Screening

Infectious diseases pose a formidable global challenge, compounded by the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. Consequently, researchers are actively exploring novel antimicrobial compounds as potential solutions. This endeavor underscores the pivotal role of methods employed for screening and evaluating antimicrobial activity-a critical step in discovery and characterization of antimicrobial agents. While traditional techniques such as well-diffusion, disk-diffusion, and broth-dilution are commonly utilized in antimicrobial assays, they may encounter limitations concerning reproducibility and speed...

BACKGROUND: Coronary heart disease is one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. Secondary prevention is essential, as it reduces the risk of further coronary events. Mobile health (mHealth) technology could become a useful tool to improve lifestyles. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of an mHealth intervention on people with coronary heart disease who received percutaneous coronary intervention. Improvements in lifestyle regarding diet, physical activity, and smoking; level of knowledge of a healthy lifestyle and the control of cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs); and therapeutic adherence and quality of life were analyzed...

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IMPORTANCE: Prostate cancer guidelines often recommend obtaining magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before a biopsy, yet MRI access is limited. To date, no randomized clinical trial has compared the use of novel biomarkers for risk estimation vs MRI-based diagnostic approaches for prostate cancer screening. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate biomarker-based risk estimation (Stockholm3 risk scores or prostate-specific antigen [PSA] levels) with systematic biopsies vs an MRI-enhanced strategy (PSA levels and MRI with systematic and targeted biopsy) for the detection of clinically significant prostate cancer in a screening setting...

PURPOSE: Retinal and optic nerve diseases have become the primary cause of irreversible vision loss and blindness. However, there is still a lack of thorough evaluation regarding their prevalence in China. METHODS: This artificial intelligence-based national screening study applied a previously developed deep learning algorithm, named the Retinal Artificial Intelligence Diagnosis System (RAIDS). De-identified personal medical records from January 2019 to December 2021 were extracted from 65 examination centers in 19 provinces of China...

IMPORTANCE: Restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the lives of young children, but the association between the pandemic and any changes in early childhood developmental milestone achievement in the US remains unclear. OBJECTIVES: To determine the association between the COVID-19 pandemic and changes in developmental screening scores among US children aged 0 to 5 years and to investigate whether caregivers self-reported more worries about their children or concerns about children's behavior during the pandemic, regardless of milestone achievement...

Single-stranded oligonucleotides (SSOs) are a rapidly expanding class of therapeutics that comprises antisense oligonucleotides, microRNAs, and aptamers, with ten clinically approved molecules. Chemical modifications such as the phosphorothioate backbone and the 2'- O -methyl ribose can improve the stability and pharmacokinetic properties of therapeutic SSOs, but they can also lead to toxicity in vitro and in vivo through nonspecific interactions with cellular proteins, gene expression changes, disturbed RNA processing, and changes in nuclear structures and protein distribution...

Migrants have accounted for more than 40% of new HIV diagnoses in Europe in 2022. Among the population of asylum seekers currently present in the Trento Province, screening for HIV infection is poorly carried out for various reasons. Here we report our experience about screening for HIV infection in asylum seekers present in that area using rapid self HIV-testing.

Acanthamoeba spp. emerged as a clinically important pathogen related to amoebic keratitis. It is among the main causes of corneal transplantation and vision loss in ophthalmology. The treatment protocols have a low cure rate, high toxicity, and need for drug combination. Transition metal compounds have shown promising antiprotozoal effects. This study evaluates the amoebicidal activity of copper(II) coordination compounds in combination with chlorhexidine and the cytotoxicity to topical ocular application. These copper(II) coordination compounds were screened against Acanthamoeba castellanii trophozoites (ATCC 50492)...

PURPOSE: Comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) is the cornerstone of high-quality care for older adults. There is no current gold standard to guide what should be included as the baseline measure for CGAs. We examined what metrics are being captured in CGA baseline assessments completed by community based integrated care teams in Ireland. METHODS: CGA's care pathways in Ireland are usually initiated with a written document that establish patients baseline in various assessment areas...

Cytidine triphosphate (CTP), as a substance involved in the metabolism of phospholipids, proteins and nucleic acids, has precise drug effects and is a direct precursor for the synthesis of drugs such as citicoline. In this study, we established an in vitro six-enzyme cascade system to generate CTP. To avoid thermodynamic bottlenecks, we employed a circuitous and two-stage reaction strategy. Using cytidine as the key substrate, the final product CTP is obtained via the deamination and uridine phosphorylation pathways, relying on the irreversible reaction of cytidine triphosphate synthase to catalyze the amination of uridine triphosphate...

Cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) system is an ideal platform for fast and convenient protein research and has been used for macromolecular assembly, unnatural amino acid embedding, glycoprotein production, and more. To realize the construction of an efficient eukaryotic CFPS platform with the advantages of low cost and short time, a CFPS system based on the yeast Pichia pastoris was built in this study. The internal ribosomal entry site (IRES) can independently initiate translation and thus promote protein synthesis...

(+)-Neomenthylamine is an important industrial precursor used to synthesize high value-added chemicals. Here, we report a novel biocatalytic route to synthesize (+)-neomenthylamine by amination of readily available (-)-menthone substrate using ω-transaminase. By screening a panel of ω-transaminases, an ω-transaminase from Vibrio fluvialis JS17 was identified with considerable amination activity to (-)-menthone, and then characterization of enzymatic properties was conducted for the enzyme...

Different microorganisms can produce different proteases, which can adapt to different industrial requirements such as pH, temperature, and pressure. Salt-tolerant proteases (STPs) from microorganisms exhibit higher salt tolerance, wider adaptability, and more efficient catalytic ability under extreme conditions compared to conventional proteases. These unique enzymes hold great promise for applications in various industries including food, medicine, environmental protection, agriculture, detergents, dyes, and others...

Tannases are valuable industrial enzymes used in food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, leather manufacture and in environmental biotechnology. In this study, 15 fungal isolates were obtained from Egyptian cultivated soil and marine samples. The isolated fungi were qualitatively and quantitatively screened for their abilities to produce tannase. The selected fungal isolate NRC8 giving highest tannase activity was identified by molecular technique (18S rRNA) as Aspergillus glaucus. Among different tannin-containing wastes tested, the black tea waste was the best substrate for tannase production by Aspergillus glaucus in solid-state fermentation (SSF)...

Infectious bursal disease (IBD) of chickens is an acute, high-contact, lytic infectious disease caused by infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV). The attenuated inactivated vaccine produced by DF-1 cells is an effective control method, but the epidemic protection demands from the world poultry industry remain unfulfilled. To improve the IBDV vaccine production capacity and reduce the economic losses caused by IBDV in chicken, cellular metabolic engineering is performed on host cells. In this study, when analyzing the metabolomic after IBDV infection of DF-1 cells and the exogenous addition of reduced glutathione (GSH), we found that glutathione metabolism had an important role in the propagation of IBDV in DF-1 cells, and the glutathione synthetase gene (gss) could be a limiting regulator in glutathione metabolism...

The first-cured tobacco contains macromolecular substances with negative impacts on tobacco products quality, and must be aged and fermented to mitigate their effects on the tobacco products quality. However, the natural fermentation takes a longer cycle with large coverage area and low economic efficiency. Microbial fermentation is a method to improve tobacco quality. The change of chemical composition of tobacco during the fermentation is often correlated with shapes of tobacco. This study aimed to investigate the effects of tobacco microorganisms on the quality of different shapes of tobacco...

PURPOSE: This study aimed to assess the association between migraine headache and glaucoma among the adult population living in Armenia. METHODS: This case-control study recruited 145 cases with glaucoma and 250 controls without glaucoma and other ocular disorders except refractive error from Optomed Canada Diagnostic Eye Center in Armenia. A structured questionnaire contained questions on socio-demographics, family history of glaucoma and stroke, ocular health, smoking, migraine, and obstructive sleep apnea...

PURPOSE: In treating cancer, different chemotherapy regimens cause chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). Despite recent international guidelines, a gold standard for diagnosis, treatment, and care is lacking. To identify the current clinical practice and the physicians' point of view and ideas for improvement, we evaluated CIPN care by interviewing different specialists involved. METHODS: We performed semi-structured, audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded interviews with a purposive sample of oncologists, pain specialists, and neurologists involved in CIPN patients' care...

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to assess the impact of surgical approaches and other factors on the incidence of Adjacent Segment Degeneration (ASD) following Spinal Fusion for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS). METHODS: We conducted a comprehensive search of four electronic databases from their inception until March 30, 2023. Two independent reviewers screened titles, abstracts, and full texts and evaluated the methodological quality of the studies. A random-effects model was used to calculate the incidence of ASD...