Strain-level antigen variation facilitates immune evasion in .

Unlabelled: The T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire of intestinal CD4+ T cells is enriched for specificity towards microbiome-encoded epitopes shared among many microbiome members, providing broad microbial reactivity from a limited pool of cells. These cells actively coordinate mutualistic host-microbiome interactions, yet many epitopes are shared between gut symbionts and closely related pathobionts and pathogens. Given the disparate impacts of these agents on host health, intestinal CD4+ T cells must maintain strain-level discriminatory power to ensure protective immunity while preventing inappropriate responses against symbionts.

Identification of strain-specific cues that regulate biofilm formation in .

Unlabelled: Members of the gut microbiome encounter a barrage of host- and microbe-derived microbiocidal factors that must be overcome to maintain fitness in the intestine. The long-term stability of many gut microbiome strains within the microbiome suggests the existence of strain-specific strategies that have evolved to foster resilience to such insults. Despite this, little is known about the mechanisms that mediate this resistance.

Intestinal stem cells enhance local mucosal immunity through apoptotic body phagocytosis.

Modulation of immune tone at mucosal surfaces is critical to maintain homeostasis while facilitating the handling of emerging threats. One dynamic component of immune modulation is the phagocytosis and clearance of apoptotic bodies known as efferocytosis that inhibits inflammation by promoting its resolution. Here, we evaluated the effects of apoptotic body phagocytosis by intestinal epithelial stem and progenitor cells (ISCs).

Impact of benzalkonium chloride on anaerobic granules and its long-term effects on reactor performance.

This study assessed the inhibitory and performance-degrading effects induced by the cationic surfactant benzalkonium chloride (BAC) on anaerobic granules during the long-term operation of a laboratory-scale expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) reactor. To address the critical scientific problem of how BAC affects the efficiency of EGSB reactors, this research uniquely evaluated the long-term stress response to BAC by systematically comparing continuous and discontinuous inhibitor exposure scenarios. The novel comparison demonstrated that inhibitor concentration is of minor relevance compared to the biomass-specific cumulative inhibitor load in the reactor.

Electrochemical oxidation of refractory compounds from hydrothermal carbonization process waters.

Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) is an emerging technology for treating sewage sludge. However, the resulting HTC process water is heavily contaminated with various carbonaceous and nitrogenous components, some of them being non-biodegradable. To implement HTC as a full-scale treatment alternative for sewage sludge, effective concepts for treating process water are crucial.

The NQR Complex Regulates the Immunomodulatory Function of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron.

The gut microbiome and intestinal immune system are engaged in a dynamic interplay that provides myriad benefits to host health. However, the microbiome can also elicit damaging inflammatory responses, and thus establishing harmonious immune-microbiome interactions is essential to maintain homeostasis. Gut microbes actively coordinate the induction of anti-inflammatory responses that establish these mutualistic interactions.

Quantification of microplastics in wastewater systems of German industrial parks and their wastewater treatment plants.

Microplastics (MP) enter the aquatic environment via several pathways. Many research groups have focused on municipal discharge, while research on industrial sources is rare. This study provides one of the first insights into MP occurrence and distribution in the wastewater systems of industrial parks (IPs) and their wastewater treatment plants (IPWWTPs).

Dynamic alpha factor prediction with operating data - a machine learning approach to model oxygen transfer dynamics in activated sludge.

Aeration is an energy-intensive process of aerobic biological wastewater treatment. An accurate model of oxygen transfer dynamics in activated sludge tanks would improve design and operation of aeration systems. Such a model should consider spatial and diurnal variation of α-factor as well as site-specific conditions that impact oxygen transfer.

Determination of alpha factors for monitoring of aeration systems with the ex situ off-gas method: experience from practical application and estimation of measurement uncertainty.

Performance of aeration systems in wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) under process conditions can be monitored with off-gas tests. The ex situ off-gas method transfers activated sludge from an adjacent aeration tank into aerated columns to determine oxygen transfer parameters (e.g.

Maltodextrin Consumption Impairs the Intestinal Mucus Barrier and Accelerates Colitis Through Direct Actions on the Epithelium.

Food additives are common components of processed foods consumed in a Western diet. In inflammatory bowel disease patients, some diets that exclude food additives improved clinical disease parameters, suggesting a link between food additives and disease pathogenesis. Food additives also enhanced disease severity in mouse colitis models through incompletely described mechanisms.

Controlled Complexity: Optimized Systems to Study the Role of the Gut Microbiome in Host Physiology.

The profound impact of the gut microbiome on host health has led to a revolution in biomedical research, motivating researchers from disparate fields to define the specific molecular mechanisms that mediate host-beneficial effects. The advent of genomic technologies allied to the use of model microbiomes in gnotobiotic mouse models has transformed our understanding of intestinal microbial ecology and the impact of the microbiome on the host. However, despite incredible advances, our understanding of the host-microbiome dialogue that shapes host physiology is still in its infancy.

Improving aeration systems in saline water (part II): effect of different salts and diffuser type on oxygen transfer of fine-bubble aeration systems.

The objective of the present study is to investigate the different effects on the oxygen transfer of fine-bubble aeration systems in saline water. Compared to tap water, oxygen transfer increases due to the inhibition of bubble coalescence. In Part I of the present study, we investigated in laboratory-scale experiments the effect of design of diffuser membrane.

[Resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) : Current aspects of material, indications and limits: an overview].

Background: Resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) describes an endovascular procedure in which a blocking balloon is introduced into the aorta to reduce bleeding situated distal to the balloon and simultaneously to improve cardiac and cerebral oxygenation.

Objective: Presentation of the REBOA technique, the possible indications, the required material and possible complications of the procedure.

Material And Methods: Non-systematic review of the currently available literature.

Trends in incidence, mortality, and causes of death associated with systemic sclerosis in Denmark between 1995 and 2015: a nationwide cohort study.

Background: To investigate the incidence and the mortality-rates of systemic sclerosis (SSc), its primary causes of death, and the temporal trends in events in Denmark during the last decades.

Methods: Using the Danish National Patient Registry, we identified all persons aged ≥18 years with a first-time diagnosis of SSc (ICD-10 code M34, excluding M34.2) between 1995 and 2015.

Fouling mitigation in anaerobic membrane bioreactors using fluidized resin beads.

This study focuses on the use of fluidized resin beads to mitigate fouling during ultrafiltration (UF) of the effluent of an anaerobic bioreactor. Two different module configurations were tested: A fluidized bed of resin beads was generated in a tubular UF membrane, and a hollow fiber (HF) UF membrane was submerged into a fluidized bed, respectively. During filtration of anaerobically treated synthetic wastewater using the tubular module, fluidized resin beads with a diameter of 0.

Infection Mimicking Progression of Scleroderma.

This case report describes a patient with scleroderma who developed infection, which for more than a year mimicked worsening of her connective tissue disorder. The patient was diagnosed with scleroderma based on puffy fingers that developed into sclerodactyly, abnormal nail fold capillaries, interstitial lung disease, Raynaud's phenomenon, esophageal dysmotility, and positivity for rheumatoid factor and anti-SSA antibodies. She developed massive inflammatory changes of the cutis, the subcutis, and the muscle fasciae of the right leg, that after several failed attempts of immunosuppressive treatments were found to be caused by .

Fluidized glass beads reduce fouling in a novel anaerobic membrane bioreactor.

This study focuses on the use of fluidized glass beads as turbulence promoters in a laboratory-scale anaerobic membrane bioreactor treating municipal wastewater at 20 °C. The addition of fluidized glass beads into an external tubular ceramic membrane enabled the operation at low crossflow velocities of 0.053-0.

Applying Mathematical Optimization Methods to an ACT-R Instance-Based Learning Model.

Computational models of cognition provide an interface to connect advanced mathematical tools and methods to empirically supported theories of behavior in psychology, cognitive science, and neuroscience. In this article, we consider a computational model of instance-based learning, implemented in the ACT-R cognitive architecture. We propose an approach for obtaining mathematical reformulations of such cognitive models that improve their computational tractability.

A comparison of anti-nuclear antibody quantification using automated enzyme immunoassays and immunofluorescence assays.

Anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA) have traditionally been evaluated using indirect fluorescence assays (IFA) with HEp-2 cells. Quantitative immunoassays (EIA) have replaced the use of HEp-2 cells in some laboratories. Here, we evaluated ANA in 400 consecutive and unselected routinely referred patients using IFA and automated EIA techniques.

'With the benefit of hindsight': would you opt again for epilepsy surgery performed in childhood?

Background: How adolescents and their caregivers look back on epilepsy surgery performed in early life, and whether epilepsy-related restrictions are still in force years after the operation, are insufficiently known.

Aims: To obtain retrospective evaluations of the decision for epilepsy surgery at an early age, and to inventory current epilepsy-related restrictions.

Methods: Of 177 children who underwent epilepsy surgery between 1992 and 2009, 129 could be approached.

Optimal control for selected cancer chemotherapy ODE models: a view on the potential of optimal schedules and choice of objective function.

In this article, four different mathematical models of chemotherapy from the literature are investigated with respect to optimal control of drug treatment schedules. The various models are based on two different sets of ordinary differential equations and contain either chemotherapy, immunotherapy, anti-angiogenic therapy or combinations of these. Optimal control problem formulations based on these models are proposed, discussed and compared.

An open-label pilot study of infliximab therapy in diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis.

Aim: The safety and potential efficacy of a chimaeric anti-tumour necrosis factor alpha monoclonal antibody (infliximab) were examined in diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis (dcSSc).

Methods: A 26-week open-label pilot study in which 16 cases of dcSSc received five infusions of infliximab (5 mg/kg). Clinical assessment included skin sclerosis score, scleroderma health assessment questionnaire, self-reported functional score and physician global visual analogue scale.

Abnormal neurotransmitter metabolite levels in Alzheimer patients with a delirium.

Background: Delirium is a complex neuropsychiatric syndrome with an acute onset and fluctuating course. Several studies have suggested the presence of disturbed cholinergic, dopaminergic and serotonergic pathways in delirium as well as in Alzheimer's disease. Abnormal concentrations of amino acids and of neurotransmitter metabolites have been found in plasma, platelets and cerebrospinal fluid of AD patients, and in plasma and CSF of patients with a delirium.