Steinernema abbasi sp. n. (Nematoda : Steinernematidae) from the Sultanate of Oman

Description est donnée de #Steinernema abbasi n. sp., extrait du sol de champs de luzerne dans le Sultanat d'Oman. #S. abbasi sp. n. provient d'environnements subtropicaux semi-arides où les noctuelles #Helicoverpa armigera et #Spodoptera littoralis sont des parasites majeurs. #S. abbasi pourrait être utilisé comme agent de contrôle biologique dans des environnements très chauds, particulièrement au Moyen-Orient. L'observation morphologique, l'analyse de l'ADN et des croisements interspécifiques ont montré que #S. abbasi sp. n. est une espèce distincte de #S. carpocapsae, #S. scapterisci et #S. riobrave$. (Résumé d'auteur

Quality of Reporting in Preclinical Urethral Tissue Engineering Studies:A Systematic Review to Assess Adherence to the ARRIVE Guidelines

SIMPLE SUMMARY: We have conducted a systematic review to investigate the quality of reporting in preclinical experiments exploring tissue engineering approaches for urethral repair. This was performed based on the Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments (ARRIVE) guidelines in a total of 28 articles from 2014 to 2020. Inadequate reporting of the essential points of research experiments was observed that could remarkably affect clarity, reproducibility, and translatability. A complete statement of the ethical review permission and guidelines followed was missing in 54% of the studies. Details to ensure reproducibility of the studies, such as animal housing, husbandry, and anesthetics, were infrequently reported. No paper stated the sample size estimation methodology. The quality of reporting improved marginally over the study period. We encourage the utilization of the ARRIVE checklist items when reporting preclinical studies to help the publication of manuscripts that would allow a precise judgment of their scientific merit. ABSTRACT: Preclinical research within the area of urethral tissue engineering has not yet been successfully translated into an efficient therapeutic option for patients. This gap could be attributed, in part, to inadequate design and reporting of the studies employing laboratory animals. In this study, a systematic review was conducted to investigate the quality of reporting in preclinical studies utilizing tissue engineering approaches for urethral repair. The scope was on studies performed in rabbits, published between January 2014 and March 2020. Quality assessment of the data was conducted according to the Animal Research: Reporting of in Vivo Experiments (ARRIVE) guidelines by the scoring of a 38-item checklist in different categories. A total of 28 articles that fulfilled the eligibility criteria were included in the study. The range of ARRIVE score was from 0 to 100, taking into consideration having reported the item in question or not. The mean checklist score was 53%. The items that attained the highest scores included the number of animals utilized, the size of control and experimental groups, and the definition of experimental outcomes. The least frequently reported items included the data regarding the experimental procedure, housing and husbandry, determination and justification of the number of animals, and reporting of adverse events. Surprisingly, full disclosure about ethical guidelines and animal protocol approval was missing in 54% of the studies. No paper stated the sample size estimation. Overall, our study found that a large number of studies display inadequate reporting of fundamental information and that the quality of reporting improved marginally over the study period. We encourage a comprehensive implementation of the ARRIVE guidelines in animal studies exploring tissue engineering for urethral repair, not only to facilitate effective translation of preclinical research findings into clinical therapies, but also to ensure compliance with ethical principles and to minimize unnecessary animal studies

Magnitude and Time Trend of Acute Respiratory Infections (Aris) Among Male School Students and Employees in Aleith

A setting-based descriptive study was conducted to study magnitude and time trend of acute respiratory infections (ARIs) among male school students and employees in Aleith. Data about Acute Respiratory Infections (ARIs) among school students and employees in Aleith during the last three years were collected by reviewing monthly and annual reports in school health units. The proportion of acute reparatory infections in the last three years among male student and employees in Aleith was high in year 1435 which was 50.2%, followed by the year 1437 which was 47% and 1436 was 43.3%. The time distribution of acute respiratory infections illustrates that the percentage of infection occurred during Jumada-Al-Thani (21.9%) in the year 1435, Moharam and Rabi-Al-Thani (17.3%) in the year 1436 and Jumada-Al-Awwal (18%) in the year 1437. In the year 1435, acute respiratory infection among student was 811(63.7%) and among employees was 462 (36.3%); in the year 1436, the disease was 1177 (71.4%) in students while in employees was 471 (28.6%) and in the year1437, the percentage was 747(64.7%) in students and 408(35.3%) in employees. The high percentages of Acute Respiratory Infections (ARIs) occurred among primary school students was high 35.6%, 45.5% and 48.1% in the years 1435, 1436 and 1437 respectively. The peak of ARIs occurred during the year 1435 and the minimum proportion rate of cases was found in 1436. The study concluded that ARIs were still high and more frequent in winter months

In situ PCR for detection and differentiation of infectious bursal disease virus strains in chickens

An In situ PCR method for detection and differentiation of infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) strains is described. In one study, 15 specific pathogen free (SPF) 14 day old chickens were infected orally with very virulent (vv) IBDV strain with a titre of 107.5 EID50/0.1 mL. Six non-infected chickens were used as controls. Chickens were sacrificed at various intervals and tissue samples taken for histological examination. Immunoperoxidase staining (IPS) was done, and an In situ PCR was developed using a specific probe for IBDV’s VP1 gene. The In situ PCR was significantly (p < 0.05) more sensitive than IPS. In another study todifferentiate strains by In situ PCR, ten, 42 day old SPF chickens were infected with virulent (104.83 EID50/0.1 mL) or classical (ca) NDV strains (103.0 EID50/0.1 mL) with 5 non-infected controls. Tissue samples infected with virulent, classic and controls tested with a virulent specific probe were positive only in tissues infected by the virulent strain whereas classical strain probe were positive only to tissue infected by classical strain. These results suggest that our In situ PCR differentiated virulent from classical NDV strains

Real-Life Anti-Tumour Necrosis Factor Experience in > 500 Paediatric United Kingdom Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients.

OBJECTIVES: To measure the effectiveness, safety and use of anti-Tumour necrosis Factor (TNF) therapy in paediatric inflammatory bowel disease (PIBD) in the United Kingdom (UK). METHODS: Prospective UK audit of patients newly starting anti-TNF therapy. Disease severity was assessed using Physician Global Assessment (PGA) +/or the Paediatric Crohn's Disease Activity Index (PCDAI). RESULTS: 37 centres participated (23 of 25 specialist PIBD sites). 524 patients were included; 429 Crohn's disease (CD), 76 ulcerative colitis (UC), 19 IBD unclassified (IBDU). 87% (488/562) anti-TNF was infliximab; commonest indication was active luminal CD 77% (330/429) or chronic refractory UC/IBDU 56% (53/95); 79% (445/562) had concomitant co-immunosuppression. In CD (267/429 male), median time from diagnosis to treatment was 1.42 years (IQR 0.63-2.97). Disease (at initiation) was moderate or severe in 91% (156/171) by PGA compared to 41% (88/217) by PCDAI; Kappa (Κ) 0.28 = only 'fair agreement' (p < 0.001).Where documented, 77% (53/69) of CD patients responded to induction; and 65% (46/71) entered remission. 2287 infusions and 301.96 years of patient follow-up (n = 385) are represented; adverse events affected 3% (49/1587) infliximab and 2% (2/98) adalimumab infusions (no deaths or malignancies). Perianal abscess drainage was less common after anti-TNF initiation (CD): 26% (27/102) before, 7% (3/42) after (p = 0.01); however pre and post anti-TNF data collection was not over equal time periods. CONCLUSION: Anti-TNFs are effective treatments, usually given with thiopurine co-immunosuppression. This study highlights deficiencies in formal documentation of effect and disparity between disease severity scoring tools which need to be addressed to improve ongoing patient care

Dapagliflozin effects on hospitalization for heart failure reduction, and major adverse cardiovascular events

BackgroundUntil recently, there are no available preventive measures for macrovascular complications of diabetes mellitus (DM). Sodium-glucose co-transporter inhibitors (SGLT-2i) are a relatively new class of medications with cardio-renal protection. However, it is unknown, whether this is a class effect. Also, the exact mechanisms of action are not fully understood.AimsThe current review aimed to assess dapagliflozin effects on the major cardiovascular adverse events (MACE) and heart failure hospitalization rate (HHF) and its mechanisms of action.Methods The Pub Med, MEDLINE, and Google Scholar databases were systematically searched for relevant articles. Articles published in the English language from the first available article up to November 2019 were approached. The terms dapagliflozin, SGLT-2i, MACE, HHF, and mechanisms of action were used with proteans AND or OR. Out of two hundred-ten articles retrieved, only twenty-nine fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria.Results Dapagliflozin reduced HHF, all-cause mortality, bumetanide induced hyperuricemia, and interstitial fluid volume with a lower rate of diuretic use. Possible mechanisms of action were: a reduction of oxidative stress, lowering of cardiac hexosamine biosynthetic pathway activation, reduced cytosolic sodium and calcium, and increased serum magnesium. Dapagliflozin effects on MACE are mixed. The above effects seem to be a class character across various population including normal people without diabetes with no differences across gender.ConclusionDapagliflozin reduced HHF (superior to empagliflozin) and all-cause mortality. The drug acts at cellular levels and not simple diuresis and haemoconcentration

Phenotypic and genotypic characterisation of inflammatory bowel disease presenting before the age of 2 years

OBJECTIVES: Inflammatory bowel disease presenting in early childhood is extremely rare. More recently, progress has been made to identify children with monogenic forms of IBD predominantly presenting very early in life. In this study, we describe the heterogeneous phenotypes and genotypes of patients with IBD presenting before the age of two years and establish phenotypic features associated with underlying monogenicity. METHODS: Phenotype data of 62 children with disease-onset before the age of two years presenting over the last 20 years were reviewed. Children without previously established genetic diagnosis were prospectively recruited for next-generation sequencing. RESULTS: 62 patients (55% male) were identified. The median disease-onset was three months of age [IQR: 1 to 11]. Conventional IBD classification only applied to 15 patients with Crohn's disease-like (24%) and three with ulcerative colitis-like (5%) phenotype. Forty-four patients (71%) were diagnosed with otherwise unclassifiable IBD. Patients frequently required parenteral nutrition (40%), extensive immunosuppression (31%), hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (29%) and abdominal surgery (19%). In 31% of patients underlying monogenic diseases were established (EPCAM, IL10, IL10RA, IL10RB, FOXP3, LRBA, SKIV2L, TTC37, TTC7A). Phenotypic features significantly more prevalent in monogenic IBD were: consanguinity, disease-onset before the 6(th) month of life, stunting, extensive intestinal disease and histological evidence of epithelial abnormalities. CONCLUSION: IBD in children with disease-onset before the age of two years is frequently unclassifiable into Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, particularly treatment resistant and can be indistinguishable from monogenic diseases with IBD-like phenotype

NOX1 loss-of-function genetic variants in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Genetic defects that affect intestinal epithelial barrier function can present with very early-onset inflammatory bowel disease (VEOIBD). Using whole-genome sequencing, a novel hemizygous defect in NOX1 encoding NAPDH oxidase 1 was identified in a patient with ulcerative colitis-like VEOIBD. Exome screening of 1,878 pediatric patients identified further seven male inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients with rare NOX1 mutations. Loss-of-function was validated in p.N122H and p.T497A, and to a lesser degree in p.Y470H, p.R287Q, p.I67M, p.Q293R as well as the previously described p.P330S, and the common NOX1 SNP p.D360N (rs34688635) variant. The missense mutation p.N122H abrogated reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in cell lines, ex vivo colonic explants, and patient-derived colonic organoid cultures. Within colonic crypts, NOX1 constitutively generates a high level of ROS in the crypt lumen. Analysis of 9,513 controls and 11,140 IBD patients of non-Jewish European ancestry did not reveal an association between p.D360N and IBD. Our data suggest that loss-of-function variants in NOX1 do not cause a Mendelian disorder of high penetrance but are a context-specific modifier. Our results implicate that variants in NOX1 change brush border ROS within colonic crypts at the interface between the epithelium and luminal microbes