Test Characteristics of Urinary Lipoarabinomannan and Predictors of Mortality among Hospitalized HIV-Infected Tuberculosis Suspects in Tanzania.

Tuberculosis is the most common cause of death among patients with HIV infection living in tuberculosis endemic countries, but many cases are not diagnosed pre-mortem. We assessed the test characteristics of urinary lipoarabinomannan (LAM) and predictors of mortality among HIV-associated tuberculosis suspects in Tanzania. We prospectively enrolled hospitalized HIV-infected patients in Dar es Salaam, with ≥2 weeks of cough or fever, or weight loss. Subjects gave 2 mLs of urine to test for LAM using a commercially available ELISA, ≥2 sputum specimens for concentrated AFB smear and solid media culture, and 40 mLs of blood for culture. Among 212 evaluable subjects, 143 (68%) were female; mean age was 36 years; and the median CD4 count 86 cells/mm(3). 69 subjects (33%) had culture confirmation of tuberculosis and 65 (31%) were LAM positive. For 69 cases of sputum or blood culture-confirmed tuberculosis, LAM sensitivity was 65% and specificity 86% compared to 36% and 98% for sputum smear. LAM test characteristics were not different in patients with bacteremia but showed higher sensitivity and lower specificity with decreasing CD4 cell count. Two month mortality was 64 (53%) of 121 with outcomes available. In multivariate analysis there was significant association of mortality with absence of anti-retroviral therapy (p = 0.004) and a trend toward association with a positive urine LAM (p = 0.16). Among culture-negative patients mortality was 9 (75%) of 12 in LAM positive patients and 27 (38%) of 71 in LAM negative patients (p = 0.02). Urine LAM is more sensitive than sputum smear and has utility for the rapid diagnosis of culture-confirmed tuberculosis in this high-risk population. Mortality data raise the possibility that urine LAM may also be a marker for culture-negative tuberculosis

Uji Aktivitas Antioksidan Ekstrak Metanol Tangkai Daun Kelor (Moringa oleifera Lam) Menggunakan Metode DPPH (1,1-difenil-2-pikrilhidrazil)

Salah satu tumbuhan yang banyak mengandung zat pencegah kanker (antioksidan) terdapat pada tumbuhan kelor, salah satunya terdapat pada daunnya. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui potensi ekstrak metanol tangkai daun kelor (Moringa oleifera Lam) sebagai penangkal radikal bebas dan untuk mengetahui aktivitas antioksidan dari ekstrak metanol tangkai daun kelor (Moringa oleifera Lam) yang tumbuh pada tiga tempat di Kota Baubau dengan variasi ketinggian tempat pengambilannya yaitu ekstrak A (Kelurahan Tanganapada ±40 mdpl), ekstrak B (Kelurahan Baadia ±95 mdpl) dan ekstrak C (Kelurahan Kadolo ±120 mdpl) dengan metode DPPH secara spektrofotometri UV-Vis. Tangkai daun kelor (Moringa oleifera Lam) diekstraksi dengan metode maserasi menggunakan pelarut metanol. Hasil dari proses ekstraksi dibedakan menjadi tiga yaitu ekstrak metanol tangkai daun kelor (Moringa oleifera Lam) A, B dan C. Ekstrak metanol tangkai daun kelor (Moringa oleifera Lam) diuji aktivitas antioksidannya. Hasil penelitian menunjukan bahwa ekstrak metanol tangkai daun kelor memiliki potensi sebagai penangkal radikal bebas dan masing- masing sampel memiliki nilai IC50 berturut-turut sebesar 62,55 ppm; 207,07 ppm dan 112,01 ppm. Semakin rendah nilai IC50 yang diperoleh maka semakin besar aktivitas antioksidannya

Horizontal Symmetry from the Bottom Up

A general method to derive horizontal symmetry from a mixing matrix is reviewed. The technique has been applied to deduce leptonic symmetry from the tri-bimaximal neutrino mixing matrix and three of its variations. The question of how the quark mixing can be accommodated within the leptonic symmetry group is discussed, including in this connection an example based on the group $D_4$.Comment: Luxor09 talk, 7 page

Rapid identification of bacteria associated with Acute Oak Decline by high-resolution melt analysis

© 2016 The Society for Applied Microbiology Two Gram-negative Enterobacteriaceae, Gibbsiella quercinecans and Brenneria goodwinii, are frequently isolated from oak suffering from Acute Oak Decline. These two species are difficult to identify based on colony morphology, carbohydrate utilization or 16S rRNA gene sequence, and identification using gyrB gene sequencing is time-consuming and laborious. A rapid identification technique, based on high-resolution melt analysis of the atpD gene, was designed to efficiently process numerous isolates from an increasing number of affected woodlands and parks. Principal component analysis of the resulting melt curves from strains of G.quercinecans, B.goodwinii and their close phylogenetic relatives allowed differentiation into distinct clusters based on species or subspecies identity. Significance and Impact of the Study: Acute Oak Decline is an increasing threat to Britain's native oak population. Two novel bacterial species both belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae, Gibbsiella quercinecans and Brenneria goodwinii, are thought to play an important role in symptom development. Here, we describe a rapid identification technique using high-resolution melt analysis of the atpD gene able to assign isolates to either G.quercinecans or B.goodwinii in a single assay, greatly reducing the time taken to identify if either or both of these species are present in symptomatic oak

Lophira alata suppresses glioblastoma cell growth via inhibition of protein kinase C-α

The root of the plant Lophira alata (Ochnaceae) has been used as a component of traditional herbal decoctions administered to cancer patients in southwestern Nigeria. However, the mechanism of the cytotoxic effects of Lophira alata alone or in the presence of phorbol ester has not been investigated in malignant brain tumor cells. This study was aimed at examining the cytotoxic potential of the methanolic fraction of Lophira alata root on malignant glioma invasive cellular growth and survival. The antiproliferative effects of Lophira alata were assessed using the MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay. Protein immunoblots were carried out to test the effects of Lophira alata, alone or in the presence of phorbol ester, on survival signaling pathways such as Akt, mTOR, PARP and caspases. The methanolic fraction of Lophira alata (LAM) induced a concentration-dependent and time-dependent decrease in glioma cell viability and cell proliferation. In addition, LAM attenuated phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA)-mediated signaling of downstream targets such as Akt/mTOR. Gene silencing using siRNA targeting PKC-alpha abrogated LAM-mediated downregulation of Akt. Our data also revealed that treatment with LAM induced both PARP and caspase cleavage. The HPLC fingerprint of the fraction indicates the presence of the flavonoids luteolin and rutin, which are known to inhibit the proliferation of glioblastoma cells

On the Stability of Contention Resolution Diversity Slotted ALOHA

In this paper a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) based Random Access (RA) channel with Successive Interference Cancellation (SIC) is considered for a finite user population and reliable retransmission mechanism on the basis of Contention Resolution Diversity Slotted ALOHA (CRDSA). A general mathematical model based on Markov Chains is derived which makes it possible to predict the stability regions of SIC-RA channels, the expected delays in equilibrium and the selection of parameters for a stable channel configuration. Furthermore the model enables the estimation of the average time before reaching instability. The presented model is verified against simulations and numerical results are provided for comparison of the stability of CRDSA versus the stability of traditional Slotted ALOHA (SA). The presented results show that CRDSA has not only a high gain over SA in terms of throughput but also in its stability.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figures This paper is submitted to the IEEE Transactions on Communications for possible publication. The IEEE copyright notice applie

Stability Of Wax-Based Oleogel As Novel Frying Medium Of Par-Fried French Fries

Wax-based oleogels form three-dimensional hydrophobic gel network in oil and potential to coat the surface structure of fried food from excessive oil absorption. French fries are one of the highly consumed snacks that contribute to significant fat intake around the world. Therefore, strategies to improve oxidative stability of fried food is an important aspect to be considered. The aims of this study were to investigate the functionality of wax-based oleogels as par frying medium in improving oxidative stability of fried potato strips and evaluate their effects on physiochemical properties of both frying oil subjected to repeated frying cycles and French fries. Potato strips were blanched and subjected to two-steps frying process: 1) par frying for 1 min at 190 °C without (control) and with gelled oil (0.05% wax; candelilla (CDW) or rice brand (RBW)), blast frozen at -18 °C for 30 min, and stored in freezer to mimic commercial practice, and 2) frying for 1.5 min at 190 °C. A total of 30 frying cycles were carried out. Oil samples at interval of 5 frying cycles and French fries from 1st and 30th cycles were collected for quality analyses. French fries par fried with CDW oleogel oil resulted in comparable texture and total colour difference (ΔE) of French fries with the control samples. However, RBW oleogel was slightly more prone to oxidation and resulted in darker colour French fries. For the quality of oil subjected to repeated frying cycles, the oil used to fry the CDW sample showed higher oxidative stability compared to RBW and control samples with lowest FFA value and comparable in PV and TOTOX values