Improving the Theranostic Potential of Magnetic Nanoparticles by Coating with Natural Rubber Latex for Ultrasound, Photoacoustic Imaging, and Magnetic Hyperthermia: An In Vitro Study.

Background/objectives: Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have gained attention in theranostics for their ability to combine diagnostic imaging and therapeutic capabilities in a single platform, enhancing targeted treatment and monitoring. Surface coatings are essential for stabilizing MNPs, improving biocompatibility, and preventing oxidation that could compromise their functionality. Natural rubber latex (NRL) offers a promising coating alternative due to its biocompatibility and stability-enhancing properties.

Spatial release from masking in the median plane with non-native speakers using individual and mannequin head related transfer functions.

Spatial release from masking (SRM) in speech-on-speech tasks has been widely studied in the horizontal plane, where interaural cues play a fundamental role. Several studies have also observed SRM for sources located in the median plane, where (monaural) spectral cues are more important. However, a relatively unexplored research question concerns the impact of head-related transfer function (HRTF) personalisation on SRM, for example, whether using individually-measured HRTFs results in better performance if compared with the use of mannequin HRTFs.

The Gastrointestinal Tract Is Pinpointed as a Reservoir of , , and Genotypes Found in Blood and Intra-Abdominal Samples.

Background: spp., as part of the microbiota, can colonise the gastrointestinal tract. We hypothesised that genotyping spp.

Seaweed Extracts to Control Postharvest Phytopathogenic Fungi in Rocha Pear.

Fungal infections cause losses amounting to between 20 and 25% of the fruit industry's total outcome, with an escalating impact on agriculture in the last decades. As seaweeds have long demonstrated relevant antimicrobial properties against a wide variety of microorganisms, extracts from , sp., , and were used to find sustainable, ecofriendly, and safe solutions against Rocha pear postharvest fungal infections.

Seaweed as a Natural Source against Phytopathogenic Bacteria.

Plant bacterial pathogens can be devastating and compromise entire crops of fruit and vegetables worldwide. The consequences of bacterial plant infections represent not only relevant economical losses, but also the reduction of food availability. Synthetic bactericides have been the most used tool to control bacterial diseases, representing an expensive investment for the producers, since cyclic applications are usually necessary, and are a potential threat to the environment.

Neutralizing Antibodies to Human Cytomegalovirus Recombinant Proteins Reduce Infection in an Ex Vivo Model of Developing Human Placentas.

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is the leading viral cause of congenital disease and permanent birth defects worldwide. Although the development of an effective vaccine is a public health priority, no vaccines are approved. Among the major antigenic targets are glycoproteins in the virion envelope, including gB, which facilitates cellular entry, and the pentameric complex (gH/gL/pUL128-131), required for the infection of specialized cell types.

Gastrointestinal tract Candida spp colonization shows mostly a monoclonal pattern: an intra-patient pilot study.

Unlabelled: Gastrointestinal tract Candida genotypes may associate with isolates later causing infections. We genotyped Candida spp isolates (n = 200 individual colonies) from rectal swabs to assess whether gastrointestinal gut colonization is caused by a single genotype (monoclonal pattern) or a combination of them (polyclonal pattern). C.

Marine Macroalgae, a Source of Natural Inhibitors of Fungal Phytopathogens.

Fungal phytopathogens are a growing problem all over the world; their propagation causes significant crop losses, affecting the quality of fruits and vegetables, diminishing the availability of food, leading to the loss of billions of euros every year. To control fungal diseases, the use of synthetic chemical fungicides is widely applied; these substances are, however, environmentally damaging. Marine algae, one of the richest marine sources of compounds possessing a wide range of bioactivities, present an eco-friendly alternative in the search for diverse compounds with industrial applications.

Uncovering the Bioactivity of Aurantiochytrium sp.: a Comparison of Extraction Methodologies.

Aurantiochytrium sp. is an emerging alternative source of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and squalene, playing an important role in the phasing out of traditional fish sources for these compounds. Novel lipid extraction techniques with a focus on sustainability and low environmental footprint are being developed for this organism, but the exploration of other added-value compounds within it is still very limited.

Modelling binaural unmasking and the intelligibility of speech in noise and reverberation for normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners.

This study investigated the effect of hearing loss on binaural unmasking (BU) for the intelligibility of speech in noise. Speech reception thresholds (SRTs) were measured with normal-hearing (NH) listeners and older mildly hearing-impaired (HI) listeners while varying the presentation level of the stimuli, reverberation, modulation of the noise masker, and spatial separation of the speech and noise sources. On average across conditions, the NH listeners benefited more (by 0.

Antifungal Susceptibility Testing Identifies the Abdominal Cavity as a Source of Candida glabrata-Resistant Isolates.

To identify unrecognized niches of resistant Candida isolates and compartmentalization, we retrospectively studied the antifungal susceptibility of 1,103 Candida spp. isolates from blood cultures, nonblood sterile samples, and nonsterile samples. Antifungal susceptibility was assessed by EUCAST E.

In vitro activity of ibrexafungerp and comparators against Candida albicans genotypes from vaginal samples and blood cultures.

Objectives: Emergence of azole resistance may contribute to recurrences of vulvovaginal candidiasis. Thus, new drugs are needed to improve the therapeutic options. We studied the in vitro activity of ibrexafungerp and comparators against Candida albicans isolates from vaginal samples and blood cultures.

Diversity of fungi associated with macroalgae from an estuarine environment and description of sp. nov. and sp. nov.

Fungal communities associated with macroalgae remain largely unexplored. To characterize algicolous fungal communities using culture dependent methods, macroalgae were collected from different sampling sites in the Ria de Aveiro estuary, Portugal. From a collection of 486 isolates that were obtained, 213 representative isolates were selected through microsatellite-primed PCR (MSP-PCR) fingerprinting analysis.

An Irreversibility-Based Criterion to Determine the Cost Formation of Residues in a Three-Pressure-Level Combined Cycle.

In an energy system, it is important to identify the origin of residue formation in order to implement actions to reduce their formation or to eliminate them as well as to evaluate their impact on the production costs of the system. In the exergetic cost theory, although there are several criteria to allocate the cost formation of residues to the productive components, no unique indication on the best choice has been defined yet. In this paper, the production exergy costs are determined by allocating the residue cost formation to the irreversibilities of the productive components from which they originate.

A binaural model implementing an internal noise to predict the effect of hearing impairment on speech intelligibility in non-stationary noises.

A binaural model predicting speech intelligibility in envelope-modulated noise for normal-hearing (NH) and hearing-impaired listeners is proposed. The study shows the importance of considering an internal noise with two components relying on the individual audiogram and the level of the external stimuli. The model was optimized and verified using speech reception thresholds previously measured in three experiments involving NH and hearing-impaired listeners and sharing common methods.

Further validation of a binaural model predicting speech intelligibility against envelope-modulated noises.

Collin and Lavandier [J. Acoust. Soc.

Novel halotolerant species of and associated with macroalgae in an estuarine environment.

Macroalgae of the genera , and are typically abundant in estuaries. Endophytic fungi may have beneficial effects on the hosts affecting their ability to cope with stress. They are also a source of biologically active compounds.

gen. et sp. nov. (Didymosphaeriaceae, Pleosporales) isolated from algae in Ria de Aveiro, Portugal.

A collection of fungi was isolated from macroalgae of the genera , and in the estuary Ria de Aveiro in Portugal. These isolates were characterized through a multilocus phylogeny based on ITS region of the ribosomal DNA, beta-tubulin () and translation elongation factor 1 alpha () sequences, in conjunction with morphological and physiological data. These analyses showed that the isolates represented an unknown fungus for which a new genus, and a new species, are proposed.

Colonization of the nasal airways by Staphylococcus aureus on admission to a major heart surgery operating room: A real-world experience.

Introduction: Nasal swab culture is used to identify Staphylococcus aureus colonization, as this is a major risk factor for surgical site infection (SSI) in patients who are going to undergo major heart surgery (MHS). We determined nasal carriage of S. aureus in patients undergoing MHS by comparing the yield of a conventional culture with that of a rapid molecular test (Xpert® SA Nasal Complete, Cepheid).

Large Scale Shadow Annotation and Detection Using Lazy Annotation and Stacked CNNs.

Recent shadow detection algorithms have shown initial success on small datasets of images from specific domains. However, shadow detection on broader image domains is still challenging due to the lack of annotated training data, caused by the intense manual labor required for annotating shadow data. In this paper we propose "lazy annotation", an efficient annotation method where an annotator only needs to mark the important shadow areas and some non-shadow areas.

Biodiversity of species from marine environments in Portugal and description of sp. nov., a novel species isolated from sea water.

During an extensive survey of marine fungi in coastal marine environments from Portugal, a collection of isolates were obtained from sea water, macroalgae and driftwood. Sixteen distinct species were identified with and being the most frequent. A species isolated from sea water could not be affiliated to any known species.

Estimation of Nuwiq (simoctocog alfa) activity using one-stage and chromogenic assays-Results from an international comparative field study.

Background: Accurate determination of coagulation factor VIII activity (FVIII:C) is essential for effective and safe FVIII replacement therapy.

Fviii: C can be measured by one-stage and chromogenic substrate assays (OSAs and CSAs, respectively); however, there is significant interlaboratory and interassay variability.

Aims: This international comparative field study characterized the behaviour of OSAs and CSAs used in routine laboratory practice to measure the activity of Nuwiq (human-cl rhFVIII, simoctocog alfa), a fourth-generation recombinant human FVIII produced in a human cell line.

Association Between Erectile Dysfunction and Carotid Subclinical Atherosclerosis in HIV-Infected Patients.

Background: Erectile dysfunction (ED) is frequent in HIV-infected patients, and it can be associated with atherosclerosis and cardiovascular events. So, the objective was to evaluate whether the presence of moderate-severe ED was a marker of subclinical atherosclerosis (SCA) in HIV-infected patients.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a cohort of HIV-infected patients.