Aichi virus 1 (AiV-1), belonging to the genus Kobuvirus in the family Picornaviridae, has been proposed as a causative agent of human gastroenteritis potentially transmitted by fecal-oral routes ...through contaminated food or water. AiV-1 is globally distributed and has been detected in various types of environmental samples, such as sewage, river water, groundwater, and shellfish. Recent environmental studies revealed that this virus could be detected in higher frequency and greater abundance than other human enteric viruses. These findings suggest that AiV-1 could potentially be an appropriate indicator of viral contamination in the environment because of its high prevalence in water environments as well as structural and genetic similarity with some of the other important enteric viruses. Further studies on the occurrence and fate of AiV-1 in environments, even in combination with clinical studies of many regions, are needed for a better understanding of their epidemiology, temporal and geographical distribution, environmental stability, and potential health risks to humans.
Diversity and applications of Bacillus bacteriocins Abriouel, Hikmate; Franz, Charles M.A.P; Omar, Nabil Ben ...
FEMS microbiology reviews,
2011, 20110101, January 2011, 2011-Jan, 2011-01-00, Letnik:
35, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Members of the genus Bacillus are known to produce a wide arsenal of antimicrobial substances, including peptide and lipopeptide antibiotics, and bacteriocins. Many of the Bacillus bacteriocins ...belong to the lantibiotics, a category of post-translationally modified peptides widely disseminated among different bacterial clades. Lantibiotics are among the best-characterized antimicrobial peptides at the levels of peptide structure, genetic determinants and biosynthesis mechanisms. Members of the genus Bacillus also produce many other nonmodified bacteriocins, some of which resemble the pediocin-like bacteriocins of the lactic acid bacteria (LAB), while others show completely novel peptide sequences. Bacillus bacteriocins are increasingly becoming more important due to their sometimes broader spectra of inhibition (as compared with most LAB bacteriocins), which may include Gram-negative bacteria, yeasts or fungi, in addition to Gram-positive species, some of which are known to be pathogenic to humans and/or animals. The present review provides a general overview of Bacillus bacteriocins, including primary structure, biochemical and genetic characterization, classification and potential applications in food preservation as natural preservatives and in human and animal health as alternatives to conventional antibiotics. Furthermore, it addresses their environmental applications, such as bioprotection against the pre- and post-harvest decay of vegetables, or as plant growth promoters.
Rationale
The availability and abuse of synthetic analogues of cathinone have increased dramatically around the world. Synthetic cathinones, such as 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone MDPV and ...α-pyrrolidinopentiophenone α-PVP, are cocaine-like inhibitors of monoamine transporters and common constituents of “bath salts” or “flakka” preparations. Studies in rats suggest that MDPV and α-PVP are 3 to 4-fold more effective reinforcers than cocaine; however, comparisons of the relative reinforcing effectiveness of MDPV and α-PVP have not been reported in other species.
Objectives
Accordingly, in the present study, 4 adult male rhesus monkeys responding under a progressive ratio schedule of reinforcement were used to characterize the reinforcing effects of MDPV and α-PVP and to compare directly these effects with those of cocaine and methamphetamine.
Results
MDPV was the most potent reinforcer, followed by α-PVP, methamphetamine, and cocaine. α-PVP was the most effective reinforcer, followed by MDPV, cocaine, and methamphetamine. In addition to making more responses to obtain MDPV and α-PVP, monkeys also responded for longer periods of time when MDPV or α-PVP was available compared with when either cocaine or methamphetamine was available for infusion.
Conclusions
These studies confirm recent reports from rodents and provide strong evidence that the synthetic cathinones MDPV and α-PVP are capable of maintaining high levels of responding for prolonged periods of time, and that they function as more effective reinforcers than either cocaine or methamphetamine. The relative strength of these reinforcing effects may account for the high rates of “bath salts” use reported in humans.
Hallmark deformities of systemic scleroderma are early onset and progressively disabling flexion contractures of the proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joints often in conjunction with extension or, less ...frequently, flexion contractures of the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints. Although surgical correction is generally recommended, a prevailing reluctance for operative treatment exists owing to the inherent ischemia of the disease with its potentially compromised healing capacity. Nonetheless, with recognition and preservation of the tenuous but well-defined and constant periarticular vascular networks of the PIP and MCP joints, articular reconstruction with uncomplicated wound healing can prove consistently successful for patients with scleroderma. This article describes the authors’ preferred methods of PIP arthrodesis vascularized by the dorsal cutaneous arterial network and MCP silicone implant arthroplasty perfused by the dorsal metacarpal arterial plexus.
To what extent do people attribute meanings to “nonsense” words? How general is such attribution of meaning? We used a set of words lacking conventional meanings to elicit drawings of made‐up ...creatures. Separate groups of participants rated the nonsense words and the drawings on several semantic dimensions and selected what name best corresponded to each creature. Despite lacking conventional meanings, “nonsense” words elicited a high level of consistency in the produced drawings. Meaning attributions made to nonsense words corresponded with meaning attributions made by separate people to drawings that were inspired by the name. Naïve participants were able to recover the name that inspired the drawing with greater‐than‐chance accuracy. These results suggest that people make liberal and consistent use of non‐arbitrary relationships between forms and meanings.
Open Research Badges
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Background. Existing severity assessment tools, such as the pneumonia severity index (PSI) and CURB-65 (tool based on confusion, urea level, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and age <65 years), ...predict 30-day mortality in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and have limited ability to predict which patients will require intensive respiratory or vasopressor support (IRVS). Methods. The Australian CAP Study (ACAPS) was a prospective study of 882 episodes in which each patient had a detailed assessment of severity features, etiology, and treatment outcomes. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to identify features at initial assessment that were associated with receipt of IRVS. These results were converted into a simple points-based severity tool that was validated in 5 external databases, totaling 7464 patients. Results. In ACAPS, 10.3% of patients received IRVS, and the 30-day mortality rate was 5.7%. The features statistically significantly associated with receipt of IRVS were low systolic blood pressure (2 points), multilobar chest radiography involvement (1 point), low albumin level (1 point), high respiratory rate (1 point), tachycardia (1 point), confusion (1 point), poor oxygenation (2 points), and low arterial pH (2 points): SMART-COP. A SMART-COP score of <3 points identified 92% of patients who received IRVS, including 84% of patients who did not need immediate admission to the intensive care unit. Accuracy was also high in the 5 validation databases. Sensitivities of PSI and CURB-65 for identifying the need for IRVS were 74% and 39%, respectively. Conclusions. SMART-COP is a simple, practical clinical tool for accurately predicting the need for IRVS that is likely to assist clinicians in determining CAP severity.
Additional research from population-based studies is needed to inform the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy and to provide health risk information to pregnant individuals.
To assess ...the risk of perinatal complications associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection and to describe factors associated with hospitalizations.
This population-based cohort study included 43 886 pregnant individuals with longitudinal electronic health record data from preconception to delivery who delivered at Kaiser Permanente Northern California between March 1, 2020, and March 16, 2021. Individuals with diagnostic codes for COVID-19 that did not have a confirmatory polymerase chain reaction test for SARS-CoV-2 were excluded.
SARS-CoV-2 infection detected by polymerase chain reaction test (from 30 days before conception to 7 days after delivery) as a time varying exposure.
Severe maternal morbidity including 21 conditions (eg, acute myocardial infarction, acute renal failure, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and sepsis) that occurred at any time during pregnancy or delivery; preterm birth; pregnancy hypertensive disorders; gestational diabetes; venous thromboembolism (VTE); stillbirth; cesarean delivery; and newborn birth weight and respiratory conditions. Standardized mean differences between individuals with and without SARS-CoV-2 were calculated. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs for the association between SARS-CoV-2 infection and perinatal complications and hospitalization and to consider the timing of SARS-CoV-2 infection relative to outcomes.
In this study of 43 886 pregnant individuals (mean SD age, 30.7 5.2 years), individuals with a SARS-CoV-2 infection (1332 3.0%) were more likely to be younger, Hispanic, multiparous individuals with a higher neighborhood deprivation index and obesity or chronic hypertension. After adjusting for demographic characteristics, comorbidities, and smoking status, individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection had higher risk for severe maternal morbidity (HR, 2.45; 95% CI, 1.91-3.13), preterm birth (<37 weeks; HR, 2.08; 95% CI, 1.75-2.47), and VTE (HR, 3.08; 95% CI, 1.09-8.74) than individuals without SARS-CoV-2. SARS-CoV-2 infection was also associated with increased risk of medically indicated preterm birth (HR, 2.56; 95% CI, 2.06-3.19); spontaneous preterm birth (HR, 1.61; 95% CI, 1.22-2.13); and early (HR, 2.52; 95% CI, 1.49-4.24), moderate (HR, 2.18; 95% CI, 1.25-3.80), and late (HR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.61-2.37) preterm birth. Among individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection, 76 (5.7%) had a hospitalization; pregestational diabetes (HR, 7.03; 95% CI, 2.22-22.2) and Asian or Pacific Islander (HR, 2.33; 95% CI, 1.06-5.11) and Black (HR, 3.14; 95% CI, 1.24-7.93) race and ethnicity were associated with an increased risk of hospitalization.
In this cohort study, SARS-CoV-2 infection was associated with increased risk of severe maternal morbidity, preterm birth, and VTE. The study findings inform clinicians and patients about the risk of perinatal complications associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy and support vaccination of pregnant individuals and those planning conception.
Objective
Cannabinoid receptor agonists such as delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ
9
-THC) enhance the antinociceptive potency of mu opioid receptor agonists such as morphine, indicating that ...opioid/cannabinoid mixtures might be effective for treating pain. However, such enhancement will be beneficial only if cannabinoids do not also enhance adverse effects of opioids, including those related to abuse. In rhesus monkeys, cannabinoids fail to enhance and often decrease self-administration of the mu opioid receptor agonist heroin, suggesting that opioid/cannabinoid mixtures do not have greater reinforcing effects (abuse potential) compared with opioids alone. Previous studies on the self-administration of opioid/cannabinoid mixtures used single-response procedures, which do not easily differentiate changes in reinforcing effects from other effects (e.g., rate decreasing).
Methods
In this study, rhesus monkeys (
n
= 4) responded under a choice procedure wherein responding on one lever delivered sucrose pellets and responding on the other lever delivered intravenous infusions of the mu opioid receptor agonist remifentanil (0.032–1.0 μg/kg/infusion) alone or in combination with either Δ
9
-THC (10–100 μg/kg/infusion) or the synthetically derived cannabinoid receptor agonist CP55940 (3.2–10 μg/kg/infusion).
Results
Remifentanil dose-dependently increased choice of drug over food, whether available alone or in combination with a cannabinoid, and the potency of remifentanil was not significantly altered by coadministration with a cannabinoid. Mixtures containing the largest doses of cannabinoids decreased response rates in most subjects, confirming that behaviorally active doses were studied.
Conclusion
Overall, these results extend previous studies to include choice behavior and show that cannabinoids do not substantially enhance the reinforcing effects of mu opioid receptor agonists.
Statins have known anticarcinogenic effects, however, evidence for long-term statin use as effective chemoprevention for prostate cancer is inconsistent. We examined the association between statin ...use and risk of prostate cancer among 69,047 eligible participants in the California Men's Health Study, a prospective cohort of Northern and Southern California Kaiser Permanente (KP) members, ages 45 to 69 years, initiated in 2002. Prostate cancer cases were identified by linkage to the KP California Cancer Registries. Statin exposure, estimated from automated KP outpatient pharmacy records (available since 1991 in Southern California and since 1994 in Northern California), was treated as time-varying and defined as the cumulative days dispensed of any statin from the first dispensing until a prostate cancer diagnosis, radical prostatectomy, termination of membership, or end of study (December 31, 2004). Cox proportional hazards models with age as the time scale were used to estimate rate ratios, while controlling for confounding variables. During follow-up, 888 prostate cancer cases, including 131 advanced cases, were identified. There was no association between ever statin use or <5 years use and prostate cancer. Conversely, >or=5 years use was associated with a 28% lower risk for prostate cancer compared with nonuse (adjusted rate ratio, 0.72; 95% confidence interval, 0.53-0.99). This association did not differ markedly for advanced disease. However, the association did seem to be restricted to those who regularly take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Our findings suggest that long-term statin use might be associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer but perhaps only among regular nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug users.
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