The bioleaching potential of a bacterial consortium.

This work presents the molecular foundation of a consortium of five efficient bacteria strains isolated from copper mines currently used in state of the art industrial-scale biotechnology. The strains Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans Licanantay, Acidiphilium multivorum Yenapatur, Leptospirillum ferriphilum Pañiwe, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans Wenelen and Sulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidans Cutipay were selected for genome sequencing based on metal tolerance, oxidation activity and bioleaching of copper efficiency. An integrated model of metabolic pathways representing the bioleaching capability of this consortium was generated.

Effect of advancing the supply of finisher diet on growth performances and carcass and pork quality of heavy barrows and gilts.

A total of 120 Duroc×(Large White×Landrace) pigs, 50% barrows and 50% gilts, with 54.1±0.14 kg BW and 103±3 days of age, were used to study the effect of advancing the shift to a standard finisher feed from 100 to 90 and 80 kg BW on production performances and carcass and pork quality.

Femoral and sciatic nerve block for knee arthroscopy in a patient with acute intermittent porphyria.

Acute intermittent porphyria is an autosomal dominant disorder that results from a partial deficiency of porphobilinogen deaminase and that causes very severe symptoms. Attacks may be triggered by a series of drugs and by other factors that the anesthesiologist should be aware of in order to reduce morbidity and mortality. Our objective is to review anesthetic considerations in acute intermittent porphyria.

Focus on audiologic impairment in eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis.

Objectives/hypothesis: To evaluate the clinical features of audiologic impairment and its relationship with the nasal, vestibular, and rheumatologic profile in a cohort of patients with eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA), formerly named Churg-Strauss syndrome.

Study Design: Prospective cross-sectional study.

Methods: Thirty-nine patients with EGPA, considered controlled according to the Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score and the Vasculitis Damage Index, underwent a complete audiologic evalutaion with otomicroscopy, impedance audiometry, speech audiometry, and auditory brainstem responses; rhinologic evaluation was made by means of fiberoptic endoscopy and nasal cytology; the clinical evaluation was completed with analysis of the facial function and, in patients with referred vertigo, with videonystagmography (VNG).

Condition of Vocal Production-Teacher questionnaire: comparison of responses on Likert scale and visual analog scale.

Purpose: To compare the responses related to vocal symptoms in two versions of the Vocal Production Condition - Teacher (CPV-T) questionnaire, with responses on a Likert scale and a Visual Analog Scale (VAS), in order to evaluate which is the best measurement method.

Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted with teachers with voice disorders during the period from July 2011 to July 2012. All teachers answered the CPV-T in two versions: with answers on a 4-point Likert scale and on a 50-mm VAS.

New recommendations for measuring collagen solubility.

The heat-solubility of intramuscular collagen is usually conducted in 1/4 Ringer's solution at pH7.4, despite this ionic strength and pH being inappropriate for post-rigor meat. The current work studied the percentage of soluble collagen and hydrothermal isometric tension characteristics of perimysial strips on bovine semitendinosus muscles in either 1/4 Ringer's solution, distilled water, PBS, or a solution of the same salt concentration as 1/4 Ringer's but at pH5.

Different Transcriptional Responses from Slow and Fast Growth Rate Strains of Listeria monocytogenes Adapted to Low Temperature.

Listeria monocytogenes has become one of the principal foodborne pathogens worldwide. The capacity of this bacterium to grow at low temperatures has opened an interesting field of study in terms of the identification and classification of new strains of L. monocytogenes with different growth capacities at low temperatures.

Asthma Control and Airway Inflammation in Patients with Eosinophilic Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis.

Background: Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) is a systemic necrotizing vasculitis that occurs in patients with asthma, nasal disease, blood and tissue eosinophilia, and extrapulmonary manifestations.

Objective: The aim of our study was to assess the clinical, functional, and inflammatory status of upper and lower airways in 37 patients with EGPA, examined 6.4 ± 4.

Neutrophilic Bronchial Inflammation Correlates with Clinical and Functional Findings in Patients with Noncystic Fibrosis Bronchiectasis.

Background. Neutrophilic bronchial inflammation is a main feature of bronchiectasis, but not much is known about its relationship with other disease features. Aim.

Recent Prospects in the Inline Monitoring of Nanocomposites and Nanocoatings by Optical Technologies.

Nanostructured materials have emerged as a key research field in order to confer materials with unique or enhanced properties. The performance of nanocomposites depends on a number of parameters, but the suitable dispersion of nanoparticles remains the key in order to obtain the full nanocomposites' potential in terms of, e.g.

On the tension-compression switch of the Gasser-Ogden-Holzapfel model: Analysis and a new pre-integrated proposal.

Many biological soft tissues are structurally composed of a mostly isotropic matrix (elastin) and fibers (collagen). These fibers are not perfectly aligned but dispersed around some referential, preferred directions. In order to account for the dispersion of the fibers, a probability distribution is assumed.

Putative bacterial interactions from metagenomic knowledge with an integrative systems ecology approach.

Following the trend of studies that investigate microbial ecosystems using different metagenomic techniques, we propose a new integrative systems ecology approach that aims to decipher functional roles within a consortium through the integration of genomic and metabolic knowledge at genome scale. For the sake of application, using public genomes of five bacterial strains involved in copper bioleaching: Acidiphilium cryptum, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans, Leptospirillum ferriphilum, and Sulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidans, we first reconstructed a global metabolic network. Next, using a parsimony assumption, we deciphered sets of genes, called Sets from Genome Segments (SGS), that (1) are close on their respective genomes, (2) take an active part in metabolic pathways and (3) whose associated metabolic reactions are also closely connected within metabolic networks.

Immunotoxicity of commercial-mixed glyphosate in broad snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris).

The expansion and intensification of agriculture during the past 50 years is unprecedented, and thus environmental problems have been triggered at different scales. These transformations have caused the loss of habitat and biodiversity, and disruption of the structure and functioning of ecosystems. As a result of the expansion of the agricultural frontier in the recent past, many areas of the natural geographic distribution of the local wildlife, among them crocodilians and particularly the broad snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris), are being exposed to contaminants.

Validation of the Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire among Brazilian Families of School-Aged Children.

Introduction: Children's eating behaviors are influenced by parents, who are the first nutritional educators. The comprehensive feeding practices questionnaire (CFPQ) was developed to measure feeding practices among parents, but has not yet been validated in Brazil, where child obesity rates are steeply increasing. The aim of the study was to test the validity of the CFPQ among Brazilian parents of school-aged children and propose a new version of the instrument.

A physical action potential generator: design, implementation and evaluation.

The objective was to develop a physical action potential generator (Paxon) with the ability to generate a stable, repeatable, programmable, and physiological-like action potential. The Paxon has an equivalent of 40 nodes of Ranvier that were mimicked using resin embedded gold wires (Ø = 20 μm). These nodes were software controlled and the action potentials were initiated by a start trigger.

Evaluating the use of in-store measures in retail food stores and restaurants in Brazil.

Objective: To assess inter-rater reliability, test-retest reliability, and construct validity of retail food store, open-air food market, and restaurant observation tools adapted to the Brazilian urban context.

Methods: This study is part of a cross-sectional observation survey conducted in 13 districts across the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2010-2011. Food store and restaurant observational tools were developed based on previously available tools, and then tested it.

Complete genome sequence of Microbacterium sp. CGR1, bacterium tolerant to wide abiotic conditions isolated from the Atacama Desert.

Microbacterium sp. CGR1 (RGM2230) is an isolate from the Atacama Desert that displays a wide pH, salinity and temperature tolerance. This strain exhibits riboflavin overproducer features and traits for developing an environmental arsenic biosensor.

Synergistic effect of copper and low temperature over Listeria monocytogenes.

The capacity to grow at low temperatures has allowed Listeria monocytogenes to become one of the primary food pathogens to date, representing a major public health problem worldwide. Several works have described the homeostatic response of L. monocytogenes under different copper (Cu) treatments growing at mild temperature (30 °C).

The effect of protein restriction during the growing period on carcass, meat and fat quality of heavy barrows and gilts.

Nutritional strategies are being researched in pigs to increase fatness and then to improve quality of dry-cured products. A total of 160 Duroc×(Landrace×Large White) pigs, 50% barrows and 50% gilts, were used in a trial. During the growing period (73-118d of age), four feeds were formulated with decreasing levels of crude protein (CP; 21.

Global transcriptional responses of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans Wenelen under different sulfide minerals.

In order to provide new information about the adaptation of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans during the bioleaching process, the current analysis presents the first report of the global transcriptional response of the native copper mine strain Wenelen (DSM 16786) oxidized under different sulfide minerals. Microarrays were used to measure the response of At. ferrooxidans Wenelen to shifts from iron supplemented liquid cultures (reference state) to the addition of solid substrates enriched in pyrite or chalcopyrite.

A valid option for asthma control: Clinical evidence on efficacy and safety of fluticasone propionate/formoterol combination in a single inhaler.

A good level of asthma control improves the quality of life of asthmatic patients and may prevent future risk in term of exacerbations and decline of pulmonary function. However, in a real-life setting, several factors contribute to generally low compliance to the treatment. A rapid-onset, long-lasting medication with few adverse effects may contribute to improve adherence to therapy, along with an effective patient education and a good physician-patient communication.