Microbiological profile of chronic suppurative otits media among HIV infected children in South Eastern Nigeria

Background: Immune compromised HIV/AIDS infected children have consistently shown a higher prevalence of chronic suppurative otitis media than their immune competent counterparts.This study aimed to compare the microbial isolates from ear discharges in HIV infected and non infected childrenMethod: This was a Hospital based prospective cohort study designed to determine the relative prevalence of the common organisms present in chronically discharging ears of HIV infected children and their antimicrobial sensitivities and compare that of age and sex matched non HIV infected children. Fifty HIV infected children being followed up at the paediatric HIV clinic of a tertiary health facility, had ear swabs obtained for culture and antimicrobial sensitivity.The same was done for another cohort of fifty age and sex matched non HIV infected children.Results: The mean age of the study population and controls were 6years 11months (SD 0.96) and 7years 11 months (SD 1.00) respectively.Male to female ratio for each group was 1:1.Ear discharge was bilateral in 27(54%) HIV infected children and in 35(70%) of the controls.The most prevalent bacterial isolate in both groups was Pseudomonas aeruginosa though it was more prevalent in HIV infected children(P=0.005). Fungal isolates were commoner in non HIV infected children(P=0.001).Ninety percent sensitivity to the 4 Quinolones was recorded by isolates in HIV infected children while sensitivity to the Aminoglycosides was greater in non HIV infected childrenConclusion: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the predominant organism isolated from HIV infected children with chronic otitis media.Fungal isolates are less frequently encountered in ear discharges of HIV infected children. The 4 Quinolones are the drugs of choice in treatment of Chronic suppurative otitis media in HIV infected children.Keywords: Chronic suppurative otitis media;Bacteriology;HIV infection;Childre

Industry Simulation Gateway on a Scalable Cloud

Large scale simulation experimentation typically requires significant computational resources due to an excessive number of simulation runs and replications to be performed. The traditional approach to provide such computational power, both in academic research and industry/business applications, was to use computing clusters or desktop grid resources. However, such resources not only require upfront capital investment but also lack the flexibility and scalability that is required to serve a variable number of clients/users efficiently. This paper presents how SakerGrid, a commercial desktop grid based simulation platform and its associated science gateway have been extended towards a scalable cloud computing solution. The integration of SakerGrid with the MiCADO automated deployment and autoscaling framework supports the execution of multiple simulation experiments by dynamically allocating virtual machines in the cloud in order to complete the experiment by a user-defined deadline

Xylitol production is increased by expression of codon-optimized Neurospora crassa xylose reductase gene in Candida tropicalis

Xylose reductase (XR) is the first enzyme in d-xylose metabolism, catalyzing the reduction of d-xylose to xylitol. Formation of XR in the yeast Candida tropicalis is significantly repressed in cells grown on medium that contains glucose as carbon and energy source, because of the repressive effect of glucose. This is one reason why glucose is not a suitable co-substrate for cell growth in industrial xylitol production. XR from the ascomycete Neurospora crassa (NcXR) has high catalytic efficiency; however, NcXR is not expressed in C. tropicalis because of difference in codon usage between the two species. In this study, NcXR codons were changed to those preferred in C. tropicalis. This codon-optimized NcXR gene (termed NXRG) was placed under control of a constitutive glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) promoter derived from C. tropicalis, and integrated into the genome of xylitol dehydrogenase gene (XYL2)-disrupted C. tropicalis. High expression level of NXRG was confirmed by determining XR activity in cells grown on glucose medium. The resulting recombinant strain, LNG2, showed high XR activity (2.86 U (mg of protein)−1), whereas parent strain BSXDH-3 showed no activity. In xylitol fermentation using glucose as a co-substrate with xylose, LNG2 showed xylitol production rate 1.44 g L−1 h−1 and xylitol yield of 96% at 44 h, which were 73 and 62%, respectively, higher than corresponding values for BSXDH-3 (rate 0.83 g L−1 h−1; yield 59%)

Orofacial manifestations in outpatients with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa focusing on the vomiting behavior

Objective: This case-control study aims to evaluate the oral health status and orofacial problems in a group of outpatients with eating disorders (ED)—either anorexia nervosa (AN) or bulimia nervosa (BN)—further focusing on the influence of vomit. Materials and methods: Fifty-five women outpatients with AN or BN diagnosis were invited to participate, of which 33 agreed. ED outpatients and matched controls were submitted to a questionnaire and clinical oral examination. Results: Multivariate analysis identified a significantly higher incidence of teeth-related complications (i.e., tooth decay, dental erosion, and self-reported dentin hypersensitivity), periodontal disease, salivary alterations (i.e., hyposalivation and xerostomia), and oral mucosa-related complications in ED outpatients. Dental erosion, self-reported dentin hypersensitivity, hyposalivation, xerostomia, and angular cheilitis were found to be highly correlated with the vomiting behavior. Conclusions: ED outpatients were found to present a higher incidence of oral-related complications and an inferior oral health status, compared to gender- and age-matched controls. Alterations verified within outpatients were acknowledged to be quite similar to those previously reported within inpatients, in both of nature and severity, thus sustaining that the cranio-maxillofacial region is significantly affected by ED, even in the early/milder forms of the condition, as expectedly verified within outpatients.The work was supported by the Faculty of Dental Medicine, U. Porto

Interoperable Data Analytics Reference Architectures Empowering Digital Twin Aided Manufacturing

The use of mature, reliable and validated solutions can save significant time and cost when introducing new technologies to companies. Reference Architectures represent such best practice techniques and have the potential to increase the speed and reliability of the development process in many application domains. One area where Reference Architectures are increasingly utilized is cloud-based systems. Exploiting the high-performance computing capability offered by clouds, while keeping sovereignty and governance of proprietary information assets can be challenging. This paper explores how Reference Architectures can be applied to overcome this challenge when developing cloud-based applications. The presented approach was developed within the DIGITbrain European project, which aims at supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-caps in realizing smart business models called Manufacturing as a Service, via the efficient utilization of Digital Twins. In this paper, an overview of Reference Architecture concepts, as well as their classification, specialization, and particular application possibilities are presented. Various data-management and potentially spatially detached data processing configurations are discussed, with special attention to machine learning techniques, which are of high interest within various sectors, including manufacturing. A framework that enables the deployment and orchestration of such overall data analytics Reference Architectures in clouds resources is also presented, followed by a demonstrative application example where the applicability of the introduced techniques and solutions are showcased in practic

Juvenile Swine Surgical Alveolar Cleft Model to Test Novel Autologous Stem Cell Therapies

Reconstruction of craniofacial congenital bone defects has historically relied on autologous bone grafts. Engineered bone using mesenchymal stem cells from the umbilical cord on electrospun nanomicrofiber scaffolds offers an alternative to current treatments. This preclinical study presents the development of a juvenile swine model with a surgically created maxillary cleft defect for future testing of tissue-engineered implants for bone generation. Five-week-old pigs (n=6) underwent surgically created maxillary (alveolar) defects to determine critical-sized defect and the quality of treatment outcomes with rib, iliac crest cancellous bone, and tissue-engineered scaffolds. Pigs were sacrificed at 1 month. Computed tomography scans were obtained at days 0 and 30, at the time of euthanasia. Histological evaluation was performed on newly formed bone within the surgical defect. A 1 cm surgically created defect healed with no treatment, the 2 cm defect did not heal. A subsequently created 1.7 cm defect, physiologically similar to a congenitally occurring alveolar cleft in humans, from the central incisor to the canine, similarly did not heal. Rib graft treatment did not incorporate into adjacent normal bone; cancellous bone and the tissue-engineered graft healed the critical-sized defect. This work establishes a juvenile swine alveolar cleft model with critical-sized defect approaching 1.7 cm. Both cancellous bone and tissue engineered graft generated bridging bone formation in the surgically created alveolar cleft defect

A genetic algorithm for the design of job rotation schedules considering ergonomic and competence criteria

Job rotation is an organizational strategy increasingly used in manufacturing systems as it provides benefits to both workers and management in an organization. Job rotation prevents musculoskeletal disorders, eliminates boredom and increases job satisfaction and morale. As a result, the company gains a skilled and motivated workforce, which leads to increases in productivity, employee loyalty and decreases in employee turnover. A multi-criteria genetic algorithm is employed to generate job rotation schedules, with considering the most adequate employee-job assignments to prevent musculoskeletal disorders caused by accumulation of fatigue. The algorithm provides the best adequacy available between workers and the competences needed for performing the tasks. The design of the rotation schedules is based not only on ergonomic criteria but also on issues related to product quality and employee satisfaction. 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