Golgi & Eres Biogenesis In The Malaria-Causing Parasite Plasmodium Falciparum

GOLGI AND ERES BIOGENESIS IN THE MALARIA-CAUSING PARASITE PLASMODIUM FALCIPARUM. Michelle Morales, Susann Herrmann and Tim-Wolf Gilberger, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany. Sponsored by Choukri Ben Mamoun, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT. Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite causing the most severe form of human malaria, continues to bear a global burden of morbidity and mortality. No vaccine is available and resistance is emerging and expanding to all classes of existing antimalarials. Relatively little is known about the secretory pathway of P. falciparum, which has the ability to export proteins to specialized parasite organelles and into the host erythrocyte to create the ideal environment for growth. This thesis is focused on an understanding of the biogenesis of two critical organelleswithin P. falciparum\u27s secretory pathway: endoplasmic reticulum exit sites (ERES) and the Golgi apparatus. This study cloned parasites containing fluorescently-labeled proteins to identify ERES (Sec13p) and the Golgi apparatus (GRASP). Time lapse 3D microscopy, photobleaching and photoconversions were used to visualize the process. In this thesis, it was shown that Plasmodium falciparum ERES undergo recruitment at rapid rates of approximately 15.2 seconds following photobleaching experiments. Evidence gathered via time-lapse microscopy in conjunction with photoconversions of Sec13p fused to Dendra showed that ERES form de novo. Although conclusive evidence on Golgi biogenesis was not obtained, given the close spatial and duplication time relationship between ERES and the Golgi and previous studies in Pichia pastoris and Trypanosoma brucei, it is speculated that the Golgi similarly forms de novo. Strides were made towards the creation of a GRASP knock-out and examination of GRASPinteraction partners in P. falciparum, which after optimization of methods, may allow for a more detailed study of Golgi biogenesis, GRASP affect on Golgi architecture and on alternative secretion of proteins. It is hoped these conclusions will further the understanding of the P. falciparum secretory pathway, which may ultimately lead to novel drug targets in the fight against malaria

Benefits of teamwork: the importance of dental professionals and caregivers working together to reduce oral health disparities and positively impact oral care of special needs patients

OBJECTIVE: Within the U.S. population approximately 20 percent of individuals are diagnosed with some type of disability and another 12 percent are considered severely disabled. Many times special health care needs (SHCN) patients with one condition are burdened by more than one disability. A variety of conditions such as behavioral issues, developmental disorders, and cognitive, congenital or systemic diseases have been proven to increase the risk of oral heath disease in individuals with SHCN. These conditions may affect the ability to communicate and limit dexterity for proper oral health maintenance, which is why caregivers must become advocates for these patients to insure their oral health needs are met. By communicating effectively with caretakers, dentists will be able to establish a positive impact on patients to make dental visits easier and less traumatizing. Unfortunately studies have found that dental and hygiene students graduate without feeling adequately prepared to treat patients with SHCN. With the proper education and training, more dental students and future dentists will take on the challenges that are brought by these individuals to provide the best care possible. Establishing a strong support system could potentially decrease oral health disparity in SHCN patients and improve overall care. The goal of this study was to assess whether or not there was a positive impact on the oral health of SHCN individuals when caregivers and oral health professionals worked together in a team treatment effort to fight against oral disease. METHODS: Study used a systematic review approach of literature where a PICO question was formed and the article selection process included a review of title, abstract, and application of inclusions and exclusion criteria. Printed-text and online databases such as Pubmed/MEDLINE, Google Scholar, and Web of Science were used to conduct a review of literature where a total of 210 papers were collected. After selection process, only four papers were eligible for systematic review. Pre-determined questions were used to determine the how involved caregivers and oral health professionals were during each study followed by an assessment using a point system, which scored caregiver and oral health professionals involvement during intervention. RESULTS: Selected studies showed heterogeneity in study design and sample size but all used multidisciplinary approach, which included some degree of caregiver and oral hygiene provider (OHP) collaboration. Two out of the four studies totaled nearly perfect scores in both caregiver and oral health professional involvement, which resulted in a positive effect on oral health care of SHCN patients. Case reports that included an interdisciplinary team approach to oral care procedures on patients, showed the benefits of teamwork and how collaborative practice between dental and medical professionals increased successful patient outcomes. Results illustrated the significant role that caregiver’s play in the dental team and how their absence during intervention treatment significantly lowered study scores for the overall success of patient care. CONCLUSIONS: Results demonstrated that studies with a well-rounded dental team, which included caregivers, OHP, health care professionals accompanied by social support systems, saw the greatest success and improvements in oral health care of SHCN patients. Nevertheless, a dedicated dental team where most members were present did not guarantee intervention success if caregivers did not show a significant involvement. Caregivers alone could positively impact oral health care of a patient more than if OHP worked alone. In conclusion, we found that each member of a dental team had the ability to impact change to an almost equal degree. For this reason, it is important for caregivers, OHP, dental staff and health care professionals to work together, support one another and communicate effectively to decrease oral health disparities in SHCN patients

LmaPA2G4, a Homolog of Human Ebp1, Is an Essential Gene and Inhibits Cell Proliferation in L. major

We have identified LmaPA2G4, a homolog of the human proliferation-associated 2G4 protein (also termed Ebp1), in aphosphoproteomic screening. Multiple sequence alignment and cluster analysis revealed that LmaPA2G4 is a non-peptidasemember of the M24 family of metallopeptidases. This pseudoenzyme is structurally related to methionine aminopeptidases. Anull mutant system based on negative selection allowed us to demonstrate that LmaPA2G4 is an essential gene inLeishmaniamajor. Over-expression of LmaPA2G4 did not alter cell morphology or the ability to differentiate into metacyclic and amastigotestages. Interestingly, the over-expression affected cell proliferation and virulence in mouse footpad analysis. LmaPA2G4 binds asynthetic double-stranded RNA polyriboinosinic polyribocytidylic acid [poly(I:C)] as shown in an electrophoretic mobility shiftassay (EMSA). Quantitative proteomics revealed that the over-expression of LmaPA2G4 led to accumulation of factors involved intranslation initiation and elongation. Significantly, we found a strong reduction ofde novoprotein biosynthesis in transgenicparasites using a non-radioactive metabolic labeling assay. In conclusion, LmaPA2G4 is an essential gene and is potentiallyimplicated in fundamental biological mechanisms, such as translation, making it an attractive target for therapeutic intervention.Fil: Norris Mullins, Brianna. University Of Notre Dame-Indiana; Estados UnidosFil: VanderKolk, Kaitlin. University Of Notre Dame-Indiana; Estados UnidosFil: Vacchina, Paola. University Of Notre Dame-Indiana; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Joyce, Michelle V.. University Of Notre Dame-Indiana; Estados UnidosFil: Morales, Miguel A.. University Of Notre Dame-Indiana; Estados Unido

Using Linguistic Knowledge to Automatically Learn Monotonicity Properties

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Health Club: The Pursuit for a Diverse Healthcare Team

Currently, the ethnic and racial demographics of occupational therapy students do not reflect the US’ diverse populations due to a general lack of awareness about occupational therapy (OT) amongst diverse high school students (HSS). Many factors serve as common barriers amongst diverse, minority communities, limiting students’ exposure to and knowledge about health professions, such as OT. To address these barriers, Health Club is a six-week, high school afterschool program designed to raise awareness about healthcare professions where ethnically and racially diverse populations are commonly underrepresented. Health Club uses lessons consisting of fundamental healthcare knowledge to provide HSS with opportunities to develop and implement knowledge and skills through equipment use and activities. In the short term, the program will provide students with different learning experiences to gain knowledge about health professions, develop fundamental skills, and support interests in health professions. In the medium term, the program will encourage students of diverse backgrounds to pursue health careers such as OT. In the long term, students will become healthcare practitioners and contribute to a diverse healthcare team.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonesfall2023/1001/thumbnail.jp

Multimodal Depression Detection: An Investigation of Features and Fusion Techniques for Automated Systems

Depression is a serious illness that affects a large portion of the world’s population. Given the large effect it has on society, it is evident that depression is a serious health issue. This thesis evaluates, at length, how technology may aid in assessing depression. We present an in-depth investigation of features and fusion techniques for depression detection systems. We also present OpenMM: a novel tool for multimodal feature extraction. Lastly, we present novel techniques for multimodal fusion. The contributions of this work add considerably to our knowledge of depression detection systems and have the potential to improve future systems by incorporating that knowledge into their design

Interprofessional Care Plan for Alex Simpson

Poster documenting an interprofessional approach among Social Work, Osteopathic Medicine, Dental Medicine, and Pharmacy students to provision of care for an uninsured patient with multiple health needs.https://dune.une.edu/cecespring2020/1008/thumbnail.jp

Plan estratégico de marketing para el posicionamiento de los productos de cuero elaborados por la Unidad Educativa Cotacachi, del cantón Cotacachi provincia de Imbabura

Realizar un diagnóstico el cual permita examinar las variables dentro de cada uno de los factores externos de la Unidad Educativa Cotacachi, mediante la aplicación de encuestas y entrevistas, para la identificación de la situación actual de la Institución.El presente proyecto de trabajo de investigación, se ha elaborado para la Unidad Educativa del Cuero, cuya actividad se enfoca en la fabricación de prendas, calzado y artículos de cuero en general. Se ha evidenciado a nivel de los talleres artesanales, falencias en la aplicación de estrategias de marketing, que ayuden a posicionar su oferta tanto en el mercado local como a nivel nacional. Es por ello que se ha visto la necesidad de implementar un PLAN ESTRATÉGICO DE MARKETING PARA EL POSICIONAMIENTO DE LOS PRODUCTOS DE CUERO ELABORADOS POR LA UNIDAD EDUCATIVA COTACACHI, DEL CANTÓN COTACACHI PROVINCIA DE IMBABURA el cual tiene como objetivo principal, posicionar los productos de la Unidad y dar a conocer su oferta permanente. Trabajar con estrategias alineadas a la filosofía organizacional, constituyen el camino hacia donde deben dirigirse todos los esfuerzos de cada una de las personas que conforman la Unidad Educativa. El presente proyecto, destaca todos los puntos fuertes y débiles de la Institución, los cuales deben trabajarse en equipo para lograr los resultados deseados. A través del estudio de mercado, se puede evidenciar los agentes que intervienen en la demanda y oferta de productos de cuero, así como los competidores a los que cada artesano debe enfrentarse. Con la aplicación de estrategias detalladas en la propuesta, se pretende generar un reconocimiento de clientes actuales y potenciales de los productos que la Unidad Educativa del Cuero realiza, a través de su marca PICHAVÍ, con lo cual se genere una mayor fidelización y trascendencia

Gestión por procesos en la adherencia terapéutica en pacientes diabéticos de un centro materno infantil de Lima Norte, 2023

El presente estudio tuvo como objetivo determinar si gestión por procesos influye en la adherencia terapéutica de pacientes diabéticos de un centro materno infantil de Lima Norte. La investigación fue de tipo básica, con enfoque cuantitativo, de diseño no experimental correlacional causal. La muestra estuvo conformada por 86 pacientes diabéticos atendidos en consulta externa de medicina y 86 servidores asistenciales que laboran en el servicio de medicina del establecimiento de salud. La recolección de datos se realizó mediante el uso de dos cuestionarios de y mediante escala de Likert. Para el análisis de los datos recogidos a través de la aplicación de la encuesta, se empleó el programa Microsoft Excel y programa estadístico IBM® SPSS® Statistics. En cuanto a la determinación de la correlación entre las variables de estudio se aplicó la prueba de Chi cuadrado y se consideró una significancia estadística de p<0,05. Como resultado se obtuvo que existe una correlación estadísticamente significativa entre la gestión por procesos y la adherencia terapéutica de pacientes diabéticos de un centro materno infantil de Lima Norte