Prohibitin (PHB) is a critical protein involved in many cellular activities. In brain, PHB resides in mitochondria, where it forms a large protein complex with PHB2 in the inner TFmembrane, which serves as a scaffolding platform for proteins involved in mitochondrial structural and functional integrity. PHB overexpression at moderate levels provides neuroprotection in experimental brain injury models. In addition, PHB expression is involved in ischemic preconditioning, as its expression is enhanced in preconditioning paradigms. However, the mechanisms of PHB functional regulation are still unknown. Observations that nitric oxide (NO) plays a key role in ischemia preconditioning compelled us to postulate that the neuroprotective effect of PHB could be regulated by NO. Here, we test this hypothesis in a neuronal model of ischemia–reperfusion injury and show that NO and PHB are mutually required for neuronal resilience against oxygen and glucose deprivation stress. Further, we demonstrate that NO post-translationally modifies PHB through protein S-nitrosylation and regulates PHB neuroprotective function, in a nitric oxide synthase-dependent manner. These results uncover the mechanisms of a previously unrecognized form of molecular regulation of PHB that underlies its neuroprotective function.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Prohibitin (PHB) is a critical mitochondrial protein that exerts a potent neuroprotective effect when mildly upregulated in mice. However, how the neuroprotective function of PHB is regulated is still unknown. Here, we demonstrate a novel regulatory mechanism for PHB that involves nitric oxide (NO) and shows that PHB and NO interact directly, resulting in protein S-nitrosylation on residue Cys⁶⁹ of PHB. We further show that nitrosylation of PHB may be essential for its ability to preserve neuronal viability under hypoxic stress. Thus, our study reveals a previously unknown mechanism of functional regulation of PHB that has potential therapeutic implications for neurologic disorders.

Doctors and nurses are attaching smiling photos of themselves to the outside of their protective gear to maintain connections with patients

Neglect cases in Child Protective Services often receive home-based interventions, but their success in preventing maltreatment recidivism has been elusive. Structured, behavioral skills models, such as SafeCare, are promising but have not been tested in full-scale implementation trials.

This cluster trial experiment demonstrates significant maltreatment recidivism reduction due to implementing the SafeCare model in a fully scaled-up statewide system. The findings support adopting the SafeCare model for these types of services. (Read the full article)

Data from several states that have implemented protective eyewear mandates at the scholastic level have shown a substantial reduction in eye injuries. However, there are no studies that critically evaluate the effectiveness of protective eyewear in girls’ field hockey.

Data collected from regional/national high school sports injury surveillance databases by certified athletic trainers has resulted in the largest prospective national study examining the effectiveness of mandated protective eyewear in reducing head, eye/orbital, concussive, and facial injuries performed to date. (Read the full article)

Prenatal cocaine exposure is associated with the trajectories of childhood behavior problems. Exposure effects may also be related to maternal use of other substances during pregnancy, and risk factors other than prenatal exposure may augment the detrimental cocaine effects.

The balance between cumulative risk and protective indexes predicts behavior outcomes, independent of prenatal drug exposure. A high protective index even with a high level of risks can mitigate the detrimental effects of drug exposure on behavior problem trajectory. (Read the full article)

Prior studies have found a positive relationship between macro-level indicators of home foreclosure and child maltreatment rates. The extent to which home foreclosure may be associated with child protective services involvement at the micro level is largely unknown.

Foreclosure filings are positively associated with child protective services involvement. However, this is true of the periods before and after a filing, which are characterized by economic and other stress, which may drive this association more than the filing itself. (Read the full article)

Penn State Scranton recently donated personal protective equipment (PPE) to two local hospitals, Geisinger Community Medical Center and Commonwealth Health Moses Taylor Hospital, to help them during the growing coronavirus pandemic.

Specific steps will be taken to keep the workforce healthy and organisational provisions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace. Production at our three Skoda Auto Czech sites has been suspended since 18 March 2020.

In order to help in the fight against COVID-19, the European Commission has adopted a Decision, addressed to the Member States, which allows for tax authorities across Europe to offer import tax reliefs to importers of personal protective equipment ...

...

  On 15 March 2020 the European Commission published Regulation 2020/402 (“Regulation”), which prohibits unlicensed export from the EU of certain personal and protective equipment. This measure is aimed at securing domestic supply o...

As the pandemic continues, the supply chains producing vital personal protective equipment are starting to fail, causing shortages. Countries and international organizations can fill these gaps by working together.

This brief examines the global shortage of the personal protective equipment (PPE) needed to tackle COVID-19 and suggests policy implications.

The spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato is the causative agent of Lyme disease (LD). The spirochetes produce the CspZ protein that binds to a complement regulator, factor H (FH). Such binding downregulates activation of host complement to facilitate spirochete evasion of complement killing. However, vaccination with CspZ does not protect against LD infection. In this study, we demonstrated that immunization with CspZ-YA, a CspZ mutant protein with no FH-binding activity, protected mice from infection by several spirochete genotypes introduced via tick feeding. We found that the sera from CspZ-YA-vaccinated mice more efficiently eliminated spirochetes and blocked CspZ FH-binding activity than sera from CspZ-immunized mice. We also found that vaccination with CspZ, but not CspZ-YA, triggered the production of anti-FH antibodies, justifying CspZ-YA as an LD vaccine candidate. The mechanistic and efficacy information derived from this study provides insights into the development of a CspZ-based LD vaccine.

A Yersinia pestis mutant synthesizing an adjuvant form of lipid A (monophosphoryl lipid A, MPLA) displayed increased biogenesis of bacterial outer membrane vesicles (OMVs). To enhance the immunogenicity of the OMVs, we constructed an Asd-based balanced-lethal host-vector system that oversynthesized the LcrV antigen of Y. pestis, raised the amounts of LcrV enclosed in OMVs by the type II secretion system, and eliminated harmful factors like plasminogen activator (Pla) and murine toxin from the OMVs. Vaccination with OMVs containing MPLA and increased amounts of LcrV with diminished toxicity afforded complete protection in mice against subcutaneous challenge with 8 x 10⁵ CFU (80,000 50% lethal dose [LD₅₀]) and intranasal challenge with 5 x 10³ CFU (50 LD₅₀) of virulent Y. pestis. This protection was significantly superior to that resulting from vaccination with LcrV/alhydrogel or rF1-V/alhydrogel. At week 4 postimmunization, the OMV-immunized mice showed more robust titers of antibodies against LcrV, Y. pestis whole-cell lysate (YPL), and F1 antigen and more balanced IgG1:IgG2a/IgG2b-derived Th1 and Th2 responses than LcrV-immunized mice. Moreover, potent adaptive and innate immune responses were stimulated in the OMV-immunized mice. Our findings demonstrate that self-adjuvanting Y. pestis OMVs provide a novel plague vaccine candidate and that the rational design of OMVs could serve as a robust approach for vaccine development.

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Some hospitals face running out of personal protection equipment this weekend amid growing concerns over supplies amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The Government is under increasing pressure to provide NHS staff with vital personal protective equipment (PPE), as supplies dwindle at the height of the coronavirus crisis.

Follow our live coronavirus updates here Coronavirus: the symptoms

Measures being considered to help safely reopen workplaces included staggered shift times and reduced hot-desking, according to a draft Government plan.

A shipment of 400,000 gowns from Turkey has reportedly been impounded in a warehouse after falling short of UK standards.

Protective gear from The Crown, The Young Pope and Vikings have also been sent to key workers

Fashionable face masks with philanthropic flair

A sixth-form college sponsored by Tottenham is helping to produce protective equipment for NHS workers.

A shipment of 400,000 gowns from Turkey which was part of a delayed consignment of PPE has been impounded after falling short of standards.

The United States has reached a settlement that will resolve its suit filed on behalf of retired Army service member King A. Gatten against Knight Protective Service Inc.

The Department of Justice announced today the filing of a lawsuit against the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, alleging the agency discriminated against a black male former employee on the basis of race and/or sex by subjecting him to a hostile work environment and then terminating him in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended.

Derek Matthews, 46, of Harwood, Md., pleaded guilty today to accepting bribes from a government contracting company in exchange for using his position to help the company find and win contracts.

President Donald Trump contradicted a nurse who said that access to sufficient supplies of personal protective equipment during the coronavirus pandemic "has been sporadic."

Court application warns ‘many lives will be lost’ without urgent action to provide face masks

The Zimbabwean government has been taken to court over its failure to provide doctors working on the frontline of the Covid-19 pandemic with masks.

The Zimbabwe Association for Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR) is seeking to compel the authorities urgently to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) for medical practitioners, warning that medics in the country’s troubled health sector will otherwise die.

Related: 'We will starve': Zimbabwe's poor full of misgiving over Covid-19 lockdown

The Railways has decided to produce over 30,000 Personal Protective Equipment coveralls in April and also plans to manufacture 1,00,000 of the same in May 2020 for medical and health-care personnel who get directly exposed to the COVID-19 disease when working amongst infected patients.

To provide protection to healthcare professionals in the fight against #COVID19, Indian Railways plans to produce over 30,000 coveralls (Personal Protective Equipment) in April 2020. Railways plans to manufacture 1,00,000 of the same in May: Ministry of Railways pic.twitter.com/PrBfG5AsQ1

— ANI (@ANI) April 15, 2020

"The Railways has been able to procure and distribute to its workshops and other units sufficient raw material for manufacturing more than 30,000 PPE coveralls in April. The Railways has set the target of manufacturing another 1,00,000 PPE coveralls in May and sourcing of appropriate raw material has been started," said the Ministry of Railways in a statement.

The Railways has recently started manufacturing of PPE coveralls. The prototype coveralls have already cleared the prescribed tests with the highest grades at the authorised Defence Research Development Establishment Laboratory of DRDO at Gwalior. The Railways has also converted over 5,000 of its passenger coaches into mobile quarantine or isolation facilities to deal with COVID-19 patients.

According to the Union Health Ministry, a total of 11,439 people have detected positive for coronavirus, including 1306 cured and discharged and 377 deaths. Currently, the country has 9,756 active corona cases.

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CSIR labin Bengaluru has developed and certified overall protective coverall suit for protection of healthcare workers from covid-19 The polyproplylene

Documents seen by FT show demand for face masks and aprons was close to outstripping national supplies

A lot of startups have answered the call for more personal protective equipment (PPE) and other essentials to support healthcare workers in their efforts to curb the spread and impact of COVID-19. One of those is direct-to-consumer 3D-printed eyewear brand Fitz, which is employing its custom-fit glasses technology to build protective, prescription specs for front-line […]

A lot of startups have answered the call for more personal protective equipment (PPE) and other essentials to support healthcare workers in their efforts to curb the spread and impact of COVID-19. One of those is direct-to-consumer 3D-printed eyewear brand Fitz, which is employing its custom-fit glasses technology to build protective, prescription specs for front-line […]

When director Stephen Chbosky first met Emma Watson to discuss her possible role in his film, The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, she was one of the most famous actresses in the world

The petition Blanke Bedenken aims to tell Germany's health ministers that their calls over several months for more protective gear weren't heard.

The X Factor judge, 41, opted for a glamorous look as she donned a chic red fur coat, which no doubt kept the chill off in the chilly climes.

Walmart announced Tuesday it will check the temperatures of its store workers and provide them protective gloves and masks when they come to work.

The spike in radiation in Russia yesterday may have been caused when one of Vladimir Putin's top secret Zircon hypersonic missiles exploded during tests, according to news reports in the country.

'I just wanna protect her, you know? I don't want her to lose it. I don't want her to go through anything I went through. I don't wish that upon anybody. So if she ever needs me, I'm just a call away.'

Governor Cuomo tweeted: 'I want to thank @rihanna and the Rihanna Foundation for donating Personal Protective Equipment to New York State. We're so appreciative of your help.'

The socialite, 42, donned a white face mask and plastic gloves when she headed out to do her food shop in Malibu on Friday.

The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star has donated a whopping $1M to help doctors get the face masks, face shields and protective gear they need to help the sick suffering from COVID-19.

The Oscar-winning writer was responsible for five 007 classics: Thunderball, Diamonds Are Forever, The Man With The Golden Gun, Surrender from Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough