Activity

Heparosan, a capsular polysaccharide synthesized by certain pathogenic bacteria, is a promising precursor for heparin production. Heparosan production is catalyzed by the formation of KfiC-KfiA complex and the subsequent action of KfiC and KfiA proteins. Polycistronic expression of kfiC and kfiA in Bacillus megaterium yielded an unbalanced expression of KfiC and KfiA proteins resulted in decreased heparosan production. In this study, dual promoter plasmid system was constructed to increase the expression levels of KfiC and KfiA proteins. Dual promoter plasmid system along with UDP-glucuronic acid pathway overexpression (CADuet-DB) increased the heparosan production to 203 mg/L in shake flask experiments. Batch fermentation of strain CADuet-DB under controlled conditions yielded a maximum heparosan concentration of 627 mg/L, which is 59% higher than strain CA-DB. this website A modified logistic model is applied to describe the kinetics of heparosan production and biomass growth. Fed batch fermentation resulted in 3-fold enhancement in heparosan concentration (1.96 g/L), compared to batch fermentation. Nuclear magnetic resonance analysis revealed that heparosan from strain CADuet-DB was similar to Escherichia coli K5 heparosan. These results suggested that dual promoter expression system is a promising alternative to polycistronic expression system to produce heparosan in B. megaterium.In the present study, Enterobacter aerogenes KCTC2190 was isolated from soil around a cattle shed area, which was capable of producing intracellular β-galactosidase. Partially purified β-galactosidase was immobilized by entrapment method in agar-agar gel matrix. Agar-agar entrapped beads were prepared by dropping the enzyme-agar solution to ice-cooled toluene-chloroform ((31 (v/v)). 45.88±0.11% activity of partially purified β-galactosidase was retained after immobilization (bead shape). Maximum immobilization yield was observed in the presence of 2.5% agar-agar concentration. After immobilization, optimum temperature required for the enzyme-substrate reaction was shifted from 50 to 60 °C and the optimum reaction time was shifted from 15 to 25 min. The optimum pH for both free and immobilized β-galactosidase was pH 7. Free enzyme showed lower activation energy in comparison with the immobilized one. For free as well as immobilized β-galactosidase thermal deactivation, rate constant (kd) increased with increasing temperature while the values of decimal reduction time (D-values) and half-lives (t1/2) decreased. Immobilization process increased the t1/2 and D-values of β-galactosidase while it decreased the kd. Thermostability of immobilized β-galactosidase was higher as they showed higher enthalpy (ΔΗ0) and Gibb’s free energy (ΔG0)value than those of the free β-galactosidase. The negative entropy (ΔS0) of free and immobilized β-galactosidase established that both were in a more ordered state within the temperature range (50 to 70 °C) studied. Immobilized β-galactosidase was able to retain 51.65±1.61% of its initial activity after 7 batches of enzyme-substrate reaction. Immobilized β-galactosidase showed 78.09±3.69% of its initial activity even after 40 days of storage at 4 °C.

The aim of this study is to analyze relationships among social and environmental determinants serving as risk, protective, and important covariate factors for mental health risk and help-seeking among Black men on a college campus.

A secondary data analysis was conducted utilizing an ongoing, campus-wide survey at a large, urban, public university. Measures included depressive and anxiety symptoms; campus service utilization; risk factors (e.g., financial status); protective factors (social support/religiosity); and additional covariates (substance use/GPA). Multiple linear regressions were conducted to examine relationships between these factors, symptoms and help-seeking.

Data is included for 681 students. Findings indicated that stressful life events were associated with higher levels of anxiety symptoms (B = 0.39, p < 0.001) and depressive symptoms (B = 0.33, p = 0.013). Cannabis use (B = 1.14, p = .020) was also associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms. We found that financial status (B = 0.21, p = 0.041) was positively associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms and endorsement of religiosity was associated with lower levels anxiety (B = – 0.23, p = 0.019) and depressive symptoms (B = – 0.32, p = 0.035). Religiosity predicted lower utilization of campus health services.

The key findings indicated that Black men’s mental health is negatively influenced by stressful live events and cannabis use. As religiosity was associated with lower levels of symptoms and utilization, it may be beneficial to assess this in future work. Further research is needed to address and improve mental health and help-seeking among these men.

The key findings indicated that Black men’s mental health is negatively influenced by stressful live events and cannabis use. As religiosity was associated with lower levels of symptoms and utilization, it may be beneficial to assess this in future work. Further research is needed to address and improve mental health and help-seeking among these men.

Obstetric care in the US is complicated by marked racial and ethnic disparities in maternal obstetric outcomes, including severe morbidity and mortality, which are not explained by underlying differences in patient characteristics. Understanding differences in care delivery related to clinical acuity across different racial groups may help elucidate the source of these disparities.

This study examined the association of maternal race with utilization of critical care interventions.

This is a retrospective cohort study conducted as a secondary analysis of a large, multicenter observational study of women undergoing cesarean delivery. All women with a known delivery date were included. The primary outcome measure, a composite of critical care interventions (CCI) at delivery or postpartum that included mechanical ventilation, central and arterial line placement, and intensive care unit (ICU) admission were compared by racial/ethnic group-non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American.