A Modified-Herringbone Micromixer for Assessing Zebrafish Sperm (MAGS).

Sperm motility analysis of aquatic model species is important yet challenging due to the small sample volume, the necessity to activate with water, and the short duration of motility. To achieve standardization of sperm activation, microfluidic mixers have shown improved reproducibility over activation by hand, but challenges remain in optimizing and simplifying the use of these microdevices for greater adoption. The device described herein incorporates a novel micromixer geometry that aligns two sperm inlet streams with modified herringbone structures that split and recombine the sample at a 1:6 dilution with water to achieve rapid and consistent initiation of motility.

Meta-analysis of the effect of colchicine on C-reactive protein in patients with acute and chronic coronary syndromes.

Objective: The anti-inflammatory drug colchicine has recently shown benefits in the prevention of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in patients with the acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and chronic coronary syndromes (CCS). This meta-analysis focuses on understanding Colchicine's effects on the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) to provide mechanistic insight to explain its clinical event reduction.

Methods: A computerized search of MEDLINE was conducted to retrieve journal articles with studies performed on humans from 1 January 2005 to 1 January 2022, using keywords: 'Colchicine AND Coronary', 'Colchicine AND CRP', and 'Colchicine AND Coronary Artery Disease'.

Deep Vein Thrombosis of the Left Lower Limb in a Sudanese Child with Sickle Cell Disease.

This is a case of an eleven-year-old female Sudanese child, a known Sickle Cell Anemia (SCA) patient, who presented with fever, as well as left thigh and leg swelling that was associated with pain and warmness, which was diagnosed as Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) of her left lower limb. She had a previous history of admissions to the emergency room, during which she once received blood. The patient was managed by carrying out a basic routine initial laboratory investigation.

Estimation of Respiratory Rate from Breathing Audio.

The COVID-19 pandemic has fueled exponential growth in the adoption of remote delivery of primary, specialty, and urgent health care services. One major challenge is the lack of access to physical exam including accurate and inexpensive measurement of remote vital signs. Here we present a novel method for machine learning-based estimation of patient respiratory rate from audio.

A systematic review of current trends in pharmacologic management after stent placement in nonthrombotic iliac vein lesions.

Objective: Stenting of the iliac vein is increasingly recognized as a treatment for chronic venous insufficiency (CVI). However, the pharmacologic management after stent placement is unclear. This review was conducted to illustrate recent trends in anticoagulation and antiplatelet regimens following stent placement for nonthrombotic iliac vein lesions (NIVL).

Childhood obesity and its relation with dietary habits among children in Aseer region, Southern Saudi Arabia.

Background: The rate of obesity in children is rising and it has become a growing epidemic worldwide; Childhood obesity is related to the high risk of obesity later in adult life. In the last 30 years the prevalence childhood obesity more than tripled. Overweight in paediatric population is suggested to be related to many cardio-metabolic risk factors such as metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, insulin resistance.

An increase in AMPK/e-NOS signaling and attenuation of MMP-9 may contribute to remote ischemic perconditioning associated neuroprotection in rat model of focal ischemia.

Remote ischemic perconditioning (RIPerC) results in collateral enhancement and a reduction in middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) induced ischemia. RIPerC likely activates multiple metabolic protective mechanisms, including effects on matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and protein kinases. Here we explore if RIPerC improves neuroprotection and collateral flow by modifying the activities of MMP-9 and AMPK/e-NOS.

Risk of Recurrence and 10-Year Outcomes in Surgically Treated Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer in Cardiac and Liver Transplant Recipients.

Objectives: To report long-term outcomes of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) in immunosuppressed cardiac and liver transplant recipients (CLTR).

Materials And Methods: The authors reviewed CLTR at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona from 1986 to 2013. Patient and tumor characteristics were recorded.

Evaluation of transcranial Doppler abnormalities in children with sickle cell disease in El-Obeid Specialized Children's Hospital.

Objectives: This study aims to evaluate transcranial Doppler abnormalities in children with sickle cell disease (SCD) in a specialized children's hospital in El-Obeid.

Materials And Methods: This is a cross-sectional study done on 119 patients (2-18 years of age were included) who attended the sickle cell clinic in a specialized children's hospital in El-Obeid from December 2016 to February 2017; when patients do not have recent stroke symptoms, blood flow velocities were measured in both proximal internal carotid and middle cerebral arteries (MCAs) using non-imaging Doppler method, and time average mean velocities were recorded along with hemoglobin concentration and of the patients.

Results: None of the study population had MCA velocity higher than 200 cm/s; also no high conditional velocity (170-199 cm/s) was recorded, so no patient was at high risk to develop stroke.

Complexity in differentiating the expression of truncated or matured forms of MMP-2 and MMP-9 through zymography in rat brain tissues after acute ischaemic stroke.

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) play an important role in the pathogenesis of ischaemic stroke. In particular, the mature forms of MMPs 2 and 9 have similar sizes and share gelatine as a common substrate. Both MMPs are upregulated in ischaemic stroke and play detrimental roles during stroke pathogenesis.

Hyperthermia up-regulates matrix metalloproteinases and accelerates basement membrane degradation in experimental stroke.

Increased body temperature results in severe neuronal damage during cerebral ischemia. We hypothesized that hyperthermia hastens the degradation of basement membrane protein components and causes the disruption of brain microvasculature through early up-regulation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). In this study, we present data from both non-ischemic and ischemic hemispheres of stroke induced rat brain.

Apolipoprotein B and triacylglycerol secretion in human triacylglycerol hydrolase transgenic mice.

Apolipoprotein B (apoB)-containing lipoproteins play a critical role in whole body lipid homeostasis and the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. The assembly of hepatic apoB-containing lipoproteins, VLDL, is governed by the availability of lipids, including triacylglycerol (TG). The majority of TG associated with VLDL is derived from the hepatic cytoplasmic lipid stores by a process involving lipolysis followed by reesterification.

Mutation of F417 but not of L418 or L420 in the lipid binding domain decreases the activity of triacylglycerol hydrolase.

Human triacylglycerol hydrolase (hTGH) has been shown to play a role in hepatic lipid metabolism. Triacylglycerol hydrolase (TGH) hydrolyzes insoluble carboxylic esters at lipid/water interfaces, although the mechanism by which the enzyme adsorbs to lipid droplets is unclear. Three-dimensional modeling of hTGH predicts that catalytic residues are adjacent to an alpha-helix that may mediate TGH/lipid interaction.

Triacylglycerol hydrolase is localized to the endoplasmic reticulum by an unusual retrieval sequence where it participates in VLDL assembly without utilizing VLDL lipids as substrates.

The majority of hepatic intracellular triacylglycerol (TG) is mobilized by lipolysis followed by reesterification to reassemble TG before incorporation into a very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) particle. Triacylglycerol hydrolase (TGH) is a lipase that hydrolyzes TG within hepatocytes. Immunogold electron microscopy in transfected cells revealed a disparate distribution of this enzyme within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), with particularly intense localization in regions surrounding mitochondria.

Structure-function analysis of human triacylglycerol hydrolase by site-directed mutagenesis: identification of the catalytic triad and a glycosylation site.

Triacylglycerol hydrolase is a microsomal enzyme that hydrolyzes stored cytoplasmic triacylglycerol in the liver and participates in the lipolysis/re-esterification cycle during the assembly of very-low-density lipoproteins. The structure-activity relationship of the enzyme was investigated by site-directed mutagenesis and heterologous expression. Expression of human TGH in Escherichia coli yields a protein without enzymatic activity, which suggests that posttranslational processing is necessary for the catalytic activity.

Heterologous expression, purification, and characterization of human triacylglycerol hydrolase.

Triacylglycerol hydrolase mobilizes stored triacylglycerol some of which is used for very-low-density lipoprotein assembly in the liver. A full-length cDNA coding for a human triacylglycerol hydrolase (hTGH) was isolated from a human liver cDNA library. The cDNA has an open reading frame of 576 amino acids with a cleavable 18-amino-acid signal sequence.