We assessed soil fungal diversity at two sites on Deception Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica using DNA metabarcoding analysis. The first site was a relatively undisturbed area, and the ...second was much more heavily impacted by research and tourism. We detected 346 fungal amplicon sequence variants dominated by the phyla Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Mortierellomycota and Chytridiomycota. We also detected taxa belonging to the rare phyla Mucoromycota and Rozellomycota, which have been difficult to detect in Antarctica by traditional isolation methods. Cladosporium sp., Pseudogymnoascus roseus, Leotiomycetes sp. 2, Penicillium sp., Mortierella sp. 1, Mortierella sp. 2, Pseudogymnoascus appendiculatus and Pseudogymnoascus sp. were the most dominant fungi. In addition, 440,153 of the total of 1,214,875 reads detected could be classified only at the level of Fungi. In both sampling areas the DNA of opportunistic, phytopathogenic and symbiotic fungi were detected, which might have been introduced by human activities, transported by birds or wind, and/or represent resident fungi not previously reported from Antarctica. Further long-term studies are required to elucidate how biological colonization in the island may be affected by climatic changes and/or other anthropogenic influences.
We assessed fungal diversity present in air and freshly deposited snow samples obtained from Livingston Island, Antarctica, using DNA metabarcoding through high throughput sequencing (HTS). A total ...of 740 m
of air were pumped through a 0.22 µm membrane. Snow obtained shortly after deposition was kept at room temperature and yielded 3.760 L of water, which was filtered using Sterivex membranes of 0.22 µm mesh size. The total DNA present was extracted and sequenced. We detected 171 fungal amplicon sequence variants (ASVs), 70 from the air and 142 from the snow. They were dominated by the phyla Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Mortierellomycota and Mucoromycota. Pseudogymnoascus, Cladosporium, Mortierella and Penicillium sp. were the most dominant ASVs detected in the air in rank order. In snow, Cladosporium, Pseudogymnoascus, Penicillium, Meyerozyma, Lecidea, Malassezia, Hanseniaspora, Austroplaca, Mortierella, Rhodotorula, Penicillium, Thelebolus, Aspergillus, Poaceicola, Glarea and Lecanora were the dominant ASVs present. In general, the two fungal assemblages displayed high diversity, richness, and dominance indices, with the assemblage found in snow having the highest diversity indices. Of the total fungal ASVs detected, 29 were only present in the air sample and 101 in the snow sample, with only 41 present in both samples; however, when only the dominant taxa from both samples were compared none occurred only in the air and, among the rare portion, 26 taxa occurred in both air and snow. Application of HTS revealed the presence of a more diverse fungal community in the air and snow of Livingston Island in comparison with studies using traditional isolation methods. The assemblages were dominated by cold-adapted and cosmopolitan fungal taxa, including members of the genera Pseudogymnoascus, Malassezia and Rhodotorula, which include some taxa reported as opportunistic. Our results support the hypothesis that the presence of microbiota in the airspora indicates the possibility of dispersal around Antarctica in the air column. However, further aeromycology studies are required to understand the dynamics of fungal dispersal within and beyond Antarctica.
The influence of yttrium (Y) addition on the microstructure and mechanical properties of alloy 718 was examined by scanning and transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy and ...tensile tests. Two alloys with 0.1% and 1.0% weight Y contents and a reference alloy without Y addition were melted, forged and solution heat treated. The yield of Y after melting ranged between 50% and 60% over the nominal value added. Y addition decreased the oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur contents of the alloy. The low-Y alloy presented a larger grain size, and the high-Y alloy presented a refined grain size owing to the intense precipitation of Y-rich phases. Microstructural analysis also revealed that the Y promoted (Nb,Ti)C carbide fragmentation. Considering the influence of this rare earth on the mechanical properties, there is an optimal yttrium content that can be added. The low-Y alloy showed an increase in ductility and no relevant variation in its mechanical strength. However, the high-Y alloy induced a sharp decrease in ductility, when compared to the low-Y alloy, owing to the embrittlement effect caused by the intense precipitation of Y-rich phases, such as Ni17Y2 and Y2O3.
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•The increase of Y content had a relevant effect on lowering the impurity elements as O, S and N.•TEM/SAED analysis identified the Ni17Y2 phase, which can present a minor Al content in solid solution.•A low addition of Y led to an average increase in elongation of 27%, compared to the sample without Y addition.•Higher Y addition decrease hardly the ductility.
Routine inspection programs are procedures that utilities can use to improve their power quality standards and public perception. However, due to budget restrictions, it is usually not possible to ...inspect all elements in the whole concession area. In this scenario, strategies to efficiently allocate available teams at scheduled inspections are an interesting alternative. The challenge is to define which data are relevant and at hand to develop an strategy that is comprehensive, efficient and outperforms the current old fashioned way based on personal experience applied to automated spreadsheets. This paper proposes an approach that deals with a large amount of data from corporate systems as input to a proposed optimization engine based on Genetic Algorithm and heuristics. Primary feeders are split into segments among protection devices, referred to as metazones . The developed tool produces a set of prioritized metazones by maximizing the sum of merit indexes related to loss of energy, voltage and current violations, as well as outages, while satisfying teams' inspections capacities. A case study with 56 primary feeders is presented, and results show that the yielded prioritized metazones are compatible with and improve current power utilities practices.
Solid state fermentation (SSF) simulates the natural conditions fungal growth, where the amount of water in the reaction medium must be restricted, thus limiting the use of liquid substrate. An ...analytical strategy to deal with this limitation is the design of blending with constraints. Thus, the objective of the work was to optimize two constrained waste mixtures for the production of lipase by Penicillium roqueforti ATCC 10110 under SSF, using different substrates that combine solid and liquid waste. For this, the best fermentation time was determined through a fermentative profile, afterwards a restricted-mix design with lower and upper limits of the components of mixture I (cocoa residue, solid palm oil residue and liquid palm oil residue) and II (cocoa residue, mango residue and palm oil residue liquid palm) was applied. By means of Pareto and contour graphs, the maximum production points of lipase in mixtures I (6.67 ± 0.34 U g
−1
) and II (6.87 ± 0.35 U g
−1
) were obtained. The restricted mixture design proved to be a promising tool in the production of lipase by P. roqueforti ATCC 10110 under SSF since the use of restrictions is useful when intending to combine solid and liquid residues in fermentation processes.
Background
The aim is to evaluate the effects of IGB in overweight or class I obese patients, by analyzing body composition and quality of life (QOL).
Methods
Prospective study including patients ...with BMI 27–34.9 kg/m
2.
body composition analysis (BCA) was performed before IGB implantation and its removal, after 6 months of treatment. QOL was assessed by the Short Form 36 (SF-36) Health Survey at baseline and after treatment.
Results
Forty patients were included in this study, but four were excluded. The total weight decreased by 12.29 kg after 6 months of use of IGB, which corresponds to loss of 13.69% of the total weight. There was a significant reduction in body fat mass and fat area. QOL improved in all eight sections analyzed (
p
< 0.001 to 0.041): functional capacity, physical aspects, pain, general health status, vitality, social aspects, emotional aspects, and mental health.
Conclusions
IGB induces not only weight loss but changes in body composition through the reduction of body fat mass and fat area. Furthermore, it improves QOL.
Hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection is transmitted by the fecal-oral route, through interpersonal contact and ingestion of contaminated food or water. Prisoners are at higher risk of acquiring HAV ...infection mainly due to the environment of closed penal institutions and socioeconomic conditions. This study aims to determine the seroprevalence of anti-HAV and its associated risk factors among inmates from twelve prisons in Central Brazil. A cross-sectional study was conducted between March 2013 and March 2014. A total of 580 prisoners participated in the study. The participant's samples were tested for Total and IgM anti-HAV antibodies by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA). Risk factors associated with anti-HAV seropositivity were also analyzed. The prevalence rate of HAV exposure was 88.1% (95% CI: 85.5-90.7). No sample had a positive reaction to IgM anti-HAV. Increasing age, low level of education, and being imprisoned in Corumbá city were independently associated with HAV exposure among prisoners. To prevent the burden of the disease, vaccination strategies should be considered for susceptible prisoners in Central Brazil.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Resumo A insulinoterapia empregada no tratamento do Diabetes Mellitus (DM) carece de ferramentas educativas que auxiliem a prática de autocuidado. Dessa forma, objetivou-se elaborar e validar uma ...ferramenta educativa destinada a promover a compreensão da relação entre variação glicêmica e insulinoterapia em adultos com DM1 e DM2. Trata-se de um estudo metodológico desenvolvido em três etapas: i) elaboração da ferramenta educativa; ii) validação de conteúdo e aparência por comitê de juízes; iii) pré-teste com o público-alvo. Participaram da segunda etapa dez juízes e da terceira etapa 12 adultos com DM 1 ou 2, em uso de insulina. Para avaliar a adequação do material educativo pelo comitê de juízes foi utilizado o Índice de Validade de Conteúdo (IVC). Para validação pelo público-alvo foram calculados os percentuais de concordância por itens. Como resultado, desenvolveu-se a ferramenta educativa Meu Diário de Tratamento (MDT), que obteve IVC médio de 99,6% e percentual de concordância de 99%. Conclui-se, portanto, que o conteúdo e a aparência da ferramenta MDT foram validados e adequados culturalmente para a população de adultos com DM tipo 1 e 2.
Abstract The insulin therapy used to treat Diabetes Mellitus (DM) lacks educational tools to assist self-care. Thus, we aimed to develop and validate an educational tool for the relationship between glycemic variation and insulin therapy for adults with type 1 and 2 DM. The study was developed in three stages: i) elaboration of the educational tool; ii) validation of content and display by a panel of judges; iii) pre-test with a target audience. Ten judges participated in the second stage, and 12 insulin-dependent adults with type 1 or 2 DM participated in the third stage. The Content Validity Index (CVI) was used to evaluate the adequacy of the material by the judges. The percentages of the agreement by item were calculated for validation by the target audience. The My Treatment Diary (MTD) educational tool was then developed. It obtained a mean CVI of 99.6% and a percentage of agreement of 99%. The results demonstrated that the content and display of the MTD tool were validated and culturally appropriate for the population of adults with type 1 and 2 DM.
We identified cultivable fungi present in the glacial ice fragments collected in nine sites across Antarctica Peninsula and assessed their abilities to produce bioactive compounds. Three ice ...fragments with approximately 20 kg were collected, melted and 3 L filtered through of 0.45 µm sterilized membranes, which were placed on the media Sabouraud agar and minimal medium incubated at 10 °C. We collected 66 isolates classified into 27 taxa of 14 genera.
Penicillium palitans
,
Penicillium
sp. 1,
Thelebolus balaustiformis
,
Glaciozyma antarctica
,
Penicillium
sp. 7,
Rhodotorula mucilaginosa
, and
Rhodotorula dairenensis
had the highest frequencies. The diversity and richness of the fungal community were high with moderate dominance.
Penicillium
species were present in all samples, with
Penicillium chrysogenum
showing the broadest distribution.
P. chrysogenum
,
P. palitans
, and
Penicillium
spp. had trypanocidal, leishmanicidal, and herbicidal activities, with
P. chrysogenum
having the broadest and highest capability.
1
H NMR signals revealed the presence of highly functionalized secondary metabolites in the bioactive extracts. Despite extreme environmental conditions, glacial ice harbours a diverse fungal community, including species never before recorded in the Arctic and Antarctica. Among them,
Penicillium
taxa may represent wild fungal strains with genetic and biochemical pathways that may produce new secondary bioactive metabolites.
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