Efficacy and safety of fenofibrate in combination with phototherapy for the treatment of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia: a systematic review and meta-analyses.

Phototherapy is the standard treatment for neonatal jaundice. We aimed to review the efficacy and safety of fenofibrate as an adjunct therapy. Twelve databases were searched and a systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted.

The role of community and culture in abortion perceptions, decisions, and experiences among Asian Americans.

Introduction: Culture and community can play a role in views, stigma, and access related to abortion. No research to date has documented the influence of culture and community attitudes on Asian American (AA) experiences accessing abortion care in the United States (US). This paper aims to fill gaps in research and understand how cultural and community views influence medication abortion access and experiences among AAs.

Effect of Slp4-a on Membrane Bending During Prefusion of Vesicles in Blood-Brain Barrier.

Vesicle exocytosis is a promising pathway for brain drug delivery through the blood-brain barrier to treat neurodegenerative diseases. In vesicle exocytosis, the membrane fusion process is initiated by the calcium sensor protein named synaptotagmin-like protein4-a (Slp4-a). Understanding conformational changes of Slp4-a during the prefusion stage of exocytosis will help to develop vesicle-based drug delivery to the brain.

The global response: How cities and provinces around the globe tackled Covid-19 outbreaks in 2021.

Background: Tackling the spread of COVID-19 remains a crucial part of ending the pandemic. Its highly contagious nature and constant evolution coupled with a relative lack of immunity make the virus difficult to control. For this, various strategies have been proposed and adopted including limiting contact, social isolation, vaccination, contact tracing, etc.

Clinical and laboratory factors associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19): A systematic review and meta-analysis.

SARS Coronavirus-2 is one of the most widespread viruses globally during the 21 century, whose severity and ability to cause severe pneumonia and death vary. We performed a comprehensive systematic review of all studies that met our standardised criteria and then extracted data on the age, symptoms, and different treatments of Covid-19 patients and the prognosis of this disease during follow-up. Cases in this study were divided according to severity and death status and meta-analysed separately using raw mean and single proportion methods.

Effect of Calcium ion on synaptotagmin-like protein during pre-fusion of vesicle for exocytosis in blood-brain barrier.

Background: Calcium signaling and membrane fusion play key roles in exocytosis of drug-containing vesicles through the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Identifying the role of synaptotagmin-like protein4-a (Slp4-a) in the presence of Ca ions, at the pre-fusion stage of a vesicle with the basolateral membrane of endothelial cell, can reveal brain drug transportation across BBB.

Methods: We utilized molecular dynamics (MD) simulations with a coarse-grained PACE force field to investigate the behaviors of Slp4-a with vesicular and endothelial membranes at the pre-fusion stage of exocytosis since all-atom MD simulation or experiments are more time-consuming and expensive to capture these behaviors.

Substrate-dependent transport mechanism in AcrB of multidrug resistant bacteria.

The multidrug resistance (MDR) system effectively expels antibiotics out of bacteria causing serious issues during bacterial infection. In addition to drug, indole, a common metabolic waste of bacteria, is expelled by MDR system of gram-negative bacteria for their survival. Experimental results suggest that AcrB, one of the key components of MDR system, undergoes large scale conformation changes during the pumping due to proton-motive process.

Highly effective renaturation of a streptokinase from Streptococcus pyogenes DT7 as inclusion bodies overexpressed in Escherichia coli.

The streptokinase (SK) is emerging as an important thrombolytic therapy agent in the treatment of patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases. We reported highly effective renaturation of a SK from S. pyogeness DT7 overexpressed in E.

Cloning, high-level expression, purification, and properties of a novel endo-beta-1,4-mannanase from Bacillus subtilis G1 in Pichia pastoris.

A novel gene coding for an endo-beta-1,4-mannanase (manA) from Bacillus subtilis strain G1 was cloned and overexpressed in P. pastoris GS115, and the enzyme was purified and characterized. The manA gene consisted of an open reading frame of 1,092 nucleotides, encoding a 364-aa protein, with a predicted molecular mass of 41 kDa.

Cloning, expression, purification, and properties of an endoglucanase gene (glycosyl hydrolase family 12) from Aspergillus niger VTCC-F021 in Pichia pastoris.

A gene coding for an endoglucanase (EglA), of the glycosyl hydrolase family 12 and derived from Aspergillus niger VTCC-F021, was cloned and sequenced. The cDNA sequence, 717 bp, and its putative endoglucanase, a 238 aa protein with a predicted molecular mass of 26 kDa and a pI of 4.35, exhibited 98.

A novel esterase from Ralstonia sp. M1: gene cloning, sequencing, high-level expression and characterization.

A newly isolated gene from Ralstonia sp. M1, encoding an esterase, was cloned in Escherichia coli and its nucleotide sequence determined. The 1.

Improving self-reports of drug-use: numeric estimates as fuzzy sets.

Aims: This study compared traditional crisp set to fuzzy set representations of quantitative estimates of drug use to investigate what survey respondents recall about their drug use.

Design: Sample survey comparing (a) responses to traditional survey questions asking for single numeric estimates to (b) responses to fuzzy set questions asking for boundary estimates of drug use.

Setting: Research facilities of a public university in a large southern California city.

Towards an understanding of self-reports of sleep.

Sleep research has made extensive use of self-report measures relying on a response format that requires respondents to provide single, specific numerical estimates. The cognitive processes involved in storing and retrieving sleep-related information allow only approximate numeric estimates of sleep behavior. Based on a fuzzy set model of survey responses, a response format is proposed to better capture the inherent vagueness of quantitative estimates of sleep behavior.