Plastic poses a significant environmental impact due to its chemical resilience, leading to prolonged and degradation times and resulting in widespread adverse effects on global flora and fauna. Cutinases are essential enzymes in the biodegradation process of synthetic polymers like polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which recognized organisms can break down. Here, we used molecular dynamics and binding free energy calculations to explore the interaction of nine synthetic polymers, including PET, with Cutinase from Fusarium oxysporum (FoCut).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The neck, and specifically the prominence of the thyroid cartilage, can be considered a marker of male gender, which is often unwanted by transgender women. Chondrolaryngoplasty is traditionally performed using an open transcervical approach, which, while effective, leaves visible scars that can compromise patient satisfaction. Recent advancements, such as the transoral endoscopic vestibular approach (TOEVA), have emerged as promising alternatives, eliminating external scars and improving esthetic outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To evaluate diagnostic performance of four diagnostic methods for rapid determination of methicillin resistance in S. aureus positive blood cultures (BCs).
Methods: Clinical and spiked BCs were subjected to the evaluation of the following methods and protocols: a.
Technological advancements have allowed the detection of increasingly complex forensic genetics samples, as minimum amounts of DNA can now be detected in crime scenes or other settings of interest. The weight of the evidence depends on several parameters regarding the population and sample-related analytical factors, the latter in a greater number when the DNA amount is considered. This led to the development of probabilistic genotyping software (PGS), able to deal with the associated complexities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: The past decade has seen remarkable progress in identifying genes that, when impacted by deleterious coding variation, confer high risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), intellectual disability, and other developmental disorders. However, most underlying gene discovery efforts have focused on individuals of European ancestry, limiting insights into genetic risks across diverse populations. To help address this, the Genomics of Autism in Latin American Ancestries Consortium (GALA) was formed, presenting here the largest sequencing study of ASD in Latin American individuals (n>15,000).
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