Unlocking Probiotic Potential: Genomic Insights into Weissella paramesenteroides UFTM 2.6.1.

Weissella, a genus of lactic acid bacteria, has diverse beneficial attributes including probiotic activity and biotechnological applications. Therefore, the investigation of the Weissella genus has garnered growing interest. In this study, we sequenced the complete genome of Weissella paramesenteroides UFTM 2.

Urbanization shapes phenotypic selection of fruit traits in a seed-dispersal mutualism.

Urbanization is currently one of the trademarks of the Anthropocene, accelerating evolutionary processes and reshaping ecological interactions over short time scales. Species interactions represent a fundamental pillar of diversity that is being altered globally by anthropogenic change. Urban environments, despite their potential impact, have seldom been studied in relation to how they shape natural selection of phenotypic traits in multispecies interactions.

Organizational factors and safe food handling by food service workers: a scoping review protocol.

Objective: The objective of this scoping review is to explore and map the scientific evidence on organizational factors related to safe food handling by food service workers to prevent foodborne disease.

Introduction: According to the World Health Organization, more than 600 million people become ill each year due to foodborne diseases. Improper food handling is one of the main causes of such diseases.

On the adequacy of fruit removal as a proxy for fitness in studies of bird-mediated phenotypic selection.

Premise: In fleshy-fruited plants, fruit removal is widely used as a proxy for plant reproductive success. Nevertheless, this proxy may not accurately reflect the number of seeds dispersed, an assumed better proxy for total fitness (fruit removal × mean number of seeds dispersed per fruit).

Methods: We examined under what circumstances fruit removal can be reliable as a proxy for total fitness when assessing bird-mediated selection on fruit traits.

Large-scale spatial variability in urban tolerance of birds.

Quantifying intraspecific and interspecific trait variability is critical to our understanding of biogeography, ecology and conservation. But quantifying such variability and understanding the importance of intraspecific and interspecific variability remain challenging. This is especially true of large geographic scales as this is where the differences between intraspecific and interspecific variability are likely to be greatest.

Variation in blood mercury concentrations in brown skuas (Stercorarius antarcticus) is related to trophic ecology but not breeding success or adult body condition.

Mercury is a pervasive environmental contaminant that can negatively impact seabirds. Here, we measure total mercury (THg) concentrations in red blood cells (RBCs) from breeding brown skuas (Stercorarius antarcticus) (n = 49) at Esperanza/Hope Bay, Antarctic Peninsula. The aims of this study were to: (i) analyse RBCs THg concentrations in relation to sex, year and stable isotope values of carbon (δC) and nitrogen (δN); and (ii) examine correlations between THg, body condition and breeding success.

Leprosy patients quality of life: a scoping review.

Objective: To explore the scientific evidence regarding the leprosy patients quality of life.

Method: Scoping review according to the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology, with articles indexed in PubMed, Cochrane, LILACS, Embase, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, PsyINFO, INFOLEP, and Google Scholar databases, published in full in Portuguese, English, or Spanish.

Results: Seventy-four studies were identified, with 71 of quantitative approach and 3 with a mixed method.

Hospitalization and surgery rates in patients with inflammatory bowel disease in Brazil: a time-trend analysis.

Background: The prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is increasing globally, and the disease is frequently managed surgically. The aim of this study was to investigate the time trends and geographic distribution of IBD hospitalizations, surgeries and surgical-associated lethality.

Methods: Data from the Brazilian Health Public System were retrospectively collected regarding hospitalizations, in-hospital deaths, IBD-related surgical procedures and lethality from 2005 to 2015.

Quantifying the relative importance of direct and indirect effects influencing bird nestling growth.

Nestling growth parameters are integral components of avian life-history strategies as they are crucial determinants of individual survival. Although many factors impact on nestling growth, the relative contribution of each one is still debated in the literature. Most studies rely on the assumption that each factor directly affects nestling growth, but indirect effects mediated by other factors are usually the rule in nature.

Chagas Disease Screening Using Point-of-Care Testing in an At-Risk Obstetric Population.

Congenital transmission is the most important mode of transmission of Chagas disease (CD) in non-endemic countries. Identifying CD in reproductive-aged women is essential to reduce the risk of transmitting the disease to their children and offer treatment to women and their children, which could cure the disease. We evaluated the use of point-of-care (POC) testing for CD in postpartum patients.

Nanostructure ITO and Get More of It. Better Performance at Lower Cost.

In this paper, we investigated how different growth conditions (i.e., temperature, growth time, and composition) allows for trading off cost (i.

Selection on fruit traits is mediated by the interplay between frugivorous birds, fruit flies, parasitoid wasps and seed-dispersing ants.

Every organism on Earth must cope with a multitude of species interactions both directly and indirectly throughout its life cycle. However, how selection from multiple species occupying different trophic levels affects diffuse mutualisms has received little attention. As a result, how a given species amalgamates the combined effects of selection from multiple mutualists and antagonists to enhance its own fitness remains little understood.

Mycobacterium abscessus subspecies massiliense infection after skin graft and cholecystectomy in a burn patient.

Diagnosing skin and soft tissue infections due to rapidly growing mycobacteria (RGM) can often prove difficult, leading to delays in treatment. Postoperative infections caused by RGM are increasingly recognized both within and outside the USA, but are rarely encountered in burn units. We report a case of postoperative skin and soft tissue infection along a cholecystectomy incision in a burn patient caused by Mycobacterium abscessus subsp.

A low-cost and miniaturized potentiostat for sensing of biomolecular species such as TNF-α by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.

Miniaturizing potentiostats, keeping their cost low and yet preserving full measurement characteristics (e.g. bandwidth, determination of capacitive/inductive contribution to sensor's impedance and parallel screening) is still an unresolved challenge in bioelectronics.

Polymer-coated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles as T contrast agent for MRI and their uptake in liver.

Aim: To study the efficiency of multifunctional polymer-based superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (bioferrofluids) as a T magnetic resonance contrast agent and their uptake and toxicity in liver.

Materials & Methods: Mice were intravenously injected with bioferrofluids and Endorem. The magnetic resonance efficiency, uptake and toxicity were investigated by means of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and histological techniques.

Photoresponsive ionic liquid crystals assembled via halogen bond: en route towards light-controllable ion transporters.

We demonstrate that halogen bonding (XB) can offer a novel approach for the construction of photoresponsive ionic liquid crystals. In particular, we assembled two new supramolecular complexes based on 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium iodides and azobenzene derivatives containing an iodotetrafluoro-benzene ring as XB donor, where the iodide anion acted as an XB acceptor. DSC and X-ray diffraction analyses revealed that the preferred stoichiometry between the XB donors and acceptors is 2 : 1, and that the iodide anions act as bidentate XB-acceptors, binding two azobenzene derivatives.

Functional insights into the cellular response triggered by a bile-acid platinum compound conjugated to biocompatible ferric nanoparticles using quantitative proteomic approaches.

At present, bioferrofluids are employed as powerful multifunctional tools for biomedical applications such as drug delivery, among others. The present study explores the cellular response evoked when bile-acid platinum derivatives are conjugated with bioferrofluids by testing the biological activity in osteosarcoma (MG-63) and T-cell leukemia (Jurkat) cells. The aim of this work is to evaluate the biocompatibility of a bile-acid platinum derivative conjugated with multi-functional polymer coated bioferrofluids by observing the effects on the protein expression profiles and in intracellular pathways of nanoparticle-stimulated cells.

Studies on a "Disappearing Polymorph": Thermal and Magnetic Characterization of α-p-NCCFCNSSN

The α-and β-phases of the thiazyl radical p-NCCFCNSSN (1) can be selectively prepared by careful control of the sublimation conditions, with the α-phase crystallizing preferentially when the substrate temperature is maintained below -10 °C, whereas the β-phase is isolated when the substrate temperature is maintained at or above ambient temperature. Differential scanning calorimatry studies reveal that the α-phase converts to the β-phase upon warming over the range 111-117 °C (ΔH = +4 kJ·mol) via a melt-recrystallization process, with the β-phase itself melting at 167-170 °C (ΔH = 27 kJ·mol). IR and Raman spectroscopy can be used to clearly discriminate between 1α and 1β.

Organosilane-functionalization of nanostructured indium tin oxide films.

Fabrication and organosilane-functionalization and characterization of nanostructured ITO electrodes are reported. Nanostructured ITO electrodes were obtained by electron beam evaporation, and a subsequent annealing treatment was selectively performed to modify their crystalline state. An increase in geometrical surface area in comparison with thin-film electrodes area was observed by atomic force microscopy, implying higher electroactive surface area for nanostructured ITO electrodes and thus higher detection levels.

A symmetric, triply interlaced 3-D anionic MOF that exhibits both magnetic order and SMM behaviour.

A newly prepared 3-D polymer of cobalt citrate cubanes bridged by high-spin Co(ii) centres displays both single-molecule magnet (SMM) behaviour and magnetic ordering. Triple interpenetration of the 3-D diamondoid polymers yields a crystalline solid with channels that host cations and free water molecules, with the SMM behaviour of the CoO cores preserved. The octahedrally coordinated Co(ii) bridges are implicated in the onset of magnetic order at an experimentally accessible temperature.

Cell compatibility of a maghemite/polymer biomedical nanoplatform.

We are reporting the cytocompatibility and cellular fate of an iron oxide/polymer nanoplatform (IONP) in its most basic formulation, using both mesenchymal (vascular smooth muscle cells, VSMC), and epithelial (opossum kidney, OK) cells. The cytotoxicity and cell internalization of the nanoplatform has been evaluated in relation to time of exposure and concentration of different components. A series of samples with different iron oxide nanoparticle, sizes, hydrodynamic sizes and iron/polymer ratio have been examined.

Understanding the Concept of Health Care-Associated Pneumonia in Lung Transplant Recipients.

Background: Limited data are available regarding the etiologic impact of health care-associated pneumonia (HCAP) in lung transplant recipients. Therefore, our aim was to evaluate the microbiologic differences between HCAP and hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP)/ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in lung transplant recipients with a radiographically confirmed diagnosis of pneumonia.

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of lung transplant recipients with pneumonia at one transplant center over a 7-year period.

Joining time-resolved thermometry and magnetic-induced heating in a single nanoparticle unveils intriguing thermal properties.

Whereas efficient and sensitive nanoheaters and nanothermometers are demanding tools in modern bio- and nanomedicine, joining both features in a single nanoparticle still remains a real challenge, despite the recent progress achieved, most of it within the last year. Here we demonstrate a successful realization of this challenge. The heating is magnetically induced, the temperature readout is optical, and the ratiometric thermometric probes are dual-emissive Eu(3+)/Tb(3+) lanthanide complexes.

In the dawn of magnets made from molecules.

I discuss here the contribution from J. S. Miller and co-workers concerning the discovery of ferromagnetism in an organometallic compound.