Plastic-Degrading Microbial Consortia from a Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Plastic waste pollution has become a global crisis, with millions of tons of plastic expected to accumulate in landfills and in natural environments, posing a serious threat to wildlife and human health. As current recycling methods remain inefficient, there is an urgent need for innovative enzymatic solutions to break down plastics and enable a circular economy approach. In this study, we explore the plastic-degrading potential of microorganisms enriched from activated sludge (AS) sourced from a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP)-a known microplastic-contaminated industrial niche.

Correlation of Sarcopenia with Coronary Artery Disease Severity and Pericoronary Adipose Tissue Attenuation: A Coronary CT Study.

Objective: To investigate the association between sarcopenia, as appraised with CT-derived muscle metrics, and cardiovascular status, as assessed via coronary CT angiography (CCTA) using the Coronary Artery Disease-Reporting and Data System (CAD-RADS) and with pericoronary adipose tissue (pCAT) metrics.

Methods: A retrospective observational study conducted on patients who underwent CCTA. The cross-sectional area (CSA) and attenuation values of the paravertebral muscles at the T8 level and the pectoralis major muscles at the T6 level were measured.

Inhibition of zDHHC7-driven protein S-palmitoylation prevents cognitive deficits in an experimental model of Alzheimer's disease.

Protein post-translational modifications (PTM) play a crucial role in the modulation of synaptic function and their alterations are involved in the onset and progression of neurodegenerative disorders. S-palmitoylation is a PTM catalyzed by zinc finger DHHC domain containing (zDHHC) S-acyltransferases that affects both localization and activity of proteins regulating synaptic plasticity and amyloid-β (Aβ) metabolism. Here, we found significant increases of both zDHHC7 expression and protein S-palmitoylation in hippocampi of both 3×Tg-AD mice and post-mortem Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients.

[Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors in acute heart failure: the EMPULSE trial and literature review].

In heart failure management, hospitalization is the main cause of medical costs and is associated with an increased risk of adverse events. This review reports evidence on hospitalization as the ideal setting for disease-modifying therapy implementation, with a particular focus on gliflozins in patients with stabilized acute heart failure. The authors analyze data from the EMPULSE trial, the largest clinical study that evaluated a gliflozin in acute heart failure in patients with both reduced and preserved systolic function.

Clinical course for pancreatic necrosis and pancreatic pseudocysts due to severe acute or chronic pancreatitis.

Background: The acute and chronic pancreatitis (CP) can lead to severe complications like walled-off necrosis, large symptomatic pseudocyst or multiorgan failure. The treatment of these complications is multivariate and can differ from conservative, symptomatic treatment or minimal-invasive, endoscopic transgastral stenting to transgastral necrosectomy.

Objectives: This study aims to analyse the clinical course for patients that develop local complications of severe pancreatitis.