117 research outputs found
Prevalence of obesity, type II diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension in the United States: findings from the GE Centricity Electronic Medical Record database.
This study analyzed GE Centricity Electronic Medical Record (EMR) data to examine the effects of body mass index (BMI) and obesity, key risk factor components of metabolic syndrome, on the prevalence of 3 chronic diseases: type II diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension. These chronic diseases occur with high prevalence and impose high disease burdens. The rationale for using Centricity EMR data is 2-fold. First, EMRs may be a good source of BMI/obesity data, which are often underreported in surveys and administrative databases. Second, EMRs provide an ideal means to track variables over time and, thus, allow longitudinal analyses of relationships between risk factors and disease prevalence and progression. Analysis of Centricity EMR data showed associations of age, sex, race/ethnicity, and BMI with diagnosed prevalence of the 3 conditions. Results include uniform direct correlations between age and BMI and prevalence of each disease; uniformly greater disease prevalence for males than females; varying differences by race/ethnicity (ie, African Americans have the highest prevalence of diagnosed type II diabetes and hypertension, while whites have the highest prevalence of diagnosed hypertension); and adverse effects of comorbidities. The direct associations between BMI and disease prevalence are consistent for males and females and across all racial/ethnic groups. The results reported herein contribute to the growing literature about the adverse effects of obesity on chronic disease prevalence and about the potential value of EMR data to elucidate trends in disease prevalence and facilitate longitudinal analyses
Inhibin B and anti-MĂŒllerian hormone as markers of gonadal function after hematopoietic cell transplantation during childhood
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>It is difficult to predict the reproductive capacity of children given hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) before pubertal age because the plasma concentrations of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) are not informative and no spermogram can be done.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We classified the gonadal function of 38 boys and 34 girls given HCT during childhood who had reached pubertal age according to their pubertal development and FSH and LH and compared this to their plasma inhibin B and anti-MĂŒllerian hormone (AMH).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Ten (26%) boys had normal testicular function, 16 (42%) had isolated tubular failure and 12 (32%) also had Leydig cell failure. All 16 boys given melphalan had tubular failure. AMH were normal in 25 patients and decreased in 6, all of whom had increased FSH and low inhibin B.</p> <p>Seven (21%) girls had normal ovarian function, 11 (32%) had partial and 16 (47%) complete ovarian failure. 7/8 girls given busulfan had increased FSH and LH and 7/8 had low inhibin B. AMH indicated that ovarian function was impaired in all girls.</p> <p>FSH and inhibin B were negatively correlated in boys (P < 0.0001) and girls (P = 0.0006). Neither the age at HCT nor the interval between HCT and evaluation influenced gonadal function.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The concordance between FSH and inhibin B suggests that inhibin B may help in counselling at pubertal age. In boys, AMH were difficult to use as they normally decrease when testosterone increases at puberty. In girls, low AMH suggest that there is major loss of primordial follicles.</p
Probing the Rhipicephalus bursa sialomes in potential anti-tick vaccine candidates : a reverse vaccinology approach
In the wake of the âomicsâ explosion of data, reverse vaccinology approaches are being
applied more readily as an alternative for the discovery of candidates for next generation diagnostics
and vaccines. Promising protective antigens for the control of ticks and tick-borne diseases can be
discovered by mining available omics data for immunogenic epitopes. The present study aims to explore
the previously obtained Rhipicephalus bursa sialotranscriptome during both feeding and Babesia
infection, to select antigenic targets that are either membrane-associated or a secreted protein, as well
as unique to the ectoparasite and not present in the mammalian host. Further, they should be capable
of stimulating T and B cells for a potential robust immune response, and be non-allergenic or toxic to
the host. From the R. bursa transcriptome, 5706 and 3025 proteins were identified as belonging to the
surfaceome and secretome, respectively. Following a reverse genetics immunoinformatics pipeline,
nine preferred candidates, consisting of one transmembrane-related and eight secreted proteins,
were identified. These candidates showed a higher predicted antigenicity than the Bm86 antigen,
with no homology to mammalian hosts and exposed regions. Only four were functionally annotated
and selected for further in silico analysis, which examined their protein structure, surface accessibility,
flexibility, hydrophobicity, and putative linear B and T-cell epitopes. Regions with overlapping coincident
epitopes groups (CEGs) were evaluated to select peptides that were further analyzed for their
physicochemical characteristics, potential allergenicity, toxicity, solubility, and potential propensity
for crystallization. Following these procedures, a set of three peptides from the three R. bursa proteins
were selected. In silico results indicate that the designed epitopes could stimulate a protective and
long-lasting immune response against those tick proteins, reflecting its potential as anti-tick vaccines The immunogenicity of these peptides was evaluated in a pilot immunization study followed by
tick feeding to evaluate its impact on tick behavior and pathogen transmission. Combining in silico
methods with in vivo immunogenicity evaluation enabled the screening of vaccine candidates prior
to expensive infestation studies on the definitive ovine host animals.Spreadsheet S1 â SurfaceomeSpreadsheet S2 â SecretomeSpreadsheet S3 â MARVELSpreadsheet S4 â EVASINSpreadsheet S5 - RICINFundação para a CiĂȘncia e Tecnologia (FCT)http://www.mdpi.com/journal/biomedicinespm2021BiochemistryForestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI)GeneticsMicrobiology and Plant PathologyPlant Production and Soil Scienc
East Bay Coalition for the Homeless: Branding Study and Marketing Strategy
There are a number of potential positioning strategies. The two which make the most sense for the EBCH are to âposition the EBCH away from others in the categoryâ and to âposition the EBCH as unique.â These strategies have the advantage of setting the EBCH apart from the other organizations that address homelessness. Occupying its own âpositionâ in the minds of potential and current donors is not only an effective communications/marketing strategy but also a less costly one because it avoids head-to-head competition and comparisons
City of Frederick Carbon Footprint and Energy Profile
As Maryland's second largest city, it is imperative that the City of Frederick being tracking and managing its role in contributing to global greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). This report is the City's first greenhouse gas inventory of local government operations and covers the year 2013. With the data sources, methodology, findings, and recommendations collected or generated as a part of this effort, The City of Frederick is better positioned to institutionalize the process of tracking and managing greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, and other resources that will advance sustainability.The City of Frederic
Rare mutations in SQSTM1 modify susceptibility to frontotemporal lobar degeneration
Mutations in the gene coding for Sequestosome 1 (SQSTM1) have been genetically associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Paget disease of bone. In the present study, we analyzed the SQSTM1 coding sequence for mutations in an extended cohort of 1,808 patients with frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), ascertained within the European Early-Onset Dementia consortium. As control dataset, we sequenced 1,625 European control individuals and analyzed whole-exome sequence data of 2,274 German individuals (total n = 3,899). Association of rare SQSTM1 mutations was calculated in a meta-analysis of 4,332 FTLD and 10,240 control alleles. We identified 25 coding variants in FTLD patients of which 10 have not been described. Fifteen mutations were absent in the control individuals (carrier frequency < 0.00026) whilst the others were rare in both patients and control individuals. When pooling all variants with a minor allele frequency < 0.01, an overall frequency of 3.2 % was calculated in patients. Rare variant association analysis between patients and controls showed no difference over the whole protein, but suggested that rare mutations clustering in the UBA domain of SQSTM1 may influence disease susceptibility by doubling the risk for FTLD (RR = 2.18 [95 % CI 1.24-3.85]; corrected p value = 0.042). Detailed histopathology demonstrated that mutations in SQSTM1 associate with widespread neuronal and glial phospho-TDP-43 pathology. With this study, we provide further evidence for a putative role of rare mutations in SQSTM1 in the genetic etiology of FTLD and showed that, comparable to other FTLD/ALS genes, SQSTM1 mutations are associated with TDP-43 pathology
OZONIOTERAPIA NO MANEJO DA OSTEORRADIONECROSE: ESTADO DA ARTE
Introdução: A Osteorradionecrose (ORN) Ă© um dos efeitos colaterais mais complexos e custosos da radioterapia de cabeça e pescoço. Trata-se de uma necrose assĂ©ptica do tecido Ăłsseo, com maior frequĂȘncia em osso mandibular. O ozĂŽnio apresenta efeito antimicrobiano, anti-inflamatĂłrio e imunomodulador, alĂ©m de ser uma modalidade conservadora e de baixo custo, que pode ser usada para o tratamento e a prevenção da ORN. Objetivo: Realizar um levantamento de dados na literatura acerca da aplicação e eficĂĄcia da ozonioterapia no manejo da ORN. Materiais e mĂ©todos: Tratou-se de uma revisĂŁo narrativa da literatura atravĂ©s de busca ativa nas plataformas Pubmed, LILACS e SciElo, alĂ©m da literatura cinzenta do Google acadĂȘmico e de livre busca. ApĂłs cruzamento dos descritores DeCS/MeSH em portuguĂȘs e em inglĂȘs: âosteorradionecroseâ e âosteoradionecrosisâ, âozĂŽnioâ e âozoneâ, âradioterapiaâ e âradiotherapyâ, com operador booleano AND, alĂ©m da aplicação dos critĂ©rios de inclusĂŁo e exclusĂŁo, foram selecionados 36 trabalhos relevantes para o presente estudo. Resultados: A maioria dos pacientes diagnosticados com ORN e submetidos Ă ozonioterapia, tiveram recuperação parcial ou completa do quadro clĂnico. Quando utilizado na prevenção, o ozĂŽnio inibiu o desenvolvimento de ORN, de acordo com relatos na literatura. ConsideraçÔes finais: Apesar dos estudos indicarem benefĂcios da ozonioterapia, ainda nĂŁo existe um consenso em relação ao protocolo de aplicação na ORN, devido Ă ausĂȘncia de estudos controlados. Portanto, recomenda-se a realização de ensaios clĂnicos randomizados para definir protocolos adequados e eficazes na prevenção e tratamento da ORN
PARP regulates nonhomologous end joining through retention of Ku at double-strand breaks
Poly ADP-ribosylation polymerases are necessary for recruitment and/or retention of Ku at double-strand breaks during nonhomologous end-joining DNA repair
- âŠ