Individuals with Recurrent Low Back Pain Exhibit Significant Changes of Paraspinal Muscle Performance after Lumbar Multifidus Intramuscular Fine Wire Electrode Insertion

STUDY DESIGN: Case control study. BACKGROUND: Recurrent low back pain (RLBP) is associated with paraspinal muscle dysfunction. Intramuscular electromyography (EMG) is a common tool for studying activation of the deep lumbar paraspinal muscles such as multifidi muscles, but it is currently currently unclear how muscle performance and activation are affected by the pain and micro-injury associated with intramuscular fine-wire electrode (IFWE) insertion and how it interacts with the presence of RLBP. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine how IFWE insertion into the lumbar multifidus affects paraspinal muscle strength and endurance in subjects with and without RLBP. METHODS: Forty subjects aged 18 - 40 were recruited; 20 subjects with a history of RLBP were compared with a group of 20 age-matched controls with no RLBP. Paraspinal extensor strength and endurance were measured under three conditions over three testing days. On Day 1, the baseline condition (BL), we obtained preliminary measures of discomfort, force production, endurance, and muscle activation. On Days 2 and 3, the participants randomly alternated between the two experimental conditions: (i) a wire-in condition (WI) in which the IFWE was inserted and remained within the muscle and (ii) a wire-out condition (WO) in which the IFWE was inserted and immediately removed. Participants were blinded to the order of the fine-wire conditions. Subjective pain levels were recorded via the Visual Analog Scale at specific time points throughout the testing protocol. RESULTS: Individuals with RLBP showed a significant decrease in strength in both conditions that involved IFWE insertion. Controls showed no significant difference in strength across conditions. Both groups exhibited similar performance in the endurance test. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate IFWE insertion into lumbar multifidus may lead to reduced peak spinal extensor muscle force production in individuals with a history of RLBP compared to healthy controls

Lithuania: Cervical Cancer

Lithuania is an upper middle income country but is one of the poorest of the countries in the EU. This country is run by a Unitary Semi-Presidential Representative Republic and has a population of just under 3 million people. Due to the poor healthcare system and corruption, Lithuania has several different concerns for their population health and cervical cancer is one of these. This ongoing concern has been continuously growing but there are various studies that indicate a potential decrease in incidence and mortality rates caused by this disease. Vaccines, education, and general awareness has proven to make some impact but if there is going to be a significant change as to how many people are affected, intervention needs to be fully enforced and encouraged. Prevention, as well as treatment, should be emphasized in this country in order reduce the incidence and mortality rates of cervical cancer in Lithuania

Can field-based mosquito feeding assays be used for evaluating transmission-blocking interventions?

A recent meta-analysis of mosquito feeding assays to determine the Plasmodium falciparum transmission potential of naturally infected gametocyte carriers highlighted considerable variation in transmission efficiency between assay methodologies and between laboratories. This begs the question as to whether mosquito feeding assays should be used for the evaluation of transmission-reducing interventions in the field and whether these field-based mosquito assays are currently standardized sufficiently to enable accurate evaluations. Here, we address biological and methodological reasons for the observed variations, discuss whether these preclude the use of field-based mosquito feeding assays in field evaluations of transmission-blocking interventions, and propose how we can maximize the precision of estimates. Altogether, we underscore the significant advantages of field-based mosquito feeding assays in basic malaria research and field trials

The Role of Matrix Metalloproteinases in Axon Guidance and Neurite Outgrowth

Axons navigating the complex environment of the developing CNS use extracellular guidance cues to help find their correct synaptic target. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), a family of zinc-dependent proteolytic enzymes, have been shown to regulate axon guidance by degrading extracellular matrix (ECM) or by cleaving guidance cues and their receptors. The olfactory system is an excellent model for studying the role of MMPs in axon guidance due to its capacity for continuous nerve regeneration and topographic maintenance during synaptic targeting. I hypothesized that MMPs may play a role in guiding olfactory sensory neurons to their correct glomerular target by sculpting the ECM and influencing axon interactions with the environment. To investigate this, I used RT-PCR to screen 19 members of the MMP family and their four endogenous inhibitors (tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases, TIMPs) and performed immunohistochemistry to localize candidate MMP and TIMP proteins. Two MMP sub-families, the gelatinases and the membrane-bound MMPs (MT-MMPs) showed distinctive spatio-temporal expression patterns across different stages of olfactory development, which were consistent with their having a role in axon pathway formation. To assess gelatinases in their active form, I performed in situ zymography and found restricted patterns of proteolytic activity within the developing olfactory nerve. Finally, to study the role of MMPs in pathway formation, I applied active recombinant MT-MMPs to common ECM molecules found in the developing olfactory system, such as tenascin and proteoglycans, and examined subsequent changes in neurite outgrowth. The inhibitory effects of these substrata were decreased with enzyme treatment, with MT-MMPs having different substrate specificities and degradation efficiencies that allow for increased neurite outgrowth in culture. Collectively, the data suggest that MMPs are active in the developing olfactory system and have a role in axon guidance and neuronal pathway formation

Cell-free Metabolic Engineering Strategies for Accelerated Biomanufacturing

Biomanufacturing propels the bioeconomy. Accelerating bioeconomic growth thus requires the expedited development of biomanufacturing processes that can expand the current bioproduct portfolio. Lysate-based cell-free systems provide unique advantages for simplified metabolic pathway construction. Their central metabolic pathways and transcriptional-translational (TX-TL) machineries are free from genome regulation and are amenable to direct manipulation, enabling the streamlined construction of biomanufacturing processes. While their utility as prototyping platforms for accelerating cellular metabolic engineering has been demonstrated, the potential to rapidly build commercial “cell-free factories” capable of sophisticated bioconversion has not been fully realized. Lysates with high-yield pathways are projected to enable commercialized cell-free biomanufacturing of high-value chemicals. However, strategies that can be incorporated into frameworks for lysate pathway yield optimization rely on traditional cell-based metabolic engineering techniques that are cumbersome to extracts’ source strains (e.g., gene knockouts and cell-based overexpression) and thus lengthen design-build-test-learn (DBTL) cycles. The work in this dissertation introduces new strategies for cell-free pathway engineering that can benefit conversion yields in lysates, with a focus on 1) restructuring the endogenous metabolic proteome post-lysis and 2) optimizing the lysate TX-TL machinery for the cell-free overexpression of complex heterologous enzymes. By minimizing the involvement of cell-based engineering, these strategies enable faster endogenous and heterologous pathway build cycles compared to previous approaches. Part one describes the development of the first lysate flux-rewiring approach that enables conversion through a native pathway at 100% of the theoretical yield. Part two reports on the design and development of a plate reader assay for troubleshooting the expression of biosynthetic enzymes in lysates. The assay allows the generalizable screening of cell-free expression conditions with higher throughput than previous approaches and is leveraged to improve the lysate-based expression of natural product forming megasynthases. Refining and integrating these approaches into cost-effective cell-free metabolic engineering (CFME) workflows will enable rapid high-yield metabolic pathway construction, advancing lysates as sustainable biomanufacturing platforms

Role of healthy-looking banana and alternate hosts in the spread of banana bunchy top disease

Poster presented at Symposium of the Pest Management Council of the Philippines. 200

Sugar nucleotide quantification by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry reveals a distinct profile in Plasmodium falciparum sexual stage parasites

The obligate intracellular lifestyle of Plasmodium falciparum and the difficulties to obtain sufficient amounts of biological material has hampered the study of specific metabolic pathways in the malaria parasite. Thus, for example, the pools of sugar nucleotides required to fuel glycosylation reactions have never been studied in-depth in well-synchronized asexual parasites or in other stages of its life cycle. These metabolites are of critical importance, especially considering the renewed interest in the presence of N -, O - and other glycans in key parasite proteins. In this work, we adapted a liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method based on the use of porous graphitic carbon (PGC) columns and MS-friendly solvents to quantify sugar nucleotides in the malaria parasite. We report on the thorough quantification of the pools of these metabolites throughout the intraerythrocytic cycle of P. falciparum The sensitivity of the method enabled for the first time the targeted analysis of these glycosylation precursors in gametocytes, the parasite sexual stages that are transmissible to the mosquito vector

DLSU-D Green Innovations on Waste Management: Adoption of Greener Lifestyles in New Normal

De La Salle University-Dasmariῆas (DLSU-D) is one with the call to collective action in responding to global ecological crisis as it adapts to the new normal of creating a safe, sustainable, and healthy university where the experience of God is lived and shared. As the world is currently battling new challenges affecting the environment in the face of COVID-19 crisis, DLSU-D reiterates its stand to lead in sustainable practices that foster caring for our common environmental home. Under the Black Out! Green In! flagship program, which is the University’s green response to combat climate change, its Ecological Solid Waste Management Program (ESWMP) ventures into simple, low-cost, and low technology initiatives. Internal collaboration among faculty, students, and service providers as well as external partnerships with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and local government units (LGUs) having similar environmental advocacies and lifestyle changing significantly contribute to the innovations and sustainability of the campus waste management progra

An improved method for the in vitro differentiation of Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes into ookinetes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ookinete is the form of the malaria parasite that invades the mosquito midgut epithelium to initiate sporogony. Differentiation of ingested gametocytes into ookinetes in the mosquito midgut lumen and subsequent interaction with the lumenal surface of the midgut epithelium in preparation for invasion is a complex and multi-stepped process. To facilitate the study of these events in detail it is necessary to produce sufficient numbers of pure, fully mature and functional ookinetes. However, production of even a small number of <it>Plasmodium </it><it>falciparum </it>ookinetes <it>in vitro </it>has proven to be a daunting task. Consequently, over the past four decades our collective understanding of the biology of this parasite form remains sorely deficient. This article reports on investigations of five different ookinete media, in an effort to improve the <it>in vitro </it>transformation efficiency of <it>P. falciparum </it>gametocytes into mature ookinetes and their infectivity of the mosquito midgut.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Five different ookinete media were evaluated for their ability to support the differentiation of gametocytes into gametes and further into mature stage V ookinetes. Moreover, infectivity of the <it>in vitro</it>-transformed ookinetes was evaluated by feeding them to vector mosquitoes and measuring their ability to traverse the midgut and form oocysts.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>One of the five media (medium E) was clearly superior in that the cultured ookinetes produced the largest number of oocysts when fed to mosquitoes. Key components were additions of human serum, human red blood cell lysate and mosquito pupal extract, resulting in the production of larger numbers of ookinetes able to develop into oocysts when fed to mosquitoes.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This simple and practical improvement over the prevailing methodology will facilitate the investigation of how this important human malaria parasite initiates its development in the mosquito and will contribute to the understanding of its transmission biology.</p

Sex-partitioning of the <i>Plasmodium falciparum</i> stage V gametocyte proteome provides insight into <i>falciparum</i>-specific cell biology

One of the critical gaps in malaria transmission biology and surveillance is our lack of knowledge about Plasmodium falciparum gametocyte biology, especially sexual dimorphic development and how sex ratios that may influence transmission from the human to the mosquito. Dissecting this process has been hampered by the lack of sex-specific protein markers for the circulating, mature stage V gametocytes. The current evidence suggests a high degree of conservation in gametocyte gene complement across Plasmodium, and therefore presumably for sex-specific genes as well. To better our understanding of gametocyte development and subsequent infectiousness to mosquitoes, we undertook a Systematic Subtractive Bioinformatic analysis (filtering) approach to identify sex-specific P. falciparum NF54 protein markers based on a comparison with the Dd2 strain, which is defective in producing males, and with syntenic male and female proteins from the reanalyzed and updated P. berghei (related rodent malaria parasite) gametocyte proteomes. This produced a short list of 174 male- and 258 female-enriched P. falciparum stage V proteins, some of which appear to be under strong diversifying selection, suggesting ongoing adaptation to mosquito vector species. We generated antibodies against three putative female-specific gametocyte stage V proteins in P. falciparum and confirmed either conserved sex-specificity or the lack of cross-species sex-partitioning. Finally, our study provides not only an additional resource for mass spectrometry-derived evidence for gametocyte proteins but also lays down the foundation for rational screening and development of novel sex-partitioned protein biomarkers and transmission-blocking vaccine candidates