Monitoring carbohydrate 3D structure quality with the database.

The remediation of the carbohydrate data of the Protein Data Bank (PDB) has brought numerous enhancements to the findability and interpretability of deposited glycan structures, yet crucial quality indicators are either missing or hard to find on the PDB pages. Without a way to access wider glycochemical context, problematic structures may be taken as fact by keen but inexperienced scientists. The software is a validation and analysis tool that provides access to a number of metrics and links to external experimental resources, allowing users to evaluate structures using carbohydrate-specific methods.

Association of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio with the occurrence of venous thromboembolism and arterial thrombosis.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the association of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) with the occurrence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) and arterial thrombosis (AT).

Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study including 585 medical records obtained from all consecutive patients who were suspected of having thrombosis.

Results: The AT group had a higher neutrophil count and NLR and a lower lymphocyte count than the non-thrombosis group.

Online carbohydrate 3D structure validation with the Privateer web app.

Owing to the difficulties associated with working with carbohydrates, validating glycan 3D structures prior to deposition into the Protein Data Bank has become a staple of the structure-solution pipeline. The Privateer software provides integrative methods for the validation, analysis, refinement and graphical representation of 3D atomic structures of glycans, both as ligands and as protein modifiers. While Privateer is free software, it requires users to install any of the structural biology software suites that support it or to build it from source code.

Microplastic accumulation in bivalves collected from different coastal areas of Vietnam and an assessment of potential risks.

Microplastic (MP) pollution is an emerging problem in many areas around the world and in coastal areas of Vietnam, requiring more studies dedicated to the accumulation of this pollutant in the food chain as well as its potential risk to human health. This study investigated MP levels in tissues of five common bivalve species collected from aquaculture areas along the coast of Vietnam. MPs were found in all bivalve samples, with average values of 10.

Association between and additional chromosomal abnormalities in the prognosis of acute promyelocytic leukemia.

Objectives: Internal tandem duplications of the Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 gene ( and additional chromosomal abnormalities (ACA) are prognostic factors in patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). This study aimed to determine the effect of the association between and ACA in the prognosis of APL.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study including 60 patients with APL treated with all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and chemotherapy.

Molecular Markers of Radiation Induced Attenuation in Intrahepatic Plasmodium falciparum Parasites.

Experimental immunization with radiation attenuated sporozoites (RAS) and genetically attenuated sporozoites has proved to be a promising approach for malaria vaccine development. However, parasite biomarkers of growth attenuation and enhanced immune protection in response to radiation remain poorly understood. Here, we report on the effect of an attenuating dose of γ-irradiation (15 krad) on the Plasmodium falciparum sporozoite (PfSPZ) ultrastructure by electron microscopy, growth rate of liver stage P.

Co-expression of Interleukin-15 Enhances the Protective Immune Responses Induced by Immunization with a Murine Malaria MVA-Based Vaccine Encoding the Circumsporozoite Protein.

Malaria remains a major global public health problem with an estimated 200 million cases detected in 2012. Although the most advanced candidate malaria vaccine (RTS,S) has shown promise in clinical trials, its modest efficacy and durability have created uncertainty about the impact of RTS,S immunization (when used alone) on global malaria transmission. Here we describe the development and characterization of a novel modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA)-based malaria vaccine which co-expresses the Plasmodium yoelii circumsporozoite protein (CSP) and IL-15.

T-bet modulates the antibody response and immune protection during murine malaria.

CD4(+) T-cell subtypes govern the synthesis of different Ab isotypes and other immune functions. The influence of CD4(+) T-cell differentiation programs on isotype switching and other aspects of host immunological networks during malaria infection are currently poorly understood. Here, we used Tbx21(-/-) mice deficient for T-bet, a regulator of Th1 CD4(+) T-cell differentiation, to examine the effect of Th1 CD4(+) T cells on the immune protection to nonlethal murine malaria Plasmodium yoelii 17XNL.

The transcription factor T-bet regulates parasitemia and promotes pathogenesis during Plasmodium berghei ANKA murine malaria.

The pathogenesis of experimental cerebral malaria (ECM) is an immunologic process, mediated in part by Th1 CD4(+) T cells. However, the role of the Th1 CD4(+) T cell differentiation program on the ability to control parasitemia and susceptibility to ECM disease during blood stage malaria has never been assessed directly. Using the Plasmodium berghei ANKA murine model of ECM and mice deficient for the transcription factor T-bet (the master regulator of Th1 cells) on the susceptible C57BL/6 background, we demonstrate that although T-bet plays a role in the regulation of parasite burden, it also promotes the pathogenesis of ECM.

Radiation-induced cellular and molecular alterations in asexual intraerythrocytic Plasmodium falciparum.

Background: γ-irradiation is commonly used to create attenuation in Plasmodium parasites. However, there are no systematic studies on the survival, reversion of virulence, and molecular basis for γ-radiation-induced cell death in malaria parasites.

Methods: The effect of γ-irradiation on the growth of asexual Plasmodium falciparum was studied in erythrocyte cultures.

Polymerase chain reaction-based tests for pan-species and species-specific detection of human Plasmodium parasites.

Background: There is still a need to improve the sensitivity of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for malaria to detect submicroscopic asexual stage Plasmodium infections during the early phase and chronic, asymptomatic phase of infection when the parasite burden is very low.

Study Design And Methods: The inhibitory effect of hemoglobin (Hb) on PCR limits the volume of blood that can be used in the PCR-based detection of intraerythrocytic Plasmodium parasites. We lysed red blood cells with saponin to reduce the Hb concentration in extracted nucleic acid and, as a result, significantly increased the volume of blood that can be tested by PCR.