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Topic Review
Leishmania Major and Leishmania Donovani
Leishmania are protozoa belonging to the Phylum Euglenozoa Cavalier-Smith, 1981; Class Kinetoplastea Honigberg, 1963; order Trypanosomatida Kent, 1880; family Trypanosomatidae Doeflein, 1901 and subfamily Leishmaniinae, Maslov and Lukes 2012. The genus Leishmania is further divided into four subgenera, L. (Leishmania) Safjanova 1982, L. (Viannia) Lainson and Shaw, 1987, L. (Mundinia) Shaw, Camargo and Teixeira 2016 and L. (Sauroleishmania) Ranque 1973 [1]. Members of the first three subgenera are causative agents of leishmaniasis, the worldwide distributed, vector-borne human and veterinary disease. The main insect vectors are phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Phlebotominae). Human leishmaniases are highly variable in their clinical manifestation, ranging from self-healing cutaneous lesions to serious visceral forms, life-treating if untreated. The main representative of the zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis in the Old World is Leishmania major, distributed from North and West Africa through Sahel belt and the Middle East to Central Asia, Mongolia and south-west Asia. This species is transmitted by sand flies of the subgenus Phlebotomus (Phlebotomus). The sores appear at the site of insect bite and the necrotic process results in large, open and wet lesions which cure without treatment.  Several lesions may occur simultaneously. Reservoir hosts of L. major are various rodents, humans getting infected incidentally. Leishmania donovani is the causative agent of visceral leishmaniasis, called also kala azar. Fully developed kala azar is characterized with anaemia, haepatosplenomegaly and progressive cachexia and may be fatal if untreated, but subclinical or asymptomatic cases are frequent. The main vectors are P. (Larrousius) orientalis in East Africa and Phlebotomus (Euphlebotomus) argentipes in the Indian peninsula. The disease is regarded as anthroponotic in Indian peninsula while involvement of reservoir animals has been suggested in East Africa [2].
  • 975
  • 09 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Ethnic Differences in Vitamin-D Metabolism
Vitamin D requirements vary from one human population to another. This is because the capacity to synthesize vitamin D in the skin also varies as a result of differences in solar UV or skin pigmentation. There has consequently been natural selection to use this vitamin more efficiently in populations that live at higher latitudes or are darker-skinned.
  • 975
  • 26 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Viral Purification in Vaccine Processing
Viral vectors and viral vaccines are invaluable tools in prevention and treatment of diseases. About 14% of vaccines approved by the FDA involve enveloped viruses, while out of the 15 gene therapy products approved worldwide in 2019, six of them use enveloped viruses, and 39% of gene therapy clinical trials are using enveloped viruses. Enveloped viruses are encased in a lipid bilayer which, in most cases, fuses with the target host cell membrane to infect cells. These enveloped viruses are produced in various systems, including traditional embryonated chicken eggs or more advanced cell culture technologies such as MRC-5 cells, Vero cells and HEK293-derived cell lines. The manufacturing of viral vector and viral vaccine products has always been paved with challenges related to the downstream processing. Purification process unit operations usually start with harvest and clarification, followed by intermediate purification steps, before polishing and formulation steps. Although techniques have greatly improved over the years to generate purer high-quality products and reproducible processes while maintaining or decreasing the cost of goods, regulatory agencies are increasingly stringent regarding product identity and characterization of the end products and level of acceptable impurities as a way to ensure public safety and maintain public trust in this class of medicine.
  • 975
  • 09 Aug 2021
Biography
Jeff Dean
Jeffrey Adgate "Jeff" Dean (born July 1968) is an American computer scientist and software engineer. He is currently the lead of Google AI, Google's AI division.[1] Dean received a B.S., summa cum laude from the University of Minnesota in Computer Science & Engineering in 1990.[2] He received a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Washington, working under Craig Chambers on compil
  • 976
  • 29 Dec 2022
Topic Review
DHH Gene
Desert Hedgehog
  • 975
  • 24 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Air during New Year’s Eve
Mosses are one of the best bioindicators in the assessment of atmospheric aerosol pollution by heavy metals. Studies using mosses allow both short- and long-term air quality monitoring. The increasing contamination of the environment (including air) is causing a search for new, cheap and effective methods of monitoring its condition. Once such method is the use of mosses in active biomonitoring. The aim of the entry was to assess the atmospheric aerosol pollution with selected heavy metals (Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Hg and Pb) from the smoke of fireworks used during New Year’s Eve in the years 2019/2020 and 2020/2021.
  • 975
  • 16 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Coccidioidomycosis
Coccidioidomycosis, also known as Valley fever, is an endemic fungal infection commonly found in the southwestern parts of the United States. However, the disease has seen an increase in both in its area of residency and its prevalence. This entry compiles some of the latest information on the epidemiology, current and in-development pharmaceutical approaches to treat the disease, trends and projections, diagnostic concerns, and the overlapping dynamics of coccidioidomycosis and COVID-19, including in special populations. This entry provides an overview of the current diagnostic and therapeutic strategies and identifies areas of future development.
  • 975
  • 22 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Obesity and Ovarian Function
Obesity is a prevalent disease worldwide, usually associated with infertility. Studies in obese infertile females show the occurrence of systemic hyperestrogenemia, hyperinsulinemia, and associated ovarian dysfunction through premature follicular atresia and anovulation. Indeed, the ovaries of obese mothers have been shown to accumulate lipids, high levels of reactive oxygen species, and inflammatory mediators. Furthermore, obesity has been shown to hamper not only oocyte maturation and quality but also embryo development, with reported long term effects and direct causality between obesity in the mother and prevalence of cardiovascular disease or cancer in the offspring.  
  • 975
  • 19 May 2021
Topic Review
Potential Usage of Edible Mushrooms
Currently, the food and agricultural sectors are concerned about environmental problems caused by raw material waste, and they are looking for strategies to reduce the growing amount of waste disposal. Now, approaches are being explored that could increment and provide value-added products from agricultural waste to contribute to the circular economy and environmental protection. Edible mushrooms have been globally appreciated for their medicinal properties and nutritional value, but during the mushroom production process nearly one-fifth of the mushroom gets wasted. Therefore, improper disposal of mushrooms and untreated residues can cause fungal disease. The residues of edible mushrooms, being rich in sterols, vitamin D2, amino acids, and polysaccharides, among others, makes it underutilized waste. Most of the published literature has primarily focused on the isolation of bioactive components of these edible mushrooms; however, utilization of waste or edible mushrooms themselves, for the production of value-added products, has remained an overlooked area. Waste of edible mushrooms also represents a disposal problem, but they are a rich source of important compounds, owing to their nutritional and functional properties. Researchers have started exploiting edible mushroom by-products/waste for value-added goods with applications in diverse fields. Bioactive compounds obtained from edible mushrooms are being used in media production and skincare formulations. Furthermore, diverse applications from edible mushrooms are also being explored, including the synthesis of biosorbent, biochar, edible films/coating, probiotics, nanoparticles and cosmetic products. 
  • 974
  • 08 Jun 2021
Topic Review
β-Amyloid Vaccination
β-amyloid (Aβ) is a peptide, 38 to 43 amino acids long, that derives from the proteolytic processing of amyloid precursor protein (APP) by the γ-secretase; Aβ40 and Aβ42 are the most studied Aβ peptide species.
  • 974
  • 20 Apr 2021
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