Significance of hypouricaemia in the development of neurodegenerative diseases

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Sciendo. All rights reserved.Hypouricaemia has received relatively little attention in the literature. As a result, there is lessawareness or understanding of the potential risks of low uric acid levels. Emerging research indi-cates that normal uric acid levels may have an antioxidative and neuroprotective effect. Thisstudy aims to investigate possible associations between hypouricaemia and neurodegenerativedisease. Data was collected from seventy-seven outpatients and inpatients who underwent rou-tine uric acid testing, who were then stratified into patients with and without neurodegenerativedisease. Patients with renal pathologies and patients using uric acid altering medications were ex-cluded from the study. There was a significant difference in the prevalence of Alzheimer’s diseasebetween hypouricemic and normouricemic patients (p= 0.001), however there was no differencein the prevalence of vascular dementia (p= 0.45). This study provides evidence that hypouricae-mia has potential effects on health, specifically on the rate of neurodegenerative diseases suchas Alzheimer’s disease and gives weight to the potential neuroprotective role of uric acid.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Prebiotically Plausible Organocatalysts Enabling a Selective Photoredox α‐Alkylation of Aldehydes on the Early Earth

Organocatalysis is a powerful approach to extend and (enantio‐) selectively modify molecular structures. Adapting this concept to the Early Earth scenario offers a promising solution to explain their evolution into a complex homochiral world. Herein, we present a class of imidazolidine‐4‐thione organocatalysts, easily accessible from simple molecules available on an Early Earth under highly plausible prebiotic reaction conditions. These imidazolidine‐4‐thiones are readily formed from mixtures of aldehydes or ketones in presence of ammonia, cyanides and hydrogen sulfide in high selectivity and distinct preference for individual compounds of the resulting catalyst library. These organocatalysts enable the enantioselective α‐alkylation of aldehydes under prebiotic conditions and show activities that correlate with the selectivity of their formation. Furthermore, the crystallization of single catalysts as conglomerates opens the pathway for symmetry breaking

The Link between Hypouricemia and Neurodegenerative Disorders

The potential danger to patients’ health due to hypouricemia has only recently become a research topic of interest. While it has been established that normal uric acid levels have antioxidative and neuroprotective properties, the loss of these functions with uric acid levels below the normal range have been studied only recently and findings suggest potential detrimental effects on the brain and cognitive abilities. The purpose of this study is to look at potential connections between hypouricemia and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. Seventy-seven inpatients and outpatients with routine uric acid testing were included and further stratified into patients with neurodegenerative disease and patients without neurodegenerative disease. The results showed that rates of Alzheimer’s disease differ between patients with hypouricemia and normal uric acid levels, however this association was not found for patients with vascular dementia. This provides evidence for potential effects of hypouricemia and raises the question for further research define a safe range of serum uric acid

HIV-1 Nef enhances both membrane expression and virion incorporation of Env products. A model for the Nef-dependent increase of HIV-1 infectivity.

The expression of human immunodeficiency virus Nef increases the viral infectivity through mechanisms still not fully elucidated. Here we report that wild-type (wt) human immunodeficiency virus, type 1 (HIV-1), particles were neutralized by higher concentrations of either anti-Env glycoprotein (gp) 41 antibodies or recombinant soluble human CD4 compared with Δnef HIV-1. This appeared to be the result of a Nef-induced increase of virion incorporation of both gp41 (transmembrane (TM)) and surface gp120 Env products likely originating from enhanced steady-state levels of cell membrane-associated Env products. This, in turn, seemed to be the consequence of a reduced retention of the Env precursor. Most interesting, we found that both the Nef-directed increase of Env membrane expression and the Nef-induced enhancement of HIV-1 infectivity relied on the presence of the intracytoplasmic domain of TM, supporting the hypothesis of a functional correlation between these effects. Mutagenesis studies allowed us to establish that the two leucine residues at the TM C terminus, which are part of a sorting motif involved in the control of Env membrane expression, and the 181–210-residue Nef C-terminal region were critically involved in the Nef/Env functional interaction. In conclusion, we propose that Nef increases the infectivity of HIV-1 at least in part by enhancing the amounts of Env products incorporated into virus particles

On your bike! a cross-sectional study of the individual, social and environmental correlates of cycling to school

Background : Active school transport (AST) has declined rapidly in recent decades. While many studies have examined walking, cycling to school has received very little attention. Correlates of cycling are likely to differ to those from walking and cycling enables AST from further distances. This study examined individual, social and environmental factors associated with cycling to school among elementary school-aged children, stratified by gender. Methods : Children (n = 1197) attending 25 Australian primary schools located in high or low walkable neighborhoods, completed a one-week travel diary and a parent/child questionnaire on travel habits and attitudes. Results : Overall, 31.2% of boys and 14.6% of girls cycled &ge; 1 trip/week, however 59.4% of boys and 36.7% of girls reported cycling as their preferred school transport mode. In boys (but not girls), school neighborhood design was significantly associated with cycling: i.e., boys attending schools in neighborhoods with high connectivity and low traffic were 5.58 times more likely to cycle (95% CI 1.11-27.96) and for each kilometer boys lived from school the odds of cycling reduced by 0.70 (95% CI 0.63-0.99). Irrespective of gender, cycling to school was associated with parental confidence in their child\u27s cycling ability (boys: OR 10.39; 95% CI 3.79-28.48; girls: OR 4.03; 95% CI 2.02-8.05), parental perceived convenience of driving (boys: OR 0.42; 95% CI 0.23-0.74; girls: OR 0.40; 95% CI 0.20-0.82); and child\u27s preference to cycle (boys: OR 5.68; 95% CI 3.23-9.98; girls: OR 3.73; 95% CI 2.26-6.17). Conclusion : School proximity, street network connectivity and traffic exposure in school neighborhoods was associated with boys (but not girls) cycling to school. Irrespective of gender, parents need to be confident in their child\u27s cycling ability and must prioritize cycling over driving. <br /

Zuflucht, Anerkennung und "heimisch werden" - Herausforderungen aktueller (Bildungs-) Politik in didaktischer, kinder- und jugendliterarischer und pädagogischer Perspektive

Alles in allem steht die deutsche Gesellschaft heute sowie in den nächsten Jahren vor der großen Herausforderung viele geflüchtete Menschen in unsere Gesellschaft zu integrieren. Die Aufnahme der Geflüchteten war dazu nur ein erster, wichtiger Schritt. Dazu werden sowohl Konzepte im Rahmen der Bildung als auch in der Berufswelt benötigt – es erfordert jedoch auch, entsprechende Vorurteile abzubauen, offen zu sein für diese Menschen und neue Erfahrungen, sodass wir hoffen, dass Angela Merkel mit dem Satz „Wir schaffen das!“ Recht behalten wird

Rubber vs. oil palm: an analysis of factors influencing smallholders' crop choice in Jambi, Indonesia

The rapid expansion of the oil palm area in many tropical countries has raised concerns about its negative impact on local communities, food security, and on the environment. While the expansion of oil palm in early stages was mainly driven by large private and public companies, it is expected that smallholders will outnumber large estates in the near future. For policy formulation it is hence important to better understand who these smallholders are and why they have started to cultivate oil palm. In this paper, we used a rich dataset collected in the province of Jambi, which is one of the most important production areas for oil palm, to analyse smallholders’ decision making by combining qualitative, quantitative, and experimental methods. We identified agricultural expertise, lacking flexibility in labour requirements, availability of seedlings, and investment costs as the major constraints for farmers to cultivate oil palm. Important reasons for oil palm cultivation are the higher returns to labour and the shorter immature phase of oil palm. We also showed that oil palm farmers are neither risk-averse nor risk-loving, rather, they appear to be risk-neutral

Individual, social, and environmental correlates of healthy and unhealthy eating

Few studies use comprehensive ecological approaches considering multilevel factors to understand correlates of healthy (and unhealthy) dietary intake. The aim of this study was to examine the association between individual, social, and environmental factors on composite measures of healthy and unhealthy dietary intake in adults

Continuous presence of genetically diverse rustrela virus lineages in yellow-necked field mouse reservoir populations in northeastern Germany.

Rustrela virus (RusV; species Rubivirus strelense, family Matonaviridae) was discovered in different zoo animal species affected by fatal encephalitis. Simultaneous RusV RNA detection in multiple yellow-necked field mice (Apodemus flavicollis) suggested this rodent as a reservoir of RusV. Here, we investigated 1,264 yellow-necked field mice and sympatric other small mammals from different regions in Germany for RusV RNA using an optimized reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) protocol and high-throughput sequencing. The investigation resulted in the detection of RusV RNA exclusively in 50 of 396 (12.6 per cent) yellow-necked field mice but absence in other sympatric species. RT-qPCR-determined tissue distribution of RusV RNA revealed the highest viral loads in the central nervous system, with other tissues being only very rarely affected. The histopathological evaluation did not reveal any hints of encephalitis in the brains of infected animals despite the detection of viral RNA in neurons by in situ hybridization (ISH). The positive association between the body mass of yellow-necked field mice and RusV RNA detection suggests a persistent infection. Phylogenetic analysis of partial E1 and full-genome sequences showed a high diversification with at least four RusV lineages (1A-1D) in northeastern Germany. Moreover, phylogenetic and isolation-by-distance analyses indicated evolutionary processes of RusV mostly in local reservoir populations. A comparison of complete genome sequences from all detected RusV lineages demonstrated a high level of amino acid and nucleotide sequence variability within a part of the p150 peptide of the non-structural polyprotein and its coding sequence, respectively. The location of this region within the RusV genome and its genetic properties were comparable to the hypervariable region of the rubella virus. The broad range of detected RusV spillover hosts in combination with its geographical distribution in northeastern Germany requires the assessment of its zoonotic potential and further analysis of encephalitis cases in mammals. Future studies have to prove a putative co-evolution scenario for RusV in the yellow-necked field mouse reservoir