Environmental Dissemination of SARS-CoV-2: An Analysis Employing Crassphage and Next-Generation Sequencing Protocols.

This study aimed to investigate the dissemination of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in water samples obtained during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic period, employing cross-assembly phage (crAssphage) as a fecal contamination biomarker and next-generation sequencing protocols to characterize SARS-CoV-2 variants. Raw wastewater and surface water (stream and sea) samples were collected for over a month in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Ultracentrifugation and negatively charged membrane filtration were employed for viral concentration of the wastewater and surface water samples, respectively.

Metagenomic insights into plasmid-mediated antimicrobial resistance in poultry slaughterhouse wastewater: antibiotics occurrence and genetic markers.

Slaughterhouse wastewater represents important convergence and concentration points for antimicrobial residues, bacteria, and antibiotic resistance genes (ARG), which can promote antimicrobial resistance propagation in different environmental compartments. This study reports the assessment of the metaplasmidome-associated resistome in poultry slaughterhouse wastewater treated by biological processes, employing metagenomic sequencing. Antimicrobial residues from a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) that treats poultry slaughterhouse influents and effluents were investigated through high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS).

Assessment of immune responses to a Comirnaty® booster following CoronaVac® vaccination in healthcare workers.

Background: The immunological response to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and immunisation is variable.

Objectives: To describe the humoral immune response by correlating IgA and IgG antibodies with NAbs titration following CoronaVac® immunisation and an mRNA (Comirnaty®) booster among healthcare workers (HCWs) and to compare the cytokine and interleukin profiles between HCWs vaccinated with CoronaVac and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infected patients.

Methods: Samples from 133 HCWs collected at 20 (T1) and 90 (T2) days after CoronaVac immunisation and 15 (T3) days after a booster dose with the Comirnaty vaccine were analysed for IgA and IgG EIA and neutralisation assay.

Poultry slaughterhouse wastewater as a source of bacterial antimicrobial resistance.

Slaughterhouses produce huge volumes of effluents throughout the production chain that, when discharged untreated into bodies of water, can become a source of environmental contamination. This is particularly worrisome if these effluents are used for irrigation since they increase contamination levels and spread pathogens and resistance determinants to humans and animals. Therefore, in this study, we assessed antimicrobial resistance in bacteria isolated from inlet water, equalization wastewater tanks, treatment plant wastewater, and treated wastewater in slaughterhouse facilities in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Type I interferon pathway genetic variants in severe COVID-19.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there have been over 760 million reported cases and over 6 million deaths caused by this disease worldwide. The severity of COVID-19 is based on symptoms presented by the patient and is divided as asymptomatic, mild, moderate, severe, and critical.

A New Murine Undernutrition Model Based on Complementary Feeding of Undernourished Children Causes Damage to the Morphofunctional Intestinal Epithelium Barrier.

Background: Complementary feeding is critical in establishing undernutrition. However, experimental undernourished diets do not represent the amount of nutrients in the complementary diets of undernourished children.

Objectives: To develop, validate, and evaluate the impact of a new murine model of undernutrition on the intestinal epithelium, based on the complementary diet of undernourished children from 7 countries with low-socioeconomic power belonging to the Malnutrition-Enteric Diseases (MAL-ED) cohort study.

Phylogenomics analysis of multidrug-resistant Elizabethkingia anophelis in industrial wastewater treatment plant.

Aims: This study investigated the phylogenetic relatedness of multidrug-resistant Elizabethkingia anophelis recovered from an industrial wastewater treatment plant (WWTPi).

Methods And Results: The wastewater samples were plated in brain heart infusion agar (4 mg/L ceftazidime, 8 mg/L meropenem, and 2 mg/L polimixin). Four isolates recovered from four stages of WWTPi (influent, aeration, decantation, and treated effluent) were identified and evaluated of susceptibility profiles in the VITEK 2 system.

Cytokines, chemokines, and cells growth factors in patients with mild to moderate SARS-CoV-2 infection: A case-control study.

Several biomarkers have been evaluated as predictors of severity or in directing the treatment of COVID-19, however there are no conclusive results. In this study, we evaluated serum levels of cytokines, chemokines, and cell growth factors in association with the pathobiology of mild to moderate SARS-CoV-2 infection. Serum levels of SARS-CoV-2 infected patients (n = 113) and flu symptoms individuals negative for SARS-CoV-2 (n = 58), tested by the RT-qPCR test-nasal swab were compared to healthy controls (n = 53).

First Report of a Wastewater Treatment-Adapted Enterococcus faecalis ST21 Harboring vanA Gene in Brazil.

Enterococcus faecalis has emerged as an important opportunistic pathogen due to its increasing resistance to antimicrobials, mainly to vancomycin, which leads substantial cases of therapeutic failures. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), in turn, are considered hotpots in the spread of antimicrobial resistance according to One Health perspective. In this study, we present the first report of a vancomycin-resistant E.

Occurrence of Klebsiella pneumoniae ST244 and ST11 extensively drug-resistant producing KPC, NDM, OXA-370 in wastewater, Brazil.

Aims: To investigate the occurrence of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) and their clonal relationships from hospital and municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs).

Methods And Results: Eighteen Kl. pneumoniae strains recovered from three WWTPs were identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF).

Environmental genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Wastewater-based epidemiology can be a complementary approach for monitoring SARS-CoV-2 prevalence, diversity, and geographic distribution. It is a complementary approach regarding its prevalence and diversity, and geographic distribution. The study aimed to evaluate the genetic diversity of SARS-CoV-2 in two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

[8] and [10]-Gingerol reduces urothelial damage in ifosfamide-induced hemorrhagic cystitis via JAK/STAT/FOXO signaling pathway via IL-10.

Acrolein is the main toxic metabolite of ifosfamide (IFO) that causes urothelial damage by oxidative stress and inflammation. Here, we investigate the molecular mechanism of action of gingerols, Zingiber officinale bioactive molecules, as an alternative treatment for ifosfamide-induced hemorrhagic cystitis. Female Swiss mice were randomly divided into 5 groups: control; IFO; IFO + Mesna; and IFO + [8]- or [10]-gingerol.

Mobile resistome of microbial communities and antimicrobial residues from drinking water supply systems in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are widespread in the environment due to the overuse of antibiotics and other pollutants, posing a threat to human and animal health. In this study, we evaluated antimicrobial residues, bacterial diversity and ARGs in two important watersheds, Guandu and São João, that supply drinking water to Rio de Janeiro city, Brazil. In addition, tap water samples were collected from three different cities in Rio de Janeiro State, including the metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro city.

Characterisation of Neisseria meningitidis cc11/ET-15 variant by whole genome sequencing.

Background: Neisseria meningitidis strains belonging to clonal complex 11 is the cause of numerous outbreaks and epidemics in the United States, Canada and Europe, accounting for 49.5% of cases of meningococcal disease caused by serogroup C worldwide. In Brazil, it is the second most frequent clonal complex within this serogroup.

Elevated IL-18 predicts poor prognosis in critically ill COVID-19 patients at a Brazilian hospital in 2020-21.

A dysregulated inflammatory response contributes to decline in patients with COVID-19. This cross-sectional study evaluated biomarkers of unvaccinated patients admitted to the intensive care unit of a hospital in Fortaleza, Brazil. Twenty cytokines were quantified upon hospital admission; clinical and laboratory data were analyzed, as well as sociodemographic data, to search for an association with clinical outcomes, including fatal (n = 40) or recovered cases (n = 38).

Using deep learning to predict outcomes of legal appeals better than human experts: A study with data from Brazilian federal courts.

Legal scholars have been trying to predict the outcomes of trials for a long time. In recent years, researchers have been harnessing advancements in machine learning to predict the behavior of natural and social processes. At the same time, the Brazilian judiciary faces a challenging number of new cases every year, which generates the need to improve the throughput of the justice system.

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in different human biofluids using the loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay: A prospective diagnostic study in Fortaleza, Brazil.

We adopted the reverse-transcriptase-loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) to detect severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2) in patient samples. Two primer sets for genes N and Orf1ab were designed to detect SARS-CoV-2, and one primer set was designed to detect the human gene Actin. We collected prospective 138 nasopharyngeal swabs, 70 oropharyngeal swabs, 69 salivae, and 68 mouth saline wash samples from patients suspected to have severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) caused by SARS-CoV-2 to test the RT-LAMP in comparison with the gold standard technique reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction  (RT-qPCR).

Consumption of a multi-deficient diet causes dynamic changes in the intestinal morphofunctional barrier, body composition and impaired physical development in post-weaning mice.

Few studies have focused on nutrient-deficient diets and associated pathobiological dynamics of body composition and intestinal barrier function. This study evaluated the impact of a nutrient-deficient diet on physical development and intestinal morphofunctional barrier in mice. C57BL/6 (21 days of age) mice were fed a Northeastern Brazil regional basic diet (RBD) or a control diet for 21 d.

The Genome Sequence of Brucella intermedia DF13, a 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid-Degrading Soil Bacterium Isolated in Brazil.

Brucella intermedia/Ochrobactrum intermedium strain DF13 was isolated from Brazilian soil and is able to degrade 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D). Here, we report on its genome sequence, with 4,570,268 bp and a 57.8% G+C content.

Genomic Analysis of Multidrug-Resistant Harboring Gene from Wastewater Treatment Plants.

The emergence of vancomycin-resistant (Efm) harboring gene and multidrug-resistant determinants is a relevant public health concern. It is an opportunistic pathogen responsible for nosocomial infections widely distributed in the environment, including wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Our study addresses a genomic investigation of -carrying Efm from WWTPs in Brazil.

Retinoids delay cell cycle progression and promote differentiation of intestinal epithelial cells exposed to nutrient deprivation.

Objective: Vitamin A is commonly recommended as a treatment for diarrhea and undernutrition; however, little is known about the underlying cellular mechanisms. The aim of this study was to investigate the modulation of cell cycle by vitamin A derivatives (retinyl palmitate or retinol) in undernourished intestinal epithelial crypts (IEC-6).

Methods: IEC-6 cells were exposed to nutrient deprivation (no serum and no glutamine) and supplemented with retinyl palmitate or retinol at a range of 2 to 20 μM.

MANF is neuroprotective against ethanol-induced neurodegeneration through ameliorating ER stress.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) are a spectrum of developmental disorders caused by prenatal alcohol exposure. Neuronal loss or neurodegeneration in the central nervous system (CNS) is one of the most devastating features in FASD. It is imperative to delineate the underlying mechanisms to facilitate the treatment of FASD.

Integrin α4 up-regulation activates the hedgehog pathway to promote arsenic and benzo[α]pyrene co-exposure-induced cancer stem cell-like property and tumorigenesis.

Arsenic and benzo[α]pyrene (BaP) are widespread carcinogens and important etiology factors for lung cancer. Moreover, arsenic and BaP co-exposure displays a significantly stronger effect in inducing lung cancer than arsenic or BaP exposure alone. This study was performed to investigate the basic mechanism of the synergistic carcinogenic effect of arsenic and BaP co-exposure.

Deubiquitinase USP7-mediated MCL-1 up-regulation enhances Arsenic and Benzo(a)pyrene co-exposure-induced Cancer Stem Cell-like property and Tumorigenesis.

MCL-1 is up-regulated in cancer and a target for cancer treatment. How MCL-1 is up-regulated and whether MCL-1 up-regulation plays a role in tumorigenic process is not well-known. Arsenic and benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) are well-recognized lung carcinogens and we recently reported that arsenic and BaP co-exposure acts synergistically in inducing cancer stem cell (CSC)-like property and lung tumorigenesis.

A Positive Feedback Loop Between c-Myc Upregulation, Glycolytic Shift, and Histone Acetylation Enhances Cancer Stem Cell-like Property and Tumorigenicity of Cr(VI)-transformed Cells.

Chronic hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] exposure causes lung cancer and other types of cancer; however, the mechanism of Cr(VI) carcinogenesis remains to be clearly defined. Our recent study showed that chronic Cr(VI) exposure upregulates the proto oncogene c-Myc expression, which contributes significantly to Cr(VI)-induced cell transformation, cancer stem cell (CSC)-like property and tumorigenesis. c-Myc is a master regulator of cancer cell abnormal metabolism and accumulating evidence suggests that metabolism dysregulation plays an important role in both cancer development and progression.