Dizajn maske za lice s UVC-LED zračenjem i njezina djelotvornost protiv uobičajenih klica

During the Covid-19 pandemic, one of the best means of personal protection was using face masks. In this context, the World Health Organization has declared the attempts to produce masks inactivating airborne virus species a welcome initiative. This preliminary study aimed to prove that airborne germs passing through a mask filter cartridge can be destroyed by the rays emitted from UVC LEDs placed in such cartridge. We therefore designed such a face mask and tested the efficiency of UVC LEDs placed in its cartridge against common contaminants, gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus, gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and the influenza A/Puerto Rico/8/1934 virus because of its similarity with SARS CoV-2. Eight UVC LEDs with a total power of 75 mW provided sufficient germicidal effect for all three germs. In terms of safety, ozone production released during UVC LED emission was negligible. Our findings are promising, as they show that well-designed UVC-based face masks can be effective against airborne germs, but further research on a greater sample may help us learn more and optimise such face masks.Tijekom pandemije Covida-19 jedan od najboljih oblika osobne zaštite bilo je nošenje maski za lice. U tom je smislu Svjetska zdravstvena organizacija pozdravila pokušaje izrade maski koje ubijaju virusne vrste koje se prenose zrakom. Cilj je ovoga preliminarnog istraživanja bio dokazati da se zrakom nošene klice koje prolaze kroz filtarske uloške mogu uništiti zračenjem UVC ledica smještenih u takve uloške. Stoga smo osmislili masku za lice s tom namjenom i iskušali djelotvornost UVC ledica protiv uobičajenih izvora zaraza: gram-pozitivnoga Staphylococcus aureus, gram-negativnoga Pseudomonas aeruginosa i virusa influence A/Puerto Rico/8/1934 zbog njegove sličnosti s virusom SARS CoV-2. Osam UVC ledica ukupne snage 75 mW iskazale su dovoljan germicidni učinak protiv svih triju klica. U smislu sigurnosti primjene, ozon proizveden tijekom UVC-LED zračenja pokazao se zanemarivim. Naši su rezultati obećavajući jer pokazuju da dobro osmišljene maske za lice s UVC zračenjem mogu biti djelotvorne protiv zrakom nošenih klica, ali će tek daljnja istraživanja na većem uzorku pomoći da doznamo više i usavršimo takve maske za lice

The effect of CD14 and TLR4 gene polimorphisms on asthma phenotypes in adult Turkish asthma patients: a genetic study

Background: Endotoxins stimulate T helper 1 cell maturation and send a negative signal to T helper 2 polarisation. This causes a decrease IgE levels and prevents atopy (Hygiene hypothesis). It is shown that this response is under genetic control by polymorphisms in CD14 and TLR4 genes in some researchs. We aimed to investigate the effects of genetic variants of CD14 (-) and TLR4 (Asp299Gly, Thr399Ile) genes on asthma phenotypes in adults with asthma

Polymorphism of hypoxia-inducible factor-1 α gene in pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome

Objective: To examine if hypoxia-inducible factor-1 α (Hif-1 α ) polymorphisms are associated with pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome (PARDS). Methods: Twenty two patients with PARDS and 11 non-PARDS controls were examined in pediatric intensive care unit in Cukurova University Balcali Hospital. Blood polymorphism was used to assess the Hif-1 α C1772T and G1790A polymorphisms of Hif-1 α gene, and differences in genotypes between the 2 groups were compared. Results: Hif-1 α C1772T polymorphism was observed only in one case of PARDS group but non-PARDS group didn’t show any C1772T polymorphism. Particularly, the difference in number of cases with Hif-1 α G1790A polymorphism was not significant between PARDS and non-PARDS groups. In addition, Hif-1 α G1790A polymorphism was significantly related to the distribution of lung opacities in children with PARDS (P<0.05). Conclusions: Our results indicate that Hif-1 α G1790A polymorphism is related to an increased susceptibility to pulmonary for PARDS children. The detection of G1790A polymorphism could help pediatricians to predict the extensity of PARDS early in lung tissue

Long-term chronic caloric restriction alters miRNA profiles in the brain of ageing mice

Calorie restriction (CR) has been shown to be one of the most effective methods in alleviating the effects of ageing and age-related diseases. Although the protective effects of CR have been reported, the exact molecular mechanism still needs to be clarified. This study aims to determine differentially expressed (DE) miRNAs and altered gene pathways due to long-term chronic (CCR) and intermittent (ICR) CR in the brain of mice to understand the preventive roles of miRNAs resulting from long-term CR. Ten weeks old mice were enrolled into three different dietary groups; ad libitum, CCR or ICR, and fed until 82 weeks of age. miRNAs were analysed using GeneChip 4.1 microarray and the target of DE miRNAs was determined using miRNA target databases. Out of a total 3,163 analysed miRNAs, 55 of them were differentially expressed either by different CR protocols or by ageing. Brain samples from the CCR group had increased expression levels of mmu-miR-713 while decreasing expression levels of mmu-miR-184-3p and mmu-miR-351-5p compared to the other dietary groups. Also, current results indicated that CCR showed better preventive effects than that of ICR. Thus, CCR may perform its protective effects by modulating these specific miRNAs since they are shown to play roles in neurogenesis, chromatin and histone regulation. In conclusion, these three miRNAs could be potential targets for neurodegenerative and ageing-related diseases and may play important roles in the protective effects of CR in the brain

UVC-LED-based face mask design and efficacy against common germs

During the Covid-19 pandemic, one of the best means of personal protection was using face masks. In this context, the World Health Organization has declared the attempts to produce masks inactivating airborne virus species a welcome initiative. This preliminary study aimed to prove that airborne germs passing through a mask filter cartridge can be destroyed by the rays emitted from UVC LEDs placed in such cartridge. We therefore designed such a face mask and tested the efficiency of UVC LEDs placed in its cartridge against common contaminants, gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus, gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and the influenza A/Puerto Rico/8/1934 virus because of its similarity with SARS CoV-2. Eight UVC LEDs with a total power of 75 mW provided sufficient germicidal effect for all three germs. In terms of safety, ozone production released during UVC LED emission was negligible. Our findings are promising, as they show that well-designed UVC-based face masks can be effective against airborne germs, but further research on a greater sample may help us learn more and optimise such face masks

Additional file 1: Table S1. of Simultaneous analysis of miRNA-mRNA in human meningiomas by integrating transcriptome: A relationship between PTX3 and miR-29c

An overview of the patient cohort. Tumor location and stage definition of patient samples. Median age of patients was 55.5 and age range was 15-89. (DOCX 17 kb

Additional file 2: Figure S1. of Simultaneous analysis of miRNA-mRNA in human meningiomas by integrating transcriptome: A relationship between PTX3 and miR-29c

Array study report for gene expression microarray: Summary of the gene expression array results, scatter plot and volcano plot generated by TAC software (Affymetrix). (TIFF 355 kb

One-Year Post-Vaccination Longitudinal Follow-Up of Quantitative SARS-CoV-2 Anti-Spike Total Antibodies in Health Care Professionals and Evaluation of Correlation with Surrogate Neutralization Test

Numerous vaccines have been generated to decrease the morbidity and mortality of COVID-19. This study aims to evaluate the immunogenicity of the heterologous boosts by BioNTech against homologous boosts by CoronaVac at three-month intervals in two health care worker (HCW) cohorts, with or without prior COVID-19, for one year post-vaccination. This is a prospective cohort study in which the humoral responses of 386 HCWs were followed-up longitudinally in six main groups according to their previous COVID-19 exposure and vaccination status. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike-RBD total antibody levels were measured and SARS-CoV-2 neutralization antibody (NAbs) responses against the ancestral Wuhan and the Omicron variant were evaluated comparatively using international standard serum for Wuhan and Omicron, as well as with the aid of a conversion tool. The anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike-RBD total Ab and Nab difference between with and without prior COVID-19, three months after two-dose primary vaccination with CoronaVac, was statistically significant (p = 0.001). In the subsequent follow-ups, this difference was not observed between the groups. Those previously infected (PI) and non-previously infected (NPI) groups receiving BioNTech as the third dose had higher anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike total Ab levels (14.2-fold and 17.4-fold, respectively, p = 0.001) and Nab responses (against Wuhan and Omicron) than those receiving CoronaVac. Ab responses after booster vaccination decreased significantly in all groups at the ninth-month follow-up (p < 0.05); however, Abs were still higher in all booster received groups than that in the primary vaccination. Abs were above the protective level at the twelfth-month measurement in the entire of the second BioNTech received group as the fourth dose of vaccination. In the one-year follow-up period, the increased incidence of COVID-19 in the groups vaccinated with two or three doses of CoronaVac compared with the groups vaccinated with BioNTech as a booster suggested that continuing the heterologous CoronaVac/BioNTech vaccination, revised according to current SARS-CoV-2 variants and with at least a six-month interval booster would be an effective and safe strategy for protection against COVID-19, particularly in health care workers

Roles of adiponectin and leptin signaling-related micrornas in the preventive effects of calorie restriction in mammary tumor development

Calorie restriction (CR) is suggested to prevent the development of mammary tumors (MTs); however, the mechanism remains to be clarified. We aimed to determine the microRNA (miRNA) profile in mice applied to 2 different CR protocols; chronic (CCR) and intermittent (ICR) and follow the MT development. In addition, the roles of miRNAs involved in adiponectin and/or leptin signaling pathways were investigated. Mice were divided into 3 groups: ad-libitum (AL), CCR, or ICR, which comprised 3 weeks of AL feeding followed by 1 week of 60% CR in a cyclic manner. Blood and tissue collection were performed at weeks 10, 17/18, 49/50 and 81/82. Long-term CCR provided better protection compared with ICR for MT development with a delay in the MT occurrence. Adiponectin expression in mammary fat pad were significantly higher in CCR group compared with AL. Using GeneChip Array, 250 of 3195 miRNAs were differentially expressed among the dietary groups. Thirteen of 250 miRNAs were related to adiponectin and/or leptin signaling genes. Results were verified by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Specifically, miR-326-3p, miR-500-3p and miR-129-5p, which are related to adiponectin and/or leptin signaling, may play important roles in the preventive effects of CR in MT development and in ageing. Thus, these miRNAs might be putative biomarkers to target for diagnostic and treatment purposes. Novelty: Type of CR and micro RNA interaction is related to ageing. miR-326-3p, miR-500-3p and miR-129-5p expression levels were differentially expressed in MT development and in ageing. The genes associated with adiponectin and/or leptin signaling pathways are regulated by certain miRNAs in the protective effects of CR