Influence of Local Bedrock on the Clay Mineralogy of Pre-Woodfordian Tills of the Grand River Lobe in Columbiana County, Ohio

Author Institution: Department of Geology, University of AkronThe clay mineralogy of three pre-Woodfordian tills of the Grand River lobe in Columbiana County, Ohio, shows the influence of the underlying Pennsylvanian strata of the Allegheny Plateau. The mean diffraction intensity ratios (DI) of these sandy tills range from 0.5 to 0.7. These ratios are comparable to those of the underlying bedrock; 60% of the variance of the clay mineralogy may be attributed to the bedrock. Weathered bedrock and weathered older drift are possible sources of kaolinite. Locally entrained Pennsylvanian sandstone clasts at the base of the glacier may have acted as tools for extensive abrasion of softer argillaceous shales. This abrasion may have produced tills having a higher kaolinite content than those near the edge of the Allegheny Escarpment in north-central Ohio

Sample Preparation for N-Glycosylation Analysis of Therapeutic Monoclonal Antibodies by Electrophoresis

There are a considerable number of biopharmaceuticals that have been approved for clinical use in the past decade. Over half of these new generation drugs are glycoproteins, such as monoclonal antibodies or other recombinant glycoproteins, which are mostly produced in mammalian cell lines. The linked carbohydrate moieties affect not only their physicochemical properties and thermal stability but also crucial features like receptor-binding activity, circulating half-life, as well as immunogenicity. The structural diversity of these attached glycans can be manifested in altered monosaccharide composition and linkages/positions among the monosaccharide building blocks. In addition, as more and more biosimilar products hit the market, understanding the effects of their glycosylation modifi cation has become a recent target in effi cacy and safety issues. To ensure consistent quality of these products, glycosylation profi les have to be monitored and controlled in all steps of the manufacturing process, i.e., from clone selection to lot release. In this paper, we describe some of the recently introduced and commonly used sample preparation techniques for capillary electrophoresis (CE)-based profi ling and structural elucidation of N-glycans. The presented pro- tocols include protein A affi nity partitioning of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), enzymatic release of the N-linked glycans, labeling of the liberated carbohydrates, reaction mixture purifi cation techniques to remove the excess labeling reagent, and high-resolution and rapid capillary electrophoresis-laser-induced fl uorescence (CE-LIF)-based profi ling of the labeled and purifi ed N-glycans

Differential spatial repositioning of activated genes in Biomphalaria glabrata snails infected with Schistosoma mansoni

Copyright @ 2014 Arican-Goktas et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Schistosomiasis is an infectious disease infecting mammals as the definitive host and fresh water snails as the intermediate host. Understanding the molecular and biochemical relationship between the causative schistosome parasite and its hosts will be key to understanding and ultimately treating and/or eradicating the disease. There is increasing evidence that pathogens that have co-evolved with their hosts can manipulate their hosts' behaviour at various levels to augment an infection. Bacteria, for example, can induce beneficial chromatin remodelling of the host genome. We have previously shown in vitro that Biomphalaria glabrata embryonic cells co-cultured with schistosome miracidia display genes changing their nuclear location and becoming up-regulated. This also happens in vivo in live intact snails, where early exposure to miracidia also elicits non-random repositioning of genes. We reveal differences in the nuclear repositioning between the response of parasite susceptible snails as compared to resistant snails and with normal or live, attenuated parasites. Interestingly, the stress response gene heat shock protein (Hsp) 70 is only repositioned and then up-regulated in susceptible snails with the normal parasite. This movement and change in gene expression seems to be controlled by the parasite. Other differences in the behaviour of genes support the view that some genes are responding to tissue damage, for example the ferritin genes move and are up-regulated whether the snails are either susceptible or resistant and upon exposure to either normal or attenuated parasite. This is the first time host genome reorganisation has been seen in a parasitic host and only the second time for any pathogen. We believe that the parasite elicits a spatio-epigenetic reorganisation of the host genome to induce favourable gene expression for itself and this might represent a fundamental mechanism present in the human host infected with schistosome cercariae as well as in other host-pathogen relationships.NIH and Sandler Borroughs Wellcome Travel Fellowshi

Erythrodermic psoriasis treated with ustekinumab: An Italian multicenter retrospective analysis

Erythrodermic psoriasis (EP) is one of the most severe cutaneous conditions which may lead to serious morbidity and even mortality. This condition is often difficult to manage and, due to its rarity (estimated prevalence 1–2.25% of psoriatic patients) there is a lack of high-quality medical literature examining treatment options [1]

Rendimento do café conilon em função das formas de processamento e secagem.

A cafeicultura é a atividade agrícola mais importante na agricultura capixaba. A escolha do método de secagem, assim como das técnicas empregadas durante o processamento, é essencial para a obtenção de um rendimento superior, além da produção de um produto de melhor qualidade. O objetivo desse trabalho foi avaliar o rendimento final do café conilon submetido a diferentes métodos de processamento e secagem. O estudo foi realizado na Fazenda Experimental de Marilândia (Incaper). O delineamento experimental utilizado foi de blocos inteiramente casualizados com quatro tratamentos e oito repetições. Os tratamentos estudados foram: café colhido e levado diretamente da roça para secador rotativo, café colhido e levado diretamente da roça para terreiro de cimento, café colhido, lavado e seco em terreiro de cimento e café colhido, descascado e seco em terreiro de cimento. Dentre as metodologias avaliadas, os maiores rendimentos finais podem ser obtidos com o processamento do café conilon utilizando a via úmida com secagem em terreiro de cimento, para as condições estudadas. Não foi encontrada diferenças significativas entre a secagem feita em secador rotativo e em terreiro de cimento

Produtividade do cafeeiro conilon conduzido com a poda programada de ciclo e diferentes populações de hastes.

Tem ocorrido grande avanço nas tecnologias da cafeicultura capixaba nos últimos anos, entretanto, a adequação da densidade de plantas e hastes ao manejo de poda ainda é um desafio para os trabalhos de pesquisas. O objetivo deste experimento foi avaliar a produtividade do cafeeiro conilon cultivado com a poda programada de ciclo (PPC) em diferentes espaçamentos, com manutenção de um número padrão de hastes por planta. O experimento foi conduzido na Fazenda Experimental de Marilândia (Incaper), no norte do Estado do Espírito Santo, seguindo delineamento em blocos casualizados. A produtividade foi avaliada em quatro tratamentos, sendo: Tratamento T1 ? 2,0 x 1,0 m, com 3 hastes por planta, com 15.000 hastes por hectare; Tratamento T2 ? 2,5 x 1,0 m, com 3 hastes por planta, com 12.000 hastes por hectare; Tratamento T3 ? 3,0 x 1,0 m, com 3 hastes por planta, com 10.000 hastes por hectare; e Tratamento T4 ? 3,0 x 1,5 m, com 3 hastes por planta, com 6.667 hastes por hectare. As avaliações foram efetuadas nos anos de 2008, 2009, 2010 e 2011, em esquema de parcelas subdivididas no tempo, com quatro repetições. A parcela experimental foi composta por onze plantas. Os resultados mostram que, em condições normais de suprimento hídrico, o adensamento da lavoura, associado à poda programada de ciclo, tem efeito positivo na produtividade da lavoura de café conilon

Desenvolvimento vegetativo do café conilon conduzido com a poda programada de ciclo em diferentes densidades de plantio.

O adensamento do cafeeiro possibilita uma melhor utilização da área, devido ao aumento da população de plantas e possível crescimento da produção por área. A poda nas lavouras de café conilon é uma prática eficiente para a renovação dos cafezais, que visa revigorar as plantas e manter a produtividade da cultura ao longo dos anos. Neste trabalho avaliou-se o crescimento vegetativo do café conilon conduzido com a poda programada de ciclo e em densidades de plantio variando de adensado a convencional com o objetivo de estudar o efeito do aumento do número de hastes por hectare no desenvolvimento da cultura. O experimento foi realizado na Fazenda Experimental de Marilândia/Incaper, utilizando-se a cultivar EMCAPA 8111 precoce. Os espaçamentos utilizados foram: 2,0 x 1,0 m; 2,5 x 1,0 m; 3,0 x 1,0 m e 3,0 x 1,5 m e ambos com 3 hastes por planta para a composição dos tratamentos. Logo, foram testadas as populações de 6.667, 10.000, 12.000 e 15.000 hastes por hectare em um delineamento experimental em blocos casualizados, com seis repetições. A análise dos resultados indicou a significância do efeito das diferentes populações de hastes por hectare no desenvolvimento das plantas para as características: altura da planta e número de ramos plagiotrópicos. Não ocorreram diferenças significativas para o diâmetro de copa e o diâmetro de caule. A altura das plantas e o número de ramos plagiotrópicos emitidos foram maiores quando o número de hastes por hectare foi maior (adensamento)

Epidemiology and economic burden of herpes zoster and post-herpetic neuralgia in Italy: A retrospective, population-based study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Data on the epidemiology and cost of herpes zoster (HZ) and post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN) in Italy are limited. This retrospective, population-based study was designed to determine the incidence of HZ and the proportion developing PHN in Italy and the associated medical resource utilisation and costs. It focused primarily on immunocompetent patients aged ≥50 years who would be eligible for preventive vaccination.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>Data were extracted from a primary-care database and national hospital-discharge records covering four major regions in Italy for 2003-2005. Cases of HZ and PHN (1 and 3 months' duration; PHN1 and PHN3) were identified by ICD9-CM codes and, additionally for PHN, prescription of neuropathic pain medication.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Over 3 years, 5675 incident cases of HZ were documented in adults, of which 3620 occurred in immunocompetent patients aged ≥50 years (incidence of 6.31 per 1000 person-years [95% CI: 6.01-6.62]). Of the immunocompetent patients aged ≥50 years with HZ, 9.4% (95% CI: 8.2-10.7) and 7.2% (95% CI: 6.2-8.2) developed PHN1 and PHN3, respectively. Increasing age, female sex, and being immunologically compromised conferred increased risk for both HZ and PHN. Overall, about 1.3% of HZ and almost 2% of PHN cases required inpatient care, with 16.9% of all HZ-related hospitalisations due specifically to PHN. In patients aged ≥50 years, mean stay was 7.8 ± 5.4 days for HZ and 10.2 ± 8.6 days for PHN, and direct costs associated with inpatient care were more than 20 times outpatient costs per HZ case (mean ± SD: €2592 ± €1313 vs. €122.68 ± €97.51) and over 5 times more per episode of PHN (mean ± SD: €2806 ± €2641 vs. €446.10 ± €442.97). Total annual costs were €41.2 million, of which €28.2 million were direct costs and €13.0 million indirect costs.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study, the largest to date on the epidemiology and economic impact of HZ and PHN in Italy, confirms the considerable disease and economic burden posed by HZ. As HZ and PHN disproportionately affect the elderly, without intervention this problem is likely to grow as the proportion of elderly in the Italian population continues to increase.</p