Abstract Background Circulating microparticle (cMP) levels are increased in the acute phase of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and associate with microvascular obstruction; however, the ...precise cMP-parental cell signature and activation level are not elucidated. Here, we aimed to study the cMP signature in STEMI-patients and whether cMP phenotype changes in relation to onset of pain-to-PCI ischemic time (IT)-elapsed time. Methods Blood was taken at PCI from the culprit coronary and the peripheral circulation in STEMI-patients ( N = 40). Two control groups were included: peripheral blood of age-matched patients recovering from STEMI after 72 h and of control individuals ( N = 20/group). cMP-parental origin and activation level were characterized by triple-labeling flow cytometry. Results Procoagulant annexin V-positive cMPs bearing parental cell markers as well as markers of activated cells displayed a significantly different profile in STEMI-patients, in control individuals and in patients recovering from STEMI. cMPs derived from monocytes, endothelium, and activated vascular cells were higher in the culprit coronary artery than in peripheral blood in STEMI-patients, especially in patients intervened at short IT. Indeed, cMP levels in coronary blood were inversely related to IT duration (more abundant in thrombi with pain-to-PCI time < 180 min). Conclusions A characteristic CD66b+ /CD62E+ /CD142+ cMP signature in the systemic circulation reflects the formation of coronary thrombotic occlusions in STEMI-patients. Changes in the cMP signature in the culprit coronary artery blood reveal the sensitivity of MPs to detect the ischemia-elapsed time. Interestingly, cMPs in peripheral blood may be sensitive markers of the thrombo-occlusive vascular process developing in the coronary arteries of STEMI-patients.
Potentiometric sensors induce a spontaneous voltage that indicates ion activity in real time. We present here an advanced self-powered potentiometric sensor with memory. Specifically, the approach ...allows for one to record a deviation from the analyte’s original concentration or determine whether the analyte concentration has surpassed a threshold in a predefined time interval. The sensor achieves this by harvesting energy in a capacitor and preserving it with the help of a diode. While the analyte concentration is allowed to return to an original value following a perturbation over time, this may not influence the sensor readout. To achieve the diode function, the sensor utilizes an additional pair of driving electrodes to move the potentiometric signal to a sufficiently high base voltage that is required for operating the diode placed in series with the capacitor and between the sensing probes. A single voltage measurement across the capacitor at the end of a chosen time interval is sufficient to reveal any altered ion activity occurring during that period. We demonstrate the applicability of the sensor to identify incurred pH changes in a river water sample during an interval of 2 h. This approach is promising for achieving deployable sensors to monitor ion activity relative to a defined threshold during a time interval with minimal electronic components in a self-powered design.
Terrestrial carbon exchange is a key process of the global carbon cycle consisting of a delicate balance between photosynthetic carbon uptake and respiratory release. We have, however, a limited ...understanding how long-term decreases in precipitation induced by climate change affect the boundaries and mechanisms of photosynthesis and respiration. We examined the seasonality of photosynthetic and respiratory traits and evaluated the adaptive mechanism of the foliar carbon balance of Quercus ilex L. experiencing a long-term rainfall-exclusion experiment. Day respiration (R
d) but not night respiration (R
n) was generally higher in the drought treatment leading to an increased R
d/R
n ratio. The limitation of mesophyll conductance (g
m) on photosynthesis was generally stronger than stomatal limitation (g
s) in the drought treatment, reflected in a lower g
m/g
s ratio. The peak photosynthetic activity in the drought treatment occurred in an atypical favourable summer in parallel with lower R
d/R
n and higher g
m/g
s ratios. The plant carbon balance was thus strongly improved through: (i) higher photosynthetic rates induced by g
m; and (ii) decreased carbon losses mediated by R
d. Interestingly, photosynthetic potentials (V
c,max, J
max, and TPU) were not affected by the drought treatment, suggesting a dampening effect on the biochemical level in the long term. In summary, the trees experiencing a 14-year-long drought treatment adapted through higher plasticity in photosynthetic and respiratory traits, so that eventually the atypical favourable growth period was exploited more efficiently.
There is little evidence of the long-term consequences of maintaining sanitary hot water at high temperatures on the persistence of Legionella in the plumbing system. The aims of this study were to ...describe the persistence and genotypic variability of L. pneumophila in a hospital building with two entirely independent hot water distribution systems, and to estimate the thermotolerance of the genotypic variants by studying the quantity of VBNC L. pneumophila. Eighty isolates from 55 water samples obtained between the years 2012–2017 were analyzed. All isolates correspond to L. pneumophila serogroup 6. The isolates were discriminated in four restriction patterns by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. In one installation, pattern A + Aa predominated, accounting for 75.8 % of samples, while the other installation exhibited pattern B as the most frequent (81.8 % of samples; p < 0.001). The mean temperature of the isolates was: 52.6 °C (pattern A + Aa) and 55.0 °C (pattern B), being significantly different. Nine strains were selected as representative among patterns to study their thermotolerance by flow-cytometry after 24 h of thermic treatment. VBNC bacteria were detected in all samples. After thermic treatment at 50 °C, 52.0 % of bacteria had an intact membrane, and after 55 °C this percentage decreased to 23.1 %. Each pattern exhibited varying levels of thermotolerance. These findings indicate that the same hospital building can be colonized with different predominant types of Legionella if it has independent hot water installations. Maintaining a minimum temperature of 50 °C at distal points of the system would allow the survival of replicative L. pneumophila. However, the presence of Legionella in hospital water networks is underestimated if culture is considered as the standard method for Legionella detection, because VBNC do not grow on culture plates. This phenomenon can carry implications for the Legionella risk management plans in hospitals that adjust their control measures based on the microbiological surveillance of water.
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•The same strain of L. pneumophila persists in hospital hot water systems for years.•Viable but nonculturable L. pneumophila are detected at temperatures required by law.•After being exposed to 50 °C 24 h, 52.0 % of L. pneumophila were still alive.•After an exposition to 55 °C 24 h, 23.1 % of L. pneumophila were still alive.•Legionella surveillance through the standard culture underestimates its presence.
A sensitive amperometric immunosensor has been prepared by immobilization of capture antibodies onto gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) grafted on a screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE) through aryl ...diazonium salt chemistry using 4-aminothiophenol (AuNPs-S-Phe-SPCE). The immunosensor was designed for the accurate determination of clinically relevant levels of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) in human serum samples. The nanostructured electrochemical platform resulted in an ordered layer of AuNPs onto SPCEs which combined the advantages of high conductivity and improved stability of immobilized biomolecules. The resulting disposable immunosensor used a sandwich type immunoassay involving a peroxidase-labeled detector antibody. The amperometric transduction was carried out at −0.20V (vs the Ag pseudo-reference electrode) upon the addition of hydroquinone (HQ) as electron transfer mediator and H2O2 as the enzyme substrate. The nanostructured immunosensors show a storage stability of at least 25 days, a linear range between 0.014 and 15ngmL−1, and a LOD of 4pgmL−1, which is 100 times lower than the established cut-off value for heart failure (HF) diagnosis. The performance of the immunosensor is advantageously compared with that provided with immunosensors prepared by grafting SPCE with p-phenylendiamine (H2N-Phe-SPCE) and attaching AuNPs by immersion into an AuNPs suspension or by electrochemical deposition, as well as with immunosensors constructed using commercial AuNPs-modified SPCEs. The developed immunosensor was applied to the successful analysis of human serum from heart failure (HF) patients upon just a 10-times dilution as sample treatment.
Electrochemical immunosensor for BNP onto with screen printed carbon electrodes nanostructured with gold nanoparticles grafted through aryl diazonium salt chemistry. Display omitted
•Amperometric immunosensor for BNP determination.•AuNPs grafted on a SPCE through aryl diazonium salt chemistry.•LOD of 4pgmL−1.•Good selectivity against other non-target serum proteins.•Successful applicability to the analysis of serum samples.
Fracture-related infection (FRI) is a major complication in surgically fixed fractures. Instability of the fracture after fixation is considered a risk factor for infection; however, few experimental ...data are available confirming this belief. To study whether stable fractures led to higher infection clearance, mouse femoral osteotomies were fixed with either stable or unstable fixation and the surgical site was contaminated with either Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis)or Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus)clinical isolates. Infection progression was assessed at different time points by quantitative bacteriology, total cell counts in spleen and lymph node and histological analysis. Operated, non-inoculated mice were used as controls. Two inbred mouse strains (C57BL/6 and BALB/c) were included in the study to determine the influence of different host background in the outcome. Stable fixation allowed a higher proportion of C57BL/6 mice to clear S. epidermidis inoculation in comparison to unstable fixation. No difference associated with fixation type was observed for BALB/c mice. Inoculation with S. aureus resulted in a more severe infection for both stable and unstable fractures in both mouse strains; however, significant osteolysis around the screws rendered the stable group functionally unstable. Our results suggested that fracture stability could have an influence on S. epidermidis infection, although host factors also played a role. No differences were observed when using S. aureus, due to a more severe infection, leading to osteolysis and loss of stability in both groups. Further studies are required in order to address the biological features underlying the differences observed.
Potentiometric sensors operate as galvanic cells where the voltage is spontaneously generated as a function of the sample composition. We show here that energy can be harvested, stored during the ...sensing process without external power, and physically isolated from the sensor circuit for later readout. This is accomplished by placing an electronic capacitor as a portable transduction component between the indicator and the reference electrode at the point where one would ordinarily connect the high-input-impedance voltmeter. The voltage across this isolated capacitor indicates the originally measured ion activity and can be read out conveniently, for example, using a simple handheld multimeter. The capacitor is shown to maintain the transferred charge for hours after its complete disconnection from the sensor. The concept is demonstrated to detect the physiological concentrations of K+ in artificial sweat samples. The methodology provides a readout principle that could become very useful in portable form factors and opens possibilities for potentiometric detection in point-of-care applications and inexpensive sensing devices where an external power source is not desired.
This paper addresses a particular aspect of financialisation: how mortgages taken out by ordinary people in order to become home owners have been the object of securitisation processes, that is to ...say, have been used by banking institutions to issue financial derivatives that are then sold to investors. Despite taking place on the abstract arena of financial markets, this process has crucial consequences for people's livelihoods, as it is anchored on a material resource: housing. The world of finance has thus an impact on the satisfaction of a basic human need.
Drawing on an ethnographic research among those affected by home repossessions in Spain, it will be examined 1) how financialisation has a direct impact on the lives of mortgage borrowers, especially as they face economic hardship, and 2) how ‘folk’ understandings of financial products, and the practical knowledge associated to it, are challenging expert discourses, while claiming for the restoration of moral principles under financial capitalism.
Recent geological, geochronological and isotopic studies allow the identification of four important crustal segments in the basement of the São Francisco Craton in Bahia. The oldest is the Gavião ...block in the WSW part of the studied area, and comprises granitic, granodioritic and migmatitic continental crust including remnants of 3.4
Ga TTGs which are amongst the oldest rocks in South America, and are associated with Archean greenstone belts. The youngest segment is exposed in the Itabuna–Salvador–Curaça belt which extends from SE Bahia along the Atlantic coast to Salvador, then northwards into NE Bahia. It is mainly composed of a low-K calc-alkaline plutonic suite, and also contains strips of intercalated metasediments and ocean floor/back-arc basin gabbro and basalt. In the SSW part of the area the Jequié block comprises granulitic migmatites with inclusions of supracrustal rocks, intruded by many charnockite plutons. In the NE, the Serrinha block is composed of orthogneisses and migmatites which form the basement for Paleoproterozoic greenstone belts. During the Paleoproterozoic Transamazonian Cycle, these four crustal segments collided, resulting in the formation of an important mountain belt. The regional metamorphism, resulting from the crustal thickening associated with the collision, occurred at around 2.0
Ga. Major mineralizations were formed during the evolution of the four Archean blocks, and also during and after the Paleoproterozoic collision.
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