Influence Of Different Classes Research Articles

Bayesian spatio-temporal modeling to assess the effect of land-use changes on the incidence of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in the Brazilian Amazon

Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) is a vector-borne disease caused by a protozoan of the genus Leishmania and is considered one of the most important neglected tropical diseases. The Brazilian Amazon Forest harbors one of the highest diversity of Leishmania parasites and vectors and is one of the main focuses of the disease in the Americas. Previous studies showed that some types of anthropogenic disturbances have affected the abundance and distribution of CL vectors and hosts; however, few studies have thoroughly investigated the influence of different classes of land cover and land-use changes on the disease transmission risk. Here, we quantify the effect of land use and land-cover changes on the incidence of CL in all municipalities within the Brazilian Amazon Forest, from 2001 to 2017. We used a structured spatiotemporal Bayesian model to assess the effect of forest cover, agriculture, livestock, extractivism, and- deforestation on CL incidence, accounting for confounding variables such as population, climate, socioeconomic, and spatiotemporal random effects. We found that the increased risk of CL was associated with deforestation, especially modulated by a positive interaction between forest cover and livestock. Landscapes with ongoing deforestation for extensive cattle ranching are typically found in municipalities within the Amazon Frontier, where a high relative risk for CL was also identified. These findings provide valuable insights into developing effective public health policies and land-use planning to ensure healthier landscapes for people.

Вплив різних класів антигіпертензивних препаратів на інсулінорезистентність у пацієнтів із м’якою та помірною артеріальною гіпертензією

Вплив різних класів антигіпертензивних препаратів на інсулінорезистентність у пацієнтів із м’якою та помірною артеріальною гіпертензією

Influence of Different Classes of Insecticides on Honey Bee Survival

Influence of Different Classes of Insecticides on Honey Bee Survival

Comparison of the Effect of the Amino Acids on Spontaneous Formation and Transformation of Calcium Phosphates

Understanding the effect that specific amino acids (AA) exert on calcium phosphate (CaPs) formation is proposed as a way of providing deeper insight into CaPs’ biomineralization and enabling the design of tailored-made additives for the synthesis of functional materials. Despite a number of investigations, the role of specific AA is still unclear, mostly because markedly different experimental conditions have been employed in different studies. The aim of this paper was to compare the influence of different classes of amino acids, charged (aspartic acid, Asp and lysine, Lys), polar (asparagine, Asn and serine, Ser) and non-polar (phenylalanine, Phe) on CaPs formation and transformation in conditions similar to physiological conditions. The precipitation process was followed potentiometrically, while Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, electron paramagnetic spectroscopy (EPR), scanning and transmission electron microscopy were used for the characterization of precipitates. Except for Phe, all investigated AAs inhibited amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) transformation, with Ser being the most efficient inhibitor. In all systems, ACP transformed in calcium-deficient hydroxyapatite (CaDHA). However, the size of crystalline domains was affected, as well as CaDHA morphology. In EPR spectra, the contribution of different radical species with different proportions in diverse surroundings, depending on the type of AA present, was observed. The obtained results are of interest for the preparation of functionalized CaPs’, as well as for the understanding of their formation in vivo.

Characterization of Gastrointestinal Symptom Type and Severity in Parkinson's Disease: A Case-Control Study in an Australian Cohort.

While constipation is a well-known non-motor symptom which may precede the onset of the classical motor symptoms of PD, there have been few comprehensive studies of gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms in people with PD (PwP). To investigate the spectrum of GI symptoms in an Australian PwP cohort and their relationship to use of anti-parkinsonian medications dietary habits and smoking. The prevalence and severity of GI symptoms were compared in a group of 163 PwP and 113 healthy control subjects using the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS). Corrected linear regression models were used to determine differences between PwP and controls, and to investigate the influence of different classes of anti-Parkinsonian medications. PwP reported a greater frequency of constipation and GI-associated illnesses when compared to healthy controls. Total GSRS scores (P < 0.0001), upper GI symptoms (P < 0.0001), and hypoactive GI Symptoms (P < 0.0001) were all significantly greater in the PD cohort than controls. Further analyses revealed a positive association between the use of anti-Parkinsonian medications and total GSRS scores (P < 0.001), as well as upper GI symptoms (P < 0.001) and hypoactive GI function (P < 0.001). This study illustrates the frequency and array of GI symptoms in a large PD cohort. The findings indicate that anti-parkinsonian medications play an important role in the presentation and development of GI symptoms.

The Influence of Different Classes of Amino Acids on Calcium Phosphates Seeded Growth

Amino acids (AAs) attract attention for elucidating the role of proteins in biomineralization and the preparation of functionalized biomaterials. The influence that AAs exert on calcium phosphate (CaP) mineralization is still not completely understood, as contradictory results have been reported. In this paper, the influence of the addition of different classes of AAs, charged (L-aspartic acid, Asp; L-lysine, Lys), polar (L-asparagine, Asn; L-serine, Ser; L-tyrosine, Tyr), and non-polar (L-phenylalanine, Phe), on CaP growth in the presence of octacalcium phosphate (OCP) and calcium hydrogenphosphate dihydrate (DCPD) seeds was investigated. In control systems (without AAs), a calcium-deficient apatite (CaDHA) layer was formed on the surface of OCP, while a mixture of CaDHA and OCP in the form of spherical aggregates was formed on the surface of DCPD crystals. Charged and non-polar promoted, while polar AAs inhibited CaDHA formation on the OCP seeds. In the case of DCPD, Lys, Asp, and Phe promoted CaP formation, while the influence of other AAs was negligible. The most efficient promotor of precipitation in both cases was non-polar Phe. No significant influence of AAs on the composition and morphology of precipitates was observed. The obtained results are of interest for understanding biomineralization processes and additive controlled material synthesis.

Analysis of the Spectrum of ACE2 Variation Suggests a Possible Influence of Rare and Common Variants on Susceptibility to COVID-19 and Severity of Outcome.

ObjectivesIn March 2020, the World Health Organization declared that an infectious respiratory disease caused by a new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 [SARS-CoV-2, causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)] became a pandemic. In our study, we have analyzed a large publicly available dataset, the Genome Aggregation Database (gnomAD), as well as a cohort of 37 Russian patients with COVID-19 to assess the influence of different classes of genetic variants in the angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) gene on the susceptibility to COVID-19 and the severity of disease outcome.ResultsWe demonstrate that the European populations slightly differ in alternative allele frequencies at the 2,754 variant sites in ACE2 identified in the gnomAD database. We find that the Southern European population has a lower frequency of missense variants and slightly higher frequency of regulatory variants. However, we found no statistical support for the significance of these differences. We also show that the Russian population is similar to other European populations when comparing the frequencies of the ACE2 variants. Evaluation of the effect of various classes of ACE2 variants on COVID-19 outcome in a cohort of Russian patients showed that common missense and regulatory variants do not explain the differences in disease severity. At the same time, we find several rare ACE2 variants (including rs146598386, rs73195521, rs755766792, and others) that are likely to affect the outcome of COVID-19. Our results demonstrate that the spectrum of genetic variants in ACE2 may partially explain the differences in severity of the COVID-19 outcome.

Вплив хімічного складу розчинників на ступінь очищення поверхні перед напиленням йонно-плазмових покриттів

Наведено результати досліджень впливу різних класів розчинників на олієвмісні забруднення на поверхні деталей із вуглецевої сталі перед нанесенням йонно-плазмових покриттів. Як розчинники використано С6Н14, С8Н18, С6Н6, СНСl3, CCl4, С2Н4Сl2, С2Н5ОН, С4Н9ОН, С2Н5ОСОСН3, NaOH, HCl. Забруднювачами поверхні були солідол і мастильно-охолоджувальна рідина (МОР) Укрінол-4. Для зразків, оброблених солідолом, найкращий результат зафіксовано в неполярного розчинника октану С8Н18 і слабкополярного розчинника етилетаноату С2Н5ОСОСН3, для яких втрата маси перевищила 1 %. Втрату маси більше ніж 0,5 % виявлено в неполярних розчинників і хлорозаміщених вуглеводнів. У неполярних розчинників ступінь очищення покращувався зі зростанням молярної маси розчинника та насичення Гідрогеном, а для хлорозаміщених вуглеводнів – із зростанням вмісту Хлору. Найкращі результати очищення зі спиртів виявлено в ізобутанолу С4Н9ОН. Зразки, оброблені МОР Укрінол-4, відмивали розчинниками CCl4, С2Н5ОН, С6Н14, С2Н4Сl2, що свідчить про вагомий внесок поверхнево-активних речовин (ПАР) і присадок, що присутні у складі МОР. Здатність до очищення зростає у такій послідовності: лужні та кислі водні розчини спирти хлорозаміщені вуглеводні неполярні та слабкополярні розчинники. Досліджено фізико-хімічні властивості та визначено вміст сторонніх продуктів в оливах класу HLP для гідросистем і для напрямних верстатів. Проведено порівняння ІЧ-спектрів свіжої та вживаної олив. Встановлено, що в процесі роботи олива окиснюється. Найбільше процес експлуатації вплинув на зростання кислотного числа (в три рази) та вмісту води (в дев'ять разів).

Influence of different classes of crosslinkers on alginate polyelectrolyte nanoparticle formation, thermodynamics and characteristics

Complexation of linear alginate polyanions with different classes of crosslinkers (divalent cations, polycations, positively charged surfactants) was investigated, to unravel their effects on nanoparticle formation. The goal was to define the crosslinker-to-alginate molar ratios at which nanoparticles are formed, and to reveal the underlying thermodynamics and molecular interactions using dynamic and electrophoretic light scattering, isothermal titration calorimetry, and infrared spectroscopy. Alginate nanoparticles were formed across a limited range of molar ratios that was specific for each crosslinker, and had different size and stability. Thermodynamic parameters of alginate complexation with crosslinkers showed that nanoparticle formation was in all cases entropy driven, together with a minor enthalpic contribution. The crosslinking mechanism was based on ionic interactions, with accompanying weaker interactions specific for each crosslinker, and involved characteristic macroscopic association constants (Ka1) for complexation of alginate (range, 104–109M−1). Additionally, the ionic strengths of the media influenced the characteristics and stabilities of the polyelectrolyte nanoparticles.

A survey on second order free boundary value problems modelling MEMS with general permittivity profile

In this survey we review some recent results on microelectromechanical systems with general permittivity profile. Different systems of differential equations are derived by taking various physical modelling aspects into account, according to the particular application. In any case an either semi-or quasilinear hyperbolic or parabolic evolution problem for the displacement of an elastic membrane is coupled with an elliptic moving boundary problem that determines the electrostatic potential in the region occupied by the elastic membrane and a rigid ground plate. Of particular interest in all models is the influence of different classes of permittivity profiles. The subsequent analytical investigations are restricted to a dissipation dominated regime for the membrane's displacement. For the resulting parabolic evolution problems local well-posedness, global existence, the occurrence of finite-time singularities, and convergence of solutions to those of the so-called small-aspect ratio model, respectively, are investigated. Furthermore, a topic is addressed that is of note not till non-constant permittivity profiles are taken into account -the direction of the membrane's deflection or, in mathematical parlance, the sign of the solution to the evolution problem. The survey is completed by a presentation of some numerical results that in particular justify the consideration of the coupled problem by revealing substantial qualitative differences of the solutions to the widely-used small-aspect ratio model and the coupled problem.

Parameterization of phosphine ligands reveals mechanistic pathways and predicts reaction outcomes.

The mechanistic foundation behind the identity of a phosphine ligand that best promotes a desired reaction outcome is often non-intuitive, and thus has been addressed in numerous experimental and theoretical studies. In this work, multivariate correlations of reaction outcomes using 38 different phosphine ligands were combined with classic potentiometric analyses to study a Suzuki reaction, for which the site selectivity of oxidative addition is highly dependent on the nature of the phosphine. These studies shed light on the generality of hypotheses regarding the structural influence of different classes of phosphine ligands on the reaction mechanism(s), and deliver a methodology that should prove useful in future studies of phosphine ligands.

A Combined Weight of Evidence and Logistic Regression Method for Susceptibility Mapping of Earthquake‐induced Landslides: A Case Study of the April 20, 2013 Lushan Earthquake, China

AbstractThe Ms 7.0 Lushan earthquake triggered a huge number of landslides. Landslide susceptibility mapping is of great importance. Weight of Evidence (WoE) and Logistic Regression (LR) methods have been widely used for LSM (Landslide Susceptibility Mapping). However, limitations still exist. WoE is capable of assessing the influence of different classes of each factor, but neglects the correlation between factors. LR is able to analyze the relationship among the factors while it is not capable of evaluating the influence of different classes. This paper proposes a combined method of LR and WoE for LSM, taking advantage of their individual merits and overcoming their limitations. An inventory of 1289 landslides was used: 70% were random‐selected for training and the remaining for validation. 11 landslide condition factors were employed in the model and the result was validated using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve. The results showed that the LR‐WoE model had a better accuracy than the LR model, producing an area below the curve with values of 0.802 success and 0.791 predictive, higher than that of the LR model (0.715 success and 0.722 predictive). It is therefore concluded that the combined method of WoE and LR can provide a promising level of accuracy for earthquake‐induced landslide susceptibility mapping.

Astrocyte pathology in major depressive disorder: insights from human postmortem brain tissue.

The present paper reviews astrocyte pathology in major depressive disorder (MDD) and proposes that reductions in astrocytes and related markers are key features in the pathology of MDD. Astrocytes are the most numerous and versatile of all types of glial cells. They are crucial to the neuronal microenvironment by regulating glucose metabolism, neurotransmitter uptake (particularly for glutamate), synaptic development and maturation and the blood brain barrier. Pathology of astrocytes has been consistently noted in MDD as well as in rodent models of depressive-like behavior. This review summarizes evidence from human postmortem tissue showing alterations in the expression of protein and mRNA for astrocyte markers such as glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), gap junction proteins (connexin 40 and 43), the water channel aquaporin-4 (AQP4), a calcium-binding protein S100B and glutamatergic markers including the excitatory amino acid transporters 1 and 2 (EAAT1, EAAT2) and glutamine synthetase. Moreover, preclinical studies are presented that demonstrate the involvement of GFAP and astrocytes in animal models of stress and depressive-like behavior and the influence of different classes of antidepressant medications on astrocytes. In light of the various astrocyte deficits noted in MDD, astrocytes may be novel targets for the action of antidepressant medications. Possible functional consequences of altered expression of astrocytic markers in MDD are also discussed. Finally, the unique pattern of cell pathology in MDD, characterized by prominent reductions in the density of astrocytes and in the expression of their markers without obvious neuronal loss, is contrasted with that found in other neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders.

Influence of different classes of anesthetics on burst‐to‐burst variability of basal phrenic nerve discharge in adult in vivo rat

The respiratory control system is highly dynamic, allowing for breath‐to‐breath adjustments to both physiological and pathological conditions. Ongoing work in our laboratory in the adult in vivo rat focuses on exploring the influence of different classes of anesthetics on various respiratory behaviors, including basal respiratory burst patterns. In the current study, we expand on this work by examining the influence of different classes of anesthetics on burst‐to‐burst variability of basal phrenic nerve discharge. Poincaré plot and coefficient of variation analyses were performed on 300 consecutive phrenic bursts obtained from urethane (U), inactin used alone (IN) or in combination with ketamine (IN‐K) or xylazine (IN‐X), sodium pentobarbital (P), ketamine in combination with xylazine (K‐X), propofol (PRO), and isoflurane (ISO) anesthetized rats; decerebrate rats were also studied. Our analyses suggest that different classes of anesthetics differentially influence the short‐term and long‐term variability of phrenic burst frequency and timing, and that typically used measures of variability may not fully capture long‐term patterns of variability. Supported by HL63175

Optimization and application of a fluorimetric assay for the identification of histone deacetylase inhibitors from plant origin

Context: Histonedeacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) are the focus of enormous interest as a new class of anticancer drugs and discussed as novel treatment in cardiovascular diseases or memory enhancement. In the search for new active substances the structural diversity of secondary plant metabolites provides an indispensable resource. Several molecules from the plant kingdom have gained importance as anticancer drugs. Thus, a search for new therapeutic agents inhibiting histonedeacetylases (HDACs) is an important topic. To accelerate the isolation of potential candidates from plants bioassays well suited for screenings of extracts are an indispensable prerequisite.Objective: In the presented study an enzymatic assay was modified, optimized and validated for the search for HDACi from plant origin.Materials and methods: A fluorimetric assay was validated with respect to parameters such as temperature, incubation times, reproducibility, applicability of different enzyme sources and HDAC substrate. For the determination of the HDAC inhibitory potential of extracts the detailed study of the influence of different classes of primary and secondary metabolites probably interfering with the assay was most important.Results: In the experimental design autofluorescent coumarins and tannins were identified to disrupt the assay. Possibilities to avoid disturbances are demonstrated and the applicability of the method in the bioactivity-guided search for new HDACi was proven on the example Leonuri herba (Leonurus cardiaca L.; Lamiaceae).Conclusion: The optimization of the assay led to a highly efficient fluorimetric method to study plant extracts and fractions of medium/high polarity for HDAC inhibition. In the bioactivity-guided fractionation of extracts from Leonuri herba the applicability for the aimed purpose was clearly demonstrated.

Wnt2 Expression and Signaling Is Increased by Different Classes of Antidepressant Treatments

Despite recent interest in glycogen synthase kinase-3beta (GSK-3beta) as a target for the treatment of mood disorders, there has been very little work related to these illnesses on the upstream signaling molecules that regulate this kinase as well as downstream targets. With a focused microarray approach we examined the influence of different classes of antidepressants on Wnt signaling that controls GSK-3beta activity as well as the transcription factors that contribute to the actions of GSK-3beta. The results demonstrate that Wnt2 is a common target of different classes of antidepressants and also show differential regulation of Wnt-GSK-3beta signaling genes. Increased expression and function of Wnt2 was confirmed by secondary measures. Moreover, with a viral vector approach we demonstrate that increased expression of Wnt2 in the hippocampus is sufficient to produce antidepressant-like behavioral actions in well-established models of depression and treatment response. These findings demonstrate that Wnt2 expression and signaling is a common target of antidepressants and that increased Wnt2 is sufficient to produce antidepressant effects.

QSAR of aminopyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidin-7-yl derivatives: Anticancer drug design by computed descriptors

A series of aminopyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidin-7-yl derivatives acting as potential tyrosine kinase inhibitors having anticancer activities have been considered in the present investigation for the quantitative structure-activity relationship studies based on 2D and 3D QSAR approaches. For this purpose, various theoretical molecular descriptors were computed solely from the structures of these compounds. As the number of molecular descriptors greatly exceeds the number of observations, conventional regression does not produce reliable models and therefore, ridge regression methodology was used to solve this problem. The influence of different classes of molecular descriptors on the activity has been predicted and the most significant descriptors were obtained using the ridge regression models. Partial least squares (PLS) models were developed based on the training set for the 3D QSAR models of the above compounds. The influences of steric and electrostatic field effects generated by the contribution plots are discussed.

Chemical stability of açai fruit (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) anthocyanins as influenced by naturally occurring and externally added polyphenolic cofactors in model systems

Abstract The influence of different classes of naturally occurring and externally added polyphenolic cofactors on the phytochemical and colour stability of anthocyanins in acai fruit (Euterpe oleracea) was investigated. Model systems were based on anthocyanin isolates from acai fruit, rich in cyanidin-3-rutinoside (311 ± 27 mg/l) and cyanidin-3-glucoside (208 ± 18 mg/l), and isolated groups of naturally occurring polyphenolic cofactors in acai fruit (phenolic acids, procyanidins, and flavone-C-glycosides, each adjusted to ∼50 mg/l). Anthocyanin degradation kinetics were assessed as a function of pH (3.0, 3.5, and 4.0) and storage temperature (5, 20 and 30 °C). During storage, anthocyanins experienced pH and temperature-dependent losses, and the half life cyanidin-3-rutinoside (t1/2 = 2.67–210 days) was consistently longer than cyanidin-3-glucoside (t1/2 = 1.13–144 days). The presence of flavone-C-glycosides induced significant hyperchromic shifts and enhanced anthocyanin stability at all pH and temperature combinations, while no significant effects were attributed to the presence of phenolic acids or procyanidins. Additional models using externally added cofactors from rooibos tea, also rich in flavone-C-glycosides, resulted in up to 45.5% higher anthocyanin colour and up to 40.7% increased anthocyanin stability compared to uncopigmented anthocyanin isolates and had similar copigmentation effects to a commercial rosemary-based colour enhancer. Results suggest flavone-C-glycosides offer potential for their use as colour enhancers and stabilizing agents in products rich in cyanidin glycosides, particularly acai fruit-containing foods, juice blends, and beverages.

Human Influences on Water Quality in Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands

A better understanding of relationships between human activities and water chemistry is needed to identify and manage sources of anthropogenic stress in Great Lakes coastal wetlands. The objective of the study described in this article was to characterize relationships between water chemistry and multiple classes of human activity (agriculture, population and development, point source pollution, and atmospheric deposition). We also evaluated the influence of geomorphology and biogeographic factors on stressor-water quality relationships. We collected water chemistry data from 98 coastal wetlands distributed along the United States shoreline of the Laurentian Great Lakes and GIS-based stressor data from the associated drainage basin to examine stressor-water quality relationships. The sampling captured broad ranges (1.5-2 orders of magnitude) in total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN), dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), total suspended solids (TSS), chlorophyll a (Chl a), and chloride; concentrations were strongly correlated with stressor metrics. Hierarchical partitioning and all-subsets regression analyses were used to evaluate the independent influence of different stressor classes on water quality and to identify best predictive models. Results showed that all categories of stress influenced water quality and that the relative influence of different classes of disturbance varied among water quality parameters. Chloride exhibited the strongest relationships with stressors followed in order by TN, Chl a, TP, TSS, and DIN. In general, coarse scale classification of wetlands by morphology (three wetland classes: riverine, protected, open coastal) and biogeography (two ecoprovinces: Eastern Broadleaf Forest [EBF] and Laurentian Mixed Forest [LMF]) did not improve predictive models. This study provides strong evidence of the link between water chemistry and human stress in Great Lakes coastal wetlands and can be used to inform management efforts to improve water quality in Great Lakes coastal ecosystems.

Effect of adjuvants and route of immunizations on the immune response to recombinant plague antigens

In this study, we compare four different adjuvants, LT(R192G), CpG ODN, MPL ®TDM, and alum, for their ability to affect the magnitude, distribution, and duration of antibody responses against F1-V, the lead-candidate antigen for the next generation vaccine against plague, in a murine model. In addition, three different routes of immunization—intranasal (IN), transcutaneous (TC), and subcutaneous (SC) were compared with each adjuvant. Since aerosol exposure to biological warfare agents is of primary concern, both serum and bronchioalveolar lavage (BAL) were analyzed for antigen-specific antibody responses. The most significant findings of the study reported here are that (1) the adjuvant influences the Type 1/Type 2 balance of the antibody response in both the serum and BAL, (2) mucosal immunization is not necessary to obtain F1-V-specific BAL responses, (3) non-traditional adjuvants such as LT(R192G) work when delivered subcutaneously, (4) the route of immunization affects the magnitude of the immune response, and (5) F1-V is highly immunogenic by some routes even in the absence of an exogenously applied adjuvant. These studies provide important insights into the influence of different classes of adjuvants on the immune outcome in biodefense vaccines and for development of new-generation vaccines against other pathogens as well.