Development of Prototype Pixellated PIN CdZnTe Detectors

We report initial results from the design and evaluation of two pixellated PIN Cadmium Zinc Telluride detectors and an ASIC-based readout system. The prototype imaging PIN detectors consist of 4X4 1.5 mm square indium anode contacts with 0.2 mm spacing and a solid cathode plane on 10X10 mm CdZnTe substrates of thickness 2 mm and 5 mm. The detector readout system, based on low noise preamplifier ASICs, allows for parallel readout of all channels upon cathode trigger. This prototype is under development for use in future astrophysical hard X-ray imagers with 10-600 keV energy response. Measurements of the detector uniformity, spatial resolution, and spectral resolution will be discussed and compared with a similar pixellated MSM detector. Finally, a prototype design for a large imaging array is outlined.Comment: 10 pages Latex, 9 figures, to appear in Proc. of SPIE Vol. 3446 "Hard X-ray and Gamma-Ray Detector Physics and Applications

Total colonic aganglionosis : multicentre study of surgical treatment and patient-reported outcomes up to adulthood

Background: Surgery for total colonic aganglionosis (TCA) is designed to preserve continence and achieve satisfactory quality of life. This study evaluated a comprehensive group of clinical and social outcomes. Methods: An international multicentre study from eight Nordic hospitals involving examination of case records and a patient-reported questionnaire survey of all patients born with TCA between 1987 and 2006 was undertaken. Results: Of a total of 116 patients, five (4 center dot 3 per cent) had died and 102 were traced. Over a median follow-up of 12 (range 0 center dot 3-33) years, bowel continuity was established in 75 (73 center dot 5 per cent) at a median age of 11 (0 center dot 5-156) months. Mucosectomy with a short muscular cuff and straight ileoanal anastomosis (SIAA) (29 patients) or with aJpouch (JIAA) (26) were the most common reconstructions (55 of 72, 76 per cent). Major early postoperative complications requiring surgical intervention were observed in four (6 per cent) of the 72 patients. In 57 children aged over 4 years, long-term functional bowel symptoms after reconstruction included difficulties in holding back defaecation in 22 (39 per cent), more than one faecal accident per week in nine (16 per cent), increased frequency of defaecation in 51 (89 per cent), and social restrictions due to bowel symptoms in 35 (61 per cent). Enterocolitis occurred in 35 (47 per cent) of 72 patients. Supplementary enteral and/or parenteral nutrition was required by 51 (55 per cent) of 93 patients at any time during follow-up. Of 56 responders aged 2-20 years, true low BMI for age was found in 20 (36 per cent) and 13 (23 per cent) were short for age. Conclusion: Reconstruction for TCA was associated with persistent bowel symptoms, and enterocolitis remained common. Multidisciplinary follow-up, including continuity of care in adulthood, might improve care standards in patients with TCA.Peer reviewe

Expression Screening of Fusion Partners from an E. coli Genome for Soluble Expression of Recombinant Proteins in a Cell-Free Protein Synthesis System

While access to soluble recombinant proteins is essential for a number of proteome studies, preparation of purified functional proteins is often limited by the protein solubility. In this study, potent solubility-enhancing fusion partners were screened from the repertoire of endogenous E. coli proteins. Based on the presumed correlation between the intracellular abundance and folding efficiency of proteins, PCR-amplified ORFs of a series of highly abundant E. coli proteins were fused with aggregation-prone heterologous proteins and then directly expressed for quantitative estimation of the expression efficiency of soluble translation products. Through two-step screening procedures involving the expression of 552 fusion constructs targeted against a series of cytokine proteins, we were able to discover a number of endogenous E. coli proteins that dramatically enhanced the soluble expression of the target proteins. This strategy of cell-free expression screening can be extended to quantitative, global analysis of genomic resources for various purposes.National Research Foundation of KoreaKorea (South). Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) (grant 2011K000841)Korea (South). Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) (grant 2011-0027901

Relation between sleep quality and quantity, quality of life, and risk of developing diabetes in healthy workers in Japan: the High-risk and Population Strategy for Occupational Health Promotion (HIPOP-OHP) Study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The effect of sleep on the risk of developing diabetes has not been explored in an Asian population. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of self-reported sleep duration and sleep quality on the risk of developing diabetes in a prospective cohort in Japan.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data were analyzed from the cohort of participants in a High-risk and Population Strategy for Occupational Health Promotion Study (HIPOP-OHP), conducted in Japan from the year 1999 until 2004. A Cox proportional hazard model was used to evaluate the association between sleep duration or sleep quality and the risk of diabetes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of 6509 participants (26.1% of women, 19–69 years of age), a total of 230 type 2 diabetes cases were reported over a median 4.2 years of follow-up. For participants who often experienced difficulty in initiating sleep, the multivariate-adjusted hazard ratios for diabetes were 1.42 (95%CI, 1.05–1.91) in participants with a medium frequency of difficulty initiating sleep, and 1.61 (95%CI, 1.00–2.58) for those with a high frequency, with a statistically significant linear trend. Significant association was not observed in the association between difficulty of maintaining sleep or duration of sleep, and risk of diabetes.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Medium and high frequencies of difficulty initiating sleep, but not difficulty in maintaining sleep or in sleep duration, are associated with higher risks of diabetes in relatively healthy Asian workers, even after adjusting for a large number of possible further factors.</p

Effect of combined treatment with alendronate and calcitriol on femoral neck strength in osteopenic rats

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hip fracture is associated with pronounced morbidity and excess mortality in elderly women with postmenopausal osteoporosis. Many drugs have been developed to treat osteoporosis and to reduce the risk of osteoporotic fractures. We investigated the effects of combined alendronate and vitamin D₃treatment on bone mass and fracture load at the femoral neck in ovariectomized (OVX) rats, and evaluated the relationship between bone mass parameters and femoral neck strength.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Thirty 12-week-old female rats underwent either a sham-operation (n = 6) or OVX (n = 24). Twenty weeks later, OVX rats were further divided into four groups and received daily doses of either saline alone, 0.1 mg/kg alendronate, 0.1 μg/kg calcitriol, or a combination of both two drugs by continuous infusion via Alzet mini-osmotic pumps. The sham-control group received saline alone. After 12 weeks of treatment, femoral necks were examined using peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) densitometry and mechanical testing.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Saline-treated OVX rats showed significant decreases in total bone mineral content (BMC) (by 28.1%), total bone mineral density (BMD) (by 9.5%), cortical BMC (by 26.3%), cancellous BMC (by 66.3%), cancellous BMD (by 29.0%) and total cross-sectional bone area (by 30.4%) compared with the sham-control group. The combined alendronate and calcitriol treatments improved bone loss owing to estrogen deficiency. On mechanical testing, although OVX significantly reduced bone strength of the femoral neck (by 29.3%) compared with the sham-control group, only the combined treatment significantly improved the fracture load at the femoral neck in OVX rats to the level of the sham-controls. The correlation of total BMC to fracture load was significant, but that of total BMD was not.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results showed that the combined treatment with alendronate and calcitriol significantly improved bone fragility of the femoral neck in OVX osteopenic rats.</p

Wellness through a comprehensive Yogic breathing program – A controlled pilot trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Increasing rates of psychosocial disturbances give rise to increased risks and vulnerability for a wide variety of stress-related chronic pain and other illnesses. Relaxation exercises aim at reducing stress and thereby help prevent these unwanted outcomes. One of the widely used relaxation practices is yoga and yogic breathing exercises. One specific form of these exercises is Sudarshan Kriya and related practices (SK&P) which are understood to have favourable effects on the mind-body system. The goal of this pilot study was to design a protocol that can investigate whether SK&P can lead to increased feeling of wellness in healthy volunteers.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Participants were recruited in a small university city in Sweden and were instructed in a 6-day intensive program of SK&P which they practiced daily for six weeks. The control group was instructed to relax in an armchair each day during the same period. Subjects included a total of 103 adults, 55 in the intervention (SK&P) group and 48 in the control group. Various instruments were administered before and after the intervention. Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale measured the degree of anxiety and depression, Life Orientation Test measured dispositional optimism, Stress and Energy Test measured individual's energy and stress experiences. Experienced Deviation from Normal State measured the experience of altered state of consciousness.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There were no safety issues. Compliance was high (only 1 dropout in the SK&P group, and 5 in the control group). Outcome measures appeared to be appropriate for assessing the differences between the groups. Subjective reports generally correlated with the findings from the instruments. The data suggest that participants in the SK&P group, but not the control group, lowered their degree of anxiety, depression and stress, and also increased their degree of optimism (ANOVA; p < 0.001). The participants in the yoga group experienced the practices as a positive event that induced beneficial effects.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These data indicate that the experimental protocol that is developed here is safe, compliance level is good, and a full scale trial is feasible. The data obtained suggest that adult participants may improve their wellness by learning and applying a program based on yoga and yogic breathing exercises; this can be conclusively assessed in a large-scale trial.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>Australian Clinical Trial Registry ACTRN012607000175471.</p

Identification of DHX9 as a cell cycle regulated nucleolar recruitment factor for CIZ1

CIP1-interacting zinc finger protein 1 (CIZ1) is a nuclear matrix associated protein that facilitates a number of nuclear functions including initiation of DNA replication, epigenetic maintenance and associates with the inactive X-chromosome. Here, to gain more insight into the protein networks that underpin this diverse functionality, molecular panning and mass spectrometry are used to identify protein interaction partners of CIZ1, and CIZ1 replication domain (CIZ1-RD). STRING analysis of CIZ1 interaction partners identified 2 functional clusters: ribosomal subunits and nucleolar proteins including the DEAD box helicases, DHX9, DDX5 and DDX17. DHX9 shares common functions with CIZ1, including interaction with XIST long-non-coding RNA, epigenetic maintenance and regulation of DNA replication. Functional characterisation of the CIZ1-DHX9 complex showed that CIZ1-DHX9 interact in vitro and dynamically colocalise within the nucleolus from early to mid S-phase. CIZ1-DHX9 nucleolar colocalisation is dependent upon RNA polymerase I activity and is abolished by depletion of DHX9. In addition, depletion of DHX9 reduced cell cycle progression from G1 to S-phase in mouse fibroblasts. The data suggest that DHX9-CIZ1 are required for efficient cell cycle progression at the G1/S transition and that nucleolar recruitment is integral to their mechanism of action

A global multinational survey of cefotaxime-resistant coliforms in urban wastewater treatment plants

The World Health Organization Global Action Plan recommends integrated surveillance programs as crucial strategies for monitoring antibiotic resistance. Although several national surveillance programs are in place for clinical and veterinary settings, no such schemes exist for monitoring antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment. In this transnational study, we developed, validated, and tested a low-cost surveillance and easy to implement approach to evaluate antibiotic resistance in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) by targeting cefotaxime-resistant (CTX-R) coliforms as indicators. The rationale for this approach was: i) coliform quantification methods are internationally accepted as indicators of fecal contamination in recreational waters and are therefore routinely applied in analytical labs; ii) CTX-R coliforms are clinically relevant, associated with extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs), and are rare in pristine environments. We analyzed 57 WWTPs in 22 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and North America. CTX-R coliforms were ubiquitous in raw sewage and their relative abundance varied significantly (<0.1% to 38.3%), being positively correlated (p < 0.001) with regional atmospheric temperatures. Although most WWTPs removed large proportions of CTX-R coliforms, loads over 10 colony-forming units per mL were occasionally observed in final effluents. We demonstrate that CTX-R coliform monitoring is a feasible and affordable approach to assess wastewater antibiotic resistance status. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

A global multinational survey of cefotaxime-resistant coliforms in urban wastewater treatment plants

The World Health Organization Global Action Plan recommends integrated surveillance programs as crucial strategies for monitoring antibiotic resistance. Although several national surveillance programs are in place for clinical and veterinary settings, no such schemes exist for monitoring antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment. In this transnational study, we developed, validated, and tested a low-cost surveillance and easy to implement approach to evaluate antibiotic resistance in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) by targeting cefotaxime-resistant (CTX-R) coliforms as indicators. The rationale for this approach was: i) coliform quantification methods are internationally accepted as indicators of fecal contamination in recreational waters and are therefore routinely applied in analytical labs; ii) CTX-R coliforms are clinically relevant, associated with extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs), and are rare in pristine environments. We analyzed 57 WWTPs in 22 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and North America. CTX-R coliforms were ubiquitous in raw sewage and their relative abundance varied significantly (&lt;0.1% to 38.3%), being positively correlated (p &lt; 0.001) with regional atmospheric temperatures. Although most WWTPs removed large proportions of CTX-R coliforms, loads over 103 colony-forming units per mL were occasionally observed in final effluents. We demonstrate that CTX-R coliform monitoring is a feasible and affordable approach to assess wastewater antibiotic resistance status

A Universal Trend of Reduced mRNA Stability near the Translation-Initiation Site in Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes

Recent studies have suggested that the thermodynamic stability of mRNA secondary structure near the start codon can regulate translation efficiency in Escherichia coli, and that translation is more efficient the less stable the secondary structure. We survey the complete genomes of 340 species for signals of reduced mRNA secondary structure near the start codon. Our analysis includes bacteria, archaea, fungi, plants, insects, fishes, birds, and mammals. We find that nearly all species show evidence for reduced mRNA stability near the start codon. The reduction in stability generally increases with increasing genomic GC content. In prokaryotes, the reduction also increases with decreasing optimal growth temperature. Within genomes, there is variation in the stability among genes, and this variation correlates with gene GC content, codon bias, and gene expression level. For birds and mammals, however, we do not find a genome-wide trend of reduced mRNA stability near the start codon. Yet the most GC rich genes in these organisms do show such a signal. We conclude that reduced stability of the mRNA secondary structure near the start codon is a universal feature of all cellular life. We suggest that the origin of this reduction is selection for efficient recognition of the start codon by initiator-tRNA