Personalizing Longitudinal Care Coordination for Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease

Chronic care coordination efforts often focus on the needs of the healthcare team and not on the individual needs of each patient. However, developing a personalized care plan for patients with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) requires individual patient engagement with the health care team. We describe the development of a CKD e-care plan that focuses on patient specific needs and life goals, and can be personalized according to provider needs

A Strong Contractile Actin Fence and Large Adhesions Direct Human Pluripotent Colony Morphology and Adhesion

Cell-type-specific functions and identity are tightly regulated by interactions between the cell cytoskeleton and the extracellular matrix (ECM). Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) have ultimate differentiation capacity and exceptionally low-strength ECM contact, yet the organization and function of adhesion sites and associated actin cytoskeleton remain poorly defined. We imaged hPSCs at the cell-ECM interface with total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy and discovered that adhesions at the colony edge were exceptionally large and connected by thick ventral stress fibers. The actin fence encircling the colony was found to exert extensive Rho-ROCK-myosin-dependent mechanical stress to enforce colony morphology, compaction, and pluripotency and to define mitotic spindle orientation. Remarkably, differentiation altered adhesion organization and signaling characterized by a switch from ventral to dorsal stress fibers, reduced mechanical stress, and increased integrin activity and cell-ECM adhesion strength. Thus, pluripotency appears to be linked to unique colony organization and adhesion structure.Peer reviewe

Structural and biophysical characterization of bacillus thuringiensis insecticidal proteins Cry34Ab1 and Cry35Ab1

Bacillus thuringiensis strains are well known for the production of insecticidal proteins upon sporulation and these proteins are deposited in parasporal crystalline inclusions. The majority of these insect-specific toxins exhibit three domains in the mature toxin sequence. However, other Cry toxins are structurally and evolutionarily unrelated to this three-domain family and little is known of their three dimensional structures, limiting our understanding of their mechanisms of action and our ability to engineer the proteins to enhance their function. Among the non-three domain Cry toxins, the Cry34Ab1 and Cry35Ab1 proteins from B. thuringiensis strain PS149B1 are required to act together to produce toxicity to the western corn rootworm (WCR) Diabrotica virgifera virgifera Le Conte via a pore forming mechanism of action. Cry34Ab1 is a protein of ∼14 kDa with features of the aegerolysin family (Pfam06355) of proteins that have known membrane disrupting activity, while Cry35Ab1 is a ∼44 kDa member of the toxin_10 family (Pfam05431) that includes other insecticidal proteins such as the binary toxin BinA/BinB. The Cry34Ab1/Cry35Ab1 proteins represent an important seed trait technology having been developed as insect resistance traits in commercialized corn hybrids for control of WCR. The structures of Cry34Ab1 and Cry35Ab1 have been elucidated to 2.15 Å and 1.80 Å resolution, respectively. The solution structures of the toxins were further studied by small angle X-ray scattering and native electrospray ion mobility mass spectrometry. We present here the first published structure from the aegerolysin protein domain family and the structural comparisons of Cry34Ab1 and Cry35Ab1 with other pore forming toxins

X-sukupolven asenteet second-hand vaatteiden verkkokauppa-alustoja kohtaan

Teknologian nopean kehityksen myötä kaupan ala on jatkuvassa muutoksessa ja se ottaa valtavia harppauksia lyhyellä aikavälillä. Varsinkin kiihtynyt digitaalinen muutos on viime vuosina muuttanut pelisääntöjä verkkokaupoissa. Alustatalous on luonut mahdollisuuden siihen, että kuluttajat voivat esimerkiksi mobiilisovelluksen välityksellä käydä keskenään kauppaa verkossa. Ilmastonmuutos luo kuitenkin rajoitteet myös kaupankäynnille, ja jos haluamme elää luonnonvarojen rajojen sisällä on tärkeää kehittää juuri kyseistä ongelmaa ratkaisevia palveluita. Vaatealalla on merkittävä vaikutus ympäristömme saastumiseen, joten sen kuormittavuuteen puuttuminen on välttämätöntä. Käytettyjen tuotteiden ja vaatteiden C2C-vaihdannan edistäminen on yksi tapa pienentää tätä kuormaa. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on kartoittaa X-sukupolven kuluttajien asenteita C2C-verkkokauppa-alustoja kohtaan. Tutkimuksen empiirisenä kontekstina oli second-hand vaatteiden vaihdanta. Tutkimus toteutettiin laadullisena tutkimuksena. Tutkimusmetodina hyödynnettiin haastatteluiden ja kvasikokeellisen demonstraation yhdistelmää. Tutkimuksessa haastateltiin kuutta X-sukupolven kuluttajaa, joilla oli eriävissä määrin kertynyt kokemusta vaihdannasta C2C-verkkokauppa-alustoilla. Haastattelun ja demonstraation yhdistelmällä saatiin kerättyä monipuolinen aineisto, jonka analysoinnissa hyödynnettiin laadullista sisältöanalyysiä. X-sukupolven edustajien asenteiden todettiin jakautuvan asenteiden kolmoiskomponenttimallin mukaan kognitiivisiin, affektiivisiin ja konatiivisiin asenneilmentymiin. Näiden kaikkien komponenttien osalta heräsi X-sukupolven edustajien keskuudessa asennevasteita. Vasteista osa esiintyi suotuisina, liittyen esimerkiksi käytettyjen vaatteiden ympäristöystävällisyyteen ja edulliseen hintaan. Osa vasteista taas oli epäsuotuisia kuten suhtautuminen verkkokauppa-alustoilla esiintyviin huijauksiin. X-sukupolven edustajien yleinen asenne kohti C2C-verkkokauppa-alustoilla tapahtuvaa vaatteiden vaihdantaa kohtaan todettiin kuitenkin olevan suotuisa. Tutkimuksen luomaa ymmärrystä voidaan hyödyntää tavoittamaan ja sitouttamaan X-sukupolven kuluttajia C2C-verkkokauppa-alustoilla. Lisäksi tutkimuksen kerryttämän tiedon avulla voidaan kehittää verkkokauppa-alustoja paremmin palvelemaan kuluttajia sukupolvesta riippumatta ja parantamaan heidän ostokokemustaan

Habilidades blandas y capacidades emprendedoras en los estudiantes del centro de educación técnico productivo Santísima Trinidad, Lurín 2021

La presente investigación tuvo como objetivo determinar la relación entre las variables habilidades blandas y capacidades emprendedoras, con una metodología de enfoque cuantitativo descriptivo, no experimental de corte transversal, de acuerdo a la información suministrada al centro de educación técnico productivo se consideró una población de 150 estudiantes entre los 15 y 60 años. Como muestra se trabajó con 82 de población considerada. Se empleó la técnica de encuesta y como instrumento se emplea los cuestionarios con un margen de 30 preguntas bajo una escala de Likert con el fin de identificar las dimensiones trabajo en equipo, comunicación, confianza en sí mismo, capacidad de innovación en los estudiantes. El resultado basado en las estadísticas nos señala que existe vinculación positiva alta, según rho de Spearman =0,772 entre la variable de habilidades blandas y competencias emprendedoras, con aprobación de significancia de 0,001 bilateral, p es menor a 0,05 la misma que señala la aprobación de la hipótesis alterna y se rechaza a la hipótesis nula, donde se reafirma que el vínculo es directa y proporcional a mayor desarrollo de las capacidades emprendedoras mayor desarrollo en las habilidades blandas

The pesticidal Cry6Aa toxin from Bacillus thuringiensis is structurally similar to HlyE-family alpha pore-forming toxins

Background The Cry6 family of proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis represents a group of powerful toxins with great potential for use in the control of coleopteran insects and of nematode parasites of importance to agriculture. These proteins are unrelated to other insecticidal toxins at the level of their primary sequences and the structure and function of these proteins has been poorly studied to date. This has inhibited our understanding of these toxins and their mode of action, along with our ability to manipulate the proteins to alter their activity to our advantage. To increase our understanding of their mode of action and to facilitate further development of these proteins we have determined the structure of Cry6Aa in protoxin and trypsin-activated forms and demonstrated a pore-forming mechanism of action. Results The two forms of the toxin were resolved to 2.7 Å and 2.0 Å respectively and showed very similar structures. Cry6Aa shows structural homology to a known class of pore-forming toxins including hemolysin E from Escherichia coli and two Bacillus cereus proteins: the hemolytic toxin HblB and the NheA component of the non-hemolytic toxin (pfam05791). Cry6Aa also shows atypical features compared to other members of this family, including internal repeat sequences and small loop regions within major alpha helices. Trypsin processing was found to result in the loss of some internal sequences while the C-terminal region remains disulfide-linked to the main core of the toxin. Based on the structural similarity of Cry6Aa to other toxins, the mechanism of action of the toxin was probed and its ability to form pores in vivo in Caenorhabditis elegans was demonstrated. A non-toxic mutant was also produced, consistent with the proposed pore-forming mode of action. Conclusions Cry6 proteins are members of the alpha helical pore-forming toxins – a structural class not previously recognized among the Cry toxins of B. thuringiensis and representing a new paradigm for nematocidal and insecticidal proteins. Elucidation of both the structure and the pore-forming mechanism of action of Cry6Aa now opens the way to more detailed analysis of toxin specificity and the development of new toxin variants with novel activities

Studies on the Molecular Cloning of a Gene for Aryletherase From a Ligninolytic Erwinia Sp. (Lignin, Biodegradation, Bacterial).

Recombinant DNA techniques were utilized to clone a gene from the ligninolytic system of a saprophytic Erwinia sp. into Escherichia coli using pBR322 as a vector. The cloned gene encodes aryletherase activity and was selected from amp(\u27r) tet(\u27S) transformants of E. coli Cs412 using salicin as the selective carbon source. This compound has structural characteristics similar to some lignin model compounds. The cloned gene enclodes activity which oxidizes aromatic lignin model compounds resulting ultimately in the breakage of arylether bonds while leaving the aromatic nucleus intact. At least one lower molecular weight aromatic compound is also released from kraft lignin upon incubation with whole cells harboring the recombinant plasmid, pNC1. Restriction enzyme analysis revealed that pNC1 contains an insert of approximately 810 bp of Erwinia sp. DNA. Southern blot hybridizations indicate that the gene is present as a single copy on the Erwinia sp. genome. Dideoxynucleotide DNA sequencing suggests that the gene is transcribed by readthrough of transcription initiated at the tetracycline resistance promoter in pNC1. The predicted translation product has an estimated molecular weight of 21,000 daltons