Tuberculosis Suspect in the Companies in Semarang District Indonesia; Case-Control Study

In Semarang district, the population at the companies were 83120 workers. The number of smear positive cases in 2011 were 258 and 3898 suspected tuberculosis. Case-control study was conducted to analyze the risk of TB suspect infection among workers in the factory. We recruited 194 suspects and 197 controls who visited the factory clinic. The most common symptom was coughing with sputum (63 %) and then followed by malaise, chest pain, sweating at night, weight loss, dyspnea, anorexia, cough more than 2 weeks, sub febris and hemoptoe. Around 47 % both of the suspects and controls don't know received Bacillus Calmette-guérin (BCG) or not. The multivariate analysis showed the dominant factors that influence the occurrence of TB suspect, “education”, “income”, “ashamed of having TB”, “TB treatment is very costly”, and “share dish”.distribution of health education booklet to teachers and parents

Genistein affects osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells both through estrogen receptor and BMP-Smad signaling pathways

Many epidemiological studies show that genistein intake is effective for maintaining bone mineral density (BMD). Because the reason for the efficacy of genistein as a bone protective agent in vivo remains unclear, we investigated the mechanisms underlying the effects of genistein on BMD in relation to BMP-Smad signaling systems. When osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells were exposed to 1 μM genistein, they increased in number. Combined administrations of 1 μM genistein and 1 μM of ICI 182,780 inhibited the increase in cell numbers. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and Alizarin red staining showed high activities, indicating that genistein might promote estrogenic differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells. Moreover, ELISA determined that production of osteoprotegerin (OPG), which is expressed by osteoblasts, was higher when 1 μM genistein was added to the medium than in controls. In contrast, when 10 ng/mL of noggin was administered in the medium, OPG production was inhibited. In order to clarify the underlying mechanism, we investigated the BMP-Smad signaling pathway. When genistein was added to the medium, it induced gene expression of BMP-4. Immunofluorescence staining showed that genistein induced phosphorylation of Smad 1/5, a downstream molecule of BMP. When noggin, which binds to BMP and blocks BMP signaling, was added to the medium, phosphorylation of Smad 1/5 was reduced. These results indicate that genistein may regulate bone metabolism through the BMP-Smad signaling pathway as well as through the estrogen receptor pathway

Simple and rapid detection method for qepA1 by loop-mediated isothermal amplification

Although fluoroquinolone (FQ) has been used for the treatment of various bacterial infectious diseases, its continued use has been problematic given the appearance of FQ-resistant bacteria. However, the recent discovery of four plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) genes comprising qnr, aac(6\u27)Ib-cr, qepA and OqxAB since 1998 has provided insights in the area of FQ-resistance. For practical detection of qepA in microbiology laboratory, a specific, simple, rapid and cost-effective isothermal amplification method designated as LAMP is the good candidate to use. In this study, the development of a new detection method using LAMP to identify qepA1, one variant of the qepA gene, was tried. As the results, the LAMP method using a qepA1-specific LAMP primer set comprising five primerscould detect all four qepA1-positive strains in addition to 17 qepA1-negative strains. The LAMP method is clearly much more advantageous for use in clinical laboratories. Furthermore, the time and accuracy benefits allow for the selection of antibiotics in a clinical setting

Analysis of antibody-negative medical students after hepatitis B vaccination in Japan

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination is recommended for health-care professionals because of their frequent contact with blood. At one medical school, new students undergo HBV antibody tests upon admission, and antibody-negative individuals receive the HBV vaccine. We aimed to characterize individuals who remained antibody negative after HBV vaccination. Between 2009 and 2017, we enrolled 1064 first-year students from a medical school where their HBV antibody test and vaccination records remained. We analyzed data regarding the hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs) test record during admission, vaccination record for antibody-negative participants, anti-HBs test result after completing the three vaccination doses, drug name of the vaccine used, sex, body mass index (BMI), and age. We calculated the yearly percentage of antibody-negative individuals and analyzed the characteristics of vaccine-refractory cases by logistic regression analysis. Of the 1064 participants, 999 were initially antibody negative. They were vaccinated with HBV thrice and tested for antibodies after vaccination. The average age of participants was 20.1 y, with 677 males. Although the type of vaccine has been changed since 2016, the average rate of refractoriness from 2009 to 2015 was 6.9% per year and 18.6% after 2016. Logistic regression analyses showed that sex (male vs. female; OR, 1.787), BMI (OR. 1.171), and vaccine type (genotype A vs. genotype C: OR, 3.144) were significant factors associated with antibody-negative individuals. Vaccine type differences altered the proportion of antibody-refractory individuals, with no association with age. The data on vaccine refractoriness will be continuously analyzed in the future while considering other factors