Identification of NAD(P)H Quinone Oxidoreductase Activity in Azoreductases from P. aeruginosa: Azoreductases and NAD(P)H Quinone Oxidoreductases Belong to the Same FMN-Dependent Superfamily of Enzymes

Water soluble quinones are a group of cytotoxic anti-bacterial compounds that are secreted by many species of plants, invertebrates, fungi and bacteria. Studies in a number of species have shown the importance of quinones in response to pathogenic bacteria of the genus Pseudomonas. Two electron reduction is an important mechanism of quinone detoxification as it generates the less toxic quinol. In most organisms this reaction is carried out by a group of flavoenzymes known as NAD(P)H quinone oxidoreductases. Azoreductases have previously been separate from this group, however using azoreductases from Pseudomonas aeruginosa we show that they can rapidly reduce quinones. Azoreductases from the same organism are also shown to have distinct substrate specificity profiles allowing them to reduce a wide range of quinones. The azoreductase family is also shown to be more extensive than originally thought, due to the large sequence divergence amongst its members. As both NAD(P)H quinone oxidoreductases and azoreductases have related reaction mechanisms it is proposed that they form an enzyme superfamily. The ubiquitous and diverse nature of azoreductases alongside their broad substrate specificity, indicates they play a wide role in cellular survival under adverse conditions

Ten years of primary care reform in Lithuania: comparing the task profiles of primary care doctors in 1994 and GPs in 2004.

Background: Since its independence in 1990 Lithuania is transforming health care from the previous Soviet system to a decentralised social insurance based system with a strong emphasis on primary care. Doctors have been re-trained to become GPs with a gatekeeping position. GPs can either work as employees in the public centres or in their own private practice, contracted to the system. Family medicine residency programmes have been developed. Health centres have been modernised and new centres have been established. This paper is an evaluation of changes between 1994 and 2004 with respect to the profile of specific tasks provided by Lithuanian primary care doctors to their patients. Methods: In 1994 and 2004 identical questionnaires have been completed by random samples of primary care physicians about the following services: minor surgical procedures, management and follow up of diseases, and prevention and health education. Data entry, processing, and analysis were carried out using SPSS software. Results: In 1994 the response among district doctors was 333 (87%) and among primary care paediatricians 262 (87%). In 2004 the response among GPs was 298 (73%). Nowadays GPs aresignificantly more involved than primary care doctors 10 years ago in the provision of most medical procedures considered in the questionnaire. Similarly, GPs were significantly more involved in the treatment of a number of diseases, though not with all diseases considered. With respect to prevention no increase was found. Despite the improvements overall, the current position of GPs in Lithuania in the aspects considered is still clearly behind the position of GPs in western Europe in 1994. Conclusions: GP task profiles are more comprehensive now than they were 10 years ago, but continued efforts and time will be needed to reach the profile of provision of GPs in western European countries. (aut.ref.

Organizational and structural changes in PHC centres during health care reform in Lithuania.

Background: The increasing health care inequalities and morbidity, inefficient payment system challenged to a new health care reform with its priority primary health care after Lithuania’s independence in 1990. Former district doctors have been re-trained to become GPs and former policlinics have been modernized and decentralized. The private medicine was introduced. This paper is an evaluation of structural and organizational changes in PHC centres between 1994 and 2004. Research question: Are PHC centres better organized after PHC reform? Are there any differences between private and public PHC centres in 2004? Methods: In 1994 and 2004 identical questionnaires have been completed by random samples of primary care physicians about the: workload, working arrangement, practice equipment. Data entry, processing and analysis were carried out using SPSS software. Results: In 1994 the response among district doctors was 333 (87%) and among primary care pediatricians 262 (87%). In 2004 the response among GPs was 298 (73%). The number of the patients per GP decreased in 2004, but the number of office contacts, consultations by phone and workload increased in 2004. There were more equipment items in 2004. The number of home visits decreased in 2004. The distance of PHC centres were longer and there were less possibility to make an advanced appointment for a consultation in 1994. Comparing private and public PHC centres there were some differences: more patients per GP in public practice, but normal working hours higher in private PHC centres. The public PHC centres had more equipment. Conclusions: PHC centres are better organized then they were ten years ago. Private PHC centres have less equipment and less patients per GP, but private GPs have more time for their patients. Continued efforts, finance and time will be needed to reach the organization principles of western European countries

Primary care in a post-communist country 10 years later: comparison of service profiles of Lithuanian primary care physicians in 1994 and GPs in 2004.

OBJECTIVES: The study aimed, firstly, to assess changes in the service profile of primary care physicians between 1994, when features of the Soviet health system prevailed, and 2004, when retraining of GPs was completed. Secondly, to compare service profiles among current GPs, taking into account their positions before being retrained. METHODS: A cross-sectional repeated measures study was conducted among district therapists and district pediatricians in 1994 and GPs in 2004. A questionnaire was used containing identical items on the physicians' involvement in curative and preventive services. The response rates in both years were 87% and 73%, respectively. RESULTS: In 2004, physicians had much more office contacts with patients than in 1994. Modest progress was made with the provision of technical procedures. Involvement in disease management was also stronger in 2004 than in 1994, particularly among former pediatricians. Involvement in screening activities remained stable among former therapists and increased among former pediatricians. At present, GPs who used to be therapists provide a broader range of services than ex pediatricians. GPs from the residency programme hold an intermediate position. CONCLUSIONS: Lithuanian GPs have taken up new tasks but variation can be reduced. The health care system is still in the midst of transition. (aut. ref.

Online and Collaborative Tools During Academic and Erasmus Studies

The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 R. Babo et al. (eds.), Workgroups eAssessment: Planning, Implementing and Analysing Frameworks, Intelligent Systems Reference Library 199,Part of the students’ academic path is the elaboration, construction and presentation of works where there is an interaction between various elements of a group. It is common, in many countries, for students to actively participate in groups, either between classmates or even from another country, with the aim of designing, creating and presenting tasks, where information should be viewed and changed by all group members, if possible, simultaneously. A few years ago, in order to be able to carry out this kind of academic group work, it was necessary to synchronize times, days and places with the group members so that the work meeting could take place. Now, this interaction is virtually possible, first with chats, videoconferences and a variety of virtual tools and their many possibilities. This chapter starts from a literature review on studies with online collaborative work platforms to analyze, through testimonials from higher education students, if online collaborative work tools have been an asset for students during their academic career, including participation in the Erasmus Program in different countries. It was found that university students find these tools useful, despite the fact that the uses do not have the support or guidance of their educational institutions and are not accompanied by an in-depth study of these tools, which have caused problematic situations that could have been avoided

Nucleotide excision repair deficiency is intrinsic in sporadic stage I breast cancer

The molecular etiology of breast cancer has proven to be remarkably complex. Most individual oncogenes are disregulated in only approximately 30% of breast tumors, indicating that either very few molecular alterations are common to the majority of breast cancers, or that they have not yet been identified. In striking contrast, we now show that 19 of 19 stage I breast tumors tested with the functional unscheduled DNA synthesis assay exhibited a significant deficiency of DNA nucleotide excision repair (NER) capacity relative to normal epithelial tissue from disease-free controls (n = 23). Loss of DNA repair capacity, including the complex, damage-comprehensive NER pathway, results in genomic instability, a hallmark of carcinogenesis. By microarray analysis, mRNA expression levels for 20 canonical NER genes were reduced in representative tumor samples versus normal. Significant reductions were observed in 19 of these genes analyzed by the more sensitive method of RNase protection. These results were confirmed at the protein level for five NER gene products. Taken together, these data suggest that NER deficiency may play an important role in the etiology of sporadic breast cancer, and that early-stage breast cancer may be intrinsically susceptible to genotoxic chemotherapeutic agents, such as cis-platinum, whose damage is remediated by NER. In addition, reduced NER capacity, or reduced expression of NER genes, could provide a basis for the development of biomarkers for the identification of tumorigenic breast epithelium