A pilot study on palmyrah pinattu (dried fruit pulp) as an anti-diabetic food component

The fruit pulp of palmyrah (Borassus flabellifer L.) has been shown to inhibit intestinal glucose uptake in mice, the active principle being a steroidal saponin, flabelliferin-II which inhibits intestinal ATPase in mice at 5×10-5M level. Palmyrah fruit pulp (PFP) is widely used to manufacture many food products including dried PFP (pinattu), which has been consumed in North-East Sri Lanka for centuries. The present study was carried out to investigate whether PFP in the form of pinattu could reduce serum glucose levels of mild diabetic (Type-II) patients who were not on a drug regimen with a view to developing pinattu as an anti-diabetic food component. Patients (newly diagnosed, Type-II, mild diabetic patients) attending the diabetic clinic at the Family Practice Centre, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka, were subjected to a glucose challenge (75g/50kg BW) after a 10 hour overnight fast and the blood glucose levels determined. On subsequent visits of each patient (3 days after the first visit) blood glucose was determined after administration of PFP in the form of pinattu (6g/50kg BW) or fibre (4g/50kg BW) extracted from PFP prior to the glucose challenge. The methodology employed was the cross over method where each patient was its own control. In all mild diabetic patients treated with pinattu, there was a significant reduction (p< 0.01, by 15-48%) in blood glucose concentration after a glucose challenge. Therefore the results of the present study suggest that pinattu (dried PFP) could be used as an anti-hyperglycemic agent. Keywords: Borassus flabellifer, flabelliferin, palmyrah fruit pulp, blood glucose, diabetes. International Journal of Biological and Chemical Sciences Vol. 1 (3) 2007: pp. 250-25

Using markers for digital engagement and social change: Tracking meaningful narrative exchange in transmedia edutainment with text analytics techniques

While social media offer an unprecedented opportunity for orchestrating large-scale communication campaigns, it is often difficult to track audience responses on various digital platforms over time and to ascertain if their engagement is aligned with the original intention. In this article, we share a promising solution—the purposive embedding and tracking of unique content elements as “markers” using text analytics techniques. Four markers were introduced in an Indian melodramatic television serial, Main Kuch Bhi Kar Sakti Hoon (I, A Woman, Can Achieve Anything), which was part of a larger transmedia edutainment initiative in India to promote sanitation, family planning, and gender equality. These markers served as anchors for audience engagement with the originally intended messaging embedded in the narratives as well as for program monitoring and evaluation. We applied various web-based tools to systematically track marker-related engagement on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube across eight months. We also conducted semantic network analysis to better understand how marker-related social media comments evolved over time. Our investigation of using markers for digital engagement and narrative exchange in MKBKSH makes an important and timely methodological contribution to the scholarship and praxis of social and behavior change communication.Using markers for digital engagement and social change: Tracking meaningful narrative exchange in transmedia edutainment with text analytics techniquespublishedVersio

An evaluation of three processing methods and the effect of reduced culture times for faster direct identification of pathogens from BacT/ALERT blood cultures by MALDI-TOF MS

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) is a fast and reliable method for the identification of bacteria from agar media. Direct identification from positive blood cultures should decrease the time to obtaining the result. In this study, three different processing methods for the rapid direct identification of bacteria from positive blood culture bottles were compared. In total, 101 positive aerobe BacT/ALERT bottles were included in this study. Aliquots from all bottles were used for three bacterial processing methods, i.e. the commercially available Bruker’s MALDI Sepsityper kit, the commercially available Molzym’s MolYsis Basic5 kit and a centrifugation/washing method. In addition, the best method was used to evaluate the possibility of MALDI application after a reduced incubation time of 7 h of Staphylococcus aureus- and Escherichia coli-spiked (1,000, 100 and 10 colony-forming units [CFU]) aerobe BacT/ALERT blood cultures. Sixty-six (65%), 51 (50.5%) and 79 (78%) bottles were identified correctly at the species level when the centrifugation/washing method, MolYsis Basic 5 and Sepsityper were used, respectively. Incorrect identification was obtained in 35 (35%), 50 (49.5%) and 22 (22%) bottles, respectively. Gram-positive cocci were correctly identified in 33/52 (64%) of the cases. However, Gram-negative rods showed a correct identification in 45/47 (96%) of all bottles when the Sepsityper kit was used. Seven hours of pre-incubation of S. aureus- and E. coli-spiked aerobe BacT/ALERT blood cultures never resulted in reliable identification with MALDI-TOF MS. Sepsityper is superior for the direct identification of microorganisms from aerobe BacT/ALERT bottles. Gram-negative pathogens show better results compared to Gram-positive bacteria. Reduced incubation followed by MALDI-TOF MS did not result in faster reliable identification

Progression of coronary artery calcification in conventional hemodialysis, nocturnal hemodialysis, and kidney transplantation

Introduction Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and is strongly associated with vascular calcification. An important driver of vascular calcification is high phosphate levels, but these become lower when patients initiate nocturnal hemodialysis or receive a kidney transplant. However, it is unknown whether nocturnal hemodialysis or kidney transplantation mitigate vascular calcification. Therefore, we compared progression of coronary artery calcification (CAC) between patients treated with conventional hemodialysis, nocturnal hemodialysis, and kidney transplant recipients. Methods We measured CAC annually up to 3 years in 114 patients with ESRD that were transplantation candidates: 32 that continued conventional hemodialysis, 34 that initiated nocturnal hemodialysis (>= 4x 8 hours/week), and 48 that received a kidney transplant. We compared CAC progression between groups as the difference in square root transformed volume scores per year (Delta CAC SQRV) using linear mixed models. Reference category was conventional hemodialysis. Results The mean age of the study population was 53 +/- 13 years, 75 (66%) were male, and median dialysis duration was 28 (IQR 12-56) months. Median CAC score at enrollment was 171 (IQR 10-647), which did not differ significantly between treatment groups (P = 0.83). Compared to conventional hemodialysis, CAC progression was non-significantly different in nocturnal hemodialysis -0.10 (95% CI -0.77 to 0.57) and kidney transplantation -0.33 (95% CI -0.96 to 0.29) in adjusted models. Conclusions Nocturnal hemodialysis and kidney transplantation are not associated with significantly less CAC progression compared to conventional hemodialysis during up to 3 years follow-up. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings, to determine which type of calcification is measured with CAC in end-stage renal disease, and whether that reflects cardiovascular risk

Reversibility of Frailty After Bridge-to-Transplant Ventricular Assist Device Implantation or Heart Transplantation.

BACKGROUND: We recently reported that frailty is independently predictive of increased mortality in patients with advanced heart failure referred for heart transplantation (HTx). The aim of this study was to assess the impact of frailty on short-term outcomes after bridge-to-transplant ventricular assist device (BTT-VAD) implantation and/or HTx and to determine if frailty is reversible after these procedures. METHODS: Between August 2013 and August 2016, 100 of 126 consecutive patients underwent frailty assessment using Fried's Frailty Phenotype before surgical intervention: 40 (21 nonfrail, 19 frail) BTT-VAD and 77 (60 nonfrail, 17 frail) HTx-including 17 of the 40 BTT-VAD supported patients. Postprocedural survival, intubation time, intensive care unit, and hospital length of stay were compared between frail and nonfrail groups. Twenty-six frail patients were reassessed at 2 months or longer postintervention. RESULTS: Frail patients had lower survival (63 ± 10% vs 94 ± 3% at 1 year, P = 0.012) and experienced significantly longer intensive care unit (11 vs 5 days, P = 0.002) and hospital (49 vs 25 days, P = 0.003) length of stay after surgical intervention compared with nonfrail patients. Twelve of 13 frail patients improved their frailty score after VAD (4.0 ± 0.8 to 1.4 ± 1.1, P < 0.001) and 12 of 13 frail patients improved their frailty score after HTx (3.2 ± 0.4 to 0.9 ± 0.9, P < 0.001). Handgrip strength and depression improved postintervention. Only a slight improvement in cognitive function was seen postintervention. CONCLUSIONS: Frail patients with advanced heart failure experience increased mortality and morbidity after surgical intervention with BTT-VAD or HTx. Among those who survive frailty is partly or completely reversible underscoring the importance of considering this factor as a dynamic not fixed entity

Interlaboratory comparison of sample preparation methods, database expansions, and cutoff values for identification of yeasts by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry using a yeast test panel

An interlaboratory study using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) to determine the identification of clinically important yeasts (n35) was performed at 11 clinical centers, one company, and one reference center using the Bruker Daltonics MALDI Biotyper system. The optimal cutoff for the MALDI-TOF MS score was investigated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses. The percentages of correct identifications were compared for different sample preparation methods and different databases. Logistic regression analysis was performed to analyze the association between the number of spectra in the database and the percentage of strains that were correctly identified. A total of 5,460 MALDI-TOF MS results were obtained. Using all results, the area under the ROC curve was 0.95 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.94 to 0.96). With a sensitivity of 0.84 and a specificity of 0.97, a cutoff value of 1.7 was considered optimal. The overall percentage of correct identifications (formic acid-ethanol extraction method, score>1.7) was 61.5% when the commercial Bruker Daltonics database (BDAL) was used, and it increased to 86.8% by using an extended BDAL supplemented with a Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures (CBS)-KNAW Fungal Biodiversity Centre in-house database (BDALCBS in-house). A greater number of main spectra (MSP) in the database was associated with a higher percentage of correct identifications (odds ratio [OR], 1.10; 95% CI, 1.05 to 1.15; P<0.01). The results from the direct transfer method ranged from 0% to 82.9% correct identifications, with the results of the top four centers ranging from 71.4% to 82.9% correct identifications. This study supports the use of a cutoff value of 1.7 for the identification of yeasts using MALDI-TOF MS. The inclusion of enough isolates of the same species in the database can enhance the proportion of correctly identified strains. Further optimization of the preparation methods, especially of the direct transfer method, may contribute to improved diagnosis of yeast-related infections

Can Campylobacter coli induce Guillain-Barré syndrome?

Campylobacter jejuni enteritis is the most frequently identified infection preceding the Guillain-Barr\ue9 syndrome (GBS) and neural damage is thought to be induced through molecular mimicry between C. jejuni lipo-oligosaccharide (LOS) and human gangliosides. It has been questioned whether or not other Campylobacter species, including C. curvus, C. upsaliensis and C. coli, could be similarly involved. This is relevant because it would imply that bacterial factors considered important in the aetiology of GBS crossed species barriers. Two prior reports have appeared where C. coli was putatively associated with a case of GBS.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye

Setdb1-mediated H3K9 methylation is enriched on the inactive X and plays a role in its epigenetic silencing

Background: The presence of histone 3 lysine 9 (H3K9) methylation on the mouse inactive X chromosome has been controversial over the last 15 years, and the functional role of H3K9 methylation in X chromosome inactivation in any species has remained largely unexplored. Results: Here we report the first genomic analysis of H3K9 di- and tri-methylation on the inactive X: we find they are enriched at the intergenic, gene poor regions of the inactive X, interspersed between H3K27 tri-methylation domains found in the gene dense regions. Although H3K9 methylation is predominantly non-genic, we find that depletion of H3K9 methylation via depletion of H3K9 methyltransferase Set domain bifurcated 1 (Setdb1) during the establishment of X inactivation, results in failure of silencing for around 150 genes on the inactive X. By contrast, we find a very minor role for Setdb1-mediated H3K9 methylation once X inactivation is fully established. In addition to failed gene silencing, we observed a specific failure to silence X-linked long-terminal repeat class repetitive elements. Conclusions: Here we have shown that H3K9 methylation clearly marks the murine inactive X chromosome. The role of this mark is most apparent during the establishment phase of gene silencing, with a more muted effect on maintenance of the silent state. Based on our data, we hypothesise that Setdb1-mediated H3K9 methylation plays a role in epigenetic silencing of the inactive X via silencing of the repeats, which itself facilitates gene silencing through alterations to the conformation of the whole inactive X chromosome.Andrew Keniry, Linden J. Gearing, Natasha Jansz, Joy Liu, Aliaksei Z. Holik, Peter F. Hickey, Sarah A. Kinkel, Darcy L. Moore, Kelsey Breslin, Kelan Chen, Ruijie Liu, Catherine Phillips, Miha Pakusch, Christine Biben, Julie M. Sheridan, Benjamin T. Kile, Catherine Carmichael, Matthew E. Ritchie, Douglas J. Hilton and Marnie E. Blewit

Survival of patients treated with extended-hours haemodialysis in Europe : an analysis of the ERA-EDTA Registry

Background. Previous US studies have indicated that haemodialysis with >= 6-h sessions [extended-hours haemodialysis (EHD)] may improve patient survival. However, patient characteristics and treatment practices vary between the USA and Europe. We therefore investigated the effect of EHD three times weekly on survival compared with conventional haemodialysis (CHD) among European patients. Methods. We included patients who were treated with haemodialysis between 2010 and 2017 from eight countries providing data to the European Renal Association-European Dialysis and Transplant Association Registry. Haemodialysis session duration and frequency were recorded once every year or at every change of haemodialysis prescription and were categorized into three groups: CHD (three times weekly, 3.5-4h/treatment), EHD (three times weekly, >= 6h/treatment) or other. In the primary analyses we attributed death to the treatment at the time of death and in secondary analyses to EHD if ever initiated. We compared mortality risk for EHD to CHD with causal inference from marginal structural models, using Cox proportional hazards models weighted for the inverse probability of treatment and censoring and adjusted for potential confounders. Results. From a total of 142 460 patients, 1338 patients were ever treated with EHD (three times, 7.10.8h/week) and 89 819 patients were treated exclusively with CHD (three times, 3.9 +/- 0.2h/week). Crude mortality rates were 6.0 and 13.5/100 person-years. In the primary analyses, patients treated with EHD had an adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 0.73 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.62-0.85] compared with patients treated with CHD. When we attributed all deaths to EHD after initiation, the HR for EHD was comparable to the primary analyses [HR 0.80 (95% CI 0.71-0.90)]. Conclusions. EHD is associated with better survival in European patients treated with haemodialysis three times weekly.Peer reviewe