Clonal Dissemination of Clinical Isolates in Northern Italy, 2021.

is a concerning pathogen in health care due to its ability to spread in medical settings. In this study, we characterized the genome of three clinical isolates collected in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northeastern Italy from January 2020 to May 2021. Whole-genome sequencing was performed using Illumina iSeq 100 and Oxford Nanopore MinION systems.

Efficacy and Adverse Effects After Single-Incision Slings for Women with Stress Urinary Incontinence: A 12-Year Follow-Up.

Objective: Single-incision slings (SISs) are not considered the first surgical choice for stress urinary incontinence due to few data about long-term results. Our aim was to evaluate the outcomes of SISs 12 years after implantation and to search for consequences such as deterioration after a certain amount of time.

Methods: We included women with stress urinary incontinence both clinically and urodynamically proven who underwent SISs procedure.

Machine learning-based typing of Salmonella enterica O-serogroups by the Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy-based IR Biotyper system.

Background: Salmonella enterica is among the major burdens for public health at global level. Typing of salmonellae below the species level is fundamental for different purposes, but traditional methods are expensive, technically demanding, and time-consuming, and therefore limited to reference centers. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is an alternative method for bacterial typing, successfully applied for classification at different infra-species levels.

Effects of the PARP Inhibitor Olaparib on the Response of Human Peripheral Blood Leukocytes to Bacterial Challenge or Oxidative Stress.

Prior studies demonstrate the activation of poly-(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) in various pathophysiological conditions, including sepsis. We have assessed the effect of olaparib, a clinically used PARP1 inhibitor, on the responses of human peripheral blood leukocytes (PBMCs) obtained from healthy volunteers in response to challenging with live bacteria, bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), or oxidative stress (hydrogen peroxide, HO). The viability of PBMCs exposed to olaparib or to the earlier generation PARP inhibitor PJ-34 (0.

Sky Brightness Evaluation at Concordia Station, Dome C, Antarctica, for Ground-Based Observations of the Solar Corona.

The evaluation of sky characteristics plays a fundamental role for many astrophysical experiments and ground-based observations. In solar physics, the main requirement for such observations is a very low sky brightness value, less than of the solar disk brightness ( ). Few places match such a requirement for ground-based, out-of-eclipse coronagraphic measurements.

Critically ill patients with COVID-19 show lung fungal dysbiosis with reduced microbial diversity in patients colonized with Candida spp.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified interest in how the infection affects the lung microbiome of critically ill patients and how it contributes to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We aimed to characterize the lower respiratory tract mycobiome of critically ill patients with COVID-19 in comparison to patients without COVID-19.

Methods: We performed an internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) profiling with the Illumina MiSeq platform on 26 respiratory specimens from patients with COVID-19 as well as from 26 patients with non-COVID-19 pneumonia.

Patterns of renal and splanchnic sympathetic vasomotor activity in an animal model of survival to experimental sepsis.

Sepsis causes long-term disability, such as immune dysfunction, neuropsychological disorders, persistent inflammation, catabolism, and immunosuppression, leading to a high risk of death in survivors, although the contributing factors of mortality are unknown. The purpose of this experimental study in rats was to examine renal (rSNA) and splanchnic (sSNA) sympathetic nerve activity, as well as baroreflex sensitivity, in acute and chronic post-sepsis periods. The rats were divided into two groups: control group with naïve Wistar rats and sepsis group with 2-mL intravenous inoculation of Escherichia coli at 108 CFU/mL.

bloodstream infection in a patient with aggressive lymphoma and a history of intravenous drug use: Case report and review of the literature.

is an environmental fungus which causes opportunistic infections in immunocompromised patients. Here we report the case of a 54-year-old, intravenous drug user woman, newly diagnosed to have an aggressive lymphoma, who developed a bloodstream infection caused by treated successfully with amphotericin-B therapy. The precise identification was assessed by sequencing.

Metabolic profiling of Candida clinical isolates of different species and infection sources.

Candida species are the most common cause of opportunistic fungal infections. Rapid identification and novel approaches for the characterization of these fungi are of great interest to improve the diagnosis and the knowledge about their pathogenic properties. This study aimed to characterize clinical isolates of Candida spp.

Occurrence of in the Blood of a Female Child With Neuroblastoma.

We report for the first time the occurrence of a filamentous fungus, , in the blood of a pediatric neuroblastoma patient. The genus comprises common soil-inhabiting and saprophytic fungi and has been isolated as a plant pathogen in Northern and Southern Italy. As a human pathogen, has been implicated in keratitis and can produce trichothecene toxins, which are weakly cytotoxic for mammalian cell lines.

Environmental radiation dosimetry at high southern latitudes with Liulin type instruments.

Because of the geomagnetic field shape, the polar regions are the most exposed to secondary particles and radiation produced by primary cosmic rays in the atmosphere. At present, only few experimental measurements of environmental dose are reported in literature at high southern latitudes. A three year campaign has been carried out in two different locations, Ushuaia (Argentina, 54.

Structural insights reveal a recognition feature for tailoring hydrocarbon stapled-peptides against the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E protein.

Stapled-peptides have emerged as an exciting class of molecules which can modulate protein-protein interactions. We have used a structure-guided approach to rationally develop a set of hydrocarbon stapled-peptides with high binding affinities and residence times against the oncogenic eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) protein. Crystal structures of these peptides in complex with eIF4E show that they form specific interactions with a region on the protein-binding interface of eIF4E which is distinct from the other well-established canonical interactions.

Gut Microbiota Imbalance Can Be Associated with Non-malabsorptive Small Bowel Shortening Regardless of Blind Loop.

Introduction: Some traditional bariatric surgery procedures may lead to functional gut shortening, which may unsettle the fine-tuned gastrointestinal physiology and affect gut microbiota balance.

Purpose: Evaluate the gut microbiota behavior in rat models facing gut shortening due to intestinal bypass.

Materials And Methods: Wistar rats (n = 17) were randomly distributed in three groups: (1) sham group (n = 5); (2) blind loop group (n = 6); and (3) resection group (n = 6).

Benefits and challenges of incorporating citizen science into university education.

A common feature of many citizen science projects is the collection of data by unpaid contributors with the expectation that the data will be used in research. Here we report a teaching strategy that combined citizen science with inquiry-based learning to offer first year university students an authentic research experience. A six-year partnership with the Australian phenology citizen science program ClimateWatch has enabled biology students from the University of Western Australia to contribute phenological data on plants and animals, and to conduct the first research on unvalidated species datasets contributed by public and university participants.

Environmental radiation dosimetry at Argentine Antarctic Marambio Base (64° 13' S, 56° 43' W): preliminary results.

The preliminary results obtained in the first environmental radiation dosimetry campaign performed in the Antarctic region are presented. This experiment is carried out in the framework of CORA (COsmic Rays in Antarctica) Project, a collaboration between Argentine and Italian institutions. After a feasibility study performed in the Antarctic summer 2013, a new campaign has been carried out, started in March 2015, to measure various components of cosmic ray induced secondary atmospheric radiation at the Argentine Marambio Base (Antarctica; 196 m a.

Escherichia albertii, a novel human enteropathogen, colonizes rat enterocytes and translocates to extra-intestinal sites.

Diarrhea is the second leading cause of death of children up to five years old in the developing countries. Among the etiological diarrheal agents are atypical enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (aEPEC), one of the diarrheagenic E. coli pathotypes that affects children and adults, even in developed countries.

Bilateral Carotid-Cavernous Fistulas: An Uncommon Cause of Pituitary Enlargement and Hypopituitarism.

Carotid-cavernous fistulas (CCFs) are rare, pathologic communications of the carotid artery and the venous plexus of the cavernous sinus. They can develop spontaneously in certain at risk individuals or following traumatic head injury. Typical clinical manifestations include headache, proptosis, orbital pain, and diplopia.

Typical and atypical enteropathogenic Escherichia coli bacterial translocation associated with tissue hypoperfusion in rats.

Although enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) are well-recognized diarrheal agents, their ability to translocate and cause extraintestinal alterations is not known. We investigated whether a typical EPEC (tEPEC) and an atypical EPEC (aEPEC) strain translocate and cause microcirculation injury under conditions of intestinal bacterial overgrowth. Bacterial translocation (BT) was induced in female Wistar-EPM rats (200-250 g) by oroduodenal catheterization and inoculation of 10 mL 10(10) colony forming unit (CFU)/mL, with the bacteria being confined between the duodenum and ileum with ligatures.

Microcirculatory evaluation in sepsis: a difficult task.

Microcirculatory dysfunction plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of severe sepsis and septic shock; hence, microcirculation blood flow monitoring has gained increasing attention. However, microcirculatory imaging is still investigational in human sepsis and has not yet been incorporated into routine clinical practice for several reasons, including the difficult interpretation of microcirculation imaging data, difficulty to draw a parallel between sublingual microcirculation imaging and organ microcirculation dysfunction, as well as the absence of microvessel dysfunction parameters defining sequential microcirculatory changes from the early to late stages of the disease, which could aid in the context of therapeutic approaches and of prognostic parameters. The purpose of this review was to bridge the experimental abdominal organ microvascular derangement kinetics and clinical aspects of microcirculatory findings in the early phase of severe sepsis/septic shock.

Analysis of furan in coffee of different provenance by head-space solid phase microextraction gas chromatography-mass spectrometry: effect of brewing procedures.

A simple, sensitive and accurate method for the analysis of furan in roasted coffee has been used based on headspace-solid-phase micro-extraction (HS-SPME) coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The extraction was performed using 75-microm carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane fiber. Ionic strength, extraction time and temperature, and desorption time were assessed as the most important parameters affecting the HS-SPME procedure and d(4)-furan was used as the internal standard.

IRC-083927 is a new tubulin binder that inhibits growth of human tumor cells resistant to standard tubulin-binding agents.

Tubulin is a validated target for antitumor drugs. However, the effectiveness of these microtubule-interacting agents is limited by the fact that they are substrates for drug efflux pumps (P-glycoprotein) and/or by the acquisition of point mutations in tubulin residues important for drug-tubulin binding. To bypass these resistance systems, we have identified and characterized a novel synthetic imidazole derivative IRC-083927, which inhibits the tubulin polymerization by a binding to the colchicine site.

Butyl 2-(4-[1.1'-biphenyl]-4-yl-1H-imidazol-2-yl)ethylcarbamate, a potent sodium channel blocker for the treatment of neuropathic pain.

A series of 4-arylimidazole carbamates was synthesized and their binding affinities to the site-2 sodium (Na+) channel were determined. SAR studies led to the identification of compound 10, a potent Na+ channel blocker which was efficacious in pain models in vivo.