Potential Co-Factors of an Intraoral Contact Allergy-A Cross-Sectional Study.

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the frequency of dental allergens and potential co-factors, especially hypothyroidism, for patients with an intraoral contact allergy. From 2015 to 2016, patients with confirmed symptoms of an intraoral contact allergy (study group SG n = 50) were recruited in the dental clinic of the University of Leipzig. The participants of the control group (CG n = 103) were patients without oral diseases or intraoral symptoms of a contact allergy.

Microbial Electrosynthesis-An Inventory on Technology Readiness Level and Performance of Different Process Variants.

The objective of microbial electrosynthesis (MES) is to combine the advantages of electrochemistry and biotechnology in order to produce chemicals and fuels. This combination enables resource-efficient processes by using renewable raw materials and regenerative energies. In the last decade, different MES processes have been described, for example, MES based on biofilms or mediators, electro-fermentation, and secondary MES.

Hierarchical response of littoral macroinvertebrates to altered hydromorphology and eutrophication.

The composition of littoral macroinvertebrate communities in lakes is governed by multiple natural and anthropogenic environmental influences interacting at different spatial scales. Since ecological assessment methods using littoral macroinvertebrates should respond specifically to a single stressor, knowledge on the unique effects of a given stressor is necessary. To effectively disentangle the effects of hydromorphology and trophic state requires analysing macroinvertebrate communities at lake sites with the full range of both stressors.

Risk factors for African swine fever incursion in Romanian domestic farms during 2019.

African swine fever (ASF) entered Georgia in 2007 and the EU in 2014. In the EU, the virus primarily spread in wild boar (Sus scrofa) in the period from 2014-2018. However, from the summer 2018, numerous domestic pig farms in Romania were affected by ASF.

Modelling the impact of past and future climate scenarios on streamflow in a highly mountainous watershed: A case study in the West Seti River Basin, Nepal.

Hydrological model parameters are important during representation of the hydrological characteristics of a watershed. The West Seti River Basin (WSRB), a prominent Himalayan Basin of Nepal, is a major source of fresh water in the western region of the country. We used the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) for hydrological modelling and identified the most sensitive hydrological parameters, while the Sequential Uncertainty Fitting (SUFI-2) technique was employed for model calibration.

Compound-Specific Isotope Analysis and Enantiomer Fractionation to Characterize the Transformation of Hexachlorocyclohexane Isomers in a Soil-Wheat Pot System.

The uptake by plants from soil is one of the first steps for hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) isomers to enter the food web. However, the HCH transformation associated with the uptake process is still not well understood. Therefore, a soil-wheat pot experiment was conducted to characterize the HCH transformation during wheat growth using compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA) and enantiomer fractionation.

Manganese-oxidizing bacteria form multiple cylindrospermopsin transformation products with reduced human liver cell toxicity.

Cylindrospermopsin (CYN) is a toxic alkaloid highly persistent in aquatic environments. Biological removal of CYN was described previously. However, no transformation products formed by biological processes could be identified so far.

Inhibition of Respiration of Candida albicans by Small Molecules Increases Phagocytosis Efficacy by Macrophages.

adapts to various conditions in different body niches by regulating gene expression, protein synthesis, and metabolic pathways. These adaptive reactions not only allow survival but also influence the interaction with host cells, which is governed by the composition and structure of the fungal cell wall. Numerous studies had shown linkages between mitochondrial functionality, cell wall integrity and structure, and pathogenicity.

Dropping the Ball? The Welfare of Ball Pythons Traded in the EU and North America.

Ball pythons (family Pythonidae) remain a commonly exploited species, readily available for purchase in North America and Europe. We assessed the housing conditions of more than 5000 Ball pythons across six exotic pet expositions and 113 YouTube videos. We scored provisions for hygiene, mobility, shelter, substrate and water provision, based on the Royal Society for the Protection of Animals (RSPCA) minimum guidelines.

Microbial metaproteome data from decayed beech dead wood.

Wood-decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems is a very important process with huge ecologic consequences. This decomposition process is a combination of biological respiration, leaching and fragmentation, mainly triggered by organismic activities. In order to gain a deeper insight into these microbial communities and their role in deadwood decay, we used metaproteomics.

Diversity and geographic distribution of soil streptomycetes with antagonistic potential against actinomycetoma-causing Streptomyces sudanensis in Sudan and South Sudan.

Background: Production of antibiotics to inhibit competitors affects soil microbial community composition and contributes to disease suppression. In this work, we characterized whether Streptomyces bacteria, prolific antibiotics producers, inhibit a soil borne human pathogenic microorganism, Streptomyces sudanensis. S.

Putting soil invertebrate diversity on the map.

Ecologists have had a very good foundational knowledge of the global distribution of plants and aboveground animals for many decades. But despite the immense diversity of soil organisms, our knowledge of the global distribution, drivers and threats to soil biodiversity is very limited. In this issue of Molecular Ecology, Bastida et al.

Blind Trading: A Literature Review of Research Addressing the Welfare of Ball Pythons in the Exotic Pet Trade.

Extensive numbers of Ball pythons are caught, bred, traded and subsequently kept in captivity across the world as part of the exotic pet industry. Despite their widespread availability as pets, relatively little is known about the potential welfare challenges affecting them. We reviewed the literature for research focused on the health and welfare of Ball pythons in the international pet trade.

Regulatory systems for gene expression control in cyanobacteria.

As photosynthetic microbes, cyanobacteria are attractive hosts for the production of high-value molecules from CO and light. Strategies for genetic engineering and tightly controlled gene expression are essential for the biotechnological application of these organisms. Numerous heterologous or native promoter systems were used for constitutive and inducible expression, yet many of them suffer either from leakiness or from a low expression output.

Surfactant assisted extraction of incidental nanoparticles from road runoff sediment and their characterization by single particle-ICP-MS.

A surfactant assisted extraction (SAE) method was developed to extract incidental nanoparticles (INPs) in the <300 nm particle size fraction from road runoff sediments and applied to a road runoff sediment. The method was evaluated by spiking experiments of road runoff sediment with engineered nanoparticle (ENP) suspensions of gold (Au-ENPs) between 30 nm and 200 nm and platinum (Pt-ENPs) between 30 nm and 70 nm with content ranging from 40 to 800 ng/g. Suspensions were analyzed by single particle (sp-)ICP-MS.

Reviewing age-structured epidemiological models of cattle diseases tailored to support management decisions: Guidance for the future.

Mechanistic simulation models are being increasingly used as tools to assist with animal health decision-making in the cattle sector. We reviewed scientific literature for studies reporting age-structured cattle management models in application to infectious diseases. Our emphasis was on papers dedicated to support decision making in the field.

Linking Soil Fungal Generality to Tree Richness in Young Subtropical Chinese Forests.

Soil fungi are a highly diverse group of microorganisms that provide many ecosystem services. The mechanisms of soil fungal community assembly must therefore be understood to reliably predict how global changes such as climate warming and biodiversity loss will affect ecosystem functioning. To this end, we assessed fungal communities in experimental subtropical forests by pyrosequencing of the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) region, and constructed tree-fungal bipartite networks based on the co-occurrence of fungal operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and tree species.

Correction to: A comprehensive fungi-specific 18S rRNA gene sequence primer toolkit suited for diverse research issues and sequencing platforms.

Following publication of the original article [1], we have been notified that three of the primer names identified as most promising candidates for fungal community surveys were incorrectly renamed following the primer nomenclature system proposed by Gargas & DePriest [2].

Glucocorticoid Treatment Leads to Aberrant Ion and Macromolecular Transport in Regenerating Zebrafish Fins.

Long-term glucocorticoid administration in patients undergoing immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory treatment is accompanied by impaired bone formation and increased fracture risk. Furthermore, glucocorticoid treatment can lead to impaired wound healing and altered cell metabolism. Recently, we showed that exposure of zebrafish to the glucocorticoid prednisolone during fin regeneration impacts negatively on the length, bone formation, and osteoblast function of the regenerate.

Characterization of a multianalyte GC-MS/MS procedure for detecting and quantifying polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and PAH derivatives from air particulate matter for an improved risk assessment.

A correct description of the concentration and distribution of particle bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons is important for risk assessment of atmospheric particulate matter. A new targeted GC-MS/MS method was developed for analyzing 64 PAHs including compounds with a molecular weight >300, as well as nitro-, methyl-, oxy- and hydroxyl derivatives in a single analysis. The instrumental LOD ranged between 0.

Sample Preservation and Storage Significantly Impact Taxonomic and Functional Profiles in Metaproteomics Studies of the Human Gut Microbiome.

With the technological advances of the last decade, it is now feasible to analyze microbiome samples, such as human stool specimens, using multi-omic techniques. Given the inherent sample complexity, there exists a need for sample methods which preserve as much information as possible about the biological system at the time of sampling. Here, we analyzed human stool samples preserved and stored using different methods, applying metagenomics as well as metaproteomics.

An exploratory ecotoxicity study of primary microplastics versus aged in natural waters and wastewaters.

Current understanding of how environmental aging of microplastics contributes to their ecotoxicity is low. We investigated whether incubation of microplastics in waters with different organic load and toxic potential alters the toxicity of microplastics to crustacean Daphnia magna, fish embryos Danio rerio and plant Lemna minor. Polyethylene primary microplastics; specifically microbeads from facial scrub; were subjected to 3-weeks incubation in low affected spring water, river water, effluent from the municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and municipal landfill leachate.

Anaerobic C-H Oxyfunctionalization: Coupling of Nitrate Reduction and Quinoline Hydroxylation in Recombinant Pseudomonas putida.

Whole-cell biocatalysis for C-H oxyfunctionalization depends on and is often limited by O mass transfer. In contrast to oxygenases, molybdenum hydroxylases use water instead of O as an oxygen donor and thus have the potential to relieve O mass transfer limitations. Molybdenum hydroxylases may even allow anaerobic oxyfunctionalization when coupled to anaerobic respiration.