DNA fingerprinting of spore-forming bacterial isolates, using Bacillus cereus repetitive polymerase chain reaction analysis (Bc-Rep-PCR)

Bc-repetitive extragenic palindromic polymerase chain reaction (Bc-Rep PCR) analysis was conducted on seven Bacillus thuringiensis isolates accessed from the Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen (DSMZ) culture collection and on five local isolates of entomopathogenic spore-forming bacteria. The five isolates were three strains of B. thuringiensis, one strain of B. cereus and one strain of Brevibacillus laterosporus. All five isolates were distinguished from each other using Bc-Rep PCR analysis. The three B. thuringiensis isolates were closely related. The isolate of B. laterosporus was not related to any of the B. cereus group isolates. Serotyping was also conducted on the five local isolates. However, only one of these isolates could be identified with serotyping and was identified as B. thuringiensis subsp. kenyae.Keywords: Bc-repetitive extragenic palindromic polymerase chain reaction, Bacillus sp., serotypingAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(14), pp. 1598-160

Rounding theorem the possibility of applying cryptosystem on the decimal numbers.

The possibility of using the decimal numbers in cryptography as the base of the encryption and decryption is proposed by introducing the "Rounding Theorem". Until now, cryptosystems are used the integer numbers to avoid the fractions of the decimal numbers. That is to avoid losing the original plaintext after the decryption. This theorem is proved that there is no lost for any bit of information during communications when using a cryptosystem that is based on decimal numbers. The purpose of moving from integer numbers to decimal numbers is the decimal numbers are much faster during calculations than the integer numbers. We design a new function called "The Rounding off Function", which plays the primary role in proving this theorem. The security of using the decimal numbers in cryptosystems is studied and analyzed

Investigation of Medication Adherence and Rejection in Liver Transplant for Cystic Fibrosis (CF)

Introduction: 40% of transplant recipients are non-adherent to medications, causing increased risk of rejection and diminished survival. The relationship between adherence measured as Medication Level Variability Index (MLVI) and graft rejection rates in pediatric liver transplant recipients with CF compared to those without CF will be evaluated. We hypothesize that MLVI is higher and rejection rates are lower in subjects with CF. Methods: Retrospective chart review of pediatric liver transplants performed at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia between 1995-2018 identified 9 CF liver transplant recipients and 9 age matched controls. Medication adherence was assessed using MLVI. An unpaired t-test was performed to determine if there was a difference in MLVI between the two groups, and liver biopsy reports were used to determine rates of rejection. Results: There was no significant difference comparing MLVI for the CF group (M=3.52; SD= 1.66) and non-CF group (M=2.61; SD= 0.75); t(14)=1.42; p=0.18. These results suggest adherence to immunosuppressive medications are not different between CF and non-CF liver transplant recipients. 2 subjects in the CF group (22%) and 3 subjects (33%) in the non-CF group had rejection on liver biopsy, also not significantly different. Discussion: Although there is a trend toward higher MLVI in CF recipients, small sample size limits statistical difference. MLVI has been associated with increased rate of rejection, however the CF population may differ from this expectation due immune activity from chronic lung inflammation. Further study with a larger cohort may reveal important changes in rejection risks in CF

History of Deer Herd Reduction for Tick Control on Maine’s Offshore Islands

The incidence of Lyme disease in Maine is associated with high abundance of blacklegged (deer) ticks, which in turn has been partly attributed to local overabundance of white-tailed deer. With evidence from Monhegan Island that the complete removal of deer reduced ticks and risk of contracting Lyme disease, nine other offshore communities initiated efforts to cull deer. We reviewed and summarized available histories of deer management on Maine’s offshore islands. Concern about Lyme disease provided the overarching impetus for deer culls. Culls mostly occurred on islands that have no regular firearms hunting season, island communities have been challenged to control deer numbers, and social acceptance of deer culls varied. Integrated tick management (ITM) is the key to controlling ticks, but statewide ITM policy is lacking. Formation of vector control districts with statewide ITM policy would support all communities in Maine

Diagnostics of a nuclear starburst: water and methanol masers

We test models of starburst driven outflows using observations of the 22.2 GHz H2O and 36.2 GHz class I CH3OH maser lines. We have observed the starburst galaxy NGC 253 using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array. We present evidence for entrainment of star-forming dense-molecular gas in the outflow of NGC 253. We also show that H2O masers are associated with forming super star clusters and not with supernova remnants. We detect four new 36 GHz CH3OH masers in the central kpc and show possible evidence for a star-formation origin of two class I CH3OH masers. Such high resolution observations are essential for understanding the origin of these masers

Quality versus quantity of social ties in experimental cooperative networks

Recent studies suggest that allowing individuals to choose their partners can help to maintain cooperation in human social networks; this behaviour can supplement behavioural reciprocity, whereby humans are influenced to cooperate by peer pressure. However, it is unknown how the rate of forming and breaking social ties affects our capacity to cooperate. Here we use a series of online experiments involving 1,529 unique participants embedded in 90 experimental networks, to show that there is a ‘Goldilocks’ effect of network dynamism on cooperation. When the rate of change in social ties is too low, subjects choose to have many ties, even if they attach to defectors. When the rate is too high, cooperators cannot detach from defectors as much as defectors re-attach and, hence, subjects resort to behavioural reciprocity and switch their behaviour to defection. Optimal levels of cooperation are achieved at intermediate levels of change in social ties

COMPRENDO: Focus and approach

Tens of thousands of man-made chemicals are in regular use and discharged into the environment. Many of them are known to interfere with the hormonal systems in humans and wildlife. Given the complexity of endocrine systems, there are many ways in which endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) can affect the body’s signaling system, and this makes unraveling the mechanisms of action of these chemicals difficult. A major concern is that some of these EDCs appear to be biologically active at extremely low concentrations. There is growing evidence to indicate that the guiding principle of traditional toxicology that “the dose makes the poison” may not always be the case because some EDCs do not induce the classical dose–response relationships. The European Union project COMPRENDO (Comparative Research on Endocrine Disrupters—Phylogenetic Approach and Common Principles focussing on Androgenic/Antiandrogenic Compounds) therefore aims to develop an understanding of potential health problems posed by androgenic and antiandrogenic compounds (AACs) to wildlife and humans by focusing on the commonalities and differences in responses to AACs across the animal kingdom (from invertebrates to vertebrates)

Prediction of preterm birth with and without preeclampsia using mid-pregnancy immune and growth-related molecular factors and maternal characteristics.

OBJECTIVE:To evaluate if mid-pregnancy immune and growth-related molecular factors predict preterm birth (PTB) with and without (±) preeclampsia. STUDY DESIGN:Included were 400 women with singleton deliveries in California in 2009-2010 (200 PTB and 200 term) divided into training and testing samples at a 2:1 ratio. Sixty-three markers were tested in 15-20 serum samples using multiplex technology. Linear discriminate analysis was used to create a discriminate function. Model performance was assessed using area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). RESULTS:Twenty-five serum biomarkers along with maternal age <34 years and poverty status identified >80% of women with PTB ± preeclampsia with best performance in women with preterm preeclampsia (AUC = 0.889, 95% confidence interval (0.822-0.959) training; 0.883 (0.804-0.963) testing). CONCLUSION:Together with maternal age and poverty status, mid-pregnancy immune and growth factors reliably identified most women who went on to have a PTB ± preeclampsia

AIP4/Itch Regulates Notch Receptor Degradation in the Absence of Ligand

International audienceBACKGROUND:The regulation of Notch signaling heavily relies on ubiquitination events. Drosophila Su(dx), a member of the HECT family of ubiquitin-ligases, has been described as a negative regulator of Notch signaling, acting on the post-endocytic sorting of Notch. The mammalian ortholog of Su(dx), Itch/AIP4, has been shown to have multiple substrates, including Notch, but the precise events regulated by Itch/AIP4 in the Notch pathway have not been identified yet.METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:Using Itch-/- fibroblasts expressing the Notch1 receptor, we show that Itch is not necessary for Notch activation, but rather for controlling the degradation of Notch in the absence of ligand. Itch is indeed required after the early steps of Notch endocytosis to target it to the lysosomes where it is degraded. Furthermore Itch/AIP4 catalyzes Notch polyubiquitination through unusual K29-linked chains. We also demonstrate that although Notch is associated with Itch/AIP4 in cells, their interaction is not detectable in vitro and thus requires either a post-translational modification, or a bridging factor that remains to be identified.CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:Taken together our results identify a specific step of Notch regulation in the absence of any activation and underline differences between mammalian and Drosophila Notch pathways