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BackgroundBlastocystis is an anaerobic intestinal protozoan. Nine Blastocystis subtypes (STs) were detected in humans. A subtype-dependent association between Blastocystis and different cancer types has been debated in many studies. Thus, this study aims to assess the possible association between Blastocystis infection and cancer, especially colorectal cancer (CRC). We also screened the presence of gut fungi and their association with Blastocystis.MethodsWe used a case-control design; cancer patients and cancer-free (CF) participants. The cancer group was further sub-group into CRC group and cancers outside the gastrointestinal tract (COGT) group. Macroscopic and microscopic examinations were performed to identify intestinal parasites in participants’ stool samples. Molecular and phylogenetic analyses were conducted to identify and subtype Blastocystis. Furthermore, gut fungi were investigated molecularly.Results104 stool samples were collected and matched between CF (n=52) and cancer patients (n=52); CRC (n=15) and COGT (n=37). As anticipated, Blastocystis prevalence was significantly higher among CRC patients (60%, P=0.002) and insignificant in COGT patients (32.4%, P=0.161) compared to CF group (17.3%). The most common subtypes were ST2 among cancer group and ST3 in the CF group.ConclusionCancer patients have a higher risk of Blastocystis infection compared to CF individuals (OR=2.98, P=0.022). Increased risk of Blastocystis infection was associated with CRC patients (OR=5.66, P=0.009). Nevertheless, further studies are required to understand the underlying mechanisms of Blastocystis and cancer association.

Fatemeh Saheb Sharif-Askari,1 Narjes Saheb Sharif-Askari,1 Rabih Halwani,1,2 Salah Abusnana,2,3 Rifat Hamoudi,1,2 Nabil Sulaiman1,4,5 1Sharjah Institute of Medical Research, College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates; 2Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates; 3Department of Diabetes and Endocrinology, University Hospital Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates; 4Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates; 5Department of Epidemiology, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, VIC, AustraliaCorrespondence: Nabil SulaimanCollege of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab EmiratesTel +971 65057206Email nsulaiman@sharjah.ac.aeBackground: Insulin-resistant individuals are known to have dyslipidemia and are predicted to be at high risk of cardiovascular events. Vitamin D deficiency was shown to be associated with dyslipidemia; however, the type of dyslipidemia associated with vitamin D deficiency in insulin-resistant individuals is not determined. Furthermore, there is evidence linking insulin resistance with low-grade inflammation suggesting levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines to be increased in insulin-resistant states.Objective: This study was performed to evaluate the impact of vitamin D deficiency, defined as serum level of 25(OH)D below 20 ng/mL, on lipid profile and inflammatory markers such as interleukin (IL-6) and IL-8, as well as soluble thrombomodulin (TM) in the serum of insulin-resistant individuals.Methods: A total of 4114 individuals had simultaneous serum 25(OH)D, insulin, and lipid panel testing during 2013 as part of the United Arab Emirates National Diabetes and Lifestyle (UAEDIAB) study. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to assess the association between serum level of 25(OH)D and lipid profile in insulin-sensitive versus -resistant individuals. The lipid panel was stratified into high total cholesterol (TC: > 6.2 mmol/L), high low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C: > 2.59 mmol/L), high triglycerides (TG: > 2.3 mmol/L), and low high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C: < 1.55 mmol/L) dyslipidemia. Furthermore, the immunomodulatory and vasculoprotective effects of 25(OH)D were assessed by measuring the levels of IL-6, IL-8, and soluble TM in serum using ELISA.Results: More than half of the 4114 individuals were insulin resistant (n=2760, 67%) and around one-fifth of them were vitamin D-deficient (n=796, 19%). After adjusting for age, gender, body mass index, smoking, ethnicity, and educational level, the only dyslipidemia associated with vitamin D-deficient-insulin-resistant individuals (OR 2.09 [95]; P=0.009) was lower HDL-C. Furthermore, deficient 25(OH)D individuals with low HDL-C levels had higher circulatory IL-6 and IL-8 levels, and higher serum soluble TM compared to individuals with sufficient 25(OH)D and normal lipid profiles (median, IL-6 pg/mL 0.82 vs 1.71, P=0.001; median, IL-8 pg/mL 51.31 vs 145.6, P=0.003; and median, soluble TM ng/mL 5.19 vs 7.38, P< 0.0001; in sufficient vs deficient groups, respectively).Conclusion: The results of our study showed that in insulin-resistant individuals, vitamin D deficiency status is associated with HDL-C dyslipidemia and higher serum inflammatory and endothelial damage markers.Keywords: vitamin D-deficient, 25(OH)D, insulin-resistant, HDL-C dyslipidemia, IL-6, IL-8, thrombomodulin, lipid panels, UAEDIAB

Abstract Objectives This study was conducted to assess household coverage with iodized salt in Saudi Arabia, and to determine adequacy of salt iodization. Methods A school-based cross-sectional study using WHO 30-cluster survey methodology. Results Analysis of 4242 salt samples using qualitative rapid test kit (RTK) revealed that 68.7% (95% CI 67.3–70.1%) were iodized with significant regional differences (p

Escherichia coli is the most popular platform for the production of recombinant proteins as vaccine candidates. One important factor that may influence the quantity and quality of the expressed proteins using the bacterial host is a bioreactor. Thus, this study was aimed at comparing the influence of two different bioreactors, conventional (Sakaguchi flask) and stirred bioreactors on the growth of E. coli BL21 as a host cell and production of GST.VP28 recombinant protein in the host. The result showed that total wet biomass of E. coli BL21 harvested from the stirred bioreactor was significantly higher, compared to the total biomass from the conventional bioreactors. In addition, SDS-PAGE results also indicated that the amount of the GST.VP28 recombinant protein collected from the stirred bioreactor was higher than the quantity of recombinant protein from E. coli cultured in the conventional bioreactor. Furthermore, the stirred bioreactor also produced larger soluble fraction and lower inclusion body. This result suggested that the stirred bioreactor is very suitable for improving the production of recombinant protein using E. coli.

Highest infection percentage recorded in Abo-graib and wahe CVs. (83.3%) followed by Smeto (80.3%) while less infection percentage was in Rezgare and Al-Aez CVs. (33.3%). more galls (14 galls/ spike) formed in Sham-2 C.V. followed by Abo-graib, Smeto, Tammoz-2, Maxipak and Al-Aez respectively. highest number of nematode (12773) occurred in large galls, while the lowest (8145) in small galls. A. tritici population density increased dramatically with increase in galls size reached a peak (15112 second stage juveniles/gall) in big size gall. Results revealed that the vitality of second stage juveniles reached its maximum level (8.87%) at 12 Cº with no significant differences with the validity percentage at 6 Cº while it reached its minimum level (1%) at 20 Cº.

A total of 79 specimens of bizz, Barbus esocinus were subjected to an investigation a period between June 1993 –May 1994. The investigation includes examination of gastrointestinal contents, length-weight relationship and the condition factor, and parasitic investigation.As concern the gastro-intestinal food contents, the main bulk of contents are small fishes (75%) such as Acanthobrama marmid, Liza abu and Alburnus pallidus and larval cestodes, Ligula intestinalis which were found among semi-digested food along with bones of fishes in addition to Cyclops and Diaptomus. Small hard parts were found such as wings and antennae of insects (about 10 %) with mucous and digested food.Length-weight relation was found to be as the following equation: Log W= -1.69 +4.23 Log LThis means that growth of fishes is allometric and not isometric as it exceeds the number 3. The condition factors was calculated and found as K=1.13.A significant correlation was found between the age and the mean of total length, standard length, width, mouth opening, head length, intestinal length, gonad length, weight of fishes. Generally, values of the above mean increased as the age increased which indicated that the growth of fishes is normal.Three species of parasites were recorded, one monogenean Paradiplozoon barbi , one cestode, Bothriocephalusacheilognathi and one crustacean Pseudolamproglena annulata. Noteworthy, B. esocinus was regarded as a new host for both P. barbi and P. annulata in Iraq.

A survey of several wheat fields at Duhok province during 2010 and 2011 was carried out in Slevani (Duban) plain, Kemeka and Bakhetmi villages, fields around Semel city and other fields along roads of Kora and Kemeka to determine infection percentage by Anguina tritici . Highest infection during 2010 was 11% and 10.4% in wheat fields of Kemeka and Bakhetmi respectively, whereas the lowest was 0.56% in wheat field of Bakhetmi village during 2011.A tritici completed its life cycle in 135- 165 days under field conditions at Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, Semel-Duhok. Dimensions of Females were 2400 × 132.55 µm, whereas for males was 1790 × 82.19 µm and for second stage Juveniles (J2) and eggs were 490 × 24.9 µm and 94.5 × 38.7 µm respectively.

Layers of high silica zeolites, synthesized with an organic structure directing agent (OSDA) and grown onto porous support structures, frequently suffer from the thermal stress during the removal of OSDA via the calcination process. The different thermal expansion coefficients of the zeolite and the support material, especially when stainless steel is used as a support, causes enormous tension resulting in defect formation in the zeolite layer. However, the calcination is an easy procedure to decompose the OSDA in the pore system of the zeolite. Recently, methods to synthesize zeolite beta without the use of an organic structure directing agent have been described. In the present study, a seed-directed synthesis is used to prepare OSDA-free zeolite beta layers on stainless steel supports via an in situ preparation route. For the application as membrane, a porous stainless steel support has been chosen. The beta/stainless steel composites are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). To prove its possible application as a membrane, the beta/stainless steel composites were also tested by single gas permeances of H2, He, CO2, N2, and CH4.

Survey of eggplant fields showed that 93.33% of the fields were infected with root– knot nematodes , the mean of the infection was 33.33% in these fields reaching it’s maximum value (51.66% ) in the fields of Salamia area while it’s minimum value was 16.66% in the fields of Mosul area . The highest population density of nematode was found in the soil of one of the fields of Rabee’a area and the lowest in another field in the same area . Distribution of root–knot nematode species in eggplant fieids showed the presence of M.javanica and M. incognita .The former one was more widespread . Susceptibility of eggplant cultivars against M. javanica revealed that the cultivars differed among themselves.The cultivar Alton Kopri was the most susceptibile one, while Black beauty was with medium resistance. M.javanica completed its lifecycle in the roots of cultivars Al-Ton Kobri, Asil Zakholi (local) and Syrian in 27,30 and 32 days respectively, while nematode could not complete its life cycle in the roots of Tarhi and Black beauty cultivers.

A 14.2 kDa protein isolated from Bali cattle (Bos sondaicus/javanicus) saliva has been reported to have a bactericidal activity. The aim of this study was to analyse the nature of a 14.2 kDa protein using single dimension (1-D) sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometer (MALDI TOF/TOF). The protein was isolated by means of polyethylene glycol (PEG)/sodium sulfate aqueous two-phase system, and then determined by 12.5% SDS-PAGE. A band of 14.2 kDa was sliced and analysed by MALDI TOF/TOF mass spectrometer using a 5800 proteomics analyzer. Mascot search and National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Blast search revealed that the spot of 1-D SDS-PAGE consisted of three proteins: zymogen granule protein 16 homologue B, pancreatic adenocarcinoma upregulated factor-like, and prolactin-inducible protein homologue precursor. The three proteins have been observed in Bos taurus and other species such as mouse. The actual nature of the proteins and their function in Bali cattle (Bos sondaicus/javanicus), as well as the connection with the evolution of bovines need further analysis.