Ritchiekrog2839

Significance The prevalence of obesity and cardiometabolic phenotypes is alarmingly increasing across the globe and is associated with atherosclerotic vascular complications and high mortality. In spite of multifactorial interventions, vascular residual risk remains high in this patient population, suggesting the need for breakthrough therapies. The mechanisms underpinning obesity-related vascular disease remain elusive and represent an intense area of investigation. Recent Advances Epigenetic modifications-defined as environmentally induced chemical changes of DNA and histones that do not affect DNA sequence-are emerging as a potent modulator of gene transcription in the vasculature and might significantly contribute to the development of obesity-induced endothelial dysfunction. DNA methylation and histone post-translational modifications cooperate to build complex epigenetic signals, altering transcriptional networks that are implicated in redox homeostasis, mitochondrial function, vascular inflammation, and perivascular fat homeostasis in patients with cardiometabolic disturbances. LB-100 Critical Issues Deciphering the epigenetic landscape in the vasculature is extremely challenging due to the complexity of epigenetic signals and their function in regulating transcription. An overview of the most important epigenetic pathways is required to identify potential molecular targets to treat or prevent obesity-related endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerotic disease. This would enable the employment of precision medicine approaches in this setting. Future Directions Current and future research efforts in this field entail a better definition of the vascular epigenome in obese patients as well as the unveiling of novel, cell-specific chromatin-modifying drugs that are able to erase specific epigenetic signals that are responsible for maladaptive transcriptional alterations and vascular dysfunction in obese patients.The introduction of antiretroviral therapy (ART) has helped mitigate many of the negative consequences of HIV. ART allows people living with HIV (PLHIV) to recover physically and become active members of society. Research thus far is positive about the potential economic impact of ART on household economies. In terms of employment, studies indicate that ART, when initiated early in disease progression, allows PLHIV to maintain their employment and, when initiated late in disease progression, allows PLHIV to return to work once they physically recover. This paper questions the latter by demonstrating that while the employment levels indeed return to normal or baseline levels, the type of employment that PLHIV obtain has undergone a shift. It demonstrates that the type of employment PLHIV are engaged in once they recover is largely less stable and less profitable than what they were doing prior to illness. It additionally demonstrates that PLHIV are engaged in work that is less stable and less profitable than their HIV-negative counterparts. I conclude that a closer inspection of the type of employment that PLHIV are engaged in is needed to provide a more accurate understanding of the impact of ART on the socio-economic status of PLHIV on ART.Introduction With a rise in the incidence of stone disease, more research is needed to understand the lifestyle factors associated with it. We evaluate available evidence for association of smoking, alcohol, and exercise with kidney stone disease (KSD). Methods A systematic literature search was conducted in CINAHL, EMBASE, Ovid Medline, Cochrane Library, Scopus, Clinicaltrials.gov, and Google Scholar. Different keywords were "smoking," "cigarette," "alcohol," "spirits," "exercise," "physical activity," "training," "kidney stone," "stone disease," "nephrolithiasis," "urolithiasis," "renal stone," and "urinary stone." The main outcome of interest was the role of smoking, alcohol, and exercise in the development of KSD. Results A total of 4921 articles were found on searching the databases, of which 14 met the criteria for inclusion in the final review. Studies assessed the following risk factors, physical activity (n = 6), alcohol (n = 6), and smoking (n = 9), and included 17,511 patients. The relationship of physical activity with KSD appears to be equivocal. In addition, only one study demonstrated a decreased risk of nephrolithiasis with alcohol consumption. On the contrary, four studies found a significant association between smoking and renal stone formation. Conclusions While smoking is one behavioral factor that seems to have some association with KSD, no clear effect of alcohol and physical activity has been demonstrated. To avoid KSD, awareness of the possible detrimental role of smoking should be considered and patients should remain vigilant about the importance of hydration with physical activity. While this represents the most appropriate guidance from the evidence available, at present there remain insufficient data to truly reveal the relationship between these three factors and KSD.Soil adulteration by organic and inorganic contaminants chiefly in industrial and agricultural area is one of the major problems faced by the world today. Phytoremediation using aromatic plant such as Ocimum is a sound, economically reasonable and an eco-friendly approach. Besides, microbial assisted phytoremediation can bring about plant-promoted microbial degradation, plant uptake and phytodegradation of soil contaminants. In this study, the ability of Ocimum gratissimum in association with Pseudomonas putida MU02 to remediate zinc and crude oil contaminated soil (2,000 mg/kg, 1% w w-1 crude oil) was investigated in a 60-day pot experiment. Four different treatments and a control (clean soil + plant) were employed for the study co-contaminated soil only; co-contaminated soil with O. gratissimum; co-contaminated with P. putida inoculum; co-contaminated soil with O. gratissimum and P. putida. Comparatively, the highest TPH deduction efficiency (75.87%) was shown by the treatment comprising of O. gratissimum and P. putida while highest metal uptake was shown by the treatment with plant only. Better TPH removal associated with higher number of bacteria in the vegetated and inoculated pots could be attributed to the rhizopheric effect of the plants. Altogether, the association of O. gratissimum with P. putida can be a potential candidate for the remediation of co-contaminated soil.