The near-bottom zooplankton over three seamounts of the eastern Canary Islands (Amanay, El Banquete and Concepción) was analyzed, identifying the environmental variables that explain biomass ...distributions over them. Zooplankton composition changed between adjacent water masses, except for the two deepest assemblages associated with Atlantic Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) and Mediterranean Water (MW). The highest biomass of total zooplankton and of main taxa (e.g. copepods, chaetognaths, siphonophores) were recorded at the seamount summits, i.e., over Amanay-El Banquete (summit depths of 23–24 m) associated with Surface Water (SF) and over Concepción (150 m) in upper levels of the North Atlantic Central Water (NACW). Biomass minima at the three banks were found at ca. 250–650 m, in the deepest levels of NACW. At ca. 700–1000 m (the level occupied by AAIW) and below 1000 m (MW level) biomass increased again. Near-bottom fluorometry (f5mab, 5 m above bottom) and dissolved oxygen (O2 5mab) were the main variables explaining changes of total zooplankton/main taxa biomass. Biomass minima (250–650 m) coincided with decreases of O2 5mab (3.30–3.99 ml/l at 400–700 m) at deepest depths occupied by NACW. Other variables not included in our models like turbidity (resuspension of particles) may have locally enhanced zooplankton aggregation, as they may locally occur alongside Concepcion at the NACW-AAIW confluence (at ca. 700 m), probably from the effects of internal waves. Our results suggest that observations regarding the attraction of organisms to the stationary substrates of seamounts could be related to elevated chlorophyll fluorescence and O2 5mab concentration. Peaks in those variables apparently enhance zooplankton aggregation.
•In the east Canary Islands seamounts region, the highest zooplankton biomass of all taxa was found over seamount summits.•Biomass minima occurred at 700–1000 m, at levels occupied by Atlantic Antarctic intermediate waters.•No apparent long-term changes were recorded in deep zooplankton composition.•Zooplankton aggregation over seamont summits, were related to increases in Chl a and O2.•Biomass minima coincided with decrease of near bottom O2 in the depth range of AAIW.
Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (ATCC 53103) is one of the clinically best-studied probiotic organisms. Moreover, L. rhamnosus GG displays very good in vitro adherence to epithelial cells and mucus. Here, ...we report that L. rhamnosus GG is able to form biofilms on abiotic surfaces, in contrast to other strains of the Lactobacillus casei group tested under the same conditions. Microtiter plate biofilm assays indicated that in vitro biofilm formation by L. rhamnosus GG is strongly modulated by culture medium factors and conditions related to the gastrointestinal environment, including low pH; high osmolarity; and the presence of bile, mucins, and nondigestible polysaccharides. Additionally, phenotypic analysis of mutants affected in exopolysaccharides (wzb), lipoteichoic acid (dltD), and central metabolism (luxS) showed their relative importance in biofilm formation by L. rhamnosus GG.
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•Non-reducible oxides MgO and La2O3 investigated as modifiers of Au/SiO2 catalysts•Both increase metal-support interaction leading predominantly to 1 nm Au particles•Nature of ...modifier determines Au electronic states and their nanoparticles stability•Modification by La gives fourfold increase of CO oxidation on prereduced catalysts•Both La and Mg increase slightly 1-octanol oxidation rate without deactivation
Gold nanocatalysts, active in several oxidation reactions, suffer of insufficient time-on-stream stability. The easiest way to solve this problem is modifying the support, due to metal-support interaction. This study compares modifying effects of MgO and La2O3 on textural, electronic, and catalytic properties of Au nanoparticles (NPs) supported on inert nanostructured SiO2 in CO oxidation and liquid phase 1-octanol oxidation. Modification of the silica support surface with La and Mg increased metal support interaction, leading to gold particles with primary size of 1 nm but with different stability: stable under different pretreatment conditions on Mg-modified samples but highly sensible to the pretreatments on La-modified samples. Both modifiers changed electronic properties of supported gold favoring formation and stabilization of Auδ+ states, which are probable gold active sites in catalytic redox processes. Modification with La and Mg oxides changed catalytic properties in CO oxidation before and after pretreatment in H2 at 300 °C for 1 h. Gold catalysts supported on La- and Mg-modified silica showed similar performance in 1-octanol oxidation with higher conversion than unmodified Au/SiO2. La and Mg showed better promoting effects of catalytic properties in this reaction than redox modifiers (Fe and Ce) supported on small SiO2 particles.
Ataxia and hereditary spastic paraplegia are rare neurodegenerative syndromes. We aimed to determine the prevalence of these disorders in Spain in 2019.
We conducted a cross-sectional, multicentre, ...retrospective, descriptive study of patients with ataxia and hereditary spastic paraplegia in Spain between March 2018 and December 2019.
We gathered data from a total of 1.809 patients from 11 autonomous communities, provided by 47 neurologists or geneticists. Mean (SD) age in our sample was 53.64 (20.51) years; 920 patients were men (50.8%) and 889 were women (49.2%). The genetic defect was unidentified in 920 patients (47.6%). A total of 1371 patients (70.9%) had ataxia and 562 (29.1%) had hereditary spastic paraplegia. Prevalence rates for ataxia and hereditary spastic paraplegia were estimated at 5.48 and 2.24 cases per 100 000 population, respectively. The most frequent type of dominant ataxia in our sample was SCA3, and the most frequent recessive ataxia was Friedreich ataxia. The most frequent type of dominant hereditary spastic paraplegia in our sample was SPG4, and the most frequent recessive type was SPG7.
In our sample, the estimated prevalence of ataxia and hereditary spastic paraplegia was 7.73 cases per 100 000 population. This rate is similar to those reported for other countries. Genetic diagnosis was not available in 47.6% of cases. Despite these limitations, our study provides useful data for estimating the necessary healthcare resources for these patients, raising awareness of these diseases, determining the most frequent causal mutations for local screening programmes, and promoting the development of clinical trials.
Resumen: La auditoría en salud es un proceso dinámico y en continuo avance que permite evaluar y controlar estándares de calidad en las instituciones de salud, sin embargo, la falta de ...estandarización y confiabilidad de resultados sigue siendo un reto por superar. Este trabajo presenta la validación de un prototipo de herramienta de auditoría para la gestión de equipos médicos la cual se realizó en dos fases: primero durante la implementación en tres hospitales del Área Metropolitana del Valle de Aburra, en Antioquia, Colombia, y posteriormente a través del análisis estadístico del juicio de expertos. Los hallazgos permitieron generar acciones de mejora con base en los informes de fortalezas y debilidades puntuales. Por su parte las mediciones de coeficientes de confiabilidad (Cronbach α= 0.90) y correlación de expertos (Spearman =0.88) indicaron resultados favorables para la herramienta. Además, la medición de promedios, desviaciones estándar y coeficientes de variación para cada ítem de la validación, expuso las mejoras que requiere la herramienta para una versión futura. La propuesta de la herramienta se limita a la regulación en salud Colombiana sin embargo no se aleja del marco normativo internacional, por lo que se considera es un paso relevante importante para convertir las auditorias en salud en procesos estandarizados. Puede concluirse que integrar al ingeniero biomédico en actividades de auditoría de calidad en salud con herramientas confiables ofrece un beneficio importante para la toma de decisiones oportuna en la gestión de los equipos médicos.
Electronic metal–support interactions (EMSI) describe the electron flow between metal sites and a metal oxide support. It is generally used to follow the mechanism of redox reactions. In this study ...of CuO‐CeO2 redox, an additional flow of electrons from metallic Cu to surface carbon species is observed via a combination of operando X‐ray absorption spectroscopy, synchrotron X‐ray powder diffraction, near ambient pressure near edge X‐ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy, and diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy. An electronic metal–support–carbon interaction (EMSCI) is proposed to explain the reaction pathway of CO oxidation. The EMSCI provides a complete picture of the mass and electron flow, which will help predict and improve the catalytic performance in the selective activation of CO2, carbonate, or carbonyl species in C1 chemistry.
During the oxidation of CO over the surface of a CuO‐CeO2 catalyst, electrons are simultaneously transferred from Cu0 to lattice Ce4+ and surface carbon species deposited from CO. These “electronic metal–support–carbon interactions” (EMSCI) are thought to play an important role in the reactions involving the support and surface carbon species in C1 chemistry.
Vase life (VL) tests on cut roses obtained from commercial sources were conducted at FloraHolland. Water stress symptoms were the most important criterion terminating VL in 46 out of 50 assessed ...cultivars. These symptoms appear when water loss exceeds water uptake. Inadequate control of water loss during postharvest period, therefore, limits VL. Here we review the link between preharvest conditions and the control of water loss in the postharvest phase, and discuss how the VL evaluation protocol may affect the outcome. Key cultivation-related environmental factors affecting the stomatal functionality are a low evaporative demand, as a result of either high air humidity or low air velocity, and continuous light (CL). Low evaporative demand weakens stomatal functionality considerably more than CL; the combination of both factors is detrimental. Reduced foliar abscisic acid concentration underlies the attenuated stomatal responsiveness following cultivation under either condition. For a given batch of roses the incidence of water stress symptoms during the VL may be either accelerated or delayed depending on the evaluation protocol. For instance, assessing the effect of high humidity during growth by using long stems with several leaves leads to short VL, but when e.g., short stem roses are evaluated VL may not be affected. This resulting shift in both the phenotype and the relationship between phenotype and preharvest conditions highlights the necessity for common standards in VL analysis. Although our understanding of how preharvest conditions induce adverse water relations during VL has developed significantly, the gap between phenotype and genotype remains particularly large.
Traditionally, patient travel history has been used to distinguish imported from autochthonous malaria cases, but the dormant liver stages of Plasmodium vivax confound this approach. Molecular tools ...offer an alternative method to identify, and map imported cases. Using machine learning approaches incorporating hierarchical fixation index and decision tree analyses applied to 799 P. vivax genomes from 21 countries, we identified 33-SNP, 50-SNP and 55-SNP barcodes (GEO33, GEO50 and GEO55), with high capacity to predict the infection's country of origin. The Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC) for an existing, commonly applied 38-SNP barcode (BR38) exceeded 0.80 in 62% countries. The GEO panels outperformed BR38, with median MCCs > 0.80 in 90% countries at GEO33, and 95% at GEO50 and GEO55. An online, open-access, likelihood-based classifier framework was established to support data analysis (vivaxGEN-geo). The SNP selection and classifier methods can be readily amended for other use cases to support malaria control programs.
Lipoteichoic acid (LTA) is a macroamphiphile molecule which performs several functions in gram-positive bacteria, such as maintenance of cell wall homeostasis. D-Alanylation of LTA requires the ...proteins encoded by the dlt operon, and this process is directly related to the charge properties of this polymer strongly contributing to its function. The insertional inactivation of dltD of the probiotic strain Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (ATCC 53103) resulted in the complete absence of D-alanyl esters in the LTA as confirmed by nuclear magnetic resonance analysis. This was reflected in modifications of the bacterial cell surface properties. The dltD strain showed 2.4-fold-increased cell length, a low survival capacity in response to gastric juice challenge, an increased sensitivity to human beta-defensin-2, an increased rate of autolysis, an increased capacity to initiate growth in the presence of an anionic detergent, and a decreased capacity to initiate growth in the presence of cationic peptides compared to wild-type results. However, in vitro experiments revealed no major differences for adhesion to human intestinal epithelial cells, biofilm formation, and immunomodulation. These properties are considered to be important for probiotics. The role of the dlt operon in lactobacilli is discussed in view of these results.
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