Impact of different alginate lyases on combined cellulase–lyase saccharification of brown seaweed

Alginate attack characteristics and impact on cellulase–lyase catalyzed saccharification of brown seaweed were compared for three microbial PL7 alginate lyases (EC 4.2.2.-) two of them heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli as part of the work.</p

Methodology for quantitative determination of the carbohydrate composition of brown seaweeds (Laminariaceae)

The monosaccharide composition of four different samples of brown seaweeds Laminaria digitata and Saccharina latissima were compared by different high performance anion exchange chromatography (HPAEC) methods after different acid hydrolysis treatments or a cellulase treatment.</p

Patient and allograft survival of Indo Asian and East Asian dialysis patients treated in Canada

Kidney failure is relatively common among Canadians of Asian origin. However, little is known about the health outcomes after initiation of renal replacement therapy in this population. Our study evaluates differences in the likelihood of renal transplantation and graft loss among Asian and white patients. We studied 21 523 adults of East Asian, Indo Asian or white ethnicity who had initiated dialysis in Canada from 1990–2000. Subjects were followed until death, loss to follow-up or end of study (2004). The proportion of the eligible subjects who were East Asian, Indo Asian, or white was 6, 3, and 91%, respectively. Compared to white patients, East Asian and Indo Asian patients were significantly less likely to receive a renal transplant after adjusting for potential confounding factors. This disparity is greater for transplants from living donors as compared to those from deceased donors. The adjusted death censored graft loss in transplant recipients was not significantly different between ethnic groups. The adjusted risk of death following transplantation, however, was significantly lower in Indo Asian than in white patients. Our findings show that in a Canadian population, patients of East Asian or Indo Asian origin had lower rates of renal transplantation than white patients, especially for living donor transplantation. These findings warrant further study, especially given the good graft outcomes in these individuals

The impact of nocturnal hemodialysis on sexual function

BACKGROUND: Sexual dysfunction is common in patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD) and treatment options are limited. Observational studies suggest that nocturnal hemodialysis may improve sexual function. We compared sexual activity and responses to sexual related questions in the Kidney Disease Quality of Life Short Form questionnaire among patients randomized to frequent nocturnal or thrice weekly conventional hemodialysis. METHODS: We performed a secondary analysis of data from an RCT which enrolled 51 patients comparing frequent nocturnal and conventional thrice weekly hemodialysis. Sexual activity and responses to sexual related questions were assessed at baseline and six months using relevant questions from the Kidney Disease Quality of Life Short Form questionnaire. RESULTS: Overall, there was no difference in sexual activity, or the extent to which people were bothered by the impact of kidney disease on their sex life between the two groups between randomization and 6 months. However, women and patients age < 60 who were randomized to frequent nocturnal hemodialysis were less bothered by the impact of kidney disease on their sex life at 6 months, compared with patients allocated to conventional hemodialysis (p = 0.005 and p = 0.024 respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that frequent nocturnal hemodialysis is not associated with an improvement in sexual activity in all patients but might have an effect on the burden of kidney disease on sex life in women and patients less than 60 years of age. The validity of these subgroup findings require confirmation in future RCTs

Changes in monkey crystalline lens spherical aberration during simulated accommodation in a lens stretcher

8 págs.; 7 figs.; 2 apps.© 2015 The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Inc. PURPOSE. The purpose of this study was to quantify accommodation-induced changes in the spherical aberration of cynomolgus monkey lenses. METHODS. Twenty-four lenses from 20 cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis; 4.4-16.0 years of age; postmortem time 13.5±13.0 hours) were mounted in a lens stretcher. Lens spherical aberration was measured in the unstretched (accommodated) and stretched (relaxed) states with a laser ray tracing system that delivered 51 equally spaced parallel rays along 1 meridian of the lens over the central 6-mm optical zone. A camera mounted below the lens was used to measure the ray height at multiple positions along the optical axis. For each entrance ray, the change in ray height with axial position was fitted with a third-order polynomial. The effective paraxial focal length and Zernike spherical aberration coefficients corresponding to a 6-mm pupil diameter were extracted from the fitted values. RESULTS. The unstretched lens power decreased with age from 59.3±6 4.0 diopters (D) for young lenses to 45.7±6 3.1 D for older lenses. The unstretched lens shifted toward less negative spherical aberration with age, from -6.3±0.7 lm for young lenses to-5.0±0.5 lm for older lenses. The power and spherical aberration of lenses in the stretched state were independent of age, with values of 33.5±6 3.4 D and-2.6±0.5 lm, respectively. CONCLUSIONS. Spherical aberration is negative in cynomolgus monkey lenses and becomes more negative with accommodation. These results are in good agreement with the predicted values using computational ray tracing in a lens model with a reconstructed gradient refractive index. The spherical aberration of the unstretched lens becomes less negative with age.Supported by National Institutes of Health Grants R01EY14225, R01EY021834, and F31EY021444 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award individual predoctoral fellowship [BM]), and center Grant P30EY14801; Australian government Cooperative Research Centre Scheme (Vision CRC); Florida Lions Eye Bank; Karl R. Olsen and Martha E. Hildebrandt; an unrestricted grant from Research to Prevent Blindness; Henri and Flore Lesieur Foundation (JMP); Spanish government Grant FIS2011-25637; and European Research Council Grants ERC-2011-AdG-294099 and CSIC i-LINKþ0609Peer Reviewe

Identifying factors associated with sedentary time after stroke. Secondary analysis of pooled data from nine primary studies.

<p><b>Background</b>: High levels of sedentary time increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, including recurrent stroke.</p> <p><b>Objective</b>: This study aimed to identify factors associated with high sedentary time in community-dwelling people with stroke.</p> <p><b>Methods</b>: For this data pooling study, authors of published and ongoing trials that collected sedentary time data, using the activPAL monitor, in community-dwelling people with stroke were invited to contribute their raw data. The data was reprocessed, algorithms were created to identify sleep-wake time and determine the percentage of waking hours spent sedentary. We explored demographic and stroke-related factors associated with total sedentary time and time in uninterrupted sedentary bouts using unique, both univariable and multivariable, regression analyses.</p> <p><b>Results</b>: The 274 included participants were from Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, and spent, on average, 69% (SD 12.4) of their waking hours sedentary. Of the demographic and stroke-related factors, slower walking speeds were significantly and independently associated with a higher percentage of waking hours spent sedentary (p = 0.001) and uninterrupted sedentary bouts of <i>>30</i> and <i>>60 min</i> (p = 0.001 and p = 0.004, respectively). Regression models explained 11–19% of the variance in total sedentary time and time in prolonged sedentary bouts.</p> <p><b>Conclusion</b>: We found that variability in sedentary time of people with stroke was largely unaccounted for by demographic and stroke-related variables. Behavioral and environmental factors are likely to play an important role in sedentary behavior after stroke. Further work is required to develop and test effective interventions to address sedentary behavior after stroke.</p

Prolactin

During an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) glucose and insulin levels were measured in 26 patients with prolactin-producing pituitary tumours without growth hormone excess. Basal glucose and insulin levels did not differ from the values of an age-matched control group. After glucose load the hyperprolactinaemic patients showed a decrease in glucose tolerance and a hyperinsulinaemia. Bromocriptine (CB 154), which suppressed PRL, improved glucose tolerance and decreased insulin towards normal in a second OGTT. — Human PRL or CB 154 had no significant influence on insulin release due to glucose in the perfused rat pancreas. — These findings suggest a diabetogenic effect of PRL. CB 154 might be a useful drug in improving glucose utilization in hormone-active pituitary tumours

Kidney Function, Albuminuria and Life Expectancy

Background: Lower estimated glomerular filtration rate is associated with reduced life expectancy. Whether this association is modified by the presence or absence of albuminuria, another cardinal finding of chronic kidney disease, is unknown. Objective: Our objective was to estimate the life expectancy of middle-aged men and women with varying levels of eGFR and concomitant albuminuria. Design: A retrospective cohort study. Setting: A large population-based cohort identified from the provincial laboratory registry in Alberta, Canada. Participants: Adults aged ≥30 years who had outpatient measures of serum creatinine and albuminuria between May 1, 2002 and March 31, 2008. Measurements: Predictor : Baseline levels of kidney function identified from serum creatinine and albuminuria measurements. Outcomes : all cause mortality during the follow-up. Methods: Patients were categorized based on their estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) (≥60, 45–59, 30–44, and 15–29 mL/min/1 · 73 m 2 ) as well as albuminuria (normal, mild, and heavy) measured by albumin-to-creatinine ratio or urine dipstick. The abridged life table method was applied to calculate the life expectancies of men and women from age 40 to 80 years across combined eGFR and albuminuria categories. We also categorized participants by severity of kidney disease (low risk, moderately increased risk. high risk, and very high risk) using the combination of eGFR and albuminuria levels. Results: Among men aged 50 years and with eGFR ≥60 mL/min/1.73 m 2 , estimated life expectancy was 24.8 (95% CI: 24.6–25.0), 17.5 (95% CI: 17.1–17.9), and 13.5 (95% CI: 12.6–14.3) years for participants with normal, mild and heavy albuminuria respectively. Life expectancy for men with mild and heavy albuminuria was 7.3 (95% CI: 6.9–7.8) and 11.3 (95% CI: 10.5–12.2) years shorter than men with normal proteinuria, respectively. A reduction in life expectancy was associated with an increasing severity of kidney disease; 24.8 years for low risk (95% CI: 24.6–25.0), 19.1 years for moderately increased risk (95% CI: 18.7–19.5), 14.2 years for high risk (95% CI: 13.5–15.0), and 9.6 years for very high risk (95% CI: 8.4–10.8). Among women of similar age and kidney function, estimated life expectancy was 28.9 (95% CI: 28.7–29.1), 19.8 (95% CI: 19.2–20.3), and 14.8 (95% CI: 13.5–16.0) years for participants with normal, mild and heavy albuminuria respectively. Life expectancy for women with mild and heavy albuminuria was 9.1 (95% CI: 8.5–9.7) and 14.2 (95% CI: 12.9–15.4) years shorter than the women with normal proteinuria, respectively. For women also a graded reduction in life expectancy was observed across the increasing severity of kidney disease; 28.9 years for low risk (95% CI: 28.7–29.1), 22.5 years for moderately increased risk (95% CI: 22.0–22.9), 16.5 years for high risk (95% CI: 15.4–17.5), and 9.2 years for very high risk (95% CI: 7.8–10.7). Limitations: Possible misclassification of long-term kidney function categories cannot be eliminated. Possibility of confounding due to concomitant comorbidities cannot be ruled out. Conclusion: The presence and degree of albuminuria was associated with lower estimated life expectancy for both gender and was especially notable in those with eGFR ≥30 mL/min/1.73 m 2 . Life expectancy associated with a given level of eGFR differs substantially based on the presence and severity of albuminuria

Screening of brazilian plants for the presence of peroxides

Extratos clorofórmicos ou diclorometânicos de 357 espécies vegetais de ocorrência no sul do Brasil foram testados quanto à presença de peróxidos, através de cromatografia em camada delgada, utilizando o reagente de detecção de Huber & Fröhlke. Das espécies testadas, 71 (20%) apresentaram resultado positivo, a maioria delas (56%) pertencentes à família Asteraceae. A maioria das espécies testadas pertencia a Asteraceae, mas outras 55 famílias foram também testadas, abrangendo um total de 77 gêneros.Chloroform or dichloromethane extracts of 357 southern Brazilian plant species were tested for the presence of peroxides by thinlayer chromatography, using the spray reagent from Huber & Fröhlke. From the species tested, 71 (20%) showed positive results and most of them (56%) are Asteraceae species. The species tested were mainly from Asteraceae, but 55 more families were screened, in a total of 77 genera surveyed