High-Quality Draft Genome Sequences of Four Lignocellulose-Degrading Bacteria Isolated from Puerto Rican Forest Soil: Gordonia sp., Paenibacillus sp., Variovorax sp., and Vogesella sp.

Here, we report the high-quality draft genome sequences of four phylogenetically diverse lignocellulose-degrading bacteria isolated from tropical soil (Gordonia sp., Paenibacillus sp., Variovorax sp., and Vogesella sp.) to elucidate the genetic basis of their ability to degrade lignocellulose. These isolates may provide novel enzymes for biofuel production

Study of cosolvent-induced α-chymotrypsin fibrillogenesis: Does protein surface hydrophobicity trigger early stages of aggregation reaction?

The misfolding of specific proteins is often associated with their assembly into fibrillar aggregates, commonly termed amyloid fibrils. Despite the many efforts expended to characterize amyloid formation in vitro, there is no deep knowledge about the environment (in which aggregation occurs) as well as mechanism of this type of protein aggregation. Alpha-chymotrypsin was recently driven toward amyloid aggregation by the addition of intermediate concentrations of trifluoroethanol. In the present study, approaches such as turbidimetric, thermodynamic, intrinsic fluorescence and quenching studies as well as chemical modification have been successfully used to elucidate the underlying role of hydrophobic interactions (involved in early stages of amyloid formation) in α-chymotrypsin-based experimental system. © 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

Differentiated transplant derived airway epithelial cell cytokine secretion is not regulated by cyclosporine

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>While lung transplantation is an increasingly utilized therapy for advanced lung diseases, chronic rejection in the form of Bronchiolitis Obliterans Syndrome (BOS) continues to result in significant allograft dysfunction and patient mortality. Despite correlation of clinical events with eventual development of BOS, the causative pathophysiology remains unknown. Airway epithelial cells within the region of inflammation and fibrosis associated with BOS may have a participatory role.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Transplant derived airway epithelial cells differentiated in air liquid interface culture were treated with IL-1β and/or cyclosporine, after which secretion of cytokines and growth factor and gene expression for markers of epithelial to mesenchymal transition were analyzed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Secretion of IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α, but not TGF-β1, was increased by IL-1β stimulation. In contrast to previous studies using epithelial cells grown in submersion culture, treatment of differentiated cells in ALI culture with cyclosporine did not elicit cytokine or growth factor secretion, and did not alter IL-6, IL-8, or TNF-α production in response to IL-1β treatment. Neither IL-1β nor cyclosporine elicited expression of markers of the epithelial to mesenchymal transition E-cadherin, EDN-fibronectin, and α-smooth muscle actin.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Transplant derived differentiated airway epithelial cell IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α secretion is not regulated by cyclosporine <it>in vitro</it>; these cells thus may participate in local inflammatory responses in the setting of immunosuppression. Further, treatment with IL-1β did not elicit gene expression of markers of epithelial to mesenchymal transition. These data present a model of differentiated airway epithelial cells that may be useful in understanding epithelial participation in airway inflammation and allograft rejection in lung transplantation.</p

Integration and continuity of primary care: polyclinics and alternatives - a patient-centred analysis of how organisation constrains care co-ordination

Background An ageing population, the increasing specialisation of clinical services and diverse health-care provider ownership make the co-ordination and continuity of complex care increasingly problematic. The way in which the provision of complex health care is co-ordinated produces – or fails to produce – six forms of continuity of care (cross-sectional, longitudinal, flexible, access, informational and relational). Care co-ordination is accomplished by a combination of activities by patients themselves; provider organisations; care networks co-ordinating the separate provider organisations; and overall health-system governance. This research examines how far organisational integration might promote care co-ordination at the clinical level. Objectives To examine (1) what differences the organisational integration of primary care makes, compared with network governance, to horizontal and vertical co-ordination of care; (2) what difference provider ownership (corporate, partnership, public) makes; (3) how much scope either structure allows for managerial discretion and ‘performance’; (4) differences between networked and hierarchical governance regarding the continuity and integration of primary care; and (5) the implications of the above for managerial practice in primary care. Methods Multiple-methods design combining (1) the assembly of an analytic framework by non-systematic review; (2) a framework analysis of patients’ experiences of the continuities of care; (3) a systematic comparison of organisational case studies made in the same study sites; (4) a cross-country comparison of care co-ordination mechanisms found in our NHS study sites with those in publicly owned and managed Swedish polyclinics; and (5) the analysis and synthesis of data using an ‘inside-out’ analytic strategy. Study sites included professional partnership, corporate and publicly owned and managed primary care providers, and different configurations of organisational integration or separation of community health services, mental health services, social services and acute inpatient care. Results Starting from data about patients’ experiences of the co-ordination or under-co-ordination of care, we identified five care co-ordination mechanisms present in both the integrated organisations and the care networks; four main obstacles to care co-ordination within the integrated organisations, of which two were also present in the care networks; seven main obstacles to care co-ordination that were specific to the care networks; and nine care co-ordination mechanisms present in the integrated organisations. Taking everything into consideration, integrated organisations appeared more favourable to producing continuities of care than did care networks. Network structures demonstrated more flexibility in adding services for small care groups temporarily, but the expansion of integrated organisations had advantages when adding new services on a longer term and a larger scale. Ownership differences affected the range of services to which patients had direct access; primary care doctors’ managerial responsibilities (relevant to care co-ordination because of their impact on general practitioner workload); and the scope for doctors to develop special interests. We found little difference between integrated organisations and care networks in terms of managerial discretion and performance. Conclusions On balance, an integrated organisation seems more likely to favour the development of care co-ordination and, therefore, continuities of care than a system of care networks. At least four different variants of ownership and management of organisationally integrated primary care providers are practicable in NHS-like settings. Future research is therefore required, above all to evaluate comparatively the different techniques for coordinating patient discharge across the triple interface between hospitals, general practices and community health services; and to discover what effects increasing the scale and scope of general practice activities will have on continuity of care

Training compliance control yields improvements in drawing as a function of beery scores

Many children have difficulty producing movements well enough to improve in sensori-motor learning. Previously, we developed a training method that supports active movement generation to allow improvement at a 3D tracing task requiring good compliance control. Here, we tested 7–8 year old children from several 2nd grade classrooms to determine whether 3D tracing performance could be predicted using the Beery VMI. We also examined whether 3D tracing training lead to improvements in drawing. Baseline testing included Beery, a drawing task on a tablet computer, and 3D tracing. We found that baseline performance in 3D tracing and drawing co-varied with the visual perception (VP) component of the Beery. Differences in 3D tracing between children scoring low versus high on the Beery VP replicated differences previously found between children with and without motor impairments, as did post-training performance that eliminated these differences. Drawing improved as a result of training in the 3D tracing task. The training method improved drawing and reduced differences predicted by Beery scores

Asymmetric Price Adjustments in Airlines

This paper uses a unique daily time series data set to investigate the asymmetric response of airline prices to capacity costs driven by demand fluctuations. We use a Markov regime-switching model with time-varying transition probabilities to capture the time variation in the response. The results show strong evidence of asymmetric price adjustments: positive cost shifts have a large positive effect, while negative cost shifts have no effect. The asymmetry is also explained by summer travel, but not by the size of cost shifts. The findings show the importance of consumer heterogeneity and capacity constraints as a source of asymmetric responses

Impact of the Herbal Medicine Sophora flavescens on the Oral Pharmacokinetics of Indinavir in Rats: The Involvement of CYP3A and P-Glycoprotein

Sophora flavescens is a Chinese medicinal herb used for the treatment of gastrointestinal hemorrhage, skin diseases, pyretic stranguria and viral hepatitis. In this study the herb-drug interactions between S. flavescens and indinavir, a protease inhibitor for HIV treatment, were evaluated in rats. Concomitant oral administration of Sophora extract (0.158 g/kg or 0.63 g/kg, p.o.) and indinavir (40 mg/kg, p.o.) in rats twice a day for 7 days resulted in a dose-dependent decrease of plasma indinavir concentrations, with 55%–83% decrease in AUC0-∞ and 38%–78% reduction in Cmax. The CL (Clearance)/F (fraction of dose available in the systemic circulation) increased up to 7.4-fold in Sophora-treated rats. Oxymatrine treatment (45 mg/kg, p.o.) also decreased indinavir concentrations, while the ethyl acetate fraction of Sophora extract had no effect. Urinary indinavir (24-h) was reduced, while the fraction of indinavir in faeces was increased after Sophora treatment. Compared to the controls, multiple dosing of Sophora extract elevated both mRNA and protein levels of P-gp in the small intestine and liver. In addition, Sophora treatment increased intestinal and hepatic mRNA expression of CYP3A1, but had less effect on CYP3A2 expression. Although protein levels of CYP3A1 and CYP3A2 were not altered by Sophora treatment, hepatic CYP3A activity increased in the Sophora-treated rats. All available data demonstrated that Sophora flavescens reduced plasma indinavir concentration after multiple concomitant doses, possibly through hepatic CYP3A activity and induction of intestinal and hepatic P-gp. The animal study would be useful for predicting potential interactions between natural products and oral pharmaceutics and understanding the mechanisms prior to human studies. Results in the current study suggest that patients using indinavir might be cautioned in the use of S. flavescens extract or Sophora-derived products