Gastroparesis: A Literature Review of Disease Manifestations and Existing Treatment Methods

Gastroparesis is a chronic disease that causes paralysis of the stomach and intestines. Although gastroparesis can sometimes be caused by trauma or as a result of abdominal surgery the majority of cases are idiopathic, meaning that the cause of onset is unknown. Patients with the disease experience nausea, vomiting of undigested good, malnutrition, and dehydration. A large percentage of IG (idiopathic gastroparesis) patients have to rely on a feeding tube for their nutrients because of their lack of ability to digest food, which is messy, cumbersome, and noisy. There are several methods of symptom management for IG, but no cure. Current treatments include the use of medications to try and stimulate gastric motility as well as more obscure experimental treatments such as using botulinum toxin to lessen the paralysis. This thesis serves as a literature review of current studies on IG and the frequently used methods of managing the disease. The thesis also serves as an opportunity to look at an often neglected aspect of IG, which is the effect that the illness has on the mental health of its sufferers. The illness leaves patients socially isolated, which leads to increased rates of mental illness such as anxiety and depression. Nursing is not only about caring for the patient’s illness, but caring for the patient on a holistic level, which means looking out for their mental, emotional, and spiritual health as well as the physical. I want to use this thesis as a way to call attention to the struggles that IG sufferers face on both the physical and mental plane in an attempt to raise awareness for this illness through educating the public

Use of Surcharges as Treatment of Residual Soil Foundation - A Case History

Predetermined locations for storage of leaching materials needed total warranty against cracking as result of differential settlements. Two stockpiles had to be located on a platform, one placed in area of low height cuts of unsaturated residual soils, the other over fills placed without compaction criteria over saturated clayey soils of low consistency. It was decided to preload the platform in order to minimize future absolute and differential settlements, reducing them to allowable limits. The systematic interpretation of the instrumentation allowed the optimization of the treatment. The behaviour during unloading of the soils indicated heaves much smaller than the limits preestablished

Probing bacterial-fungal interactions at the single cell level.

Interactions between fungi and prokaryotes are abundant in many ecological systems. A wide variety of biomolecules regulate such interactions and many of them have found medicinal or biotechnological applications. However, studying a fungal-bacterial system at a cellular level is technically challenging. New microfluidic devices provided a platform for microscopic studies and for long-term, time-lapse experiments. Application of these novel tools revealed insights into the dynamic interactions between the basidiomycete Coprinopsis cinerea and the bacterium Bacillus subtilis. Direct contact was mediated by polar attachment of bacteria to only a subset of fungal hyphae suggesting a differential competence of fungal hyphae and thus differentiation of hyphae within a mycelium. The fungicidal activity of B. subtilis was monitored at a cellular level and showed a novel mode of action on fungal hyphae

Unveiling the Galaxy Population at 1.3 < z < 4: the HUDF05 NICMOS Parallel Fields

Using the Hubble Ultra Deep Field Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (HUDF-NICMOS) UDF05 parallel fields, we cross-matched 301 out of 630 galaxies with the ACS filters V606 and z850, NICMOS filters J110 and H160, and Spitzer IRAC filters at 3.6, 4.5, 5.8 , and 8.0 (mu)m. We modeled the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) to estimate: photometric redshifts, dust extinction, stellar mass, bolometric luminosity, starburst age and metallicity. To validate the photometric redshifts, comparisons with 16 spectroscopic redshifts give 75% within Delta or approx. 1.3. Based on the robustness of the photometric redshifts, we analyze a subsample of the 301 galaxies at 1.3 < or = z < or = 2 (35 objects) and 3 < or = z < or = 4 (31 objects) and determine that L(BoI) and the star formation rate increase significantly from z approx. 1.5 to 4. The Balmer decrement is indicative of more evolved galaxies, and at high redshifts, they serve as records of some of the first galaxies. Therefore, the galaxies in this sample are great candidates for future surveys with the James Webb Space Telescope and Atacama Large Millimeter Array

The Association Between Sedentary Behaviors During Weekdays and Weekend with Change in Body Composition in Young Adults

Background: High sedentary time has been considered an important chronic disease risk factor but there is only limited information on the association of specific sedentary behaviors on weekdays and weekend-days with body composition. The present study examines the prospective association of total sedentary time and specific sedentary behaviors during weekdays and the weekend with body composition in young adults. Methods: A total of 332 adults (50% male; 27.7 ±3.7 years) were followed over a period of 1 year. Time spent sedentary, excluding sleep (SED), and in physical activity (PA) during weekdays and weekend-days was objectively assessed every 3 months with a multisensor device over a period of at least 8 days. In addition, participants reported sitting time, TV time and non-work related time spent at the computer separately for weekdays and the weekend. Fat mass and fat free mass were assessed via dual x-ray absorptiometry and used to calculate percent body fat (%BF). Energy intake was estimated based on TDEE and change in body composition. Results: Cross-sectional analyses showed a significant correlation between SED and body composition (0.18 ≤ r ≤ 0.34). Associations between body weight and specific sedentary behaviors were less pronounced and significant during weekdays only (r ≤ 0.16). Nevertheless, decrease in SED during weekends, rather than during weekdays, was significantly associated with subsequent decrease in %BF (β = 0.06, p \u3c0.01). After adjusting for PA and energy intake, results for SED were no longer significant. Only the association between change in sitting time during weekends and subsequent %BF was independent from change in PA or energy intake (β%BF = 0.04, p = 0.01), while there was no significant association between TV or computer time and subsequent body composition. Conclusions: The stronger AIMS Public Health Volume 3, Issue 2, 375-388. prospective association between sedentary behavior during weekends with subsequent body composition emphasizes the importance of leisure time behavior in weight management

The Association Between Sedentary Behaviors During Weekdays and Weekend with Change in Body Composition in Young Adults

Background: High sedentary time has been considered an important chronic disease risk factor but there is only limited information on the association of specific sedentary behaviors on weekdays and weekend-days with body composition. The present study examines the prospective association of total sedentary time and specific sedentary behaviors during weekdays and the weekend with body composition in young adults. Methods: A total of 332 adults (50% male; 27.7 ±3.7 years) were followed over a period of 1 year. Time spent sedentary, excluding sleep (SED), and in physical activity (PA) during weekdays and weekend-days was objectively assessed every 3 months with a multisensor device over a period of at least 8 days. In addition, participants reported sitting time, TV time and non-work related time spent at the computer separately for weekdays and the weekend. Fat mass and fat free mass were assessed via dual x-ray absorptiometry and used to calculate percent body fat (%BF). Energy intake was estimated based on TDEE and change in body composition. Results: Cross-sectional analyses showed a significant correlation between SED and body composition (0.18 ≤ r ≤ 0.34). Associations between body weight and specific sedentary behaviors were less pronounced and significant during weekdays only (r ≤ 0.16). Nevertheless, decrease in SED during weekends, rather than during weekdays, was significantly associated with subsequent decrease in %BF (β = 0.06, p \u3c0.01). After adjusting for PA and energy intake, results for SED were no longer significant. Only the association between change in sitting time during weekends and subsequent %BF was independent from change in PA or energy intake (β%BF = 0.04, p = 0.01), while there was no significant association between TV or computer time and subsequent body composition. Conclusions: The stronger AIMS Public Health Volume 3, Issue 2, 375-388. prospective association between sedentary behavior during weekends with subsequent body composition emphasizes the importance of leisure time behavior in weight management

Detection of ultra-low protein concentrations with the simplest possible field effect transistor

Silicon nanowire (Si NW) sensors have attracted great attention due to their ability to provide fast, low-cost, label-free, real-time detection of chemical and biological species. Usually configured as field effect transistors (FETs), they have already demonstrated remarkable sensitivity with high selectivity (through appropriate functionalisation) towards a large number of analytes in both liquid and gas phases. Despite these excellent results, Si NW FET sensors have not yet been successfully employed to detect single molecules of either a chemical or biological target species. Here we show that sensors based on silicon junctionless nanowire transistors (JNTs), the simplest possible transistors, are capable of detecting the protein streptavidin at a concentration as low as 580 zM closely approaching the single molecule level. This ultrahigh detection sensitivity is due to the intrinsic advantages of junctionless devices over conventional FETs. Apart from their superior functionality, JNTs are much easier to fabricate by standard microelectronic processes than transistors containing p–n junctions. The ability of JNT sensors to detect ultra-low concentrations (in the zeptomolar range) of target species, and their potential for low-cost mass production, will permit their deployment in numerous environments, including life sciences, biotechnology, medicine, pharmacology, product safety, environmental monitoring and security

Clinical biological and genetic heterogeneity of the inborn errors of pulmonary surfactant metabolism

Pulmonary surfactant is a multimolecular complex located at the air-water interface within the alveolus to which a range of physical (surface-active properties) and immune functions has been assigned. This complex consists of a surface-active lipid layer (consisting mainly of phospholipids), and of an aqueous subphase. From discrete surfactant sub-fractions one can isolate strongly hydrophobic surf acta nt proteins B (SP-B) and C (SP-C) as well as collectins SP-A and SP-D, which were shown to have specific structural, metabolic, or immune properties. Inborn or acquired abnormalities of the surfactant, qualitative or quantitative in nature, account for a number of human diseases. Beside hyaline membrane disease of the preterm neonate, a cluster of hereditary or acquired lung diseases has been characterized by periodic acid-Schiff-positive material filling the alveoli. From this heterogeneous nosologic group, at least two discrete entities presently emerge. The first is the SP-B deficiency, in which an essentially proteinaceous material is stored within the alveoli, and which represents an autosomal recessive Mendelian entity linked to the SFTPB gene (MIM 1786640). The disease usually generally entails neonatal respiratory distress with rapid fatal outcome, although partial or transient deficiencies have also been observed. The second is alveolar proteinosis, characterized by the storage of a mixed protein and lipid material, which constitutes a relatively heterogeneous clinical and biological syndrome, especially with regard to age at onset (from the neonate through to adulthood) as well as the severity of associated signs. Murine models, with a targeted mutation of the gene encoding granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) (Csfgm) or the beta subunit of its receptor (II3rb1) support the hypothesis of an abnormality of surfactant turnover in which the alveolar macrophage is a key player. Apart from SP-B deficiency, in which a near-consensus diagnostic chart can be designed, the ascertainment of other abnormalities of surfactant metabolism is not straightforward. The disentanglement of this disease cluster is however essential to propose specific therapeutic procedures: repeated broncho-alveolar ravages, GM-CSF replacement, bone marrow grafting or lung transplantation

Directed Evolution of Microorganisms for Engineered Living Materials

Microorganisms can create engineered materials with exquisite structures and living functionalities. Although synthetic biology tools to genetically manipulate microorganisms continue to expand, the bottom-up rational design of engineered living materials still relies on prior knowledge of genotype-phenotype links for the function of interest. Here, we utilize a high-throughput directed evolution platform to enhance the fitness of whole microorganisms under selection pressure and identify novel genetic pathways to program the functionalities of engineered living materials. Using Komagataeibacter sucrofermentans as a model cellulose-producing microorganism, we show that our droplet-based microfluidic platform enables the directed evolution of these bacteria towards a small number of cellulose overproducers from an initial pool of 40'000 random mutants. Sequencing of the evolved strains reveals an unexpected link between the cellulose-forming ability of the bacteria and a gene encoding a protease complex responsible for protein turnover in the cell. The ability to enhance the fitness of microorganisms towards specific phenotypes and to discover new genotype-phenotype links makes this high-throughput directed evolution platform a promising tool for the development of the next generation of engineered living materials