Gut microbiota play a major role in health and disease by influencing physiology, metabolism, nutrition, and immune function.
To evaluate the composition of gut microbiota in women with polycystic ...ovary syndrome (PCOS), focusing on the influence of sex, sex hormones and obesity on the associations found.
Cross-sectional study.
Academic hospital.
We recruited 15 women with PCOS, 16 nonhyperandrogenic control women, and 15 control men. Participants were classified as nonobese (<30 kg/m2) or obese (≥30 kg/m2) according to their body mass index.
Standardization of diet for 3 consecutive days (at least 300 g of carbohydrates per day) followed by fecal sampling and a standard 75-g oral glucose tolerance test.
Analysis of bacterial abundance and composition of gut microbiota by massive sequencing of 16S ribosomal DNA amplicons in a MiSeq platform (Illumina).
α Bacterial diversity was reduced in women compared with men, and β diversity was reduced particularly in obese patients with PCOS. Women with PCOS presented with specific abnormalities in gut microbiota consisting of an increased abundance of the Catenibacterium and Kandleria genera. When all participants as a whole were considered, indexes of bacterial diversity and the abundance of several bacterial genera correlated positively with serum androgen concentrations and negatively with estradiol levels.
The diversity and composition of the gut microbiota of young adults are influenced by the combined effects of sex, sex hormone concentrations, and obesity, presenting with specific abnormalities in women with PCOS.
Electric and hybrid vehicles are being promoted in European countries to significantly improve air quality in urban areas and reduce Greenhouse Gases emissions. This study evaluates and compares the ...potential environmental effects of electric, hybrid, petrol, and diesel cars in Spain using a cradle-to-grave Life Cycle Assessment approach. It aims to accomplish a precise analysis of a wide range of environmental impact categories. To this end, we provide a transparent inventory of components and vehicle manufacture, their distribution, use phase, and end-of-life, together with a detailed description of the Spanish 2014–2018 electricity generation mix. Furthermore, based on European projections, the work evaluates future energy scenarios, 2030 and 2050, to assess the impact of increasing renewable electricity in electric cars. In the current Spanish scenario and assuming a lifetime of 150,000 km, BEV life cycle CO2-eq emissions are 48% lower than petrol ICEV. Future scenarios of the Spanish electricity grid confirm that a massive introduction of renewable energies would lead to a 19.26% and 27.41% decrease of CO2-eq emissions in 2030 and 2050, respectively. Nevertheless, current and future energy scenario predictions show that electric vehicles will produce an increase in fine particulate matter formation (26%), human carcinogenic (20%) and non-carcinogenic toxicity (61%), terrestrial ecotoxicity (31%), freshwater ecotoxicity (39%), and marine ecotoxicity (41%) relative to petrol vehicles. Transfer of environmental burdens from the use phase to the raw materials extraction and manufacturing phases entails a delocalisation of the impacts, which constitutes a new challenge at environmental, social, and legal levels. This study is the first comparative analysis of the environmental impacts of passenger vehicles in Spain from a cradle-to-grave perspective, considering different impact categories and time scopes.
•Future scenarios for Spain enhance electric vehicle carbon footprint reduction.•Electric vehicles show the highest toxicity on ecosystems and human health.•Electric and hybrid vehicles transfer most of their impacts to the manufacture.•Future scenarios rise the geographical delocalisation of environmental impacts.•Data inventories are proposed for the current and future Spanish electricity mixes.
Mapping the impact of pregnancy on the human brain is essential for understanding the neurobiology of maternal caregiving. Recently, we found that pregnancy leads to a long‐lasting reduction in ...cerebral gray matter volume. However, the morphometric features behind the volumetric reductions remain unexplored. Furthermore, the similarity between these reductions and those occurring during adolescence, another hormonally similar transitional period of life, still needs to be investigated. Here, we used surface‐based methods to analyze the longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging data of a group of 25 first‐time mothers (before and after pregnancy) and compare them to those of a group of 25 female adolescents (during 2 years of pubertal development). For both first‐time mothers and adolescent girls, a monthly rate of volumetric reductions of 0.09 mm3 was observed. In both cases, these reductions were accompanied by decreases in cortical thickness, surface area, local gyrification index, sulcal depth, and sulcal length, as well as increases in sulcal width. In fact, the changes associated with pregnancy did not differ from those that characterize the transition during adolescence in any of these measures. Our findings are consistent with the notion that the brain morphometric changes associated with pregnancy and adolescence reflect similar hormonally primed biological processes.
The need to find sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels in aviation without requiring drastic structural changes in turbines and tanks has prompted a search for new components to blend with the ...standard Jet A1. Turpentine obtained by vacuum distillation of resin extracted from the common pine Pinus pinaster or as a byproduct of the paper industry is compared with hydrogenated turpentine at different levels of conversion as a component of jet blends. Properties such as density, kinematic viscosity, heating values, lubricity, flash point, pour point, crystallization onset temperature, and smoke point are reported. Turpentine shows high soot formation tendency. Hydrogenation was carried out as a method to saturate the double bonds of pinenes and to overcome this problem. The performance of four hydrogenated turpentines at different levels of turpentine–hydroturpentine conversion proves improvements in some key properties and especially reductions in the sooting tendency, concluding that partially hydrogenated turpentine can be blended up to 50% v/v with Jet A1, fulfilling the limit required by the standard specification for aviation turbine fuels containing synthesized hydrocarbons.
Titanium is one of the most interesting materials in modern manufacturing thanks to its good mechanical properties and light weight. These features make it very attractive for use in the aeronautical ...and aerospace industries. Important alloys, such as Ti6Al4V, are extensively used. Nevertheless, titanium alloys present several problems in machining processes. Their machinability is poor, affected by low thermal conductivity, which generates very high cutting temperatures and thermal gradients in the cutting tool. Lubricants and cutting fluids have traditionally been used to solve this problem. However, this option is unsustainable as such lubricants represent a risk to the environment and to the health of the operator due to their different chemical components. Therefore, novel, sustainable and green lubrication techniques are necessary. Dry machining is the most sustainable option. Nevertheless, difficult-to-machine materials like titanium alloys cannot be machined under these conditions, leading to very high cutting temperatures and excessive tool wear. This study is intended to describe, analyse and review the non-traditional lubrication techniques developed in turning, drilling and milling processes since 2015, including minimum quantity of lubricant, cryogenic lubrication, minimum quantity of cooling lubrication or high-pressure coolant. The aim is to provide a general overview of the recent advances in each technique for the main machining processes.
IMPORTANCE More than 70% of patients with resistant hypertension have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). However, there is little evidence about the effect of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) ...treatment on blood pressure in patients with resistant hypertension. OBJECTIVE To assess the effect of CPAP treatment on blood pressure values and nocturnal blood pressure patterns in patients with resistant hypertension and OSA. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Open-label, randomized, multicenter clinical trial of parallel groups with blinded end point design conducted in 24 teaching hospitals in Spain involving 194 patients with resistant hypertension and an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) of 15 or higher. Data were collected from June 2009 to October 2011. INTERVENTIONS CPAP or no therapy while maintaining usual blood pressure control medication. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary end point was the change in 24-hour mean blood pressure after 12 weeks. Secondary end points included changes in other blood pressure values and changes in nocturnal blood pressure patterns. Both intention-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol analyses were performed. RESULTS A total of 194 patients were randomly assigned to receive CPAP (n = 98) or no CPAP (control; n = 96). The mean AHI was 40.4 (SD, 18.9) and an average of 3.8 antihypertensive drugs were taken per patient. Baseline 24-hour mean blood pressure was 103.4 mm Hg; systolic blood pressure (SBP), 144.2 mm Hg; and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), 83 mm Hg. At baseline, 25.8% of patients displayed a dipper pattern (a decrease of at least 10% in the average nighttime blood pressure compared with the average daytime blood pressure). The percentage of patients using CPAP for 4 or more hours per day was 72.4%. When the changes in blood pressure over the study period were compared between groups by ITT, the CPAP group achieved a greater decrease in 24-hour mean blood pressure (3.1 mm Hg 95% CI, 0.6 to 5.6; P = .02) and 24-hour DBP (3.2 mm Hg 95% CI, 1.0 to 5.4; P = .005), but not in 24-hour SBP (3.1 mm Hg 95% CI, −0.6 to 6.7; P = .10) compared with the control group. Moreover, the percentage of patients displaying a nocturnal blood pressure dipper pattern at the 12-week follow-up was greater in the CPAP group than in the control group (35.9% vs 21.6%; adjusted odds ratio OR, 2.4 95% CI, 1.2 to 5.1; P = .02). There was a significant positive correlation between hours of CPAP use and the decrease in 24-hour mean blood pressure (r = 0.29, P = .006), SBP (r = 0.25; P = .02), and DBP (r = 0.30, P = .005). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Among patients with OSA and resistant hypertension, CPAP treatment for 12 weeks compared with control resulted in a decrease in 24-hour mean and diastolic blood pressure and an improvement in the nocturnal blood pressure pattern. Further research is warranted to assess longer-term health outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00616265
The environmental occurrence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Crone, Stephanie; Vives‐Flórez, Martha; Kvich, Lasse ...
APMIS : acta pathologica, microbiologica et immunologica Scandinavica,
March 2020, Volume:
128, Issue:
3
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is generally described as ubiquitous in natural settings, such as soil and water. However, because anecdotal observations and published reports have questioned whether or not ...this description is true, we undertook a rigorous study using three methods to investigate the occurrence of P. aeruginosa: We investigated environmental samples, analyzed 16S rRNA data, and undertook a systematic review and meta‐analysis of published data. The environmental sample screening identified P. aeruginosa as significantly associated with hydrocarbon and pesticide‐contaminated environments and feces, as compared to uncontaminated environments in which its prevalence was relatively low. The 16S rRNA data analysis showed that P. aeruginosa sequences were present in all habitats but were most abundant in samples from human and animals. Similarly, the meta‐analysis revealed that samples obtained from environments with intense human contact had a higher prevalence of P. aeruginosa compared to those with less human contact. Thus, we found a clear tendency of P. aeruginosa to be present in places closely linked with human activity. Although P. aeruginosa may be ubiquitous in nature, it is usually scarce in pristine environments. Thus, we suggest that P. aeruginosa should be described as a bacterium largely found in locations associated with human activity.
Clean technologies are rapidly increasing in the last decade. In the transport sector, market share of global electric car sales has changed from 0.0 % in 2010 to 3.2 % (2.1million) in 2020, and ...predictions show that sales could reach near 30 % in 2030. This drastic change is mainly encouraged by environmental goals set to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) expressed in CO2-eq, not emitted by electric vehicles (EVs) during the use phase. However, clean technologies might cause other impacts during manufacture and, while clearly reduce the dependency on oil, can increase the dependency on other materials. In this context, the objectives of our work are quantifying the critical raw materials needed by permanents magnets and batteries of EVs (neodymium, lithium, and cobalt); their supply risk, performing a material flow analysis; and studying their environmental impacts using the methodology “Environmentally-Extended Multi-Regional Input-Output Analysis”. This methodology is used to quantify the produced impacts and the country where the impacts are being produced, in contrast to conventional methodologies that only calculate global impacts. Therefore, environmental impacts are estimated considering different scenarios, based on environmental objectives of the European Union and China. In most scenarios China shows a key role in mining and processing of metals, being the country where major impacts are produced. Obtained results are useful to assess which environmental proposals are more effective to reduce the environmental impact of EVs and set the ground to understand the geostrategic importance of key metals used for EVs manufacture.
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•Methodology EEMRIO allows studying where emissions are produced.•China manufactures 61 % of magnets and 79 % of batteries for EV produced globally.•Europe has 35 % of EVs global stock but only 1.2 % of global CO2-eq emissions produced.•Europe could reduce emissions 1.5 times by manufacturing batteries instead importing.
Interferons (IFN) are crucial antiviral and immunomodulatory cytokines that exert their function through the regulation of a myriad of genes, many of which are not yet characterized. Here, we reveal ...that lipin‐2, a phosphatidic acid phosphatase whose mutations produce an autoinflammatory syndrome known as Majeed syndrome in humans, is regulated by IFN in a STAT‐1‐dependent manner. Lipin‐2 inhibits viral replication both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, lipin‐2 also acts as a regulator of inflammation in a viral context by reducing the signaling through TLR3 and the generation of ROS and release of mtDNA that ultimately activate the NLRP3 inflammasome. Inhibitors of mtDNA release from mitochondria restrict IL‐1β production in lipin‐2‐deficient animals in a model of viral infection. Finally, analyses of databases from COVID‐19 patients show that LPIN2 expression levels negatively correlate with the severity of the disease. Overall, these results uncover novel regulatory mechanisms of the IFN response driven by lipin‐2 and open new perspectives for the future management of patients with LPIN2 mutations.
Synopsis
Lipin‐2 expression is controlled by interferons, reducing cytomegalovirus replication and inflammasome activation. Patients with decreased LPIN2 expression experience increased inflammatory responses during SARS‐CoV‐2 infection.
Lipin‐2 expression is regulated by interferons through STAT‐1 activation.
Lipin‐2 controls cytomegalovirus replication.
Lipin‐2 restricts inflammasome activation and Il‐1β production during viral encounters.
Lipin‐2 expression is reduced in symptomatic vs. asymptomatic COVID‐19 patients.
Lipin‐2 expression is controlled by interferons, reducing cytomegalovirus replication and inflammasome activation. Patients with decreased LPIN2 expression experience increased inflammatory responses during SARS‐CoV‐2 infection.
Conditions that sustain constant bacterial growth are seldom found in nature. Oligotrophic environments and competition among microorganisms force bacteria to be able to adapt quickly to rough and ...changing situations. A particular lifestyle composed of continuous cycles of growth and starvation is commonly referred to as feast and famine. Bacteria have developed many different mechanisms to survive in nutrient-depleted and harsh environments, varying from producing a more resistant vegetative cell to complex developmental programmes. As a consequence of prolonged starvation, certain bacterial species enter a dynamic nonproliferative state in which continuous cycles of growth and death occur until 'better times' come (restoration of favourable growth conditions). In the laboratory, microbiologists approach famine situations using batch culture conditions. The entrance to the stationary phase is a very regulated process governed by the alternative sigma factor RpoS. Induction of RpoS changes the gene expression pattern, aiming to produce a more resistant cell. The study of stationary phase revealed very interesting phenomena such as the growth advantage in stationary phase phenotype. This review focuses on some of the interesting responses of gram-negative bacteria when they enter the fascinating world of stationary phase.
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