Mechanisms of Polyethylene Terephthalate Pellet Fragmentation into Nanoplastics and Assimilable Carbons by Wastewater .

bacteria are enriched on poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) microplastics in wastewaters and urban rivers, but the PET-degrading mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we investigated these mechanisms with KF-1, a wastewater isolate, by combining microscopy, spectroscopy, proteomics, protein modeling, and genetic engineering. Compared to minor dents on PET films, scanning electron microscopy revealed significant fragmentation of PET pellets, resulting in a 3.

Utility of OLIG2 immunostaining in pediatric brain tumors with embryonal morphology.

This study evaluates the diagnostic utility of OLIG2 immunohistochemistry for distinguishing between pediatric high-grade gliomas (pHGG) and embryonal tumors (ETs) of the CNS. Utilizing a retrospective pediatric cohort (1990-2021) of 56 CNS tumors, classified initially as primitive neuroectodermal tumors or CNS ET, we reclassified the cases based on WHO CNS5 criteria after comprehensive review and additional molecular testing that included next-generation sequencing and DNA methylation profiling. Our results indicate that OLIG2 immunopositivity was negative or minimal in a significant subset of pHGG cases (6 out of 11).

The Development and Utilization of an Electronic Assessment Software in Dental Education: A Comprehensive Evaluation.

Purpose/objectives: This article introduces the Key Electronic Assessment Platform (KEAP), an electronic-based assessment platform created in-house at the College of Dentistry (COD), King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It highlights the platform's integral value and demand within the educational system.

Methods: The article introduces the KEAP system design and architecture, describes its features, tests, and implementation in addition to its maintenance and security.

Autoantibodies Neutralizing GM-CSF in HIV-Negative Colombian Patients Infected with Cryptococcus gattii and C. neoformans.

Background: Cryptococcosis is a life-threatening disease caused by Cryptococcus neoformans or C. gattii. Neutralizing autoantibodies (auto-Abs) against granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in otherwise healthy adults with cryptococcal meningitis have been described since 2013.

Experiential-sensorial adaptive system model for hospitality based on 360° VR videos and case-based reasoning.

In this work, an adaptive software architecture is proposed for the generation of experiences for hotel promotion and marketing, based on Case-based Reasoning (CBR) that uses the attributes and user characteristics and immersive 360° videos. Considering that immersion in virtual reality (VR) environments can trigger responses in various dimensions, such as affective, cognitive, attitudinal, and behavioral dimensions, these dimensions are evaluated in immersive environments with 360° videos. To validate the results obtained with the software architecture, a quasi-experimental study was conducted through the evaluation of the experience, consisting in the visualization of the environments of a boutique hotel, with a sample of a randomly selected group of young people.

KNeXT: a NetworkX-based topologically relevant KEGG parser.

Automating the recreation of gene and mixed gene-compound networks from Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) Markup Language (KGML) files is challenging because the data structure does not preserve the independent or loosely connected neighborhoods in which they were originally derived, referred to here as its topological environment. Identical accession numbers may overlap, causing neighborhoods to artificially collapse based on duplicated identifiers. This causes current parsers to create misleading or erroneous graphical representations when mixed gene networks are converted to gene-only networks.

Global guideline for the diagnosis and management of cryptococcosis: an initiative of the ECMM and ISHAM in cooperation with the ASM.

Cryptococcosis is a major worldwide disseminated invasive fungal infection. Cryptococcosis, particularly in its most lethal manifestation of cryptococcal meningitis, accounts for substantial mortality and morbidity. The breadth of the clinical cryptococcosis syndromes, the different patient types at-risk and affected, and the vastly disparate resource settings where clinicians practice pose a complex array of challenges.

Autoantibodies neutralizing GM-CSF in HIV-negative Colombian patients infected with Cryptococcus gattii and C. neoformans.

Background: Cryptococcosis is a life-threatening disease caused by or . Autoantibodies (auto-Abs) neutralizing granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in otherwise healthy adults with cryptococcal meningitis have been described since 2013. We searched for neutralizing auto-Abs in sera from Colombian patients with non-HIV related cryptococcosis in a retrospective national cohort collected from 1997 to 2016.

Indirect impact of PCV10 children vaccination on the serotype distribution and antimicrobial resistance of Streptococcus pneumoniae causing invasive disease in adults over 50 in Colombia, 2005-2019: Observational analysis.

Introduction: The introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) into childhood vaccination programmes has reduced the prevalence of vaccine serotypes (VTs) that cause invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) in children. In the elderly population, an impact has also been seen through indirect protection (herd effect). The aim of this study was to estimate the changes in serotype distribution and antimicrobial susceptibility of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates recovered from adult IPD and to evaluate the indirect effect of immunization with PCV10 based on laboratory records by analyzing the period from 2005 to 2019 for six years before and eight years after the universal PCV10 administration to Colombian children.

The Real-World Study of Immunogenicity and Safety of the Adjuvant Recombinant Vaccine against Varicella Zoster Virus in Patients with Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases Treated with Janus Kinase Inhibitors.

. The risk of herpes zoster reactivation is increased in immunocompromised patients, especially in those with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) on Janus kinase inhibitor (JAKi) treatment. The recombinant subunit herpes zoster vaccine (RZV) is a non-live vaccine, recently approved for this subgroup of patients, which shows high rates of vaccine effectiveness, with few adverse effects reported in clinical trials.

The Impact of Cultural Health Capital on Market Choice Along the Texas-Mexico Border.

Transnational cultural health capital (CHC) includes individual resources such as skills and behaviors patients use to manage healthcare exclusion and negotiate care. This study examines the impact of CHC on decisions by Hispanic people who live in El Paso, Texas, to utilize one or more markets for healthcare. We expand on the current literature and present novel findings by quantifying several aspects of CHC that may contribute to cross-border health-seeking behaviors in this vulnerable group which tends to suffer various health disparities and limited access to health insurance.

The Implications of Health Disparities: A COVID-19 Risk Assessment of the Hispanic Community in El Paso.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Latinos have suffered from disproportionately high rates of hospitalization and death related to the virus. Health disparities based on race and ethnicity are directly associated with heightened mortality and burden of illness and act as underlying causes for the staggering impacts of COVID-19 in Latin communities in the United States. This is especially true in the city of El Paso, Texas, where over 82% of the population is Hispanic.

Preclinical Model to Evaluate Outcomes of Amyloid Cross-Toxicity in the Rodent Brain.

The progress of neurodegenerative disorders correlates with the spread of their associated amyloidogenic proteins. Here, we investigated whether amyloid entry into nonconstitutive neurons could drive cross-toxic outcomes. Amyloid β (Aβ) was stereotaxically introduced into the rodent midbrain tegmentum, where it is not endogenously expressed.

Central Nervous System Cryptococcosis due to in the Tropics.

Purpose Of Review: Cryptococcosis of the central nervous system due to species complex is a serious mycosis with worldwide distribution but of great importance in the tropics. This article aims to review the progress made in these regions in the knowledge of this disease and its etiological agent.

Recent Findings: They can be summarized in the presence in apparently immunocompetent patients of autoantibodies against granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), which is a hidden risk factor for acquiring infection; this finding strengthens the concept that is an opportunistic pathogen.

Endothelin Receptor Antagonists as a Potential Treatment of Diabetic Nephropathy: A Systematic Review.

Diabetic nephropathy is becoming a more predominant cause of end-stage renal disease, as the prevalence of diabetes mellitus worldwide is on the rise. In this systematic review, we aimed to define the role of endothelin receptor antagonists, in the prevention and treatment of diabetic nephropathy, in addition to determining their safety. For this review, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Library databases, in addition to ClinicalTrials.

Hispanic health disparities and housing: Comparing measured and self-reported health metrics among housed and homeless Latin individuals.

Previous studies argue that Hispanics are healthier and less likely to experience homelessness than other populations in their same socioeconomic position. However, earlier studies have not explored the relationship between housing status and health for Latin individuals. This study examines 1) the health disparities between homeless and housed Hispanics in El Paso, Texas, and 2) the Hispanic health and homelessness paradoxes using an intersectional framework to understand health risks.

and Species Complexes in Latin America: A Map of Molecular Types, Genotypic Diversity, and Antifungal Susceptibility as Reported by the Latin American Cryptococcal Study Group.

Cryptococcosis, a potentially fatal mycosis, is caused by members of the and species complexes. In Latin America, cryptococcal meningitis is still an important health threat with a significant clinical burden. Analysis of publicly available molecular data from 5686 clinical, environmental, and veterinary cryptococcal isolates from member countries of the Latin American Cryptococcal Study Group showed that, as worldwide, molecular type VNI is the most common cause of cryptococcosis (76.

Deservingness: migration and health in social context.

This article brings the social science concept of 'deservingness' to bear on clinical cases of transnational migrant patients. Based on the authors' medical social science research, health delivery practice and clinical work from multiple locations in Africa. Europe and the Americas, the article describes three clinical cases in which assumptions of deservingness have significant implications for the morbidity and mortality of migrant patients.

Mitochondrial heat shock protein mortalin as potential target for therapies based on oxidative stress.

Background: Treatments based on production of reactive oxygen species for bladder cancer such as photodynamic therapy (PDT) have been marginalized due to low specificity and the existence of resistance mainly associated with the up-regulation of Heat Shock Proteins (HSPs). To overcome these barriers, the establishment of strategies combining PDTs with HSP inhibitors may be promising and the identification of HSPs involved with oxidative stress from bladder tumors in animal models represents a key step in this direction.

Materials: Thus, the present study aims to identify cytosolic and mitochondrial HSPs up expressed in murine bladder tumors and in the urothelial carcinoma cell line MB49 by qRT-PCR screening, and to analyze the importance of the activity of the HSPs associated with oxidative stress protection in the survival of the MB49 using strategy of inhibition in vitro.

The direct effect of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines on invasive pneumococcal disease in children in the Latin American and Caribbean region (SIREVA 2006-17): a multicentre, retrospective observational study.

Background: Streptococcus pneumoniae isolated from patients with invasive pneumococcal disease has been subjected to laboratory-based surveillance in Latin American and Caribbean countries since 1993. Invasive pneumococcal diseases remain a major cause of death and disability worldwide, particularly in children. We therefore aimed to assess the direct effect of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) on the distribution of pneumococcal serotypes causing invasive pneumococcal disease in children younger than 5 years before and after PCV introduction.

[Regional System for Vaccines (SIREVA), laboratory surveillance and vaccine development for : bibliometric analysis, 1993-2019].

Objective: To measure through bibliometric analysis the productivity, visibility and impact of the Regional System for Vaccines (SIREVA, a project by the Pan American Health Organization), including its two components laboratory surveillance and vaccine development.

Methods: Publications about laboratory surveillance and vaccine development were recovered from Scopus, including their references and citations, and their bibliometric indicators were analyzed. VOSviewer 1.

Electrical Stimulation Evokes Rotational Behavior In Tandem with Exocytotic-like Increases in Dopamine Measured by In Vivo Intracerebral Microdialysis.

Background: Electrical Stimulation is a traditional tool in neuroscience and is commonly used in vivo to evoke behavior and in vitro to study neural mechanisms. In vivo intracerebral microdialysis, also a traditional technique, is used to assay neurotransmitter release. However, the combination of these techniques is highly limited to studies using anesthetized animals; therefore, evoking and measuring exocytotic neurotransmitter release in awake models is lacking.