Anchoring of proteins to lactic acid bacteria

The anchoring of proteins to the cell surface of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) using genetic techniques is an exciting and emerging research area that holds great promise for a wide variety of biotechnological applications. This paper reviews five different types of anchoring domains that have been explored for their efficiency in attaching hybrid proteins to the cell membrane or cell wall of LAB. The most exploited anchoring regions are those with the LPXTG box that bind the proteins in a covalent way to the cell wall. In recent years, two new modes of cell wall protein anchoring have been studied and these may provide new approaches in surface display. The important progress that is being made with cell surface display of chimaeric proteins in the areas of vaccine development and enzyme- or whole-cell immobilisation is highlighted.

Neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy for resectable esophageal cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Carcinoma of the esophagus is an aggressive malignancy with an increasing incidence. Its virulence, in terms of symptoms and mortality, justifies a continued search for optimal therapy. The large and growing number of patients affected, the high mortality rates, the worldwide geographic variation in practice, and the large body of good quality research warrants a systematic review with meta-analysis. METHODS: A systematic review and meta-analysis investigating the impact of neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy on resectable thoracic esophageal cancer to inform evidence-based practice was produced. MEDLINE, CANCERLIT, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and abstracts from the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology were searched for trial reports. Included were randomized trials or meta-analyses of neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatments compared with surgery alone or other treatments in patients with resectable thoracic esophageal cancer. Outcomes of interest were survival, adverse effects, and quality of life. Either one- or three-year mortality data were pooled and reported as relative risk ratios. RESULTS: Thirty-four randomized controlled trials and six meta-analyses were obtained and grouped into 13 basic treatment approaches. Single randomized controlled trials detected no differences in mortality between treatments for the following comparisons: - Preoperative radiotherapy versus postoperative radiotherapy. - Preoperative and postoperative radiotherapy versus postoperative radiotherapy. Preoperative and postoperative radiotherapy was associated with a significantly higher mortality rate. - Postoperative chemotherapy versus postoperative radiotherapy. - Postoperative radiotherapy versus postoperative radiotherapy plus protein-bound polysaccharide versus chemoradiation versus chemoradiation plus protein-bound polysaccharide. Pooling one-year mortality detected no statistically significant differences in mortality between treatments for the following comparisons: - Preoperative radiotherapy compared with surgery alone (five randomized trials). - Postoperative radiotherapy compared with surgery alone (five randomized trials). - Preoperative chemotherapy versus surgery alone (six randomized trials). - Preoperative and postoperative chemotherapy versus surgery alone (two randomized trials). - Preoperative chemoradiation therapy versus surgery alone (six randomized trials). Single randomized controlled trials detected differences in mortality between treatments for the following comparison: - Preoperative hyperthermia and chemoradiotherapy versus preoperative chemoradiotherapy in favour of hyperthermia. Pooling three-year mortality detected no statistically significant difference in mortality between treatments for the following comparison: - Postoperative chemotherapy compared with surgery alone (two randomized trials). Pooling three-year mortality detected statistically significant differences between treatments for the following comparisons: - Preoperative chemoradiation therapy versus surgery alone (six randomized trials) in favour of preoperative chemoradiation with surgery. - Preoperative chemotherapy compared with preoperative radiotherapy (one randomized trial) in favour of preoperative radiotherapy. CONCLUSION: For adult patients with resectable thoracic esophageal cancer for whom surgery is considered appropriate, surgery alone (i.e., without neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy) is recommended as the standard practice

Design of the Dutch Obesity Intervention in Teenagers (NRG-DOiT): systematic development, implementation and evaluation of a school-based intervention aimed at the prevention of excessive weight gain in adolescents

BACKGROUND: Only limited data are available on the development, implementation, and evaluation processes of weight gain prevention programs in adolescents. To be able to learn from successes and failures of such interventions, integral written and published reports are needed. METHODS: Applying the Intervention Mapping (IM) protocol, this paper describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of the Dutch Obesity Intervention in Teenagers (DOiT), a school-based intervention program aimed at the prevention of excessive weight gain. The intervention focussed on the following health behaviours: (1) reduction of the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, (2) reduction of energy intake derived from snacks, (3) decrease of levels of sedentary behaviour, and (4) increase of levels of physical activity (i.e. active transport behaviour and sports participation). The intervention program consisted of an individual classroom-based component (i.e. an educational program, covering 11 lessons of both biology and physical education classes), and an environmental component (i.e. encouraging and supporting changes at the school canteens, as well as offering additional physical education classes). We evaluated the effectiveness of the intervention program using a randomised controlled trial design. We assessed the effects of the intervention on body composition (primary outcome measure), as well as on behaviour, behavioural determinants, and aerobic fitness (secondary outcome measures). Furthermore, we conducted a process evaluation. DISCUSSION: The development of the DOiT-intervention resulted in a comprehensive school-based weight gain prevention program, tailored to the needs of Dutch adolescents from low socio-economic background

Neoadjuvant chemoradiation followed by surgery versus surgery alone for patients with adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus (CROSS)

textabstractBackground. A surgical resection is currently the preferred treatment for esophageal cancer if the tumor is considered to be resectable without evidence of distant metastases (cT1-3 N0-1 M0). A high percentage of irradical resections is reported in studies using neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery versus surgery alone and in trials in which patients are treated with surgery alone. Improvement of locoregional control by using neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy might therefore improve the prognosis in these patients. We previously reported that after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy with weekly administrations of Carboplatin and Paclitaxel combined with concurrent radiotherapy nearly always a complete R0-resection could be performed. The concept that this neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy regimen improves overall survival has, however, to be proven in a randomized phase III trial. Methods/design. The CROSS trial is a multicenter, randomized phase III, clinical trial. The study compares neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by surgery with surgery alone in patients with potentially curable esophageal cancer, with inclusion of 175 patients per arm. The objectives of the CROSS trial are to compare median survival rates and quality of life (before, during and after treatment), pathological responses, progression free survival, the number of R0 resections, treatment toxicity and costs between patients treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by surgery with surgery alone for surgically resectable esophageal adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma. Over a 5 week period concurrent chemoradiotherapy will be applied on an outpatient basis. Paclitaxel (50 mg/m2) and Carboplatin (Area-Under-Curve = 2) are administered by i.v. infusion on days 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29. External beam radiation with a total dose of 41.4 Gy is given in 23 fractions of 1.8 Gy, 5 fractions a week. After completion of the protocol, patients will be followed up every 3 months for the first year, every 6 months for the second year, and then at the end of each year until 5 years after treatment. Quality of life questionnaires will be filled out during the first year of follow-up. Discussion. This study will contribute to the evidence on any benefits of neoadjuvant treatment in esophageal cancer patients using a promising chemoradiotherapy regimen. Trial registration. ISRCTN80832026

Dissolved Air Flotation for Rapid Dewatering and Separation of Legacy Sludge Wastes

As a low footprint, high efficiency separation process, Dissolved Air Floatation (DAF) could effectively be retrofitted into existing waste management facilities at nuclear sites such Sellafield and Hanford to rapidly separate particulates from aqueous suspensions. The simplicity (no moving parts) and size of this technology coupled with low cost of construction and reagent purchase would also be ideal for ease of facility decommissioning with minimum impact to secondary waste generation. For this study, methyl isobutyl carbinol (MIBC) was used in this research as a frothing agent to produce a preferable stable foam. Mg(OH)2 was selected as a test material as it is the result of long term corrosion of Magnox fuel in UK nuclear fuel storage ponds. Due to the cationic nature of the Mg(OH)2 test material, the anionic surfactant, Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate (SDS) was used as collector to modify the surface properties to increase hydrophobicity. The performance of anionic SDS in floating 2.5%v/v Mg(OH)2 was compared to the adsorption isotherm of SDS on Mg(OH)2 to determine monolayer coverage surfactant dose which was investigated using Total Organic Carbon (TOC). SDS was found to increase particulate recovery to 93% with some water carry-over observed and it was found that particle bubble attachment was optimum for a select particle size distribution. This study proved that potential application of flotation as an efficient viable dewatering technique for common magnesium hydroxide based legacy wastes, using cheap, readily available collector and frother agents