Transplant-associated thrombotic microangiopathy (TA-TMA) is an early complication of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). A high mortality rate is documented in patients who are refractory to ...calcineurin inhibitor cessation. Estimates of TA-TMA prevalence vary significantly and are higher in allogeneic compared with autologous HCT. Furthermore, our understanding of the pathophysiology that is strongly related to diagnosis and treatment options is limited. Recent evidence has linked TA-TMA with atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome, a disease of excessive activation of the alternative pathway of complement, opening the Pandora's box in treatment options. As conventional treatment management is highly inefficient, detection of complement activation may allow for early recognition of patients who will benefit from complement inhibition. Preliminary clinical results showing successful eculizumab administration in children and adults with TA-TMA need to be carefully evaluated. Therefore, realizing the unmet needs of better understanding TA-TMA in this complex setting, we aimed to summarize current knowledge focusing on (1) critical evaluation of diagnostic criteria, (2) epidemiology and prognosis, (3) recent evidence of complement activation and endothelial damage and (4) treatment options.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Molten salts have extended applications in concentrated solar power (CSP) installations, both as heat transfer and energy storage materials. In this study, a set of Lennard-Jones interatomic ...parameters are introduced for simulating NaNO3 and KNO3, as well as their most frequently industrially used mixture the so-called solar-salt (60% NaNO3 – 40% KNO3). Local structures are studied via radial distribution functions. Furthermore, density, thermal conductivity, self-diffusivity, viscosity and surface tension are calculated, from melting to decomposition temperature, and compared with experimental data. The local structures are calculated with both existing and presented interatomic potentials and are found to be in excellent agreement. Additionally, density, viscosity and surface tension present minor differences from literature data. Thermal conductivity, in terms of absolute values is in the proximity of reported data but is questionable in terms of trend. Finally, self-diffusion coefficients declinate from measured values, but are similar in terms of trend. Results are found to be in good agreement. This work represents the first extended validated effort in modelling molten nitrate salts and their mixtures at elevated temperatures using a Lennard-Jones potential, providing new tools that can aid in the fundamental understanding of molten salt structures at the molecular scale.
•Molecular dynamics simulation on molten NaNO3, KNO3, Solar Salt and real eutectic.•A new set of Lennard-Jones parameters is presented.•Local structures are in excellent agreement with previous validated work.•Transport properties and surface tension are in good agreement with experimental data.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Table olives are among the most well-known fermented foods, being a vital part of the Mediterranean pyramid diet. They constitute a noteworthy economic factor for the producing countries since both ...their production and consumption are exponentially increasing year by year, worldwide. Despite its significance, olive's processing is still craft based, not changed since antiquity, leading to the production of an unstable final product with potential risk concerns, especially related to deterioration. However, based on industrial needs and market demands for reproducible, safe, and healthy products, the modernization of olive fermentation processing is the most important challenge of the current decade. In this sense, the reduction of sodium content and more importantly the use of suitable starter cultures, exhibiting both technological and potential probiotic features, to drive the process may extremely contribute to this need. Prior, to achieve in this effort, the full understanding of table olive microbial ecology during fermentation, including an in-depth determination of microbiota presence and/or dominance and its functionality (genes responsible for metabolite production) that shape the sensorial characteristics of the final product, is a pre-requisite. The advent of meta-omics technology could provide a thorough study of this complex ecosystem, opening in parallel new insights in the field, such as the concept of microbial terroir. Herein, we provide an updated overview in the field of olive fermentation, pointing out some important challenges/perspectives that could be the key to the olive sector's advancement and modernization.
Table olives are one of the most well-known traditionally fermented products, and their global consumption is exponentially increasing. In direct brining, table olives are produced spontaneously, ...without any debittering pre-treatment. Up to date, fermentation process remains empirical and inconstant, as it is affected by the physicochemical attributes of the fruit, tree and fruit management of pro and post-harvest. In the present study, whole and cracked Picual table olives were fermented at industrial scale for 120 days, using three distinct methods (natural fermentation, inoculation with lactic acid bacteria (LAB) at a 7 or a 10% NaCl concentration). Microbial, physicochemical and sensorial alterations monitored during the whole process, and several differences were observed between treatments. Results indicated that in all treatments, the dominant microflora were LAB. Yeasts also detected in noteworthy populations, especially in non-inoculated samples. However, LAB population was significantly higher in inoculated compared to non-inoculated samples. Microbial profiles identified by metagenomic approach showed meaningful differences between spontaneous and inoculated treatments. As a result, the profound dominance of starter culture had a severe effect on olives fermentation, resulting in lower pH and higher acidification, which was mainly caused by the higher levels of lactic acid produced. Furthermore, the elimination of
Enterobacteriaceae
was shortened, even at lower salt concentration. Although no effect observed concerning the quantitated organoleptic parameters such as color and texture, significantly higher levels in terms of antioxidant capacity were recorded in inoculated samples. At the same time, the degradation time of oleuropein was shortened, leading to the production of higher levels of hydroxytyrosol. Based on this evidence, the establishment of starter culture driven Picual olives fermentation is strongly recommended. It is crucial to mention that the inoculated treatment with reducing sodium content was highly appreciated by the sensory panel, enhancing the hypothesis that the production of Picual table olives at reduced NaCl levels is achievable.
Inorganic salt-based ceramic composites have extended thermal energy storage applications particularly when the salts are used as phase change materials. The wetting behavior of interacting materials ...in such cases can significantly affect the formulation and manufacturing processes of the composites. Carbon is often employed in these composites, which takes the form of nanotubes or flakes, for either or both shape stabilization and heat transfer enhancement. We studied the wettability of molten NaNO3 and KNO3 on MgO (1 0 0) and several carbon surfaces both experimentally and by molecular dynamics modeling. The contact angle was found to be well predicted by atomistic simulations. Density, viscosity, and surface tension of the molten salts were also studied by the molecular modeling, and results were in good agreement with experiments. The contact angle of both salts was found to be significantly higher on the carbon surface than that on the MgO surface. A carbon nanotube was also studied to examine the confinement effects. In all cases, nonwetting behavior was observed. A sensitivity analysis was performed, and the results showed a significant increase in the contact angle with increasing droplet size up to 10 nm, which was higher than that predicted by the approximation of the Tolman length. The line tension was found to be positive for polar ceramic surfaces and negative for nonpolar carbon ones. Its absolute value was in the range of 10–11 N/m, independent of polarity. Furthermore, the density of the salt inside the nanotube was observed to increase with the tube diameter, reaching the bulk value when the tube diameter was above 6 nm. Conclusively, in this work, it is demonstrated that the wetting trend of molten nitrate salts can be satisfactorily simulated by a small-scale molecular dynamics system and that polarity and roughness effects can be also accounted for correctly.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
Abstract
The Mouse Genome Database (MGD; http://www.informatics.jax.org) is the community model organism genetic and genome resource for the laboratory mouse. MGD is the authoritative source for ...biological reference data sets related to mouse genes, gene functions, phenotypes, and mouse models of human disease. MGD is the primary outlet for official gene, allele and mouse strain nomenclature based on the guidelines set by the International Committee on Standardized Nomenclature for Mice. In this report we describe significant enhancements to MGD, including two new graphical user interfaces: (i) the Multi Genome Viewer for exploring the genomes of multiple mouse strains and (ii) the Phenotype-Gene Expression matrix which was developed in collaboration with the Gene Expression Database (GXD) and allows researchers to compare gene expression and phenotype annotations for mouse genes. Other recent improvements include enhanced efficiency of our literature curation processes and the incorporation of Transcriptional Start Site (TSS) annotations from RIKEN’s FANTOM 5 initiative.
The knowledge about the microbial diversity of different olives varieties from diverse regions in the Mediterranean basin is limited. This work aimed to determine the microbial diversity of three ...different fermented olive varieties, collected from different regions in Cyprus,
Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) analysis. Olives were spontaneously fermented for 120 days, microbial DNA was extracted from the final products, and subjected to 16S rRNA gene and ITS1 loci metabarcoding analysis for the determination of bacterial and fungal communities, respectively. Results revealed that the bacterial profile of the studied varieties was similar, while no noteworthy differences were observed in olives from different regions. The bacterial profile was dominated by the co-existence of
and
, while the genera
and
and the family
were also present in increased relative abundances. Regarding fungal communities, the analysis indicated discrimination among the different varieties, especially in Kalamata ones. The most abundant fungi were mainly the genera
,
,
, and
for Cypriot olives, the genera
,
,
, and
for Kalamata variety, while the dominant fungi in the Picual variety were mainly members of the genera
,
,
,
and
. Potential microbial biomarkers that distinguish the three varieties are also proposed. Moreover, interaction networks analysis identified interactions among the key taxa of the communities. Overall, the present work provides useful information and sheds light on an understudied field, such as the comparison of microbiota profiles of different varieties from several regions in Cyprus. The study enriches our knowledge and highlights the similarities and the main differences between those aspects, booming in parallel the need for further works on this frontier, in the attempt to determine potentially olives' microbial terroir in Cyprus. Our work should be used as a benchmark for future works in this direction.
The list of standard abbreviations for JDS is available at adsa.org/jds-abbreviations-24. Nonstandard abbreviations are available in the Notes.
Digital dermatitis (DD) is a polybacterial disease ...endemic to most UK dairy farms. It poses a major financial and welfare threat and is characterized by high incidence and recurrence rates. We aimed to investigate the association between the UK EBV for resistance to digital dermatitis, the digital dermatitis index (DDI), and the frequency of DD, heel horn erosion (HHE), and interdigital hyperplasia (IH) in a population of Holstein dairy cows. We enrolled and genotyped 2,352 cows from 4 farms in a prospective cohort study. Foot lesion records were recorded by veterinary surgeons for each animal at 4 time points during a production cycle, starting at approximately 2 mo before calving and ending in late lactation. Importantly, these records were not used in the calculation of the DDI. Lesion records were matched to the animal's own DDI (n = 2,101) and their sire's DDI (n = 1,812). Digital dermatitis index values in our study population ranged from −1.41 to +1.2 and were transformed to represent distance from the mean expressed in SD. The relationship between the DDI and the presence of DD was investigated using a logistic regression model, with farm, parity, and a farm-parity interaction fitted as covariates. A multivariable logistic regression model was fitted to evaluate the relationship between HHE and DDI with farm fitted as a covariate. Finally, a univariable logistic regression model with DDI as explanatory variable was used to investigate the relationship between IH and DDI. The odds ratio of an animal being affected by DD was 0.69 for 1 SD increase in the animal's DDI (95% CI = 0.63–0.76). The odds of HHE and IH were 0.69 (95% CI = 0.62–0.76) and 0.58 (95% CI = 0.49–0.68) respectively for 1 SD increase in DDI. The adjusted probability of DD was 32% (95% CI = 27–36%) for cows with mean DDI value of 0, while it was 24% (95% CI = 20–29%) in cows with a DDI value of +1. Sire DDI breeding values were standardized in the same way and then binned into terciles creating an ordinal variable representing bulls of high, medium, and low genetic merit for DD resistance. The daughters of low genetic merit bulls were at 2.05 (95% CI = 1.60–2.64), 1.96 (95% CI = 1.53–2.50), and 2.85 (95% CI = 1.64–5.16) times greater odds of being affected by DD, HHE, and IH, respectively, compared with the daughters of high genetic merit bulls. The results of this study highlight the potential of digital dermatitis genetic indexes to aid herd management of DD, and suggest that breeding for resistance to DD, alongside environmental and management control practices, could reduce the prevalence of the disease.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Monitoring body condition score (BCS) is a useful management tool to estimate the energy reserves of an individual cow or a group of cows. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate the ...performance of a fully automated 2-dimensional imaging system using a machine learning algorithm to generate real-time BCS for dairy cows. Two separate datasets were used for training and testing. The training dataset included 34,150 manual BCS (MAN_BCS) assigned by 5 experienced veterinarians during 35 visits at 7 dairy farms. Ordinal regression methods and deep learning architecture were used when developing the algorithm. Subsequently, the testing dataset was used to evaluate the developed BCS prediction algorithm on 4 of the participating farms. An experienced human assessor (HA1) visited these farms and performed 8 whole-milking-herd BCS sessions. Each farm was visited twice, allowing for 30 d (±2 d) to pass between visits. The MAN_BCS assigned by HA1 were considered the ground truth data. At the end of the validation study, MAN_BCS were merged with the stored automated BCS (AI_BCS), resulting in a testing dataset of 9,657 single BCS. A total of 3,817 cows in the testing dataset were scored twice 30 d (±2 d) apart, and the change in their BCS (ΔBCS) was calculated. A subset of cows at one farm were scored twice on consecutive days to evaluate the within-observer agreement of both the human assessor and the system. The manual BCS of 2 more assessors (HA2 and HA3) were used to assess the interobserver agreement between humans. Finally, we also collected ultrasound measurements of backfat thickness (BFT) from 111 randomly selected cows with available MAN_BCS and AI_BCS. Using the testing dataset, intra- and interobserver agreement for single BCS and ΔBCS were estimated by calculating the simple percentage agreement (PA) at 3 error levels and the weighted kappa (κw) for the exact agreement. A Bland-Altman plot was constructed to visualize the systematic and proportional bias. The association between MAN_BCS and AI_BCS and the BFT was assessed with Passing-Bablok regressions. The system had an almost perfect repeatability with a κw of 0.99. The agreement between MAN_BCS and AI_BCS was substantial, with an overall κw of 0.69. The overall PA at the exact, ± 0.25-unit, and ± 0.50-unit BCS error range between MAN_BCS and AI_BCS was 44.4%, 84.6%, and 94.8%, respectively, and greater than the PA obtained between HA1 and HA3. The Bland-Altman plot revealed a minimal systematic bias of −0.09 with a proportional bias at the extreme scores. Furthermore, despite the low κw of 0.20, the overall PA at the exact and ± 0.25-unit of BCS error range between MAN_BCS and AI_BCS regarding the ΔBCS was 45.7 and 88.2%, respectively. A strong linear relationship was observed between BFT and AI_BCS (ρ = 0.75), although weaker than that between BFT and MAN_BCS (ρ = 0.91). The system was able to predict single BCS and ΔBCS with satisfactory accuracy, comparable to that obtained between trained human scorers.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
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