Effect of ibuprofen on extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) production and composition, and assessment of microbial structure by quantitative image analysis

A Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) with activated sludge was operated with synthetic wastewater containing ibuprofen (IBU) to investigate the biomass stress-responses under long-term IBU exposure. There were 3 different phases: phase I as the control without IBU for 56 days, phase II (40 days), and phase III (60 days) containing IBU at 10 and 5 mg L?1 each. The overall performance of the SBR as well as the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) in terms of polysaccharides, proteins, and humic acid substances were estimated. Morphological parameters of microbial aggregates in the presence of IBU (phase II and phase III) were assessed by quantitative image analysis (QIA). Removal efficiencies of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammonium (NH4+) were significantly reduced by IBU. Loosely bound EPS (LB-EPS) decreased during phase II and phase III, and tightly bound EPS (TB-EPS) was slightly higher in phase II than phase I. TB-EPS proteins were greater in phase II, perhaps to protect microbial cells from IBU exposure. These findings provided insight into both activated sludge stress-responses and EPS composition under long-term IBU exposure. Spearman correlation showed that EPS and morphological parameters significantly affected sludge settleability and flocculation. QIA also proved to be a powerful technique in investigating dysfunctions in activated sludge under IBU exposure.The authors thank the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/ 04469/2020 unit. The authors also acknowledge the financial support to Antonio ´ Melo through the grant number 240–20170220 provided by Instituto Federal de Educaçao, ˜ Ciˆencia e Tecnologia de Pernambuco (IFPE). Daniela P. Mesquita and Cristina Quintelas thank FCT for funding through program DL 57/2016 – Norma transitoria. ´ The final proofreading of this manuscript was carried out by BioMedES UK. (ww. biomedes.biz).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Computational modelling of cancerous mutations in the EGFR/ERK signalling pathway

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund - Copyright @ 2009 Orton et al.BACKGROUND: The Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) activated Extracellular-signal Regulated Kinase (ERK) pathway is a critical cell signalling pathway that relays the signal for a cell to proliferate from the plasma membrane to the nucleus. Deregulation of the EGFR/ERK pathway due to alterations affecting the expression or function of a number of pathway components has long been associated with numerous forms of cancer. Under normal conditions, Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) stimulates a rapid but transient activation of ERK as the signal is rapidly shutdown. Whereas, under cancerous mutation conditions the ERK signal cannot be shutdown and is sustained resulting in the constitutive activation of ERK and continual cell proliferation. In this study, we have used computational modelling techniques to investigate what effects various cancerous alterations have on the signalling flow through the ERK pathway. RESULTS: We have generated a new model of the EGFR activated ERK pathway, which was verified by our own experimental data. We then altered our model to represent various cancerous situations such as Ras, B-Raf and EGFR mutations, as well as EGFR overexpression. Analysis of the models showed that different cancerous situations resulted in different signalling patterns through the ERK pathway, especially when compared to the normal EGF signal pattern. Our model predicts that cancerous EGFR mutation and overexpression signals almost exclusively via the Rap1 pathway, predicting that this pathway is the best target for drugs. Furthermore, our model also highlights the importance of receptor degradation in normal and cancerous EGFR signalling, and suggests that receptor degradation is a key difference between the signalling from the EGF and Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) receptors. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that different routes to ERK activation are being utilised in different cancerous situations which therefore has interesting implications for drug selection strategies. We also conducted a comparison of the critical differences between signalling from different growth factor receptors (namely EGFR, mutated EGFR, NGF, and Insulin) with our results suggesting the difference between the systems are large scale and can be attributed to the presence/absence of entire pathways rather than subtle difference in individual rate constants between the systems.This work was funded by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), under their Bioscience Beacon project programme. AG was funded by an industrial PhD studentship from Scottish Enterprise and Cyclacel

Tratamento médico e fonoaudiológico da disfonia espasmódica: uma revisão bibliográfica

A disfonia espasmódica (DE) é um distúrbio vocal caracterizado por voz tensa-estrangulada, com quebras de sonoridade e que compromete a comunicação do indivíduo. O objetivo deste estudo é apresentar uma revisão bibliográfica dos tratamentos médico e fonoaudiológico proposto para a DE no período entre 2006 e 2010. Os tratamentos descritos foram: injeção de toxina botulínica (TB), miectomia, neurectomia, denervação e reinervação laríngea seletiva adutora, tireoplastia, miotermia tiroaritenóidea com radiofrequência, injeção de lidocaína, homeopatia e tratamento fonoaudiológico (fonoterapia). O uso de injeção de TB mostrou resultados que indicaram a satisfação dos pacientes tratados, embora alguns dos artigos apontassem a necessidade de reaplicação da toxina frequentemente, como desvantagem. Os procedimentos cirúrgicos foram considerados duradouros e indicados para os pacientes que não quiseram se submeter às aplicações de TB. Tais estudos, no entanto, apresentaram contingência de pacientes restrita e os resultados foram baseados, na maioria das investigações, no julgamento dos próprios pacientes sobre a sua qualidade vocal. Os tratamentos, com uso de lidocaína e homeopatia, mostraram resultados positivos em relação à qualidade vocal dos pacientes e foram sugeridos como uma opção, também, para aqueles que não gostariam de ser submetidos ao tratamento cirúrgico ou à aplicação de TB. Os poucos estudos que reportam fonoterapia assinalaram bons resultados quando a mesma foi associada à injeção de TB, mostrando a escassez de informações nesta área. Futuras pesquisas envolvendo a fonoterapia no tratamento da DE são necessárias

Association between diabetes and tuberculosis: case-control study

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To test the association between diabetes and tuberculosis. METHODS It is a case-control study, matched by age and sex. We included 323 new cases of tuberculosis with positive results for bacilloscopy. The controls were 323 respiratory symptomatic patients with negative bacilloscopy, from the same health services, such as: ambulatory cases from three referral hospitals and six basic health units responsible for the notifications of new cases of tuberculosis in Salvador, Bahia. Data collection occurred between 2008 and 2010. The instruments used were structured interview, including clinical data, capillary blood glucose (during fasting or postprandial), and the CAGE questionnaire for screening of abusive consumption of alcohol. Descriptive, exploratory, and multivariate analysis was performed using conditional logistic regression. RESULTS The average age of the cases was 38.5 (SD = 14.2) years and of the controls, 38.5 (SD = 14.3) years. Among cases and controls, most subjects (61%) were male. In univariate analysis we found association between the occurrence of diabetes and tuberculosis (OR = 2.37; 95%CI 1.04–5.42), which remained statistically significant after adjustment for potential confounders (OR = 3.12; 95%CI 1.12–7.94). CONCLUSIONS The association between diabetes and tuberculosis can hinder the control of tuberculosis, contributing to the maintainance of the disease burden. The situation demands increasing early detection of diabetes among people with tuberculosis, in an attempt to improve disease control strategies

Mesenchymal stem cell transplantation for diffuse alveolar hemorrhage in SLE

Background. A 19-year-old girl was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus, based on findings of arthritis, malar rash, positive antinuclear antibody test and high levels of antibodies to double-stranded DNA. Two months after diagnosis, the patient presented with a sudden drop in blood hemoglobin level. Several days later, she developed bloody sputum, rapidly progressive dyspnea and hypoxemia. High-resolution CT showed diffuse alveolar infiltrates in both lung fields.Investigations. Physical examination, complete blood count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, urinalysis, 24-h urine protein excretion, fecal occult blood test, d-dimer test, acid hemolysis test, activated partial thromboplastin time and prothrombin time, direct and indirect Coombs tests, bone marrow smear, arterial blood gas, sputum smear and culture, and high-resolution CT scan of the chest.Diagnosis. Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage associated with systemic lupus erythematosus.Management. The patient did not respond to pulsed intravenous methylprednisolone (two courses of 500 mg per day for 3 days) and intravenous immunoglobulin (20 g per day for 5 days). The patient was referred to a specialist treatment center for allogenic transplantation using umbilical-cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells. She underwent transplantation with an infusion of 8 - 10 7 mesenchymal stem cells. After showing dramatic improvements in her clinical condition, oxygenation level, radiographic and hematological status, the patient was discharged from hospital approximately 5 weeks after undergoing transplantation. © 2010 Macmillan Publishers Limited.postprin

Prevalence, sources, and predictors of soy consumption in breast cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A number of components in soy appear to have anticancer properties, including the isoflavones, genistein and daidzein. The use of soy by women with breast cancer is now being questioned because of the estrogen-like effects of isoflavones and possible interactions with tamoxifen. Clinicians providing nutrition counseling to these women are concerned because the availability of soy foods has increased dramatically in the past few years. The goal of this study was to quantify the intake of isoflavones in women with breast cancer.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional study of 100 women with breast cancer treated at Cancer Treatment Centers of America^®between 09/03 and 02/04. Each patient completed a soy food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) that was scored by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Demographic and clinical predictors of soy intake were evaluated using one-way non-parametric Mann Whitney test and non-parametric spearman's rank correlation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mean age was 50.5 years (std. dev. = 9.4; range 31–70) and mean BMI was 27.3 kg/m²(std. dev. = 6.75; range 17–59). Genistein and Daidzein consumption was limited to 65 patients with a mean intake of 11.6 mg/day (std. dev. = 21.9; range 0–97.4) and 7.6 mg/day (std. dev. = 14.1; range 0–68.9) respectively. Soy milk (37%) and pills containing soy, isoflavones, or "natural" estrogen (24%) were the two biggest contributors to isoflavone intake.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our study suggests that the isoflavone intake of breast cancer patients at our hospital was quite variable. Thirty-five patients reported no soy intake. The mean daily intake of 11.6 mg genistein and 7.4 mg daidzein, is the equivalent of less than 1/4 cup of tofu per day. This amount is higher than what has been previously reported in non-Asian American women.</p

Childbirth care: the oral history of women who gave birth from the 1940s to 1980s

This study's objective was to gain a greater understanding of the changes that took place in the childbirth care model from the experience of women who gave birth in the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil from the 1940s to the 1980s. This is a descriptive study conducted with 20 women using the Thematic Oral History method. Data were collected through unstructured interviews. The theme extracted from the interviews was "The experience of childbirth". The results indicate a time and generational demarcation in the 1970s. Childbirths from 1940 to 1960 occurred in a context of transition from home to hospital births. The 1980s represents a turning point in the elements that compose the childbirth care model, such as the type and place of birth and the professional assisting women, with an increased use of technology and obstetric interventions

Translating molecular medicine into clinical tools: doomed to fail by neglecting basic preanalytical principles

This commentary discusses a study on measurements of matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) in serum of pseudoxanthoma elasticum patients recently published in Journal of Molecular Medicine. This study can be considered the typical "obstacle" to effective translational medicine as previously documented in JTM journal. Although serum has been frequently proven as inappropriate sample for determining numerous circulating MMPs, among them MMP-9, there are over and over again studies, as in this case, that measure MMP-9 in serum. Comparative measurements in serum and plasma samples demonstrated higher concentrations for MMP-9 in serum due to the additional release from leukocytes and platelets following the coagulation/fibrinolysis process. From this example it can be concluded that translating basic research discoveries into clinical tools needs a more intensive exchange between basic biomedical research and clinical scientists already in an early stage. Otherwise a lost of translation, as discussed in JTM journal, seems to be inevitable