• 03 medical and health sciences close

Penaeus semisulcatus, the green tiger prawn, is an ecologically and economically important penaeid shrimp in the Indo-West Pacific region, especially in rice-shrimp farming and capture fisheries in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, respectively. Genetic variation and phylogeography of samples of this species from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were studied utilizing different mitochondrial DNA markers, i.e. cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (CO1), control region (CR) and 16S rRNA genes. No evidence of population structure was observed in Bangladesh, but distinct variations were found among the Sri Lankan samples (ΦST = 0.04, p = .002; FST = 0.07, p = .001), with the western sample differing from the northwestern and southern samples. The Bangladesh population had lower genetic diversity than two of the three Sri Lanka populations. The phylogeography of P. semisulcatus revealed two distinct mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) lineages, one in the Western Pacific Ocean and second in the Indian Ocean. The Bangladesh samples showed highest levels of similarity with samples from Sri Lanka, India and Malaysia, with the Bangladesh and Sri Lanka populations sharing the most common recent ancestry. Among the Indian Ocean samples, high levels of variation were observed in the samples from Iran, indicating admixture of two distinct mtDNA lineages, one shared by the populations from the Bay of Bengal and the other possibly originating from Eastern Africa. The genetic and phylogeographic information obtained in this study will be useful in appropriate planning for management and conservation of shrimp fisheries in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and in the Indo-West Pacific region.

AbstractIn the spreading of infectious diseases, an important number to determine is how many other people will be infected on average by anyone who has become infected themselves. This is known as the reproduction number. This paper describes a non-parametric inverse method for extracting the full transfer function of infection, of which the reproduction number is the integral. The method is demonstrated by applying it to the timeline of hospitalisation admissions for covid-19 in the Netherlands up to May 20 2020, which is publicly available from the site of the Dutch National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (rivm.nl).

Abstract Objectives Disease burden has always been based on associated mortality. An accurate measurement of the burden of epilepsy should rely on both morbidity and mortality. This will close any existing gap in knowledge and provide useful information to aid evidence-based decision-making. In this study, burden of epilepsy was estimated, using disability-adjusted-life-years (DALYs), using disability weights for epilepsy that were part of the Global Burden of Disease 2010 work. Methods The study was conducted at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu. Interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect information from patients with epilepsy who presented to neurology clinic. The prevalence of epilepsy, and case-fatality were obtained from previous publications. The DALYs were estimated by adding together the years lost to disability (YLDs) and years lost to life (YLLs) to epilepsy (DALYs = YLD + YLL). DALYs were dis-aggregated by age group and by whether or not epilepsy was treated. Results A total of 134 children with epilepsy-interviews were conducted. Some 56% and 44% of the subjects had primary and secondary epilepsy, respectively. The childhood epilepsy caused 1.63 YLLs per 1000 population, 0.45 YLDs per 1000 population and 2.08 DALY per 1000 population. The highest burden was in children within the age group of 5–14 years at 2.18 DALY per 1000 people. The YLDs was higher (0.63/1000 population) among the untreated group, compared with the YLDs (0.27/1000 population) among the treated group. The YLLs lost for children with secondary epilepsy (2.23/1000 population) was higher than primary epilepsy YLLs of 1.07/1000 population. Significance The DALYs due to childhood epilepsy was high. The YLDs was high among children with epilepsy who were not on treatment. The YLLs were found to be the same in all children with epilepsy, irrespective of their treatment status. This imperatively necessitates the de-emphasis on just mortality as an indicator of the burden of childhood epilepsy but rather a holistic approach should be adopted in considering both the mortality and disability in monitoring the outcome of health interventions.

The dural venous sinuses are venous channels in the cranium that drain blood and cerebrospinal fluid circulating from the brain into the vascular system via the internal jugular veins. The transverse sinus is a dural venous sinus present in the posterior aspect of the cranium. We report an unusual variant of this sinus with the presence of a fenestration at its proximal segment. We will review and discuss the background and the potential clinical relevance of this anatomical variation.

Although pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a key tool in HIV prevention efforts, little is known about PrEP as a prevention strategy for criminal justice-involved (CJI) women. The purpose of this study was to examine multilevel factors shaping PrEP awareness and acceptability among CJI women. Between January 2017 and December 2017, we conducted 52 interviews with CJI women at high risk for HIV and stakeholders from the criminal justice (CJ) and public health (PH) systems. Interviews explored awareness of PrEP and the multilevel factors shaping PrEP acceptability. Data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis and executive summaries. Atlas.ti facilitated analyses. The majority of CJI women (n = 27) were, on average, 41.3 years, from racial and ethnic minority groups (56% Black/African-American; 19% Latinx) and reported engaging in recent high-risk behavior (nearly 60% engaged in transactional sex, 22% reported ≥ 4 sexual partners, and 37% reported injection drug use). Of system stakeholders (n = 25), 52% represented the CJ sector. Although CJI women were generally unaware of PrEP, attitudes toward PrEP were enthusiastic. Barriers to PrEP acceptability included medication side effects (individual level); distrust in HIV prevention mechanisms (community level); lack of local HIV prevention efforts among high-risk women (public policy/HIV epidemic stage level). Factors promoting PrEP included perceived HIV risk (individual level); PrEP being an HIV prevention method that women can control without partner negotiation (social and sexual network level); and availability of public health insurance (community level). Despite low awareness of PrEP, CJI women expressed positive attitudes toward PrEP. To improve PrEP access for CJI women, implementation efforts should address barriers and leverage facilitators across multiple levels to be maximally effective.

AbstractCellulose synthase-like D (CSLD) family was characterized for their expression and functions in Populus trichocarpa. Ten members, PtrCslD1-10, were identified in the P. trichocarpa genome, and they belong to 4 clades by phylogenetic tree analysis. qRT-PCR and promoter:GUS assays in Arabidopsis and P. trichocarpa displayed divergent expression patterns of these 10 PtrCSLD genes in root hairs, root tips, leaves, vascular tissues, xylem and flowers. Among PtrCslD2, PtrCslD4, PtrCslD5, PtrCslD6, and PtrCslD8 that all exhibited expression in root hairs, only PtrCslD5 could restore the root hairless phenotype of the atcsld3 mutant, demonstrating that PtrCslD5 is the functional ortholog of AtCslD3 for root hair formation. Our results suggest more possible functions for other PtrCslD genes in poplar.

Introduction Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is an internationally recognized leading cause of disability and contributes to childhood morbidity and mortality. The prevalence of IDA is higher in developing countries, especially in Arab countries, compared to the west. Methods To assess the prevalence of IDA, we analyzed the data of children aged between one to five years seen at Dr. Sulaiman Al-Habib Medical Group's tertiary care hospital in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) from 2016 to 2018. Results We found a high occurrence of IDA in male children and non-Emirati children. Conclusion Appropriate screening and iron supplementation are required to see a decline in the rate of IDA. Further nationwide studies are required to identify the highly prevalent and high-risk areas of IDA in the UAE.

Recent studies suggest that Sirt inhibition may have beneficial effects on several human diseases such as neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. Coffee is one of most popular beverages with several positive health effects. Therefore, in this paper, potential Sirt inhibitors were screened using coffee extract. First, HPLC was utilized to fractionate coffee extract, then screened using a Sirt1/2 inhibition assay. The screening led to the isolation of a potent Sirt1/2 inhibitor, whose structure was determined as javamide-II (N-caffeoyltryptophan) by NMR. For confirmation, the amide was chemically synthesized and its capacity of inhibiting Sirt1/2 was also compared with the isolated amide. Javamide-II inhibited Sirt2 (IC50; 8.7 μM) better than Sirt1(IC50; 34μM). Since javamide-II is a stronger inhibitor for Sirt2 than Sirt1. The kinetic study was performed against Sirt2. The amide exhibited noncompetitive Sirt2 inhibition against the NAD+ (Ki = 9.8 μM) and showed competitive inhibition against the peptide substrate (Ki = 5.3 μM). Also, a docking simulation showed stronger binding pose of javamide-II to Sirt2 than AGK2. In cellular levels, javamide-II was able to increase the acetylation of total lysine, cortactin and histone H3 in neuronal NG108-15 cells. In the same cells, the amide also increased the acetylation of lysine (K382) in p53, but not (K305). This study suggests that Javamide-II found in coffee may be a potent Sirt1/2 inhibitor, probably with potential use in some conditions of human diseases.