Diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of recurrent renal stone disease

Recurrent renal stones occur in 7.5% ofCaucasian men and 3% of all women. Even withincreasing urbanisation, renal calculi are reported inless than I% of black South African men and women. Four hundred recurrent stone formers were studied at the metabolic stone clinic using routine and special tests. The appropriate therapy for each subgroup is outlined and studies on various different treatments are presented. In addition, lithogenic risk factors were studied in normal black and white subjects and in black stone formers, in order to clarify the low incidence in the black population.Patients were classified according dietary andmetabolic lithogenic risk factors. 10% of stoneformers had pure dietary factors. The percentage ofstone formers in each of the various metabolicsubgroups was as follows: Renal hypercalciuria 12%, Absorptive hypercalciuria 10%, Mild metabolichyperoxaluria 20%, Hypocitraturia 50%. Successfultherapy in terms of preventing further stoneformation was reported using indapamide, calciumcarbonate and potassium citrate in renal hypercalciuria,mild metabolic hyperoxaluria and hypo-citraturia respectively. Black volunteer subjects hadsignificantly higher 24hr urinary sodium excretionand significantly lower 24hr urinary calcium, citrateand cystine excretion than white volunteer subjects. Twenty-four hours urinary values in black stoneformers were found to be approaching those levelsfound in white.As urbanisation occurs in the black population, the incidence of urolithiasis would be expected to increase. We conclude that a detailed metabolic work-up is essential in the elucidation of the various metabolic risk factors. in so-called "idiopathic" CaOx stone formers. It allows appropriate, specific and highly cost-effective therapy aimed at the prevention of recurrence. [Erratum appears in AJN, 2017; 20(1):200.

Correction: Diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of recurrent renal stone disease

In Table 3 of the original publication of this article [1], the citrate excretion in white subjects is given as 1.39(0.92), which is incorrect. The correct value is 2.39(0.92). Reference1. Meyers A, Whalley N, Martins M. Diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of recurrent renal stone disease. Afr J Nephrol. 1998; 2(1):12-17

Insights into (S)-rivastigmine inhibition of butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE): Molecular docking and saturation transfer difference NMR (STD-NMR)

Rivastigmine is a very important drug prescribed for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) symptoms. It is a dual inhibitor, in that it inhibits both acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE). For our screening program on the discovery of new rivastigmine analogue hits for human butyrylcholinesterase (hBuChE) inhibition, we investigated the interaction of this inhibitor with BuChE using the complimentary approach of the biophysical method, saturation transfer difference (STD)-NMR and molecular docking. This allowed us to obtain essential information on the key binding interactions between the inhibitor and the enzyme to be used for screening of hit compounds. The main conclusions obtained from this integrated study was that the most dominant interactions were (a) H-bonding between the carbamate carbonyl of the inhibitor and the NH group of the imidazole unit of H434, (b) stacking of the aromatic unit of the inhibitor and the W82 aromatic unit in the choline binding pocket via pi-pi interactions and (c) possible CH/pi interactions between the benzylic methyl group and the N-methyl groups of the inhibitor and W82 of the enzyme

Boko Haram Assault on Nigeria: Towards Effective Mass Media Response

The Islamic sect, Boko Haram has waged a relentless war of attrition on Nigeria since 2009. The sect has attacked mostly government’s establishments, security operatives, places of worships, markets and lately, the mass media. These assaults have accounted for countless deaths and injuries to Nigerians and destruction of property worth millions. Many have expressed concern that the attacks if not decisively checked could spell grave danger to stability of the country, worsen security of lives and properties as well as freedom of speech and other related freedoms. The mass media, given their power and influence could play very significant role in winning the war against the Boko Haram insurgency. This paper critically examines the whole situation: the Boko Haram sect and its attacks; the assault on media houses, government’s response, mass media and objectivity, the media and terrorism and makes recommendations on how the mass media could be effectively deployed in the effort to stop the sect

The Azores plume influence on the SASC-Great Meteor and MAR: the importance for the Portuguese Extension of the Continental Shelf Project (PECSP)

The Southern Azores Seamount Chain (SASC) is a group of large seamounts located south of the Azores Plateau and east of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) and part of the natural prolongation of the Azores land mass. The SASC, including the Great Meteor Seamount (aprox. 1000km south of São Miguel), is rooted on a flat, gently SE dipping Terrace, surrounded by steep scarps with almost 2000 m high. Only a few studies from the 70-80’s discuss the geologic and/or geodynamic evolution of this region based on scarce bathymetry and geophysical data. Wendt et al. (1976) presented geochemical data and K-Ar ages on three basalt from the Great Meteor Seamount (<16Ma old), later analyzed for Sr-Nd-Pb isotopes by Geldmacher et al. (2006). Given the rarity of geochemical data, the origin of the seamounts and the regional evolution of this large area of the Atlantic, remains largely unknown. During the preparatory work of the PECSP, the EMEPC promoted three oceanographic campaigns to the SASC (2007, 2008 and 2009) with multidisciplinary teams. Within these cruises, more than 120 samples were dredged or collected with the Luso ROV (rated to 6000m depth) although less than 50 were suitable for major and trace elements analysis, for Sr-Nd-Pb-Hf isotopes and for K-Ar radiometric dating. Early studies relating the SASC with the New England Seamounts can be refuted by geophysical data and kinematic models presented by Gente et al. (2003) and, also by our new isotopic data, which shows that isotope ratios are clearly distinct from New England (Ribeiro et al., in prep). However, the analyzed SASC basalts display isotope ratios that overlap the Azores isotopic signature. Two new K-Ar ages (unspiked Cassignol–Gillot technique on fresh separated groundmass and/or plagioclase microlites) on the seamounts show coeval volcanism at Plato Seamount SE flank (33.4 0.5 Ma) an at Small Hyeres Seamount (31.7 0.5Ma). The SASC basalts erupted on the Terrace through an oceanic crust with 26Ma and 43Ma, respectively, at the time of eruption. Contemporaneous with this activity, the basalts erupted on-axis at the MAR between the Hayes FZ and the Azores, correspond to E-MORB with an radiogenic isotopic signature trending towards the Azores (Dupré and Bougault, 1985; Jenner et al., 1985). The similarity between the SASC and the Azores mantle source can be explained by the impingement of the long-lived (aprox. 85Ma) Azores plume beneath the Nubian Plate, as argued by Gente et al. (2003), which also influenced the MAR evolution. Our study endorses the genetic link between the Azores Archipelago and the SASC to the Azores plume, contributing to better constrain the temporal-spatial evolution of this region of the north Atlantic, which is enclosed by the Azores Platform. Moreover, the new data gathered within the PECSP contributed to constrain the boundary of the Azores Platform submarine elevation according to the provisions of article 76 of UNCLOS

Tailor-made molecularly imprinted polymers for dimethoate and deltamethrin recognition: synthesis, characterization and chromatographic evaluation

This work concerns the development of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) for the selective extraction of dimethoate (dmt) and deltamethrin (dm) from food matrices. To achieve this goal, the non-covalent methodology has been applied for the preparation of MIPs using metacrylic acid (MAA) as a functional monomer and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) and triethylene glycol dimethacrylate (TEGDMA) as cross-linkers in order to evaluate the influence of the nature of the cross-linker on the efficiency and selectivity of those MIPs for the target pesticides. Non-imprinted polymers (NIPs), which do not contain template, have been also prepared in parallel with the MIP synthesis using the same synthetic protocol to assess the specificity of the interactions. Chemical and physical characterization was carried out using conventional techniques, such as Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Morphological characterization of MIPs and NIPs has been also performed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in order to assess the polymer’s surface topography. The performance of each polymer was evaluated by conducting binding property measurements, namely imprinting factor determinations and adsorption studies using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)

A common variant associated with dyslexia reduces expression of the KIAA0319 gene

This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust (MYD, SP, TSS, JCK, RWM, PC, SB, and APM), the Intramural Research Programs of the National Human Genome Research Institute (MYD and EDG) and National Cancer Institute (MPO), and the NIH/Ox-Cam Graduate Partnership Program (MYD).Numerous genetic association studies have implicated the KIAA0319 gene on human chromosome 6p22 in dyslexia susceptibility. The causative variant(s) remains unknown but may modulate gene expression, given that (1) a dyslexia-associated haplotype has been implicated in the reduced expression of KIAA0319, and (2) the strongest association has been found for the region spanning exon 1 of KIAA0319. Here, we test the hypothesis that variant(s) responsible for reduced KIAA0319 expression resides on the risk haplotype close to the gene's transcription start site. We identified seven single-nucleotide polymorphisms on the risk haplotype immediately upstream of KIAA0319 and determined that three of these are strongly associated with multiple reading-related traits. Using luciferase-expressing constructs containing the KIAA0319 upstream region, we characterized the minimal promoter and additional putative transcriptional regulator regions. This revealed that the minor allele of rs9461045, which shows the strongest association with dyslexia in our sample (max p-value = 0.0001), confers reduced luciferase expression in both neuronal and non-neuronal cell lines. Additionally, we found that the presence of this rs9461045 dyslexia-associated allele creates a nuclear protein-binding site, likely for the transcriptional silencer OCT-1. Knocking down OCT-1 expression in the neuronal cell line SHSY5Y using an siRNA restores KIAA0319 expression from the risk haplotype to nearly that seen from the non-risk haplotype. Our study thus pinpoints a common variant as altering the function of a dyslexia candidate gene and provides an illustrative example of the strategic approach needed to dissect the molecular basis of complex genetic traits.PostprintPeer reviewe

Módulo fotovoltaico ativado por polímeros condutores

Mestrado de dupla diplomação com a UTFPR - Universidade Tecnológica Federal do ParanáEsta dissertação consiste no projeto de industrialização de painéis fotovoltaico com células solares sensibilizadas por polímeros condutores PEDOT:PSS. Procedeu-se também à caraterização dos materiais utilizados na construção do módulo fotovoltaico, e dois desenhos técnicos compõe o projeto. A atribuir o método de corte utilizado no acrílico, material escolhido para construção do módulo fotovoltaico. Foram feitos estudos da melhor forma para interligar as células sem prejudicar a composição da mesma. O primeiro estudo concluído sem a viabilidade, pois utilizamos fita adesiva de cobre. Porém não havia condução elétrica entre as células. O segundo estudo concluído com sucesso obteve a necessidade de soldadura para interligar as células. Neste trabalho são também apresentadas, a modelação no Simulink e as curvas características J-V e curvas P-V do módulo fotovoltaico com células solares desenvolvidas com polímero condutor PEDOT:PSS. E através dos resultados simulados das curvas características, concluímos que o módulo sofre o efeito chamado de "mismatch"(descasamento). Devido a incompatibilidade de características de cada célula. E no nosso caso, a célula com a menor fotocorrente limita o desempenho das demais.This dissertation consists of the industrialization project of photovoltaic panels with solar cells sensitized by conductive polymers PEDOT: PSS. The materials used in the construction of the photovoltaic module were also characterized, and two technical drawings make up the project. To assign the cutting method used in acrylic, the material chosen for the construction of the photovoltaic module. Studies were done in the best way to interconnect the cells without harming the composition of the same. The first study concluded without feasibility, as we used copper adhesive tape. However, there was no electrical conduction between the cells. The second study completed successfully found the need for welding to connect the cells. In this work, the modeling in Simulink and the characteristic curves J-V and P-V curves of the photovoltaic module with solar cells developed with PEDOT: PSS conducting polymer are also presented. And through the simulated results of the characteristic curves, we conclude that the module suffers the effect called "mismatch". Due to the incompatibility of characteristics of each cell. And in our case, the cell with the lowest photocurrent limits the performance of the others