Paullinia cupana is associated with a diverse community of pathogenic and endophytic microorganisms. We isolated and identified endophytic fungal communities from the roots and seeds of P. cupana ...genotypes susceptible and tolerant to anthracnose that grow in two sites of the Brazilian Amazonia forest. We assessed the antibacterial, antitumor and genotoxic activity in vitro of compounds isolated from the strains Trichoderma asperellum (1BDA) and Diaporthe phaseolorum (8S). In concert, we identified eight fungal species not previously reported as endophytes; some fungal species capable of inhibiting pathogen growth; and the production of antibiotics and compounds with bacteriostatic activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa in both susceptible and multiresistant host strains. The plant genotype, geographic location and specially the organ influenced the composition of P. cupana endophytic fungal community. Together, our findings identify important functional roles of endophytic species found within the microbiome of P. cupana. This hypothesis requires experimental validation to propose management of this microbiome with the objective of promoting plant growth and protection.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
To assess the glycaemic response after ingestion of two specialised oral and enteral nutrition formulas for glycaemic control. The participants were sixteen healthy volunteers, aged 21–49 years, with ...normal glucose tolerance. The volunteers attended the tests fasting for 10 h, for 5 weeks, and consumed the reference food – glucose solution – for 3 weeks, and the two formulas DiamaxO and DiamaxIG in the following weeks, in amounts equivalent to 25 g of available carbohydrates. During the period of 120 min, seven blood samples were taken through capillary blood sampling to determine the glycaemic response. The glycaemic index (GI) was calculated according to the trapezoidal rule, ignoring areas below the fasting line. The glycaemic load (GL) was determined by the formula GL = ((GI(glucose = reference) × ‘g’ of available carbohydrate per serving/100. The formulas showed low GI and GL. GI = 37·8 and GL = 6·6 for DiamaxO and GI = 21·5 and GL = 3·5 for DiamaxIG. The peak of the glycaemic response occurred 30 min after ingestion, with a marked difference in blood glucose between the Diamax products in relation to glucose. Differences were also significant at times 15, 45, 60 and 90 min in relation to glucose (ANOVA with post hoc Bonferroni, P < 0·005), but not between the two products. However, the AUC and the GI of DiamaxIG are significantly smaller than that of the DiamaxO second t test (P = 0·0059). The glycaemic response to the products is quite reduced, presenting a curve with a little accentuated shape, without high peak, especially in the modified product.
Congenital muscular dystrophy type 1A (MDC1A) is one of the main subtypes of early‐onset muscle disease, caused by disease‐associated variants in the laminin‐α2 (LAMA2) gene. MDC1A usually presents ...as a severe neonatal hypotonia and failure to thrive. Muscle weakness compromises normal motor development, leading to the inability to sit unsupported or to walk independently. The phenotype associated with LAMA2 defects has been expanded to include milder and atypical cases, being now collectively known as LAMA2‐related muscular dystrophies (LAMA2‐MD). Through an international multicenter collaborative effort, 61 new LAMA2 disease‐associated variants were identified in 86 patients, representing the largest number of patients and new disease‐causing variants in a single report. The collaborative variant collection was supported by the LOVD‐powered LAMA2 gene variant database (https://www.LOVD.nl/LAMA2), updated as part of this work. As of December 2017, the database contains 486 unique LAMA2 variants (309 disease‐associated), obtained from direct submissions and literature reports. Database content was systematically reviewed and further insights concerning LAMA2‐MD are presented. We focus on the impact of missense changes, especially the c.2461A > C (p.Thr821Pro) variant and its association with late‐onset LAMA2‐MD. Finally, we report diagnostically challenging cases, highlighting the relevance of modern genetic analysis in the characterization of clinically heterogeneous muscle diseases.
Laminin‐α2 (LAMA2) gene defects give rise to a diversity of phenotypes, from the classical congenital subtype to milder cases with later onset, collectively known as LAMA2‐related muscular dystrophies. In this mutation update 61 novel LAMA2 disease‐associated variants were collected through an international collaboration and resorting to the LOVD‐powered locus‐specific database (http://www.LOVD.nl/LAMA2). The content of this database (309 disease‐associated variants) was systematically reviewed and further insights are presented, especially the impact of missense variants and their association with late‐onset phenotypes.
Commercialized mouthwashes are generally expensive for the most financially vulnerable populations. Thus, several studies evaluate the antimicrobial potential of herbal products, such as essential ...oils, to reduce the activity of microorganisms in the mouth. The objective of this research was to carry out the chemical characterization and antibacterial activity of the essential oil of Piper mosenii (EOPm), providing data that enable the development of a low-cost mouthwash formulation aimed at vulnerable communities. The analysis of the antibacterial potential and modulator of bacterial resistance was verified by the microdilution method to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration-MIC. The chemical components were characterized by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry, where 23 chemical constituents were detected, with α-pinene, being the major compound. The EOPm showed a MIC ≥ 1024 µg/mL for all bacterial strains used in the tests. When the EOPm modulating activity was evaluated together with chlorhexidine, mouthwash and antibiotics against bacterial resistance, the oil showed a significant synergistic effect, reducing the MIC of the products tested in combination, in percentages between 20.6% to 96.3%. Therefore, it is recommended to expand the tests with greater variation of EOPm concentration and the products used in this research, in addition to the evaluation of toxicity and in vivo tests, seeking the development of a possible formulation of mouthwash accessible to the vulnerable population.
Background
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a leading cause of disability worldwide and most people do not achieve symptom remission. Treatment‐resistant depression (TRD) is characterized by the ...failure of at least one adequate trial of a major class of antidepressant, with adequate time and dosage. We aimed to identify clinical predictors of depressive symptom remission and response 24 h and 7 days after racemic ketamine and esketamine infusions.
Methods
A randomized, double‐blind, active‐controlled, non‐inferiority trial using ketamine and esketamine in TRD. Individuals diagnosed with MDD according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders version IV and fulfilling TRD criteria were recruited from March 2017 to June 2018. Participants received a single subanesthetic dose of ketamine (0.5 mg/kg) or esketamine (0.25 mg/kg) for 40 min. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Montgomery‐Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and symptom remission was defined as a MADRS score ≤7 and response defined as ≥50% reduction in depressive symptom severity, 24 h and 7 days after the infusion. Clinical variables were selected based on previous clinical trials. Stepwise backward logistic regression was used, considering a confidence level of 95%.
Results
61 subjects were included: 39 (63.9%) were females with a mean age of 47.2 ± 14.9. Higher number of therapeutic failures (Odds Ratio (OR) = 0.677; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.47–0.97) and higher severity of illness (OR = 0.912; 95% CI: 0.83–0.99) were associated with fewer remissions of depressive symptoms 7 days after intervention, and with fewer response in 24 h (OR = 0.583; 95% CI: 0,40; 0,84 and OR = 0.909; 95% CI: 0,83; 0,99, respectively).
Conclusion
Number of treatment failures and severity of illness were predictors of fewer remissions and responses of depressive symptoms in this TRD population. Study of predictors of remission may contribute to better selection patients that may benefit from receiving ketamine.
This study investigates the potential and applicability of a novel solid magnetic catalyst constructed by incorporating molybdenum oxide (MoO
3
) into zinc ferrite (ZnFe
2
O
4
) to biodiesel ...production using Waste Frying Oil (WFO) as the residual raw material. The molybdenum amounts (5, 15, 25, 35 and 45%) present in the catalyst were studied and the catalyst demonstrated great characteristics and high acid properties, as well as superior magnetic and catalytic attributes. The one variable at time (OVAT) optimization method revealed that the application of the MoO
3
/ZnFe
2
O
4
catalyst resulted in obtaining a biodiesel with 97.6% ± 0.727 conversion to fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) under the following optimized reaction conditions: temperature of 165 °C, methanol : WFO molar ratio of 40 : 1, catalyst amount of 6 wt% and reaction time of 3 h. In addition, the catalyst showed high reusability after six reaction cycles, with conversion to esters above 90%. Besides, the activation energy (
E
a
) calculated in the kinetic study was 25.3 kJ mol
−1
. Moreover, the properties of the synthesized biodiesel met the standards set by the ASTM D6751 and EN 14214, which indicates the high MoO
3
/ZnFe
2
O
4
potential for industrial application with low energy consumption as well as minimal negative environmental impact.
This study investigates the potential and applicability of a new solid magnetic catalyst constructed by incorporating molybdenum oxide (MoO
3
) into zinc ferrite (ZnFe
2
O
4
) for the production of biodiesel using waste frying oil as the residual raw material.
•Carboxymethylcellulose films with clay nanoparticles prepared by solution casting.•Combined action of clay and polyethylene glycol.•Synergy between CMC + clay + PEG promotes dramatic increase in ...mechanical and barrier properties.•CMC has better affinity to pure sodium montmorillonite than to organically modified clays.
Carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), a biopolymer with good film-forming abilities, has rather poor mechanical and water vapor barrier properties which restrict its use in potential food packaging applications. Aiming to improve these properties, CMC was therefore modified by the addition of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and sodium-based clay nanofillers. The results showed the combined action of PEG and sodium montmorillonite greatly improved the tensile mechanical properties of CMC, increasing simultaneously its modulus (up to 260%), strength (up to 250%) and elongation (up to 300%). The barrier effect promoted by the clay nanoplatelets in combination with PEG also resulted in an almost fivefold decrease in water vapor permeability. With these improvements, the use of CMC in edible food packaging applications becomes more feasible.
Leaf-cutting ants have great potential for damage to agricultural and forest crops. Although chemical control is the most used method for the management of this pest, more friendly alternative ...methods have been investigated. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the insecticidal and antifungal potential of essential oils obtained from
Aristolochia trilobata
, as well as the potential of two chemotypes of
Myrcia lundiana
and their major compounds (isopulegol and citral) on
Acromyrmex balzani
and its symbiotic fungus
Leucoagaricus gongylophorus
. Toxicity and synergism and/or antagonism tests were performed using essential oils and their major compounds on
A. balzani
ants. The antifungal activity of these compounds was tested on the fungus
L. gongylophorus
. The essential oils and their major compounds were toxic to
A. balzani
. The mixture of essential oils of
A. trilobata
with those of
M. lundiana
had higher toxicity to the ants. This synergistic effect is mainly due to the interactions between the citral compound and the major compounds present in
A. trilobata
essential oil. The essential oils of
M. lundiana
chemotypes showed antifungal properties against
L. gongylophorus
, and the citral compound proved to have fungicidal activity. These results show that the use of
M. lundiana
and
A. trilobata
essential oils and their major compounds is a potential alternative for the management of leaf-cutting ants
A. balzani
, as they have a toxic effect on worker ants and antifungal activity on their symbiotic fungus.
Rationale, Aims, and Objectives
It is generally believed that evidence from low quality of evidence generate inaccurate estimates about treatment effects more often than evidence from high ...(certainty) quality evidence (CoE). As a result, we would expect that (a) estimates of effects of health interventions initially based on high CoE change less frequently than the effects estimated by lower CoE (b) the estimates of magnitude of effect size differ between high and low CoE. Empirical assessment of these foundational principles of evidence‐based medicine has been lacking.
Methods
We reviewed the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews from January 2016 through May 2021 for pairs of original and updated reviews for change in CoE assessments based on the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) method. We assessed the difference in effect sizes between the original versus updated reviews as a function of change in CoE, which we report as a ratio of odds ratio (ROR). We compared ROR generated in the studies in which CoE changed from very low/low (VL/L) to moderate/high (M/H) versus M/H to VL/L. Heterogeneity and inconsistency were assessed using the tau and I2 statistic. We also assessed the change in precision of effect estimates (by calculating the ratio of standard errors) (seR), and the absolute deviation in estimates of treatment effects (aROR).
Results
Four hundred and nineteen pairs of reviews were included of which 414 (207 × 2) informed the CoE appraisal and 384 (192 × 2) the assessment of effect size. We found that CoE originally appraised as VL/L had 2.1 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.19–4.12; p = 0.0091 times higher odds to be changed in the future studies than M/H CoE. However, the effect size was not different (p = 1) when CoE changed from VL/L → M/H ROR = 1.02 (95% CI: 0.74–1.39) compared with M/H → VL/L (ROR = 1.02 95% CI: 0.44–2.37). Similar overlap in aROR between the VL/L → M/H versus M/H → VL/L subgroups was observed median (IQR): 1.12 (1.07–1.57) vs. 1.21 (1.12–2.43). We observed large inconsistency across ROR estimates (I2 = 99%). There was larger imprecision in treatment effects when CoE changed from VL/L → M/H (seR = 1.46) than when it changed from M/H → VL/L (seR = 0.72).
Conclusions
We found that low‐quality evidence changes more often than high CoE. However, the effect size did not systematically differ between the studies with low versus high CoE. The finding that the effect size did not differ between low and high CoE indicate urgent need to refine current EBM critical appraisal methods.
Estimates of genetic diversity based on molecular and morphological data are common in the literature; however, they do not take the most agronomically important traits into consideration. Use of ...these estimates for recommending parent lines has not had much practical success because the populations thus generated generally exhibit wide variability, but medium to low means for the target trait. A total of 17 common bean cultivars were evaluated in 31 trials conducted in 2008, 2009, and 2010 in the rainy, dry, and winter crop seasons in Brazil. Twelve traits of agronomic importance were evaluated. Analysis of variance were performed on the data and the means were used to estimate the Euclidean distances. In addition, leaves were collected, DNA extracted, and amplification reactions were performed with 33 microsatellite markers to obtain the genetic distances based on complement of the weighted similarity indexes. The genotypes were clustered by the Tocher method. Both forms of estimation of genetic distance showed diversity among the cultivars. The Pearson correlation estimate between the agronomic and molecular genetic distance matrices was significant (0.32), but of low magnitude, which indicates that the distances estimated by the two sets of data supply different information. Coincidence between the clusters was 53%, confirming that this information can truly be considered complementary. The phenotypic mean values for grain yield, the divergence estimates, and the clusters formed by phenotypic and molecular data indicated some crosses with greater probability of obtaining higher yielding lines: BRSMG Majestoso × CNFC 10431, BRS Estilo × BRS Notável, and BRS Estilo × BRS Pontal.
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