortening of the N- and C-termini, compaction of the protein into a globular structure, disappearance of positive charges outside the heme pocket and appearance of negative charges in an area located between the N- and C-termini. A major consequence for some of these changes appears to be the decrease in O2-affinity of ancestral nsHb, which resulted in the origin of the symbiotic function of Lbs

The Synthesis of Salicyl Glucuronide Derivatives

The formation of glucuronides of salicylic acid as conjugated products in the body has been demonstrated for many years. Quick (1) in 1932 found salicyl diglucuronates in the urine of dogs fed salicylic acid, whereas, Kapp and Coburn (2) demonstrated the presence of both mono- and di-glucuronides of salicylic acid in human urine. Bray and coworkers (3) observed small amounts of ester linked glucuronides and ether linked glucuronides in the urine of rabbits fed salicylic acid. Recently, Smith et al. (4) using C14 carboxyl labeled salicyclic acid obtained evidence for the excretion of the two types of mono-glucuronides in human urine. One had an ester linkage between the carboxyl group of salicylic acid and a hydroxyl group of glucuronic acid. The other had an ether linkage between the hydroxyl groups of salicylic and glucuronic acids. To our knowledge, none of the salicyl glucuronides have been isolated in crystalline form. The present investigation was an attempt to synthesize both forms of salicyl-ß-d-glucuronide. Glucurone lactone was converted to the methyl ester (Goebel and Babers (5) which was then acetylated to the α- and ß-tetraacetyl methyl esters of glucuronic acid (6)

Dispositivos de control de tránsito para reducir la congestión vehicular en intersecciones

La presente investigación tuvo como objetivo realizar determinar dispositivos de control de tránsito para reducir la congestión vehicular, aplicando software PTV VISSIM en la zona urbana de la ciudad de Huancayo, año 2023. Se determinó el aforo vehicular por cada sector optó por la técnica de la observación directa, en primera instancia se buscó un lugar estratégico para poder recolectar toda la información concerniente con el aforo vehicular. el aforo peatonal y tiempos de viaje por sector, para empezar con el estudio primero se registraron por dos días durante el periodo de 12 horas seguidas para poder identificar las horas pico en nuestras avenidas a analizar, dichos días serían diferentes, siendo primero un día típico, y el segundo un día atípico. Una vez identificadas las horas picos se procedió a modelar nuestra área de estudio en el PTV VISSIM y con ella obtener los niveles de servicio una vez se han implementado las señalizaciones y optimizado el ciclo semafórico. Los resultados obtenidos se redujo la congestión vehicular de la intersección, estando el nivel de servicio actual de la intersección en E, pero permitiendo mejorar la situación actual de la intersección únicamente en un porcentaje de mejora de 12.46%, para los retrasos vehiculares y optimizando los ciclos semafóricos se redujo la congestión vehicular mejorando el nivel F al E. Finalmente se concluye en esta investigación que los dispositivos de control de tránsito implementados en la intersección reducen la congestión vehicular ,el cual presenta la reducción del nivel de servicio inicial, el cual era de nivel F a niveles menores

Acute Hypersensitivity Reaction After Casirivimab/Imdevimab Infusion in a COVID-19-Positive Young Male: Myopericarditis or Kounis Syndrome?

Myocarditis has been a rare, but well-documented side effect of the mRNA-based vaccines against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) as well as a complication of viral infections including SARS-CoV-2. However, myopericarditis as a complication of monoclonal antibody infusion or as a complication of allergic reaction to antibody infusions might be underreported. We report the case of a 30-year-old man with a previous diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection one week prior to presentation, unvaccinated for SARS-CoV-2, who was referred from a monoclonal infusion center where he received casirivimab/imdevimab and 15 minutes after the infusion began to complain of chills, chest pain, shortness of breath, and was hypotensive. In the infusion center, the patient received epinephrine and diphenhydramine and was directed to the ER, where the patient was febrile, tachycardic, and hypotensive. Initial troponin was 1.91 which peaked at 11.73 and CK-MB which peaked at 21.2. EKG had no ischemic changes. A two-dimensional echocardiogram showed an ejection fraction (EF) of about 45%, with a left ventricular dysfunction and trivial posterior pericardial effusion, and it was diagnosed as myopericarditis. On admission, he was started on full-dose enoxaparin, aspirin, fluid resuscitation, steroids, remdesevir, and bilevel positive airway pressure (BiPap) due to his respiratory compromise. Three days later, with clinical improvement, a repeat echocardiogram showed EF of 65%, with normal ventricular contractility and no pericardial effusion. The patient was discharged home with close cardiology follow-up. Though this could be a simple case of viral myopericarditis with troponinemia secondary to demand-ischemia, the differential should be broadened to complication of monoclonal antibody, given the sudden symptom onset after infusion completion and/or a possible Kounis syndrome. Though there have not been any reported cases of casirivimab/imdevimab causing myopericarditis, adverse cardiac events after monoclonal therapy have been reported mainly in cancer patients receiving monoclonal infusions

User Centered Design to Improve Information Exchange in Diabetes Care Through eHealth: Results from a Small Scale Exploratory Study

[EN] Heterogeneity of people with diabetes makes maintaining blood glucose control and achieving therapy adherence a challenge. It is fundamental that patients get actively involved in the management of the disease in their living environments. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the use and acceptance of a self-management system for diabetes developed with User Centered Design Principles in community settings. Persons with diabetes and health professionals were involved the design, development and evaluation of the self-management system; which comprised three iterative cycles: scenario definition, user archetype definition and system development. A comprehensive system was developed integrating modules for the management of blood glucose levels, medication, food intake habits, physical activity, diabetes education and messaging. The system was adapted for two types of principal users (personas): Type 1 Diabetes user and Type 2 Diabetes user. The system was evaluated by assessing the use, the compliance, the attractiveness and perceived usefulness in a multicenter randomized pilot study involving 20 patients and 24 treating professionals for a period of four weeks. Usage and compliance of the co-designed system was compared during the first and the last two weeks of the study, showing a significantly improved behaviour of patients towards the system for each of the modules. This resulted in a successful adoption by both type of personas. Only the medication module showed a significantly different use and compliance (p= 0.01) which can be explained by the different therapeutic course of the two types of diabetes. The involvement of patients to make their own decisions and choices form design stages was key for the adoption of a self-management system for diabetes.This study was funded by European Commission under the 7th Framework Program grant agreement number 216270.3.Fico, G.; Martinez-Millana, A.; Leuteritz, J.; Fioravanti, A.; Beltrán-Jaunsarás, ME.; Traver Salcedo, V.; Arredondo, MT. (2019). User Centered Design to Improve Information Exchange in Diabetes Care Through eHealth: Results from a Small Scale Exploratory Study. Journal of Medical Systems. 44(1):1-12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-019-1472-5S112441Nolte, E, and McKee, M, Caring for People with Chronic Conditions: A Health System Perspective. UK: McGraw-Hill Education, 2008. ISBN 9780335236909.Bodenheimer, T, Lorig, K, Holman, H, and Grumbach K, PAtient self-management of chronic disease in primary care. JAMA 288(19):2469–2475, 2002. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.288.19.2469. 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Diabetes Care 40(10):e145–e146, 2017. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc17-0853. http://care.diabetesjournals.org/lookup/doi/10.2337/dc17-0853.Irace, C, Schweitzer, M A, Tripolino, C, Scavelli, F B, and Gnasso, A, Diabetes data management system to improve glycemic control in people with type 1 Diabetes: Prospective cohort study. JMIR mHealth uHealth 5(11):e170, 2017. https://doi.org/10.2196/mhealth.8532. http://mhealth.jmir.org/2017/11/e170/.Helal, A, Cook, D J, and Schmalz, M, Smart home-based health platform for behavioral monitoring and alteration of diabetes patients. J. Diabetes Sci. Technol. 3(1):141–148, 2009. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2769843/.Synnott, J, Chen, L, Nugent, C D, and Moore, G: Flexible and customizable visualization of data generated within intelligent environments. 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The Separation of Salicylate Metabolites By Paper Electrophoresis

The technique of paper electrophoresis was employed to develop a method for the separation of the end-products of salicylate metabolism. A phthalate buffer with a pH of 3.2 and an ionic strength of 0.0125 to 0.05 produced the most satisfactory separation of the metabolites. It was found that the end-products, i.e., salicylic, acetyl salicylic, salicyluric, and gentisic acids, could best be detected by the fluorescent spots they exhibited when the paper strips were viewed under ultraviolet light. The sensitivity of the method was such that as little as one microgram of salicylic acid could be detected as a fluorescent spot after electrophoretic separation