Extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC) is the most frequent etiological agent of urinary tract infections (UTIs). Particular evolutionary successful lineages are associated with severe UTIs and ...higher incidences of multidrug resistance. Most of the resistance genes are acquired by horizontal transfer of plasmids and other mobile genetic elements (MGEs), and this process has been associated with the successful dissemination of particular lineages. Here, we identified the presence of MGEs and their role in virulence and resistance profiles of isolates obtained from the urine of hospitalized patients in Brazil. Isolates belonging to the successful evolutionary lineages of sequence type (ST) 131, ST405, and ST648 were found to be multidrug-resistant, while those belonging to ST69 and ST73 were often not. Among the ST131, ST405, and ST648 isolates with a resistant phenotype, a high number of mainly IncFII plasmids was identified. The plasmids contained resistance cassettes, and these were also found within phage-related sequences and the chromosome of the isolates. The resistance cassettes were found to harbor several resistance genes, including blaCTX-M-15. In addition, in ST131 isolates, diverse pathogenicity islands similar to those found in highly virulent ST73 isolates were detected. Also, a new genomic island associated with several virulence genes was identified in ST69 and ST131 isolates. In addition, several other MGEs present in the ST131 reference strain EC958 were identified in our isolates, most of them exclusively in ST131 isolates. In contrast, genomic islands present in this reference strain were only partially present or completely absent in our ST131 isolates. Of all isolates studied, ST73 and ST131 isolates had the most similar virulence profile. Overall, no clear association was found between the presence of specific MGEs and virulence profiles. Furthermore, the interplay between virulence and resistance by acquiring MGEs seemed to be lineage dependent. Although the acquisition of IncF plasmids, specific PAIs, GIs, and other MGEs seemed to be involved in the success of some lineages, it cannot explain the success of different lineages, also indicating other (host) factors are involved in this process. Nevertheless, the detection, identification, and surveillance of lineage-specific MGEs may be useful to monitor (new) emerging clones.
This work proposes a methodology for modeling and simulating stochastic processes of Variable Renewable Energy (VRE) sources production. The main objective is to capture, in the scenarios, both the ...influence of climate phenomena and the complementarity between different sources based on the definition of joint states of VREs. Case studies were developed based on data from three renewable energies covering the Brazilian territory. Regarding the evaluation criteria, the results were satisfactory, and the proposed methodology performed better than the benchmark model applied in the Brazilian market.
•Framework for modeling and simulating renewable energy time series.•Methodology based on Markov Chain.•Representativeness of the complementarity among various sources.•Influence of climatic phenomena, like ENSO, on renewable energies.•Outperforming the Brazilian benchmark, notably in tail distribution replication.
Metal homeostasis is fundamental for optimal performance of cell metabolic pathways. Over the course of evolution, several systems emerged to warrant an intracellular metal equilibrium. When exposed ...to growth-challenging copper concentrations, Gram-negative bacteria quickly activate copper-detoxification mechanisms, dependent on transmembrane-protein complexes and metallochaperones that mediate metal efflux. Here, we show that vesiculation is also a common bacterial response mechanism to high copper concentrations, and that extracellular vesicles (EVs) play a role in transporting copper. We present evidence that bacteria from different ecological niches release copious amounts of EVs when exposed to copper. Along with the activation of the classical detoxification systems, we demonstrate that copper-stressed cells of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 release EVs loaded with the copper-binding metallochaperone CopM. Under standard growth conditions, CopM-loaded EVs could also be isolated from a Synechocystis strain lacking a functional TolC-protein, which we characterize here as exhibiting a copper-sensitive phenotype. Analyses of Synechocystis tolC-mutant’s EVs isolated from cells cultivated under standard conditions indicated the presence of copper therein, in significantly higher levels as compared to those from the wild-type. Altogether, these results suggest that release of EVs in bacteria represent a novel copper-secretion mechanism, shedding light into alternative mechanisms of bacterial metal resistance.
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•Extracellular vesicles (EVs): overlooked metal resistance mechanism in bacteria.•Vesiculation is a common response mechanism to copper-induced stressful conditions.•Cyanobacterial EVs are packaged with metal binding proteins.•Cyanobacterial EVs work as copper-secreting nanocapsules.
This study aimed to evaluate the effect of diets including 10%, 20%, and 30% of black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens) meal (HM) (diets HM10, HM20, and HM30, respectively), replacing 17%, 35%, ...and 52% of fishmeal (FM), on growth performance, whole-body composition and fatty acid (FA) profile, plasma biochemistry, and intermediary metabolism of meagre (Argyrosomus regius) juveniles. For that purpose, triplicate groups of 18.0 ± 0.02 g fish were fed a control diet (CTR) without HM, and the experimental diets for 9 weeks. Growth, feed efficiency, protein efficiency ratio, nitrogen and energy retentions linearly decreased with the increase of dietary HM level. With the exception of ash, whole-body composition was not linearly affected by dietary HM inclusion. Regarding whole-body FA profile, total saturated fatty acids (SFA), SFA: polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) ratio, and total n-6PUFA linearly increased with increasing levels of dietary HM, while total n-3PUFA, n-3 long chain PUFA (LC-PUFA), n-3:n-6 ratio, and unsaturation index linearly decreased with increasing levels of HM in the diets. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) whole-body retention linearly decreased while lauric acid (12:0) retention increased with the increase of HM in the diet. Plasma glucose linearly increased, while plasma triglycerides and total lipids decreased with the dietary level of HM. Hepatic amino acid catabolic (alanine aminotransferease and aspartate aminotransferease), and lipogenic (glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and malic enzyme) enzymes activities were unaffected by diet composition, whereas lipid catabolic (3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase) enzyme activity linearly decreased with dietary HM level. Glutamate dehydrogenase, an amino acid catabolic enzyme, was lower in fish fed the HM20 diet than the other HM-including diets. Overall, 10% of HM, corresponding to 17% of FM replacement, might be included in meagre diets without major adverse effects on growth, feed utilization, whole-body composition and FA profile.
•This is the first study using insect meal in meagre diets.•A 10% Hermetia meal replacing 17% fishmeal might be included in meagre diets.•A 30% Hermetia meal dietary inclusion reduces meagre growth.•Whole-body SFA and n-6PUFA increase while n-3PUFA and n-3LC PUFA decrease with increasing levels of Hermetia meal in diets.
Besides reducing the sewage organic and nutrient load, microalgae-based wastewater treatments promote the recovery of important natural resources, such as N and P, which can be used for biofuels and ...animal feed production. In this context, the present study proposes a treatment system based on a circular economy and resource recovery of waste streams: an up-flow anaerobic reactor (UASB, widely used in developing countries such as Brazil) followed by high-rate algae ponds (HRAPs). Geographic Information Systems tools were used to select suitable areas for allocating the proposed system in Minas Gerais (Brazil). Two regions showed excellent suitability for allocating the UASB + HRAP system, with more than 70% coverage each. These areas cover 59 municipalities, with a production capacity of 43,565 m³/day of raw sewage, a volume that, after treatment, can be used for crop irrigation and fish farming. In addition, municipalities can produce 6621.9 kg/day of microalgae biomass. This biomass can generate 13.96 MWh/day of electrical energy, 1316.7 kg/day of nutrients for animal feed, 3.97 kg of β-carotene, 2576.3 kg of biodiesel, 132.4 kg of Omega-3, 198.7 kg of glycerol or 1125.72 kg of ethanol. Productivities were calculated from three by-product valorization routes of the suggested system: energy, agriculture, and high-value products. The proposed system improves current wastewater treatment standards in the selected regions, with the potential to generate valuable resources compatible with attractive economic activities from these areas.
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•Norte de Minas and Central Mineira have greater suitability for the proposed system.•Main resource recovery routes are anaerobic digestion, agriculture and biorefinery.•The proposed treatment system can produce energy, animal feed, ethanol and biodiesel.•Areas can produce 6621.9 kg day-1 of algal biomass from 43,565 m³ day-1 of sewage.•For animal feed, recovery potential of 1316.67 kg day-1 of algal biomass.
Fertility preservation must be discussed with reproductive age women before cancer treatment. Heart transplantation raises complex issues in pregnancy. Pregnancy in a heart transplant woman after ...pelvic irradiation involves close multidisciplinary follow-up to avoid complications in the mother and the foetus. We report the first live birth in a heart transplant woman after pelvic irradiation, chemotherapy and fertility preservation.
A 36-year-old heart transplant woman with pelvic non-Hodgkin lymphoma spared her fertility, with cryopreservation of oocytes and embryos, before chemotherapy and pelvic irradiation. After multidisciplinary discussion and pre-conception evaluation, pregnancy was achieved. A close follow-up by a multidisciplinary team allowed a normal pregnancy without maternal or foetal complications and the delivery of a healthy infant.
Achieving pregnancy in heart transplant women with iatrogenic ovarian failure after oncologic treatment including pelvic irradiation is possible and can be successful. Careful and close surveillance by a multidisciplinary team is mandatory due to increased risk of maternal and foetal complications.
Objectives
to compare the parameters of pain, oedema, temperature, and soft tissue closure in dental sockets that received two different photobiomodulation (PBM) protocols following extractions.
...Materials and methods
Thirty-one participants had their teeth 38 and 48 extracted. Subsequently, one of the dental sockets received PBM at a wavelength (WL) of 808 nanometers (808 group- nm) and the other dental socket received the PBM at WLs of 808 nm and 660 nm, simultaneously (808 + 660 group). The PBM was applied immediately after the surgical procedure and on the 3rd and 7th days.
Results
The mean of Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) values for pain were 1.45 for the 3rd day and 0.52 for the 7th day in the 808 + 660 and 808 group, respectively. The mean the pogonion-tragus measurement, used to assess facial oedema on the 3rd day, was 15.38 cm (range 13.5–17.5) in the 808 + 660 group and 15.48 cm (range 14.0–17.5) in the 808 group. The mean facial temperatures in the 808 + 660 group were 34.9 degrees Celsius (ºC) (range 33.5–36.4) on the 3rd day and 35 ºC (range 33.4–36.4) on the 7th day. In the 808 group, the mean temperatures were 34.9 ºC (range 33.9–36.2) on the 3rd day and 34.9 ºC (33.7–36.2) on the 7th day. Regarding the dimensions of the dental socket, the mean were similar for both groups. Significant differences between the groups were only observed in the pain parameter and only on the 7th day, being greater for the 808 + 660 group (
p
= 0.031).
Conclusions
The association of the 660 nm with 808 nm, and the increase in energy did not showed more benefits in pain reduction oedema, or acceleration of the closure of the soft tissues of the dental sockets of lower third molars, in the protocols used here.
Clinical relevance
There is no need to combine lasers at wavelengths of 660 and 808 nm to reduce oedema, pain and repair of soft tissues after extraction of lower third molars.
Clinical trial registration
This trial was registered in the Brazilian Registry of Clinical Trials (ReBEC) with the following code: RBR-66pyrh8, on 29th December, 2022.
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic, complex and multifactorial disease associated characteristically with hyperglycemia. One of the most recently approved antidiabetic drug classes for clinical use are ...sodium-glucose cotransporter type 2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors. SGLT-2 is a protein expressed in the kidneys, responsible for glucose reabsorption from the glomerular filtrate to the plasma. It is known, nowadays, that diabetic patients show an increased glucose renal reabsorption capacity, caused by the overexpression of the SGLT-2 transporter, thus contributing to hyperglycemia. From establishing this correlation, the SGLT-2 transporter started to be considered as a therapeutic target of interest, culminating in the approval of the first antidiabetic SGLT-2 inhibitor, dapagliflozin (Forxiga® or Farxiga®, Bristol-Myers Squibb & AstraZeneca), in 2012 in Europe. On the other hand, canagliflozin (Invokana®, Janssen Pharmaceutical) was the first drug in this class to be approved by the FDA, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in 2013. This review concerns the discovery and development of the first representatives of this class of antidiabetic drugs, and the description of new optimized analogues that are currently in the clinical and preclinical stages of development.
Novel SGLT-2 selective inhibitors, an innovative therapeutic approach for glycemia control in diabetic patients.
Gout is an inflammatory disease characterized by the accumulation of monosodium urate crystals (MSU) in the joints, leading to severe pain and inflammation. Stephalagine is a Brazilian Savanna ...aporphine alkaloid isolated from Annona crassiflora Mart. Fruit peel, that has been popularly used to treat rheumatism and have been described with antinociceptive properties. However, no studies evaluated the possible therapeutic properties of stephalagine in arthritic pain.
To evaluate the possible antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects of stephalagine in an acute gout attack in mice.
Adult male wild type C57BL/6/J/UFU mice (20–25 g) were used (process number 018/17). The treated group received stephalagine (1 mg/kg, by gavage) and the vehicle group received saline (10 mL/kg, by gavage), both 1 h before the MSU crystals (100 μg/ankle joint) administration. All groups were analyzed for mechanical allodynia, thermal hyperalgesia, overt pain-like behaviors, and edema development at 2, 4, 6 and 24 h after injections. Synovial fluid and the ankle articulation from the injected joint were collected 4 h after administrations for myeloperoxidase enzyme activity, IL-1β measurement, and histological analysis.
Stephalagine had a significant antinociceptive effect on mechanical allodynia, when compared to vehicle group at 2–24 h after intra-articular injection of MSU and 2 h for spontaneous and cold thermal sensitivity. Stephalagine was also able to significantly reduce the articular edema (45 ± 1%), the activity of the myeloperoxidase enzyme (37 ± 6%), and IL-1β levels (43 ± 3%). The histological analysis confirms that stephalagine dramatically reduced the number of infiltrating inflammatory cells (75 ± 6%) in MSU injected animals. Also, stephalagine treatment did not alter the uric acid levels, xanthine oxidase activity, AST and ALT activities, urea and creatinine levels, neither cause any macroscopic changes in the mice’s weight, deformations, changes in the coat, or feces.
Stephalagine may be an alternative for the management of gout, once it was able to induce antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects without causing adverse effects on the evaluated parameters.
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•Alkaloids are used to treat a variety of painful conditions such as gout.•Stephalagine is an aporphine alkaloid purified from Annona crassiflora mart.•Stephalagine oral treatment has anti-nociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects.•Stephalagine oral treatment does not induce kidney or liver damage in mice.•Stephalagine may be a promising therapeutic option to treat gout.
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