Inactivation of Trichinella muscle larvae at different time-temperature heating profiles simulating home-cooking.

Background: Trichinellosis is caused by consumption of raw or undercooked meat containing infective Trichinella muscle larvae (ML). Only few studies on heat-inactivation of Trichinella ML are available in literature and more validated data concerning heat inactivation is needed to improve the risk estimation.

Objective And Methods: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the two in vitro methods "staining" and "morphological examination" as proxies for Trichinella ML heat inactivation in comparison with the mouse bioassay method to get more insight in the relationship between heat, heating time and inactivation of Trichinella ML.

Arterial oxygen saturation and heart rate in term newborn in the first hour after birth.

Introduction: The pulse oximeter has been useful in the cardiorespiratory evaluation of the newborn.

Objective: To assess arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2) and heart rate (HR) in newborns in the first 60 minutes after birth.

Patients And Method: Prospective observational study in healthy term newborns, delivered vaginally or by cesarean section, with maternal bonding, carried out at sea level.

Structure and solvents effects on the optical properties of sugar-derived carbon nanodots.

Carbon nanodots are a new and intriguing class of fluorescent carbon nanomaterials and are considered a promising low cost, nontoxic alternative to traditional inorganic quantum dots in applications such as bioimaging, solar cells, photocatalysis, sensors and others. Despite the abundant available literature, a clear formation mechanism for carbon nanodots prepared hydrothermally from biomass precursors along with the origins of the light emission are still under debate. In this paper, we investigate the relationships between the chemical structure and optical properties of carbon nanodots prepared by the hydrothermal treatment of glucose.

Robust Humoral and Cellular Immune Responses to Pertussis in Adults After a First Acellular Booster Vaccination.

Introduction: To reduce the pertussis disease burden, nowadays several countries recommend acellular pertussis (aP) booster vaccinations for adults. We aimed to evaluate the immunogenicity of a first adult aP booster vaccination at childbearing age.

Methods: In 2014, healthy adults aged 25-29 years ( = 105), vaccinated during infancy with four doses of whole-cell pertussis (wP) vaccine, received a Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, and aP) booster vaccination.

A mobile phone based tool to identify symptoms of common childhood diseases in Ghana: development and evaluation of the integrated clinical algorithm in a cross-sectional study.

Background: The aim of this study was the development and evaluation of an algorithm-based diagnosis-tool, applicable on mobile phones, to support guardians in providing appropriate care to sick children.

Methods: The algorithm was developed on the basis of the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) guidelines and evaluated at a hospital in Ghana. Two hundred and thirty-seven guardians applied the tool to assess their child's symptoms.

Carbon-Nanodot Solar Cells from Renewable Precursors.

It has recently been shown that waste biomass can be converted into a wide range of functional materials, including those with desirable optical and electronic properties, offering the opportunity to find new uses for these renewable resources. Photovoltaics is one area in which finding the combination of abundant, low-cost and non-toxic materials with the necessary functionality can be challenging. In this paper the performance of carbon nanodots derived from a wide range of biomaterials obtained from different biomass sources as sensitisers for TiO -based nanostructured solar cells was compared; polysaccharides (chitosan and chitin), monosaccharide (d-glucose), amino acids (l-arginine and l-cysteine) and raw lobster shells were used to produce carbon nanodots through hydrothermal carbonisation.

Long-term persistence of protective antibodies in Dutch adolescents following a meningococcal serogroup C tetanus booster vaccination.

Introduction: Due to waning immunity, infant vaccination with meningococcal serogroup C conjugated (MenCC) vaccines is insufficient to maintain long-term individual protection. Adolescent booster vaccination is thought to offer direct protection against invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) but also to reduce meningococcal carriage and transmission and in this way establish herd protection in the population. Previously, we studied antibody levels after adolescent MenCC booster vaccination.

Linking the seroresponse to infection to within-host heterogeneity in antibody production.

A recently published model for the serum antibody response to infection appeared well suited for use in statistical analyses of longitudinal serological data. The published model assumed exponential decay with fixed rates for pathogen and serum antibody kinetics, ignoring any within-host heterogeneity in the seroresponse. A bi-exponential model shows that there is rapid initial decay followed by a prolonged period of persistent low serum antibody concentrations.

Fe-N-Doped Carbon Capsules with Outstanding Electrochemical Performance and Stability for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Both Acid and Alkaline Conditions.

High surface area N-doped mesoporous carbon capsules with iron traces exhibit outstanding electrocatalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction in both alkaline and acidic media. In alkaline conditions, they exhibit more positive onset (0.94 V vs RHE) and half-wave potentials (0.

Biomass-derived carbon quantum dot sensitizers for solid-state nanostructured solar cells.

New hybrid materials consisting of ZnO nanorods sensitized with three different biomass-derived carbon quantum dots (CQDs) were synthesized, characterized, and used for the first time to build solid-state nanostructured solar cells. The performance of the devices was dependent on the functional groups found on the CQDs. The highest efficiency was obtained using a layer-by-layer coating of two different types of CQDs.

Tissue-specific regulation of ubiquitin (UbC) transcription by glucocorticoids: in vivo and in vitro analyses.

In uremia, muscle wasting involves increased glucocorticoid production and activation of the ubiquitin-proteasome proteolytic pathway, including increased expression of ubiquitin. Previously, we reported that glucocorticoids stimulate ubiquitin transcription by a mechanism involving Sp1 in L6 muscle cells (Marinovic AC, Zheng B, Mitch WE, Price SR. J Biol Chem 277: 16673-16681, 2002).

Nutrition in CAPD: serum bicarbonate and the ubiquitin-proteasome system in muscle.

Background: Metabolic acidosis in chronic renal failure (CRF) induces loss of lean body mass while elimination of acidosis during a one year trial improved anthropometric indices in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients. In rats with CRF, the mechanisms causing loss of lean body mass have been linked to acidosis-induced destruction of the essential, branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) and activation of the ubiquitin-proteasome system that degrades muscle protein; the latter response includes increased transcription of the ubiquitin gene.

Method: Our aim was to determine if increasing the serum bicarbonate (HCO3) concentration of CAPD patients would improve their nutritional status, increase plasma BCAA levels, and reduce ubiquitin mRNA in their muscle as an index of suppressed activity of the ubiquitin-proteasome system.

Ubiquitin (UbC) expression in muscle cells is increased by glucocorticoids through a mechanism involving Sp1 and MEK1.

The muscle protein catabolism present in rats with insulin-dependent diabetes and other catabolic conditions is generally associated with increased glucocorticoid production and mRNAs encoding components of the ubiquitin-proteasome system. The mechanisms that increase ubiquitin (UbC) expression have not been identified. We studied the regulation of UbC expression in L6 muscle cells because dexamethasone stimulates the transcription of this gene and others encoding components of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway.

Pitfall of an internal control plasmid: response of Renilla luciferase (pRL-TK) plasmid to dihydrotestosterone and dexamethasone.

The thymidine kinase promoter-Renilla luciferase reporter plasmid (pRL-TK) is commonly used as a control for transfection efficiency in the Dual-Luciferase Reporter Assay System. While investigating hormone response elements in the promoters of the androgen-dependent, epididymis-specific EP2 gene, we found that hormone treatment affected the luciferase activity of pRL-TK-transfected cells. In African Green Monkey Kidney (CV-1) cells, cotransfected transiently with a hormone-responsive promoter-firefly luciferase reporter plasmid and with pRL-TK, Renilla luciferase activity increased in response to dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and decreased in response to dexamethasone (DEX).

Tools for evaluating ubiquitin (UbC) gene expression: characterization of the rat UbC promoter and use of an unique 3' mRNA sequence.

UbC is one of three members of the ubiquitin gene family. We have cloned the rat UbC promoter and used primer extension analysis to map the UbC site of transcription initiation to 63 bp upstream of the putative first intron. We used a rat UbC promoter-luciferase reporter minigene to transfect H9c2 cardiomyocytes, HepG2 hepatocytes, CaCo2 colon cells, NIH3T3 fibroblasts or L6 myocytes and found the rat UbC promoter has constitutive activity.

Mechanisms contributing to muscle-wasting in acute uremia: activation of amino acid catabolism.

Acute uremia (ARF) causes metabolic defects in glucose and protein metabolism that contribute to muscle wasting. To examine whether there are also defects in the metabolism of essential amino acids in ARF, we measured the activity of the rate-limiting enzyme for branched-chain amino acid catabolism, branched-chain ketoacid dehydrogenase (BCKAD), in rat muscles. Because chronic acidosis activates muscle BCKAD, we also evaluated the influence of acidosis by studying ARF rats given either NaCl (ARF-NaCl) or NaHCO3 (ARF-HCO3) to prevent acidosis, and sham-operated, control rats given NaHCO3.

Effect of hemolysis on serum retinol as assessed by direct fluorometry.

To assess the effect of hemolysis on serum retinol concentrations determined by direct fluorometry, we assayed 196 blood samples from children 6-72-mo of age with various grades of hemolysis for serum retinol by both fluorescence and HPLC. Mean serum retinol concentrations determined by HPLC did not differ significantly according to hemolysis grade; however, fluorometric values did. Additionally, serum retinol concentrations obtained from HPLC and those obtained from direct fluorometry were significantly different in samples with severe hemolysis.

The effects of photoperiod and food intake on reproductive development in male deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus).

Seasonal breeding is a tactic that has evolved in rodents that limits reproduction to specific times of the year to increase reproductive success. In order to time breeding accurately, many animals respond to changes in daily photoperiod. Short day lengths inhibit breeding in many nontropical rodent species.

Effect of intravitreal tissue plasminogen activator on experimental subretinal hemorrhage.

Purpose: To study the effect of intravitreally injected tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) in an experimental model of subretinal hemorrhage.

Methods: Autologous blood was transsclerally injected into the subretinal space in 34 albino rabbits. One day later tPA was injected into the posterior vitreous in 24 eyes and saline was injected into 10 control eyes.