Improved Cauchy radius for scalar and matrix polynomials

We improve the Cauchy radius of both scalar and matrix polynomials, which is an upper bound on the moduli of the zeros and eigenvalues, respectively, by using appropriate polynomial multipliers.Comment: 12 page

The PROP1 2-Base Pair Deletion Is a Common Cause of Combined Pituitary Hormone Deficiency

Combined pituitary hormone deficiency (CPHD) has an incidence of approximately 1 in 8000 births. Although the proportion of familial CPHD cases is unknown, about 10% have an affected first degree relative. We have recently reported three mutations in the PROP1 gene that cause CPHD in human subjects. We report here the frequency of one of these mutations, a 301–302delAG deletion in exon 2 of PROP1, in 10 independently ascertained CPHD kindreds and 21 sporadic cases of CPHD from 8 different countries. Our results show that 55% (11 of 20) of PROP1 alleles have the 301–302delAG deletion in familial CPHD cases. Interestingly, although only 12% (5 of 42) of the PROP1 alleles of our 21 sporadic cases were 301–302delAG, the frequency of this allele (in 20 of 21 of the sporadic subjects given TRH stimulation tests) was 50% (3 of 6) and 0% (0 of 34) in the CPHD cases with pituitary and hypothalamic defects, respectively. Using whole genome radiation hybrid analysis, we localized the PROP1 gene to the distal end of chromosome 5q and identified a tightly linked polymorphic marker, D5S408, which can be used in segregation studies. Analysis of this marker in affected subjects with the 301–302delAG deletion suggests that rather than being inherited from a common founder, the 301–302delAG may be a recurring mutation

Genetic regulation of pituitary gland development in human and mouse

Normal hypothalamopituitary development is closely related to that of the forebrain and is dependent upon a complex genetic cascade of transcription factors and signaling molecules that may be either intrinsic or extrinsic to the developing Rathke’s pouch. These factors dictate organ commitment, cell differentiation, and cell proliferation within the anterior pituitary. Abnormalities in these processes are associated with congenital hypopituitarism, a spectrum of disorders that includes syndromic disorders such as septo-optic dysplasia, combined pituitary hormone deficiencies, and isolated hormone deficiencies, of which the commonest is GH deficiency. The highly variable clinical phenotypes can now in part be explained due to research performed over the last 20 yr, based mainly on naturally occurring and transgenic animal models. Mutations in genes encoding both signaling molecules and transcription factors have been implicated in the etiology of hypopituitarism, with or without other syndromic features, in mice and humans. To date, mutations in known genes account for a small proportion of cases of hypopituitarism in humans. However, these mutations have led to a greater understanding of the genetic interactions that lead to normal pituitary development. This review attempts to describe the complexity of pituitary development in the rodent, with particular emphasis on those factors that, when mutated, are associated with hypopituitarism in humans

Comparison of neuromuscular development in two dinophilid species (Annelida) suggests progenetic origin of <i>Dinophilus gyrociliatus</i>

BACKGROUND: Several independent meiofaunal lineages are suggested to have originated through progenesis, however, morphological support for this heterochronous process is still lacking. Progenesis is defined as an arrest of somatic development (synchronously in various organ systems) due to early maturation, resulting in adults resembling larvae or juveniles of the ancestors. Accordingly, we established a detailed neuromuscular developmental atlas of two closely related Dinophilidae using immunohistochemistry and CLSM. This allows us to test for progenesis, questioning whether i) the adult smaller, dimorphic Dinophilus gyrociliatus resembles a younger developmental stage of the larger, monomorphic D. taeniatus and whether ii) dwarf males of D. gyrociliatus resemble an early developmental stage of D. gyrociliatus females. RESULTS: Both species form longitudinal muscle bundles first, followed by circular muscles, creating a grid of body wall musculature, which is the densest in adult D. taeniatus, while the architecture in adult female D. gyrociliatus resembles that of prehatching D. taeniatus. Both species display a subepidermal ganglionated nervous system with an anterior dorsal brain and five longitudinal ventral nerve bundles with six sets of segmental commissures (associated with paired ganglia). Neural differentiation of D. taeniatus and female D. gyrociliatus commissures occurs before hatching: both species start out forming one transverse neurite bundle per segment, which are thereafter joined by additional thin bundles. Whereas D. gyrociliatus arrests its development at this stage, adult D. taeniatus condenses the thin commissures again into one thick commissural bundle per segment. Generally, D. taeniatus adults demonstrate a seemingly more organized (= segmental) pattern of serotonin-like and FMRFamide-like immunoreactive elements. The dwarf male of D. gyrociliatus displays a highly aberrant neuromuscular system, showing no close resemblance to any early developmental stage of female Dinophilus, although the onset of muscular development mirrors the early myogenesis in females. CONCLUSION: The apparent synchronous arrest of nervous and muscular development in adult female D. gyrociliatus, resembling the prehatching stage of D. taeniatus, suggests that D. gyrociliatus have originated through progenesis. The synchrony in arrest of three organ systems, which show opposing reduction and addition of elements, presents one of the morphologically best-argued cases of progenesis within Spiralia

ТЕХНОЛОГИЯ СУ-ВИД — НЕКОТОРЫЕ АСПЕКТЫ КАЧЕСТВА И МИКРОБИОЛОГИЧЕСКОЙ БЕЗОПАСНОСТИ

Worsening of the demographic situation (a decline in the birth rate, a growth in the proportion of the elderly and so on), changes in eating  habits associated with the changes in the pace of life, a desire of the  increasing number of people to consume «healthy» products and not to spend much time on their preparation led to an increase in the  demand for convenient ready-to-cook meat products that retain  healthy components. As a result, the minimal processing  technologies such as sous vide are finding ever increasing use. Sous  vide is a technology of low temperature thermal processing of food  under vacuum. Preparation of food by sous vide technology allows  reliable control of product sensory indicators and microbiological  safety with strict adherence to the temperature-time regimes of processing and storage taking into consideration the fact that relatively mild thermal processing may not ensure death of all  vegetative cells and does not inactivate spores. To enhance the  microbiological safety of these products, several additional methods  of treatment with the use of natural antimicrobial substances can be  applied. The paper presents a review of scientific studies aimed at  investigation of an effect of the sous vide technology on changes in  quality indicators and microbiological safety of sous vide products.Ухудшение демографической ситуации (сокращение рождаемости, увеличение количества пожилых людей и др.), изменение привычек питания, связанных с изменениями темпов  жизни, желанием все большего числа людей питаться «здоровыми» продуктами и при этом  не тратить много времени на их приготовление привели к повышению спроса на готовые к  кулинарной обработке мясные продукты быстрого приготовления, сохраняющие полезные  для здоровья компоненты. В результате все большее применение находят технологии  минимальной обработки, такие как су-вид. Су-вид — технология низкотемпературного  приготовления продуктов питания в вакууме. Приготовление пищи методом су-вид позволяет осуществлять надежный контроль за вкусовыми показателями и  микробиологической безопасностью продуктов при строгом соблюдении температурно- временных режимов обработки и хранения, учитывая то, что относительно мягкая  термическая обработка может не обеспечить гибель всех вегетативных клеток и не  инактивирует споры. Для улучшения микробиологических показателей таких продуктов  могут быть применены дополнительные способы обработки с использованием натуральных  антимикробных средств. В статье представлен обзор научных исследований, направленных  на изучение влияния технологии су-вид на изменение качественных показателей и  микробиологическую безопасность продуктов, произведенных с использованием данной технологии

Patient adherence after coronary bypass grafting: different facets of same matter. A systematic review

Background. Adherence in cardiological patients is a leading challenge due to a high society burden imposed by cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) through morbidity, reduced life expectancy, disability and high mortality rates in population. Despite the availability of highly effective medicines and high-technology care, the success of CVD treatment remains insufficient. A particular focus should be placed on patients with previous coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).Objectives. A review of reasoning for non-adherence to medication and non-medication management in post-CABG patients and current methods influencing it.Methods. Russian-language and foreign literature was mined in the eLibrary and PubMed databases with the query keywords “medication adherence” [приверженность терапии], “coronary artery disease” [ишемическая болезнь сердца], “coronary artery bypass surgery” [коронарное шунтирование], “coronary revascularisation” [вторичная профилактика после коронарного шунтирования]. The review included papers published within 2016–2020, as well as selected relevant publications from 2003–2015, to cover 52 sources irrespective of study design and language. Content and descriptive analyses were used as research tools.Results. Coronary heart disease (CHD) poses an important health, social and economic problem worldwide as a leading cause of reduced life expectancy, disability and high mortality. Non-compliance with medication significantly bursts medical expenditures [1]. Coronary artery bypass grafting is used widely to treat multivessel coronary lesions both in stable and acute CHD. Secondary preventive techniques successfully preclude adverse post-CABG events, but adherence to post-CABG treatment is often low. The non-adherence rationale rarely links to a single factor but is rather complex and multifaceted. It includes social and economic reasons, systemic health care or personnel, therapy and patient-related factors. Methods are developing and refining to improve adherence to both non-medication and medication interventions.Conclusion. Clinical trials to improve secondary prevention adherence in patients after coronary artery bypass grafting will allow a wider implementation of relevant methods in outpatient management of this patient category

Looking for an optimal antihypertensive combination. Focus on azilsartan medoxomil/chlorthalidone

The article analyzes data from clinical studies on the efficacy and safety of azilsartan medoxomil/chlorthalidone combination and its components. According to the analyzed sources, both individual components and their combination have proven their efficacy and safety in patients with hypertension, including those with comorbid pathology. Azilsartan medoxomil demonstrated greater efficacy with comparable safety in terms of lowering blood pressure, both office and ambulatory, compared to candesartan, valsartan, olmesartan. Chlorthalidone showed greater hypotensive efficacy compared to hydrochlorothiazide and proved its protective effect in cardiovascular risk reduction. The combination of azilsartan medoxomil/chlorthalidone, in turn, has proven its safety and greater hypotensive efficacy compared to both the combination of olmesartan medoxomil/hydrochlorothiazide and azilsartan medoxomil/hydrochlorothiazide

Investigating Colonization of the Healthy Adult Gastrointestinal Tract by Fungi

A wide diversity of fungi have been detected in the human gastrointestinal (GI) tract with the potential to provide or influence important functions. However, many of the fungi most commonly detected in stool samples are also present in food or the oral cavity. Therefore, to recognize which gut fungi are likely to have a sustained influence on human health, there is a need to separate transient members of the GI tract from true colonizers. To identify colonizing fungi, the eukaryotic rRNA operon’s second internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) was sequenced from the stool, saliva, and food of healthy adults following consumption of different controlled diets. Unlike most bacterial 16S rRNA genes, the only fungal ITS2 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) detected in stool DNA across multiple diets were also present in saliva and/or food. Additional analyses, including culture-based approaches and sequencing of the 18S rRNA gene, ITS2 cDNA, and DNA extracted using alternative methods, failed to detect additional fungi. Two abundant fungi, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans, were examined further in healthy volunteers. Saccharomyces became undetectable in stool when a S. cerevisiae-free diet was consumed, and the levels of C. albicans in stool were dramatically reduced by more frequent cleaning of teeth. Extremely low fungal abundance, the inability of fungi to grow under conditions mimicking the distal gut, and evidence from analysis of other public datasets further support the hypothesis that fungi do not routinely colonize the GI tracts of healthy adults

A novel system to culture human intestinal organoids under physiological oxygen content to study microbial-host interaction

Copyright: \ua9 2024 Fofanova et al.Mechanistic investigation of host-microbe interactions in the human gut are hindered by difficulty of co-culturing microbes with intestinal epithelial cells. On one hand the gut bacteria are a mix of facultative, aerotolerant or obligate anaerobes, while the intestinal epithelium requires oxygen for growth and function. Thus, a coculture system that can recreate these contrasting oxygen requirements is critical step towards our understanding microbial-host interactions in the human gut. Here, we demonstrate Intestinal Organoid Physoxic Coculture (IOPC) system, a simple and cost-effective method for coculturing anaerobic intestinal bacteria with human intestinal organoids (HIOs). Using commensal anaerobes with varying degrees of oxygen tolerance, such as nano-aerobe Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron and strict anaerobe Blautia sp., we demonstrate that IOPC can successfully support 24–48 hours HIO-microbe coculture. The IOPC recapitulates the contrasting oxygen conditions across the intestinal epithelium seen in vivo. The IOPC cultured HIOs showed increased barrier integrity, and induced expression of immunomodulatory genes. A transcriptomic analysis suggests that HIOs from different donors show differences in the magnitude of their response to coculture with anaerobic bacteria. Thus, the IOPC system provides a robust coculture setup for investigating host-microbe interactions in complex, patient-derived intestinal tissues, that can facilitate the study of mechanisms underlying the role of the microbiome in health and disease