Adapting Audiology Procedures During the Pandemic: Validity and Efficacy of Testing Outside a Sound Booth.

Purpose: This investigation aims to provide outcomes from a clinical perspective on the validity and efficacy of a wireless automated audiometer system that could be used in multiple settings when a sound booth is not accessible. Testing was conducted in a clinical setting under modified protocols meeting safety precautions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Method: Four doctoral students in audiology served as examiners.

Regulation of oyster (Crassostrea virginica) hemocyte motility by the intracellular parasite Perkinsus marinus: A possible mechanism for host infection.

Hemocytes associated with the mucus lining of pallial (mantle, gill) surfaces of the oyster Crassostrea virginica have been recently suggested to facilitate infection by the Alveolate parasite Perkinsus marinus by mediating the uptake and dispersion of parasite cells. These "pallial hemocytes", which are directly exposed to microbes present in surrounding seawater, are able to migrate bi-directionally between mucosal surfaces and the circulatory system, potentially playing a sentinel role. Interestingly, P.

Transepithelial migration of mucosal hemocytes in Crassostrea virginica and potential role in Perkinsus marinus pathogenesis.

We have recently described the presence of hemocytes associated with mucus covering the pallial organs (mantle, gills, and body wall) 3 of the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica. These hemocytes, hereby designated "pallial hemocytes" share common general characteristics with circulating hemocytes but also display significant differences particularly in their cell surface epitopes. The specific location of pallial hemocytes as peripheral cells exposed directly to the marine environment confers them a putative sentinel role.

Enhanced Benefit in Diabetic Macular Edema from AKB-9778 Tie2 Activation Combined with Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Suppression.

Purpose: To assess the effect of AKB-9778 alone or in combination with ranibizumab in subjects with diabetic macular edema (DME).

Design: A phase IIa, randomized, placebo- and sham injection-controlled, double-masked clinical trial.

Participants: Subjects (n = 144) with decreased vision from DME and central subfield thickness (CST) ≥325 μm measured by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD OCT) enrolled at 36 sites.

Treatment of diabetic macular edema with an inhibitor of vascular endothelial-protein tyrosine phosphatase that activates Tie2.

Purpose: AKB-9778 is a small-molecule competitive inhibitor of vascular endothelial-protein tyrosine phosphatase (VE-PTP) that promotes Tie2 activation and reduces vascular leakage and neovascularization in mouse models. The purpose of this study was to test the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and biological activity of AKB-9778 in patients with diabetic macular edema (DME).

Design: Open-label, dose-escalation clinical trial.

Free fatty acid receptor 3 is a key target of short chain fatty acid. What is the impact on the sympathetic nervous system?

Nervous system (NS) activity participates in metabolic homeostasis by detecting peripheral signal molecules derived from food intake and energy balance. High quality diets are thought to include fiber-rich foods like whole grain rice, breads, cereals, and grains. Several studies have associated high consumption of fiber-enriched diets with a reduced risk of diabetes, obesity, and gastrointestinal disorders.

Identifying and correcting communication failures among health professionals working in the Emergency Department.

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify effective corrective measures to ensure patient safety in the Paediatric Emergency Department (ED).

Methods: In order to outline a clear picture of these risks, we conducted a Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and a Failure Mode, Effects, and Criticality Analysis (FMECA), at a Emergency Department of a Children's Teaching Hospital in Northern Italy. The Error Modes were categorised according to Vincent's Taxonomy of Causal Factors and correlated with the Risk Priority Number (RPN) to determine the priority criteria for the implementation of corrective actions.

Effects of temperature on hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria) immunity and QPX (Quahog Parasite Unknown) disease development: II. Defense parameters.

Quahog Parasite Unknown (QPX) is a protistan parasite affecting hard clams Mercenaria mercenaria along the Northeastern coast of the United States. The geographic distribution and occurrence of disease epizootics suggests a primary role of temperature in disease development. This study was designed to investigate the effect of temperature on constitutive and QPX-induced defense factors in M.

Determination of atenolol by the micelle-stabilized room-temperature phosphorescence methodology.

A micellar-stabilized room-temperature phosphorescence (MS-RTP) method for the determination of atenolol has been developed in micellar solutions of sodium dodecylsulphate (SDS) in the presence of thallium(I) as a heavy atom and sodium sulphite as an oxygen scavenger. The effects of thallium(I) nitrate, SDS and sodium sulphite concentrations on atenolol MS-RTP intensity were studied. Optimized conditions to obtain maximum sensitivity were 0.

Two step procedure for purification of enzymatically active prostate-specific antigen from seminal plasma.

The role of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) during the onset of prostate cancer and subsequent tumor growth and metastasis is not well understood. We have developed a simple two step procedure, based on principles of hydrophobic charge-induction chromatography and molecular size chromatography to provide pure free-PSA (f-PSA) preparation that is free from all other known PSA complexes as well as human kallikrein 2 (hK2). The overall recovery of f-PSA is 72%.

[Effects of two Sicilian red wines on some cardiovascular risk factors].

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether Sicilian red wine consumption is associated with a lower cardiovascular risk.

Methods: Forty-eight subjects of both sexes (age range 35-65 years) nondrinkers or rarely drinkers of moderate red wine intake were selected. Subjects were divided into two groups (group A and group B), assigned to receive with a crossover design 250 ml/die (during the meals) of one of two types of Sicilian red wines (Nero d'Avola and Etna Torrepalino respectively).

Angiogenesis occurs by vessel elongation in proliferative phase human endometrium.

Background: Angiogenesis occurs by at least three mechanisms: sprouting, intussusception and elongation. Studies to date have failed to identify the mechanisms or timing of endometrial angiogenesis during the menstrual cycle. The aim of this study was to determine if vessel elongation plays a role in human endometrial angiogenesis.

Focal vascular endothelial growth factor correlates with angiogenesis in human endometrium. Role of intravascular neutrophils.

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is expressed in human endometrium, but the cellular source of VEGF for endometrial angiogenesis has not been determined. In the present study the relationship between focal VEGF associated with microvessels and endothelial cell proliferation was examined in three layers of human endometrium at various stages of the menstrual cycle (menstrual, proliferative and secretory). Immunohistochemical analysis of full thickness endometrium from 18 hysterectomy samples without endometrial pathology were examined.

Thyroid carcinosarcoma, a rare and aggressive histotype: a case report.

Thyroid carcinosarcoma is a rare and aggressive thyroid tumor. Histological examination of a tumor showed the characteristic of epithelial carcinoma and mesenchymal differentiation. We retrospectively analyzed the course of the patient and reviewed the literature in which only 19 other cases are described.

The MarR repressor of the multiple antibiotic resistance (mar) operon in Escherichia coli: prototypic member of a family of bacterial regulatory proteins involved in sensing phenolic compounds.

Background: The marR gene of Escherichia coli encodes a repressor of the marRAB operon, a regulatory locus controlling multiple antibiotic resistance in this organism. Inactivation of marR results in increased expression of marA, which acts at several target genes in the cell leading to reduced antibiotic accumulation. Exposure of E.

Analysis of the genetic requirements for inducible multiple-antibiotic resistance associated with the mar locus in Escherichia coli.

A series of novel genetic constructs derived from the marRAB operon was used to determine the role of this gene cluster in salicylate-inducible multiple-antibiotic resistance in Escherichia coli. Our findings indicate that regulated antibiotic resistance associated with this locus requires only the products of marR and marA, without any neighboring genes.

Genetic relationship between soxRS and mar loci in promoting multiple antibiotic resistance in Escherichia coli.

Multiple antibiotic resistance in Escherichia coli has typically been associated with mutations at the mar locus, located at 34 min on the E. coli chromosome. A new mutant, marC, isolated on the basis of a Mar phenotype but which maps to the soxRS (encoding the regulators of the superoxide stress response) locus located at 92 min, is described here.

Overexpression of the MarA positive regulator is sufficient to confer multiple antibiotic resistance in Escherichia coli.

A genetic approach was undertaken to identify normal bacterial genes whose products function to limit the effective concentration of antibiotics. In this approach, a multicopy plasmid library containing cloned Escherichia coli chromosomal sequences was screened for transformants that showed increased resistance to a number of unrelated antibiotics. Three such plasmids were identified, and all contained sequences originating from the mar locus.

Synthesis and biological activity of 5-amino- and 5-hydroxyquinolones, and the overwhelming influence of the remote N1-substituent in determining the structure-activity relationship.

A series of 5-amino- and 5-hydroxyquinolone antibacterials substituted at C7 with a select group of common piperazinyl and 3-aminopyrrolidinyl side chains was prepared. These 5-substituted derivatives were compared to the analogous 5-hydrogen compounds for antiinfective activity by using DNA gyrase inhibition, minimum inhibitory concentrations against a variety of bacteria, and in vivo efficacy in the mouse infection model. The influence on the structure-activity relationships of varied substituents at C8 (H, F, Cl) and N1 (ethyl, cyclopropyl, difluorophenyl) was also studied.

Quinolone antibacterial agents substituted at the 7-position with spiroamines. Synthesis and structure-activity relationships.

A series of fluoroquinolone antibacterials having the 7-position (10-position of pyridobenzoxazines) substituted with 2,7-diazaspiro[4.4]nonane (4b), 1,7-diazaspiro[4.4]nonane (5a), or 2,8-diazaspiro[5.