: The role of the gut microbiome in the development and progression of many diseases has received increased attention in recent years. Boron, a trace mineral found in dietary sources, has attracted interest due to its unique electron depletion and coordination characteristics in chemistry, as well as its potential role in modulating the gut microbiota. This study investigates the effects of inorganic boron derivatives on the gut microbiota of mice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFResistance to clarithromycin, a macrolide antibiotic used in the first-line treatment of infection, is the most important cause of treatment failure. Although most cases of clarithromycin resistance in are associated with point mutations in 23S ribosomal RNA (rRNA), the relationships of other mutations with resistance remain unclear. We examined possible new macrolide resistance mechanisms in resistant strains using next-generation sequencing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHerein, a performance analysis of La-doped copper-based catalysts (CuO/ZrO/La-AlO) in methanol steam reforming (MSR) was conducted and compared with a commercial low temperature water-gas shift catalyst (HiFUEL W220) to produce H with low CO selectivity. The physicochemical properties of as-obtained catalysts were characterized by N adsorption, XRD, and ICP-OES. Effect of calcination temperature (750 °C and 1000 °C) on the properties of mixed oxide support (La-AlO) were discussed based on catalytic activity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe present a global atlas of 4,728 metagenomic samples from mass-transit systems in 60 cities over 3 years, representing the first systematic, worldwide catalog of the urban microbial ecosystem. This atlas provides an annotated, geospatial profile of microbial strains, functional characteristics, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) markers, and genetic elements, including 10,928 viruses, 1,302 bacteria, 2 archaea, and 838,532 CRISPR arrays not found in reference databases. We identified 4,246 known species of urban microorganisms and a consistent set of 31 species found in 97% of samples that were distinct from human commensal organisms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this study, a comparative thermodynamic equilibrium calculation of biogas oxy-reforming and oxy-steam reforming processes to produce syngas has been conducted by Aspen Plus simulation software. The effects of temperature (600-800°C), pressure (1-20 atm), and inlet O/CH (0-1.0), HO/CH (0-3.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLeishmania virus (LRV) has previously been identified in different Leishmania species. Host-LRV interaction is associated with exacerbated clinical manifestations of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) and may cause poor therapeutic response. CL cases due to L.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe salivary gland hypertrophy virus (GpSGHV) infects tsetse flies predominantly asymptomatically and occasionally symptomatically. Symptomatic infections are characterized by overt salivary gland hypertrophy (SGH) in mass reared tsetse flies, which causes reproductive dysfunctions and colony collapse, thus hindering tsetse control via sterile insect technique (SIT). Asymptomatic infections have no apparent cost to the fly's fitness.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMembers of the family Iridoviridae (iridovirids) are large dsDNA viruses that infect both invertebrate and vertebrate ectotherms and whose symptoms range in severity from minor reductions in host fitness to systemic disease and large-scale mortality. Several characteristics have been useful for classifying iridoviruses; however, novel strains are continuously being discovered and, in many cases, reliable classification has been challenging. Further impeding classification, invertebrate iridoviruses (IIVs) can occasionally infect vertebrates; thus, host range is often not a useful criterion for classification.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe draft genome sequences of two heat-resistant mutant strains, A52 and B41, derived from Rhodobacter capsulatus DSM 1710, and with different hydrogen production levels, are reported here. These sequences may help understand the molecular basis of heat resistance and hydrogen production in R. capsulatus.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPretreated poultry litter was used in batch cultures for the production of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)-based biopesticide of lepidoptera- and diptera-specific Cry1 and Cry2, diptera-specific Cry4Ba and Cry11Aa and coleoptera-specific Cry3Aa toxins by Bt subsp. kurstaki 81, subsp. israelensis HD500 and subsp.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To compare low-dose botulinum toxin injections followed by short-term electrical stimulation with high-dose botulinum toxin for poststroke spastic drop foot.
Design: Twelve patients with spastic drop foot were randomly assigned to two treatment groups. The first group (n = 6) received low-dose (100 units) botulinum toxin injection to the posterior tibial muscle in combination with short-term electrical stimulation, and the second group (n = 6) received a total of 400 units of botulinum toxin injections in equal doses to the posterior tibial, soleus, medial, and lateral gastrocnemius muscles.
Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of low-level laser therapy in the treatment of temporomandibular disorder and to compare treatment effects in myogenic and arthrogenic cases.
Methods: Thirty-five patients were evaluated by magnetic resonance imaging and randomly allocated to active treatment (n=20) and placebo treatment (n= 15) groups. In addition to a daily exercise program, all patients were treated with fifteen sessions of low-level laser therapy.