Search Results (71)

Background: Snake envenomation is a major public health issue in Nigeria, primarily due to bites from Echis ocellatus, Naja nigricollis, and Bitis arietans. Understanding their venom composition is essential for effective antivenom development. This study characterizes and compares the venom proteomes of these snakes using iTRAQ-based proteomics, focusing on key toxin families and their relative abundances. Methods: Venom samples were ethically collected from adult snakes, pooled by species, lyophilized, and stored for proteomic analysis. Proteins were extracted, digested with trypsin, and labeled with iTRAQ. Peptides were analyzed via mass spectrometry, and data were processed using Mascot and IQuant for protein identification and quantification. Results: E. ocellatus and B. arietans venoms had similar profiles, rich in C-type lectins, serine proteases, and phospholipase A₂s. These comprised 17%, 11%, and 5% in E. ocellatus and 47%, 10%, and 7% in B. arietans, with metalloproteinases dominating both (53% and 47%). In N. nigricollis, three-finger toxins (9%) were most abundant, followed by metalloproteinases (3%). All species shared four core protein families, with N. nigricollis also containing four uncharacterized proteins. Conclusions: This study highlights venom compositional differences, advancing snake venom biology and informing targeted antivenom development. Full article

In the context of growing interest in sustainable plant-based alternatives and sustainable eating, this study focused on the impact of visual elements of packaging design—specifically the presence of mascots—on consumer sustainable decision-making when choosing plant-based food products. The quantitative research, conducted through an online questionnaire, consists of four parts: the evaluation of the visual attractiveness of authentic brands of plant-based products; the identification of key factors influencing consumers’ choices when purchasing plant-based foods; the selection between graphic packaging designs featuring different types of mascots; and the assessment of the perceived importance of mascots in dietary habits. The collected data allows an analysis of how much mascots influence consumer sustainable preferences and willingness to try plant-based products. The findings suggest that mascots may be an effective tool in shaping positive perceptions of plant-based food and strengthening brand trust within sustainable concepts. The results offer practical implications for marketing strategies of producers of plant-based alternatives and highlight the potential of visual communication to promote sustainable consumption. This study contributes to understanding how packaging design affects consumer sustainable behavior in the plant-based food sector, with a focus on mascots as a previously underexplored visual element. Full article

This study investigates consumer reactions to mascots on e-commerce websites, focusing on how anthropomorphic visual cues influence website satisfaction, revisit intention, and purchase intention. Specifically, we examine how mascot movement affects consumers’ sense of social presence and engagement, as well as the role of team identification in these effects. A 3 (mascot type: none, static, animated) × 2 (team identification: high, low) between-subjects experiment was conducted with 203 participants recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk. Our findings show that the presence of mascots significantly impacts consumer evaluations, with social presence and engagement acting as sequential mediators. Notably, high team identification moderates the effect of animated mascots on revisit and purchase intentions but does not affect website satisfaction. These results provide valuable theoretical and practical insights for marketing, highlighting the importance of mascot design and movement in enhancing e-commerce experiences. Full article

Background/Objectives: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a life-threatening condition that frequently complicates high-risk cardiac surgery. We evaluated the circulating levels and transpulmonary gradient of intracellular proteins in patients at risk of developing ARDS after cardiac surgery using large scale-proteomics. Methods: We enrolled sixteen patients undergoing high-risk cardiac surgery, followed by planned ICU admission. Circulating levels of intracellular proteins were measured at the onset of the surgical procedure, at ICU admission (H0), and 24 h (H24) after surgery in blood samples simultaneously drawn from both the pulmonary artery and the left atrium. The primary endpoint was the occurrence of ARDS between ICU admission and the subsequent 48 h. Results: Among the studied proteins, the levels of intracellular lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor-1 (LOX-1) were higher at H24 in the pulmonary artery in patients who developed ARDS (6.96; 95% CI [6.83–7.23]) compared to patients who did not (6.48; 95% CI [6.27–6.66]), p-value = 0.016. The transpulmonary gradient of intracellular LOX-1 levels was not significantly different between ARDS and non-ARDS patients at H0 but it was more negative at H24 in ARDS (−0.23; 95% CI [−0.27, −0.14]) than in non-ARDS patients (0.03; 95% CI [−0.14, 0.32]; p-value= 0.031), with a hazard ratio HR = 0.39 (95% CI [0.18–0.86]); p-value= 0.035. The area under the ROC curve of H24 LOX-1 transpulmonary gradient to predict ARDS occurrence was 0.83 (95% CI [0.62–1.00]). Conclusions: The transpulmonary gradient of intracellular LOX-1 levels was negatively associated with the occurrence of ARDS within the first 48 h after high-risk cardiac surgery, suggesting that lung trapping of LOX-1 may be linked to postoperative ARDS. Full article

Protein identification in complex biological samples using the shotgun mode of LC-MS/MS is typically enhanced by employing longer LC columns and extended gradient times. However, improved identification rates can also be achieved by optimizing MS acquisition frequencies and employing advanced software, without increasing analysis time, thus maintaining the throughput of the method. To date, we found only one study in the literature examining the influence of MS acquisition frequency on protein identification, specifically using two ion trap mass spectrometer models. This study aims to address the gap by analyzing the impact of MS acquisition tuning of the QTOF instrument on the analysis of complex samples. Our findings indicate that increasing acquisition frequency generally improves protein identification, although the extent of improvement depends on the sample type. For CHO cell lysates, protein identifications increased by over 10%, while E. coli and albumin-depleted plasma samples demonstrated gains of 3.6% and 2.6%, respectively. Higher contributions to protein identification were also achieved with extended LC gradients, resulting in improvements of 21.6% for CHO, 18.2% for E. coli, and 10.3% for plasma. Moreover, enabling PEAKS’ deep learning feature significantly boosted identifications, with increases of 22.9% for CHO, 23.2% for E. coli, and 9.2% for plasma. Full article

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a progressive condition characterized by declining renal function, with limited biomarkers to predict its progression. The early identification of prognostic biomarkers is crucial for improving patient care and therapeutic strategies. This follow-up study investigated urinary proteomics and clinical outcomes in 18 CKD patients (stages 1–3) and 15 healthy controls using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry and Mascot-SwissProt for protein identification. The exponentially modified protein abundance index (emPAI) was used for peptide quantification. Regression analyses were used to evaluate relationships between urinary proteins and the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), adjusting for proteinuria. At baseline, 171 proteins (median emPAI 86) were identified in CKD patients, and 271 were identified (median emPAI 47) in controls. At follow-up, 285 proteins (median emPAI 44.8) were identified in CKD patients, and 252 were identified (median emPAI 34.2) in controls. FBN1 was positively associated with eGFR, while FETUA showed a significant negative correlation at baseline. At follow-up, VTDB shifted from a negative baseline to a positive association with eGFR over time. CD44 and FBN1 shifted from a positive baseline to a negative association over time. These findings highlight VTDB, FBN1, and CD44 as potential prognostic biomarkers, providing insights into CKD progression and therapeutic targets. Full article

Aortic valve-in-valve (ViV) procedures are increasingly performed for the treatment of surgical bioprosthetic valve failure in patients at intermediate to high surgical risk. Although ViV procedures offer indisputable benefits in terms of procedural time, in-hospital length of stay, and avoidance of surgical complications, they also present unique challenges. Growing awareness of the technical difficulties and potential threats associated with ViV procedures mandates careful preprocedural planning. This review article offers an overview of the current state-of-the-art ViV procedures, with focus on patient and device selection, procedural planning, potential complications, and long-term outcomes. Finally, it discusses current research efforts and future directions aimed at improving ViV procedural success and patient outcomes. Full article

With the tourism industry continuing to boom, the importance of tourism mascots in promoting and publicizing tourism destinations is becoming increasingly prominent. Three core dimensions, market trend, appearance design, and audience feedback, are numerically investigated for deeply iterating tourism mascot design. Further, a subjective and objective evaluation weighting model based on the hierarchical analysis method (AHP) and entropy weighting method is proposed, aiming to utilize the advantages of these methods and ensure the entireness and correctness of results. Taking the mascots of six famous tourist attractions in Xi’an as an example, the feasibility and effectiveness of the evaluation model are verified. Data analysis and modeling results confirm that the three core evaluation indexes of scalability, innovation, and recommendation should be focused on in the design of tourism mascots in the three dimensions of market trends, appearance design, and audience feedback. The evaluation index scores are 0.1235, 0.1170, and 0.1123, respectively, which further illustrates the priority of mascot design. The evaluation model constructed by the research provides decision-makers with a comprehensive evaluation tool from the perspective of tourist experience, and also effectively assists the optimization process of mascot design. In addition, the model has good versatility and adaptability in structural design and evaluation logic and can be widely used in the optimization and evaluation research of brand mascots. Full article

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas in kidney-transplant recipients are frequent, with an increasing incidence linked to long immunosuppression durations and exposure to ultraviolet radiation. p53 is at the cornerstone of ultraviolet-induced DNA damage, but the role of p53 post-translational modifications in this context is not yet deciphered. Here, we investigated the phosphorylation status of p53 at Serine 392 in 25 cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas in kidney-transplant recipients, compared with 22 non-transplanted patients. Cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas in transplanted patients occurred after a median period of 19 years of immunosuppression, with a median number of 15 cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas and more aggressive histological and clinical characteristics. There was no significant difference between Ki67, p53, and pSer392p53 expression in the two groups. Using principal component analysis, we identified a cluster of exclusively transplanted patients with a median of 23 years of immunosuppression duration, significantly more aggressive biological characteristics, and higher pSer392p53 expression. pSer392p53 was expressed in the whole tumor, suggesting an early carcinogenic event in the course of prolonged immunosuppression. This high, diffuse pSer392p53 expression, corresponding to a high level of DNA damage, might be useful to identify aggressive cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas in kidney-transplant recipients to treat them more aggressively. Full article

This study aimed to evaluate the proteomic profile of seminal plasma from young Nellore bulls. We used 20 bulls aged between 19.8 and 22.7 months, divided into two groups according to the results of the Breeding Soundness Evaluation (BSE): approved (FIT n = 10) and not approved (UNFIT n = 10). The scrotal perimeter was measured and a semen collection was performed through electroejaculation. The percentage of sperm motility, mass motility, and sperm vigor were calculated using conventional microscopy, and the percentage of sperm abnormalities was calculated using phase-contrast microscopy of all ejaculates. Seminal plasma was separated from spermatozoa using centrifugation and processed for proteomic analysis by LC-MS/MS. Seminal plasma proteins were identified using MASCOT Daemon software v.2.4.0 and label-free quantification analysis was carried out by SCAFFOLD Q+ software v.4.0 using the Exponentially Modified Protein Abundance Index (emPAI) method. Functional classification of proteins was performed based on their genetic ontology terms using KOG. Functional cluster analysis was performed on DAVID. There were no differences in scrotal perimeter and physical semen characteristics between FIT and UNFIT groups of bulls. The percentage of sperm abnormalities was higher (p < 0.05) in the UNFIT group of bulls. A total of 297 proteins were identified for the two groups. There were a total of 11 differentially abundant proteins (p < 0.05), two of them more abundant in FIT bulls (Spermadhesin-1 and Ig gamma-1 chain C region) and nine in UNFIT bulls (Vasoactive intestinal peptide, Metalloproteinase inhibitor 2, Ig lambda-1 chain C regions, Protein FAM3C, Hemoglobin beta, Seminal ribonuclease, Spermadhesin 2, Seminal plasma protein BSP-30kDa, and Spermadhesin Z13). Spermadhesin-1 was the protein with the highest relative abundance (36.7%) in the seminal plasma among all bulls, corresponding to 47.7% for the FIT bulls and 25,7% for the UNFIT bulls. Posttranslational modification, protein turnover, and chaperones were the functional categories with the highest number of classified proteins. Protein functional annotation clusters were related to Phospholipid efflux, ATP binding, and chaperonin-containing T-complex. The differentially abundant proteins in the group of FIT bulls were related to sperm capacitation and protection against reactive species of oxygen. In contrast, differentially expressed proteins in the group of UNFIT bulls were related to motility inhibition, intramembrane cholesterol removal and oxidative stress. In conclusion, the proteomic profile of the seminal plasma of FIT bulls presents proteins with participation in several biological processes favorable to fertilization, while the proteins of the seminal plasma of UNFIT bulls indicate a series of alterations that can compromise the fertilizing capacity of the spermatozoa. In addition, the relative abundance of spermadhesin-1 found in the seminal plasma of young Nellore bulls could be studied as a reproductive parameter for selection. Full article

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic from 2019 to 2022 devastated many aspects of life and the economy, with the commercial aviation industry being no exception. One of the major concerns during the pandemic was the degree to which the internal aircraft environment contributed to virus transmission between humans and, in particular, the stability of SARS-CoV-2 on contact surfaces in the aircraft cabin interior. Method: In this study, the stability of various major strains of SARS-CoV-2 on interior aircraft surfaces was evaluated using the TCID₅₀ assessment. Results: In contrast to terrestrial materials, SARS-CoV-2 was naturally less stable on common contact points in the aircraft interior, and, over a 4 h time period, there was a 90% reduction in culturable virus. Antiviral and surface coatings were extremely effective at mitigating the persistence of the virus on surfaces; however, their benefit was diminished by regular cleaning and were ineffective after 56 days of regular use and cleaning. Finally, successive strains of SARS-CoV-2 have not evolved to be more resilient to survival on aircraft surfaces. Conclusions: We conclude that the mitigation strategies for SARS-CoV-2 on interior aircraft surfaces are more than sufficient, and epidemiological evidence over the past three years has not found that surface spread is a major route of transmission. Full article

The world has been proactively seeking solutions to control the spread of the COVID-19 virus since 2020. A major defensive action is implementing contactless services into everyday activities to reduce viral spread. Drones can provide contactless services in transporting goods and medical supplies, thus reducing the risk of spreading the virus. This paper aims to investigate the future trends of commercial uses for drones in Australia in the next five years. It will explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) industry and its different applications in Australia over the same timeframe; it also considers whether the use of drones in medical services will increase due to the epidemic. Primary data are gathered and evaluated to consider these issues, supported by a set of secondary data. The research aims to provide a holistic direction for the UAV industry, and in particular, for the Australian drone service providers and regulator to modify their operation strategies. Full article

Background: This study aimed to assess the value of blood and urine biomarkers in addition to routine clinical variables in risk stratification of patients admitted to ICU. Methods: Multivariable prognostic models were developed in this post hoc analysis of the French and EuRopean Outcome ReGistry in Intensive Care Units study, a prospective observational study of patients admitted to ICUs. The study included 2087 patients consecutively admitted to the ICU who required invasive mechanical ventilation or a vasoactive agent for more than 24 h. The main outcome measures were in-ICU, in-hospital, and 1 year mortality. Results: Models including only SAPS II or APACHE II scores had c-indexes for in-hospital and 1 year mortality of 0.64 and 0.65, and 0.63 and 0.61, respectively. The c-indexes for a model including age and estimated glomerular filtration rate were higher at 0.69 and 0.67, respectively. Models utilizing available clinical variables increased the c-index for in-hospital and 1 year mortality to 0.80 and 0.76, respectively. The addition of biomarkers and urine proteomic markers increased c-indexes to 0.83 and 0.78. Conclusions: The commonly used scores for risk stratification in ICU patients did not perform well in this study. Models including clinical variables and biomarkers had significantly higher predictive values. Full article

Large molecule protein therapeutics have steadily grown and now represent a significant portion of the overall pharmaceutical market. These complex therapies are commonly manufactured using cell culture technology. Sequence variants (SVs) are undesired minor variants that may arise from the cell culture biomanufacturing process that can potentially affect the safety and efficacy of a protein therapeutic. SVs have unintended amino acid substitutions and can come from genetic mutations or translation errors. These SVs can either be detected using genetic screening methods or by mass spectrometry (MS). Recent advances in Next-generation Sequencing (NGS) technology have made genetic testing cheaper, faster, and more convenient compared to time-consuming low-resolution tandem MS and Mascot Error Tolerant Search (ETS)-based workflows which often require ~6 to 8 weeks data turnaround time. However, NGS still cannot detect non-genetic derived SVs while MS analysis can do both. Here, we report a highly efficient Sequence Variant Analysis (SVA) workflow using high-resolution MS and tandem mass spectrometry combined with improved software to greatly reduce the time and resource cost associated with MS SVA workflows. Method development was performed to optimize the high-resolution tandem MS and software score cutoff for both SV identification and quantitation. We discovered that a feature of the Fusion Lumos caused significant relative under-quantitation of low-level peptides and turned it off. A comparison of common Orbitrap platforms showed that similar quantitation values were obtained on a spiked-in sample. With this new workflow, the amount of false positive SVs was decreased by up to 93%, and SVA turnaround time by LC-MS/MS was shortened to 2 weeks, comparable to NGS analysis speed and making LC-MS/MS the top choice for SVA workflow. Full article