The identification and characterization of novel haemolysin genes from Clostridium difficile

Clostridium difficile is a Gram positive spore forming bacteria that is the leading cause of antibiotic associated diarrhoea and pseudomembranous colitis. C. difficile infection is a significant health care burden in hospital settings and in the community. One of the main factors that lead to C. difficile infection is the prolonged use of antimicrobial agents that disturb the microflora of the gut. This allows it to colonize and produce toxins which disrupt the integrity of the intestinal epithelium. Other than toxin production, C. difficile has a number of virulence factors including surface proteins and enzymes that aid in bacterial attachment and spread of infection. Another possible virulence factor that was described in clostridia and other bacteria is the production of haemolysins. These are proteins (sometimes lipids) produced by the bacterium and cause cytolysis of red blood and eukaryotic cells for example epithelial cells, leukocytes, lymphocytes, and macrophages. This work is the first report of C. difficile showing haemolytic activity and the aim of this thesis is to identify genes responsible for haemolysis in C. difficile. A CD630 genomic library was constructed in E. coli and six genes were found to confer haemolysis. One clone contained a gene (designated atlf) encoding a peptide homologous to an anthrax toxin lethal factor which exhibited large zones of haemolysis. Clostron and CRISPR-Cas9 based CD630 mutants were constructed with insertion and deletion in atlf respectively. The haemolysis of the mutants was tested on agar and by a quantitative assay, which revealed no change in the haemolytic phenotype compared to the wild type. This work suggests that haemolysis is a multifactorial phenomenon in C. difficile and may involve several genes. The CRISPR-Cas9 mutagenesis system constructed in this work will aid in many mutagenic studies to understand haemolysis and other virulence mechanisms in C. difficile

Subdiffusive axial transport of granular materials in a long drum mixer

Granular mixtures rapidly segregate radially by size when tumbled in a partially filled horizontal drum. The smaller component moves toward the axis of rotation and forms a buried core, which then splits into axial bands. Models have generally assumed that the axial segregation is opposed by diffusion. Using narrow pulses of the smaller component as initial conditions, we have characterized axial transport in the core. We find that the axial advance of the segregated core is well described by a self-similar concentration profile whose width scales as $t^\alpha$, with $\alpha \sim 0.3 < 1/2$. Thus, the process is subdiffusive rather than diffusive as previously assumed. We find that $\alpha$ is nearly independent of the grain type and drum rotation rate within the smoothly streaming regime. We compare our results to two one-dimensional PDE models which contain self-similarity and subdiffusion; a linear fractional diffusion model and the nonlinear porous medium equation.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Submitted to Phys Rev Lett. For more info, see http://www.physics.utoronto.ca/nonlinear

Ya Quds Academic Cultural News Letter, Issue No. 4

This issue of Ya Quds! comes at a time when the Centre for Jerusalem Studies has appointed a new director, Arnan Bashir. We would like to wish him all the best in his endeavours to promote the vision and goals of the Centre. We would like to send out a call for the fifth issue of Ya Quds!, Articles may be in Arabic or English and should not exceed 1200 words. The deadline for submission is September 25, 2018

Effect of topical honey application along with intralesional injection of glucantime in the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Leishmaniasis is an endemic disease in Iran. Although many treatments have been suggested for this disease, there hasn't been an effective and safe treatment yet. Regarding the healing effect of honey in the chronic ulcers and its reported therapeutic effect in cutaneous leishmaniasis, we performed a study to better evaluate the efficacy of honey in cutaneous leishmaniasis and its final scar.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In a prospective clinical trial, 100 patients with confirmed cutaneous leishmaniasis were selected and randomized into 2 groups. Group A were treated with topical honey twice daily along with intralesional injection of glucantime once weekly until complete healing of the ulcer or for maximum of 6 weeks. Group B were treated with intralesional injection of glucantime alone until complete healing of the ulcer or for a maximum of 6 weeks, too. The patients were followed for 4 months. The collected data were analyzed statistically using statistical tests including Chi-square, Mann Whitney and Kaplan – Mayer tests.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this study, 45 patients that had cutaneous leishmaniasis were treated with intralesional glucantime alone and 45 patients were treated with topical honey and glucantime . Ten patients left out the study. In the glucantime alone treated group, 32 patients (71.1%) had complete cure whereas in the group treated with both glucantime & topical honey, 23 patients (51.1%) achieved complete cure. This difference was significant statistically (p = 0.04).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Further studies to better clarify the efficacy of honey in cutaneous leishmaniasis is needed. We suggest that in another study, the efficacy of honey with standardized level of antibacterial activity is evaluated against cutaneous leishmaniasis.</p

Epidemiological aspects of some equine viral diseases

Although different equine viruses’ outbreaks have been recorded. However, the most important ones in are the African horse sickness virus (AHSV), equine influenza virus (EIV), equine viral arteritis (EVA), Equine infectious anaemia virus (EIAV), and equine herpes viruses (EHV). To combat these diseases, it is imperative to understand their epidemiological aspects. So, the current review aims to highlight some epidemiological aspects including; causative agents, clinical forms, history, prevalence and geographical distribution, source of infection, and methods of transmission. The AHSV mainly causes pulmonary, and cardiac forms with high morbidity and mortality rates in Africa. The EIV is found all over the world and results in respiratory signs. The EVA has low morbidity and mortality rates and is mainly found in the Americas and Europe, its significance is due to the reproductive problems as abortion in mares and subfertility in stallions. The EIAV has low morbidity and mortality rates and causes long time course disease mainly of fever, and chronic anaemia or death. The EHVs are the current most important pathogens due to their endemicity all over the world and their high morbidity. It causes respiratory, abortion, neonatal, and sometimes neurological manifestations. Aerosols and body excretions are the main sources of infection with EIV, EVA, and EHV. Venereal EVA transmission occurs through natural breeding or artificial insemination with the semen of infected or carrier stallions. The spreading of arboviruses is greatly affected by the vector activity like the AHSV which transmitted by the the Culicoide. imicola biting midges, and the EIAV by family Tabanidae. In general, it is recommended to take all epidemiological measures, including vaccinations and vector control, to limit the spread of such diseases and reduce economic losses

Validity of a Four-Item Household Water Insecurity Experiences Scale for Assessing Water Issues Related to Health and Well-Being

We sought to determine whether a shortened version of the 12-item Household Water Insecurity Experiences (HWISE) Scale, which measures water insecurity equivalently in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), is valid for broad use. Using data from 9,261 households in 25 LMICs, subsets of candidate items were evaluated on their predictive accuracy, criterion validity, and sensitivity-specificity. A subset with items assessing "worry," "changing plans," "limited drinking water," and "inability to wash hands" because of problems with water (range: 0-12) were highly correlated with full HWISE Scale scores (correlation coefficient: 0.949-0.980) and introduced minimal additional error (root mean square error: 2.13-2.68). Criterion validity was demonstrated, and a cut point of ≥ 4 correctly classified more than 91% of households as water secure or insecure. The brief HWISE-4 can be used in LMICs to inform decisions about how to most effectively target resources and evaluate public health interventions

Validity of a Four-Item Household Water Insecurity Experiences Scale for Assessing Water Issues Related to Health and Well-Being

We sought to determine whether a shortened version of the 12-item Household Water Insecurity Experiences (HWISE) Scale, which measures water insecurity equivalently in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), is valid for broad use. Using data from 9,261 households in 25 LMICs, subsets of candidate items were evaluated on their predictive accuracy, criterion validity, and sensitivity-specificity. A subset with items assessing worry, changing plans, limited drinking water, and inability to wash hands because of problems with water (range: 0-12) were highly correlated with full HWISE Scale scores (correlation coefficient: 0.949-0.980) and introduced minimal additional error (root mean square error: 2.13-2.68). Criterion validity was demonstrated, and a cut point of ≥ 4 correctly classified more than 91% of households as water secure or insecure. The brief HWISE-4 can be used in LMICs to inform decisions about how to most effectively target resources and evaluate public health interventions

Development and Validation Protocol for an Instrument to Measure Household Water Insecurity Across Cultures and Ecologies the Household Water InSecurity Experiences (HWISE) Scale

Introduction A wide range of water-related problems contribute to the global burden of disease. Despite the many plausible consequences for health and well-being, there is no validated tool to measure individual- or household-level water insecurity equivalently across varying cultural and ecological settings. Accordingly, we are developing the Household Water Insecurity Experiences (HWISE) Scale to measure household-level water insecurity in multiple contexts. Methods and analysis After domain specification and item development, items were assessed for both content and face validity. Retained items are being asked in surveys in 28 sites globally in which waterrelated problems have been reported (eg, shortages, excess water and issues with quality), with a target of at least 250 participants from each site. Scale development will draw on analytic methods from both classical test and item response theories and include item reduction and factor structure identification. Scale evaluation will entail assessments of reliability, and predictive, convergent, and discriminant validity, as well as the assessment of differentiation between known groups. Ethics and dissemination Study activities received necessary ethical approvals from institutional review bodies relevant to each site. We anticipate that the final HWISE Scale will be completed by late 2018 and made available through open-access publication. Associated findings will be disseminated to public health professionals, scientists, practitioners and policymakers through peer-reviewed journals, scientific presentations and meetings with various stakeholders. Measures to quantify household food insecurity have transformed policy, research and humanitarian aid efforts globally, and we expect that an analogous measure for household water insecurity will be similarly impactful