Association of waist circumference with perception of own health in urban African males and females: the Sympathetic Activity and Ambulatory Blood Pressure in Africans (SABPA) study

Background: Current waist circumference (WC) cut-points of the Joint Statement Consensus (JSC) (male ≥ 94 cm, female ≥ 80 cm) were compared with a recently proposed WC cut-point (RPWC) (male ≥ 90 cm, female ≥ 98 cm). In this study, we aimed to compare the two cut-points to assess the association between central obesity and perception of own health.Method: We determined blood pressure and fasting bloods [glucose, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and triglycerides] as metabolic syndrome markers for 171 urban teachers. Perception of own health was determined via the General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) to indicate probable psychological distress or a psychiatric disorder or caseness (≥ 4).Results: The RPWC was an improved discrimination between the WC groups on perception of own health as reflected in the GHQ-28 subscales. In the male group, higher scores were found in the RPWC high WC group (≥ 90 cm) with regard to somatic symptoms, social dysfunction and GHQ-28 caseness, compared to those of the low WC groups (< 90 cm). Compared to the RPWC high WC females (≥ 98 cm), the low WC (< 98 cm) reflected significantly higher anxiety and sleeplessness subscale scores.Conclusion: Our results suggest that the RPWC (men 90 cm, women 98 cm), (determined in this African cohort when adding GHQ-28 caseness as a discriminatory variable between WC cut-point), distinguished better between WC groups based on their perception of own health than the JSC cut-point

HIV and haematopoiesis

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection not only leads to a compromised immune system, but also disrupts normal haematopoiesis, resulting in the frequent manifestation of cytopenias (anaemia, thrombocytopenia and neutropenia). Although there is a definite association between the severity of cytopenia and HIV disease stage, this relationship is not always linear. For example, cytopenias such as thrombocytopenia may occur during early stages of infection. The aetiology of these haematological abnormalities is complex and multifactorial, including drug-induced impaired haematopoiesis, bone marrow suppression due to infiltration of infectious agents or malignant cells, HIV-induced impaired haematopoiesis, and several other factors. In this review, we describe the frequencies of anaemia, thrombocytopenia and neutropenia reported for HIV-infected, treatment-naïve cohorts studied in eastern and southern sub-Saharan African countries. We present a rational approach for the use of diagnostic tests during the workup of HIV-infected patients presenting with cytopenia, and discuss how HIV impacts on haematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) resulting in impaired haematopoiesis. Finally, we describe the direct and indirect effects of HIV on HSPCs which result in defective haematopoiesis leading to cytopenias

An instrument to determine the technological literacy levels of upper secondary school students

In this article, an instrument for assessing upper secondary school students’ levels of technological literacy is presented. The items making up the instrument emerged from a previous study that employed a phenomenographic research approach to explore students’ conceptions of technology in terms of their understanding of the nature of technology and their interaction with technological artefacts. The instrument was validated through administration to 1,245 students on completion of their 12 years of formal schooling. A factor analysis was conducted on the data and Cronbach alpha reliability coefficients determined. The results show that a five-dimension factor structure (namely, artefact, process, direction/instruction, tinkering, and engagement) strongly supported the dimensions as developed during the original phenomenographic study. The Cronbach alpha reliability co-efficient of each dimension was satisfactory. Based on these findings, the instrument has been shown to be valid and reliable and can be used with confidence

De novo identification of viral pathogens from cell culture hologenomes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Fast, specific identification and surveillance of pathogens is the cornerstone of any outbreak response system, especially in the case of emerging infectious diseases and viral epidemics. This process is generally tedious and time-consuming thus making it ineffective in traditional settings. The added complexity in these situations is the non-availability of pure isolates of pathogens as they are present as mixed genomes or hologenomes. Next-generation sequencing approaches offer an attractive solution in this scenario as it provides adequate depth of sequencing at fast and affordable costs, apart from making it possible to decipher complex interactions between genomes at a scale that was not possible before. The widespread application of next-generation sequencing in this field has been limited by the non-availability of an efficient computational pipeline to systematically analyze data to delineate pathogen genomes from mixed population of genomes or hologenomes.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>We applied next-generation sequencing on a sample containing mixed population of genomes from an epidemic with appropriate processing and enrichment. The data was analyzed using an extensive computational pipeline involving mapping to reference genome sets and <it>de-novo </it>assembly. In depth analysis of the data generated revealed the presence of sequences corresponding to <it>Japanese encephalitis </it>virus. The genome of the virus was also independently <it>de-novo </it>assembled. The presence of the virus was in addition, verified using standard molecular biology techniques.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our approach can accurately identify causative pathogens from cell culture hologenome samples containing mixed population of genomes and in principle can be applied to patient hologenome samples without any background information. This methodology could be widely applied to identify and isolate pathogen genomes and understand their genomic variability during outbreaks.</p

Biological decolorization of xanthene dyes by anaerobic granular biomass

Biodegradation of a xanthene dyes was investigated for the first time using anaerobic granular sludge. On a first screening, biomass was able to decolorize, at different extents, six azo dye solutions: acid orange 7, direct black 19, direct blue 71, mordant yellow 10, reactive red 2 and reactive red 120 and two xanthene dyes—Erythrosine B and Eosin Y. Biomass concentration, type of electron donor, induction of biomass with dye and mediation with activated carbon (AC) were variables studied for Erythrosine B (Ery) as model dye. Maximum color removal efficiency was achieved with 4.71 g VSS L−1, while the process rates were independent of the biomass concentration above 1.89 g VSS L−1. No considerable effects were observed when different substrates were used as electron donors (VFA, glucose or lactose). Addition of Ery in the incubation period of biomass led to a fivefold increase of the decolorization rate. The rate of Ery decolorization almost duplicated in the presence of commercial AC (0.1 g L−1 AC0). Using different modified AC samples (from the treatment of AC0), a threefold higher rate was obtained with the most basic one, \textAC\textH2ACH2, as compared with non-mediated reaction. Higher rates were obtained at pH 6.0. Chemical reduction using Na2S confirmed the recalcitrant nature of this dye. The results attest that decolorization of Ery is essentially due to enzymatic and adsorption phenomena.This work was supported by the PTDC/AMB/69335/2006 project grants (Fundacao para a Ciencia e Technologia, FCT, Portugal), BRAIN project (ID 6681, European Social Found and Romanian Government and the grant of the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research, CNCS-UEFISCDI, project number PN-II-ID-PCE-2011-3-0559, Contract 265/2011

Systematic Single-Cell Analysis of Pichia pastoris Reveals Secretory Capacity Limits Productivity

Biopharmaceuticals represent the fastest growing sector of the global pharmaceutical industry. Cost-efficient production of these biologic drugs requires a robust host organism for generating high titers of protein during fermentation. Understanding key cellular processes that limit protein production and secretion is, therefore, essential for rational strain engineering. Here, with single-cell resolution, we systematically analysed the productivity of a series of Pichia pastoris strains that produce different proteins both constitutively and inducibly. We characterized each strain by qPCR, RT-qPCR, microengraving, and imaging cytometry. We then developed a simple mathematical model describing the flux of folded protein through the ER. This combination of single-cell measurements and computational modelling shows that protein trafficking through the secretory machinery is often the rate-limiting step in single-cell production, and strategies to enhance the overall capacity of protein secretion within hosts for the production of heterologous proteins may improve productivity