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Supplementary Methods, Figures 1-6 from Attenuated Transforming Growth Factor β Signaling Promotes Nuclear Factor-κB Activation in Head and Neck Cancer

Although constitutively activated nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), attenuated transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) signaling, and TP53 mutations frequently occur in human cancers, how these pathways interact and together contribute to malignancy remains uncertain. Here, we found an association between overexpression of NF-κB–related genes, reduced expression of TGFβ receptor (TβR) subunits and downstream targets, and TP53 genotype in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). In response to recombinant TGFβ1, both growth inhibition and TGFβ target gene modulation were attenuated or absent in a panel of human HNSCC lines. However, in HNSCC cells that retained residual TGFβ signaling, TGFβ1 inhibited both constitutive and tumor necrosis factor α–stimulated NF-κB activity. Furthermore, HNSCC lines overexpressing mutant (mt) TP53 and human tumor specimens with positive TP53 nuclear staining exhibited reduced TβRII and knocking down mtTP53 induced TβRII, increasing TGFβ downstream gene expression while inhibiting proinflammatory NF-κB target gene expression. Transfection of ectopic TβRII directly restored TGFβ signaling while inhibiting inhibitor κBα degradation and suppressing serine-536 phosphorylation of NF-κB p65 and NF-κB transcriptional activation, linking these alterations. Finally, experiments with TβRII conditional knockout mice show that abrogation of TGFβ signaling promotes the sustained induction of NF-κB and its proinflammatory target genes during HNSCC tumorigenesis and progression. Together, these findings elucidate a regulatory framework in which attenuated TGFβ signaling promotes NF-κB activation and squamous epithelial malignancy in the setting of altered TP53 status. [Cancer Res 2009;69(8):3415–24]

Introduction: Chronic renal failure (CKD) is defined as a glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of less than 60 ml/min/1.73m2 for more than 3 months [1]. Infectious complications are a major source of morbidity in patients with chronic renal failure. In Mali, we have no data on pneumopathies in this population, hence the interest of this study. The objective of this work was to determine the frequency of pneumopathies in patients with chronic renal failure, describe the clinical radio-types, identify the microorganisms involved, and assess the renal prognosis of pneumopathies. Materials and Methods: This was an 18-month prospective and descriptive study from January 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019 conducted in the nephrology and hemodialysis department of the University Hospital of Point G. Included were patients hospitalized during our study period with CKD associated with pneumopathy on a chest X-ray. Not included were all patients hospitalized outside the study period, all CKD cases without pneumonia, patients with incomplete records, and non-consenting patients. Results: We examined 1111 patients, 35 of whom presented an image on chest X-ray related to pneumopathy, a frequency of 3.15% of cases. Twenty-one men (60%) and 14 women (40%) with a sex ratio of 1.5. The mean age was 46.8 ± 13.9 years with extremes of 23 and 76 years. The types of pneumopathy on the chest X-ray were: alveolar pneumopathy: 23 cases (65.7%), pleuropneumopathy: 10 cases (28.6%) and cavitary pneumopathy: 2 cases (5.7%). Cytobacteriological sputum examination was positive in 65.7%; leukocytes (68.6% of cases). The germs found were: Klebsiella pneumoniae (25.7% of cases), Escherica coli (11.4%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (5.7%), Staphylococcus aureus (5.7%), Citrobacter freundi (5.7%), Enterococus sp. (2.9%), Enterobacter cloacae (2.9%), Candida albicans (5.7%). The search for acid-alcohol-resistant bacilli (BAAR) in sputum was positive in 4 cases (11.4%). There was an association between the results of cytobacteriological examination of sputum and the results of BAAR testing of sputum (p = 0.046).

Sub-Saharan Africa hosts a large proportion of the world’s refugees, raising concerns about the consequences of hosting refugees. This paper focuses on Uganda, which is the largest refugee hosting country in Africa and is praised for its progressive refugee policy. The paper analyzes the effects of hosting refugees, relying on longitudinal data and an instrumental variable approach. The results indicate that Ugandan households benefit from living close to the refugee settlements. In contrast with the existing literature, the analysis finds that those initially involved in subsistence agriculture benefit the most. The effect seems to be driven by the few households able to move from subsistence agriculture to commercial farming and to some extent, to wage employment.

The effect of poultry litter biochar on Saccharomyces cerevisiae growth and ethanol fermentation was investigated for glucose, steam exploded corn stover and poplar wood. S. cerevisiae grew faster in both anaerobic and aerobic biochar medium than the control media. For the same initial concentration of glucose, the biochar medium glucose was consumed in 12 hours compared to 24 hours for control and the maximum ethanol productivity were higher for the biochar compared to the control medium. When the initial glucose concentration was increased the maximum ethanol productivity for the biochar media was more than two times that for the control. Similarly, addition of poultry litter biochar to steam exploded poplar wood and corn stover improved the ethanol productivity depending on the amount of biochar added to the fermentation medium. Thus, biochar is an effective additive to reduce ethanol fermentation time

In malaria-endemic countries, prioritizing intervention deployment to areas that need the most attention is crucial to ensure continued progress. Global and national policy makers increasingly rely on epidemiological data and mathematical modelling to help optimize health decisions at the sub-national level. The Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program is a critical data source for understanding subnational malaria prevalence and intervention coverage, which are used for parameterizing country-specific models of malaria transmission. However, data to estimate indicators at finer resolutions are limited, and surveys questions have a narrow scope. Examples from the Nigeria DHS are used to highlight gaps in the current survey design. Proposals are then made for additional questions and expansions to the DHS and Malaria Indicator Survey sampling strategy that would advance the data analyses and modelled estimates that inform national policy recommendations. Collaboration between the DHS Program, national malaria control programmes, the malaria modelling community, and funders is needed to address the highlighted data challenges.

Objectives: Epidemiological surveillance is one critical approach to estimate and fight the burden of antibiotic resistance (AR). Here we summarise the characteristics of surveillance systems devoted to the surveillance of AR worldwide and published in the literature. Methods: We performed a systematic review of the literature available on PubMed from January 2007 to July 2019 (12.5 years). The keywords ('surveillance system' OR laboratory-based surveillance' OR `syndromic surveillance' OR `sentinel surveillance' OR `integrated surveillance' OR `population-based surveillance') AND ('antibiotic resistance' OR `antimicrobial resistance') were used. This research was completed with AR monitoring systems available on websites. Results: We identified 71 AR surveillance systems described by 90 publications from 35 countries, including 64 (90.1%) national and 7 (9.9%) multinational surveillance systems. Two regions accounted for similar to 72% of systems: European region (37; 52.1%) and Region of the Americas (14; 19.7%). Fifty-three focused on AR surveillance in humans, 12 studied both humans and animals, and 6 focused only on animals. The two most common bacterial species reported were Staphylococcus aureus (42; 59.2%) and Escherichia coli (39; 54.9%). Of the 71 AR surveillance systems, 20 (28.2%) used prevalence as an indicator, 3 (4.2%) used incidence and 7 (9.9%) used both. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus spp., S. aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae, penicillin-resistant S. pneumoniae, and extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing and carbapenem-resistant E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae were monitored. Conclusions: Our results showed heterogeneous surveillance systems. A `One Health' approach is needed to monitor AR, with reference to the WHO Global Action Plan. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of International Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.

Introduction La surmortalite causee par la resistance aux antibiotiques est un probleme actuel de sante publique. Des etudes basees sur des modeles mathematiques ont ete realisees pour tenter d’estimer cette surmortalite, mais ces modeles sont approximatifs et sujets a controverse. Au sein de notre laboratoire, nous avons mis en place un systeme de surveillance hebdomadaire de la mortalite due a la resistance bacterienne. L’objectif de ce travail est d’evaluer le veritable impact de la resistance bacterienne sur la mortalite au sein de nos hopitaux. Materiels et methodes Nous avons realise une etude retrospective cas-temoins entre janvier 2014 et janvier 2018. Les donnees analysees sont issues du service medical de l’information de l’hopital et de notre logiciel de surveillance. Les donnees de resistance aux antibiotiques cles ainsi que l’evaluation du nombre de bacteries DTR ont ete recueillis pour chacun des deux groupes pour les 10 bacteries les plus frequemment isolees dans les hemocultures. Les facteurs de risque d’acquisition de ces souches ont ete evalues par regression logistique. Le logiciel R a ete utilise pour les statistiques. Resultats Nous avons recu un total de 375 165 hemocultures dont 36813 (9,81 %) etaient positives correspondant a 11946 patients. Parmi eux, 1715 (14,35 %) patients sont decedes. Le nombre d’infections polymicrobiennes etait plus eleve dans le groupe des deces (9,4 %) que dans le groupe controle (6,8 %) (p = 0,004). Les bacteries a Gram negatif representaient 72,2 % des co-infections dans le groupe deces contre 48,6 % dans le groupe controle. Les facteurs de risque associes a la mortalite etaient l’âge > 60 ans, le sexe masculin, un long sejour a l’hopital et l’acquisition nosocomiale. La prevalence de la resistance a la ceftriaxone (24 % vs 14,2 % ; p Conclusion Le taux de resistance de certains antibiotiques cles etait plus important dans le groupe des patients decedes que dans le groupe des patients survivants. Ces antibiotiques sont essentiellement ceux utilises en traitement empirique, suggerant que dans certains cas, celui-ci n’est pas adapte. Le recueil des traitements recus par les patients est en cours. Le nombre de souches DTR dans les deux groupes etaient par contre tres faible, suggerant que l’utilisation d’antibiotherapie de 1ere ligne est possible dans la grande majorite des cas. Dans tous les cas, il existait une alternative therapeutique.

Using cattails to produce biofuel will add value to the land and will also reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by replacing petroleum products. In order to investigate the feasibility of converting cattails into ethanol, cattails from constructed wetlands on the North Carolina A&T Farm underwent three kinds of pretreatment processes: NaOH, hot water, and dilute sulfuric acid. All three pretreatment methods were able to effectively increase enzymatic digestibility of cattail cellulose. The glucose yields resulting from enzymatic hydrolysis after pretreatment with NaOH, hot water, or dilute sulfuric acid pretreatment were 66.8, 62, and 54.8% of the cellulose (raw cattails basis), respectively. For both dilute sulfuric acid and hot water pretreatment, a high temperature (453–463 K) pretreatment was more effective compared to a lower temperature (394 K) pretreatment. It is recommended that further studies be carried out at a faster heating rate and shorter residence time for the pretreatment process. Sacchar...

Problem statement: To date, production of liquid fuel, particularly et hanol, has only been economically feasible from food crops that are high in sugar and starch. However, the use of arable land for fuel rather than for food production and t he use of a food source for fuel rather than as foo d have created issues in prices and availability of t raditional foods and feed. The use of cattails to produce biofuel will add value to land and will als o reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by replacing petroleum products. Approach: In order to investigate the feasibility of converti ng cattails into cellulosic ethanol, an alkali (NaOH) pretreatment p rocess was studied using cattails from constructed wetlands on a North Carolina A and T Farm based on NaOH concentration and enzyme loading. Results: The alkali pretreatment method was able to effecti vely increase enzymatic digestibility of cattail cellulose; nearly 78% of the cellulose from raw cattails was converted to fermentable glucose in 48 h using a cellulase loading of 60 FPU g -1 glucan. About 25.5, 37.4, 38.4, 42.4 and 55.9% of the lignin was removed with pretreatment in 0.5, 1, 2, 3 and 4% NaOH, respectively. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae (ATCC 24858) was able to ferment the sugars released by cattail cellulose. Conclusion: The overall effectiveness of alkali pretreatment w as a function of NaOH concentration and enzyme loading. NaOH concentrations in the range of 1-2% are recommended for the pretreatment of cattails. For cattails pretreated with 4% NaOH, no significant change in digestibility occurred whe n enzyme loading was increased beyond 15 FPU g -1 glucan. It is recommended that further studies be carried out using cattails as a feedstock for biofu els, especially to optimize the economics of pretreatment processes for cattails in terms of ene rgy input, enzyme loading, glucose yield and xylose yield.

Objectif Evaluer l’impact medico-economique de la prise en charge en Aquitaine par le reseau REPPOP (Reseau de prevention et de prise en charge de l’obesite pediatrique) d’enfants (3–17 ans) en situation de surpoids ou d’obesite. Methode La prise en charge dans le cadre du REPPOP dure 2 ans durant lesquels le patient beneficie d’un suivi medical regulier accompagne d’un suivi dietetique et/ou d’un suivi psychologique. Les donnees recueillies par le reseau informent sur l’evolution du Z-score sur les deux annees de prise en charge mais egalement sur l’evolution retrospective du Z-score grâce des donnees collectees dans les carnets de sante des enfants inclus dans le reseau. On tire parti de l’information sur l’evolution du surpoids avant inclusion dans le reseau pour estimer l’evolution « naturelle » du surpoids, c’est-a-dire sans prise en charge specifique. Ces estimations sont alors utilisees pour simuler sur la duree l’evolution du surpoids des enfants inclus dans le reseau dans la situation contrefactuelle ou ils n’auraient pas ete pris en charge. Resultats La comparaison de la cohorte (n = 553) prise en charge et de la cohorte contrefactuelle nous permet d’estimer l’impact de l’inclusion dans le reseau sur l’evolution du Z-score. La prise en charge reduit le Z-score a deux ans de 1,6 DS. Conclusion L’estimation d’une mesure d’impact ouvre la voie a des etudes medico-economiques evaluant l’efficience a long terme d’une prise en charge precoce du surpoids et de l’obesite des enfants.

This study is based on the livelihood used by street children for survival in Bamako, Mali. Two bus stations were selected for this study: Sogoniko bus station and Medina bus station. Most buses leave from these stations to the vicinity of the country. Data was collected through individual interviews (one by one), focus group discussions and interviews. A sample of one hundred and twenty street children aged between 8 and 17 years were selected for this study. Thirty people were also selected to give their opinions on street children. The results indicate that most of street children survive by selling small objects and through begging, 32.5% and 22.50% respectively. Our survey indicates that there are different factors pushing them to the streets, and as a way of survival on the streets, there is need to be organized, hence, they are organize themselves into groups for protection against violence and aggressions.

The use of aquatic plant cattails to produce biofuel will add value to land and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by replacing petroleum products. Dilute-sulfuric acid pretreatment of cattails was studied using a Dionex accelerated solvent extractor (ASE) varying acid concentration (0.1-1%), treatment temperature (140-180 °C), and residence time (5-10 min). The highest total glucose yield for both the pretreatment and enzyme hydrolysis stages (97.1% of the cellulose) was reached at a temperature of 180 °C, a sulfuric acid concentration of 0.5%, and a time of 5 min. Cattails pretreated with 0.5% sulfuric acid are digestible with similar results at enzyme loadings above 15 FPU/g glucan. Glucose from cattails cellulose can be efficiently fermented to ethanol with an approximately 90% of the theoretical yield. The results in this study indicate that cattails are a promising source of feedstock for advanced renewable fuel production.

To date in the US, production of renewable fuels, particularly ethanol, is primarily from food crops that are high in sugar and starch. The use of arable land for fuel rather than food production and the use of a food source for fuel rather than food have created issues in pricing and availability of traditional foods and feed. The use of cattails to produce biofuel will add value to land and also reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by replacing petroleum products. In order to investigate the feasibility of converting cattails into cellulosic ethanol, a hot-water pretreatment process was studied using a Dionex accelerated solvent extractor (ASE) varying treatment temperature and time. The pretreatment at 190°C for more than 10 min could effectively dissolve the xylan fraction of cattails as soluble oligomers. Both the glucose yield and xylose yield obtained from the pretreated cattails increased with the escalation of the final pretreatment temperature, treatment time or enzyme loading. When cattails were pretreated at 190°C for 15 min, the highest glucose yield of 77.6% from the cellulose was achieved in 48 h using a cellulase loading of 60 FPU/g glucan. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae (ATCC 24858) was able to ferment glucose released by cattail cellulose, resulting in approximately 88.7 ± 2.8% of the theoretical ethanol yield. The higher enzyme loading of 60 FPU/g glucan will significantly increase costs. It is recommended that further studies be carried out using cattails as a feedstock for bio-fuels, especially to optimize the economics of biological conversion processes for cattails with regard to reducing enzyme usage, energy input, glucose yield and xylose yield.