Studies on the interaction of the carbohydrate binding module 3 from the Clostridium thermocellum CipA scaffolding protein with cellulose and paper fibres

The adsorption of a carbohydrate binding module (CBM3) from the Clostridium thermocellum scaffolding protein (CipA) to cellulose was analysed in this work. The effect of CBM-PEG on the drainability of E. globulus and P. sylvestris pulps and on the physical properties of the respective papersheets was also studied. The CBM binding to cellulose is often described as “irreversible”, but this classification does not fully characterize this interaction. Indeed, the results obtained demonstrate that, although the adsorption on cellulose is rather stable, CBM inter-fibre mobility may be observed. The results also showed that the CBM-PEG conjugate improves the drainability of E. globulus and P. sylvestris pulps without affecting the physical properties of the papersheets.This research was supported by Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia under grant POCTI/BIO/45356/2002

Combination therapy with PEG-IFN-α and 5-FU inhibits HepG2 tumour cell growth in nude mice by apoptosis of p53

When the tumour suppressor p53 is activated by DNA damage, it stimulates the transcription of its target genes, which then induce cell cycle arrest or apoptosis. Here, we examined the role p53 plays in the antitumour effect of combination treatment with pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN)-α and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), which has been shown to effectively treat advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Nude mice were injected subcutaneously with cultured HepG2 cells, in which p53 is functional. They were treated a week later with PEG-IFN and/or 5-FU for 7 weeks, after which we measured and examined their tumours. Combination groups showed significantly lower tumour volumes and higher tumour cell apoptosis than the other groups. Combination treatment and PEG-IFN monotherapy also significantly elevated the p53 protein and mRNA levels in the tumour but only combination treatment increased the degree of p53 phosphorylation at serine46 and induced p53-regulated apoptosis-inducing protein 1 (p53AIP1) expression. The antitumour effects of combination treatment is due in part to the elevation by PEG-IFN of p53 protein and mRNA expression and in part to the DNA damage that is generated by 5-FU, which induces p53 serine46 phosphorylation, which in turn upregulates p53AIP1 expression

Advances in Social Media Research:Past, Present and Future

Social media comprises communication websites that facilitate relationship forming between users from diverse backgrounds, resulting in a rich social structure. User generated content encourages inquiry and decision-making. Given the relevance of social media to various stakeholders, it has received significant attention from researchers of various fields, including information systems. There exists no comprehensive review that integrates and synthesises the findings of literature on social media. This study discusses the findings of 132 papers (in selected IS journals) on social media and social networking published between 1997 and 2017. Most papers reviewed here examine the behavioural side of social media, investigate the aspect of reviews and recommendations, and study its integration for organizational purposes. Furthermore, many studies have investigated the viability of online communities/social media as a marketing medium, while others have explored various aspects of social media, including the risks associated with its use, the value that it creates, and the negative stigma attached to it within workplaces. The use of social media for information sharing during critical events as well as for seeking and/or rendering help has also been investigated in prior research. Other contexts include political and public administration, and the comparison between traditional and social media. Overall, our study identifies multiple emergent themes in the existing corpus, thereby furthering our understanding of advances in social media research. The integrated view of the extant literature that our study presents can help avoid duplication by future researchers, whilst offering fruitful lines of enquiry to help shape research for this emerging field

Novel inhibitors of the calcineurin/NFATc hub - alternatives to CsA and FK506?

The drugs cyclosporine A (CsA) and tacrolimus (FK506) revolutionized organ transplantation. Both compounds are still widely used in the clinic as well as for basic research, even though they have dramatic side effects and modulate other pathways than calcineurin-NFATc, too. To answer the major open question - whether the adverse side effects are secondary to the actions of the drugs on the calcineurin-NFATc pathway - alternative inhibitors were developed. Ideal inhibitors should discriminate between the inhibition of (i) calcineurin and peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerases (PPIases; the matchmaker proteins of CsA and FK506), (ii) calcineurin and the other Ser/Thr protein phosphatases, and (iii) NFATc and other transcription factors. In this review we summarize the current knowledge about novel inhibitors, synthesized or identified in the last decades, and focus on their mode of action, specificity, and biological effects

Evaluation of appendicitis risk prediction models in adults with suspected appendicitis

Background Appendicitis is the most common general surgical emergency worldwide, but its diagnosis remains challenging. The aim of this study was to determine whether existing risk prediction models can reliably identify patients presenting to hospital in the UK with acute right iliac fossa (RIF) pain who are at low risk of appendicitis. Methods A systematic search was completed to identify all existing appendicitis risk prediction models. Models were validated using UK data from an international prospective cohort study that captured consecutive patients aged 16–45 years presenting to hospital with acute RIF in March to June 2017. The main outcome was best achievable model specificity (proportion of patients who did not have appendicitis correctly classified as low risk) whilst maintaining a failure rate below 5 per cent (proportion of patients identified as low risk who actually had appendicitis). Results Some 5345 patients across 154 UK hospitals were identified, of which two‐thirds (3613 of 5345, 67·6 per cent) were women. Women were more than twice as likely to undergo surgery with removal of a histologically normal appendix (272 of 964, 28·2 per cent) than men (120 of 993, 12·1 per cent) (relative risk 2·33, 95 per cent c.i. 1·92 to 2·84; P < 0·001). Of 15 validated risk prediction models, the Adult Appendicitis Score performed best (cut‐off score 8 or less, specificity 63·1 per cent, failure rate 3·7 per cent). The Appendicitis Inflammatory Response Score performed best for men (cut‐off score 2 or less, specificity 24·7 per cent, failure rate 2·4 per cent). Conclusion Women in the UK had a disproportionate risk of admission without surgical intervention and had high rates of normal appendicectomy. Risk prediction models to support shared decision‐making by identifying adults in the UK at low risk of appendicitis were identified