Notes

Decreased bioaccumulation involving fluorotelomer sulfonates and perfluoroalkyl acids inside red wigglers (Eisenia fetida) from soil amended along with revised clays.
BACKGROUND In adult chronic kidney disease (CKD), metabolic acidosis is associated with diminished cognition, notably executive function (EF). Data from the Chronic Kidney Disease in Children (CKiD) study demonstrate a risk for impairment of EF, a finding associated with heightened blood pressure variability (BPV). We sought to determine whether low serum bicarbonate is also associated with performance on tests of EF in pediatric CKD and to investigate potential interaction with BPV. METHODS CKiD participants with serum bicarbonate, blood pressure, and selected cognitive measurements available were evaluated. An EF summary score was derived from scores on the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System, Conners' Continuous Performance Test, and Digit Span Backwards subtest from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV-Integrated. Parents completed the Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) to yield a Global Executive Composite (GEC) score. Linear mixed models with bicarbonate and hypertension as predictors and linear regression with bicarbonate and BPV were used to predict EF level. RESULTS Data were available for 865 children. Twenty-two percent had low bicarbonate (CO2 ≤ 20 mmol/L) at baseline. On multivariate analysis, there was no relationship between bicarbonate, hypertension, and EF. There was no significant CO2×hypertension interaction found. A significant interaction (p = 0.01) between high CO2 (≥ 26 mmol/L) and BPV was detected in the model with GEC as the EF outcome, indicating that while higher BPV was associated with worse EF in the low and normal CO2 groups, higher BPV was associated with better EF in the high CO2 group. CONCLUSIONS Our analyses revealed an interaction between one measure of BPV and low bicarbonate on neurocognition in pediatric CKD, suggesting a potential role for control of both bicarbonate and blood pressure in preserving cognition in early CKD. Further research is needed to confirm and further define this association.Correct protein metallation in the complex mixture of the cell is a prerequisite for metalloprotein function. While some metals, such as Cu, are commonly chaperoned, specificity towards metals earlier in the Irving-Williams series is achieved through other means, the determinants of which are poorly understood. The dimetal carboxylate family of proteins provides an intriguing example, as different proteins, while sharing a common fold and the same 4-carboxylate 2-histidine coordination sphere, are known to require either a Fe/Fe, Mn/Fe or Mn/Mn cofactor for function. We previously showed that the R2lox proteins from this family spontaneously assemble the heterodinuclear Mn/Fe cofactor. Here we show that the class Ib ribonucleotide reductase R2 protein from Bacillus anthracis spontaneously assembles a Mn/Mn cofactor in vitro, under both aerobic and anoxic conditions, when the metal-free protein is subjected to incubation with MnII and FeII in equal concentrations. This observation provides an example of a protein scaffold intrinsically predisposed to defy the Irving-Williams series and supports the assumption that the Mn/Mn cofactor is the biologically relevant cofactor in vivo. Substitution of a second coordination sphere residue changes the spontaneous metallation of the protein to predominantly form a heterodinuclear Mn/Fe cofactor under aerobic conditions and a Mn/Mn metal center under anoxic conditions. Together, the results describe the intrinsic metal specificity of class Ib RNR and provide insight into control mechanisms for protein metallation.The study of Pt(IV) antitumor prodrugs able to circumvent some drawbacks of the conventional Pt(II) chemotherapeutics is the focus of a lot of attention. This paper reports a thorough study based on experimental methods (reduction kinetics, electrochemistry, tandem mass spectrometry and IR ion spectroscopy) and quantum-mechanical DFT calculations on the reduction mechanism of cisplatin-based Pt(IV) derivatives having two hydroxido (1), one hydroxido and one acetato (2), or two acetato ligands (3) in axial position. The biological reductants glutathione and ascorbic acid were taken into consideration. The presence of a hydroxido ligand resulted to play an important role in the chemical reduction with ascorbic acid, as verified by 15N-NMR kinetic analysis using 15N-enriched complexes. The reactivity trend (1 > 2 > 3) does not reflect the respective reduction peak potentials (1  less then  2  less then  3), an inverse relationship already documented in similar systems. Turning to a simplified environment, the Pt(IV) complexes associated with a single reductant molecule (corresponding to the encounter complex occurring along the reaction coordinate in bimolecular reactions in solution) were characterized by IR ion spectroscopy and sampled for their reactivity under collision-induced dissociation (CID) conditions. The complexes display a comparable reduction reactivity ordering as that observed in solution. DFT calculations of the free energy pathways for the observed fragmentation reactions provide theoretical support for the CID patterns and the mechanistic hypotheses on the reduction process are corroborated by the observed reaction paths. The bulk of these data offers a clue of the intricate pathways occurring in solution.Graphic abstract.Previous studies with olfactory-disturbing pesticides resulted after exposure in disturbed behavior and physiology in fish. In the present experiment, reproductive behavior and milt volumes of precocious brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) male parr were studied in a large stream aquarium after exposure to the olfactory-disturbing fungicide 15 μg l-1 IPBC (iodocarb; 3-iodo-2-propynyl butyl carbamate) for 96 h. The statistical analyses did not reveal any significant differences for time attending females between controls and IPBC-exposed males. Furthermore, there were no significant differences in milt volumes. However, when taking all fish into consideration, there were significant differences in milt volumes between parr that had been attending females and those had not been attending females. Controls that had attended females had significantly higher milt volumes than controls or IPBC-exposed males that had not attended females. Taking all control and IPBC parr into consideration, there was a statistically significant positive correlation between time attended females and volume of milt and gonadosomatic index (GSI), respectively. click here In summary, 15 μg l-1 IPBC did not have any significant effects on mature male parr reproductive behavior and milt volumes.Parechovirus A (PeV-A), which causes a wide variety of diseases, is prevalent among young children. However, little is currently known about PeV-A infections in children with acute gastroenteritis in mainland China. In this study, we investigated the molecular epidemiology of acute gastroenteritis in Shenzhen, southern China, with an emphasis on PeV-A infections. A total of 1220 stool specimens from 1220 outpatient children under 5 years old with acute gastroenteritis were collected from January 2016 to December 2018. Viral RNA was detected by a real-time RT-PCR and PCR method. The PeV-A isolates were genotyped by sequencing the VP3/VP1 region. Of 1220 specimens, 148 (12.1%) were positive for PeV-A. The predominant genotype was PeV-A 1B (68.9%), followed by PeV-A 4 (12.2%), PeV-A 14 (6.1%), PeV-A 1A (5.4%), PeV-A 6 (2.7%), PeV-A 3 (2.7%) and PeV-A 5 (2.0%). It was found that 68.2% of PeV-A infections occurred in the summer and rainy months (June to September) in southern China. The majority of PeV-A-positive patients (97.3%) were younger than 24 months old. PeV-A coinfection with norovirus, rotavirus, astrovirus and adenovirus was found in thirty specimens (30/148, 20.3%), five specimens (5/148, 3.4%), five specimens (5/148, 3.4%), and two specimens (2/148, 1.4%), respectively. Coinfections with more than one other enteric virus were not observed in any of the PeV-A-positive specimens. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the PeV-A isolates from Shenzhen were closely related to each other and to strains circulating in China, suggesting endemic circulation of PeV-A in China. The results of this study indicate that PeV-A is one of important pathogens of acute gastroenteritis in young children and that coinfection is a possible mode of PeV-A infection. PeV-A associated with acute gastroenteritis exhibited high genotypic diversity in Shenzhen, southern China.PURPOSE To evaluate vision-related quality of life in keratoconus patients and associated impact of keratoconus severity indicators using the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ-25). METHODS This was a prospective cross-sectional study carried out from November 1, 2014, to April 30, 2015, in the corneal service of the Hôtel-Dieu hospital, Paris, France. A hundred and one keratoconus patients were consecutively enrolled. Participants completed a French-validated version of the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ-25). Manifest refraction, maximum keratometry value, and corneal thinnest point were recorded. Associations between clinical and demographic factors, previous medical or surgical treatment, and NEI-VFQ-25 scale scores were evaluated. RESULTS Vision-related quality of life was no better in patients managed with rigid gas permeable contact lens, collagen cross-linking, or intracorneal ring segment implantation, compared with untreated patients. In advanced keratoconus (stages II, III, and IV of Amsler-Krumeich classification), rigid gas permeable contact lens wearers had better general vision but more ocular pain. Distance-corrected visual acuity worse than 20/40, mean refractive cylinder > 2.5 diopters, and corneal thinnest point less then  460 μm in the better eye were associated with a lower vision-related quality of life. In multivariate analysis, only the uncorrected and distance-corrected visual acuity of the better eye remained significantly correlated with vision-related quality of life. CONCLUSIONS Low distance-corrected visual acuity in the better eye was the strongest predictor of low vision-related quality of life.PURPOSE To present and examine the results of surgical correction of simultaneous ocular elevation and depression deficit in patients who underwent reconstruction surgery for orbital floor fracture. METHODS A retrospective analysis of medical records of patients who had undergone surgical correction for diplopia associated with orbital fracture which persisted after orbital reconstruction surgery. All patients underwent orthoptic evaluation before surgery and postoperatively with various times of follow-up. RESULTS Eight cases of blow-out fracture of the orbital floor were identified. Surgical plan varied from case to case. It included thorough revision of inferior rectus/oblique complex with or without recession of the former or flap tear repair and additional procedures. Postoperatively 4 patients (50%) were diplopia free, 3 (37.5%) presented diplopia in extreme upgaze and 1 (12.5%) in mid-upgaze and adduction. None of the patients reported diplopia in the primary position neither downgaze. CONCLUSION Diplopia persisting after reconstructive surgery of a fractured orbital floor may be corrected surgically.
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