A systematic review on materials, design, and manufacturing of swabs

From simple cleaning to metagenomic studies and now the detection of the SARS-2 virus, swabs are absorbent pads with handles that hold significant promise in several applications and properties. Furthermore, the swab is now used for a wide range of medical purposes, such as the collection of bacteria and other pathogens such as influenza and H1N1. Various designs and materials used for the tip have led to a wide range of applications. In this review, we discuss the characteristics of essential tip materials such as rayon, polyester, nylon, and polyurethane in the context of specimen collection from various substrates. Further, this article reviews swab manufacturing techniques, including injection molding and calendar roll pressing, among others. In recent years, advances in additive manufacturing technology have made it possible to produce swabs in a fast and efficient manner. Furthermore, the design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) is given for the production of swabs. We also examine how 3-D printing of bio-resin swabs has revolutionized the manufacturing process, making it autonomous, quicker, more efficient, and environmentally friendly. Additionally, a shortage of medical devices for testing the SARS-2 virus has zealously motivated the medical industry to revolutionize through additive manufacturing of swabs, thus revolutionizing the medical industry. In conclusion, the limitations of the current techniques and future directions for swabs are discussed

The yeast P5 type ATPase, Spf1, regulates manganese transport into the endoplasmic reticulum

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a large, multifunctional and essential organelle. Despite intense research, the function of more than a third of ER proteins remains unknown even in the well-studied model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae. One such protein is Spf1, which is a highly conserved, ER localized, putative P-type ATPase. Deletion of SPF1 causes a wide variety of phenotypes including severe ER stress suggesting that this protein is essential for the normal function of the ER. The closest homologue of Spf1 is the vacuolar P-type ATPase Ypk9 that influences Mn2+ homeostasis. However in vitro reconstitution assays with Spf1 have not yielded insight into its transport specificity. Here we took an in vivo approach to detect the direct and indirect effects of deleting SPF1. We found a specific reduction in the luminal concentration of Mn2+ in ∆spf1 cells and an increase following it’s overexpression. In agreement with the observed loss of luminal Mn2+ we could observe concurrent reduction in many Mn2+-related process in the ER lumen. Conversely, cytosolic Mn2+-dependent processes were increased. Together, these data support a role for Spf1p in Mn2+ transport in the cell. We also demonstrate that the human sequence homologue, ATP13A1, is a functionally conserved orthologue. Since ATP13A1 is highly expressed in developing neuronal tissues and in the brain, this should help in the study of Mn2+-dependent neurological disorders

Characteristics and Programme-Defined Treatment Outcomes among Childhood Tuberculosis (TB) Patients under the National TB Programme in Delhi

Childhood tuberculosis (TB) patients under India's Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) are managed using diagnostic algorithms and directly observed treatment with intermittent thrice-weekly short-course treatment regimens for 6–8 months. The assignment into pre-treatment weight bands leads to drug doses (milligram per kilogram) that are lower than current World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for some patients.The main aim of our study was to describe the baseline characteristics and treatment outcomes reported under RNTCP for registered childhood (age <15 years) TB patients in Delhi. Additionally, we compared the reported programmatic treatment completion rates between children treated as per WHO recommended anti-TB drug doses with those children treated with anti-TB drug doses below that recommended in WHO guidelines.For this cross-sectional retrospective study, we reviewed programme records of all 1089 TB patients aged <15 years registered for TB treatment from January to June, 2008 in 6 randomly selected districts of Delhi. WHO disease classification and treatment outcome definitions are used by RNTCP, and these were extracted as reported in programme records.Among 1074 patients with records available, 651 (61%) were females, 122 (11%) were <5 years of age, 1000 (93%) were new cases, and 680 (63%) had extra-pulmonary TB (EP-TB)—most commonly peripheral lymph node disease [310 (46%)]. Among 394 pulmonary TB (PTB) cases, 165 (42%) were sputum smear-positive. The overall reported treatment completion rate was 95%. Similar reported treatment completion rates were found in all subgroups assessed, including those patients whose drug dosages were lower than that currently recommended by WHO. Further studies are needed to assess the reasons for the low proportion of under-5 years of age TB case notifications, address challenges in reaching all childhood TB patients by RNTCP, the accuracy of diagnosis, and the clinical validity of reported programme defined treatment completion

Evidence for PTGER4, PSCA, and MBOAT7 as risk genes for gastric cancer on the genome and transcriptome level

Genetic associations between variants on chromosome 5p13 and 8q24 and gastric cancer (GC) have been previously reported in the Asian population. We aimed to replicate these findings and to characterize the associations at the genome and transcriptome level. We performed a fine-mapping association study in 1926 GC patients and 2012 controls of European descent using high dense SNP marker sets on both chromosomal regions. Next, we performed expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) analyses using gastric transcriptome data from 143 individuals focusing on the GC associated variants. On chromosome 5p13 the strongest association was observed at rs6872282 (P = 2.53 × 10-04) and on chromosome 8q24 at rs2585176 (P = 1.09 × 10-09). On chromosome 5p13 we found cis-eQTL effects with an upregulation of PTGER4 expression in GC risk allele carrier (P = 9.27 × 10-11). On chromosome 8q24 we observed cis-eQTL effects with an upregulation of PSCA expression in GC risk allele carrier (P = 2.17 × 10-47). In addition, we found trans-eQTL effects for the same variants on 8q24 with a downregulation of MBOAT7 expression in GC risk allele carrier (P = 3.11 × 10-09). In summary, we confirmed and refined the previously reported GC associations at both chromosomal regions. Our data point to shared etiological factors between Asians and Europeans. Furthermore, our data imply an upregulated expression of PTGER4 and PSCA as well as a downregulated expression of MBOAT7 in gastric tissue as risk-conferring GC pathomechanisms

Appropriate DevR (DosR)-Mediated Signaling Determines Transcriptional Response, Hypoxic Viability and Virulence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Background: The DevR(DosR) regulon is implicated in hypoxic adaptation and virulence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The present study was designed to decipher the impact of perturbation in DevR-mediated signaling on these properties. Methodology/Principal Findings: M. tb complemented (Comp) strains expressing different levels of DevR were constructed in Mut1 * background (expressing DevR N-terminal domain in fusion with AphI (DevRN-Kan) and in Mut2DdevR background (deletion mutant). They were compared for their hypoxia adaptation and virulence properties. Diverse phenotypes were noted; basal level expression (,5.362.3 mM) when induced to levels equivalent to WT levels (,25.869.3 mM) was associated with robust DevR regulon induction and hypoxic adaptation (Comp 9 * and 10*), whereas low-level expression (detectable at transcript level) as in Comp 11 * and Comp15 was associated with an adaptation defect. Intermediate-level expression (,3.361.2 mM) partially restored hypoxic adaptation functions in Comp2, but not in Comp1 * bacteria that coexpressed DevRN-Kan. Comp * strains in Mut1 * background also exhibited diverse virulence phenotypes; high/very low-level DevR expression was associated with virulence whereas intermediate-level expression was associated with low virulence. Transcription profiling and gene expression analysis revealed up-regulation of the phosphate starvation response (PSR) in Mut1 * and Comp11 * bacteria, but not in WT/Mut2DdevR/other Comp strains, indicating a plasticity in expression pathways that is determined by the magnitude of signaling perturbation through DevRN-Kan

Protein quality control: the who’s who, the where’s and therapeutic escapes

In cells the quality of newly synthesized proteins is monitored in regard to proper folding and correct assembly in the early secretory pathway, the cytosol and the nucleoplasm. Proteins recognized as non-native in the ER will be removed and degraded by a process termed ERAD. ERAD of aberrant proteins is accompanied by various changes of cellular organelles and results in protein folding diseases. This review focuses on how the immunocytochemical labeling and electron microscopic analyses have helped to disclose the in situ subcellular distribution pattern of some of the key machinery proteins of the cellular protein quality control, the organelle changes due to the presence of misfolded proteins, and the efficiency of synthetic chaperones to rescue disease-causing trafficking defects of aberrant proteins

Small Heat Shock Proteins Potentiate Amyloid Dissolution by Protein Disaggregases from Yeast and Humans

The authors define how small heat-shock proteins synergize to regulate the assembly and disassembly of a beneficial prion, and then they exploit this knowledge to identify the human amyloid depolymerase