Definitive diagnosis of histoplasmosis relies on culture and/or cytology/histopathology; however, these procedures have limited sensitivity and cultures are time-consuming. Antibodies detection by immunodiffusion has low sensitivity in immunocompromised individuals and uses histoplasmin (HMN), a crude antigenic extract, as reagent. Novel protein antigen candidates have been recently identified and produced by DNA-recombinant techniques to obtain standardized and specific reagents for diagnosing histoplasmosis. To compare the analytical performance of novel enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) for antibodies testing for diagnosing histoplasmosis using different Histoplasma capsulatum antigens as reagents. The H. capsulatum 100 kDa protein (Hcp100), the M antigen and its immunoreactive fragment F1 were produced by DNA-recombinant techniques. Galactomannan was purified from both the yeast and mycelial cell walls (yGM and mGM, respectively). The analytical performance of the ELISA tests for the serological detection of antibodies against these antigens was evaluated and compared with those obtained using HMN as reagent. Antibodies detection by the Hcp100 ELISA demonstrated 90.0% sensitivity and 92.0% specificity, versus 43.3% sensitivity and 95.0% specificity of the M ELISA, 33.3% sensitivity and 84.0% specificity of the F1 ELISA, 96.7% sensitivity and 94.0% specificity of the yGM ELISA, 83.3% sensitivity and 88.0% specificity of the mGM ELISA, and 70.0% sensitivity and 86.0% specificity for the HMN ELISA. In summary, Hcp100 is proposed as the most promising candidate for the serodiagnosis of histoplasmosis. The primary immunoreactive element in HMN proved to be GM rather than the M antigen. Nevertheless, a higher incidence of cross-reactions was noted with GM compared to M.
Hcp100 is a promising serodiagnostic candidate for histoplasmosis, boasting high sensitivity and specificity. Notably, GM, rather than M antigen, emerged as the primary immunoreactive element in HMN, despite a higher incidence of cross-reactions with GM compared to M.

UNASSIGNED: Strategies focus on securing the competitiveness of medical device corporations by strengthening their organizational capabilities, which, in turn, ensure their continuous development. This study aims to investigate both management strategies and organizational culture, which may affect the performance of these companies, and analyzes the influence of education and training investment.
UNASSIGNED: We used data from the 3rd to 6th Human Capital Corporate Panel surveys by the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training as well as data from the Korea Information Service and 6,112 workers and 260 companies were analyzed. For the analysis, management strategy and organizational culture were set as independent variables, and corporation performance was set as the dependent variable. Additionally, investment in education and training was set as a control variable between the independent and dependent variables. Corporate performance was analyzed by dividing into organizational satisfaction and organizational commitment.
UNASSIGNED: Differentiation strategy and innovative culture had a positive (+) effect on organizational satisfaction, while cost leadership strategy and hierarchical culture had a negative (-) effect. On the other hand, in the case of interaction with education and training investment, cost leadership strategy and hierarchical culture had a positive (+) effect, while differentiation strategy and innovation culture had a negative (-) effect. In organizational commitment, innovation culture had a positive (+) effect, and hierarchical culture had a negative (-) effect. In the case of interaction with investment in education and training, only the hierarchical culture had a positive (+) effect.
UNASSIGNED: The innovation culture positively influenced the performance of medical device companies. Furthermore, cost leadership strategy, hierarchical culture, education and training investment improved the corporate performance of these companies. To enhance corporate performance, these companies should create an innovation culture and invest in education and training in accordance with the organizational culture.
COVID-19 has proven the excellence of Korea’s medical devices, and the medical device industry is expected to continue to grow due to the increase in chronic disease and non-face-to-face treatment. However, the current medical device industry is monopolized by global companies with capital and technological prowess. To overcome this, Korean medical device companies are developing innovative medical devices centered on start-ups, but now is the time to strategically respond to them in order to compete with global companies. In general, companies establish management strategies for survival and growth by analyzing threats and opportunities based on the market environment to maintain the optimal organization according to market competition, government policies, and changes in consumer needs. Strategies are often established based on the culture of the organizations that make up the company. When it comes to strategy establishment, the medical device industry has special characteristics compared to other industries. The medical device industry is based on advanced technology and puts patient safety first, requiring continuous product upgrades. Therefore, it is an essential industry for employees to invest in education and training. The analysis shows the effectiveness of investment in education and training according to the management strategy and organizational culture of medical device companies. It was confirmed that when medical device companies create an Innovation culture, their performance improves. It also shows that when medical device companies adopt a cost leadership strategy, they need to increase their investment in education and training to improve corporate performance.

UNASSIGNED: Left atrial ablation to obtain pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) for the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) is a technologically intensive procedure utilizing innovative and continually improving technology. Changes in the technology utilized for PVI can in turn lead to changes in procedure costs. Because of the proximity of the esophagus to the posterior wall of the left atrium, various technologies have been utilized to protect against thermal injury during ablation. The impact on hospital costs during PVI ablation from utilization of different technologies for esophageal protection during ablation has not previously been evaluated.
UNASSIGNED: To compare the costs of active esophageal cooling to luminal esophageal temperature (LET) monitoring during left atrial ablation.
UNASSIGNED: We performed a time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) analysis to determine costs for PVI procedures. Published data and literature review were utilized to determine differences in procedure time and same-day discharge rates using different esophageal protection technologies and to determine the cost impacts of same-day discharge versus overnight hospitalization after PVI procedures. The total costs were then compared between cases using active esophageal cooling to those using LET monitoring.
UNASSIGNED: The effect of implementing active esophageal cooling was associated with up to a 24.7% reduction in mean total procedure time, and an 18% increase in same-day discharge rate. TDABC analysis identified a $681 reduction in procedure costs associated with the use of active esophageal cooling after including the cost of the esophageal cooling device. Factoring in the 18% increase in same-day discharge resulted in an increased cost savings of $2,135 per procedure.
UNASSIGNED: The use of active esophageal cooling is associated with significant cost-savings when compared to traditional LET monitoring, even after accounting for the additional cost of the cooling device. These savings originate from a per-patient procedural time savings and a per-population improvement in same-day discharge rate.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus is a positive-stranded RNA virus of the family Arteriviridae. The Gp5/M dimer, the major component of the viral envelope, is required for virus budding and is an antibody target. We used alphafold2, an artificial-intelligence-based system, to predict a credible structure of Gp5/M. The short disulfide-linked ectodomains lie flat on the membrane, with the exception of the erected N-terminal helix of Gp5, which contains the antibody epitopes and a hypervariable region with a changing number of carbohydrates. The core of the dimer consists of six curved and tilted transmembrane helices, and three are from each protein. The third transmembrane regions extend into the cytoplasm as amphiphilic helices containing the acylation sites. The endodomains of Gp5 and M are composed of seven β-strands from each protein, which interact via β-strand seven. The area under the membrane forms an open cavity with a positive surface charge. The M and Orf3a proteins of coronaviruses have a similar structure, suggesting that all four proteins are derived from the same ancestral gene. Orf3a, like Gp5/M, is acylated at membrane-proximal cysteines. The role of Gp5/M during virus replication is discussed, in particular the mechanisms of virus budding and models of antibody-dependent virus neutralization.

UNASSIGNED: The surgical removal of tonsils has been performed from as long as three thousand years ago, as mentioned in Hindu literature. The role medieval physicians like Albucasis played in the history of tonsillectomy is very important. This article aims to show the contributions Albucasis made to this procedure.
UNASSIGNED: The present library-documentary research relied on the third chapter of the book al-Tasrif, Albucasis\' surgical text, as the main information source.
UNASSIGNED: Albucasis discussed the conditions necessary for tonsillectomy, he introduced three surgical tools for this operation, and he also described the surgical method. Albucasis succeeded in inventing and discovering new tools and methods for tonsillectomy.
UNASSIGNED: The comparison of the tonsil surgery introduced by Albucasis and those of earlier and later surgeons reveals Albucasis\' superiority in both operation performance and equipment used. Some of his methods are comparable with approaches to operations used in the 20th century.

Adult mesenchymal stem cells were reported more than 30 years ago. Since then, their potential to repair and regenerate damaged or diseased tissues has been studied intensively in both preclinical models and human trials. Most of the need for such tissue repair/regeneration is in older populations, so much of the effort has been performed with autologous cells in older patients. However, success has been difficult to achieve. In the literature, it has been noted that such progenitor cells from younger individuals often behave with more vigorous activity and are functionally enhanced compared to those from older individuals or animals. In addition, cells with the characteristics of mesenchymal stem cells or pluripotent mesenchymal regulatory cells exist in nearly all tissues and organs as pericytes since fetal life. Such evidence raises the possibility that one of the primary roles of these organ-specific cells is to regulate organ growth and maturation, and then subsequently play a role in the maintenance of organ integrity. This review will discuss the evidence to support this concept and the implications of such a concept regarding the use of these progenitor cells for the repair and regeneration of tissues damaged by injury or disease later in life. For the latter, it may be necessary to return the organ-specific progenitor cells to the functional state that contributed to their effectiveness during growth and maturation rather than attempting to use them after alterations imposed during the aging process have been established and their function compromised.

(1) Background: coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has been linked to hematological dysfunctions, but there are little experimental data that explain this. Spike (S) and Nucleoprotein (N) proteins have been putatively associated with these dysfunctions. In this work, we analyzed the recruitment of hemoglobin (Hb) and other metabolites (hemin and protoporphyrin IX-PpIX) by SARS-Cov2 proteins using different approaches. (2) Methods: shotgun proteomics (LC-MS/MS) after affinity column adsorption identified hemin-binding SARS-CoV-2 proteins. The parallel synthesis of the peptides technique was used to study the interaction of the receptor bind domain (RBD) and N-terminal domain (NTD) of the S protein with Hb and in silico analysis to identify the binding motifs of the N protein. The plaque assay was used to investigate the inhibitory effect of Hb and the metabolites hemin and PpIX on virus adsorption and replication in Vero cells. (3) Results: the proteomic analysis by LC-MS/MS identified the S, N, M, Nsp3, and Nsp7 as putative hemin-binding proteins. Six short sequences in the RBD and 11 in the NTD of the spike were identified by microarray of peptides to interact with Hb and tree motifs in the N protein by in silico analysis to bind with heme. An inhibitory effect in vitro of Hb, hemin, and PpIX at different levels was observed. Strikingly, free Hb at 1mM suppressed viral replication (99%), and its interaction with SARS-CoV-2 was localized into the RBD region of the spike protein. (4) Conclusions: in this study, we identified that (at least) five proteins (S, N, M, Nsp3, and Nsp7) of SARS-CoV-2 recruit Hb/metabolites. The motifs of the RDB of SARS-CoV-2 spike, which binds Hb, and the sites of the heme bind-N protein were disclosed. In addition, these compounds and PpIX block the virus\'s adsorption and replication. Furthermore, we also identified heme-binding motifs and interaction with hemin in N protein and other structural (S and M) and non-structural (Nsp3 and Nsp7) proteins.

Dengue virus (DENV) infection causes serious clinical symptoms, including dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS). Vascular permeability change is the main feature of the diseases, and the abnormal expression of proinflammatory cytokines is the important cause of vascular permeability change. However, the mechanism underlying vascular permeability induced by DENV has not been fully elucidated. Here, we reveal a distinct mechanism by which DENV infection promotes NLRP3 inflammasome activation and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) release to induce endothelial permeability and vascular leakage in mice. DENV M protein interacts with NLRP3 to facilitate NLRP3 inflammasome assembly and activation, which induce proinflammatory cytokine IL-1β activation and release. Notably, M can induce vascular leakage in mouse tissues by activating the NLRP3 inflammasome and IL-1β. More importantly, inflammatory cell infiltration and tissue injuries are induced by M in wild-type (WT) mouse tissues, but they are not affected by M in NLRP3 knockout (NLRP3-/-) mouse tissues. Evans blue intensities in WT mouse tissues are significantly higher than in NLRP3-/- mouse tissues, demonstrating an essential role of NLRP3 in M-induced vascular leakages in mice. Therefore, we propose that upon DENV infection, M interacts with NLRP3 to facilitate inflammasome activation and IL-1β secretion, which lead to the induction of endothelial permeability and vascular leakage in mouse tissues. The important role of the DENV-M-NLRP3-IL-1β axis in the induction of vascular leakage provides new insights into the mechanisms underlying DENV pathogenesis and DENV-associated DHF and DSS development.IMPORTANCE Dengue virus (DENV) is a mosquito-borne pathogen, and infections by this virus are prevalent in over 100 tropical and subtropical countries or regions, with approximately 2.5 billion people at risk. DENV infection induces a spectrum of clinical symptoms, ranging from classical dengue fever (DF) to severe dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS). Therefore, it is important to understand the mechanisms underlying DENV pathogenesis. In this study, we reveal that the DENV membrane protein (M) interacts with the host NLRP3 protein to promote NLRP3 inflammasome activation, which leads to the activation and release of a proinflammatory cytokine, interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β). More importantly, we demonstrate that M protein can induce vascular permeability and vascular leakage and that NLRP3 is required for M-induced vascular leakage in mouse tissues. Collectively, this study reveals a distinct mechanism underlying DENV pathogeneses and provides new insights into the development of therapeutic agents for DENV-associated diseases.

A new set up of the integral mechanistic BIO_ALGAE model that describes the complex interactions in mixed algal-bacterial systems was developed to overcome some restrictions of the model. BIO_ALGAE 2 includes new sub-models that take into account the variation of microalgae and bacteria performance as a function of culture conditions prevailing in microalgae cultures (pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen) over daily and seasonal cycles and the implementation of on-demand dioxide carbon injection for pH control. Moreover, another aim of this work was to study a correlation between the mass transfer coefficient and the hydrodynamics of reactor. The model was calibrated using real data from a laboratory reactor fed with real wastewater. Moreover, the model was used to simulate daily variations of different components in the pond (dissolved oxygen, pH, and CO2 injection) and to predict microalgae (XALG) and bacteria (XH) proportions and to estimate daily biomass production (Cb). The effect of CO2 injection and the influence of wastewater composition on treatment performance were investigated through practical study cases. XALG decreased by 38%, and XH increased by 35% with respect to the system under pH control while microalgae and bacteria proportions are completely different as a function of influent wastewater composition. Model simulations have indicated that Cb production (~ 100 gTSS m-3 day-1 for manure and centrate) resulted lower than Cb production obtained using primary influent wastewater (155 gTSS m-3 day-1).

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