Strategies for combining ionic and non-ionic functional groups are important for altering detergent properties and exploring new chemical spaces within the detergentome. Previous synthesis protocols for ionic/non-ionic hybrid detergents require asymmetric detergent precursors with independently addressable hydroxyl groups that can be decorated with charged groups. However, preparation of ionic/non-ionic headgroups can be tedious in terms of required synthesis steps and resource consumption.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDengue remains the most rapidly advancing vector-borne disease in the world, and while the disease burden is predominantly in low-to-middle-income countries, the association with poverty remains in question. Consequently, a study was undertaken to evaluate the prevalence of anti-dengue antibodies among individuals residing in the People's Housing Program (PPR), a government-sponsored low-cost housing initiative targeting low-income earners. This type of public housing often faces challenges, including substandard housing facilities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnn Agric Environ Med
December 2024
Rodents are recognized as reservoirs for , playing a crucial role in maintaining the parasite's presence in the environment. Biomonitoring was conducted to assess the role of sylvatic rodents in maintaining , and to analyse the prevalence and seroprevalence of the parasite in seven wild rodent species. Rodents were collected in an open grassland study site located in northeastern Poland, and dissected.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAs important primary producers and key components of biogeochemical processes, phytoplankton communities are highly diverse and continually adapt to changes in the environment, impacting the entire marine ecosystem. Consequently, it remains important to isolate, culture and properly describe new phytoplankton strains to provide relevant model organisms for laboratory research and accurate reference sequences for identification. Here, 73 phytoplankton strains from the eastern Canadian waters were isolated and genetically characterized using a long rRNA fragment (~4000 bp) covering the 18S, ITS and 28S rRNA regions generated with long-read sequencing technology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWood mice () and bank voles () are often employed as natural study models in infectious disease ecology. Yet the identities of some elements of their parasite fauna have been subject to long-standing confusion. One instance of this relates to 2 nominal species of the capillariid nematode genus : (Dujardin, 1845) and (Diesing, 1851).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol
November 2024
Phenotype distortion of lung resident mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) in preterm infants is a hallmark event in the pathogenesis of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Here, we evaluated the impact of cyclic mechanical stretch (CMS) and hyperoxia (HOX). The negative action of HOX on proliferation and cell death was more pronounced at 80% than at 40%.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCoevolution of parasites with their hosts may lead to balancing selection on genes involved in determining the specificity of host-parasite interactions, but examples of such specific interactions in wild vertebrates are scarce. Here, we investigated whether the polymorphic outer surface protein C (OspC), used by the Lyme disease agent, Borrelia afzelii, to manipulate vertebrate host innate immunity, interacts with polymorphic major histocompatibility genes (MHC), while concurrently eliciting a strong antibody response, in one of its main hosts in Europe, the bank vole. We found signals of balancing selection acting on OspC, resulting in little differentiation in OspC variant frequencies between years.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFToxoplasmosis is a zoonotic disease caused by the obligate intracellular protozoan Toxoplasma gondii. The current study assessed the seroepidemiological status and risk factors of T. gondii in the West Bank, Palestine.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOver the last five decades, widespread industrialisation and urbanisation have resulted in the influx of low-skilled workers, particularly from Southeast and West Asia to Malaysia. The current practice for migrant workers entry for employment requires mandatory medical screening for infectious diseases. However, screening for parasitic infections in Malaysia is woefully inadequate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOxygen toxicity constitutes a key contributor to bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Critical step in the pathogenesis of BPD is the inflammatory response in the immature lung with the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and the influx of innate immune cells. Identification of efficient therapies to alleviate the inflammatory response remains an unmet research priority.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProtein-based drugs are a mainstay of modern medicine. In contrast to antibodies, most of these need highly individualized production processes which often limits their development. Here, we develop an immunoglobulin domain tag (i-Tag), which can be fused to any protein of interest.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIonic detergents enable applications and cause harm in biospheres due to cell toxicity. The utility of covalent combinations between ionic and non-ionic detergent headgroups in modulating cell toxicity remains speculative due to the yet rarely explored synthesis. We close this gap and establish the modular synthesis of ionic/non-ionic hybrid detergents.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFToxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite affecting all warm-blooded vertebrates, including humans. Infections in humans can lead to severe clinical manifestations in pregnant women and immunocompromised patients. The aim of the present study was to assess seroprevalence of T.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDetergent chemistry enables applications in the world today while harming safe operating spaces that humanity needs for survival. Aim of this review is to support a holistic thought process in the design of detergent chemistry. We harness the planetary boundary concept as a framework for literature survey to identify progresses and knowledge gaps in context with detergent chemistry and five planetary boundaries that are currently transgressed, i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The ornate dog tick Dermacentor reticulatus is second only to the hard tick Ixodes ricinus in terms of importance as a vector of infectious organisms, especially of Babesia canis, the agent of canine babesiosis. Both the geographical range and local densities of D. reticulatus are steadily increasing in many regions of Europe.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOtolaryngol Head Neck Surg
June 2024
Extrarenal clear cell renal cell carcinoma (eccRCC) is a rare type of RCC that arises in areas other than the kidney. Given its rarity, consensus guidelines for optimal treatment of eccRCC have not been established, and the literature is lacking any reports of patient response to systemic therapy and any reports of administration of immunotherapy to patients with ecRCC. Here, we present the case of a patient in their 60s with eccRCC arising in the spleen.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNematode spicules play a vital role in the reproductive activity of species that possess them. Our primary objective was to compare the lengths of spicules of the laboratory mouse () – maintained isolate – with those of from naturally infected wood mice (). On a more limited scale, we also included from bank voles (), a species reputed to possess longer spicules than either of the 2 former species.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnn Otol Rhinol Laryngol
February 2024
Objectives: To identify the differences in the impact of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) between female and male adolescent patients at presentation.
Study Design: Cross sectional study.
Methods: Adolescent patients, age 12 to 18 years old, presenting to our Otolaryngology clinic between August 2020 and April 2023 for CRS were asked to fill both the SNOT-22 and the SN5 forms.
Background: Global studies show intestinal parasitic infections (IPIs) have been introduced and spread with refugee inflows from low to high socio-economic countries. However, there is relatively limited information on the prevalence of infections among the community.
Methods: A 2-year cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence and associated risk factors for infections among urban refugees in the Klang Valley, Malaysia.
Few studies have evaluated the association of recurrent acute rhinosinusitis (RARS) with other comorbidities. Allergic rhinitis, asthma, primary antibody deficiency, and autoimmune disorders are associated with RARS. Evaluation for these comorbidities should be considered when treating patients with RARS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRepetitive physical insults to the head, including those that elicit mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), are a known risk factor for a variety of neurodegenerative conditions including Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Although most individuals who sustain mTBI typically achieve a seemingly full recovery within a few weeks, a subset experience delayed-onset symptoms later in life. As most mTBI research has focused on the acute phase of injury, there is an incomplete understanding of mechanisms related to the late-life emergence of neurodegeneration after early exposure to mild head trauma.
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