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Objective: The primary aim of this study was to compare the anatomic outcomes of vaginally assisted laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy (VALS) with those of McCall culdoplasty (McCC) in patients undergoing concurrent vaginal hysterectomy. Materials and methods: This randomized controlled study presents the outcomes of 68 patients who underwent hysterectomy and vaginal suspension for apical prolapse ≥ Stage III according to the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification (POP-Q) system between October 2017 and December 2020. Among these patients, 33 underwent VALS and 35 underwent McCC. Clinical features, surgical data, concomitant surgical procedures, postoperative complications, and recurrence rates were assessed. Before and after one year of surgery, the short form of the Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire and Pelvic Organ Prolapse/Urinary Incontinence Sexual Questionnaire were used to evaluate subjective symptoms. Patient Global Impression of Improvement Questionnaire was used to assess patient satisfaction. Results: The mean follow-up durations were 25.5 ± 7.63 months and 25.6 ± 5.96 months in the VALS and McCC groups, respectively. Prolapse recurrence occurred in 3 (9.1%) women in the VALS group versus 12 (34.3%) women in the McCC group (p = 0.031). Conclusion: The McCC operation was associated with a shorter operation time, whereas the VALS operation had a significantly higher objective success rate. Based on this study, it may be concluded that McCC is not an effective procedure for advanced uterine prolapse.

Summary: Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging, mosquito-borne flavivirus responsible for recent epidemics across the Americas, and it is closely related to dengue virus (DENV). Here, we study samples from 46 DENV-naive and 43 DENV-immune patients with RT-PCR-confirmed ZIKV infection at early-acute, late-acute, and convalescent time points from our pediatric cohort study in Nicaragua. We analyze the samples via RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), CyTOF, and multiplex cytokine/chemokine Luminex to generate a comprehensive, innate immune profile during ZIKV infection. Immunophenotyping and analysis of cytokines/chemokines reveal that CD14+ monocytes play a key role during ZIKV infection. Further, we identify CD169 (Siglec-1) on CD14+ monocytes as a potential biomarker of acute ZIKV infection. Strikingly distinct transcriptomic and immunophenotypic signatures are observed at all three time points. Interestingly, pre-existing dengue immunity has minimal impact on the innate immune response to Zika. Finally, this comprehensive immune profiling and network analysis of ZIKV infection in children serves as a valuable resource. : At three time points after Zika virus infection, Michlmayr et al. perform comprehensive immunoprofiling of pediatric cohort samples via RNA-seq, CyTOF, and Luminex cytokine/chemokine array, resulting in distinct temporal patterns of gene expression, cell profiles, and cytokines/chemokines. They show CD14+ monocytes play a central role, identify CD169 as a potential biomarker of acute ZIKV infection along with upregulation of CXCL10, and find no impact of prior dengue virus infection on the innate immune response to Zika. Keywords: Zika virus, monocytes, dengue virus, innate immunity, immune profiling, RNA-seq, CyTOF, network model, biomarker, Luminex

We examine possible links between CDS spreads and the value of the Turkish lira against the U.S. dollar by using the recently developed rolling window causality method as well as the Markov Switching Vector Autoregressive method. Results show that credit default swap premiums drive the value of the Turkish lira against the U.S. dollar in the post crisis period. We conclude that market risk as a part of financial risk has become an important factor in determining exchange rate fluctuations in the Turkish economy during the post-crisis period.

To monitor the levels of protecting antibodies raised in the population in response to infection and/or to immunization with SARS-CoV-2, we need a technique that allows high throughput and low-cost quantitative analysis of human IgG antibodies reactive against viral antigens. Here we describe an ultra-fast, high throughput and inexpensive assay to detect SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion in humans. The assay is based on Ni 2+ magnetic particles coated with His tagged SARS-CoV-2 antigens. A simple and inexpensive 96 well plate magnetic extraction/homogenization process is described which allows the simultaneous analysis of 96 samples and delivers results in 7 min with high accuracy., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Ca 2+ is a potent signalling molecule that regulates many cellular processes. In cyanobacteria, Ca 2+ has been linked to cell growth, stress response and photosynthesis, and to the development of specialist heterocyst cells in certain nitrogen-fixing species. Despite this, the pathways of Ca 2+ signal transduction in cyanobacteria are poorly understood, and very few protein components are known. The current study describes a previously unreported Ca 2+ -binding protein which was called the Ca 2+ Sensor EF-hand (CSE), which is conserved in filamentous, nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria. CSE is shown to bind Ca 2+ , which induces a conformational change in the protein structure. Poor growth of a strain of Anabaena sp. PCC 7120 overexpressing CSE was attributed to diminished photosynthetic performance. Transcriptomics, biophysics and proteomics analyses revealed modifications in the light-harvesting phycobilisome and photosynthetic reaction centre protein complexes., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)