Osteoarticular disease is a frequent complication of human brucellosis. Vaccination remains a critical component of brucellosis control, but there are currently no vaccines for use in humans, and no in vitro models for assessing the safety of candidate vaccines in reference to the development of bone lesions currently exist. While the effect of Brucella infection on osteoblasts has been extensively evaluated, little is known about the consequences of osteoclast infection. Murine bone marrow-derived macrophages were derived into mature osteoclasts and infected with B. abortus 2308, the vaccine strain S19, and attenuated mutants S19vjbR and B. abortus ∆virB2. While B. abortus 2308 and S19 replicated inside mature osteoclasts, the attenuated mutants were progressively killed, behavior that mimics infection kinetics in macrophages. Interestingly, B. abortus 2308 impaired the growth of osteoclasts without reducing resorptive activity, while osteoclasts infected with B. abortus S19 and S19vjbR were significantly larger and exhibited enhanced resorption. None of the Brucella strains induced apoptosis or stimulated nitric oxide or lactose dehydrogenase production in mature osteoclasts. Finally, infection of macrophages or osteoclast precursors with B. abortus 2308 resulted in generation of smaller osteoclasts with decreased resorptive activity. Overall, Brucella exhibits similar growth characteristics in mature osteoclasts compared to the primary target cell, the macrophage, but is able to impair the maturation and alter the resorptive capacity of these cells. These results suggest that osteoclasts play an important role in osteoarticular brucellosis and could serve as a useful in vitro model for both analyzing host-pathogen interactions and assessing vaccine safety. Copyright © 2020 American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Malaysia's growing population and industrialisation have increased solid waste accumulation in landfills, leading to a rise in leachate production. Leachate, a highly contaminated liquid from landfills, poses environmental risks and affects water quality. Conventional leachate treatments are costly and time-consuming due to the need for additional chemicals. Therefore, the Electrocoagulation process could be used as an alternative method. Electrocoagulation is an electrochemical method of treating water by eliminating impurities by applying an electric current. In the present study, the optimisation of contaminant removal was investigated using Response Surface Methodology. Three parameters were considered for optimisation: the curr
... Show MoreThe management of anger is problematic for many people and it is a particularly important issue for persons with substance use disorders (SUD). The paper reviews the research studies dating back to 2005 on how to help persons with SUD manage anger. The literature reveals that various pharmaceutical and non-pharmacological approaches have been studied to help persons with SUD manage their anger. In chronic and lower risk situations non-pharmacological are the first line approaches, they include anger management training, cognitive-behavioral based treatments, exercising and relaxing, music therapy and empathy. Atypical antipsychotic and medications for opioid use disorders (MOUD) are also widely used. In acute and high risk of violen
... Show MoreBackground: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an inflammatory bowel disease restricted to the large intestine, characterized by superficial ulceration. It is a progressive and chronic disease requiring long-term treatment. Although its etiology remains unknown, it is suggested that environmental factors influence genetically susceptible individuals, leading to the onset of the disease. (C-X-C) ligand 9 is a chemokine that belongs to the CXC chemokine family, it plays a role in the differentiation of immune cells such as cytotoxic lymphocytes, natural killer T cells, and macrophages. Its interaction with its corresponding receptor CXCR3 which is expressed by a variety of cells such as effector T cells, CD8+ cytotoxic T cells, and macrophage
... Show MoreFood fortification has an important and necessary role in compensating for the shortage of nutritional micronutrients, especially in developing and least developed countries. So, 12 samples of flour available in the local market, whether imported or locally produced flour, were obtained during 2019. The amount of base metal of the necessary iron element in the flour models studied which are available in local markets, measured by spot testing and was compared with the values that should be added according to the specification Iraqi standard. Results revealed the qualitative evaluation of iron in locally produced flour does not conform to the Iraqi standard and is almost free of any reinforcement. While the percentage of imp
... Show MoreImproving in assembling technology has provided machines of higher evaluation with better resistances and managed behavior. This machinery led to remarkably higher dynamic forces and therefore higher stresses. In this paper, a dynamic investigation of rectangular machine diesel and gas engines foundation at the top surface of one-layer dry sand with various states (i.e., loose, medium and dense) was carried out. The dynamic investigation is performed numerically by utilizing limited component programming, PLAXIS 3D. The soil is accepted as flexible totally plastic material submits to Mohr-Coulomb yield basis. A harmonic load is applied at the foundation with amplitude of 10 kPa at a frequency of (10, 15 and 20) HZ and se
... Show MoreBackground: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic and systemic autoimmune disease that is characterized by severe synovial inflammation, cartilage erosion, bone loss, and generalized vasculopathy. Although the immunologic mechanism of RA is still unclear, it is now thought to be a primarily Th17-driven disease. Along with other factors, IL-23 stimulates the expansion of Th17 cells from naive CD4+ T cells.
Objective: The objective of this study is to assess the circulating levels of interleukin (IL)-23 in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and determine the correlation between plasma/serum IL-23 levels and disease activity. So, we performed a systematic review with meta-analysis comparing
... Show MoreBP algorithm is the most widely used supervised training algorithms for multi-layered feedforward neural net works. However, BP takes long time to converge and quite sensitive to the initial weights of a network. In this paper, a modified cuckoo search algorithm is used to get the optimal set of initial weights that will be used by BP algorithm. And changing the value of BP learning rate to improve the error convergence. The performance of the proposed hybrid algorithm is compared with the stan dard BP using simple data sets. The simulation result show that the proposed algorithm has improved the BP training in terms of quick convergence of the solution depending on the slope of the error graph.
Background: Ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic inflammatory disease that mostly involves the spine and sacroiliac joints. It is associated with a decreased quality of life. Biological medicines such as infliximab and its biosimilar are the mainstay treatments for active ankylosing spondylitis.
Objective: The study objective was to conduct a pharmacoeconomic study comparing the cost-effectiveness of the reference infliximab with its biosimilar in ankylosing spondylitis patients visiting public hospitals.
Subjects and Method: This is a two-center pharmacoeconomic study performed at two large teaching governmental hospitals in Baghdad, Iraq, which s
... Show MoreSmart cities have recently undergone a fundamental evolution that has greatly increased their potentials. In reality, recent advances in the Internet of Things (IoT) have created new opportunities by solving a number of critical issues that are allowing innovations for smart cities as well as the creation and computerization of cutting-edge services and applications for the many city partners. In order to further the development of smart cities toward compelling sharing and connection, this study will explore the information innovation in smart cities in light of the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing (CC). IoT data is first collected in the context of smart cities. The data that is gathered is uniform. The Internet of Things,
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