The compression of the offending vessel on the facial nerve at root exit zone is considered as the leading cause of hemifacial spasm (HFS). However, the correlation between the severity of spasm and ...the pressure of neurovascular compression (NVC) has not yet been investigated. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical correlation between the severity of HFS and the pressure of NVC.
A prospective study was performed, which included 52 of 151 patients who underwent microvascular decompression. We classified the preoperative spasm severity according to the Cohen scores. Codman intracranial pressure monitoring system was used to measure the NVC pressure at the root exit zone during microvascular decompression. All patients were followed up for 12–24 months.
Herein, the intraoperative pressure readings of NVC were in the range of 21–63 mmHg. The means of the pressure of NVC that corresponded to the Cohen scores (1–4) were 23.00 ± 1.83, 34.91 ± 12.42, 46.50 ± 9.40, and 55.40 ± 3.03 mmHg, respectively. The Spearman's rank correlation established a strong positive correlation between the pressure and the Cohen scores (r = 0.689, P < 0.0001). The simple linear analysis indicated that sex (P = 0.132), duration (P = 0.304), and delayed relief (P = 0.158) were not significantly associated with the pressure. However, a substantial correlation was determined between the pressure values and the time until the complete recovery (r = 0.949, P < 0.0001) of the delayed healing population.
The severity of HFS exhibited a strong positive correlation with the intraoperative offending vessel's pressure values. Thus, the neurovascular pressure is a significant factor in the pathogenesis of HFS.
•The severity of hemifacial spasm exhibited a strong positive correlation with the pressure of the neurovascular compression.•The neurovascular pressure is a significant factor in the pathogenesis of hemifacial spasm.•The occurrence of facial spasm might be related to a specific pressure of the neurovascular compression.
An alkaline protease was purified from a halophilic and thermotolerant potent alkaline protease-producing strain Streptomyces pseudogrisiolus NRC-15 using ammonium sulphate precipitation and Sephadex ...G-100 column chromatography. The enzyme was purified to 77.24-folds with a yield of 91.8% and the specific activity was 112 U/mg of protein. The protease showed a single band on SDS-PAGE with its molecular mass at 20 kDa and exhibited a maximum relative activity of 100% using casein as a substrate and. The enzyme had an optimum pH of 9.5 and displayed optimum activity at 50 degrees C. The enzyme activity was completely inhibited by the serine protease inhibitor PMSF, suggesting the presence of serine residue in the active site. The enzyme activity was increased by the metal ions Ca2+, Co2+, K+ and Mg2+. The enzyme significantly enhanced the removal of stains when used with wheel detergent, indicating the potential of the enzyme for using as a laundry detergent additive to improve the performance of heavy-duty laundry detergent.
Microbial protease represents the most important industrial enzymes, which have an active role in biotechnological processes. The objective of this study was to isolate new strain of
Streptomyces
...that produce proteolytic enzymes with novel properties and the development of the low-cost medium. An alkaline protease producer strain NRC-15 was isolated from Egyptian soil sample. The cultural, morphological, physiological characters and chemotaxonomic evidence strongly indicated that the NRC-15 strain represents a novel species of the genus
Streptomyces
, hence the name
Strptomyces pseudogrisiolus
NRC-15. The culture conditions for higher protease production by NRC-15 were optimized with respect to carbon and nitrogen sources, metal ions, pH and temperature. Maximum protease production was obtained in the medium supplemented with 1% glucose, 1% yeast extract, 6% NaCl and 100 μmol/L of Tween 20, initial pH 9.0 at 50 °C for 96 h. The current results confirm that for this strain, a great ability to produce alkaline proteases, which supports the use of applications in industry.
Wilson disease (WD) is an autosomal recessive disorder, caused by defects in copper-transporting P-type adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) encoded by the ATP7B gene, resulting in the deposition of ...copper in the liver and brain with significant disability or death if left untreated. An available regimen of treatment gives hope to those predisposed to the disease if diagnosed early. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of the most common European mutation (p.H1069Q) in Egyptian children with WD, in addition to screening for previously reported mutations in the Egyptian patients in our selected group.
Direct DNA sequencing was applied to exons (13, 14, 18, and 19) of the ATP7B gene for 19 patients previously diagnosed with WD. Then DNA sequencing and pedigree analysis were performed in the families of the patients showing variations in their results for the purpose of family screening and carrier detection. Six out of 19 patients were studied with their families (three families).
We identified five variants of which two were novel among the studied patients. One of the novel variants was synonymous substitution (p.A1074A) in 16% of patients and the other was predicted to be missense disease-causing mutations (p.T1076I) in 16% of patients, and three previously published mutations p.H1069Q were detected in 5% of patients, p.P1273Q in 10% of patients, and a silent variant p.A1003A in 26% of patients.
Screening for the two exons 14 and 18 of the ATP7B gene is important in Egyptian patients especially in suspected patients without hepatic manifestations.
•Chicken anaemia virus infection influences the course of consecutive infection with LPAI H9N2 and IB viruses.•Higher titres of LPAI-H9N2 or IB viruses have been detected in the oropharyngeal swabs, ...tracheas and kidneys in CAV previously infected chickens.•Pre-infection with CAV directly correlates with elevated levels of IL-6 (in lung) and IFNγ (in lung and spleen).
Immunosuppressive viral diseases have a great economic importance in the poultry industry due to the increased susceptibility to secondary infections. Chicken anaemia virus (CAV) is one of the major immunosuppressive diseases in chickens. In addition, low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) of subtype H9N2 and infectious bronchitis (IB) viruses are among the most frequently reported respiratory viral diseases in poultry worldwide. In the present study, specific pathogen free chickens were used to understand the impact of CAV on secondary infection with LPAI-H9N2 or IB viruses. Clinical outcomes, viral shedding dynamics, and cytokine levels wereassessed. The results exhibit that chickens previously infected with CAV produceconsiderablyhigher titresof LPAI-H9N2 or IB viruses in the oropharyngeal swabs (P < 0.05), tracheas and kidneys. In addition, the immunologic effect of CAV provokedthe development of clinical signs of LPAI-H9N2 and IB virus infections. Moreover, results suggested that pre-infection with CAV directly correlated with elevated levels of IL-6 and IFNγ. These findings underline the importance of CAV pre-infection on LPAI-H9N2 or IB infection in chickens, and indicate that co-circulation of CAV can contribute to the spread and evolution of LPAI H9N2 and IB viruses.
This paper examines whether compliance with COVID-19 mitigation measures is motivated by wanting to save lives or save the economy (or both), and which implications this carries to fight the ...pandemic. National representative samples were collected from 24 countries (N = 25,435). The main predictors were (1) perceived risk to contract coronavirus, (2) perceived risk to suffer economic losses due to coronavirus, and (3) their interaction effect. Individual and country-level variables were added as covariates in multilevel regression models. We examined compliance with various preventive health behaviors and support for strict containment policies. Results show that perceived economic risk consistently predicted mitigation behavior and policy support-and its effects were positive. Perceived health risk had mixed effects. Only two significant interactions between health and economic risk were identified-both positive.
The COVID-19 pandemic presents threats, such as severe disease and economic hardship, to people of different ages. These threats can also be experienced asymmetrically across age groups, which could ...lead to generational differences in behavioral responses to reduce the spread of the disease. We report a survey conducted across 56 societies (N = 58,641), and tested pre-registered hypotheses about how age relates to (a) perceived personal costs during the pandemic, (b) prosocial COVID-19 responses (e.g., social distancing), and (c) support for behavioral regulations (e.g., mandatory quarantine, vaccination). We further tested whether the relation between age and prosocial COVID-19 responses can be explained by perceived personal costs during the pandemic. Overall, we found that older people perceived more costs of contracting the virus, but less costs in daily life due to the pandemic. However, age displayed no clear, robust associations with prosocial COVID-19 responses and support for behavioral regulations. We discuss the implications of this work for understanding the potential intergenerational conflicts of interest that could occur during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Background
Nephropathic cystinosis is a rare autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disorder characterized by kidney and extra-renal complications due to the accumulation of cystine crystals in ...various tissues and organs. Herein, we describe the early neuromuscular complications in a cohort of pediatric nephropathic cystinosis patients.
Methods
We prospectively evaluated the clinical, biochemical, and neurophysiological data of 15 cystinosis patients. Neurophysiological evaluation was performed to confirm or exclude presence of neuropathy and/or myopathy.
Results
Patients’ age ranged between 20 and 216 months at time of examination. Nine patients were males. Three patients had early abnormal neurophysiological features consistent with neuromuscular involvement (clinically asymptomatic proximal myopathy with a patchy distribution in one patient and isolated asymptomatic sensory nerve conduction changes in two patients). A fourth patient had mixed abnormal motor and sensory axonal neuropathic changes associated with overt clinical features (predominantly motor symptoms). Patients with abnormal neuromuscular features were significantly older in age than the unaffected group (
P
= 0.005) and had a diagnosis of cystinosis with subsequent cysteamine therapy at a significantly older age than the unaffected group (
P
= 0.027 and 0.001, respectively).
Conclusions
We expanded the recognized phenotypes of cystinosis neuromuscular complications with early proximal skeletal myopathy and symptomatic motor and sensory axonal neuropathy. Early asymptomatic neuromuscular complications could develop in pediatric patients and would require neurophysiological studies for early detection prior to development of overt clinical manifestations. Prompt diagnosis and timely initiation of cysteamine therapy with recommended dose can delay the development of neuromuscular complications.
Graphical abstract
A higher resolution version of the Graphical abstract is available as Supplementary information
l-arginine amidinohydrolase has been reported as a powerful anticancer agent due to its mediating l-arginine starvation. The aim of this study was to screen a pool of 30 actinomycetes belonging to ...the species Streptomyces in order to select the potent argininolytic one. Streptomyces strains isolated from soil were firstly functional screened based on their argininolytic capacities by a qualitative assay based on a pH indicator substrate (phenol red). The second screening was the quantitative evaluation of the l-arginine amidinohydrolase activity via a Ninhydrine assay. The measurement was performed on two different cell preparations, involving the extracellular compartment and the cell lysates extract. Among the tested isolates, a strain coded as MAM5 produced extracellular and intracellular l-arginase simultaneously under the same culture conditions. The isolate was identified as Streptomyces diastaticus MAM5 by phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA sequence. Optimization and validation of different process parameters via Box-Behnken design were done for maximum production of extracellular and intracellular l-arginase. Collectively, culturing in shake flasks with the optimized medium resulted in a 4.5-fold and 3.5-fold increase in extra- and intracellular l-arginase production, respectively, when compared to screening medium. Additionally, l-arginase was partially purified using heat treatment and precipitation with cold ethanol, and the enzyme exhibiting 3.2-fold and 3.1-fold for extra- and intracellular form respectively, in comparison with the crude enzyme. Both forms of l-arginase had maximum activity in alkaline pH (8.5–9) at 40–50 °C with ionic stability within pH range 8–10 and thermal stability below 60 °C.
The optimal conditions for the production of l-methionine γ-lyase (MGL) by a soil bacterium, Streptomyces DMMMH60, were established and their effects were compared using Plackett–Burman design (PBD). ...Accordingly, the optimal conditions of beet molasses, yeast extract, l-methionine, MgCl2, Tween 80, initial pH, aeration, temperature, inoculum size and incubation period for the maximum MGL production (60.7 U/mg) were 23.5 g/L, 0.79 g/L, 0.87 g/L, 0.85 g/L, 0.41%, 8.3, 50 ml, 33 °C, 5.2 ml, and 4 day, respectively. Initial pH was found to be the most significant factor for the production of MGL based on the calculated percentage of participation P (%) from an analysis of the variance (ANOVA). Additionally, MGL was purified from the supernatant of S. DMMMH60 using heat treatment, DEAE-cellulose and Sephadex G100, and the purified enzyme displaying 3.15-fold in comparison with the crude enzyme. Purified enzyme exhibiting a single band of 55 kDa subunits on the SDS-PAGE and the enzyme had maximum activity in pH 8 at 45 °C with ionic stability within pH range 6.5–8.5 and thermal stability below 60 °C. In-vitro, MGL showed a significant cytotoxic effect against cancer cell lines whereas those for normal cells was demonstrated a negligible toxicity.
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