122 research outputs found
Lactosporin, a natural antimicrobial protein for control of bacterial vaginosis
No full textBacterial vaginosis (BV) is one the most common infections in women of reproductive age which results from the replacement of healthy vaginal microflora mostly by anaerobic pathogens such as Gardnerella vaginalis, Prevotella bivia and Peptostreptococcus spp. Conventional treatment of BV with the antibiotics metronidazole and clindamycin, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, does not eradicate all of the microorganisms associated with BV and many women remain colonized with G. vaginalis and other anaerobes and inhibit the healthy vaginal microflora such as Lactobacillus spp. Lactosporin, a natural antimicrobial protein produced by Bacillus coagulans ATCC 7050 have shown to be an effective and safe alternative for BV treatment. This dissertation describes the isolation, characterization, mode of action and safety of lactosporin. Lactosporin was found to be an anionic (pI=3.5-4), heat stable protein that its activity is highly pH dependent. Lactosporin inhibited G. vaginalis in well diffusion assay while it had no effect on healthy vaginal lactobacilli. Mode of action studies established that lactosporin inhibits G. vaginalis by forming pores in the cytoplasmic membrane, causing efflux of intracellular material and dissipation of the ΔpH component of the proton motive force (PMF). The saferty of lactosporin was evaluated in-vitro by using EpiVaginal[trade mark] ectocervical tissue model where it was shown to be a safe, non-toxic preparation for feminine care application.Ph. D.Includes bibliographical referencesIncludes vitaby Shadi Riaz
Imaging of the Sclera in Patients with Scleritis and Episcleritis using Anterior Segment Optical Coherence Tomography
No full textPURPOSE
To evaluate the sclera and episclera in patients with scleritis and episcleritis using anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT).
METHODS
Cross-sectional prospective case series of 11 consecutive patients with episcleral or scleral inflammatory disease located anterior to the equator. The thickness of the ocular wall (sclera and the episclera) was measured using AS-OCT and compared to the contralateral healthy eye.
RESULTS
Eleven patients with a mean age of 49.5 years presented with symptomatic scleritis or episcleritis. The mean thickness of the ocular wall in the affected eye was 982 ± 56 μm compared to 790 ± 23 μm (p < 0.05) in the fellow eye. Enhanced-depth AS-OCT showed that the thickening occurred mainly in the episcleral layer in both scleritis and episcleritis.
CONCLUSION
Enhanced-depth AS-OCT may be a useful tool for imaging scleritis or episcleritis and may serve to monitor therapeutic success in these patients
Redefining Palestinian Women Organizations’ Activism under Jewish Democratic State Restrictions
No full textPalestinian women living in Israel are discriminated against in many aspects of their daily lives. In this book, Shadi Bayadsy examines how this situation motivated Palestinian women to organize and advocate for emancipation and equality through the professional Palestinian women organizations established in Israel. The author demonstrates the different strategies each organization employs to navigate challenging restrictions and to avoid being shut down by state apparatuses or by societal institutions and localities. This book will be of interest to scholars of women and gender studies as well as Middle Eastern studies. [Amazon.com]https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/worldlanguages_books/1026/thumbnail.jp
Évolution de l'âge d'une population genevoise opérée de cataracte
No full textLa cataracte liée à l'âge est un problème global, touchant toutes les populations dans tous les pays. Or, l'âge auquel apparaît la cataracte chez l'être humain reste encore sujet à controverse. Le but de ce travail est d'évaluer l'évolution de l'âge préopératoire d'une population genevoise opérée de cataracte à la clinique d'ophtalmologie de Genève entre 1996 et 2009. Pour ce faire, nous avons inclus tous les patients opérés de cataracte par le Dr Dosso. Notre étude montre une baisse significative de l'âge moyen des patients opérés de cataracte et nous tentons de formuler quelques hypothèses quant à l'étiologie de cette diminution d'âge
Authorship in Design and Designer as Author
No full textIn the realm of art and literature, author and authorship have been, and still are, among the controversial terms. In this respect, the key place of author, in different times and from various aspects, has been on focus. Also, in the contemporary time, certain aspects of literary criticisms concerning the place of author have played a major role in forming new attitudes. By publishing an article entitled designer as author, Michael Rick, a designer and graphic re-searcher, posed a new discussion on graphic design which had not been assert-ed so clearly before. Before publishing this article, the major critical as well as author-centered discussions concerning the place of author dealt with lit-erature. The present study addressed two main questions: What are the limits and aspects of the theory of designer as author? And how are they applied in the design process? The data were collected based on written sources as well as on interviews conducted. The results indicated that the legitimacy of idea of authorship in design is basically rooted in the fact that certain designers, when participainting in a graphic design leav the personal fingerprint a professional character which is readily recognizable by the viewer based on which a given designer is distinguished from anothe
Food Wars
No full textPhilip McGregor is so fat that everyone either stares or sniggers as he passes by. At school he goes by the name of Porky. The day he collapses in the school canteen and is rushed to the hospital marks the start of his new life. He's drawn to the hospital garden where a sunflower beckons him to come close and listen; it has a secret to impart to him, a secret that will empower and lead him to seven other teenagers from different continents who are each escaping their own conflicts, troubles caused by the dangerous lack of food security that threatens the future of the Earth. The kids are unexpectedly entrusted with secrets communicated magically by the Earth itself—through plants, animals, and birds. As Keepers, they are led to make incredible, yet precarious journeys, unaware of their destination, but the Food Masters are hot on their heels, ready to kill to keep those secrets hidden ...
Anterior surface breakdown and implant extrusion following secondary alloplastic orbital implantation surgery
No full textPrevention of cytokine withdrawal-induced apoptosis by Mcl-1 requires interaction between Mcl-1 and Bim
No full textGrowth factor withdrawal from hemopoietic cells results in activation of the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis. Members of the Bcl-2 family regulate this pathway, with anti-apoptotic members counteracting the effects of pro-apoptotic members. We investigated the effect on Mcl-1 function of mutation at a conserved threonine 163 residue (T163) in its proline, glutamate, serine, and threonine rich (PEST) region. Under normal growth conditions, Mcl-1 half-life increased with alteration of T163 to glutamic acid, but decreased with mutation to alanine. However, both T163 mutants exhibited greater pro-survival effects compared with the wild type, which can be explained by an increased stability of the T163A mutant in cytokine-starved conditions. Both the mutant forms exhibited prolonged binding to pro-apoptotic Bim in cytokine-deprived cells. The extent to which Mcl-1 mutants were able to exert their anti-apoptotic effects correlated with their ability to associate with Bim. We further observed that primary bone marrow derived macrophages survived following cytokine withdrawal as long as Bim and Mcl-1 remained associated. In our study, we were unable to detect a role for GSK-3-mediated regulation of Mcl-1 expression. Based on these results we propose that upon cytokine withdrawal, survival of hemopoietic cells depends on association between Mcl-1 and Bim. Furthermore, alteration of T163 of Mcl-1 may change the protein such that its association with Bim is affected, resulting in prolonged association and increased survival. Le retrait de facteurs de croissance du milieu de croissance des cellules hémopoïétiques résulte en l'activation de la voie mitochondriale de l'apoptose. Les membres de la famille Bcl-2 régulent cette voie, les membres anti-apoptotiques contrecarrant les effets des membres pro-apoptotiques. Nous avons examiné l'effet de la mutation d'un résidu thréonine conservé (T163), présent dans la région riche en résidus proline, glutamate, sérine et thréonine (PEST), sur la fonction de Mcl-1. Le remplacement de la T163 par un acide glutamique augmentait la demi-vie de Mcl-1 en conditions de croissance normale, alors que la mutation en alanine la diminuait. Cependant, les deux types de mutations de la T163 favorisaient la survie comparativement au type sauvage, ce qui pouvait s'expliquer par une stabilité accrue des protéines mutantes en conditions de privation en cytokines. Les deux formes mutantes se liaient plus longtemps à Bim, un effecteur pro-apoptotique, chez les cellules privées de cytokines. La mesure avec laquelle les protéines Mcl-1 mutantes étaient capables d'exercer leurs effets anti-apoptotiques étaient corrélés avec leur capacité de s'associer à Bim. Nous avons ensuite observé que les macrophages primaires dérivés de la moelle osseuse survivaient après le retrait des cytokines tant et aussi longtemps que Bim et Mcl-1 restaient associés. Dans notre étude, nous avons été incapables de détecter un rôle de la régulation de l'expression de Mcl-1 par GSK-3. Nous proposons à partir de ces résultats qu'à la suite du retrait des cytokines, la survie des cellules hémopoïtiques dépend de l'association de Mcl-1 à Bim. De plus, la modification de la T163 de Mcl-1 pouvait changer la protéine de telle sorte que son association à Bim était affectée, résultant en une association prolongée et en une survie accrue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]Peer reviewedfinal article publishedapoptosisprotein half-lifephosphorylationprotein–protein interactio
Is It Really Time to Intervene in Libya?
No full textShadi Hamid, in “It’s Time to Intervene,” suggests that the international community—specifically, the United States, the United Nations, and NATO—must intervene in Libya because Muammar Gaddafi has declared that he is ready and willing to slaughter his own people if his survival depends on it. The author considered Gaddafi’s speech otherwise “bizarre” and “incoherent.
Charge states distributions of lead ions in Al and Cu
No full textAbstractThis paper presents the theoretical calculations of the charge-state distributions of relativistic lead ions penetrating through different solid targets, namely, aluminum and copper. Using GLOBAL program, the charge state distributions were calculated. GLOBAL is a program developed at GSI in Darmstadt which calculates various physical quantities characterizing the slowing down of protons and heavy ions in matter for specific kinetic energies ranging from 1keV/u to 450GeV/u. The energies used for the calculations of the charge-state distributions are 100, 110, and 170MeV/u. It was found that the aluminum foil of 15mg/cm2 thickness is the best stripper can be used to produce the H-like lead (+81), He-like lead (+80) and Li-like lead (+79) ions which have been selected out 72%, 16% and 11%, respectively, of the emerging beam
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