Prediction of Gestational Diabetes by Measuring First Trimester Maternal Serum Uric Acid Concentration

Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a common complication in pregnancy, affecting more than 10% pregnancies worldwide. However, the true underlying causes remain to be fully elucidated.Aim: This study aimed at searching for any relation between first trimester uric acid concentration and the development of GDM.Subjects and Methods: The study was conducted on 250 first trimester pregnant females at risk of diabetes mellitus attending the outpatient clinic of Tanta University Hospital. All cases underwent estimation of first trimester‑fasting blood sugar and maternal serum uric acid concentration. Between 24 and 28 weeks’ gestation random blood sugar and glucose challenge test were done. Positive cases were confirmed by 3 h glucose tolerance curve.Results: The results demonstrated an association between first trimester maternal serum uric acid concentration obesity and GDM. Approximately, 41.4% (60/145) of non‑diabetic women were at first quartile, while 44.8% (47/105) of the diabetic women were at fourth quartile.Conclusion: We concluded that the cut‑off level of maternal serum uric acid of 4 mg/dl in the first trimester was associated with developing GDM. Therefore, we suggest that serum uric acid level should be done as routine test during the first antenatal care visit.Keywords: Impaired fasting glucose, multiple logistic‑regression analysis, type 2 diabetes mellitus, uric aci

From Industry 4.0 to Agriculture 4.0 : current status, enabling technologies, and research challenges

Abstract: The three previous industrial revolutions profoundly transformed agriculture industry from indigenous farming to mechanized farming and recent precision agriculture. Industrial farming paradigm greatly improves productivity, but a number of challenges have gradually emerged, which have exacerbated in recent years. Industry 4.0 is expected to reshape the agriculture industry once again and promote the fourth agricultural revolution. In this article, first, we review the current status of industrial agriculture along with lessons learned from industrialized agricultural production patterns, industrialized agricultural production processes, and the industrialized agri-food supply chain. Furthermore, five emerging technologies, namely the Internet of Things, robotics, artificial intelligence, big data analytics, and blockchain, toward Agriculture 4.0 are discussed. Specifically, we focus on the key applications of these emerging technologies in the agricultural sector and corresponding research challenges. This article aims to open up new research opportunities for readers, particularly industrial practitioners

Characterising the inhibitory actions of ceramide upon insulin signaling in different skeletal muscle cell models:a mechanistic insight

International audienceCeramides are known to promote insulin resistance in a number of metabolically important tissues including skeletal muscle, the predominant site of insulin-stimulated glucose disposal. Depending on cell type, these lipid intermediates have been shown to inhibit protein kinase B (PKB/Akt), a key mediator of the metabolic actions of insulin, via two distinct pathways: one involving the action of atypical protein kinase C (aPKC) isoforms, and the second dependent on protein phosphatase-2A (PP2A). The main aim of this study was to explore the mechanisms by which ceramide inhibits PKB/Akt in three different skeletal muscle-derived cell culture models; rat L6 myotubes, mouse C2C12 myotubes and primary human skeletal muscle cells. Our findings indicate that the mechanism by which ceramide acts to repress PKB/Akt is related to the myocellular abundance of caveolin-enriched domains (CEM) present at the plasma membrane. Here, we show that ceramide-enriched-CEMs are markedly more abundant in L6 myotubes compared to C2C12 myotubes, consistent with their previously reported role in coordinating aPKC-directed repression of PKB/Akt in L6 muscle cells. In contrast, a PP2A-dependent pathway predominantly mediates ceramide-induced inhibition of PKB/Akt in C2C12 myotubes. In addition, we demonstrate for the first time that ceramide engages an aPKC-dependent pathway to suppress insulin-induced PKB/Akt activation in palmitate-treated cultured human muscle cells as well as in muscle cells from diabetic patients. Collectively, this work identifies key mechanistic differences, which may be linked to variations in plasma membrane composition, underlying the insulin-desensitising effects of ceramide in different skeletal muscle cell models that are extensively used in signal transduction and metabolic studies

Role of radiography, MRI and FDG-PET/CT in diagnosing, staging and therapeutical evaluation of patients with multiple myeloma

Multiple myeloma is a malignant B-cell neoplasm that involves the skeleton in approximately 80% of the patients. With an average age of 60 years and a 5-years survival of nearly 45% Brenner et al. (Blood 111:2516–2520, 35) the onset is to be classified as occurring still early in life while the disease can be very aggressive and debilitating. In the last decades, several new imaging techniques were introduced. The aim of this review is to compare the different techniques such as radiographic survey, multidetector computed tomography (MDCT), whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (WB-MRI), fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography- (FDG-PET) with or without computed tomography (CT), and 99mTc-methoxyisobutylisonitrile (99mTc-MIBI) scintigraphy. We conclude that both FDG-PET in combination with low-dose CT and whole-body MRI are more sensitive than skeleton X-ray in screening and diagnosing multiple myeloma. WB-MRI allows assessment of bone marrow involvement but cannot detect bone destruction, which might result in overstaging. Moreover, WB-MRI is less suitable in assessing response to therapy than FDG-PET. The combination of PET with low-dose CT can replace the golden standard, conventional skeletal survey. In the clinical practise, this will result in upstaging, due to the higher sensitivity

Use of designer nucleases for targeted gene and genome editing in plants

The ability to efficiently inactivate or replace genes in model organisms allowed a rapid expansion of our understanding of many of the genetic, biochemical, molecular and cellular mechanisms that support life. With the advent of new techniques for manipulating genes and genomes that are applicable not only to single-celled organisms, but also to more complex organisms such as animals and plants, the speed with which scientists and biotechnologists can expand fundamental knowledge and apply that knowledge to improvements in medicine, industry and agriculture is set to expand in an exponential fashion. At the heart of these advancements will be the use of gene editing tools such as zinc finger nucleases, modified meganucleases, hybrid DNA/ RNA oligonucleotides, TAL effector nucleases and modified CRISPR/Cas9. Each of these tools has the ability to precisely target one specific DNA sequence within a genome and (except for DNA/ RNA oligonucleotides) to create a double-stranded DNA break. DNA repair to such breaks sometimes leads to gene knockouts or gene replacement by homologous recombination if exogenously supplied homologous DNA fragments are made available. Genome rearrangements are also possible to engineer. Creation and use of such genome rearrangements, gene knockouts and gene replacements by the plant science community is gaining significant momentum. To document some of this progress and to explore the technology’s longer term potential, this review highlights present and future uses of designer nucleases to greatly expedite research with model plant systems and to engineer genes and genomes in major and minor crop species for enhanced food production

Regulation of Translation by TOR, eIF4E and eIF2 alpha in Plants:Current Knowledge, Challenges and Future Perspectives

An important step in eukaryotic gene expression is the synthesis of proteins from mRNA, a process classically divided into three stages, initiation, elongation, and termination. Translation is a precisely regulated and conserved process in eukaryotes. The presence of plant-specific translation initiation factors and the lack of well-known translational regulatory pathways in this kingdom nonetheless indicate how a globally conserved process can diversify among organisms. The control of protein translation is a central aspect of plant development and adaptation to environmental stress, but the mechanisms are still poorly understood. Here we discuss current knowledge of the principal mechanisms that regulate translation initiation in plants, with special attention to the singularities of this eukaryotic kingdom. In addition, we highlight the major recent breakthroughs in the field and the main challenges to address in the coming years

Transcriptional Downregulation of Rice rpL32 Gene under Abiotic Stress Is Associated with Removal of Transcription Factors within the Promoter Region

Background: The regulation of ribosomal proteins in plants under stress conditions has not been well studied. Although a few reports have shown stress-specific post-transcriptional and translational mechanisms involved in downregulation of ribosomal proteins yet stress-responsive transcriptional regulation of ribosomal proteins is largely unknown in plants. Methodology/Principal Findings: In the present work, transcriptional regulation of genes encoding rice 60S ribosomal protein L32 (rpL32) in response to salt stress has been studied. Northern and RT-PCR analyses showed a significant downregulation of rpL32 transcripts under abiotic stress conditions in rice. Of the four rpL32 genes in rice genome, the gene on chromosome 8 (rpL32_8.1) showed a higher degree of stress-responsive downregulation in salt sensitive rice variety than in tolerant one and its expression reverted to its original level upon withdrawal of stress. The nuclear run-on and promoter:reporter assays revealed that the downregulation of this gene is transcriptional and originates within the promoter region. Using in vivo footprinting and electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA), cis-elements in the promoter of rpL32_8.1 showing reduced binding to proteins in shoots of salt stressed rice seedlings were identified. Conclusions: The present work is one of the few reports on study of stress downregulated genes. The data revealed that rpL32 gene is transcriptionally downregulated under abiotic stress in rice and that this transcriptional downregulation i

New insight into the EC’ mechanism of uric acid regeneration in the presence of ascorbic acid on a poly(3,4-ethylenedioxithiophene) modified gold electrode

A gold electrode surface was functionalized by means of an electropolymerized conductive poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) organic layer. This modified electrode was used for the electrochemical detection of ascorbic (AA) and uric (UA) acids in an aqueous mixture with a selectivity around 340 mV. The electrochemical reactions kinetics were limited by AA diffusion and UA adsorption at the electrode surface, respectively. Following a previous study ([Electrochem Comm., 2011, 13, 423-425]) cyclic voltammetry was used to provide a better understanding of the EC' mechanism of regeneration of UA by AA. Experiments particularly showed that allantoin (i.e. the final product of UA oxidation) is not actually involved in the synergic mechanism but rather the oxidized UA product diimine which is adsorbed at the electrode surface