Comparative analysis of immobilized biocatalyst: study of process variables in trans-esterification reaction

This study deals with an experimental investigation into the trans-esterification behavior of two biocatalysts produced by different immobilization techniques of the same lipase from Pseudomonas cepacia. Biocatalysts catalyzed trans-esterification of commercial frying oil. It was verified that no enzyme leaching occurs and stepwise addition of ethanol is needed to improve the process performance. When stoichiometric ethanol has been added completely at the beginning of the reaction, percent mass fraction of esters reached 33% after 9 h and 52% after 30 h. Instead, when ethanol has been added in steps, ester production gradually increased at any time. Moreover, different amounts of biocatalyst were added to the reaction system and it was found that it is not necessary to add more than 3% of biocatalyst with respect to the oil mass to avoid inhibition. The immobilization method influences the reaction progress and the intermediate-glyceride profiles were analyzed. Results showed that the two biocatalysts have the same affinity towards triglycerides, but the covalently immobilized lipase (epobond P. cepacia) has a lower affinity towards diglycerides and monoglycerides and, in general, a lower activity than the absorbed lipase (lipo P. cepacia).

Helical Radiotherapy in Early Laryngeal Cancers Could Lead to Excess Local Recurrence: Lessons From a Phase II Prospective Study

AIMS

A prospective study was conducted to investigate the feasibility and efficacy of carotid-sparing intensity-modulated radiotherapy (CSIMRT) in early glottic cancers (EGC).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Eighteen patients underwent CSIMRT using helical tomotherapy to a dose of 55 Gy/20 fractions/4 weeks. Carotid intimal thickness (CIT) at prespecified carotid levels was measured using B-mode ultrasound at 6, 18 and 36 months. Serial changes in CIT were also measured in a control prospective cohort of 18 patients with head and neck cancers receiving bilateral neck nodal radiation over the same time period (54-60 Gy/30 fraction/6 weeks). The outcomes of 18 patients undergoing CSIMRT were compared against a retrospective consecutive cohort of 41 patients with EGC to confirm comparable local control.

RESULTS

No significant CIT differences were identified between patients undergoing CSIMRT versus the control group. However, four patients in the CSIMRT group had a local recurrence between 8 and 39 months. In all patients the epicentre of the recurrence was noted at the anterior part of the larynx. The 5-year local recurrence-free survival was 75.1% (95% confidence interval 56.6-99.7%). By contrast, in the group of EGC patients treated without carotid sparing, local recurrence was noted only in a single patient (patient treated with helical tomotherapy) and the 5-year local recurrence-free survival was 97.1% (95% confidence interval 91.8-100%) (Log-rank P = 0.01).

CONCLUSION

We failed to show the safety of CSIMRT using helical tomotherapy in this population of EGC patients. Use of CSIMRT also did not translate into a substantial reduction in CIT until 36 months. Use of CSIMRT using rotational arc techniques such as helical tomotherapy may be associated with a greater risk of local recurrence due to intrafractional motion interplay effects.

Development of a new reproductive tissue cryopreservation clinical service for children: the Oxford programme

PURPOSE

This article describes the development of a new reproductive tissue cryopreservation clinical service for children at high risk of infertility in the NHS during times of severe financial constraints in the health service.

METHOD

A development plan with two phases was drawn up. Phase 1 restricted the service to childhood cancer patients referred to the Oxford Paediatric Oncology and Haematology Principle Treatment Centre. It was estimated that there would be 10 patients/year and used existing staff and facilities from paediatric oncology, surgery, anaesthetics radiology, pathology, psychology, teenage-young adult gynaecology, and an existing Human Tissue Authority tissue bank with a licence for storage of tissue under a Human Sector Licence. Phase 2 extended the service to include children and young adults across England, Wales and Ireland-patients from Scotland having access to a research programme in Edinburgh. The main challenge in phase 2 being resources and the need for patients to be able to be treated as close to home as safely as possible.

RESULTS

The Oxford team developed information resources and eligibility criteria based on published best practice, referral and treatment pathways, multidisciplinary team meetings, a network of third party sites, and a dedicated case management and database. As the programme expanded, the Oxford team was able to justify to management the need for a dedicated theatre list. Patient feedback through questionnaires, qualitative work conducted as part of a Ph.D. thesis as well as direct patient stories and interviews in TV, and radio features underpins the positive impact the programme has on patients and their families.

CONCLUSION

The Oxford Reproductive Cryopreservation programme delivers fertility preservation treatment to children and young adults at high risk of infertility safely, effectively and as close to home as possible. The onward view is to apply for national funding for this programme for recognition and sustainability.

A Phase I/II Study of Stereotactic Hypofractionated Once-weekly Radiation Therapy (SHORT) for Prostate Cancer

AIMS

Stereotactic radiation therapy has been investigated predominantly in patients with low-intermediate-risk disease. We conducted a clinical trial of stereotactic hypofractionated radiation therapy delivered in once-weekly fractions on patients with all-risk non-metastatic disease to test feasibility, acute toxicities and patient-reported outcomes.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this phase I/II study, 30 patients with prostatic adenocarcinoma, any Gleason score, T1-4N0 and prostate-specific antigen ≤60 ng/ml were treated with volumetric intensity modulated arc radiation therapy to a dose of 35 Gy in five fractions delivered once weekly. Patients with high-risk disease also received elective nodal irradiation to a dose of 25 Gy in five fractions simultaneously. Androgen deprivation was offered to intermediate- and high-risk patients. The primary outcome was acute toxicity. Secondary outcome measures included biochemical control and late toxicity. Patient-reported outcomes were measured using the International Prostate Symptom Score and European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality-of-Life Questionnaire (QLQ).

RESULTS

All 30 patients completed treatment per-protocol. Most patients had T3 (60%) and Gleason 7 (50%) tumours. The median prostate-specific antigen was 17 ng/ml. High-risk disease was present in 20 patients (66.7%). There was a low incidence of acute toxicities (grade 2 + urinary 3.3%, grade 2 rectal 0%). Within the EORTC QLQ framework, only the urinary symptom score showed a clinically meaningful worsening from a mean of 20/100 at baseline to 34/100 at the end of treatment (P < 0.001), but reduced to 24/100 at 6 months (P = 0.08). With a median follow-up of 41.5 months, two patients each reported grade 2 late urinary and rectal toxicity. The 3- and 4-year biochemical control rates were 96.7 and 87.9%, respectively.

CONCLUSION

In a cohort of mainly high-risk cancers, stereotactic once-weekly radiation therapy was easy to implement and well tolerated, with a low incidence of acute and late toxicity and excellent biochemical control.

A cross-sectional study on renal involvement among HIV-infected patients attending a tertiary care hospital in Kolkata

Background and objectives

The HIV-associated renal diseases represent a spectrum. Indian data on this is sparse. This study was undertaken to find out the prevalence and clinicopathological spectrum of renal involvement in HIV among antiretroviral therapy (ART) naïve patients (Group 1) and among those on ART (Group 2).

Methods

Systematic random sampling was undertaken to select 109 patients each from virology outpatient department (VOPD) and ART centre of a tertiary care hospital. They were screened and further investigated if renal involvement was found.

Results

Renal involvement was present in 25/109 (22.94%) and 15/109 (13.76%) patients of Groups 1 and 2, respectively. Among patients of Groups 1 and 2, 9/24 (37.5%) and 2/13 (15.4%), respectively, had clinically significant proteinuria, but none in the nephrotic range. Statistically significant relationships of renal involvement were observed with CD4 count <100/μl and with low BMI. Of the patients of Group 2, 20% of those on a tenofovir-based regimen had renal involvement with tubular changes, while only 4.6% of those on other regimens had renal involvement. This difference was statistically significant (p<0.05; OR=5.25).

Conclusion

Renal involvement was less common among those on ART. Low CD4 count and body mass index (BMI) were associated with renal dysfunction. Patients on a tenofovir-based regimen had more renal involvement compared with not on a tenofovir-based regimen.

B-09 Cerebral Grey Matter After Out-Of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest In Good Outcome Survivors

Objective

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) on cognitive functioning and brain volumes, in good outcome survivors.

Method

Participants were medically stable OHCA survivors. Two control groups were also recruited: patients who experienced myocardial infarction (MI), and healthy controls (HC) with no history of cardiovascular disease. Neuropsychological assessment was conducted using the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (NAB). Imaging was performed on a 3T Siemens Trio MRI scanner. Cerebral grey matter volume (GM; measured by voxel-based morphometry in SPM12) results are presented.

Results

Participants (nOHCA = 9, nMI = 19, nHC = 13) ranged in age from 30 to 85 years. When controlling for age, whole-brain analyses revealed decreased GM in anterior cingulate cortex, bilateral hippocampus in the OHCA and in the MI group compared to the HC group. In addition, the MI group had decreased GM compared to the HC in the thalamus and the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (p < .001). No significant differences in GM were observed between the MI and OHCA groups. The hippocampus was selected as a region-of-interest for further analyses. The Total NAB Index was correlated with hippocampal GM in the OHCA group but not in the MI group (rOHCA = .78, p = .014).

Conclusions

Results revealed select areas of GM reduction in OHCA and MI groups, suggesting a contribution of cardiovascular disease to observed atrophy. Reductions are related to cognitive performance only in the cardiac arrest group which may suggest that these volume losses represent clinically meaningful changes.

Plant Leucine-Rich Repeat Receptor Kinase (LRR-RK): Structure, Ligand Perception, and Activation Mechanism

In recent years, secreted peptides have been recognized as essential mediators of intercellular communication which governs plant growth, development, environmental interactions, and other mediated biological responses, such as stem cell homeostasis, cell proliferation, wound healing, hormone sensation, immune defense, and symbiosis, among others. Many of the known secreted peptide ligand receptors belong to the leucine-rich repeat receptor kinase (LRR-RK) family of membrane integral receptors, which contain more than 200 members within Arabidopsis making it the largest family of plant receptor kinases (RKs). Genetic and biochemical studies have provided valuable data regarding peptide ligands and LRR-RKs, however, visualization of ligand/LRR-RK complex structures at the atomic level is vital to understand the functions of LRR-RKs and their mediated biological processes. The structures of many plant LRR-RK receptors in complex with corresponding ligands have been solved by X-ray crystallography, revealing new mechanisms of ligand-induced receptor kinase activation. In this review, we briefly elaborate the peptide ligands, and aim to detail the structures and mechanisms of LRR-RK activation as induced by secreted peptide ligands within plants.

FNAC and Its Utility in Solitary Thyroid Nodule and Its Correlation with Histopathological Examination

Discrete swelling in one lobe of thyroid gland with no palpable abnormality elsewhere is termed as a solitary thyroid nodule. FNAC is the investigation of choice in solitary nodule for selection of surgical cases due to compliance, simple and quick to perform. The aim of this study was to evaluate the utility of FNAC in solitary thyroid nodule with the relation of histopathological findings. In this prospective observational study fifty (50) patients of solitary thyroid nodule without multinodular goitre, diffuse goitre, dominant nodule and clinically hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism were included from admitted patients of different institutes of Comilla both private and government Medical College Hospital, Bangladesh. All patients were clinically examined and investigation findings from thyroid scan, ultrasonogram of thyroid gland, FNAC of thyroid nodule, histopathological report of excised thyroid were collected and posted into data collection sheet. The data were analysed with simple statistical table. The result showed that among 50 patients 41 patients were detected as benign nodule after FNAC which is about 82%. Malignant lesions were 12% (6 patients) and 6% (3 patients) of the case was indeterminate as because the specimen were unsatisfactory. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of FNAC diagnosis in relation to histopathological findings were 100%, 83.33% and 97.87%. So FNAC is sensitive and accurate method for evaluation of solitary thyroid nodules.

Diurnal and seasonal patterns of soil CO2 efflux from the Pichavaram mangroves, India

The diurnal and seasonal variation of soil carbon dioxide (CO₂) flux was measured in the Pichavaram mangrove forest, the Southeast coast of India from February 2016 to October 2016 using an automated soil CO₂ flux chamber system. Maximum soil CO₂ efflux reached at 14:00 h and minimum at 00:00 h. The surface soil CO₂ concentration ranged from 375 to 532 ppm with the mean 405 ± 18 ppm. The daily soil CO₂ flux varied from near zero to about 7 μmol m^-2 s^-1 with a mean value of 2.4 ± 1.3 μmol m^-2 s^-1. The highest seasonal CO₂ efflux from soil was during the summer and premonsoon seasons, whereas low flux values were recorded during the monsoon season. Soil CO₂ efflux values were highly correlated with soil temperature. Tidal inundation during monsoon season, extreme drought condition in summer, and unusual precipitation are the major factors controlling the soil CO₂ flux.

Modern rain-isotope data from Indian island and the mainland on the daily scale for the summer monsoon season

The atmospheric stable isotopes in rainwater are measured as the ratio of heavy to the lighter (e.g., ¹⁸O/¹⁶O). This data article describes two datasets of daily rain isotopic variations during the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) season. Firstly, an island site (namely Port Blair) dataset for four years (2012-2015) and another dataset of Indian mainland sites (namely Nagpur, Tezpur, and Kolkata) for the year 2015. Port Blair is strategically situated in the Bay of Bengal (BoB), which is known to be a significant moisture source to ISM rainfall over the Indian landmass. On the other hand, sites in the mainland are receivers of the BoB moisture. This dataset includes 1030 isotopic analyses made on daily water samples as well as rainfall amount (24 hours) during ISM. The data is related to "Isotopic investigation of the moisture transport processes over the Bay of Bengal" [1].

Historical Expansion of Kyasanur Forest Disease in India From 1957 to 2017: A Retrospective Analysis

A highly infectious tick-borne virus causes Kyasanur Forest disease (KFD), which has been expanding in recent decades in India. Current studies do not provide an updated understanding of the disease trends and its expansion in India. We address this gap in the literature through a detailed review to reveal the annual historic expansion of KFD cases across the span of years from 1957 to 2017. In addition, we explore the factors that may have led to the geographic expansion of KFD. The annual numbers of cases of KFD among humans are estimated using peer-reviewed journal articles, Pro-MED database, historical and archived newspapers, and government reports, technical reports, publications, and medical websites. From 1957 to 2017, there were an estimated 9,594 cases of KFD within 16 districts in India. The most significant human outbreaks of the disease were in the years 1957-1958 (681 cases), 1983-1984 (2,589 cases), 2002-2003 (1,562 cases), and 2016-2017 (809 cases). In 2015, KFD appeared in Goa. In 2016, new cases emerged in Belgaum, a district in Karnataka state, and in the Sindhudurg district in Maharashtra state. The processes by which KFD persists and spreads are not clear, but demographic, socioeconomic, political, and environmental factors seem to play a role.

MBD3/NuRD loss participates with KDM6A program to promote DOCK5/8 expression and Rac GTPase activation in human acute myeloid leukemia

Cancer genome sequencing studies have focused on identifying oncogenic mutations. However, mutational profiling alone may not always help dissect underlying epigenetic dependencies in tumorigenesis. Nucleosome remodeling and deacetylase (NuRD) is an ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complex that regulates transcriptional architecture and is involved in cell fate commitment. We demonstrate that loss of MBD3, an important NuRD scaffold, in human primary acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells associates with leukemic NuRD. Interestingly, CHD4, an intact ATPase subunit of leukemic NuRD, coimmunoprecipitates and participates with H3K27Me3/2-demethylase KDM6A to induce expression of atypical guanine nucleotide exchange factors, dedicator of cytokinesis (DOCK) 5 and 8 (DOCK5/8), promoting Rac GTPase signaling. Mechanistically, MBD3 deficiency caused loss of histone deacytelase 1 occupancy with a corresponding increase in KDM6A, CBP, and H3K27Ac on DOCK5/8 loci, leading to derepression of gene expression. Importantly, the Cancer Genome Atlas AML cohort reveals that DOCK5/ 8 levels are correlated with MBD3 and KDM6A, and DOCK5/ 8 expression is significantly increased in patients who are MBD3 low and KDM6A high with a poor survival. In addition, pharmacological inhibition of DOCK signaling selectively attenuates AML cell survival. Because MBD3 and KDM6A have been implicated in metastasis, our results may suggest a general phenomenon in tumorigenesis. Collectively, these findings provide evidence for MBD3-deficient NuRD in leukemia pathobiology and inform a novel epistasis between NuRD and KDM6A toward maintenance of oncogenic gene expression in AML.-Biswas, M., Chatterjee, S. S., Boila, L. D., Chakraborty, S., Banerjee, D., Sengupta, A. MBD3/NuRD loss participates with KDM6A program to promote DOCK5/8 expression and Rac GTPase activation in human acute myeloid leukemia.

Modifying Baculovirus Expression Vectors to Produce Secreted Plant Proteins in Insect Cells

It has been a challenge for scientists to express recombinant secretory eukaryotic proteins for structural and biochemical studies. The baculovirus-mediated insect cell expression system is one of the systems used to express recombinant eukaryotic secretory proteins with some post-translational modifications. The secretory proteins need to be routed through the secretory pathways for protein glycosylation, disulfide bonds formation, and other post-translational modifications. To improve the existing insect cell expression of secretory plant proteins, a baculovirus expression vector is modified by the addition of either a GP67 or a hemolin signal peptide sequence between the promoter and multiple-cloning sites. This newly designed modified vector system successfully produced a high yield of soluble recombinant secreted plant receptor proteins of Arabidopsis thaliana. Two of the expressed plant proteins, the extracellular domains of Arabidopsis TDR and PRK3 plasma membrane receptors, were crystallized for X-ray crystallographic studies. The modified vector system is an improved tool that can potentially be used for the expression of recombinant secretory proteins in the animal kingdom as well.

Disparate effects of antibiotics on hypertension

Gut microbiota are associated with a variety of complex polygenic diseases. The usage of broad-spectrum antibiotics by patients affected by such diseases is an important environmental factor to consider, because antibiotics, which are widely prescribed to curb pathological bacterial infections, also indiscriminately eliminate gut commensal microbiota. However, the extent to which antibiotics reshape gut microbiota and per se contribute to these complex diseases is understudied. Because genetics play an important role in predisposing individuals to these modern diseases, we hypothesize that the extent to which antibiotics influence complex diseases depends on the host genome and metagenome. The current study tests this hypothesis in the context of hypertension, which is a serious risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. A 3 × 2 factorial design was used to test the blood pressure (BP) and microbiotal effects of three different antibiotics, neomycin, minocycline, and vancomycin, on two well-known, preclinical, genetic models of hypertension, the Dahl salt-sensitive (S) rat and the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR), both of which develop hypertension, but for different genetic reasons. Regardless of the class, oral administration of antibiotics increased systolic blood pressure of the S rat, while minocycline and vancomycin, but not neomycin, lowered systolic blood pressure in the SHR. These disparate BP effects were accompanied by significant alterations in gut microbiota. Our study highlights the need to consider an individualized approach for the usage of antibiotics among hypertensives, as their BP could be affected differentially based on their individual genetic and microbiotal communities.