142 research outputs found

    Unraveling the chemical profile, antioxidant, enzyme inhibitory, cytotoxic potential of different extracts from Astragalus caraganae

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    Six extracts (water, ethanol, ethanol‐water, ethyl acetate, dichloromethane, and n‐hexane) of Astragalus caraganae were studied for their biological activities and bioactive contents. Based on high‐performance liquid chromatography‐mass spectrometry (HPLC‐MS), the ethanol‐water extract yielded the highest total bioactive content (4242.90 μg g−1), followed by the ethanol and water extracts (3721.24 and 3661.37 μg g−1, respectively), while the least total bioactive content was yielded by the hexane extract, followed by the dichloromethane and ethyl acetate extracts (47.44, 274.68, and 688.89 μg g−1, respectively). Rutin, p‐coumaric, chlorogenic, isoquercitrin, and delphindin‐3,5‐diglucoside were among the major components. Unlike the dichloromethane extracts, all the other extracts showed radical scavenging ability in the 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay (8.73–52.11 mg Trolox equivalent [TE]/g), while all extracts displayed scavenging property in the 2,2‐azino‐bis(3‐ethylbenzthiazoline‐6‐sulfonic acid) (ABTS) radical scavenging assay (16.18–282.74 mg TE/g). The extracts showed antiacetylcholinesterase (1.27–2.73 mg galantamine equivalent [GALAE]/g), antibutyrylcholinesterase (0.20–5.57 mg GALAE/g) and antityrosinase (9.37–63.56 mg kojic acid equivalent [KAE]/g) effects. The molecular mechanism of the H2O2‐induced oxidative stress pathway was aimed to be elucidated by applying ethanol, ethanol/water and water extracts at 200 μg/mL concentration to human dermal cells (HDFs). A. caraganae in HDF cells had neither a cytotoxic nor genotoxic effect but could have a cytostatic effect in increasing concentrations. The findings have allowed a better insight into the pharmacological potential of the plant, with respect to their chemical entities and bioactive contents, as well as extraction solvents and their polarity

    Bacteremic Typhoid Fever in Children in an Urban Slum, Bangladesh

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    We confirmed a bacteremic typhoid fever incidence of 3.9 episodes/1,000 person-years during fever surveillance in a Dhaka urban slum. The relative risk for preschool children compared with older persons was 8.9. Our regression model showed that these children were clinically ill, which suggests a role for preschool immunization

    Exploring the potential of phone call data to characterize the relationship between social network and travel behavior

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    [EN] Social network contacts have significant influence on individual travel behavior. However, transport models rarely consider social interaction. One of the reasons is the difficulty to properly model social influence based on the limited data available. Non-conventional, passively collected data sources, such as Twitter, Facebook or mobile phones, provide large amounts of data containing both social interaction and spatiotemporal information. The analysis of such data opens an opportunity to better understand the influence of social networks on travel behavior. The main objective of this paper is to examine the relationship between travel behavior and social networks using mobile phone data. A huge dataset containing billions of registers has been used for this study. The paper analyzes the nature of co-location events and frequent locations shared by social network contacts, aiming not only to provide understanding on why users share certain locations, but also to quantify the degree in which the different types of locations are shared. Locations have been classified as frequent (home, work and other) and non-frequent. A novel approach to identify co-location events based on the intersection of users' mobility models has been proposed. Results show that other locations different from home and work are frequently associated to social interaction. Additionally, the importance of non-frequent locations in co-location events is shown. Finally, the potential application of the data analysis results to improve activity-based transport models and assess transport policies is discussed.The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions to improve the quality of the paper. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007-2013 under grant agreement no 318367 (EUNOIA project) and no 611307 (INSIGHT project). The work of ML has been funded under the PD/004/2013 project, from the Conselleria de Educacion, Cultura y Universidades of the Government of the Balearic Islands and from the European Social Fund through the Balearic Islands ESF operational program for 2013-2017.Picornell Tronch, M.; Ruiz Sánchez, T.; Lenormand, M.; Ramasco, JJ.; Dubernet, T.; Frías-Martínez, E. (2015). Exploring the potential of phone call data to characterize the relationship between social network and travel behavior. Transportation. 42(4):647-668. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-015-9594-1S647668424Ahas, R., Aasa, A., Silm, S., Tiru, M.: Daily rhythms of suburban commuters’ movements in the tallinn metropolitan area: case study with mobile positioning data. Transp. Res. 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(PNAS) 106(36), 15274–15278 (2009)González, M.C., Hidalgo, C.A., Barabási, A.-L.: Understanding individual human mobility patterns. Nature 453(2008), 779–782 (2008)Gould, J.: Cell phone enabled travel surveys: the medium moves the message. In: Zmud, J., et al. (eds.) Transport Survey Methods: Best Practice for Decision Making, pp. 51–70. Emerald Press, Bingley (2013)Habib, K.N., Carrasco, J.A.: Investigating the role of social networks in start time and duration of activities: a trivariate simultaneous econometric model. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board 2230, 1–8 (2011)Hackney, Jeremy K., Kay W. Axhausen: An agent model of social network and travel behavior interdependence. 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    Patient and dentist perspectives on collecting patient reported outcomes after painful dental procedures in the National Dental PBRN

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    SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL 1: Provider and patient semi-structured interview questionsDATA AVAILABILITY : The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available as they consist of transcripts that convey the thoughts and opinions of the providers and patients that were interviewed. Informed consent was obtained for using these data as part of the specific study only and not for wider sharing or distribution. Fully deidentified data are however available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.BACKGROUND : Dental Patient Reported Outcomes (PROs) relate to a dental patient’s subjective experience of their oral health. How practitioners and patients value PROs influences their successful use in practice. METHODS : Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 practitioners and 32 patients who provided feedback on using a mobile health (mHealth) platform to collect the pain experience after dental procedures. A themes analysis was conducted to identify implementation barriers and facilitators. RESULTS : Five themes were uncovered: (1) Sense of Better Care. (2) Tailored Follow-up based on the dental procedure and patient’s pain experience. (3) Effective Messaging and Alerts. (4) Usable Digital Platform. (5) Routine mHealth Integration. CONCLUSION : Frequent automated and preferably tailored follow-up messages using an mHealth platform provided a positive care experience for patients, while providers felt it saved them time and effort. Patients thought that the mHealth questionnaires were well-developed and of appropriate length. The mHealth platform itself was perceived as user-friendly by users, and most would like to continue using it. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS : Patients are prepared to use mobile phones to report their pain experience after dental procedures. Practitioners will be able to close the post-operative communication gap with their patients, with little interruption of their workflow.The National Institutes of Health through a grant from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research with additional infrastructure and study-specific funding from NIDCR.https://bmcoralhealth.biomedcentral.comhj2024Dental Management SciencesSDG-03:Good heatlh and well-bein

    RNA Structural Dynamics As Captured by Molecular Simulations: A Comprehensive Overview

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    With both catalytic and genetic functions, ribonucleic acid (RNA) is perhaps the most pluripotent chemical species in molecular biology, and its functions are intimately linked to its structure and dynamics. Computer simulations, and in particular atomistic molecular dynamics (MD), allow structural dynamics of biomolecular systems to be investigated with unprecedented temporal and spatial resolution. We here provide a comprehensive overview of the fast-developing field of MD simulations of RNA molecules. We begin with an in-depth, evaluatory coverage of the most fundamental methodological challenges that set the basis for the future development of the field, in particular, the current developments and inherent physical limitations of the atomistic force fields and the recent advances in a broad spectrum of enhanced sampling methods. We also survey the closely related field of coarse-grained modeling of RNA systems. After dealing with the methodological aspects, we provide an exhaustive overview of the available RNA simulation literature, ranging from studies of the smallest RNA oligonucleotides to investigations of the entire ribosome. Our review encompasses tetranucleotides, tetraloops, a number of small RNA motifs, A-helix RNA, kissing-loop complexes, the TAR RNA element, the decoding center and other important regions of the ribosome, as well as assorted others systems. Extended sections are devoted to RNA-ion interactions, ribozymes, riboswitches, and protein/RNA complexes. Our overview is written for as broad of an audience as possible, aiming to provide a much-needed interdisciplinary bridge between computation and experiment, together with a perspective on the future of the field

    Variation in RNA Virus Mutation Rates across Host Cells

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    It is well established that RNA viruses exhibit higher rates of spontaneous mutation than DNA viruses and microorganisms. However, their mutation rates vary amply, from 10−6 to 10−4 substitutions per nucleotide per round of copying (s/n/r) and the causes of this variability remain poorly understood. In addition to differences in intrinsic fidelity or error correction capability, viral mutation rates may be dependent on host factors. Here, we assessed the effect of the cellular environment on the rate of spontaneous mutation of the vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), which has a broad host range and cell tropism. Luria-Delbrück fluctuation tests and sequencing showed that VSV mutated similarly in baby hamster kidney, murine embryonic fibroblasts, colon cancer, and neuroblastoma cells (approx. 10−5 s/n/r). Cell immortalization through p53 inactivation and oxygen levels (1–21%) did not have a significant impact on viral replication fidelity. This shows that previously published mutation rates can be considered reliable despite being based on a narrow and artificial set of laboratory conditions. Interestingly, we also found that VSV mutated approximately four times more slowly in various insect cells compared with mammalian cells. This may contribute to explaining the relatively slow evolution of VSV and other arthropod-borne viruses in nature

    In vitro activity of ivermectin against Staphylococcus aureus clinical isolates

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    Background Ivermectin is an endectocide against many parasites. Though being a macrocyclic lactone, its activity against bacteria has been less known, possibly due to the fact that micromolar concentrations at tissue levels are required to achieve a therapeutic effect. Among pathogenic bacteria of major medical significance, Staphylococcus aureus cause a number of diseases in a wide variety of hosts including humans and animals. It has been attributed as one of the most pathogenic organisms. The emergence of methicillin resistance has made the treatment of S. aureus even more difficult as it is now resistant to most of the available antibiotics. Thus, search for alternate anti-staphylococcal agents requires immediate attention. Methods Twenty-one clinical isolates of S. aureus were isolated from bovine milk collected from Lahore and Faisalabad Pakistan. Different anthelmintics including levamisole, albendazole and ivermectin were tested against S. aureus to determine their minimum inhibitory concentrations. This was followed-up by growth curve analysis, spot assay and time-kill kinetics. Results The results showed that ivermectin but not levamisole or albendazole exhibited a potent anti-staphylococcal activity at the concentrations of 6.25 and 12.5 μg/ml against two isolates. Interestingly, one of the isolate was sensitive while the other was resistant to methicillin/cefoxitin. Conclusions Our novel findings indicate that ivermectin has an anti-bacterial effect against certain S. aureus isolates. However, to comprehend why ivermectin did not inhibit the growth of all Staphylococci needs further investigation. Nevertheless, we have extended the broad range of known pharmacological effects of ivermectin. As pharmacology and toxicology of ivermectin are well known, its further development as an anti-staphylococcal agent is potentially appealing
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