Detection of Avian Influenza (H5N1) In Some Fish and Shellfish from Different Aquatic Habitats across Some Egyptian Provinces

Abstract: The global climatic changes impact on air, water and earth could extend scope of Avian Influenza (H5N1) virus to another broad sector of creatures including aquatic animals, especially those with direct relationship to aquatic birds. In the current study, Avian Influenza virus (H5N1) was detected in hemolymph of the Red Swamp crayfish (Procambrus clarkii) from three different provinces across the Nile Delta. Most of the positive cases were from the neighborhood of migratory bird natural stop stations. The virus was also detected in the Mediterranean Cone Shell (Conus mediterraneus) and the Pufferfish Lagocephalus sceleratus (Gmelin, 1789) during its course of invasion to the Mediterranean Sea. Two out of three poultry manure samples collected prior to earthen pond fertilization at three different localities were proved to be positive for the H5N1 virus. Tissue / mucous samples collected from earthen pond raised tilapias were negative for the virus. Catfish (Clarias gariepinus) has presented a striking model for aquatic species carrying the virus in their blood. The current results are suggestive for an important epidemiological role played by aquatic animals in spread of avian influenza (H5N1) virus across the Egyptian aquatic habitat

The relationship between associative learning, transfer generalization, and homocysteine levels in mild cognitive impairment

Previous studies have shown that high total homocysteine levels are associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). In this study, we test the relationship between cognitive function and total homocysteine levels in healthy subjects (Global Dementia Rating, CDR = 0) and individuals with MCI (CDR = 0.5). We have used a cognitive task that tests learning and generalization of rules, processes that have been previously shown to rely on the integrity of the striatal and hippocampal regions, respectively. We found that total homocysteine levels are higher in MCI individuals than in healthy controls. Unlike what we expected, we found no difference between MCI subjects and healthy controls in learning and generalization. We conducted further analysis after diving MCI subjects in two groups, depending on their Global Deterioration Scale (GDS) scores: individuals with very mild cognitive decline (vMCD, GDS = 2) and mild cognitive decline (MCD, GDS = 3). There was no difference among the two MCI and healthy control groups in learning performance. However, we found that individuals with MCD make more generalization errors than healthy controls and individuals with vMCD. We found no difference in the number of generalization errors between healthy controls and MCI individuals with vMCD. In addition, interestingly, we found that total homocysteine levels correlate positively with generalization errors, but not with learning errors. Our results are in agreement with prior results showing a link between hippocampal function, generalization performance, and total homocysteine levels. Importantly, our study is perhaps among the first to test the relationship between learning (and generalization) of rules and homocysteine levels in healthy controls and individuals with MCI

Student Nurses Participate in Public Health Research and Practice Through a School-Based Screening Program

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions among children in minority populations, placing them at risk for diabetes and hypertension. The importance of educating a generation of nurses who have the knowledge, skills, and passion to address this public health need is crucial to the profession and to America\u27s health. This article describes the use of a Community Partnership Model to frame baccalaureate nursing students\u27 (B.S.N.) service learning within the context of a research study to screen middle- and high-school students for health risks. The missions of education, research, and practice are linked together in the model by three processes: evidence-based practice, service learning, and scholarly teaching. The aim of the project was early identification of obesity, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes and their predictors in a high-risk student population, between 12 and 19 years of age. Early evidence indicates that the model is feasible and effective for directing student learning and addressing public health problems in the community

An intelligent System for Diagnosis Schizophrenia and Bipolar Diseases based on Support Vector Machine with Different Kernels

Bipolar disorder and schizophrenia overlap in symptoms and may share some underlying neural substrates. The discrimination between the two diseases is one of the problems that face psychiatric experts. This paper will propose some solutions to this problem based on the artificial methods. The support vector machine (SVM) is used for discrimination based on measuring of the patient EEG rhythms. The large set of features included in the EEG rhythms is reduced into smaller set of features after Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) segmentation. Different kernels are applied on the SVM which are linear, polynomial, quadratic and radial basis function. The application of SVM with different kernels for the EEG discrimination of the patients suffering from schizophrenia and bipolar diseases is the core of this work. Experimental results have shown that the proposed algorithms will solve the discrimination between the two diseases using EEG rhythms and the support vector machine with linear and quadratic kernels have achieved a high performance rate equal to 98 % and 97.667% respectively compared to the other kernels

Dual-Band Transmitter and Receiver with Bowtie-Antenna in 0.13 μm SiGe BiCMOS for Gas Spectroscopy at 222 - 270 GHz

This paper presents a transmitter (TX) and a receiver (RX) with bowtie-antenna and silicon lens for gas spectroscopy at 222-270 GHz, which are fabricated in IHP’s 0.13 μm SiGe BiCMOS technology. The TX and RX use two integrated local oscillators for 222 – 256 GHz and 250 – 270 GHz, which are switched for dual-band operation. Due to its directivity of about 27 dBi, the single integrated bowtie-antenna with silicon lens enables an EIRP of about 25 dBm for the TX, and therefore a considerably higher EIRP for the 2-band TX compared to previously reported systems. The double sideband noise temperature of the RX is 20,000 K (18.5 dB noise figure) as measured by the Y-factor method. Absorption spectroscopy of gaseous methanol is used as a measure for the performance of the gas spectroscopy system with TX- and RX-modules

EJP18 peptide derived from the juxtamembrane domain of epidermal growth factor receptor represents a novel membrane-active cell-penetrating peptide

Membrane-active peptides have been extensively studied to probe protein–membrane interactions, to act as antimicrobial agents and cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) for the delivery of therapeutic agents to cells. Hundreds of membrane-active sequences acting as CPPs have now been described including bioportides that serve as single entity modifiers of cell physiology at the intracellular level. Translation of promising CPPs in pre-clinical studies have, however, been disappointing as only few identified delivery systems have progressed to clinical trials. To search for novel membrane-active peptides a sequence from the EGFR juxtamembrane region was identified (named EJP18), synthesised, and examined in its L- and D-form for its ability to mediate the delivery of a small fluorophore and whole proteins to cancer cell lines. Initial studies identified the peptide as being highly membrane-active causing extensive and rapid plasma membrane reorganisation, blebbing, and toxicity. At lower, non-toxic concentrations the peptides outperformed the well-characterised CPP octaarginine in cellular delivery capacity for a fluorophore or proteins that were associated with the peptide covalently or via ionic interactions. EJP18 thus represents a novel membrane-active peptide that may be used as a naturally derived model for biophysical protein–membrane interactions or for delivery of cargo into cells for therapeutic or diagnostic applications

Ex vivo culture of adult CD34+ stem cells using functional highly porous polymer scaffolds to establish biomimicry of the bone marrow niche

Haematopoiesis, the process of blood production, occurs from a tiny contingent of haematopoietic stem cells (HSC) in highly specialised three-dimensional niches located within the bone marrow. When haematopoiesis is replicated using in vitro two-dimensional culture, HSCs rapidly differentiate, limiting self-renewal. Emulsion-templated highly porous polyHIPE foam scaffolds were chosen to mimic the honeycomb architecture of human bone. The unmodified polyHIPE material supports haematopoietic stem and progenitor cell (HSPC) culture, with successful culture of erythroid progenitors and neutrophils within the scaffolds. Using erythroid culture methodology, the CD34+ population was maintained for 28 days with continual release of erythroid progenitors. These cells are shown to spontaneously repopulate the scaffolds, and the accumulated egress can be expanded and grown at large scale to reticulocytes. We next show that the polyHIPE scaffolds can be successfully functionalised using activated BM(PEG)2 (1,8-bismaleimido-diethyleneglycol) and then a Jagged-1 peptide attached in an attempt to facilitate notch signalling. Although Jagged-1 peptide had no detectable effect, the BM(PEG)2 alone significantly increased cell egress when compared to controls, without depleting the scaffold population. This work highlights polyHIPE as a novel functionalisable material for mimicking the bone marrow, and also that PEG can influence HSPC behaviour within scaffolds

INFLUENCE OF NANO-SILICON AND NANO-CHITOSAN ON GROWTH, ION CONTENT, AND ANTIOXIDANT DEFENSE ENZYME OF TWO CITRUS ROOTSTOCKS UNDER SALINITY CONDITIONS

Nanoparticle foliar spray is a new approach and effective for improving seedling growth and survival with adverse conditions such as salt stress. The current study was conducted to investigate the impact of commercial silicon dioxide (SiO2), SiO2 nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs), commercial chitosan (CS), CS nanoparticles (CS NPs) on growth, proline, antioxidant defense enzyme, and ions content in one-year-old for sour orange (Citrus aurantium, L.) and Volkamer lemon (Citrus volkameriana) rootstocks grown under salinity stress. In the current study, a foliar spray of bulk SiO2, SiO2 NPs, Chitosan, and Chitosan NPs with a concentration of 50 ppm was applied at 0 and 50 mM of NaCl concentrations. Vegetative growth was determined, including plant height, stem diameter, leaf area, roots, and total fresh and dry weights. The findings demonstrated that salinity adversely affected plant growth. Salt-stressed plant leaves exhibited greater peroxidase (POD) activity and proline content than the control treatment, and Na+ and Cl- ions accumulated in the leaves of salinized plants. Nano-Silicon dioxide and Nano-chitosan significantly increased full vegetative growth parameters and antioxidant defense enzymes. Nano treatments decreased Na+ and Cl- ions content in the leaf tissue. Finally, as a result SiO2 NPs and CS NPs are employed as part of a combined approach to increase the growth indices of citrus plants, especially achieving a significant impact in alleviating salinity stress

4th generation nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitors: An iterative SAR-guided design, synthesis, and biological evaluation towards picomolar dual binding inhibitors

One in every eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime and approximately 70% of all patients are oestrogen receptor (ER) positive depending upon oestrogen for their growth accounting for third generation aromatase (CYP19A1) inhibitors being the mainstay in the treatment of ER-positive breast cancer. Despite the success of current aromatase inhibitors, acquired resistance occurs after prolonged therapy. Although the precise mechanisms of resistance are not known, lack of cross resistance among aromatase inhibitors drives the need for a newer generation of inhibitors to overcome this resistance alongside minimising toxicity and adverse effects. Novel triazole-based inhibitors were designed based on previously published parent compound 5a, making use of the now available crystal structure of CYP19A1 (PDB 3S79), to make modifications at specific sites to explore the potential of dual binding at both the active site and the access channel. Modifications included adding long chain substituents e.g. but-2-ynyloxy and pent-2-ynyloxy at different positions including the most active compound 13h with IC50 value in the low picomolar range (0.09 nM). Aromatase inhibition results paired with molecular dynamics studies provided a clear structure activity relationship and favourable dual binding mode was verified. Toxicity assays and CYP selectivity profile studies for some example compounds were performed to assess the safety profile of the prepared inhibitors providing the basis for the 4th generation nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitors