Influence of Al Content on the Corrosion Behavior of Biodegradable Magnesium Alloys in Simulated Physiological Solution

Magnesium (Mg) and its alloys have gained wide popularity in the biomedical field as promising candidates for degradable implant applications. Among Mg alloys, AZ (aluminum and zinc) series alloys are the most widely investigated for implant applications and reported in the literature. In all AZ series Mg alloys, aluminium content is the influencing factor that imparts different properties to the Mg alloys. In the present study, pure Mg, AZ31 and AZ91 Mg alloys were selected and the effect of aluminium content on the biocorrosion has been investigated in Ringer’s solution. It was a clear observation that the increased aluminum content has a severe effect on the degradation behavior of magnesium. From the weight loss measurements, AZ31 has shown lower corrosion rate compared with pure Mg and AZ91. The surface morphologies also showed the formation of more pits on pure Mg and AZ91 Mg alloy compared with AZ31 Mg alloy. By correlating the degradation behavior with the microstructure, galvanic corrosion was found to be the main reason behind the accelerated corrosion rate in AZ91 Mg alloy compared with AZ31 alloy. The phases on the corroded sample surfaces were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) method and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and found that the corrosion products which were deposited on the surfaces provided protection against the chloride ions which was indicated by the decreased corrosion rates as immersion time was increased

Genetic diversity and differentiation among populations of the Indian eri silkworm, Samia cynthia ricini, revealed by ISSR markers

Samia cynthia ricini (Lepidoptera:Saturniidae), the Indian eri silkworm, contributes significantly to the production of commercial silk and is widely distributed in the Brahmaputra river valley in North-Eastern India. Due to over exploitation coupled with rapid deforestation, most of the natural populations of S. cynthia ricini are dwindling rapidly and its preservation has become an important goal. Assessment of the genetic structure of each population is a prerequisite for a sustainable conservation program. DNA fingerprinting to detect genetic variation has been used in different insect species not only between populations, but also between individuals within a population. Since, information on the genetic basis of phenotypic variability and genetic diversity within the S. cynthia ricini populations is scanty, inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) system was used to assess genetic diversity and differentiation among six commercially exploited S. cynthia ricini populations. Twenty ISSR primers produced 87% of inter population variability among the six populations. Genetic distance was lowest between the populations Khanapara (E5) and Mendipathar (E6) (0.0654) and highest between Dhanubhanga (E4) and Titabar (E3) (0.3811). Within population, heterozygosity was higher in Borduar (E2) (0.1093) and lowest in Titabar (E3) (0.0510). Highest gene flow (0.9035) was between E5 and E6 and the lowest (0.2172) was between E3 and E5. Regression analysis showed positive correlation between genetic distance and geographic distance among the populations. The high GST value (0.657) among the populations combined with low gene flow contributes significantly to the genetic differentiation among the S. cynthia ricini populations. Based on genetic diversity, these populations can be considered as different ecotypes and in situ conservation of them is recommended

Galectin-9/TIM-3 Interaction Regulates Virus-Specific Primary and Memory CD8+ T Cell Response

In this communication, we demonstrate that galectin (Gal)-9 acts to constrain CD8+ T cell immunity to Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) infection. In support of this, we show that animals unable to produce Gal-9, because of gene knockout, develop acute and memory responses to HSV that are of greater magnitude and better quality than those that occur in normal infected animals. Interestingly, infusion of normal infected mice with α-lactose, the sugar that binds to the carbohydrate-binding domain of Gal-9 limiting its engagement of T cell immunoglobulin and mucin (TIM-3) receptors, also caused a more elevated and higher quality CD8+ T cell response to HSV particularly in the acute phase. Such sugar treated infected mice also had expanded populations of effector as well as memory CD8+ T cells. The increased effector T cell responses led to significantly more efficient virus control. The mechanisms responsible for the outcome of the Gal-9/TIM-3 interaction in normal infected mice involved direct inhibitory effects on TIM-3+ CD8+ T effector cells as well as the promotion of Foxp3+ regulatory T cell activity. Our results indicate that manipulating galectin signals, as can be achieved using appropriate sugars, may represent a convenient and inexpensive approach to enhance acute and memory responses to a virus infection

The Cassava Genome: Current Progress, Future Directions

The starchy swollen roots of cassava provide an essential food source for nearly a billion people, as well as possibilities for bioenergy, yet improvements to nutritional content and resistance to threatening diseases are currently impeded. A 454-based whole genome shotgun sequence has been assembled, which covers 69% of the predicted genome size and 96% of protein-coding gene space, with genome finishing underway. The predicted 30,666 genes and 3,485 alternate splice forms are supported by 1.4 M expressed sequence tags (ESTs). Maps based on simple sequence repeat (SSR)-, and EST-derived single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) already exist. Thanks to the genome sequence, a high-density linkage map is currently being developed from a cross between two diverse cassava cultivars: one susceptible to cassava brown streak disease; the other resistant. An efficient genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) approach is being developed to catalog SNPs both within the mapping population and among diverse African farmer-preferred varieties of cassava. These resources will accelerate marker-assisted breeding programs, allowing improvements in disease-resistance and nutrition, and will help us understand the genetic basis for disease resistance

2. Pathways to detection of non-infectious childhood uveitis in the UK: findings from the UNICORN cohort study

Introduction Prompt detection of childhood uveitis is key to minimising negative impact. From an internationally unique inception cohort, we report pathways to disease detection. UNICORNS is a national childhood non-infectious uveitis study with longitudinal collection of a standardised clinical dataset and patient reported outcomes. Descriptive analysis of baseline characteristics are reported. Amongst 150 recruited children (51% female, 31% non-white ethnicity) age at detection ranged from 2–18yrs (median 10). In 69%, uveitis was diagnosed following onset of symptoms: time from first symptoms to uveitis detection ranged from 0-739days (median 7days), with longer time to detection for those presenting initially to their general practitioner. Non symptomatic children were detected through JIA/other disease surveillance (16%), routine optometry review (5%) or child visual health screening (1%). Commonest underlying diagnoses at uveitis detection were JIA (17%), TINU (9%, higher than pre-pandemic reported UK disease frequency) and sarcoid (1%). 60% had no known systemic disease at uveitis detection. At disease detection, in at least one eye: 34% had structural complications (associated with greater time to detection – 17 days versus 4 days for uncomplicated presentation). The larger relative proportions of children with non-JIA uveitis reported here increase the importance of improving awareness of childhood uveitis amongst the wider clinical communities. There is scope for improvement of pathways to detection. Forthcoming analysis on the full cohort (251 recruited to date across 33 hospitals and 4 nations) will provide nationally representative data on management and the determinants of visual and broader developmental/well-being outcomes

Genome Sequencing Reveals Widespread Virulence Gene Exchange among Human Neisseria Species

Commensal bacteria comprise a large part of the microbial world, playing important roles in human development, health and disease. However, little is known about the genomic content of commensals or how related they are to their pathogenic counterparts. The genus Neisseria, containing both commensal and pathogenic species, provides an excellent opportunity to study these issues. We undertook a comprehensive sequencing and analysis of human commensal and pathogenic Neisseria genomes. Commensals have an extensive repertoire of virulence alleles, a large fraction of which has been exchanged among Neisseria species. Commensals also have the genetic capacity to donate DNA to, and take up DNA from, other Neisseria. Our findings strongly suggest that commensal Neisseria serve as reservoirs of virulence alleles, and that they engage extensively in genetic exchange

Multiple novel prostate cancer susceptibility signals identified by fine-mapping of known risk loci among Europeans

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified numerous common prostate cancer (PrCa) susceptibility loci. We have fine-mapped 64 GWAS regions known at the conclusion of the iCOGS study using large-scale genotyping and imputation in 25 723 PrCa cases and 26 274 controls of European ancestry. We detected evidence for multiple independent signals at 16 regions, 12 of which contained additional newly identified significant associations. A single signal comprising a spectrum of correlated variation was observed at 39 regions; 35 of which are now described by a novel more significantly associated lead SNP, while the originally reported variant remained as the lead SNP only in 4 regions. We also confirmed two association signals in Europeans that had been previously reported only in East-Asian GWAS. Based on statistical evidence and linkage disequilibrium (LD) structure, we have curated and narrowed down the list of the most likely candidate causal variants for each region. Functional annotation using data from ENCODE filtered for PrCa cell lines and eQTL analysis demonstrated significant enrichment for overlap with bio-features within this set. By incorporating the novel risk variants identified here alongside the refined data for existing association signals, we estimate that these loci now explain ∼38.9% of the familial relative risk of PrCa, an 8.9% improvement over the previously reported GWAS tag SNPs. This suggests that a significant fraction of the heritability of PrCa may have been hidden during the discovery phase of GWAS, in particular due to the presence of multiple independent signals within the same regio

The development and validation of a scoring tool to predict the operative duration of elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background: The ability to accurately predict operative duration has the potential to optimise theatre efficiency and utilisation, thus reducing costs and increasing staff and patient satisfaction. With laparoscopic cholecystectomy being one of the most commonly performed procedures worldwide, a tool to predict operative duration could be extremely beneficial to healthcare organisations. Methods: Data collected from the CholeS study on patients undergoing cholecystectomy in UK and Irish hospitals between 04/2014 and 05/2014 were used to study operative duration. A multivariable binary logistic regression model was produced in order to identify significant independent predictors of long (> 90 min) operations. The resulting model was converted to a risk score, which was subsequently validated on second cohort of patients using ROC curves. Results: After exclusions, data were available for 7227 patients in the derivation (CholeS) cohort. The median operative duration was 60 min (interquartile range 45–85), with 17.7% of operations lasting longer than 90 min. Ten factors were found to be significant independent predictors of operative durations > 90 min, including ASA, age, previous surgical admissions, BMI, gallbladder wall thickness and CBD diameter. A risk score was then produced from these factors, and applied to a cohort of 2405 patients from a tertiary centre for external validation. This returned an area under the ROC curve of 0.708 (SE = 0.013, p  90 min increasing more than eightfold from 5.1 to 41.8% in the extremes of the score. Conclusion: The scoring tool produced in this study was found to be significantly predictive of long operative durations on validation in an external cohort. As such, the tool may have the potential to enable organisations to better organise theatre lists and deliver greater efficiencies in care