Business as usual? The role of BRICS co- operation in addressing health system priorities in East and Southern Africa

There has been increased interest in whether “South-­‐South” co-­‐operation by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) advances more equitable initiatives for global health. This article examines the extent to which resolutions, commitments, agreements and strategies from BRICS and Brazil, India and China (BIC) address regionally articulated policy concerns for health systems in East and Southern Africa (ESA) within areas of resource mobilization, research and development and local production of medicines, and training and retention of health workers. The study reviewed published literature and implemented a content analysis on these areas in official BRICS and ESA regional policy documents between 2007 and 2014. The study found encouraging signals of shared policy values and mutuality of interest, especially on medicines access, although with less evidence of operational commitments and potential divergence of interest on how to achieve shared goals. The findings indicate that African interests on health systems are being integrated into south-­‐south BRICS and BIC platforms. It also signals, however, that ESA countries need to proactively ensure that these partnerships are true to normative aims of mutual benefit, operationalize investments and programs to translate policy commitments into practice and strengthen accountability around their implementation

PeP-SCOT a health coaching intervention for people in prisons:the development of the intervention protocol

The need for an alternative approach for health promotion interventions in the prison setting is required since previous work has indicated that health education interventions while improving health knowledge do not result in behaviour change. Evidence has suggested that a health coaching intervention assist in this regard, however, the question remained whether this approach would be appropriate and possible in the prison setting. This Dental Public Health in Action paper presents the public health strategies used to work in partnership with prison management, to address challenges and accept opportunities as we developed a health coaching intervention protocol for oral health and wellbeing in the prison setting

Amyloid Inspired Self-Assembled Peptide Nanofibers

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Amyloid peptides are important components in many degenerative diseases as well as in maintaining cellular metabolism. Their unique stable structure provides new insights in developing new materials. Designing bioinspired selfassembling peptides is essential to generate new forms of hierarchical nanostructures. Here we present oppositely charged amyloid inspired peptides (AIPs), which rapidly self-assemble into nanofibers at pH 7 upon mixing in water caused by noncovalent interactions. Mechanical properties of the gels formed by selfassembled AIP nanofibers were analyzed with oscillatory rheology. AIP gels exhibited strong mechanical characteristics superior to gels formed by self-assembly of previously reported synthetic short peptides. Rheological studies of gels composed of oppositely charged mixed AIP molecules (AIP-1 + 2) revealed superior mechanical stability compared to individual peptide networks (AIP-1 and AIP-2) formed by neutralization of net charges through pH change. Adhesion and elasticity properties of AIP mixed nanofibers and charge neutralized AIP-1, AIP-2 nanofibers were analyzed by high resolution force− distance mapping using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Nanomechanical characterization of self-assembled AIP-1 + 2, AIP-1, and AIP-2 nanofibers also confirmed macroscopic rheology results, and mechanical stability of AIP mixed nanofibers was higher compared to individual AIP-1 and AIP-2 nanofibers self-assembled at acidic and basic pH, respectively. Experimental results were supported with molecular dynamics simulations by considering potential noncovalent interactions between the amino acid residues and possible aggregate forms. In addition, HUVEC cells were cultured on AIP mixed nanofibers at pH 7 and biocompatibility and collagen mimetic scaffold properties of the nanofibrous system were observed. Encapsulation of a zwitterionic dye (rhodamine B) within AIP nanofiber network was accomplished at physiological conditions to demonstrate that this network can be utilized for inclusion of soluble factors as a scaffold for cell culture studies. Copyright © 2012 American Chemical Societ

The impact of point mutations in the human androgen receptor : classification of mutations on the basis of transcriptional activity

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The complete mitochondrial genome of the foodborne parasitic pathogen Cyclospora cayetanensis

Cyclospora cayetanensis is a human-specific coccidian parasite responsible for several food and water-related outbreaks around the world, including the most recent ones involving over 900 persons in 2013 and 2014 outbreaks in the USA. Multicopy organellar DNA such as mitochondrion genomes have been particularly informative for detection and genetic traceback analysis in other parasites. We sequenced the C. cayetanensis genomic DNA obtained from stool samples from patients infected with Cyclospora in Nepal using the Illumina MiSeq platform. By bioinformatically filtering out the metagenomic reads of non-coccidian origin sequences and concentrating the reads by targeted alignment, we were able to obtain contigs containing Eimeria-like mitochondrial, apicoplastic and some chromosomal genomic fragments. A mitochondrial genomic sequence was assembled and confirmed by cloning and sequencing targeted PCR products amplified from Cyclospora DNA using primers based on our draft assembly sequence. The results show that the C. cayetanensis mitochondrion genome is 6274 bp in length, with 33% GC content, and likely exists in concatemeric arrays as in Eimeria mitochondrial genomes. Phylogenetic analysis of the C. cayetanensis mitochondrial genome places this organism in a tight cluster with Eimeria species. The mitochondrial genome of C. cayetanensis contains three protein coding genes, cytochrome (cytb), cytochrome C oxidase subunit 1 (cox1), and cytochrome C oxidase subunit 3 (cox3), in addition to 14 large subunit (LSU) and nine small subunit (SSU) fragmented rRNA genes

Body mass index and dental caries in children and adolescents : a systematic review of literature published 2004 to 2011

The objectiveThe authors undertook an updated systematic review of the relationship between body mass index and dental caries in children and adolescents.MethodThe authors searched Medline, ISI, Cochrane, Scopus, Global Health and CINAHL databases and conducted lateral searches from reference lists for papers published from 2004 to 2011, inclusive. All empirical papers that tested associations between body mass index and dental caries in child and adolescent populations (aged 0 to 18 years) were included.ResultsDental caries is associated with both high and low body mass index.ConclusionA non-linear association between body mass index and dental caries may account for inconsistent findings in previous research. We recommend future research investigate the nature of the association between body mass index and dental caries in samples that include a full range of body mass index scores, and explore how factors such as socioeconomic status mediate the association between body mass index and dental caries.<br /

Cementation in a matrix of loose sandy soil using biological treatment method

Man-made materials varying from cement-based to chemical-based have been injected into soils to improve their engineering properties (shear strength, compressibility, permeability, bearing capacity etc.). Soil type in general plays important role in determination of treatment material and method. Materials used for soil treatment might have side effects in terms of air pollution, soil or water contamination etc. during manufacturing or application. An alternative, environmentally friendly soil treatment method that is based on the use of bacteria present in soils and named Biological Treatment Method (BTM) has been used by researchers to bond particles of loose sandy soils via creation of calcite (CaCO3) generated by bacteria using urea to influence the precipitation of calcium carbonate. This study presents the results of bacterial induced cementation (BIC) in matrix of loose sandy soil. A bacterium used in this study is Sporosarcina pasteurii that is naturally present in soils and is aerobic type. The bacteria grown in laboratory environment were injected to the matrix of loose sandy soil. Subsequent nutrient mediums were introduced to specimens to accelerate the development of cementation level. Number of bacteria, pH level, temperature and amount of CaCO3 were measured during the duration of testing. Images of Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) showed that creation of cementation from precipitation of CaCO3 on the surface and pores of soil matrix were observed for only sand samples into which nutrient was flushed on sequence of arbitrary time.Key words: Biological treatment, sand, soil treatment

Alien species on the coasts of Turkey

The compilation of data on alien species reported from the Turkish coasts yielded a total of 263 species belonging to 11 systematic groups, of which Mollusca had the highest number of species (85 species), followed by Crustacea (51), fishes (43) and phytobenthos (39). The Black Sea is represented by a total of 20 alien species, the Sea of Marmara by 48 species, the Aegean Sea by 98 species and the Levantine Sea by 202 species. The majority of aliens found in the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara were transported via shipping, whereas the Levantine coast is extensively subjected to Lessepsian migration. Benthic habitats (soft and hard substrata) comprise 76% of the total alien species and the pelagic environment is inhabited by thirty-nine species. Almost 50% of aliens collected from the Turkish coasts were found only at 0-10 m depth. Eight species occur at depths deeper than 100 m. The impacts of aliens on the benthic and pelagic ecosystems are presented