Eighty-four staphylococcal isolates were obtained from milk samples from cows, sheep, goats, and buffalo with subclinical mastitis and from colonization samples from ostriches. The animals were ...hosted in 18 small dairy herds and an ostrich breeding located in 10 municipalities of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Thirty isolates were identified as Staphylococcus aureus by biochemical and molecular techniques and were comparatively characterized by phenotypic and genotypic methods. The molecular characterization by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), spa typing, and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) revealed five clonal types (PFGE A, spa type t359, sequence type 747 ST747; PFGE B, spa type t1180, ST750; PFGE C, spa type t605, ST126; PFGE D, spa type t127, ST751; and PFGE F, spa type t002, ST5). None of the isolates harbored the Panton-Valentine leukocidin or exfoliative toxin D gene. The detection of major clone A (in 63% of the isolates) in different herds, among all animal species studied, and in infection and colonization samples evidenced its geographical spread among Rio de Janeiro State and no host preference among the animal species. Comparison with S. aureus from a human origin suggested that all but one clone found in the present study might be animal specific.
Scorpion venom constitutes a rich source of biologically active compounds with high potential for therapeutic and biotechnological applications that can be used as prototypes for the design of new ...drugs. The aim of this study was to characterize the structural conformation, evaluate the antimicrobial activity, and gain insight into the possible action mechanism underlying it, for two new analog peptides of the scorpion peptide Stigmurin, named StigA25 and StigA31. The amino acid substitutions in the native sequence for lysine residues resulted in peptides with higher positive net charge and hydrophobicity, with an increase in the theoretical helical content. StigA25 and StigA31 showed the capacity to modify their structural conformation according to the environment, and were stable to pH and temperature variation-results similar to the native peptide. Both analog peptides demonstrated broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity in vitro, showing an effect superior to that of the native peptide, being non-hemolytic at the biologically active concentrations. Therefore, this study demonstrates the therapeutic potential of the analog peptides from Stigmurin and the promising approach of rational drug design based on scorpion venom peptide to obtain new anti-infective agents.
Introduction
COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. The WHO on March 11, 2020, has declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic. Several studies found an association ...between the COVID-19 pandemic and psychiatric symptoms, such as distress, anxiety, fear of infection, depression and insomnia in the general population. Therefore, psychiatrists have been professionally overloaded, trying to manage the psychosocial impact of the pandemic and suffering its effects in person.
Objectives
To evaluate the disease perceptions, distress and burnout among psychiatrists from the Department of Mental Health and Addictions of Pavia in three different times, which correspond to the three main phases of the pandemic management in Italy: T0 is the first peak of the infections and the lock-down, from March to June; T1 is the reduction of the infections and the reopening, from June to October; T2 is the second wave of infections with a new progressive closure, the current one.
Methods
We used three questionnaires: the BIPQ (Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire), the PSS-10 (Perceived Stress Scale-10), the PED (Profile of emotional distress). We also used a survey (6 items) in T0, T1 and T2 to evaluate exposure, perception, quality of life and burnout.
Results
table 1,2,3. BIPQ: no one was exposed.
Conclusions
The increase of individual, who seeking help for mental health, impact on the perception of stress and on the emotional distress, even though psychiatrists have an adequate perception of COVID-19.
Introduction
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
(PA) is a known cause of skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs). Therapeutic options against multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) ...strains of PA are limited, especially in patients with impaired renal function. Ceftolozane/tazobactam (C/T) is a novel beta-lactam/beta-lactamase inhibitor with powerful anti-PA activity. Thanks to its characteristics, it appears to be the best available anti-pseudomonal drug in many clinical scenarios. A case series of four adult patients followed between January 2018 and May 2019 is reported. All subjects presented complicated SSTIs by MDR- or XDR-PA and were affected by chronic kidney disease.
Results
C/T was used as a monotherapy in three cases and in combination regimen in the remaining case. In two cases, C/T was the first-line option, in the remaining ones was the salvage treatment. All patients were successfully treated without worsening of renal function and without any other adverse events.
Conclusions
C/T may represent a useful option against MDR- and XDR-PA strains responsible of complicated SSTIs in patients affected by impaired renal function.
Scorpion venom is a rich source of biologically active components and various peptides with high-potential therapeutic use that have been characterized for their antimicrobial and antiproliferative ...activities. Stigmurin is a peptide identified from the
venom gland with high antibacterial and antiproliferative activities and low toxicity. Amino acid substitutions in peptides without a disulfide bridge sequence have been made with the aim of reducing their toxicity and increasing their biological activities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the structural conformation and structural stability, as well as antimicrobial, antiproliferative, and hemolytic activities of two peptide analogs to Stigmurin, denominated StigA6 and StigA16. In silico analysis revealed the α-helix structure for both analog peptides, which was confirmed by circular dichroism. Data showed that the net charge and hydrophobic moment of the analog peptides were higher than those for Stigmurin, which can explain the increase in antimicrobial activity presented by them. Both analog peptides exhibited activity on cancerous cells similar to the native peptide; however, they were less toxic when tested on the normal cell line. These results reveal a potential biotechnological application of the analog peptides StigA6 and StigA16 as prototypes to new therapeutic agents.
The rapid development of multidrug-resistant pathogens against conventional antibiotics is a global public health problem. The irrational use of antibiotics has promoted therapeutic limitations ...against different infections, making research of new molecules that can be applied to treat infections necessary. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are a class of promising antibiotic molecules as they present broad action spectrum, potent activity, and do not easily induce resistance. Several AMPs from scorpion venoms have been described as a potential source for the development of new drugs; however, some limitations to their application are also observed. Here, we describe strategies used in several approaches to optimize scorpion AMPs, addressing their primary sequence, biotechnological potential, and characteristics that should be considered when developing an AMP derived from scorpion venoms. In addition, this review may contribute towards improving the understanding of rationally designing new molecules, targeting functional AMPs that may have a therapeutic application.
The production of biodiesel by esterification with ethanol using waste oil generated in the refining of coconut oil was investigated in this study. The reaction was performed with and without ...adsorption of water in order to verify the effect of removing water on the reaction conversion. Methanol was also evaluated as an esterification agent. For both ethanol and methanol, conversions over 99%
mol were observed. Simultaneous water adsorption allowed the use of lower alcohol/oil molar ratios thus enabling better economics to a possible industrial process.
Introduction
Salvage radiotherapy (SRT) after radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer (PCa) is recommended as soon as PSA rises above 0.20 ng/ml, but many patients (pts) still experience local ...macroscopic relapse. The aim of this multicentric retrospective analysis was to evaluate the role of SRT in pts with macroscopic relapse.
Materials and methods
From 2001 to 2016, 105 consecutive pts with macroscopic PCa relapse underwent SRT ± androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). Mean age was 72 years. At time of relapse, 29 pts had a PSA value < 1.0 ng/mL, 50 from 1.1 to 5, and 25 pts > 5. Before SRT, 23 pts had undergone 18F-choline PET and 15 pts pelvic MRI. Ninety-four pts had prostatic bed relapse only, and four nodal involvement. Fifty-one pts were previously submitted to first-line ADT, while 6 pts received ≥ 2 lines.
Results
At a median follow-up of 52 months, 89 pts were alive, while 16 were dead. Total RT dose to macroscopic lesions was > 70 Gy in 58 pts, 66–70 Gy in 43, and < 66 Gy in 4 pts. In 72 pts, target volume encompassed only the prostatic bed with sequential boost to macroscopic site; 33 pts received prophylactic pelvic RT. Ten-year overall survival was 76.1%, while distant metastasis-free survival was 73.3%. No grade 4–5 toxicities were found.
Conclusions
SRT ± ADT for macroscopic relapse showed a favorable oncological outcome supporting its important role in this scenario. Data from this series suggest that SRT may either postpone ADT or improve results over ADT alone in appropriately selected pts.
Summary
1. The red‐swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) is an invasive species and an important pest of wet‐seeded rice fields (Oryza sativa) in California (U.S.A.) and in Portugal. Our work ...quantifies rice consumption and non‐consumptive destruction and identifies the types of direct damage inflicted by crayfish.
2. The following fractions were quantified in the presence and absence of crayfish and at 3 and 6 days of rice development: (1) non‐germinated seeds, (2) damaged seeds, (3) seeds not recovered, (4) intact rooted seedlings, (5) rooted damaged seedlings, (6) uprooted intact seedlings, (7) uprooted damaged seedlings.
3. Coarse particulate organic matter (CPOM) fragments produced during the feeding process were <2% of the material removed by crayfish.
4. Damage occurred with or without uprooting of the plants, but the incidence of uprooting without consumption was low (1.4%).
5. Consumption of recently developed parts of the rice plant was the main cause of damage and the observed effect was stronger on 6‐day‐old than on 3‐day‐old seedlings. Seedlings were more affected by crayfish than were seeds.
6. Crayfish affected the majority of seeds and seedlings available although consumption was low: 0.015 g dry weight (DW) rice g−1 wet weight (WW) crayfish per 12 h at 3 days and 0.063 g DW rice g−1 WW crayfish per 12 h at 6 days.
7. Our results are important for the mitigation of crayfish related problems in rice fields and for understanding the mechanisms of crayfish‐macrophyte interactions.
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