Evaluation of Molecular Epidemiology, Clinical Characteristics, Antifungal Susceptibility Profiles, and Molecular Mechanisms of Antifungal Resistance of Iranian Candida parapsilosis Species Complex Blood Isolates

Clonal expansion of fluconazole resistant (FLZ-R) Candida parapsilosis isolates is increasingly being identified in many countries, while there is no study exploring the antifungal susceptibility pattern, genetic diversity, and clinical information for Iranian C. parapsilosis blood isolates. Candida parapsilosis species complex blood isolates (n = 98) were recovered from nine hospitals located in three major cities, identified by MALDI-TOF MS, and their genetic relatedness was examined by AFLP fingerprinting. Antifungal susceptibility testing followed CLSI-M27-A3 and ERG11, MRR1 and hotspots 1/2 (HS1/2) of FKS1 were sequenced to assess the azole and echinocandin resistance mechanisms, respectively. Ninety-four C. parapsilosis and four Candida orthopsilosis isolates were identified from 90 patients. Only 43 patients received systemic antifungal drugs with fluconazole as the main antifungal used. The overall mortality rate was 46.6 (42/90) and death mostly occurred for those receiving systemic antifungals (25/43) relative to those not treated (17/47). Although, antifungal-resistance was rare, one isolate was multidrug-resistant (FLZ = 16 μg/ml and micafungin = 8 μg/ml) and the infected patient showed therapeutic failure to FLZ prophylaxis. Mutations causing azole and echinocandin resistance were not found in the genes studied. AFLP revealed five genotypes (G) and G1 was the main one (59/94; 62.7). Clinical outcome was significantly associated with city (P = 0.02, α <0.05) and Mashhad was significantly associated with mortality (P = 0.03, α <0.05). Overall, we found a low level of antifungal resistance for Iranian C. parapsilosis blood isolates, but the noted MDR strain can potentially become the source of future infections and challenge the antifungal therapy in antifungal-naïve patients. AFLP typing results warrants confirmation using other resolutive typing methods. © Copyright © 2020 Arastehfar, Daneshnia, Najafzadeh, Hagen, Mahmoudi, Salehi, Zarrinfar, Namvar, Zareshahrabadi, Khodavaisy, Zomorodian, Pan, Theelen, Kostrzewa, Boekhout and Lass-Flörl

Electrochemically synthesized polymers in molecular imprinting for chemical sensing

This critical review describes a class of polymers prepared by electrochemical polymerization that employs the concept of molecular imprinting for chemical sensing. The principal focus is on both conducting and nonconducting polymers prepared by electropolymerization of electroactive functional monomers, such as pristine and derivatized pyrrole, aminophenylboronic acid, thiophene, porphyrin, aniline, phenylenediamine, phenol, and thiophenol. A critical evaluation of the literature on electrosynthesized molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) applied as recognition elements of chemical sensors is presented. The aim of this review is to highlight recent achievements in analytical applications of these MIPs, including present strategies of determination of different analytes as well as identification and solutions for problems encountered

SPARC 2022 book of abstracts

Welcome to the Book of Abstracts for the 2022 SPARC conference. Our conference is called “Moving Forwards” reflecting our re-emergence from the pandemic and our desire to reconnect our PGR community, in celebration of their research. PGRs have continued with their research endeavours despite many challenges, and their ongoing successes are underpinned by the support and guidance of dedicated supervisors and the Doctoral School Team. To recognise supervision excellence we will be awarding our annual Supervisor of the Year prizes, based on the wonderful nominations received from their PGR students.Once again, we have received a tremendous contribution from our postgraduate research community; with over 60 presenters, 12 Three-Minute Thesis finalists, and 20 poster presentations, the conference showcases our extraordinarily vibrant, inclusive, and resilient PGR community at Salford. This year there will be prizes to be won for ‘best in conference’ presentations, in addition to the winners from each parallel session. Audience members too could be in for a treat, with judges handing out spot prizes for the best questions asked, so don’t miss the opportunity to put your hand up. These abstracts provide a taster of the diverse and impactful research in progress and provide delegates with a reference point for networking and initiating critical debate. Take advantage of the hybrid format: in online sessions by posting a comment or by messaging an author to say “Hello”, or by initiating break time discussions about the amazing research you’ve seen if you are with us in person. Who knows what might result from your conversation? With such wide-ranging topics being showcased, we encourage you to take up this great opportunity to engage with researchers working in different subject areas from your own. As recent events have shown, researchers need to collaborate to meet global challenges. Interdisciplinary and international working is increasingly recognised and rewarded by all major research funders. We do hope, therefore, that you will take this opportunity to initiate interdisciplinary conversations with other researchers. A question or comment from a different perspective can shed new light on a project and could lead to exciting collaborations, and that is what SPARC is all about. SPARC is part of a programme of personal and professional development opportunities offered to all postgraduate researchers at Salford. More information about this programme is available on our website: Doctoral School | University of Salford. Registered Salford students can access full details on the Doctoral School hub: Doctoral School Hub - Home (sharepoint.com) You can follow us on Twitter @SalfordPGRs and please use the #SPARC2022 to share your conference experience.We particularly welcome taught students from our undergraduate and master’s programmes as audience members. We hope you enjoy the presentations on offer and that they inspire you to pursue your own research career. If you would like more information about studying for a PhD here at the University of Salford, your lecturers can advise, or you can contact the relevant PGR Support Officer; their details can be found at Doctoral School | University of Salford. We wish you a rich and rewarding conference experience

Risk of gestational diabetes mellitus by pre-pregnancy body mass index: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is serious health challenges. This study aimed at determining the risk of GDM among pregnant women by pre-pregnancy BMI. Five electronic databases including Medline (PubMed), Scopus, Embase, Web of Science and Google Scholar were searched for literature published form 2015 to January 1, 2021. The pooled estimate risk of GDM among pregnant women was 16.8 (95 CI: 15.3�18.4). The risk of GDM in underweight/normal group and overweight/obese group were 10.7 (95 CI: 9.1�12.4) and 23 (95 CI: 20.2�25.9), respectively. The risk of GDM is high among overweight/obese pregnant women. © 2021 Diabetes Indi

Klinische Charakterisierung von Staphylococcus epidermidis: ein systematisches Review

Staphylococci are known as clustering Gram-positive cocci, nonmotile, non-spore forming facultatively anaerobic that classified in two main groups, coagulase-positive and coagulase-negative. Staphylococcus epidermidis with the highest percentage has the prominent role among coagulase-negative Staphylococci that is the most important reason of clinical infections. Due to various virulence factors and unique features, this microorganism is respected as a common cause of nosocomial infections. Because of potential ability in biofilm formation and colonization in different surfaces, also using of medical implant devices in immunocompromised and hospitalized patients the related infections have been increased. In recent decades the clinical importance and the emergence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis strains have created many challenges in the treatment process.Staphylokokken sind ein Cluster Gram-positiver unbeweglicher nicht Sporen-bildender fakultativ anaerober Kokkenbakterien, die in die zwei Hauptgruppen Coagulase-positiv and Coagulase-negativ unterteilt werden. Staphylococcus epidermidis nimmt mit dem höchsten Anteil eine prominente Stellung unter den Coagulase-negativen Staphylokokken ein und ist die wichtigste Ursache klinisch manifester Infektionen. Auf Grund der verschiedenen Virulenzfaktoren und der besonderen Eigenschaften ist diese Species häufig Ursache nosokomialer Infektionen. Auf Grund der Fähigkeit zur Biofilmbildung und der Kolonisation auf verschiedenen Oberflächen sowie auf Grund des zunehmenden Einsatzes von Implantaten bei hospitalisierten und speziell bei immunkompromittierten Patienten ist ein Anstieg derartiger Infektionen zu verzeichnen. In den letzten Jahrzehnten stellen die klinische Bedeutung und die Entstehung von Methicillin-resistenten Staphylococcus epidermidis -Stämmen neue Herausforderungen an den Behandlungsprozess

Association of short-term exposure to air pollution with mortality in a middle eastern tourist city

This study investigated the association of short-term exposure to PM10, PM2.5, NO2, O3, and CO with daily all-cause, cardiovascular, ischemic heart disease (IHD), cerebrovascular, and respiratory deaths in Mashhad, a tourist megacity in Iran (2014�2018). A distributed-lag-day, nonlinear model (DLNM) and generalized additive model (GAM) based on the quasi-Poisson distribution were used to explore the exposure-lag-day-response associations. The average (± standard deviation) concentrations of PM10, PM2.5, NO2, O3, and CO were 67.1 (± 35.5), 29.6 (± 14.2), 57.3 (± 24.1), 55.9 (± 16.9), and 1907.6 (± 1362.7) μg/m3, respectively. NO2 was associated with IHD mortality in lag-days 0 to 0�7, and lag-day 1. The relative risks (RRs) for a 10 μg/m3 increase in NO2 ranged from 1.01 (95 CI 0.93, 1.11) at lag-day 0 to 1.04 (95 CI 0.94, 1.16) and 1.03 (95 CI 0.93, 1.14) for lag-day 0�1 (cumulative) and lag-day 1 (non-cumulative), respectively. For all-cause mortality, cumulative exposure to PM2.5 for lag-day 0�7 (1.07, 95 CI 1.00, 1.15) and non-cumulative exposure to NO2 at lag-day 6 (1.02, 95 CI 1.00, 1.03) were significant. Exposure to PM10 (per 10 μg/m3) was significantly associated with respiratory mortality at several lag-days. Adjusting for Ramadan did not significantly affect the results. PM10 had significant associations with respiratory mortality of people ' 65 years old, and men for several lag-days. For IHD, NO2 affected older people, and men and women over different lag-days. Results of multi-pollutant models were similar to the single-pollutant model outcomes. In conclusion, NO2 and PM10 had more significant relationships with adverse health outcomes than the other pollutants. © 2020, Springer Nature B.V

Radioimmunoscintigraphy of Breast Tumor Xenografts in Mouse Model by 99mTc Direct Radiolabeling of a Monoclonal Antibody PR81

Introduction: The radioimmunoscintigraphy (RIS) has found widespread clinical applications in  tumor  diagnosis.  Human  epithelial  mucin,  MUC1,  is  commonly  over  expressed  in  adenocarcinoma including 80% of breast cancers and represents a useful target for RIS. The PR81  is  a  new  murine  anti-MUC1  monoclonal  antibody  that  was  found  to  react  with  the  membrane  extracts of several human breast cancerous tissues and the cell surface of some MUC1 positive  cell lines. In this study, a direct method which is very simple, rapid and efficient for the labeling  of this MAb with  99m Tc, particularly suitable for the development of a ‘kit’, was developed. The  quality  control  of  new  radiopharmaceutical  and  immunoscintigraphy  studies  in  BALB/c  mice  bearing breast tumor xenografts were also performed.  Materials and Methods: The Ab reduction was performed with 2-mercaptoethanol (2-ME) at a  molar  ratio  of  2000:1  (2-ME:MAb)  and  reduced  Ab  was  labeled  with  99m Tc  via  methylene  diphosphonate (MDP) as a transchelator. The labeling efficiency was determined by ITLC. The  amount  of  radiocolloids  was  measured  by  cellulose  nitrate  electrophoresis.  The  stability  of  the  labeled product was checked in fresh human serum by gel filtration chromatography (FPLC) over  24 hrs. The integrity of the labeled MAb was checked by the means of SDS-PAGE. Cell-binding  assay  was  used  to  test  the  binding  ability  of  99m Tc-PR81  to  MCF7  cells.  Biodistribution  was  studied in normal BALB/c mice at 4 and 24 hrs post-injection. The tumor imaging was performed  in female BALB/c mice with breast tumor xenografts 24 hrs after the new complex injection.  Results:  The  labeling  efficiency  was  94.2%±2.3  and  radiocolloids  were  2.5%±1.7.  In  vitro  stability  was  70%±5.7  in  fresh  human  serum  over  24  hrs.  There  was  no  significant  Ab  fragmentation due to the labeling procedure. Both the labeled and unlabeled PR81 were able to  compete for binding to MCF7 cells. The biodistribution studies in normal BALB/c mice showed  that  there  was  no  important  accumulation  in  any  organ.  The  immunoscintigraphy  studies  demonstrated definite localization of the preparation at the site of tumors with high sensitivity.  Discussion and Conclusion: The results show that by using the Schwarz method of radiolabeling  MAb PR81, a labeling yield higher than 90% with high stability of the complex in human serum  can be obtained. These findings demonstrated that the new radiopharmaceutical can be considered  as a promising candidate for imaging of human breast cancer

Antileukemic effect of zerumbone-loaded nanostructured lipid carrier in WEHI-3B cell-induced murine leukemia model

Heshu Sulaiman Rahman,1&ndash;3 Abdullah Rasedee,1,2 Chee Wun How,2 Nazariah Allaudin Zeenathul,1,2 Max Stanley Chartrand,4 Swee Keong Yeap,2 Ahmad Bustamam Abdul,2,5 Sheau Wei Tan,2 Hemn Hassan Othman,1,3 Zahra Ajdari,6 Farideh Namvar,7 Palanisamy Arulselvan,2 Sharida Fakurazi,2,5 Parvaneh Mehrbod,2 Nasibeh Daneshvar,2 Hasina Begum2 1Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, 2Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia; 3Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Sulaimany, Sulaimany City, Northern Iraq; 4DigiCare Behavioral Research, Casa Grande, AZ, USA; 5Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia; 6Faculty of Science and Technology, University Kebangsaan Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia; 7Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products (INTROP), Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia Abstract: Cancer nanotherapy is progressing rapidly with the introduction of many innovative drug delivery systems to replace conventional therapy. Although the antitumor activity of zerumbone (ZER) has been reported, there has been no information available on the effect of ZER-loaded nanostructured lipid carrier (NLC) (ZER-NLC) on murine leukemia cells. In this study, the in vitro and in vivo effects of ZER-NLC on murine leukemia induced with WEHI-3B cells were investigated. The results from 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide, Hoechst 33342, Annexin V, cell cycle, and caspase activity assays showed that the growth of leukemia cells in vitro was inhibited by ZER-NLC. In addition, outcomes of histopathology, transmission electron microscopy, and Tdt-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling analyses revealed that the number of leukemia cells in the spleen of BALB/c leukemia mice significantly decreased after 4 weeks of oral treatment with various doses of ZER-NLC. Western blotting and reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction assays confirmed the antileukemia effects of ZER-NLC. In conclusion, ZER-NLC was shown to induce a mitochondrial-dependent apoptotic pathway in murine leukemia. Loading of ZER in NLC did not compromise the anticancer effect of the compound, suggesting ZER-NLC as a promising and effective delivery system for treatment of cancers. Keywords: zerumbone-loaded nanostructured lipid carrier, leukemia, WEHI-3B cells, BALB/c mice, apoptosis, mitochondrial pathwa