Serum Cystatin C as a Predictor of Acute Kidney Transplant Rejection

Background: Accurate and rapid assessment of allograft function is essential. Cystatin C has recently been proposed as an alternative marker of glomerular filtration rate (GFR). Its diagnostic value for the longitudinal assessment of graft function has not been addressed well. Objective: To study the validity of cystatin C as an early marker and predictor of acute transplant rejection in the first week post transplantation. Subjects and Methods: Sixty six renal transplants recipients recruited. The study conducted in four renal transplantation centers in Baghdad for the period from September to December 2011. Serum creatinine and cystatin C concentrations measured 48 hours before transplantation and day 3 and 7 post transplantation. Results: Serum Cystatin C observed to significantly increased at day 3 (p<0.0001) and still increased at day 7 in the rejection. On day 3 areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were 0.749 for creatinine and 0.909 for cystatin C. In patients with acute rejection, serum cystatin C level elevated earlier than serum creatinine. Conclusion: Serum cystatin C seems to be a valuable marker of renal function in the first week post transplantation

An Optimized, Chemically Regulated Gene Expression System for Chlamydomonas

BACKGROUND: Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is a model system for algal and cell biology and is used for biotechnological applications, such as molecular farming or biological hydrogen production. The Chlamydomonas metal-responsive CYC6 promoter is repressed by copper and induced by nickel ions. However, induction by nickel is weak in some strains, poorly reversible by chelating agents like EDTA, and causes, at high concentrations, toxicity side effects on Chlamydomonas growth. Removal of these bottlenecks will encourage the wide use of this promoter as a chemically regulated gene expression system. METHODOLOGY: Using a codon-optimized Renilla luciferase as a reporter gene, we explored several strategies to improve the strength and reversibility of CYC6 promoter induction. Use of the first intron of the RBCS2 gene or of a modified TAP medium increases the strength of CYC6 induction up to 20-fold. In the modified medium, induction is also obtained after addition of specific copper chelators, like TETA. At low concentrations (up to 10 microM) TETA is a more efficient inducer than Ni, which becomes a very efficient inducer at higher concentrations (50 microM). Neither TETA nor Ni show toxicity effects at the concentrations used. Unlike induction by Ni, induction by TETA is completely reversible by micromolar copper concentrations, thus resulting in a transient "wave" in luciferase activity, which can be repeated in subsequent growth cycles. CONCLUSIONS: We have worked out a chemically regulated gene expression system that can be finely tuned to produce temporally controlled "waves" in gene expression. The use of cassettes containing the CYC6 promoter, and of modified growth media, is a reliable and economically sustainable system for the temporally controlled expression of foreign genes in Chlamydomonas

The effect of improvisational music therapy on the treatment of depression: protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Background. Music therapy is frequently offered to individuals suffering from depression. Despite the lack of research into the effects of music therapy on this population, anecdotal evidence suggests that the results are rather promising. The aim of this study is to examine whether improvisational, psychodynamically orientated music therapy in an individual setting helps reduce symptoms of depression and improve other health-related outcomes. In particular, attention will be given to mediator agents, such as musical expression and interaction in the sessions, as well as to the explanatory potential of EEG recordings in investigating emotion related music perception of individuals with depression. Methods. 85 adults (18&#8211;50 years of age) with depression (ICD-10: F 32 or F33) will be randomly assigned to an experimental or a control condition. All participants will receive standard care, but the experimental group will be offered biweekly sessions of improvisational music therapy over a period of 3 months. A blind assessor will measure outcomes before testing, after 3 months, and after 6 months. Discussion. This study aims to fill a gap in knowledge as to whether active (improvisational) music therapy applied to people with depression improves their condition. For the first time in this context, the mediating processes, such as changes in musical expression and interaction during the course of therapy, will be objectively investigated, and it is expected that the results will provide new insights into these processes. Furthermore, the findings are expected to reveal whether music related emotional experiences, as measured by EEG, can be utilized in assessing a depressive client's improvement in the therapy. The size and the comprehensiveness of the study are sufficient for generalizing its findings to clinical practice as well as to further music therapy research. Trial registration. ISRCTN84185937peerReviewe

Male Mating Rate Is Constrained by Seminal Fluid Availability in Bedbugs, Cimex lectularius

Sexual selection, differences in reproductive success between individuals, continues beyond acquiring a mating partner and affects ejaculate size and composition (sperm competition). Sperm and seminal fluid have very different roles in sperm competition but both components encompass production costs for the male. Theoretical models predict that males should spend ejaculate components prudently and differently for sperm and seminal fluid but empirical evidence for independent variation of sperm number and seminal fluid volume is scarce. It is also largely unknown how sperm and seminal fluid variation affect future mating rate. In bedbugs we developed a protocol to examine the role of seminal fluids in ejaculate allocation and its effect on future male mating rate. Using age-related changes in sperm and seminal fluid volume we estimated the lowest capacity at which mating activity started. We then showed that sexually active males allocate 12% of their sperm and 19% of their seminal fluid volume per mating and predicted that males would be depleted of seminal fluid but not of sperm. We tested (and confirmed) this prediction empirically. Finally, the slightly faster replenishment of seminal fluid compared to sperm did not outweigh the faster decrease during mating. Our results suggest that male mating rate can be constrained by the availability of seminal fluids. Our protocol might be applicable to a range of other organisms. We discuss the idea that economic considerations in sexual conflict research might benefit from distinguishing between costs and benefits that are ejaculate dose-dependent and those that are frequency-dependent on the mating rate per se

Interstitial lung disease in children - genetic background and associated phenotypes

Interstitial lung disease in children represents a group of rare chronic respiratory disorders. There is growing evidence that mutations in the surfactant protein C gene play a role in the pathogenesis of certain forms of pediatric interstitial lung disease. Recently, mutations in the ABCA3 transporter were found as an underlying cause of fatal respiratory failure in neonates without surfactant protein B deficiency. Especially in familiar cases or in children of consanguineous parents, genetic diagnosis provides an useful tool to identify the underlying etiology of interstitial lung disease. The aim of this review is to summarize and to describe in detail the clinical features of hereditary interstitial lung disease in children. The knowledge of gene variants and associated phenotypes is crucial to identify relevant patients in clinical practice

A922 Sequential measurement of 1 hour creatinine clearance (1-CRCL) in critically ill patients at risk of acute kidney injury (AKI)

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Genetic variants in novel pathways influence blood pressure and cardiovascular disease risk.

Blood pressure is a heritable trait influenced by several biological pathways and responsive to environmental stimuli. Over one billion people worldwide have hypertension (≥140 mm Hg systolic blood pressure or  ≥90 mm Hg diastolic blood pressure). Even small increments in blood pressure are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events. This genome-wide association study of systolic and diastolic blood pressure, which used a multi-stage design in 200,000 individuals of European descent, identified sixteen novel loci: six of these loci contain genes previously known or suspected to regulate blood pressure (GUCY1A3-GUCY1B3, NPR3-C5orf23, ADM, FURIN-FES, GOSR2, GNAS-EDN3); the other ten provide new clues to blood pressure physiology. A genetic risk score based on 29 genome-wide significant variants was associated with hypertension, left ventricular wall thickness, stroke and coronary artery disease, but not kidney disease or kidney function. We also observed associations with blood pressure in East Asian, South Asian and African ancestry individuals. Our findings provide new insights into the genetics and biology of blood pressure, and suggest potential novel therapeutic pathways for cardiovascular disease prevention

The crisis of the civilization and the utopia of the desert in the postcolonial discourse : a comparative study in the novel by J.M.G. Le Clézio, Tahar Ben Jelloun, Ibrahim al-Koni and Abdul Rahman Mounif

Civilisation et désert : deux termes qui donnent l’impression en apparence d’être antithétiques, mais ils sont cependant et ont souvent été liés étroitement ensemble dans l'imaginaire aussi bien que dans la pratique. Depuis L'Épopée de Gilgamesh, en passant parles textes antiques et les traditions religieuses ou bien par les variations successives menant aux «découvertes géographiques», à la «modernité» et à la «mondialisation», l’idée de la civilisation a maintes fois trouvé son inverse, son révélateur et son complément dans la référence qu’elle donne au désert : quand la civilisation échoue à conquérir et à urbaniser le désert, c’est à ce même désert qu’elle retourne. Cette interaction des représentations autour des variantes contemporaines du rapport civilisation/désert n’a cessé de donner une inspiration importante depuis deux siècles à une littérature abondante sur le désert,dans laquelle la relation de ce dernier à l’espace civilisé constitue non seulement une sorte de confrontation entre deux espaces, mais aussi entre deux mondes, Occident et Orient,entre deux temps mythiques, deux visions du destin humain. Cet imaginaire se projette aussi dans les représentations des utopies– anciennes et nouvelles – pour mettre en valeur le désert.La présente thèse se donne pour objet de mettre l’accent sur l’opposition civilisation/désert à l’époque moderne. Notre lecture structuro-idéologique et socio-historique s’efforce d’identifier, pour chacun de nos quatre textes, les procédés sémiotiques et poétiques mobilisés en vue de mettre en lumière cette opposition, à savoir les mécanismes de sa représentation, de son fonctionnement et de sa mutation.Partant d’une analyse du contraste entre le discours colonial et le discours postcolonial,notre approche comparatiste repose sur la lecture de quatre oeuvres romanesques postcoloniales appartenant à quatre littératures mondiales traitant de l'opposition civilisation / désert tout en révélant la misère de l'Homme primitif face à tant de tentatives de l’Homme civilisé de l’arracher de son milieu. Les quatre oeuvres qui superposent l’Histoire à la fiction s’articulent sur une vision dénonciatrice de la civilisation moderne et sur une vision idéaliste et utopique du désert et du nomadisme.Civilization and desert: two words which in appearance appear to be antithetical, and yet they are and have often been tightly linked in the imaginary as well as in practical experience. From The Epic of Gilgamesh, to ancient texts and religious traditions or even to the successive variations leading to "geographic discoveries", "modernity" and to "globalization", the idea of civilization has many times met its opposite, its enlightener, and its point of reference that it gives to the desert. For two centuries, this interaction in the representations about the contemporary variations of the connection civilization/desert has been continuously providing an important inspiration to an extensive literature on the desert. The latter's relationship with the civilized space not only sets up some confrontation between two spaces but also between two worlds, the Western and Eastern ones, between two mythical times, two different visions of human destiny. This imaginary experience is also shown through the representations of the utopias ancient or recent to highlight the desert. The opposition civilization/desert in modern times forms the subject matter of this thesis. Our structural-ideologicaland socio-historical reading endeavors to identify, through all four texts, the semiotic and poetic processes. These processes are featured in order to bring this opposition to the fore, which are the mechanism of its representation, functioning and mutation. On the basis of an analysis of the contrast between the colonial discourse and the postcolonial one, our comparative approach hinges on the reading of the four postcolonial novelistic works belonging to four world pieces of literature which deal with the opposition civilization/desert while featuring the misery of the primitive Man facing so many attempts of the civilized Man to force him out of his background. The four works superposing History on fiction are structured on a denunciatory vision of modern civilization and on a utopian and idealistic vision of the desert and of nomadism