Aggregation of human salivary Ca-proteinates in the presence of simple carbohydrates in vitro

The effect of 8 polyols and 14 aldoses or ketoses on the spontaneous aggregation of Ca-proteinates was followed spectrophotometrically in supernatants and filtrates of human mixed saliva. Each carbohydrate was added to the saliva samples at 37°C and the precipitated material was analyzed for protein, total carbohydrate and Ca. Based on their effect on aggregation, the carbohydrates could be divided into three groups: 1) those that showed no effect on aggregation: D-xylose, D-ribose and i-erythritol, 2) those that inhibited aggregation strongly: xylitol, Dsorbitol and D-mannitoi, and 3) those that inhibited aggregation moderately: glucose, fructose and sucrose. The inhibitory effect of the above polyols on the aggregation of Ca-proteinates varied greatly among the saliva donors, and correlated positively with the turbidity of the saliva and its protein content more than with the Ca-concentration or the pH of the saliva sample. It is suggested that inhibition of aggregation shown the most clearly for xylitol, sorbitol and mannitol manifests itself as a retardation of the final, irreversible aggregation of those glycoproteins that already exist in a precipitated form and which are responsible for the turbidity of saliva.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/75574/1/j.1600-0722.1986.tb01376.x.pd

Effects of Invertebrate Iridescent Virus 6 in Phyllophaga vandinei and Its Potential as a Biocontrol Delivery System

Invertebrate iridescent virus 6 (IIV6) was determined to cause infection in Phyllophaga vandinei Smyth (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) through a range of modes of transmissions. This is the first evidence of IIV6 infection in P. vandinei that caused both patent and sub-lethal infections in larvae and adults. Mortality rates were determined to be ∼30% when virus inoculum was injected into larvae or adults. Adults injected with virus showed dramatically altered behavior; injected beetles were not observed feeding or mating compared with adults injected with buffer or adults that were not injected. Tissue collected from infected adults resulted in infection when injected into healthy adults, as confirmed with PCR. PCR also confirmed that frass of infected larvae and adults contained virus, and when reconstituted frass from infected individuals was injected into healthy adults or larvae they become infected. Healthy adults could be infected by coming into contact with soil or plant material that had been exposed to infected adults as much as two weeks prior to introduction of nonvirus exposed adults. Although relatively low mortality resulted when adults or larvae were injected with the virus, the demonstration of horizontal transmission, potentially through frass of infected individuals, identifies a mode of transmission that may be exploited as a potential management tool to reduce P. vandinei

Development of an in vitro periodontal biofilm model for assessing antimicrobial and host modulatory effects of bioactive molecules

Background: Inflammation within the oral cavity occurs due to dysregulation between microbial biofilms and the host response. Understanding how different oral hygiene products influence inflammatory properties is important for the development of new products. Therefore, creation of a robust host-pathogen biofilm platform capable of evaluating novel oral healthcare compounds is an attractive option. We therefore devised a multi-species biofilm co-culture model to evaluate the naturally derived polyphenol resveratrol (RSV) and gold standard chlorhexidine (CHX) with respect to anti-biofilm and anti-inflammatory properties.<p></p> Methods: An in vitro multi-species biofilm containing <i>S. mitis, F. nucleatum, P. Gingivalis</i> and <i>A. Actinomycetemcomitans</i> was created to represent a disease-associated biofilm and the oral epithelial cell in OKF6-TERT2. Cytotoxicity studies were performed using RSV and CHX. Multi-species biofilms were either treated with either molecule, or alternatively epithelial cells were treated with these prior to biofilm co-culture. Biofilm composition was evaluated and inflammatory responses quantified at a transcriptional and protein level.<p></p> Results: CHX was toxic to epithelial cells and multi-species biofilms at concentrations ranging from 0.01-0.2%. RSV did not effect multi-species biofilm composition, but was toxic to epithelial cells at concentrations greater than 0.01%. In co-culture, CHX-treated biofilms resulted in down regulation of the inflammatory chemokine IL-8 at both mRNA and protein level. RSV-treated epithelial cells in co-culture were down-regulated in the release of IL-8 protein, but not mRNA.<p></p> Conclusions: CHX possesses potent bactericidal properties, which may impact downstream inflammatory mediators. RSV does not appear to have bactericidal properties against multi-species biofilms, however it did appear to supress epithelial cells from releasing inflammatory mediators. This study demonstrates the potential to understand the mechanisms by which different oral hygiene products may influence gingival inflammation, thereby validating the use of a biofilm co-culture model.<p></p&gt

The pathophysiology of malarial anaemia: where have all the red cells gone?

Malarial anaemia is an enormous public health problem in endemic areas and occurs predominantly in children in the first 3 years of life. Anaemia is due to both a great increase in clearance of uninfected cells and a failure of an adequate bone marrow response. Odhiambo, Stoute and colleagues show how the age distribution of malarial anaemia and the haemolysis of red blood cells may be linked by an age-dependent increase in the capacity of red blood cells to inactivate complement components absorbed or deposited directly on to the surface of the red blood cell. In this commentary, we discuss what has been established about the role of complement deposition on the surface of red blood cells in the pathology of malarial anaemia, how genetic polymorphisms of the complement control proteins influence the outcome of malaria infection and how the findings of Odhiambo, Stoute and colleagues and others shed light on the puzzling age distribution of different syndromes of severe malaria

A systematic review of frameworks for the interrelationships of mental health evidence and policy in low- and middle-income countries

Background: The interrelationships between research evidence and policy-making are complex. Different theoretical frameworks exist to explain general evidence–policy interactions. One largely unexplored element of these interrelationships is how evidence interrelates with, and influences, policy/political agenda-setting. This review aims to identify the elements and processes of theories, frameworks and models on interrelationships of research evidence and health policy-making, with a focus on actionability and agenda-setting in the context of mental health in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Methods: A systematic review of theories was conducted based on the BeHeMOTh search method, using a tested and refined search strategy. Nine electronic databases and other relevant sources were searched for peer-reviewed and grey literature. Two reviewers screened the abstracts, reviewed full-text articles, extracted data and performed quality assessments. Analysis was based on a thematic analysis. The included papers had to present an actionable theoretical framework/model on evidence and policy interrelationships, such as knowledge translation or evidence-based policy, specifically target the agenda-setting process, focus on mental health, be from LMICs and published in English. Results: From 236 publications included in the full text analysis, no studies fully complied with our inclusion criteria. Widening the focus by leaving out ‘agenda-setting’, we included ten studies, four of which had unique conceptual frameworks focusing on mental health and LMICs but not agenda-setting. The four analysed frameworks confirmed research gaps from LMICs and mental health, and a lack of focus on agenda-setting. Frameworks and models from other health and policy areas provide interesting conceptual approaches and lessons with regards to agenda-setting. Conclusion: Our systematic review identified frameworks on evidence and policy interrelations that differ in their elements and processes. No framework fulfilled all inclusion criteria. Four actionable frameworks are applicable to mental health and LMICs, but none specifically target agenda-setting. We have identified agenda-setting as a research theory gap in the context of mental health knowledge translation in LMICs. Frameworks from other health/policy areas could offer lessons on agenda-setting and new approaches for creating policy impact for mental health and to tackle the translational gap in LMICs

SREBP-2/PNPLA8 axis improves non-alcoholic fatty liver disease through activation of autophagy

Dysregulated autophagy is associated with steatosis and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), however the mechanisms connecting them remain poorly understand. Here, we show that co-administration of lovastatin and ezetimibe (L/E) significantly reverses hepatic triglyceride accumulation concomitant with an increase in SREBP-2 driven autophagy in mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD). We further show that the statin mediated increase in SREBP-2 directly activates expression of patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing enzyme 8 (PNPLA8) gene, and PNPLA8 associates with autophagosomes and is associated with a decrease in cellular triglyceride. Moreover, we show that over-expression of PNPLA8 dramatically decreases hepatic steatosis through increased autophagy in hepatocytes of HFD-fed mice. Live-cell imaging analyses also reveal that PNPLA8 dynamically interacts with LC3 and we suggest that the SREBP-2/PNPLA8 axis represents a novel regulatory mechanism for lipid homeostasis. These data provide a possible mechanism for the reported beneficial effects of statins for decreasing hepatic triglyceride levels in NAFLD patients.ope

Elevated antibody to D-alanyl lipoteichoic acid indicates caries experience associated with fluoride and gingival health

BACKGROUND: Acidogenic, acid-tolerant bacteria induce dental caries and require D-alanyl glycerol lipoteichoic acid (D-alanyl LTA) on their cell surface. Because fluoride inhibits acid-mediated enamel demineralization, an elevated antibody response to D-alanyl LTA may indicate subjects with more acidogenic bacteria and, therefore, an association of DMFT with fluoride exposure and gingival health not apparent in low responders. METHODS: Cluster analysis was used to identify low antibody content. Within low and high responders (control and test subjects), the number of teeth that were decayed missing and filled (DMFT), or decayed only (DT) were regressed against fluoride exposure in the water supply and from dentrifice use. The latter was determined from gingival health: prevalences of plaque (PL) and bleeding on probing (BOP), and mean pocket depth (PD). Age was measured as a possible confounding cofactor. RESULTS: In 35 high responders, DMFT associated with length of exposure to fluoridated water (F score), PL and BOP (R(2) = 0.51, p < 0.001), whereas in 67 low D-ala-IgG responders, DMFT associated with PL, age, and PD (R(2) = 0.26, p < 0.001). BOP correlated strongly with number of 7 7 decayed teeth (DT) in 54 high responders (R(2) = 0.57, p < 0.001), but poorly in 97 low responders (R(2) = 0.12, p < 0.001). The strength of the PD association with DMFT, or of BOP with DT, in high responders significantly differed from that in low responders (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Caries associates with gingival health and fluoridated water exposure in high D-alanyl LTA antibody responders

A new family of periplasmic-binding proteins that sense arsenic oxyanions

Arsenic contamination of drinking water affects more than 140 million people worldwide. While toxic to humans, inorganic forms of arsenic (arsenite and arsenate), can be used as energy sources for microbial respiration. AioX and its orthologues (ArxX and ArrX) represent the first members of a new sub-family of periplasmic-binding proteins that serve as the first component of a signal transduction system, that's role is to positively regulate expression of arsenic metabolism enzymes. As determined by X-ray crystallography for AioX, arsenite binding only requires subtle conformational changes in protein structure, providing insights into protein-ligand interactions. The binding pocket of all orthologues is conserved but this alone is not sufficient for oxyanion selectivity, with proteins selectively binding either arsenite or arsenate. Phylogenetic evidence, clearly demonstrates that the regulatory proteins evolved together early in prokaryotic evolution and had a separate origin from the metabolic enzymes whose expression they regulate

Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined. For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4, while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than 90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Measurement of the Forward-Backward Asymmetry in the B -> K(*) mu+ mu- Decay and First Observation of the Bs -> phi mu+ mu- Decay

We reconstruct the rare decays $B^+ \to K^+\mu^+\mu^-$, $B^0 \to K^{*}(892)^0\mu^+\mu^-$, and $B^0_s \to \phi(1020)\mu^+\mu^-$ in a data sample corresponding to $4.4 {\rm fb^{-1}}$ collected in $p\bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=1.96 {\rm TeV}$ by the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. Using $121 \pm 16$ $B^+ \to K^+\mu^+\mu^-$ and $101 \pm 12$ $B^0 \to K^{*0}\mu^+\mu^-$ decays we report the branching ratios. In addition, we report the measurement of the differential branching ratio and the muon forward-backward asymmetry in the $B^+$ and $B^0$ decay modes, and the $K^{*0}$ longitudinal polarization in the $B^0$ decay mode with respect to the squared dimuon mass. These are consistent with the theoretical prediction from the standard model, and most recent determinations from other experiments and of comparable accuracy. We also report the first observation of the $B^0_s \to \phi\mu^+\mu^- decay and measure its branching ratio${\mathcal{B}}(B^0_s \to \phi\mu^+\mu^-) = [1.44 \pm 0.33 \pm 0.46] \times 10^{-6}$using$27 \pm 6$signal events. This is currently the most rare$B^0_s$ decay observed.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let