Pain, Physical and Social Functioning, and Quality of Life in Individuals with Multiple Hereditary Exostoses in the Netherlands

Background: This study aimed to assess pain and quality of life in a large cohort of patients with multiple hereditary exostoses. Methods: All 322 known patients with multiple hereditary exostoses in the Netherlands were asked to participate. An age-specific questionnaire was sent to children (less than eighteen years old) and adults. The questionnaire focused on pain, daily activities, and school and/or professional situation. Adults also filled out the RAND-36 questionnaire.Results were statistically analyzed with use of the SPSS 15.0 software and with the chi-square test and multiple logistic regression. A p value of <0.05 was regarded as significant. Results: Two hundred and eighty-three patients (88%), including 184 adults (65%) and ninety-nine children (35%), completed the questionnaire. Multiple hereditary exostoses resulted in various physical and social consequences. The majority of adults (119) were employed; however, thirty-three (28%) had changed jobs because of the symptoms of multiple hereditary exostoses and twenty-five (21%) required adjustments in their working environment. Of the sixty-five adults who were not employed, thirteen were medically unfit to work. Of eighty-five children attending school, forty-five (53%) experienced problems at school. The symptoms of multiple hereditary exostoses caused twenty-seven children (27%) and eighty-five adults (46%) to stop participating in sporting activities. Pain was the greatest problem, with sixty-two children (63%) and 152 adults (83%) who reported recent pain. On multivariate analysis, pain in adults was correlated most significantly with age and problems at work, and pain in children was correlated with the perception of the disease and problems at school. Adult patients with multiple hereditary exostoses had a lower quality of life than the Dutch reference groups, with lower scores on six of eight RAND-36 subscales. Conclusions: Our study confirms that multiple hereditary exostoses is a chronic disease causing a profound impact on quality of life. The results suggest that pain is not the only problem associated with multiple hereditary exostoses, as it has an extensive influence on daily activities, as well as on social and psychological well-being, causing significant disability

Pigeonpea genotypes influence parasitization preference and survival and development of the Helicoverpa armigera larval parasitoid, Campoletis chlorideae

Studies were undertaken to identify pigeonpea, Cajanus cajan (L.) Millspaugh and the wild relative of pigeonpea, Cajanus scarabaeoides (L.) (accession ICPW 125,) genotypes that are hospitable to the pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) larval parasitoid, Campoletis chlorideae Uchida (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) for the management of this pest in pigeonpea based cropping systems. Percentage parasitization of the H. armigera larvae by the C. chlorideae females was greater under no-choice conditions than under multi-choice conditions because of forced parasitization under no-choice conditions. Lowest parasitization was recorded on the wild relative, ICPW 125, which may be due to long nonglandular hairs and low survival of H. armigera larvae. Parasitization of H. armigera larvae was greater under no-choice, dual-choice and/or multi-choice conditions on ICPL 87, ICPL 87119 and ICPL 87091, which are susceptible to H. armigera, than on the pod borer-resistant genotypes ICPL 332WR, ICPL 84060 and ICPB 2042; while survival and development of the parasitoid was better on H. armigera larvae fed on ICPL 87, ICPL 87119, LRG 41, ICP 7035 and ICPL 87091 than on ICPL 332WR, ICPL 84060, ICPB 2042 and ICPW 125. The genotypes ICPL 87, ICPL 87119, LRG 42 and ICPL 87091 that are hospitable to C. chloridae, are better suited for use in integrated pest management to minimize the losses due to H. armigera in pigeonpe

Security in the Age of Systemic Risk: Strategies, Tactics and Options for Dealing with Femtorisks and Beyond

The world today is increasingly confronted with systemic threats and challenges, in which femtorisks - small-scale dangers that are inherent to system structures and function and which pose asymmetrically catastrophic risks - can build in consequence, spreading uncontrollably like epidemics in both natural and social systems in such diverse areas as ecology, epidemiology, finance, the Internet, terrorism, and international relations. They have been successfully modeled in ecology in the context of complex adaptive systems: systems made up of individual agents, whose interactions have macroscopic consequences that feed back to influence individual behavior. While acknowledging challenges, this paper argues for the value of applying to societal systems the approaches that natural scientists have developed in quantifying and modeling biological interactions and ecosystems

A New Mint1 Isoform, but Not the Conventional Mint1, Interacts with the Small GTPase Rab6

Small GTPases of the Rab family are important regulators of a large variety of different cellular functions such as membrane organization and vesicle trafficking. They have been shown to play a role in several human diseases. One prominent member, Rab6, is thought to be involved in the development of Alzheimer’s Disease, the most prevalent mental disorder worldwide. Previous studies have shown that Rab6 impairs the processing of the amyloid precursor protein (APP), which is cleaved to β-amyloid in brains of patients suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease. Additionally, all three members of the Mint adaptor family are implied to participate in the amyloidogenic pathway. Here, we report the identification of a new Mint1 isoform in a yeast two-hybrid screening, Mint1 826, which lacks an eleven amino acid (aa) sequence in the conserved C-terminal region. Mint1 826, but not the conventional Mint1, interacts with Rab6 via the PTB domain. This interaction is nucleotide-dependent, Rab6-specific and influences the subcellular localization of Mint1 826. We were able to detect and sequence a corresponding proteolytic peptide derived from cellular Mint1 826 by mass spectrometry proving the absence of aa 495–505 and could show that the deletion does not influence the ability of this adaptor protein to interact with APP. Taking into account that APP interacts and co-localizes with Mint1 826 and is transported in Rab6 positive vesicles, our data suggest that Mint1 826 bridges APP to the small GTPase at distinct cellular sorting points, establishing Mint1 826 as an important player in regulation of APP trafficking and processing

Effects of Performance on Mechanical properties of Sawdust/Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer matrix Hybrid Composites

ABSTRACT. Short carbon fibre (CF) and sawdust (SD) were dispersed in to the epoxy (EP) matrix in order to manufacture polymer hybrid composites using compression moulding technique. The mechanical properties of flexural properties of hybrid, compression moulded, chopped CF/SD/epoxy composites have been investigated taking into account the effect of hybridization by these two fillers. Hybridization with small amounts of SD makes these CF composites more suitable for technical applications. The simultaneous compounding of epoxy with two fillers was done to obtain a hybrid composite. This system is expected to have considerable mechanical properties, good surface finish and low cost. It has been found that the tensile properties of filled epoxy were higher than unfilled epoxy. By incorporating up to 30% (by mass) Carbon fiber (CF) and 10% sawdust (SD) namely S 3 sample flexural strength was increased by 12.5%. Thus it is shown that the durability of CF/SD filled epoxy composites can be enhanced by hybridization with small amount of CF. The hybrid effects of the flexural strength and modulus were studied by the rule of hybrid mixture

SRI-A Method for Sustainable Intensification of Rice Production with Enhanced Water Productivity

Climate change induced higher temperatures will increase crops’ water requirements. Every 10°C increase in mean temperature, results in 7% decline in the yield of rice crop. Hence, there is a need to develop water saving technologies in rice which consumes more than 50% of the total irrigation water in agriculture. System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is one such water saving rice production technology. Experiments were conducted at different locations in India including research farm of Directorate of Rice Research (DRR), Hyderabad, during 2005-10 to assess the potential of SRI in comparison to normal transplanting/Standard Planting (NTP/SP) under flooded condition. SRI recorded higher grain yield (6 to 65% over NTP) at majority of locations. Long term studies clearly indicated that grain yield was significantly higher (12-23% and 4-35% over NTP in Kharif and Rabi seasons, respectively) in SRI (with organic+inorganic fertilizers) while the SRI (with100% organic manures), recorded higher yield (4-34%) over NTP only in the Rabi seasons. Even though, SRI resulted in higher productivity, the available nutrient status in soil was marginally higher (10, 42 and 13% over NTP for N, P and K, respectively) at the end of four seasons. There was a reduction in the incidence of pests in SRI and the relative abundance of plant parasitic nematodes was low in SRI as compared to the NTP. About 31% and 37% saving in irrigation water was observed during Kharif and Rabi seasons, respectively in both methods of SRI cultivation over NTP. SRI performed well and consistently reduced requirement of inputs such as seed and water in different soil conditions. SRI method, using less water for rice production can help in overcoming water shortage in future and it can also make water available for growing other crops thus promoting crop diversificatio

A Sulfhydryl-Reactive Ruthenium (II) Complex and Its Conjugation to Protein G as a Universal Reagent for Fluorescent Immunoassays

To develop a fluorescent ruthenium complex for biosensing, we synthesized a novel sulfhydryl-reactive compound, 4-bromophenanthroline bis-2,2′-dipyridine Ruthenium bis (hexafluorophosphate). The synthesized Ru(II) complex was crosslinked with thiol-modified protein G to form a universal reagent for fluorescent immunoassays. The resulting Ru(II)-protein G conjugates were identified by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The emission peak wavelength of the Ru(II)-protein G conjugate was 602 nm at the excitation of 452 nm which is similar to the spectra of the Ru(II) complex, indicating that Ru(II)-protein G conjugates still remain the same fluorescence after conjugation. To test the usefulness of the conjugate for biosensing, immunoglobulin G (IgG) binding assay was conducted. The result showed that Ru(II)-protein G conjugates were capable of binding IgG and the more cross-linkers to modify protein G, the higher conjugation efficiency. To demonstrate the feasibility of Ru(II)-protein G conjugates for fluorescent immunoassays, the detection of recombinant histidine-tagged protein using the conjugates and anti-histidine antibody was developed. The results showed that the histidine-tagged protein was successfully detected with dose-response, indicating that Ru(II)-protein G conjugate is a useful universal fluorescent reagent for quantitative immunoassays