The enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) pathotype is currently divided into two groups, typical EPEC (tEPEC) and atypical EPEC (aEPEC). The property that distinguishes these two groups is the ...presence of the EPEC adherence factor plasmid, which is only found in tEPEC. aEPEC strains are emerging enteropathogens that have been detected worldwide. Herein, we review the serotypes, virulence properties, genetic relationships, epidemiology, reservoir and diagnosis of aEPEC, including those strains not belonging to the classical EPEC serogroups (nonclassical EPEC serogroups). The large variety of serotypes and genetic virulence properties of aEPEC strains from nonclassical EPEC serogroups makes it difficult to determine which strains are truly pathogenic.
The diagnosis of iron disturbances usually includes the evaluation of serum parameters. Serum iron is assumed to be entirely bound to transferrin, and transferrin saturation-the ratio between the ...serum iron concentration and serum transferrin-usually reflects iron availability. Additionally, serum ferritin is commonly used as a surrogate of tissue iron levels. Low serum ferritin values are interpreted as a sign of iron deficiency, and high values are the main indicator of pathological iron overload. However, in situations of inflammation, serum ferritin levels may be very high, independently of tissue iron levels. This presents a particularly puzzling challenge for the clinician evaluating the overall iron status of the patient in the presence of an inflammatory condition. The increase in serum ferritin during inflammation is one of the enigmas regarding iron metabolism. Neither the origin, the mechanism of release, nor the effects of serum ferritin are known. The use of serum ferritin as a biomarker of disease has been rising, and it has become increasingly diverse, but whether or not it contributes to controlling the disease or host pathology, and how it would do it, are important, open questions. These will be discussed here, where we spotlight circulating ferritin and revise the recent clinical and preclinical data regarding its role in health and disease.
Myrmecochory-seed dispersal by ants-is a mutualistic interaction in which ants attracted by seed appendices take them away from the parental plant location, where seeds usually have better ...development odds. Not all ant species benefit plants, and the mechanisms of those divergent outcomes are still unclear, especially from the perspective of microbial third parties. Here, we explore the effects of seed manipulation on fungi communities promoted by two ant species with contrasting effects on seed germination and antimicrobial cleaning strategies. We hypothesize that: i) fungi richness is higher in seeds manipulated by Acromyrmex subterraneus (species that negatively affect seed germination), followed by unmanipulated seeds and seeds manipulated by Atta sexdens (ant species that increase seed germination) and ii) seeds manipulated by A. sexdens, Ac. subterraneus and unmanipulated seeds present dissimilar fungi compositions. We identified fungal morphotypes in three groups of seeds: i) manipulated by A. sexdens; ii) manipulated by Ac. subterraneus; iii) unmanipulated. Seeds manipulated by Ac. subterraneus exhibited higher fungal richness than those manipulated by A. sexdens and unmanipulated seeds, indicating that the ant species known to impair germination increases the fungal load on seeds. Additionally, we found that A. sexdens ants were unable to reduce fungal richness compared to unmanipulated seeds. Furthermore, fungal composition differed among all three treatments. Our results underscore the significance of ant species identity in shaping the fungal communities associated with myrmecochorous seeds. Given the potential influence of microbial infection on seed fate, we suggest considering manipulation strategies when evaluating the overall quality of an ant as a seed disperser.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Escherichia coli strains are commonly found in the gut microflora of warm-blooded animals. These strains can be assigned to one of the four main phylogenetic groups, A, B1, B2 and D, which can be ...divided into seven subgroups (A0, A1, B1, B22, B23, D1 and D2), according to the combination of the three genetic markers chuA, yjaA and DNA fragment TspE4.C2. Distinct studies have demonstrated that these phylo-groups differ in the presence of virulence factors, ecological niches and life-history. Therefore, the aim of this work was to analyze the distribution of these E. coli phylo-groups in 94 human strains, 13 chicken strains, 50 cow strains, 16 goat strains, 39 pig strains and 29 sheep strains and to verify the potential of this analysis to investigate the source of fecal contamination.
The results indicated that the distribution of phylogenetic groups, subgroups and genetic markers is non-random in the hosts analyzed. Strains from group B1 were present in all hosts analyzed but were more prevalent in cow, goat and sheep samples. Subgroup B23 was only found in human samples. The diversity and the similarity indexes have indicated a similarity between the E. coli population structure of human and pig samples and among cow, goat and sheep samples. Correspondence analysis using contingence tables of subgroups, groups and genetic markers frequencies allowed the visualization of the differences among animal samples and the identification of the animal source of an external validation set. The classifier tools Binary logistic regression and Partial least square--discriminant analysis, using the genetic markers profile of the strains, differentiated the herbivorous from the omnivorous strains, with an average error rate of 17%.
This is the first work, as far as we are aware, that identifies the major source of fecal contamination of a pool of strains instead of a unique strain. We concluded that the analysis of the E. coli population structure can be useful as a supplementary bacterial source tracking tool.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Background
Strength, Assistance for walking, Rise from a chair, Climb stairs, and Falls (SARC-F) score is frequently used for screening the sarcopenia risk in older people. However, the agreement ...between SARC-F and loss of ultrasound-derived muscle thickness in hospitalized older cancer patients is unexplored.
Objective
The primary objective was to evaluate the relationship between the SARC-F score and ultrasound-derived muscle thickness of rectus femoris and vastus intermedius in older hospitalised cancer patients. The secondary objective was to identify the presence of sarcopenia.
Measurements
A cross-sectional study enrolled forty-one older hospitalised cancer patients ongoing chemotherapy or surgical treatment. Body weight (kg) was measured using a digital scale and height using a portable stadiometer to assess body mass index. SARC-F was performed to assess and classify sarcopenia risk (with (SARC-F: 4), without (SARC-F: <4). US-derived muscle thickness of rectus femoris and vastus intermedius was assessed using a portable ultrasound. Relationship between the SARC-F and muscle thickness was tested using Pearson’s correlation and Bland-Altman analyses.
Results
Approximately, 46.3% of the patients presented sarcopenia and a lower non-significant muscle thickness of rectus femoris and vastus intermedius (SARC-F 4: 18.54±6.28 vs. SARC-F <4: 22.22±9.16 mm, p=0.07). There was a moderate negative correlation between SARC-F and muscle thickness (r=−0.40, p=0.004). Additionally, Bland-Altman plots no found systematic bias risk between SARC-F and ultrasound-derived muscle thickness.
Conclusions
Approximately, 46.3% of older hospitalized cancer patients presented sarcopenia. Additionally, we found a moderate inverse correlation and no systematic bias risk between SARC-F and ultrasound-measured muscle thickness.
•New alkali-activated binder was produced with blast-furnace slag and coffee husk ash.•Coffee husk ash can be used as alkaline activator due high content of soluble K2CO3.•Coffee husk ash presented ...similar behavior to commercial K2CO3 in performed tests.•Compressive strength of mortars showed values above 40 MPa after 28 days of curing.•Microstructural results showed that coffee husk ash reacted with blast-furnace slag.
Coffee husk ash (CHA) was utilized as the alkaline activator with blast-furnace slag (BFS) as the solid precursor to produce a one-part alkali-activated binder (OP-AAB). CHA was prepared in the laboratory to achieve the best alkaline activator properties. The ash was physicochemically characterized. Physical/mechanical properties of mortars and microstructural analysis of pastes were performed to evaluate CHA influence in OP-AAB. Results showed that CHA presented high K2O content (as potassium carbonate), adequate solubility, and pH. Mortars’ compressive strength revealed that CHA-based samples achieved over 40 MPa after 28 days. Microstructural studies showed that CHA completely reacted with BFS and generated a dense structure of (K,C)-ASH reaction product.
Despite their crucial role in health and disease, our knowledge of immune cells within human tissues remains limited. We surveyed the immune compartment of 16 tissues from 12 adult donors by ...single-cell RNA sequencing and VDJ sequencing generating a dataset of ~360,000 cells. To systematically resolve immune cell heterogeneity across tissues, we developed CellTypist, a machine learning tool for rapid and precise cell type annotation. Using this approach, combined with detailed curation, we determined the tissue distribution of finely phenotyped immune cell types, revealing hitherto unappreciated tissue-specific features and clonal architecture of T and B cells. Our multitissue approach lays the foundation for identifying highly resolved immune cell types by leveraging a common reference dataset, tissue-integrated expression analysis, and antigen receptor sequencing.
A group of new mononuclear boron chelate compounds BPh
2
{κ
2
N
,
N
′-5-R-NC
4
H
2
-2-C(H)&z.dbd;N-Ar} (R = Ar = C
6
H
5
7
; R = C
6
H
5
, Ar = 2,6-iPr
2
C
6
H
3
8
; R = Anthracen-9-yl (Anthr), Ar = ...C
6
H
5
9
; R = Anthr, Ar = 2,6-iPr
2
C
6
H
3
10
) were synthesized
via
the reaction of B(C
6
H
5
)
3
with the corresponding 5-substituted 2-(
N
-arylformimino)pyrrole ligand precursors
3-6
. These complexes were prepared in order to evaluate the luminescence potential derived from the substitution of the position 5 of the pyrrolyl ring with an aromatic group. Compounds
7-10
were photophysically characterized in solution and in the solid state. The 5-phenyl-2-iminopyrrolyl-BPh
2
complexes
7
and
8
are blue emitters and have enhanced photoluminescence quantum yields in the solid state (
Φ
PL
) up to 0.95, whereas the 5-anthracenyl derivatives
9
and
10
have green-bluish fluorescence and a
Φ
PL
of 0.49 and 0.24, respectively. DFT and TDDFT studies were performed, considering the effect of solvent and dispersion, in order to show how the geometries of compounds
7-10
changed from the ground to the excited state, to assign electronic transitions, and to rationalize the observed luminescence. These materials were applied in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), with various device structures, the best showing an external quantum efficiency of 2.75% together with a high luminance of 23 530 cd m
−2
.
Highly fluorescent new 5-substituted 2-iminopyrrolyl boron complexes were tested in OLEDs exhibiting luminances up to 23 530 cd m
−2
and an EQE
max
of 2.75%.
We experimentally demonstrate 140-THz bandwidth (at −20 dB) supercontinuum generation in a 10 cm-long all-normal dispersion step-index tellurite fiber pumped by a turn-key femtosecond fiber laser ...emitting at 2.11μm at a repetition rate of 19 MHz. The soliton self-frequency shifted thulium-doped fiber mode-locked laser emits initial transform-limited pulses, with 85-fs pulse duration, that are subsequently quasi-linearly chirped (over more than 50 THz) during the above nJ-level nonlinear propagation. Moreover, we numerically demonstrate the possible pulse compression down to 12 fs by means of additional linear propagation in a standard step-index fluoride fiber with anomalous dispersion.
•Octave-spanning coherent supercontinuum generation in step-index tellurite fibers.•Experimental demonstration based on 2 μm fiber laser pumping.•Numerical simulations confirm possible fiber-based few-cycle pulse compression.
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