Is there a relation between environmental exposure to teratogenic substances during pregnancy and congenital anomalies in the newborn? A pilot study in Portugal

Background: Maternal occupation as a proxy of environmental exposure has been consistently associated with specific congenital anomalies (CA) in the foetus and newborn. On the other hand, geographical location of the mother such as place of residence and place of work have not been used as proxy for environmental exposures during pregnancy. We designed a pilot study aiming to investigate the association between maternal place of residence and workplace during pregnancy and CA in Portugal. Methods: Cases and controls are identified in the maternity unit. Cases are all live births with at least one CA delivered in the Barreiro hospital located in a heavy industrial area near Lisboa. Controls are the two normal births following each case. Residents outside the study area, stillbirths and women who decline to participate or are incapable of giving consent are excluded. A health professional interviews the mothers using a questionnaire adapted from the registry form of the Portuguese national registry of CA and includes information on places during pregnancy (residence, workplace, leisure), and demographic characterization as place of birth, infant sex, weight, description of CA, age of mother, ethnicity, maternal birth place. Maternal health and obstetric history, education, smoking, alcohol, drugs and medication use is also collected as potential confounders. Results: The pilot study started in January 2016 and at the moment two cases and four controls have been recruited without refusals. The study will continue to be implemented and it is proposed to start in other hospital units during 2016.

A direct determination of the World Ocean barotropic circulation

The time-mean Argo float displacements and the World Ocean Atlas 2009 temperature–salinity climatology are used to obtain the total, top to bottom, mass transports. Outside of an equatorial band, the total transports are the sum of the vertical integrals of geostrophic- and wind-driven Ekman currents. However, these transports are generally divergent, and to obtain a mass conserving circulation, a Poisson equation is solved for the streamfunction with Dirichlet boundary conditions at solid boundaries. The value of the streamfunction on islands is also part of the unknowns. This study presents and discusses an energetic circulation in three basins: the North Atlantic, the North Pacific, and the Southern Ocean. This global method leads to new estimations of the time-mean western Eulerian boundary current transports maxima of 97 Sverdrups (Sv; 1 Sv ≡ 106 m3 s−1) at 60°W for the Gulf Stream, 84 Sv at 157°E for the Kuroshio, 80 Sv for the Agulhas Current between 32° and 36°S, and finally 175 Sv for the Antarctic Circumpolar Current at Drake Passage. Although the large-scale structure and boundary of the interior gyres is well predicted by the Sverdrup relation, the transports derived from the wind stress curl are lower than the observed transports in the interior by roughly a factor of 2, suggesting an important contribution of the bottom torques. With additional Argo displacement data, the errors caused by the presence of remaining transient terms at the 1000-db reference level will continue to decrease, allowing this method to produce increasingly accurate results in the future.

DnaG interacts with a linker region that joins the N- and C-domains of DnaB and induces the formation of 3-fold symmetric rings

Loading of the replicative ring helicase onto the origin of replication (oriC) is the final outcome of a well coordinated series of events that collectively constitute a primosomal cascade. Once the ring helicase is loaded, it recruits the primase and signals the switch to the polymerization mode. The transient nature of the helicase-primase (DnaB-DnaG) interaction in the Escherichia coli system has hindered our efforts to elucidate its structure and function. Taking advantage of the stable DnaB-DnaG complex in Bacillus stearothermophilus, we have reviewed conflicting mutagenic data from other bacterial systems and shown that DnaG interacts with the flexible linker that connects the N- and C-terminal domains of DnaB. Furthermore, atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging experiments show that binding of the primase to the helicase induces predominantly a 3-fold symmetric morphology to the hexameric ring. Overall, three DnaG molecules appear to interact with the hexameric ring helicase but a small number of complexes with two and even one DnaG molecule bound to DnaB were also detected. The structural/functional significance of these data is discussed and a speculative structural model for this complex is suggested.

Evaluation of the Light-Cycler® SeptiFast Test in Newborns With Suspicion of Nosocomial Sepsis

Background: Nosocomial sepsis (NS) in newborns (NBs) is associated with high mortality rates and low microbial recovery rates. To overcome the latter problem, new techniques in molecular biology are being used. Objectives: To evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of SeptiFast test for the diagnosis of nosocomial sepsis in the newborn. Materials and Methods: 86 blood specimens of NBs with suspected NS (NOSEP-1 Test > 8 points) were analyzed using Light Cycler SeptiFast (LC-SF) a real-time multiplex PCR instrument. The results were analyzed with the Roche SeptiFast Identification Software. Another blood sample was collected to carry out a blood culture (BC). Results: Sensitivity (Sn) and specificity (Sp) of 0.69 and 0.65 respectively, compared with blood culture (BC) were obtained for LC-SF. Kappa index concordance between LC-SF and BC was 0.21. Thirteen (15.11%) samples were BC positive and 34 (31.39%) were positive with LC-SF tests. Conclusions: Compared with BC, LC-SF allows the detection of a greater number of pathogenic species in a small blood sample (1 mL) with a shorter response time.

Sensitization to indoor aeroallergens in children who attended the Allergy Service of the “Dr. José Eleuterio González” University Hospital of Monterrey, Mexico

Background: Indoor aeroallergens are the main cause of sensitization in children and represent a risk factor for the development of allergic diseases. Objective: Identify the major indoor aeroallergens most often sensitized to pediatric patients treated at the Allergy Service at the “Dr. José Eleuterio González” University Hospital of Monterrey Methods: We performed an observational and descriptive study where we reviewed reports of positive skin tests to the following common indoor aeroallergens: Dermatophagoides farinae (D. farinae), Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (D. pteronyssinus), Canis familiaris (C. familiaris), Felis domesticus (F. domesticus), Blattella germanica (B. germanica) and Periplaneta americana (P. americana), found in patients under 16 years with symptoms of allergy, during the period of 2011-2012. Results: We performed 439 skin tests to aeroallergens in pediatric patients. Of these, 57.6% were male and 42.4% were female. Mean age was 6.3 years. The age groups were under 3 years: 17.8%, 3-5 years: 35%, 6-12 years: 36%, and 13-16 years: 11.2%. The main diagnoses were: allergic rhinitis (71.8%), asthma (16.6%), and atopic dermatitis (4.3%). In 57.9% of the cases, they had at least one positive skin test to any aeroallergen. The rate of sensitization to speciic aeroallergens was: D. Pteronyssinus 49.0%, D. farinae 44.6%, B. germanica 13.9%, P. Americana 10.9%, F. domesticus 10.7%, and C. familiaris 5.9%. Conclusion: Indoor aeroallergen sensitization can occur early in life, although it was more frequent in the preschooler and elementary school group. Dust house mites were the most commom cause of allergic sensitization.

Infrared thermography monitoring of the NaCl crystallisation process

In this work, we describe the growth of NaCl crystals by evaporating droplets of aqueous solution while monitoring them with infrared thermography. Over the course of the evaporation experiments, variations in the recorded signal were observed and interpreted as being the result of evaporation and crystallisation. In particular, we observed sharp and transient decreases in the thermosignal during the later stages of high-concentration drop evaporation. The number of such events per experiment, referred to as “pop-cold events”, varied from 1 to over 100 and had durations from 1 to 15 s. These events are interpreted as a consequence from the top-supplied creeping (TSC) of the solution feeding the growth of efflorescence-like crystals. This phenomenon occurred when the solution was no longer macroscopically visible. In this case, efflorescence-like crystals with a spherulite shape grew around previously formed cubic crystals. Other crystal morphologies were also observed but were likely fed by mass diffusion or bottom-supplied creeping (BSC) and were not associated with “pop-cold events”; these morphologies included the cubic crystals at the centre, ring-shaped at the edge of droplets and fan-shaped crystals. After complete evaporation, an analysis of the numbers and sizes of the different types of crystals was performed using image processing. Clear differences in their sizes and distribution were observed in relation to the salt concentration. Infrared thermography permitted a level of quantification that previously was only possible using other techniques. As example, the intermittent efflorescence growth process was clearly observed and measured for the first time using infrared thermography.

Patterns of prescribing and utilization of asthma medications in a tertiary hospital in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Purpose: To assess the prescribing patterns of asthma medications in a hospital in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) with regard to the demographic pattern of the population. Methods: One hundred fifty four patients, 83 male and 71 female, were randomly selected from the outpatient respiratory diseases clinic of a tertiary hospital in Dubai, UAE over a 3-month period. Patients were asked to complete a structured questionnaire and data were analyzed using STATA 12 software. Results: Most of the patients were within the age range of 0 – 10 years. About 86 % of the patients were overweight. Half of the patients were non-smokers while 51 % of them had a family history of asthma. About 54 % of the patients received multiple drug therapy of which two-drug combinations were widely prescribed (31 %). The most utilized drug classes were short acting β-agonists (42 %), xanthine drugs (16 %), leukotriene modifiers (14 %) and oral and intravenous corticosteroids (13 %). Statistical significant differences among the age groups (F = 2.33, p = 0.0275) were found. Conclusion: Primary prevention to reduce the level of exposure to common risk factors for asthma would be a vital step to control the disease. More resources should be channeled into educating physicians and patients on rational drug utilization to improve the quality of patients’ care.

Effect of firefighter boots and viscoelastic insoles on the impact force of the ground reaction force’s vertical component

The aims of the present study were to determine the effect of firefighter's boots on the vertical component of the ground reaction force (GRF) at heel strike, also known as heel strike transient and to analyze the effect of the viscoelastic insoles placed into the firefighter’s boots on this force during the gait. The magnitude of the impact force (FZI) from the vertical ground reaction force, the time to the production of this force (TZI) and the loading rate (GC) were registered. 39 firefighters without any pathology during 2 years before the study were recruited. Three different walking conditions were tested: 1) gait with firefighter's boots, 2) gait with firefighter's boots and viscoelastic insoles and 3) gait with sport shoes. The results showed a higher production and magnitude of the impact force during gait with firefighter's boots than during gait with sport shoes (13,1 vs. 2,6 % of occurrence of the impact force and 61,39 ± 35,18 %BW (body weight) vs. 49,38 ± 22,99 %BW, respectively). The gait with viscoelastic insoles placed into the firefighter's boots did not show significant differences in any of the parameters characterizing the impact force compared to the gait without insoles. The results of this study show a lower cushioning of the impact force during the gait with firefighter's boots in comparison to the gait with sport shoes and the inefficiency of the viscoelastic insoles placed inside the firefighter's boots to ameliorate the cushioning of the impact force at natural walking speed.

A comparative study of the photophysics and photochemistry of 4-chlorophenol adsorbed on silicalite and beta-cyclodextrin

The photochemistry and photophysics of 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) were studied onto two model solid supports, silicalite and beta-cyclodextrin (beta-Cl)), using time resolved diffuse reflectance techniques and product degradation analysis. The results have shown that the photochemistry and photophysics of 4-CP are different from solution and depend on the solid. Ground state diffuse reflectance and time resolved luminescence demonstrated the inclusion of the probe in both substrates. 4-CP exhibits room temperature luminescence in both hosts, being structured and much more intense in beta-CD. The emission was assigned to phosphorescence of the inclusion complex. Transient absorption demonstrated the formation of the unsubstituted phenoxyl radical and of 4-chlorophenoxyl radical in beta-CD. In silicalite only the later was detected. The studies of the photodegradation products indicate that phenol is the main photoproduct in beta-CD. In silicalite the chromatographic analysis indicates the presence of products that involve the ring cleavage. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Chemical Reaction Dynamics of the Liquid/Vapor Interface Studied by Mass Spectrometry

This thesis presents investigations of chemical reactions occurring at the liquid/vapor interface studied using novel sampling methodologies coupled with detection by mass spectrometry. Chapters 2 and 3 utilize the recently developed technique of field-induced droplet ionization mass spectrometry (FIDI-MS), in which the application of a strong electric field to a pendant microliter droplet results in the ejection of highly charged progeny droplets from the liquid surface. In Chapter 2, this method is employed to study the base-catalyzed dissociation of a surfactant molecule at the liquid/vapor interface upon uptake of ammonia from the gas phase. This process is observed to occur without significant modulation of the bulk solution pH, suggesting a transient increase in surface pH following the uptake of gaseous ammonia. Chapter 3 presents real-time studies of the oxidation of the model tropospheric organic compound glycolaldehyde by photodissociation of iron (III) oxalate complexes. The oxidation products of glycolaldehyde formed in this process are identified, and experiments in a deoxygenated environment identify the role of oxygen in the oxidation pathway and in the regeneration of iron (III) following photo-initiated reduction. Chapter 4 explores alternative methods for the study of heterogeneous reaction processes by mass spectrometric sampling from liquid surfaces. Bursting bubble ionization (BBI) and interfacial sampling with an acoustic transducer (ISAT) generate nanoliter droplets from a liquid surface that can be sampled via the atmospheric pressure interface of a mass spectrometer. Experiments on the oxidation of oleic acid by ozone using ISAT are also presented. Chapters 5 and 6 detail mechanistic studies and applications of free-radical-initiated peptide sequencing (FRIPS), a technique employing gas-phase free radical chemistry to the sequencing of peptides and proteins by mass spectrometry. Chapter 5 presents experimental and theoretical studies on the anomalous mechanism of dissociation observed in the presence of serine and threonine residues in peptides. Chapter 6 demonstrates the combination of FRIPS with ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS) for the separation of isomeric peptides.

Scaling up strategies of the chronic respiratory disease programme of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (Action Plan B3: Area 5)

Action Plan B3 of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP on AHA) focuses on the integrated care of chronic diseases. Area 5 (Care Pathways) was initiated using chronic respiratory diseases as a model. The chronic respiratory disease action plan includes (1) AIRWAYS integrated care pathways (ICPs), (2) the joint initiative between the Reference site MACVIA-LR (Contre les MAladies Chroniques pour un VIeillissement Actif) and ARIA (Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma), (3) Commitments for Action to the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing and the AIRWAYS ICPs network. It is deployed in collaboration with the World Health Organization Global Alliance against Chronic Respiratory Diseases (GARD). The European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing has proposed a 5-step framework for developing an individual scaling up strategy: (1) what to scale up: (1-a) databases of good practices, (1-b) assessment of viability of the scaling up of good practices, (1-c) classification of good practices for local replication and (2) how to scale up: (2-a) facilitating partnerships for scaling up, (2-b) implementation of key success factors and lessons learnt, including emerging technologies for individualised and predictive medicine. This strategy has already been applied to the chronic respiratory disease action plan of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing.

“Acid-spike” effect in spurs/tracks of the low/high linear energy transfer radiolysis of water : potential implications for radiobiology and nuclear industry

Résumé : Les ions hydronium (H3O + ) sont formés, à temps courts, dans les grappes ou le long des trajectoires de la radiolyse de l'eau par des rayonnements ionisants à faible transfert d’énergie linéaire (TEL) ou à TEL élevé. Cette formation in situ de H3O + rend la région des grappes/trajectoires du rayonnement temporairement plus acide que le milieu environnant. Bien que des preuves expérimentales de l’acidité d’une grappe aient déjà été signalées, il n'y a que des informations fragmentaires quant à son ampleur et sa dépendance en temps. Dans ce travail, nous déterminons les concentrations en H3O + et les valeurs de pH correspondantes en fonction du temps à partir des rendements de H3O + calculés à l’aide de simulations Monte Carlo de la chimie intervenant dans les trajectoires. Quatre ions incidents de différents TEL ont été sélectionnés et deux modèles de grappe/trajectoire ont été utilisés : 1) un modèle de grappe isolée "sphérique" (faible TEL) et 2) un modèle de trajectoire "cylindrique" (TEL élevé). Dans tous les cas étudiés, un effet de pH acide brusque transitoire, que nous appelons un effet de "pic acide", est observé immédiatement après l’irradiation. Cet effet ne semble pas avoir été exploré dans l'eau ou un milieu cellulaire soumis à un rayonnement ionisant, en particulier à haut TEL. À cet égard, ce travail soulève des questions sur les implications possibles de cet effet en radiobiologie, dont certaines sont évoquées brièvement. Nos calculs ont ensuite été étendus à l’étude de l'influence de la température, de 25 à 350 °C, sur la formation in situ d’ions H3O + et l’effet de pic acide qui intervient à temps courts lors de la radiolyse de l’eau à faible TEL. Les résultats montrent une augmentation marquée de la réponse de pic acide à hautes températures. Comme de nombreux processus intervenant dans le cœur d’un réacteur nucléaire refroidi à l'eau dépendent de façon critique du pH, la question ici est de savoir si ces fortes variations d’acidité, même si elles sont hautement localisées et transitoires, contribuent à la corrosion et l’endommagement des matériaux.

Prenatal education: profile and expectations of the couples.

Develop the capacities of women/couples to stay healthy during pregnancy, becoming aware of the rights, needs and potential problems of maternal and newborn health is a challenge for nurses and midwives who work with this population (Departamento de Reducir los Riesgos del Embarazo 2010). Prenatal education is a good strategy to meet the needs of pregnant women/couples, to improve outcomes in health and community development (Svenson, Barclay & Cooke 2006). Knowing the profile and expectations of the participants in these prenatal education groups, improves the quality of prenatal education programs and enables higher qualification of the professionals who promote them.

Non-specific transient mutualism between the plant parasitic nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus , and the opportunistic bacterium Serratia quinivorans BXF1, a plant-growth promoting pine endophyte with antagonistic effects

The aim of this study is to understand the biological role of Serratia quinivorans BXF1, a bacterium commonly found associated with Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, the plant parasitic nematode responsible for pine wilt disease. Therefore, we studied strain BXF1 effect in pine wilt disease. We found that strain BXF1 promoted in vitro nematode reproduction. Moreover, the presence of bacteria led to the absence of nematode chitinase gene (Bxcht-1) expression, suggesting an effect for bacterial chitinase in nematode reproduction. Nevertheless, strain BXF1 was unable to colonize the nematode interior, bind to its cuticle with high affinity or protect the nematode from xenobiotic stress. Interestingly, strain BXF1 was able to promote tomato and pine plant-growth, as well as to colonize its interior, thus, acting like a plant-growth promoting endophyte. Consequently, strain BXF1 failed to induce wilting symptoms when inoculated in pine shoot artificial incisions. This bacterium also presented strong antagonistic activities against fungi and bacteria isolated from Pinus pinaster. Our results suggest that B. xylophilus does not possess a strict symbiotic community capable of inducing pine wilt disease symptoms as previously hypothesized. We show that bacteria like BXF1, which possess plant-growth promoting and antagonistic effects, may be opportunistically associated with B. xylophilus, possibly acquired from the bacterial endophytic community of the host pine.

Computational Investigation of the Molecular Mechanisms Regulating Nucleic Acid Processing Metalloenzymes

Polymerases and nucleases are enzymes processing DNA and RNA. They are involved in crucial processes for cell life by performing the extension and the cleavage of nucleic acid chains during genome replication and maintenance. Additionally, both enzymes are often associated to several diseases, including cancer. In order to catalyze the reaction, most of them operate via the two-metal-ion mechanism. For this, despite showing relevant differences in structure, function and catalytic properties, they share common catalytic elements, which comprise the two catalytic ions and their first-shell acidic residues. Notably, recent studies of different metalloenzymes revealed the recurrent presence of additional elements surrounding the active site, thus suggesting an extended two-metal-ion-centered architecture. However, whether these elements have a catalytic function and what is their role is still unclear. In this work, using state-of-the-art computational techniques, second- and third-shell elements are showed to act in metallonucleases favoring the substrate positioning and leaving group release. In particular, in hExo1 a transient third metal ion is recruited and positioned near the two-metal-ion site by a structurally conserved acidic residue to assist the leaving group departure. Similarly, in hFEN1 second- and third-shell Arg/Lys residues operate the phosphate steering mechanism through (i) substrate recruitment, (ii) precise cleavage localization, and (iii) leaving group release. Importantly, structural comparisons of hExo1, hFEN1 and other metallonucleases suggest that similar catalytic mechanisms may be shared by other enzymes. Overall, the results obtained provide an extended vision on parallel strategies adopted by metalloenzymes, which employ divalent metal ion or positively charged residues to ensure efficient and specific catalysis. Furthermore, these outcomes may have implications for de novo enzyme engineering and/or drug design to modulate nucleic acid processing.