Culture-based and molecular investigation of antibiotic and metal resistance in a semi-arid agricultural soil repeatedly amended with urban sewage sludge.

Unsustainable agricultural intensification and climate change effects have caused chronic soil depletion in most arid and semi-arid croplands. As such, the land application of urban sewage sludge (USS) has been regulated in several countries as an alternative soil conditioner with recycling benefits. However, the risks of multi-contamination have made its agricultural reuse debatable.

Nanopesticide risk assessment based on microbiome profiling - Community structure and functional potential as biomarkers in captan@ZnO and captan@SiO treated orchard soil.

Nanoformulation should minimise the usage of pesticides and limit their environmental footprint. The risk assessment of two nanopesticides with fungicide captan as an active organic substance and ZnO or SiO as nanocarriers was evaluated using the non-target soil microorganisms as biomarkers. The first time for that kind of nanopesticides next-generation sequencing (NGS) of bacterial 16 S rRNA and fungal ITS region and metagenomics functional predictions (PICRUST2) was made to study structural and functional biodiversity.

Copper-oxide nanoparticles exert persistent changes in the structural and functional microbial diversity: A 60-day mesocosm study of zinc-oxide and copper-oxide nanoparticles in the soil-microorganism-nanoparticle system.

Recent advances in nanotechnology and development of nanoformulation methods, has enabled the emergence of precision farming - a novel farming method that involves nanopesticides and nanoferilizers. Zinc-oxide nanoparticles serve as a Zn source for plants, but they are also used as nanocarriers for other agents, whereas copper-oxide nanoparticles possess antifungal activity, but in some cases may also serve as a micronutrient providing Cu ions. Excessive application of metal-containing agents leads to their accumulation in soil, where they pose a threat to non-target soil organisms.

The influence of ZnO nanoparticles on horizontal transfer of resistance genes in lab and soil conditions.

Antibiotic resistance is a severe problem that threatens the achievements of modern medicine. Metallic nanoparticles may promote the horizontal transfer of resistance genes due to their toxicity to bacterial cells and metal-induced co-selection mechanisms. In this study, we investigated the toxicity of ZnO nanoparticles to E.

The significance of metallic nanoparticles in the emerging, development and spread of antibiotic resistance.

An ever-increasing number of newly synthesised nanoparticles have a constantly expanding range of applications. The large-scale implementation of nanoparticles will inevitably lead to intentional or accidental contamination of various environments. Since the major benefit of using several metallic nanoparticles is antimicrobial activity, these emerging contaminants may have a potentially hazardous impact on the development and spread of antibiotic resistance - a challenge that threats infection therapy worldwide.

Land application of sewage sludge: Response of soil microbial communities and potential spread of antibiotic resistance.

The effect of land application of sewage sludge on soil microbial communities and the possible spread of antibiotic- and metal-resistant strains and resistance determinants were evaluated during a 720-day field experiment. Enzyme activities, the number of oligotrophic bacteria, the total number of bacteria (qPCR), functional diversity (BIOLOG) and genetic diversity (DGGE) were established. Antibiotic and metal resistance genes (ARGs, MRGs) were assessed, and the number of cultivable antibiotic- (ampicillin, tetracycline) and heavy metal- (Cd, Zn, Cu, Ni) resistant bacteria were monitored during the experiment.

Application of Erythromycin and/or sp. Strain MC3 Alters the Metabolic Activity of Soil Microbial Communities as Revealed by the Community Level Physiological Profiling Approach.

Erythromycin (EM), a macrolide antibiotic, by influencing the biodiversity of microorganisms, might change the catabolic activity of the entire soil microbial community. Hence, the goal of this study was to determine the metabolic biodiversity in soil treated with EM (1 and 10 mg/kg soil) using the community-level physiological profiling (CLPP) method during a 90-day experiment. In addition, the effect of soil inoculation with antibiotic-resistant sp.

Vancomycin and/or Multidrug-Resistant Altered the Metabolic Pattern of Soil Microbial Community.

Despite many studies, our knowledge on the impact of antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant bacteria on the metabolic activity of soil microbial communities is still limited. To ascertain this impact, the community level physiological profiles (CLPPs) and the activity of selected enzymes (dehydrogenase, urease, and phosphatases) in soils treated with vancomycin (VA) and/or multidrug resistant were determined during a 90-day experiment. A multivariate analysis and the resistance (RS)/resilience (RL) concept were used to assess the potential of native microorganisms to maintain their catabolic activity under exposure of VA and/or a high level of .

The age of developing diabetes and FTO polymorphisms (rs9939609, rs1421085, and rs9930506).

Introduction: Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is a common complex metabolic disorder that has a strong genetic predisposition. Fat mass and obesity-associated protein (FTO) is one of the genes of interest to us. Hypomethylation of a CpG site in the FTO gene was significantly associated with the risk of T2DM.

The urgent need for risk assessment on the antibiotic resistance spread via sewage sludge land application.

Sewage sludge is an ever-increasing by-product of the wastewater treatment process frequently used as a soil fertiliser. To control its quality and prevent any possible hazardous impact of fertilisation, some mandatory limits of heavy metal content have been established by the European Commission (Sewage Sludge Directive). However, since the implementation of the limits, new emerging contaminants have been reported worldwide.

Imidacloprid induces changes in the structure, genetic diversity and catabolic activity of soil microbial communities.

This is the first report describing the effect of imidacloprid applied at field rate (FR, 1 mg/kg of soil) and 10 times the FR (10*FR, 10 mg/kg of soil) on the structural, genetic and physiological diversity of soil bacterial community as determined by the phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA), the denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), and the community level physiological profile (CLPP) approaches. PLFA profiles showed that imidacloprid significantly shifted the microbial community structure and decreased the biomass of the total, bacterial and fungal PLFAs, however, this effect was transient at the FR dosage. The alterations in DGGE patterns caused by imidacloprid application, confirmed considerable changes in the overall richness and diversity of dominant bacteria.

Urban air quality in the Asian region.

Over the past decade, member states of the Regional Co-operation Agreement (RCA), an intergovernmental agreement for the East Asia and Pacific region under the auspices of the IAEA with the assistance of international organizations and financial institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, have started to set in place policies and legislation for air pollution abatement. To support planning and evaluate the effectiveness of control programs, data are needed that characterizes urban air quality. The focus of this measurement program describe in this report is on size segregated particulate air pollution.

A comparison of the effect of autogenous vs. frozen homogenous grafts on the healing of non-union of forearm bones.

Background: A large percentage of autogenous and homogenous grafts are resorbed and replaced by the recipient's own tissue. It is generally believed that autogenous grafts are superior to homogenous ones. The aim of our study was to compare the effectiveness of autografts and allografts in achieving the healing of a non-union of forearm bones.

The effect of antibiotic therapy on the incidence of Staphylococcus aureus infections in orthopaedic patients.

Background: This paper reports on aetiological factors, including mostly S. aureus infections, and antibiotic use in the pretreatment and treatment of complicating infections in patients hospitalised at the Department of Orthopaedics and Musculoskeletal Traumatology, Gdańsk Medical University, between 1995 and 2004. The analysis sought to establish a correlation, via statistical analysis, between the usage of specific antibiotic classes, with special regard to lincosamides, and S.

Dependency between treatment outcome in pseudarthrosis of the humeral shaft and the surgical technique applied.

Background. Treatment of non-union has always been one of the most difficult problems in bone pathology. In the present study we compare outcomes using 9 different methods of non-union treatment.

Limited arthrodesis for wrist instability.

The knowledge on limited (intercarpal, partial) wrist arthrodeses was summarized on the basis of the contemporary literature review. They are used to treat various conditions of painful wrist pathology such as limited intercarpal arthrosis, instability, scaphoid nonunion, Kienböck's disease and rheumatoid arthritis. The goal of the procedure was pain relieve and maintainance a functional range of motion.

Evaluating degenerative changes in the wrist after surgical treatment for scaphoid pseudarthrosis using a corticocancellous graft for anatomical reconstruction.

Background. Pseudoarthrosis of the scaphoid results in the development of carpal instability and severe posttraumatic osteoarthritis. Modern methods of treatment focus on reconstruction of the anatomical shape and length of the scaphoid.

[Congenital dislocation of the knee with forefoot--adduction deformity].

A two days newborn girl a congenital recurvatum of the right knee and bilateral congenital adduction of forefootwas treated in The Department of Orthopaedics in Gdańsk. A slow correction of the knee was performed followed by cast immobilization. A good result was observed.

[Metacarpal fractures--treatment results].

In the study we presented the results of treatment of 126 fractures in patients hospitalized between 1994-2003 in the Department of Orthopeadics. The assesment was based on 87 patients that presented for the study, including 62 male and 25 female patients in the 14-57 age. The treatment consisted of stationary reduction combined with cast fixation and stabilization with Kirschner wire.

[Results of surgical treatment for cubital tunnel syndrome].

The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of surgical treatment of cubital tunnel syndrome (CTS) and asses the efficiency of surgical techniques implemented in our Department. Fifty-one patients with CTS were treated with 3 different surgical techniques: submuscular transposition, anterior transposition, and ulnar nerve decompression (UND). Thirty-one patients were evaluated post-op: 4 patients after ST, 21 patients after AT and 7 after UND.

Depleted uranium particles in selected Kosovo samples.

Selected soil samples, collected in Kosovo locations where DU ammunition was expended during the 1999 Balkan conflict, have been investigated by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), X-ray fluorescence imaging using a micro-beam (micro-XRF) and scanning electron microscopy equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence detector (SEM-EDXRF), with the objective to test the suitability of these techniques to identify the presence of small DU particles and measure their size distribution and the 235U/238U isotopic ratio (SIMS). Although the results do not permit any legitimate extrapolation to all the sites hit by the DU rounds used during the conflict, they indicated that there can be "spots ' where hundreds of thousands of particles may be present in a few milligrams of DU contaminated soil. The particle size distribution showed that most of the DU particles were <5 microm in diameter and more than 50% of the particles had a diameter <1.