Isolation of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) from bacterial cell matter is a critical step in order to achieve a profitable production of the polymer. Therefore, an extraction method must lead to a high recovery of a pure product at low costs. This study presents a simplified method for large scale poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), poly(3HB), extraction using sodium hypochlorite. Poly(3HB) was extracted from cells of Ralstonia eutropha H16 at almost 96% purity. At different extraction volumes, a maximum recovery rate of 91.32% was obtained. At the largest extraction volume of 50 L, poly(3HB) with an average purity of 93.32% ± 4.62% was extracted with a maximum recovery of 87.03% of the initial poly(3HB) content. This process is easy to handle and requires less efforts than previously described processes.

Keloid scarring is a dermal fibroproliferative response characterized by excessive and progressive deposition of collagen; aetiology and molecular pathology underlying keloid formation and progression remain unclear. Genetic predisposition is important in the pathogenic processes of keloid formation, however, environmental factors and epigenetic mechanisms may also play pivotal roles. Epigenetic modification is a recent area of investigation in understanding the molecular pathogenesis of keloid scarring and there is increasing evidence that epigenetic changes may play a role in induction and persistent activation of fibroblasts in keloid scars. Here we have reviewed three epigenetic mechanisms: DNA methylation, histone modification and the role of non-coding RNAs. We also review the evidence that these mechanisms may play a role in keloid formation - in future, it may be possible that epigenetic markers may be used instead of prognostic or diagnostic markers here. However, there is a significant amount of work required to increase our current understanding of the role of epigenetic modification in keloid disease.

A double-blind randomized controlled trial with a paired split-scar design compared verapamil, an L-type Ca2+ channel antagonist, and triamcinolone for prevention of keloid recurrence after excision. Ca2+ channel blocking activity of verapamil in keloid cells was explored. One keloid was excised per subject and each wound half randomized to receive intralesional injections of triamcinolone (10 mg/ml) or verapamil (2.5 mg/ml) at monthly intervals (4 doses). Interim analysis was performed after 14 subjects were completed. Survival analysis demonstrated significantly higher keloid recurrence with verapamil compared to triamcinolone 12 months post-surgery (log-rank test, p = 0.01) and higher overall risk of recurrence with verapamil (hazard ratio 8.44, 95% CI 1.62-44.05). The study was terminated early according to the stopping guideline (p < 0.05). Verapamil is safe but not as effective as triamcinolone in preventing keloid recurrence after excision. Further study is necessary to determine if clinical response to verapamil is linked to modulation of intracellular Ca2+.

bIn recent years, glycerol has become an attractive carbon source for microbial processes, as it accumulates massively as a byproduct of biodiesel production, also resulting in a decline of its price. A potential use of glycerol in biotechnology is the synthesis of poly(3-hydroxypropionate) [poly(3HP)], a biopolymer with promising properties which is not synthesized by any known wild-type organism. In this study, the genes for 1,3-propanediol dehydrogenase (dhaT) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (aldD) of Pseudomonas putida KT2442, propionate-coenzyme A (propionate-CoA) transferase (pct) of Clostridium propionicum X2, and polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) synthase (phaC1) of Ralstonia eutropha H16 were cloned and expressed in the 1,3-propanediol producer Shimwellia blattae. In a two-step cultivation process, recombinant S. blattae cells accumulated up to 9.8% ؎ 0.4% (wt/wt [cell dry weight]) poly(3HP) with glycerol as the sole carbon source. Furthermore, the engineered strain tolerated the application of crude glycerol derived from biodiesel production, yielding a cell density of 4.05 g cell dry weight/liter in a 2-liter fedbatch fermentation process.

Diarrhoeal disease is still one of the major causes of mortality and morbidity of children in developing countries. Our objective was to assess the prevalence of diarrhoeal disease among male schoolchildren in Jeddah and to identify the associated risk factors, especially those related to drinking water and sanitation disposal. This cross-sectional study was conducted randomly where self-administered questionnaires were issued to parents through the schools. The data were collected from 1,064 respondents indicating that 14.9% of the children had diarrhoea during the previous month. The main risk factors were: the number of children under five years living in the same house (OR per child 1.34, 95% confidence intervals 1.15-1.56), being of Saudi nationality (OR 1.75, 1.08-2.84), reporting sewage spillage near the home (OR 1.69, 1.14-2.53), eating out after school hours (OR 1.74, 1.16-2.60), not drying hands after washing them (OR 1.66, 1.10-2.51), using reusable cloths or sponges to dry dishes (OR 1.70, 1.14-2.52).

An air pollutant proxy is a mathematical model that estimates an unobserved air pollutant using other measured variables. The proxy is advantageous to fill missing data in a research campaign or to substitute a real measurement for minimising the cost as well as the operators involved (i.e., virtual sensor). In this paper, we present a generic concept of pollutant proxy development based on an optimised data-driven approach. We propose a mutual information concept to determine the interdependence of different variables and thus select the most correlated inputs. The most relevant variables are selected to be the best proxy inputs, where several metrics and data loss are also involved for guidance. The input selection method determines the used data for training pollutant proxies based on a probabilistic machine learning method. In particular, we use a Bayesian neural network that naturally prevents overfitting and provides confidence intervals around its output prediction. In this way, the prediction uncertainty could be assessed and evaluated. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach, we test it on an extensive air pollution database to estimate ozone concentration.

Background Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological diseases with unclear etiology where its genetic background and treatment regime still need further exploration. Objectives This study designed to evaluate the pharmacogenomics of MTHFR and ABCC2 genes, and their association with epilepsy susceptibility among Jordanian population. Methods A case-control study was conducted on Jordanian cohort of 296 epileptic patients and 299 healthy individuals. Custom platform array was used to genotype the genetic polymorphisms within MTHFR (rs1801133) and ABCC2 ( rs717620, rs3740066, rs2273697) genes. Results This study revealed a significant genetic association of MTHFR rs1801133 polymorphism with susceptibility to generalized in general and generalized tonic-clonic epilepsy (GTCE)( p =0.018 and 0.01, respectively). Regarding ABCC2 gene, rs717620 was of linkage with generalized and GTCE subtypes ( p =0.045 and 0.048, respectively), while rs717620 was associated with poor responder patients ( p =0.036) with no linkage of the ABCC2 haplotypes. Conclusions MTHFR and ABCC2 polymorphisms showed an association with either epilepsy types in general or subtypes and treatment response among Jordanian population. This study also suggested that these gene polymorphisms have an important role in epilepsy development and drug effectiveness and could be of a great impact in the era of epilepsy diagnosis and treatment.

Background: The human papillomaviruses (HPV) are a group of viruses that, depending on the strain, can cause cancer or the formation of benign growths known as warts. Scarce information exists with regard to the genetic nature of non-genital cutaneous warts induced by the human papillomavirus (HPV). Methods: The main purpose of this study is to investigate the differences between the gene expression profiles of common warts and healthy skin in HPV-positive individuals by RNA sequencing on the Illumina HiSeq 2500. After obtaining shave biopsies of common warts and healthy skin from twelve Arab males, we were able to analyze the transcriptomes of 24 paired cases and controls. Results: Common warts were found to possess a highly significant and unique molecular signature. Many of the most up-regulated (KRT16, EPGN, and ABCG4) and down-regulated genes (C15orf59, CYB561A3, and FCGRT) in warts were the subject of little investigation in the published literature. Moreover, the top 500 differentially expressed genes were found to be associated with immune and autoimmune pathways, such as the neutrophil degranulation, toll-like receptor 7/8 (TLR 7/8) cascade, toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) cascade, and toll-like receptor 10 (TLR10) pathways, among others. Conclusions: Our findings are particularly important because they serve as the most comprehensive to date with regard to the modulation of human skin gene expression by HPV infection.