Cyanobacterial natural products as sources for antiviral drug discovery against COVID-19.

The recent Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), positive-sense RNA viruses, originated from Wuhan City in December 2019 and propagated widely globally. Hence, the disease caused by this virus has been declared as a global pandemic by the WHO. As of 18th February 2021, at least seven different vaccines across three platforms have been rolled out in countries and more than 200 additional vaccine candidates have been in development, of which more than 60 are at the stage of the clinical development. So far, Most of the approved vaccine manufacturers are Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Serum Institute of India, which have been finalized by WHO. Synthetic drug-associated complications have evoked scientific attention for natural product-based drugs. There has been a surge in the antiviral compounds from natural resources along with some therapies. Cyanobacteria are the fruitful reservoir of many metabolites like sulfated polysaccharides and lectins that possess strong antiviral activities and immunity boosting effects. However, the research in this field has been relatively under-developed. The current research highlights important features of cyanobacterial antiviral biomaterials, benefits and drawbacks of cyanobacterial drugs, challenges, future perspectives as well as overview of drugs against COVID-19. In addition, we have described mutated variants and transmission rate of coronaviruses. The current research suggests that cyanobacterial species and their extracts have promising applications as potentially antiviral drug biomaterials against COVID-19. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Plant-cyanobacteria interactions: Beneficial and harmful effects of cyanobacterial bioactive compounds on soil-plant systems and subsequent risk to animal and human health.

Plant-cyanobacteria interactions occur in different ways and at many different levels, both beneficial and harmful. Plant-cyanobacteria interactions, as a beneficial symbiosis, have long been demonstrated in rice-growing areas (Poaceae) where the most efficient nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria are present in paddies. Moreover, cyanobacteria may in turn produce and/or secrete numerous bioactive compounds that have plant growth-promoting abilities or that may make the plant more resistant to abiotic or biotic stress. In recent years, there has been a growing worldwide interest in the use of cyanobacterial biomass as biofertilizers to replace chemical fertilizers, in part to overcome increasing organic-farming demands. However, the potential presence of harmful cyanotoxins has delayed the use of such cyanobacterial biomass, which can be found in large quantities in freshwater ecosystems around the world. In this review, we describe the existing evidence for the positive benefit of plant-cyanobacteria interactions and discuss the use of cyanobacterial biomass as biofertilizers and its growing worldwide interest. Although mass cyanobacterial blooms and scums are a current and emerging threat to the degradation of ecosystems and to animal and human health, they may serve as a source of numerous bioactive compounds with multiple positive effects that could be of use as an alternative to chemical fertilizers in the context of sustainable development.

Scientometric evaluation of the global research in spine: an update on the pioneering study by Wei et al.

PURPOSE: Wei et al. evaluated the global research in spine using scientometric methods based on a sample of 13,115 papers published in 5 spine journals from 2004 to 2013. This study builds on this pioneering study and provides up-to-date and thorough information on spine based on a sample of 166,962 papers for the stakeholders. METHOD: 'Articles' and 'reviews' published in 'English' in the journals indexed by the 'Web of Science' primary databases between 1980 and 2017 were retrieved through the use of an optimal keyword set for titles of both papers and ten spine journals. The information on document types and number of papers, authors, countries, funding bodies, institutions, publication years, journals, 'Web of Science' subject categories, and ten top citation classics were analyzed. RESULTS: A large sample of 166,962 papers were retrieved. The 'reviews' and 'proceedings papers' formed 5.8 and 2.8% of the sample, respectively. 'Fehlings', 'Vaccaro', 'Takahashi', 'Lenke', and 'Gokaslan' were the most-prolific authors. Nearly 0.7% of the papers had group authors besides single authors. The US was the most prolific country publishing 37.3% of the sample whilst Europe contributed to more than 39.8% of the sample. Only, 26.6% of the papers disclosed research funding. Among 40,897 institutions, 'Harvard University' was the most-prolific institution whilst the US institutions dominated the top-institution list. The research output steadily rose from 1375 papers in 1980 to 9357 papers in 2016 whilst 69.2% of the papers were published after 2000. Ten spine journals published only 23.4% of the sample. 'Clinical Neurology', 'Orthopedics', 'Neurosciences', and 'Surgery' was the most prolific subject categories. The top citation classic was a paper by van der Linden et al. on ankylosing spondylitis. CONCLUSIONS: The optimal design of research sample made it possible to obtain nearly 13 times the size of the sample in Wei et al. as a true representation of the research in spine through the use of an optimal keyword set for the titles of both papers and 10 spine journals. However, despite the inefficient design of the incentive structures for the relevant stakeholders, the research in spine had expanded 6.8 times since 1980.

Familial outbreak of psittacosis as the first Chlamydia psittaci infection reported from Turkey.

Psittacosis, also known as parrot disease, parrot fever and ornithosis, can be transmitted to humans by inhaling dried excreta of infected birds like canaries, parakeets, parrots, pigeons and turkeys. Unless it is specifically thought of and investigated, the diagnosis of psittacosis can easily be missed and without identifying the exact etiology, the disease is usually treated as atypical pneumonia. We diagnosed psittacosis in a mother and her son with Friedreich ataxia, who took care of two parrots in their house. In addition to pneumonia, central nervous system and liver involvement were also identified in those patients. Since there was no any other case of psittacosis reported from Turkey, we thought to be important to report this mother and her son as first cases from Turkey.

Participation of children with dyslexia in compulsory education: current public policy issues.

The assessment and placement of children with dyslexia at appropriate schools has been regulated in the UK by a series of laws since 1944. Recent public policy developments such as the introduction of new duties and rights, and the development of law regarding educational negligence have sharpened the public policy debate on the effectiveness of these policies. This paper explores policy-related issues from an interdisciplinary perspective by outlining and discussing a sample of appellate legal cases regarding children with dyslexia. The provisions of these laws have shaped the actions of key stakeholders such as parents and councils. Similarly, the law on educational negligence has had a similar impact. Procedural rules of courts and tribunals have been equally important in restricting access to the courts by parents. Learning difficulty tests have further restricted their access. It is essential that provisions of the relevant Acts should be designed to enable these children to develop their academic and social skills in the same way as their non-dyslexic peers and to make the transition into employment and/or higher education successfully.

[Microbiological evaluation of the cases prediagnosed as pulmonary tuberculosis based on clinical and radiological findings]. / Klinik ve radyolojik bulgular ile akciger tüberkülozu ön tanisi alan hastalarin mikrobiyolojik sonuçlari.

In the present study, 34 new pulmonary tuberculosis cases prediagnosed upon clinical and radiological findings, have been evaluated by means of microbiological aspects such as microscopy [Ehrlich-Ziehl Neelsen (EZN) and Auramin-Rhodamine (A-R) stains], culture [inoculation into Lowenstein-Jensen (LJ) media] and three different molecular methods [Cobas Amplicor Mycobacterium tuberculosis polymerase chain reaction (PCR), Gen-Probe amplified M. tuberculosis direct test and TaqMan Real Time ABI 5700 PCR]. M.tuberculosis positivity of the sputum samples were 55.8% (n: 19) with EZN staining, 52.9% (n: 18) with A-R staining and 58.8% (n: 20) with culture methods. Among molecular techniques, Cobas Amplicor and TaqMan PCR yielded positive results in 21 patients (61.7%), however, the positivity rate of Gen-Probe AMTD was 47.0% (n: 16). Of 34 samples, 10 (29.4%) were found to be positive with all of the methods used, while six (17.6%) of them were negative with all methods. It can be concluded that molecular methods may aid to the diagnosis of tuberculosis, in conjunction with clinical findings and bacteriological results.

Access to nursing education by disabled students: rights and duties of nursing programs.

This paper outlines the rights and duties of nursing programs regarding access to nursing education for disabled students and the subsequent provision of services for them in the UK. Discussed briefly are the implications of these duties for nursing programs when disabled students are treated less favourably than their peers such as through a failure to make reasonable adjustments within the curriculum. Part IV of the Disability Discrimination Act (1995), as amended by the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act (2001), identifies such statutory duties and rights for nursing programs. For the purpose of this article, access to nursing education by disabled students and the subsequent service provision for these students in nursing programs is described as a game, using a conceptual framework by North. Different roles identified within the formal and informal legal rules, such as attitudes toward disabled students in nursing programs throughout the UK, are discussed briefly using this framework. It is noted that the rules of the game very much mirror the rules under Part II and Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act (1995) relating to disabled employees and disabled service users of public services, in force since December 1996. It is argued that lecturers and senior management teams in both nursing education and the health services occupy historical roles in the efficient design and playing of this game. The next step is to gradually align informal rules with formal rules, which can only be done through proper and correct education of key players.