Assessing microbial growth in drinking water using nucleic acid content and flow cytometry fingerprinting.

This study utilizes flow cytometry (FCM) to evaluate the high nucleic acid (HNA) and low nucleic acid (LNA) content of intact cells for monitoring bacterial dynamics in drinking water treatment and supply systems. Our findings indicate that chlorine and nutrients differently impact components of bacterial populations. HNA bacteria, characterized by high metabolic rates, quickly react to nutrient alterations, making them suitable indicators of growth under varying water treatment and supply conditions.

A mathematical model of plasmin-mediated fibrinolysis of single fibrin fibers.

Fibrinolysis, the plasmin-mediated degradation of the fibrin mesh that stabilizes blood clots, is an important physiological process, and understanding mechanisms underlying lysis is critical for improved stroke treatment. Experimentalists are now able to study lysis on the scale of single fibrin fibers, but mathematical models of lysis continue to focus mostly on fibrin network degradation. Experiments have shown that while some degradation occurs along the length of a fiber, ultimately the fiber is cleaved at a single location.

Deconstructing fibrin(ogen) structure.

Fibrinogen and its insoluble degradation product fibrin are pivotal plasma proteins that play important roles in blood coagulation, wound healing, and immune responses. This review highlights research from the last 24 months connecting our progressing view of fibrin(ogen)'s structure, and in particular its conformational flexibility and posttranslational modifications, to its (patho)physiologic roles, molecular interactions, mechanical properties, use as a biomaterial, and potential as a therapeutic target. Recent work suggests that fibrinogen structure is highly dynamic, sampling multiple conformations, which may explain its myriad physiologic functions and the presence of cryptic binding sites.

Learning health systems to implement chronic disease prevention programs: A novel framework and perspectives from an Australian health service.

Background: Chronic diseases are a considerable burden to health systems, communities, and patients. Much of this burden, however, could be prevented if interventions effective in reducing chronic disease risks were routinely implemented.

Aims: The aim of this paper is to discuss the role of public health agencies in preventing chronic disease through the application of learning health system (LHS) approaches to improve the implementation of evidence-based interventions.

Spatial context non-uniformly modulates inter-laminar information flow in the primary visual cortex.

Our visual experience is a result of the concerted activity of neuronal ensembles in the sensory hierarchy. Yet, how the spatial organization of objects influences this activity remains poorly understood. We investigate how inter-laminar information flow within the primary visual cortex (V1) is affected by visual stimuli in isolation or with flankers at spatial configurations that are known to cause non-uniform degradation of perception.