Etiology and Phenotypes of Cardiomyopathy in Southern Africa: The IMHOTEP Multicenter Pilot Study.

Background: Cardiomyopathies are an important cause of heart failure in Africa yet there are limited data on etiology and clinical phenotypes.

Objectives: The IMHOTEP (African Cardiomyopathy and Myocarditis Registry Program) was designed to systematically collect data on individuals diagnosed with cardiomyopathy living in Africa.

Methods: In this multicenter pilot study, patients (age ≥13 years) were eligible for inclusion if they had a diagnosis of cardiomyopathy or myocarditis.

Atraumatic restorative treatment induces transient changes in salivary total protein and redox biomarkers in children with caries: A non-randomized clinical study.

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate if dental atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) impacts salivary total protein and redox biomarkers in children with caries.

Methods: The study included 30 children (aged 4 to 6 years) with caries on posterior deciduous teeth, classified by ICCMS, attending a basic education school. Participants were divided into enamel (n = 15) and dentin (n = 15) lesion groups.

MMP-9 expression in rat pup incisor teeth is not altered by maternal hypertension or maternal atenolol treatment during pregnancy and lactation.

Hypertension alters tooth formation and Atenolol reduces the blood pressure of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) during pregnancy and lactation, and as demonstrated before, increases the microhardness of the SHR offspring's teeth. MMP-9 is overexpressed in different tissues of hypertensive animals and treatment of hypertension substances can reverse this alteration. We hypothesize hypertension alters the expression of MMP-9 in dental structures of SHR offspring and that treating female SHR with atenolol prevents this alteration.

Validation of an HPLC-MS/MS method for the quantification of pesticide residues in Rice and assessment of the washing effect.

Unlabelled: A method was validated to determine 121 pesticide residues (carbamates, organophosphates, organochlorines, and pyrethroids) in rice samples, following the guidance document SANTE/11312/2021v2. QuEChERS method was selected for pesticide extraction, and the extract was analyzed by HPLC-MS/MS. The methodology demonstrated precision and accuracy, with recovery rates ranging from 70 % to 119 %.

LD-transpeptidation is crucial for fitness and polar growth in Agrobacterium tumefaciens.

Peptidoglycan (PG), a mesh-like structure which is the primary component of the bacterial cell wall, is crucial to maintain cell integrity and shape. While most bacteria rely on penicillin binding proteins (PBPs) for crosslinking, some species also employ LD-transpeptidases (LDTs). Unlike PBPs, the essentiality and biological functions of LDTs remain largely unclear.