Thin people who undergo implant insertion into the chest wall face a high risk of implant exposure to the external environment. Five months after an 8-year-old boy underwent implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) implantation in a subcutaneous pocket in the left anterolateral chest wall to manage long QT syndrome, ICD replacement became necessary owing to exposure risk from distal and lateral thinning of the ICD pocket. Pocket rupture and exposure would increase the risk of infection; therefore, we performed ICD removal and primary pocket closure. Two weeks later, a new suprafascial pocket was created, acellular dermal matrix (ADM) was attached to the inner wall to prevent ICD protrusion, and a new ICD was inserted. One year postoperatively, the ADM was engrafted, and no complications were observed. A thin subcutaneous layer increases the risk of ICD implantation complications. Inner wall strengthening with ADM can help prevent pocket rupture.

Dermal interstitial fluid (ISF) is a novel source of biomarkers that can be considered as an alternative to blood sampling for disease diagnosis and treatment. Nevertheless, in vivo extraction and analysis of ISF are challenging. On the other hand, microneedle (MN) technology can address most of the challenges associated with dermal ISF extraction and is well-suited for long-term, continuous ISF monitoring as well as in situ detection. In this review, we first briefly summarise the different dermal ISF collection methods and compare them with MN methods. Next, we elaborate on the design considerations and biocompatibility of MNs. Subsequently, the fabrication technologies of various MNs used for dermal ISF extraction, including solid MNs, hollow MNs, porous MNs and hydrogel MNs, are thoroughly explained. In addition, different sensing mechanisms of ISF detection will be discussed in detail. Subsequently, we identify the challenges and propose the possible solutions associated with ISF extraction. A detailed investigation is provided for the transport and sampling mechanism of ISF in vivo. Also, the current in vitro skin model integrated with the MN arrays will be discussed. Finally, future directions to develop a point-of-care (POC) device to sample ISF are proposed.

Cell aging is associated with the increased production of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mtROS) due to mitochondrial dysfunction, and various phytonutrients and estrogens have been shown to improve skin health. Thus, the aim of the current study was to examine damage to dermal fibroblasts by chemically-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and to study the mechanism of the protective effects of carotenoids, polyphenols, and estradiol. Rotenone, a Complex I inhibitor, caused mitochondrial dysfunction in human dermal fibroblasts, substantially reducing respiration and ATP levels, followed by increased mitochondrial and cytosolic ROS, which resulted in apoptotic cell death, increased matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP1) secretion, and decreased collagen secretion. Pre-treatment with carotenoid-rich tomato extracts, rosemary extract, and estradiol reversed these effects. These protective effects can be partially explained by a cooperative activation of antioxidant response element (ARE/Nrf2) transcriptional activity by the protective compounds and rotenone, which led to upregulation of antioxidant proteins such as NQO1. To determine if ARE/Nrf2 activity is crucial for cell protection, we inhibited it using the Nrf2 inhibitors ML385 and ochratoxin A. This inhibition markedly reduced the protective effects of the test compounds by diminishing their effect to reduce cytosolic ROS. Our study results indicate that phytonutrients and estradiol protect skin cells from damage caused by mitochondria-generated ROS and, thus, may delay skin aging and improve skin health.

Fibrosis is a ubiquitous pathology, and prior studies have indicated that various artemisinin (ART) derivatives (including artesunate (AS), artemether (AM), and dihydroartemisinin (DHA)) can reduce fibrosis in vitro and in vivo. The medicinal plant, Artemisia annua L., is the natural source of ART and is widely used, especially in underdeveloped countries, to treat a variety of diseases including malaria, while A. afra contains no ART but is also antimalarial. Using human dermal fibroblasts (CRL-2097), we compared the effects of A. annua and A. afra tea infusions, ART, AS, AM, DHA, and a liver metabolite of ART, deoxyART (dART), on fibroblast viability and expression of key fibrotic marker genes after 1 and 4 days of treatment. AS, DHA, and Artemisia tea significantly reduced fibroblast viability at 1 and 4 d post-treatment. After 4 d post treatment, AS, DHA, and A. afra tea downregulated ACTA2, and upregulated MMP3, with other genes either being unaffected or differentially affected. ART and AM had no significant effect on either fibroblast viability or fibrotic gene expression. Although A. annua contains ART, it had a significantly greater anti-fibrotic effect than ART alone. Immunofluorescent staining for smooth muscle α-actin (α-SMA) correlated well with transcriptional responses of drug-treated fibroblasts. Together, proliferation, qPCR, and immunofluorescence results show that treatment with ART, AS, DHA, and the two Artemisia teas yield differing responses, including those related to fibrosis, in human dermal fibroblasts.

The traditional practice of harvesting and processing raw date palm sap is not only culturally significant but also an essential nutritional source in South Asia. Yet, the potential for bacterial or viral contamination from animals and environmental sources during its collection remains a real and insufficiently studied risk. Implementing improved food safety measures and collection techniques could mitigate the risk of these infections. Additionally, the adoption of advanced food analytical methods has the potential to identify pathogens and uncover the natural bacterial diversity of these products. The advancement of NGS technologies, particularly nanopore sequencing, offers rapid and highly mobile capabilities. In this study, we employed nanopore sequencing for bacterial metabarcoding of a set of raw date palm sap samples collected without protective coverage against animals in Bangladesh in 2021. We identified several bacterial species with importance in the natural fermentation of the product and demonstrated the feasibility of this NGS method in the surveillance of raw palm sap products. We revealed two fermentation directions dominated by either Leuconostoc species or Lactococcus species in these products at the first 6 hours from harvest along with opportunistic human pathogens in the background, represented with low abundance. Plant pathogens, bacteria with the potential for opportunistic human infections and the sequences of the Exiguobacterium genus were also described and their potential role is discussed.

Cocoa (Theobroma Cacao, L.) represents an important market that gained relevance and became an esteemed commodity thanks to cocoa powder, chocolate, and other related products. This work has analyzed 59 cocoa powder samples from the European market. Three distinct subgroups were identified: organic or conventional, alkalized or not alkalized, and raw or roasted processing. The impact of the technological process was evaluated on the pH, color, and compositional traits, as content of biogenic amines and salsolinol. The phenolic fraction was also investigated trough both common and emerging methods. Results depict that the influence of the agronomical practices (organic/conventional) did not affect significatively (p<0.05) the composition of cocoa powders; similarly, the roasting process was not discriminative for the compounds traced. On the other hand, the alkalinization process greatly impacted on color, and pH, no matter of cocoa provenience, obtention, or other processes, also resulting reducing the phenolic fraction of treated samples. Principal components analysis confirmed that the alkali process acts on pH, color, and phenolic composition, but not on other bioactives molecules (BAs and salsolinol). All samples resulted safe while alkalized powders have a great reduction in beneficial biocompounds. A novel strategy could be to emphasize non-alkalized powders in the label, to meet the demand for more beneficial products.

Fission-track modelling rests on etching, counting and measuring the lattice damage trails from uranium fission. The tools for interpreting fission-track data are advanced but the results are never better than the data. Confined-track samples must be an adequate size for statistical analysis, representative of the track population, consistent with the model assumptions and with the calibration data. Geometrical and measurement biases are understood and can be dealt with up to a point. The interrelated issues of etching protocol and track selection are however more difficult to untangle. Our investigation favours a two-step protocol. The duration of the first step is inversely proportional to the apatite etch rate, so that different apatites etch to the same Dpar. A long immersion reveals many more confined tracks, terminated by basal and prism faces. This allows consistent length measurements and permits to orient each track relative to the c-axis. Long immersion times combined with deep ion irradiation reveal confined tracks deep inside the grains. Provided it is long enough, the precise immersion time is not important if the effective etch times of the selected tracks are calculated from their measured widths. Then, whether the sample is mono- or multi-compositional, we can, post hoc, select tracks with the desired properties. The second part of the protocol has to do with the fact that fossil tracks in geological samples appear to be under-etched compared to induced tracks etched under the same conditions. This should be assumed if the semi-axes (l_C, l_A) of a fitted ellipse plot above the induced-track line. In that case an additional etch can increase the track lengths to a point where they are consistent with the model based on lab-annealing of induced tracks, a condition for valid thermal histories. Here too, it is possible to select a subset with effective etch times consistent with the model if the widths of confined tracks are measured along with their lengths and orientations.

Wound healing is a complex, dynamic process involving the coordinated interaction of diverse cell types, growth factors, cytokines, and extracellular matrix components. Despite emerging evidence highlighting their importance, dermal sheath cells remain a largely overlooked aspect of wound healing research. This review explores the multifunctional roles of dermal sheath cells in various phases of wound healing, including modulating inflammation, aiding in proliferation, and contributing to extracellular matrix remodeling. Special attention is devoted to the paracrine effects of dermal sheath cells and their role in fibrosis, highlighting their potential in improving healing outcomes, especially in differentiating between hairy and non-hairy skin sites. By drawing connections between dermal sheath cells activity and wound healing outcomes, this work proposes new insights into the mechanisms of tissue regeneration and repair, marking a step forward in our understanding of wound healing processes.

Monkeypox (mpox) caused by the monkeypox virus (MPXV) is currently the most common orthopoxvirus (OPXV) zoonotic disease. Since 2022, a multi-country outbreak of mpox has been reported with atypically rapid human-to-human transmission. The present work aimed to investigate the frequency of MPXV and OPXV DNA detection in different clinical materials taken at acute and convalescent phases of the infection in Bulgarian patients. A total of 181 clinical samples from 42 Bulgarian patients with possible mpox infections were tested. Screening for MPXV DNA (F3L gene) and OPXV DNA (rpo18 gene) were performed by real-time PCR assays. Of all tested patients six (14%) were confirmed with mpox infection. MPXV DNA was detected in 23/181 (12,71%) and OPXV DNA in 20/181 (11,05%) clinical samples. All confirmed patients were men who have sex with men, aged 23 to 44 (at an average age of 35,17±7,91 years) and two of them were HIV positive. The commonest clinical features of patients were fever (5/6), vesicular-pustular rash: perianal (6/6), penile (4/6), and limbs (4/6). MPXV DNA was found with the greatest frequency in specimens of vesicle contents and nasal/oropharyngeal swabs in 6/6 and 5/6. OPXV DNA mainly was detected in vesicle contents (6/6), nasal/oropharyngeal swabs (4/6), and urine (4/6). In the collected follow-up samples, MPXV DNA was detected in the highest percentage in the specimen's vesicle contents (6/6) and urine (6/6) and not demonstrated in samples of feces and saliva. The laboratory surveillance of MPXV is critical to contain the outbreak and to elucidate the new fast transmission of the virus.

Laser-Powder Directed Energy Deposition (DED-LB/Powder) is an additive manufacturing process that is gaining popularity in the manufacturing industry due to its numerous advantages, particularly in repairing operations. However, its application is often limited to case studies due to some critical issues that need to be addressed, such as the degree of internal porosity. This paper investigates the effect of the most relevant process parameters of the DED-LB/Powder process on the level and distribution of porosity. Results indicate that, among the process parameters examined, porosity is less affected by travel speed and more influenced by powder mass flow rate and laser power. Additionally, a three-dimensional finite element transient model was introduced, which was able to predict the development and location of lack-of-fusion pores along the building direction.

Exposure to malachite green (MG) may pose great health risks to humans, thus it is of prime importance to develop fast and robust methods to quantitatively screen the presence malachite green in environment. Herein application of extractive electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (EESI-MS) has been extended to the trace detection of MG within lake water and aquiculture water, due to the intensive use of MG as biocide in fisheries. This method has the advantage of obviating offline liquid-liquid extraction or tedious matrix separation prior to the measurement of malachite green in native aqueous medium. The experimental results indicate that the extrapolated detection limit for MG was ~3.8 ug L-1 (S/N=3) in lake water samples and ~ 0.5 ug L-1 in ultrapure water under optimized experimental conditions. The signal intensity of MG showed good linearity over the concentration range of 10–5000 ug L-1. Measurement of practical water samples fortified with MG at 0.01 and 0.1 mg L-1 gave a good validation of the established calibration curve. The average recoveries of malachite green in lake water and Carassius carassius fish farm effluent water were 114.9% (6.6% RSD) and 85.4% (9.2% RSD), respectively. Overall, the established EESI-MS/MS method has been demonstrated suitable for sensitive and rapid (<2 min per sample) quantitative detection of malachite green in various aqueous media, indicating its potential for online real-time monitoring of real life samples.

The analysis of chemical warfare agents and their degradation products has become increasingly important for public and military safety in recent years. In the article, we drew attention to the possibilities of the HPLC-ICP-MS analytical technique, which has been relatively rarely used for identifying and quantitatively analyzing highly toxic and hazardous substances in environmental samples. This technique enables the identification and determination of minimal amounts (ppt range) of chemicals in various matrices. This fact is important for the analysis of chemical warfare agents and other highly harmful compounds, even small amounts of which can have serious consequences for living organisms. The article critically analyzes the results of scientific research on the identification and quantitative analysis of extremely toxic organophosphorus, organosulfur and organoarsenic substances, their derivatives and degradation products using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).

The primary objective of this study was to identify a rapid and noninvasive methodology for effectively differentiating various herbal species cultivated in Eastern Poland. Typically, a plant's chemical profile is obtained using chromatographic methods; however, spectroscopic methods can serve as a complementary or independent tool for determining similarities in the analyzed samples. The investigation centered on leaves of plant species from the Lamiaceae family, encompassing basil, lavender, oregano, sage, and thyme. UV-VIS and ATR-FTIR spectra of dried plant samples' powder were recorded and subsequently analyzed using chemometric tools. This paper assesses the relative performance of different discrimination methods, including both traditional methods based on machine learning and those dealing with specimens associated with a specific category. Among the methodologies tested, SIMCA showed the best performance, particularly effective for small training sets.

The ability of S. aureus to infect humans and cause a wide range of infections so efficiently is a consequence of the many variant virulence factors that it can produce. Superantigens (SAgs) make up a group of them and include staphylococcal enterotoxins (SE). The main objective of this study was to detect enterotoxin gene cluster (EGC) in S. aureus isolates that caused infections in Paraguayan children in the year 2017, through an observational and cross-sectional study. The detection of the EGC including the seg, sei, sem, sen, seo, and seu genes, was carried out by end-point PCR. 181 S. aureus isolates were collected, most of them caused skin and soft tissue infections (SSTI, n=140, 77%) and came from children under 6 years 50% (n=90). At least one SE gene was detected in 96% (174/181) of isolates and 24% (44/181) carried the entire EGC. An association between methicillin resistance and seg, sei, seo, and seu gene carriage (p ≤0.05) was observed. A high prevalence of EGC was detected in S. aureus isolates collected from infected children attending the main health care centers in Paraguay, its importance is due to the potential of these toxins to aggravate staphylococcal infections.

The incidence of diabetes mellitus (DM) continues to rise worldwide and one of the most serious microvascular complications is diabetic kidney disease (DKD), which is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease. Current bi-omarkers such as urinary albumin excretion rate have limitation for early detection of DKD. In our study we used ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization-quadrupole-time of flight-mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF-ESI+-MS) techniques to quantify previously analyzed metabolites, such as tryptophan, kynurenic acid, taurine, l-acetylcarnitine, glycine, and tiglylglycine. We performed the targeted analy-sis of metabolites from urine and serum samples, collected from 110 subjects. Of these, 90 patients with type 2 DM (T2DM) were divided according to the urinary albumin/creatinine ratio (UACR) into normoalbuminuria 300 mg/g groups, respectively, while 20 subjects were rep-resented by healthy controls. Through various validation methods, we identified several metabolites as potential biomarkers, such as kynurenic acid, glycine, and l-tryptophan in serum and l-acetylcarnitine, tiglylglycine, and tau-rine in urine.

Background: We prepared reference materials of fentanyl and amphetamines in hair, and established methods for the certification of reference materials of fentanyl and amphetamines in hair samples. Methods: Hair samples containing 15 drugs were prepared by immersion method (water-dimethylsulfoxide). On the basis of single-factor experiment, Box-Behnken design-response surface was used to optimize the pre-treatment conditions of samples. In MRM/SIM mode, 15 drugs were quantitatively analyzed by LC-MS/MS and GC-MS/MS methods. Results: The contents of 15 drugs in the mixed hair samples were: 1.050 ng mg-1~7.771 ng mg-1, RSDs&lt;7%(n=11). The results showed that the two analytical methods developed were highly sensitive (LODs as low as 0.05 pg mg-1), reproducible (intra-day and inter-day precision RSDs were&lt;10%) and accurate. F-test was performed on the prepared hair samples and the results showed that the homogeneity of the prepared hair samples was good. Conclusions: The established methods were used for the detection of fentanyl and amphetamine drugs in human hair, with high sensitivity, accuracy and specificity. It can be used as a certified method for the development of fentanyl and amphetamine matrix certified reference materials. The developed hair reference materials are expected to be applied in forensic drug abuse detection and laboratory quality control.

Treatment techniques for facial paralysis have evolved significantly over the past few decades, offering a variety of options to improve facial symmetry and muscle function. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a novel static treatment technique for the surface of the nasolabial fold (NLF) in patients with chronic facial nerve paralysis, aged between 40 and 80 years, who are not candidates for dynamic rehabilitation and present with NLF erasure. The surgical marking process was initiated by determining the projection of the nasolabial fold on the paralyzed side, through measurement of the NLF on the non-paralyzed side. Subsequently, a line was drawn around the nasal ala, and a second line was demarcated in the medial region of the sulcus. In the region close to the nasal ala, along this second line, a notch was planned. The procedure was conducted under local anesthesia. In this study, four procedures were performed without any complications. Comparatively, the outcomes demonstrated an improvement in facial symmetry, the creation of a new NLF, elevation of the ipsilateral lip commissure, and correction of nasal deviation. The proposed technique is straightforward, reproducible, and can be performed in an outpatient setting.

Dermal penetration is considered to mainly occur via passive diffusion. Therefore, a high concentration gradient of dissolved active ingredient between formulation and skin is needed to achieve an effective dermal penetration. The concentration gradient between formulation and skin can be changed by changing the amount of dissolved active ingredient in the formulation. In case of poorly soluble active ingredients this can be achieved by using nanosized drug material instead of larger sized material. The smaller size and the resulting larger surface increase the kinetic solubility and thus increase the concentration gradient of dissolved active ingredient between formulation and skin, which then results in an increased dermal penetration. In this study we demonstrated that the concentration gradient between formulation and skin can also be influenced by the number of particles being present in the formulation and by the dose (volume of formulation) applied to the skin. Particles of undissolved active ingredient are known to act as a reservoir by releasing dissolved molecules in the liquid phase of the formulation. It could now be demonstrated that the particles - once the liquid in which they are dispersed evaporates - can connect to the skin via an aqueous meniscus. The aqueous meniscus contains dissolved active ingredient and therefore creates a small local spot with a locally high concentration gradient and improved dermal penetration. Therefore, the dermal penetration can be increased with formulations that contain high amounts of particles. This can be achieved by applying formulations with high numbers of particles and/or by applying larger volumes of particle containing formulations to the skin.

In this paper, we demonstrate a method of measuring the flexural elastic modulus of ceramics at an intermediate (~millimeter) scale, at high temperatures. We used a picosecond laser to precisely cut micro-beams from the location of interest in a bulk ceramic. They had a cross-section of approximately 100 μm × 300 μm, and a length of ~1 cm. They were then tested in a thermal-mechanical analyzer at room temperature, 500°C, 800°C, and 1100°C using the four-point flexural testing method. We compared the elastic moduli of high-purity Al2O3 and AlN measured by our method with the reported values in the literature and found that the difference was less than 5% for both materials. This paper provides a new and accurate method of characterizing the high-temperature elastic modulus of miniature samples extracted from representative/selected areas of bulk materials.

Products made from petroleum-derived plastic materials are linked to many environmental problems such as greenhouse gas emissions and plastic pollution. It is desirable to manufacture products from environmentally friendly materials instead of petroleum-based plastic materials. Products made from biomass-fungi composite materials are biodegradable and can be utilized for packaging, construction, and furniture. In biomass-fungi composite materials, biomass particles (derived from agricultural wastes) serve as the substrate and the fungal hyphae network binds the biomass particles together. There are many reported studies on 3D printing of biomass-fungi composite materials. However, there are no reported studies on biodegradation of 3D printed samples from biomass-fungi composite materials. In this study, two types of biomass materials were used to prepare printable mixture hemp hurd and beechwood sawdust. The fungi strain used was Trametes versicolor. Extrusion based 3D printing was used to print samples. 3D printed samples were left for five days to allow fungi to grow. The samples were then dried in an oven for 4 hours at 120ºC to kill all the fungi in the samples. The samples were buried in the soil using a mesh bag and kept in an environmental chamber at 25℃ with a relative humidity of 48%. The weight of these samples was measured every week over the period of three months. Both types of samples (prepared from beechwood sawdust and hemp hurd, respectively) showed weight change after three months. Furthermore, the samples made from hemp hurd had more weight change than the samples made from beechwood sawdust. The SEM (scanning electron microscope) micrographs and FTIR (Fourier transform infrared) spectroscopy showed evidence of biodegradation of these samples.

Biomaterials play an important role in the development of advancing three dimensional (3D) in vitro skin models, providing valuable insights for drug testing and tissue-specific modeling. Commercial materials, such as collagen, fibrin or alginate, have been widely used in skin modelling. However, they do not adequately represent the molecular complexity of skin components. On this regard, the development of novel biomaterials that represent the complexity of tissues are becoming more important in the design of advanced models. In this study, we have obtained aged human decellularized dermal extracellular matrix (dECM) hydrogels extracted from cadaveric human skin and demonstrated their potential as scaffold for advanced skin models. These dECM hydrogels effectively reproduce the complex fibrillar structure of other common scaffolds, exhibiting similar mechanical properties, while preserving the molecular composition of the native dermis. It is worth noting that fibroblasts embedded within human dECM hydrogels exhibit behavior more representative of natural skin compared to commercial collagen hydrogels, where uncontrolled cell proliferation leads to material shrinkage. The described human dECM hydrogel is able to be used as scaffold for dermal fibroblasts in a skin aging on chip model. These results demonstrate that dECM hydrogels preserve essential components of the native human dermis making them a suitable option for the development of 3D skin aging models that accurately represent the cellular microenvironment, improving existing in vitro skin models and allowing for more reliable results in dermatopathological studies.

Collagen type I production decreases with aging, leading to wrinkles and impaired skin function. Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), a lipid-derived signaling molecule produced from arachidonic acid by cyclo-oxygenase, inhibits collagen production and induces matrix metallopeptidase 1 (MMP1) expression by fibroblasts in vitro. PGE2-induced collagen expression inhibition and MMP1 promotion are aging mechanisms. This study investigated the role of E-prostanoid 1 (EP1) in PGE2 signaling in normal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDFs). When EP1 expression was inhibited by EP1 small interfering RNA (siRNA), there were no significant changes in messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of collagen, type I, alpha 1 (COL1A1)/MMP1 between siRNA-transfected NHDFs and siRNA-transfected NHDFs with PGE2. This result showed that EP1 is a PGE2 receptor. Extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) phosphorylation after PGE2 treatment significantly increased by ~2.5 times. In addition, PGE2 treatment increased the intracellular Ca²⁺ concentration in NHDFs. These results indicated that PGE2 is directly associated with EP1 pathway–regulated ERK1/2 and inositol trisphosphate (IP₃) signaling in NHDFs.

Quasi-bound state in the continuum (QBIC) can effectively enhance the interaction of terahertz (THz) wave with matters due to the tunable high-Q property, which has a strong potential application in detection of low-concentration biological samples in the THz band. In this paper, a novel THz metamaterial sensor with a double-chain separated resonant cavity structure based on QBIC is designed and fabricated. The process of excitation of the QBIC mode is verified and the structural parameters are optimized after considering the ohmic loss by simulations. The simulated refractive index sensitivity of the sensor is up to 544 GHz/RIU, much higher than those of recently reported THz metamaterial sensors. Sensing sensitivity of the proposed metamaterial sensor is confirmed in experiment by detecting low-concentration lithium citrate (LC) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) solutions. The limits of detection (LoDs) are obtained to be 0.0025 mg/mL (12 μM) for LC and 0.03125 mg/mL (0.47 μM) for BSA, respectively, both of which excel over most of reported results in previous studies. These results indicate that the proposed THz metamaterial sensor has excellent sensing performances and can well be applied to the detection of low concentration biological samples.

The medical care and welfare of domestic dogs are now respected worldwide at the same level as that of humans. We previously established a test method to determine whole mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) using oral mucosal DNA that may be useful for the medical care and welfare of dogs. However, the sample types tested in dogs are not limited to those obtained from the oral mucosa. Therefore, in the present study, we attempted to establish a test method to determine whole mtDNA sequences using feces, which represents the least invasive specimen. Two Japanese domestic dogs were used in the present study. DNA was extracted from approximately 100 mg of fresh feces from each dog, and PCRs were performed using four primer-pairs that can amplify whole mtDNA. Following PCR, amplicons were pooled to create a DNA library using an experimental robot with an original program. Data were then acquired via NGS and data analysis was performed. The results showed that the whole mtDNA sequence of the two dogs was determined with high accuracy. Our results suggest that feces can be adapted for mitochondrial disease and individual identification testing and could serve as a useful testing method for the future medical care and welfare of domestic dogs.

Dermal water content is an important biophysical parameter in preserving skin integrity and preventing skin damage. Traditional electrical-based and open-chamber evaporimeters have several well-known limitations. In particular, such devices are costly, sizeable, and only provide arbitrary outputs. They also do not permit continuous and non-invasive monitoring of dermal water content, which can be beneficial for various consumer, clinical and cosmetic purposes. We report here on the design and development of a digital multi-wavelength optical sensor that performs continuous and non-invasive measurement of dermal water content. In-silico investigation on porcine skin was carried out using the Monte Carlo modelling strategy to evaluate the feasibility and characterise the sensor. Subsequently, an in-vitro experiment was carried out to evaluate the performance of the sensor and benchmark its accuracy against a high-end, broad band spectrophotometer. Reference measurements were made against gravimetric analysis. The results demonstrate that the developed sensor can deliver accurate, continuous, and non-invasive measurement of skin hydration through measurement of dermal water content. Remarkably, the novel design of the sensor exceeded the performance of the high-end spectrophotometer due to the important denoising effects of temporal averaging. The authors believe, in addition to wellbeing and skin health monitoring, the designed sensor can particularly facilitate disease management in patients presenting diabetes mellitus, hypothyroidism, malnutrition, and atopic dermatitis.

Water samples for bacterial microbiome studies undergo a biomass concentration, DNA extraction and taxonomic identification steps. Through benchmarking, we studied the applicability of Skimmed milk flocculation (SMF) for bacterial enrichment, an adapted in-house DNA extraction protocol, and six 16S rRNA databases (16S-DBs). Surface water samples from two rivers were treated with SMF and Vacuum filtration (VF) and subjected to amplicon or shotgun metagenomics. A mock community standard underwent five DNA extraction protocols, taxonomical identification with six different 16S-DBs and evaluated by the Measurement Integrity Quotient (MIQ) score. In SMF samples, the skimmed milk was metabolized by members of lactic acid bacteria or genera such as Polaromonas, Macrococcus, and Agitococcus, resulting in increased relative abundance (p &lt; 0.5) up to 5.0 log fold change compared to VF, rendering SMF inapplicable for bacterial microbiome studies. The best performing DNA extraction protocols were FastSpin Soil, the in-house method and EurX. All 16S-DBs yielded comparable MIQ scores within each DNA extraction kit, ranging from 61-66 (ZymoBIOMICs) up to 80-82 (FastSpin). DNA extraction kits exert more bias to the composition than the 16S-DBs. This benchmarking study presented valuable insights to inform future water metagenomic study designs.

Mayaro virus (MAYV) hijacks the host´s cell machinery to effectively replicate. The mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) p38, JNK and ERK1/2 have emerged as crucial cellular factors implicated in different stages of the viral cycle. However, whether MAYV uses these MAPKs to competently replicate has not yet been determined. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of MAPKs inhibition on MAYV replication using primary human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) and HeLa cells. Viral yields in supernatants from MAYV-infected cells treated or untreated with inhibitors SB203580, SP600125, U0126 or Losmapimod were quantified using plaque assay. Also, viral protein expression was analyzed using immunoblot and immunofluorescence. Knockdown of p38⍺/p38β isoforms was performed in HDFs using the PROTACs molecule NR-7h. Our data demonstrated that HDFs are highly susceptible to MAYV infection. SB203580, a p38 inhibitor, reduced MAYV replication in a dose-dependent manner in both HDFs and HeLa cells. Additionally, SB203580 significantly decreased viral E1 protein expression. Similarly, knockdown or inhibition of p38⍺/p38β isoforms with NR-7h or Losmapimod, respectively, affected MAYV replication in a dose-dependent manner. Collectively, these findings suggest that p38 could play an important role in MAYV replication and could serve as a therapeutic target to control MAYV infection.

Abstract: Chemical burns are one of the most dangerous and aggressive types of burns as they can cause significant tissue damage, leading to pain, inflammation, necrosis, and scarring. We present a burn case report associated with the use of Acellular Dermal Matrix (MatriDerm® MedSkin Solution Dr. Suwelack AG, Billerbeck, Germany) for the reconstruction of a Hallux after the patient was mistakenly administered intramuscular Nitric Acid at another institution. The patient presented with a third degree burn that compromised the medial aspect of the hallux’s skin, the distal phalanx and nail bed. Early debridement was performed, and Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT VAC, 3M, US) was used to preserve and promote tissue viability. Eight days later, the patient was taken to the OR, and Acellular Dermal Matrix and split-thickness skin graft were used to reconstruct her right hallux’s defect. The patient achieved adequate clinical evolution and was discharged with complete reconstruction of the burned area. Acellular Dermal Matrix proved to be an important and viable option for reconstructive surgery after a chemical burn, and further studies are warranted to ensure its routine usage in this kind of lesions. Keywords: chemical burn, acellular matrix, hallux reconstruction, NPWT

The natural hosts regarding Orthohantaviruses are rodents, soricomorphs and bats, and it is well known they may cause serious or even fatal diseases among humans worldwide. The virus is persistent among animals and it is shed via urine, saliva and feces, throughout the entirety of their lives. We aim to identify the effectiveness regarding hantavirus detection from rodent tissue samples and urine originating from naturally infected rodents. Initially, animals were trapped at five distinct locations throughout the Transdanubian region in Hungary. Lung, liver, kidney and urine samples were obtained from 163 perished animals. All organs and urine were tested using nested reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (nRT-PCR). Furthermore, sera were examined for IgG antibodies against DOBV and PUUV viruses by Western Blot assay. IgG antibodies against hantaviruses and/or nucleic acid were detected in 25 (15.3%) cases. Among Apodemus, Myodes, and Microtus rodent species, DOBV, PUUV, TULV were all clearly identified. The virus nucleic acid was detected most effectively from the kidney (100%), while only 55% of screened lung tissues were positive. Interestingly, only 3 out of 20 rodent urine samples were positive regarding nRT-PCR. Moreover, five rodents were seropositive without detectable virus nucleic acid from any of the tested organs.

Potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum having high nutritional values. This paper is the first analytical approach to quantify Pt and Rh in vegetal food. In this study a total of 38 different potatoes samples produced in Europe and one in Australia were investigated. Determinations of Pt and Rh in potatoes samples were carried out by Differential Pulse Voltammetry (DPV/a) for platinum and by Adsorptive Stripping Voltammetry (AdSV) for Rh using standard addition procedure. Because no certified reference potatoes containing platinum and rhodium are available, we used addition standard method. The quantification limits for Pt and Rh are 0.007 and 0.0008 μg Kg−1 respectively. Considering all the potatoes samples, concentrations of Pt and Rh vary in the ranges from 0.007 to 109 μg Kg−1 (sample n° 6 potatoes grown in Sicily) and from 0.0008 to 0.030 μg Kg−1 (sample n°23 of potatoes grown in Emilia Romagna) respectively. For both metals, in many cases the concentrations fall near the quantification limit. In all the samples, platinum is always more abundant than rhodium and their ratio meanly is 14500, which is much greater than that of the earth's crust (about 100).

In September 2021, the European Chemicals Agency evaluated a dossier for restricting polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in infant diapers and concluded that risks were not demonstrat-ed because of inconclusive exposure data. To fill this gap, we measured the 16 priority PAHs of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the diaper core of four brands and in the sheets and fastening tapes of six brands of commercially available diapers. Health risks were conservatively assessed by assuming that dermally absorbed PAHs can cause both local (skin cancer) and sys-temic critical effects (neurobehavioral changes). Total concentrations of PAHs in diaper core and top sheet, the only significant contributors to skin exposure, averaged 34.5 μg/kg and 66.8 μg/kg, respectively. Excess skin cancer risks and hazard quotients for neurobehavioral effects calculated with the daily dose of total PAHs from combined diaper core and top sheet averaged 1.4 x 10-7 and 1.19 x 10-2, respectively. The median daily dose of total PAHs and of its ben-zo[a]pyrene-equivalent from breast milk estimated worldwide are 171 and 30 times greater than that from combined diaper core and top sheet, respectively. Altogether these findings indicate that trace levels of PAHs found in infant diapers are unlikely to pose health risks.

Droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) is a method used to detect and quantify nu-cleic acids even when present in exceptionally low numbers. While it has proven to be valuable for clinical studies, it has failed to be widely adopted for environmental and applied studies. Due to the complexity of the chemical and biological composition of environmental samples, protocols tailored to clinical studies are not appropriate, and results are difficult to interpret. We used en-vironmental DNA samples originating from field studies to determine a protocol for environ-mental samples. Samples included field soils which had been inoculated with the soil fungus Rhizophagus irregularis (environmental positive control), field soils that had not been inoculat-ed and the targeted fungus was not naturally present (environmental negative control), and root samples from both field categories. To control for the effect of soil inhibitors, we also in-cluded DNA samples of an organismal control extracted from pure fungal spores (organismal positive control). Finally, we included a no-template control consisting only of the PCR reaction reagents and nuclease free water instead of template DNA. Using original data, we examined which factors contribute to poor resolution in root and soil samples and propose best practises to ensure accuracy and repeatability. Furthermore, we evaluated manual and automatic threshold determination methods and we propose a novel protocol based on multiple controls that is more appropriate for environmental samples.

Dermal pigmentation is a challenging condition due to relative resistance to medical treatment and requirement of multiple sessions with modalities like chemical peels and lasers. There is inadequate literature regarding the efficacy and safety of lasers for dermal pigmentation in Indian skin. One hundred and twenty two patients were enrolled and divided into 4 groups: a) Dermal melasma b) Acquired dermal macular hyperpigmentation c) Nevus and d) Tattoo. Sequential combination of various lasers were used with different protocols for 4 different groups like ablative pixel Er:YAG, intense pulse light based technologies, Q-Switched and Alma Hybrid lasers for treatment of dermal pigmentation. A total of 4-10 sessions were conducted at three weekly intervals. Results were evaluated by comparing photographs at baseline, one month after the last session and then at 6 months interval to assess the relapse. All groups showed a statistically significant reduction in pigmentation. The mean treatment duration was 5-7 months for tattoo, lichen planus pigmentosus and melasma with 6-8 number of sessions. The mean treatment duration for nevus was 7-9 months with 8-10 sessions. Lasers are safe and effective modalities in Indian skin type for treatment of dermal pigmentation. Treatment period and relapse of dermal pigmentation may be reduced by combining resurfacing and chromophore selective lasers along with adequate dietary and lifestyle modifications to minimize complications and recurrence rates.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus is one the most important and wide spread tick-borne viruses. Very little is known about the transmission from the tick and the early aspects of pathogenesis. Here, we generate human cutaneous antigen presenting cells: dermal dendritic cells and Langerhans cells, from umbilical cord progenitor cells. In order to mimic the environment created during tick feeding, tick salivary gland extract was generated from semi-engorged Hyalomma marginatum ticks. Our findings indicate that human dermal dendritic cells and Langerhans cells are susceptible and permissive to Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus infection, however, to different degrees. Infection leads to cell activation and cytokine/chemokine secretion, although these responses vary between the different cell types. Hyalomma marginatum salivary gland extract had minimal effect on cell responses, with some synergy with viral infection with respect to cytokine secretion. However, salivary gland extract appeared to inhibit antigen presenting cell (APC) migration. Based on the findings here we hypothesize that human dermal dendritic cells and Langerhans cells serve as early target cells. Rather affecting Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus replication, tick saliva likely immunomodulates and inhibits migration of these APC from the feeding site.

Oral cancer represents a significant global public health challenge, contributing substantially to cancer incidence and mortality. Despite established risk factors such as tobacco use and alcohol consumption, early detection remains crucial for effective treatment. This study introduces a novel approach using a transistor-based biosensor system for detecting the P90 (CIP2A) protein. We have tested the presence of CIP2A in human leukoplakia samples that can rise into oral squamous cell carcinoma. The method employs commercially available glucose test strips functionalized with P90 antibodies, providing high sensitivity and a low limit of detection, which is five orders lower than commercial ELISA kits. A specially designed printed circuit board (PCB) facilitates accurate measurements, and the device's performance is optimized through characteristic tests. Human sample testing validates the biosensor's effectiveness in distinguishing samples after cell lysis. This study contributes to advancing accurate and cost-effective diagnostic approaches for oral pre-cancer and cancer tissues.

Red djulis (Chenopodium formosanum) is a native cereal plant in Taiwan; it contains abundant polyphenols, betalian and dietary fiber. The appearance of red djulis is bright red. Therefore, it is also called the “ruby of cereals”. The antioxidative activity of red djulis extract is well-understood. However, the antiaging function still remains unclear. This study examined the potential of red djulis extract for enhancing collagen secretion and preventing cutaneous aging using red djulis extracts. The red djulis extracts are comprised of an abundant active component that can effectively enhance the ability of collagen secretion of dermal fibroblasts, prevent the glycation of collagen and resist the damage of ultraviolet light exposure. After fibroblast treatment with red djulis extracts, TGM1, KRT1, KRT10 and SOD2 genes were up-regulated significantly by 2.3, 4.3, 4.4 and 27.3 times, respectively, compared to those of the control group. Additionally, it can increase COL1A2 gene expression by 43% and decrease MMP9 gene expression 33%. Therefore, it was demonstrated that red djulis extracts affect gene expressions related to the skin barrier, antioxidation and collagen. Moreover, we found positive effects on skin barrier integrity, endogenous antioxidant activity and skin collagen-preservation. The preparation of the red djulis extracts is environmental friendly and can promote the economic value of Chenopodium formosanum; thus, the proposed extract is suitable for applications in the development of food products, especially beverages, skin care and cosmetic products.

Most existing data synthesis methods are designed to tackle problems such as dataset imbalance, data anonymization and insufficient sample size. There is a lack of effective synthesis methods for the limited number of datasets which contain a large of features and unknown noise to expand the size of the dataset. We propose a data synthesis method, named Adaptive Subspace Interpolation for Sample Optimization (ASISO). The idea is to divide the original feature space into several subspaces with an equal number of samples, and then perform interpolation for the samples in the adjacent subspaces. This method can adaptively adjust the size of the dataset containing unknown noise, and the expanded data typically contain minimal error with actual. Moreover, it adjusts the structure of the samples, which can significantly reduce the proportion of samples with large errors. In addition, the hyperparameters of this method have an intuitive explanation and usually require little calibration. Experimental results on artificial data and benchmark data sets demonstrate that ASISO is a robust and stable method to optimize samples.

The analysis of particulate matter (PM) in dilute solutions is an important target for environmental, geochemical and biochemical researches. Here we show how the microdrop technology may allow to control, through the evaporation of small droplets, the deposition of insoluble materials dispersed in a solution on a well-defined area with a specific spatial pattern. Using this technology the superficial density of the deposited solute can be accurately controlled. In particular, it becomes possible to deposit an extremely reduced amount of insoluble material -in the order of few μg- on a confined area, thus allowing a relatively high superficial density to be reached within a limited time. In this work we quantitatively compare the microdrop technique for the preparation of particulate matter samples with the classical filtering technique. After having been optimized, the microdrop technique allows to obtain a more homogeneous deposition and limit sample consumption of a factor ~25. This method is potentially suitable for many novel applications in different scientific fields.

In this paper, we propose a novel approach to utilize silicon nanowires as high-sensitivity pH sensors. Our approach works based on fixing the current bias of silicon nanowires Ion Sensitive Field Effect Transistors (ISFETs) and monitor the resulting drain voltage as the sensing signal. By fine tuning the injected current levels, we can optimize the sensing conditions according to different sensor requirements. This method proves to be highly suitable for real-time and continuous measurements of biomarkers in human biofluids. To validate our approach, we conducted experiments, with real human sera samples to simulate the composition of human interstitial fluid (ISF), using both the conventional top-gate approach and the optimized constant current method . We successfully demonstrated pH sensing within the physiopathological range of 6.5 to 8, achieving an exceptional level of accuracy in this complex matrix. Specifically, we obtained a maximum error as low as 0.92\% (equivalent to 0.07 pH unit) using the constant-current method at the optimal current levels (1.71\% for top-gate). Moreover, by utilizing different pools of human sera with varying total protein content, we demonstrated that the protein content among patients does not impact the sensors' performance in pH sensing. Furthermore, we tested real-human ISF samples collected from volunteers. The obtained accuracy in this scenario was also outstanding, with an error as low as 0.015 pH unit using the constant-current method and 0.178 pH unit in traditional top-gate configuration.

Sulfolane, a highly water-soluble industrial solvent, has raised environmental concerns due to its persistence once released into the environment. To assess the extent of contamination effectively, reliable analytical methods are essential. In this review, we delve into the published literature on sulfolane analytical procedures. Existing guidelines for sampling from environmental matrices provide a solid foundation for sul-folane analysis. Notably, there is little variation in the choice of determination method, with GC-MS or GC-FID being favored across studies. However, substantial variability emerges in sample prep-aration methods. Many procedures rely on large quantities of environmentally hazardous solvents, such as dichloromethane, during extraction. Nevertheless, by incorporating extraction enhancement techniques proposed in various studies, it is possible to develop more eco-friendly extraction processes. Overall, this field calls for further re-search to devise efficient and environmentally sustainable analytical methods for sulfolane analysis. Through this review, insights into the challenges at hand and potential solutions can be gained, offering a foundation for the development of novel sulfolane analysis methods applicable to a range of environmental matrices.

The proliferation of bacteria in fresh water-based paints is a concerning issue, as these microorganisms can utilize the organic materials in paint as a source of carbon to stimulate their growth, leading to the deterioration of painted surfaces. This study analyzed the bacterial quality and lead concentration of six paint samples collected from a manufacturing industry in Lagos. The total bacterial population monitored in the paint samples ranged from 1×106 CFU/ml to 7.8×109 CFU/ml, and while the population density decreased in all the samples throughout the 3-month study period, it was not uniform. The observed decrease in population density may be attributed to the biocide present in the paint samples and environmental factors such as heavy metal concentration. Interestingly, Pseudomonas oleovorans, P. luteola, Burkholderia cepacia, Sphingomonas paucimobilis, and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia were still able to grow in the paint samples from week 0 to week 10. The study highlights the potential for bacterial contamination of water-based paint, and the need for manufacturers to take measures to prevent this. The findings suggest that even fresh paint can serve as a substrate for bacterial growth, which can lead to issues such as loss of viscosity, discoloration, and malodor. Additionally, the presence of bacteria in paint can lead to degradation of painted surfaces, which can have economic and public health implications. The study emphasizes the importance of incorporating effective biocides in paint formulations, as well as communicating proper storage conditions to retailers, to help increase the shelf-life of paint and prevent bacterial contamination. Overall, the study provides important insights into the potential risks associated with bacterial contamination of paint and the need for proactive measures to prevent it.

The results of the study of the influence of the size of cylindrical samples of A5N aluminum on the time and rate of their cooling are presented. According to experimental data, the temperature dependence of the heat transfer coefficient for pure metals is calculated. It revealed that the process of cooling of the aluminium and its alloys has a relaxation behavior. It has found that the main mechanisms of natural air cooling are convection heat transfer and radiation. The characteristic cooling time due to radiation is less than due to convection. The contribution of thermal radiation is noticeable at high temperatures. It was found that the characteristic times of cooling due to radiation and convection increase with increase in volume to area ratio of the sample.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) showed in vitro mesoderm-lineage differentiation and self-renew capacity. However, no comparative study was reported on the biological characteristics of stem cells derived from skeletal muscle (SM-MSCs), dermal skin (DS-MSCs), and adipose tissues (A-MSCs) from a single donor in camels. The present study aimed to evaluate the influence of MSCs source on stem cell characteristics. We evaluated proliferation capacity and mesoderm-lineage differentiation potential from SM-MSCs, DS-MSCs, and A-MSCs. They showed spindle-like morphology after homogenization. The proliferation ability was no significant difference in all groups. Furthermore, the portion of the cell cycle and expression of pluripotent markers (Oct4, Sox2, and Nanog) were similar in all cell lines at passage 3. The differentiation capacity of A-MSCs into adipocytes was significantly higher than that of SM-MSCs and DS-MSCs. However, the osteoblast differentiation capacity of A-MSCs was significantly lower than that of SM-MSCs and DS-MSCs. Additionally, after osteoblast differentiation, the ALP activity and calcium content was significantly decreased in A-MSCs as compared to SM-MSCs and DS-MSCs. To the best of our knowledge, we primally established MSCs from the single camel and demonstrated their comparative characteristics including expression of pluripotent factors and proliferation, and in vitro differentiation capacity into adipocytes and osteoblasts.

African swine fever (ASF) is a notifiable viral disease of domestic and wild suids. Despite intensive re-search efforts, the pathogenesis of the disease is still far from being understood. Analysis of biomarkers in different body fluids may supplement traditional pathogenesis studies. As reliable protocols are often es-tablished in laboratories with lower biosafety, reliable inactivation of samples is crucial. The objective of this study was to find a procedure that inactivates the virus while preserving the biomarkers for down-stream analyses. To this means, three different inactivation protocols were employed, namely Tergitol-type NP-40 (NP-40) and polyoxyethylene-p-t-octylphenol (Triton X-100), respectively, and one with 95 °C heating. It could be demonstrated that all samples treated with 0.5% (v/v) concentration of both deter-gents showed absence of virus infectivity. The same was true for heated samples. However, heated serum was not suitable for analyses. Next, the treatment impact on biomarker readouts was assessed. While all protocols had an impact on the detection of biomarkers, correlation was retained. Especially NP-40 could be the desired detergent for more accurate measurements while achieving efficient virus inactivation. Based on these studies, samples can be reliably inactivated for most biomarker analyses and thus broader interdisciplinary cooperation is possible.

Our study assessed the impact of using ovitraps with pyriproxyfen on mosquito populations and the feasibility of using human saliva samples to test for seroconversion to dengue virus (DENV). We used a quasi-experimental research design by forming the intervention (n=220) and the control (n=223) groups in neighboring Taguig City, Philippines, over four months. Socio-demographic data, entomological indices, and IgG antibodies against DENV were measured. Associations between the implementation of ovitraps dosed with pyriproxyfen and mosquito densities (percentage positive ovitraps and container indices) and DENV seroconversion were calculated post-intervention in Months 2, 3, and 4. Among participants recruited at baseline, 17 and 13 were seropositive for dengue (DENV) in the intervention and control groups, respectively. Both entomological indices were lower in the treated area than the control site at months two, three, and four post-interventions but not earlier. Dengue seroconversions rates did decrease in the treated population but not significantly so. In conclusion, the use of PPF-treated ovitraps impacted the mosquito population but not the seroconversion rates. Compliance to provide saliva samples and the ability to detect IgG antibodies within these samples were encouraging and suggested that further studies on a larger population and longer duration are warranted.

The aim of the work is to study the effect of the 3D printing process on the microstructural and hydrophilic properties of polylactic acid (PLA) samples with various model printing patterns obtained from the black Filament PLA by sequentially applying polymer layers using the FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) method. X-ray phase analysis revealed partial crystallization of PLA polymer chains in printed samples, which occurs under thermal and mechanical action on the original amorphous PLA filament during 3D printing to varying degrees, depending on the geometry of the pattern and the morphology of its surface. At the same time, IR spectroscopy data indicate the preservation of all intrastructural chemical bonds of polylactide. Measured at the original installation, the values of the wetting edge angles on the surface of the printed samples are in the range φ = 50-60°, which is significantly less than the right angle. This indicates the hydrophilic properties of all samples’ surface. At the same time, the influence of different geometries of model drawings in printed samples was found not only on the morphology of the samples’ surface according to SEM data, but also on its wettability.

Mucormycosis is known to be a rare opportunistic infection caused by Syncephalastrum species, which are Mucorales fungi of the Zygomycetes class. These moulds are rarely involved in clinical diseases and are generally seen as contaminants in the clinical laboratory. However, in recent years, case reports of human infections due to Syncephalastrum have increased, especially in immunocompromised hosts. In this study, we describe two new Syncephalastrum species, which were isolated from human nails and sputum samples from two different patients. We used several methods of genomic and phenotypic characterisation. The phenotypic analysis, relied on morphological features, analysed both by optical and scanning electron microscopy. We used Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization-Time of Flight mass spectrometry, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and BiologTM technology to characterise the proteomic, chemical mapping, and carbon source assimilation profiles, respectively. The genomic analysis relied on multilocus sequence analysis of the rRNA internal transcribed spacers and D1/D2 large-subunit domains, and fragments of the translation elongation factor 1-alpha, and the β-tubulin genes. The two novel species in the genus Syncephalastrum, namely S. massiliense PMMF0073 and S. timoneanum PMMF0107, have a similar morphology to S. racemosum, but each display distinct phenotypic and genotypic features. The polyphasic approach, combining the results of complementary phenotypic and genomic assays, was instrumental in describing and characterising these two new Syncephalastrum species.

Blood-derived products (BP) like citrate-platelet-rich plasma (CPRP) or hyperacute serum (HAS) are known to contain many growth factors. Combined mitogenic and DNA damaging stimuli might lead to increased senescent cell burden and altered senescence-associated secretory pheno-type (SASP). Therefore, the senescent state was extensively tested by γH2AX staining, p21 Q-PCR and western blot, growth curves and senescence associated ß-galactosidase staining. Two main treatments with BP were performed early (immediately after etoposide) and late (after addition-al 11days). Effects of the BP treatment was evaluated by IL-6 and IL-8 measurement as well as collagen (COL1) and p21 mRNA expression. Additionally, XTT assays, cell size measurements, viability assays, and cell number calculations were performed. HAS treated cells in early treat-ment had the lowest observed IL-6 and IL-8. In contrast, there was a clear inflammatory response for IL-8 on HAS and CPRP treated cells in late treatment. For COL1 expression an upregulation in early treatment could be shown, meanwhile cells in the late treatment group remained unaf-fected. In CPRP treated cells, the COL1 expression decreased. All in all, BP treatment seems to have slightly positive effects regarding skin rejuvenation.

Objective. The primary aim of this 6-month randomized, controlled, blinded clinical pilot study was to compare the percent root coverage obtained using an acellular dermal matrix allograft (ADM) and a coronally positioned tunnel (CPT) technique with two different suturing techniques. Materials and Methods. Sixteen patients with at least one Miller Class I or II recession defect ≥ 3 mm were randomly selected to receive a CPT with ADM using either two independent continuous sling sutures to secure the graft and the soft tissue separately (SEP) or a single continuous sling suture to secure both the graft and the soft tissue together (TOG) in the test group. Percent defect coverage, predictability of achieving 100% root coverage, keratinized tissue width, and attachment levels were assessed. Results. Both TOG and SEP suturing techniques achieved a significant amount of defect coverage, 83 vs. 85%, respectively, with no significant differences between groups. The predictability of achieving complete defect coverage was 63% for both groups. All maxillary sites had 100% coverage. There was a statistically significant gain of keratinized tissue for the TOG (1.1 ± 0.9 mm), while the SEP group gained only minimal amount (0.2 ± 0.8 mm). Conclusions. The single sling, for simultaneous suturing of the soft tissue and acellular dermal matrix, worked as well as two sling sutures used separately for the soft tissue and ADM. Suturing time was reduced by about 50% for the single sling group indicating a significant clinical advantage for the patient and surgeon.

Since the beginning of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, large attention has been focused on the relationship between SARS-CoV-2 diffusion and environment. As a matter of fact, clear evidence of the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 via respiratory aerosol would be of primary importance; at the same time, checking the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater can be extremely useful to control the diffusion of the disease. Up to now, many studies report SARS-CoV-2 concentrations in indoor/outdoor air samples or water/wastewater samples that can differ by order of magnitude. Unfortunately, complete information about the scientific approach of many studies is still missing, relating to: samplers and sampling materials performances, recovery tests, measurement uncertainty, robustness, detection and quantification limits, infectivity of captured virus, virus degradation during sampling, influence of sample pre-treatments (included freezing) on results, effects of inhibitors, sample alterations due to manipulation, validation of methods and processes, quality assurance according to ISO/IEC 17025 requirements.Based on the first experiences focused on the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in environmental samples such as air quality filters, air-liquid impingers and wastewater samples, the present study describes a coherent preliminary approach to SARS-CoV-2 environmental sampling in order to overcome the evident lack of standardization. Three aspects are highlighted here: the first solution to assure quality and consistency to environmental sampling relies on the development of recovery tests using standard materials and investigating sampling materials, sampling techniques, sampling durations, sample conservation and pre-treatments; secondly, in order to overcome the shortcomings of every single sampling technique, coupling different samplers in parallel sampling could be an efficient strategy to collect more information and make data more reliable, in particular for air samples; finally, with regards to airborne virus sampling, the results could be confirmed by simplified emission and dilution models.

Vaginitis is a widespread issue for women worldwide, yet current diagnostic tools are lacking. Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most prevalent type of vaginitis, found in 10-50% of reproductive aged women. Current diagnostic methods for BV rely on clinical criteria, microscopy, or detection of a few microbes by qPCR. However, many vaginal infections lack a single etiological agent and are characterized by changes in the vaginal microbiome community structure (e.g. BV is defined as a loss of protective lactobacilli resulting in an overgrowth of anaerobic bacteria). Shotgun metagenomic sequencing provides a comprehensive view of all the organisms present in the vaginal microbiome (VMB) allowing for a better understanding of all potential etiologies. Here, we describe a robust VMB metagenomics sequencing test with a sensitivity of 93.1%, specificity of 90%, a negative predictive value of 93.4%, and a positive predictive value of 89.6% certified by Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA), the College of American Pathologist (CAP) and the Clinical Laboratory Evaluation Program (CLEP). We sequenced over 7,000 human vaginal samples with this pipeline and described general findings and comparison to US census data.

Seawater has been proposed as a reservoir for antibiotic resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes, thus representing a risk to public health. In this study, we evaluated the presence of antibiotic resistance determinants (bacteria and genes) in 77 seawater samples collected at different points along the coast of the Gulf of Valencia (Spain). Specifically, indicators of fecal contamination bacteria, Escherichia coli and Enterococcus sp. were isolated, and their antibiotic resistance profiles were analyzed by using the Sensititre® system, followed by the detection of main antibiotic resistance genes (blaTEM, qnrS, tetW, sulI, and ermB). The highest frequencies of resistance in E. coli isolates were detected against ampicillin (35.1%) and ciprofloxacin (17.5%), followed by sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim (15.7%), while 23% of enterococci isolates showed resistance to a single antibiotic, 20% against tetracycline and 3% against daptomycin. By PCR, 93% of the E. coli strains showed the blaTEM and sulI resistance genes. Among the enterococci, the presence of the blaTEM gene was detected in 40% of the isolates, while the rest of the genes were present at very low rates. Among the water samples, 57% were positive for at least one of the tested genes, being blaTEM gene the most commonly found (47%), followed by qnrS (33%) and sulI (23%) genes. These results show that seawater, in addition to having a high rate of fecal contamination, can contribute to the spread of antibiotic resistance.

Topologically non-trivial magnetization configurations in ferromagnetic materials on the nanoscale, such as hopfions, skyrmions, vortices, etc., attract considerable attention of researchers during the last years. In this article applying the theory of micromagnetism, I demonstrate that the toroidal hopfion magnetization configuration is a metastable state of a thick cylindrical ferromagnetic nanodot or a nanowire of a finite radius. Existence of this state is a result of the competition of the exchange, magnetostatic, and magnetic anisotropy energies. The Dzyaloshinskyi-Moriya exchange interaction and surface magnetic anisotropy are of the second importance for the hopfion stabilization. The toroidal hopfion metastable magnetization configuration may be reached in the process of the sample re-magnetizing by applying an external magnetic field along the cylindrical axis.

A sufficient amount of tissue sample is required to perform next-generation sequencing (NGS) with a high success rate, but the majority of patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are diagnosed with small biopsy specimens. Biopsy samples were collected from 184 patients with bronchoscopically diagnosed NSCLC. The tissue surface area, tumor cell count, and tumor content rate of each biopsy sample were evaluated. The impact of the cut-off criteria for the tissue surface area (≥ 1 mm2) and tumor content rate (≥ 30%) on the success rate of Oncomine Dx Target Test (ODxTT) was evaluated. The mean tissue surface area of the transbronchial biopsies was 1.23 ± 0.85 mm2 when small endobronchial ultrasonography with a guide sheath (EBUS-GS) was used, 2.16 ± 1.49 mm2 with large EBUS-GS, and 1.81 ± 0.75 mm2 with endobronchial biopsy (EBB). The proportion of samples with a tissue surface area of ≥ 1 mm2 was 48.8% for small EBUS-GS, 79.2% for large EBUS-GS, and 78.6% for EBB. Sixty-nine patients underwent ODxTT. The success rate of DNA sequencing was 84.1% and that of RNA sequencing was 92.7% over all patients. The success rate of DNA (RNA) sequencing was 57.1% (71.4%) for small EBUS-GS (n = 14), 93.4% (96.9%) for large EBUS-GS (n = 32), 62.5% (100%) for EBB (n = 8), and 100% (100%) for endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) (n = 15). Regardless of the device used, a tissue surface area of ≥ 1 mm2 is adequate for samples to be tested with NGS.

Birds are highly social and need pairing in order to increase their welfare. Most bird species are monomorphic, therefore, molecular sexing helps to provide appropriate welfare for birds. Moreover, early sex determination can be of great value for bird owners. The aim of this study was to demonstrate that sex identification in birds by molecular methods, using samples collected by minimally invasive methods is fast, efficient and accurate. A total of 100 samples (29 paired samples of feathers - oral swab and 14 tripled samples of feathers - oral swab - blood) from 43 birds were taken into study, as follows: wild birds (Falconiformes, Accipitriformes, landfowl – Galliformes, waterfowl– Anseriformes), companion birds (Passeriformes, Psittaciformes – large, medium and small size parrots). Amplification of CHD1-Z and CHD1-W genes was performed by conventional PCR. The results obtained from feathers were compared to those obtained from oral swabs and with those obtained from blood samples, where was the case. The obtained results show that all types of samples can be used for molecular sexing of all studied species of birds. According to our knowledge, the present study reports for the first time the molecular sex identification in: Red Siskin (Carduelis cucullata) and Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis major). For higher accuracy, our recommendation is to use minimally invasive samples (swab-feathers) and to test both types of samples, for each bird, instead of blood samples.

Gastrointestinal diseases caused by parasites are frequently diagnosed in the clinical routine of domestic animals, especially dogs and cats. In general, they trigger factors that can affect individual health due to zoonoses. Therefore, this study aims to identify the main intestinal parasites obtained from the fecal samples of dogs and cats in the municipality of Jata, Brazil, and their associated risk factors. Between October 2020 and March 2022, fecal samples were collected from 359 dogs and 55 cats through spontaneous defecation and subsequently subjected to coproparasitological analyses using the Willis fluctuation and Hoffman spontaneous sedimentation techniques. The following parasitic species were identified: Ancylostoma, Toxocara, Trichuris vulpis, Dipylidium caninum; Giardia, Entamoeba, Cystoisospora, and Platynosomum fastosum. The risk factors associated with parasitism include age, average income of owners, access to garbage, sewage, waste, outdated deworming, and contact with animals. The results demonstrate the need to establish public policies and implement preventive and control measures to reduce the occurrence of parasites in animals and the exposure of humans to pathogenic agents.

The aim of this study, for determination of verteporfin in real samples (simulated body fluid, and simulated tears, 0.9% isotonic sodium chloride solution, Lactated Ringer IV solution for infusion, 5% dextrose IV solution for infusion, lemon juice and drinking water) was the method validation and to examined by HPLC-DAD-UV. Metod validation parameters such as specificity, linearity, precision, accuracy, robustness, limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) for verteporfin were validated and developed according to the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) Q2 R1 guidelines. The LOD and LOQ for verteporfin were found 0.06 µg/L and 0.2 µg/L, respectively. The recovery values of the optimization and validation for verteporfin were found in the range of 97.5-100.7%. The relative standard deviations (RSD) for vertepofin were <1%. The developed method was successfully applied to real samples with high accuracy and the recoveries (%) from real samples were 99.9, 100, 98.2, 99.2, 99.4, 98.8 and 99.4, respectively.

The objective of the prototype is to eliminate the polluting contamination of water sources, due to the leak of industrial waste without any kind of treatment, mainly generated by the industries and home sector. In this project, a prototype of water purification by plasma technology has been designed. The prototype will convert contaminated water into the plasma stream and eliminate the pathogens from the water by exposing it to ultraviolet radiation and plasma sterilisation. The polluted water will be accelerated at high speed using a water pump in order to convert it into a liquid-gas mixture for ease plasma generation. This process will be achieved when the electric supply from a source of alternating current (AC) is applied to the water by means of high voltage electrodes. After which, the mixture slows down to return into liquid form and the clean water is obtained. The whole process takes place without significantly raising the temperature also knows as non-thermal plasma. The device also has an automatic flow and pressure control system. Finally, a short feasibility study has been conducted on the water samples collected and report obtained from Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewage boards are reported. It has been concluded that this new plasma-based water treatment system will be more efficient and cheaper than the current wastewater treatment techniques and can be used in the future as the replacement of current secondary and tertiary treatments of industrial wastewater.

This study aimed at characterizing the composition and performing chemical speciation modelling to determine species that are abundant in the coal fly ash (CFA) and soil samples sourced from Hendrina Power station located in Mpumalanga Province. All CFA samples were alkaline in nature with pH values ranging between 8.11 ± 0.07 and 8.60 ± 0.03 with an electrical conductivity (EC) ranging between 301.70 and 1515.00 µS/cm while EC of control soil was 103.10 µS/cm. The control soil pH was found to be 6.24 ± 0.13 and total organic carbon values ranged between 2.68 and 85.82 mg/kg and some percentage organic carbon values of CFAs were found to be greater than 8%, which is above the permissible limits of hazardous waste dumping. Oxidation-reduction potential values were negative in all CFA samples and positive in soil. The speciation modelling showed that the potential for a trace metal to have hazardous effects in soil systems depends on its concentration, specific form and interactions with other constituents in CFA. The slow release of metals from CFA to soil was assessed by looking at how a given metal is distributed throughout its several possible chemical forms. The presence of divalent cations (Pb2+, Cu2+, Zn2+, etc.) in CFAs might pose a threat to soil quality. In the competition for binding sites on ferric hydroxides, dissolved metal ions faced off against other metals. Protons (H+) were seen to be in competition with Pb, Cu and Zn for the ability to bind to hydroxyl (OH-) groups and this is due to chemical precipitation and surface complexation.

The quantification of human DNA extracts from forensic samples plays a key role in the forensic genetics process. Quantification guarantees maximum efficiency and avoids repeated analyses, over amplified samples, or unnecessary examinations. Here, we present our experience using an extremely sensitive real-time-based method with the Quantifiler® Trio DNA quantification kit, which we have explored in the ISO/IEC17025 accredited test validation process conducted in our laboratory. In this study, our focus was on establishing a minimum threshold beyond which DNA typing is unnecessary, by defining the correlation of negative quantification results with the absence of genetic profiles resulting from DNA typing. We investigated the results in the range in which the technique is used (50-0.005 ng/μl). In the validation process of the internally accredited method, we used data from the commercial quantification system, based on the average values of the standard curve using a wide range of samples, including artificially degraded samples. This method was extensively used continuously for nine years to quantify the DNA extract coming from a wide range of samples from criminal cases. The validation allowed us to verify the limits of the technique, especially in the use of the minimum quantities necessary to obtain genetic profiles acceptable for sending to the Italian DNA database. This optimization of the protocol for analysing forensic samples allows us to optimise the protocol for analysing forensic samples. However, the technique is used in our laboratory with a completely manual preparative phase, and we have decided to investigate the contribution of human error more accurately. Thus, in our experience, we have found that it is preferable to use quantification ranges rather than exact limits before deciding how to analyse the extracts via PCR. In addition, here we present some preliminary data related to the analysis of certain samples that initially appeared negative during quantification, applying a concentration method for maximum yield from forensic samples of judicial interest. Our aim is to ensure that no source of evidence is lost in the reconstruction of a criminal event.

A methodology has been developed to assess the presence and dissipation of herbicides of wide range of polarities in soil using in-tube solid phase microextraction (IT-SPME) coupled on-line to capillary liquid chromatography (capLC). The compounds investigated were tritosulfuron (TRT), triflusulfuron-methyl (TRF), aclonifen (ACL) and bifenox (BF), with log octanol-water partition coefficients (log Kow) ranging from 0.62 to 4.48. The linearity, recoveries, intra and interday precision, limits of detection (LODs) and quantification (LOQs), and accuracy of the method were established. The proposed approach was successfully applied assess the degradation of the tested herbicides in different types of soil (agricultural, urban and forest) after being exposed to different laboratory and outdoor conditions. The results obtained showed a greater persistence of the most apolar compounds ACL and BF, regardless of the soil characteristics, whereas a significant degradation of highly polar herbicides TRT and TRF was observed in soils with lowest organic matter even after a few days of exposure. Those results indicate that the proposed approach can be considered an effective tool for a better understanding of soil pollution.

Point-contact spectroscopy has been performed on bulk samples of electron-doped high temperature superconductor Nd2-xCexCuO4-. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy equipped with a wavelength dispersive spectrometer and an electron backscatter diffraction detector. The samples with a Ce content x = 0.15, show the absence of spurious phases and randomly oriented grains, most of which have dimensions of approximately 220 µm2. The low-bias spectra in the tunnelling regime, i.e., high transparency interface, exhibit a gap feature at about ±5 meV and no zero-bias conductance, consistent with the most literature data on oriented samples. The high-bias conductance has also been measured in order to obtain information on the properties of the barrier. A V-shape has been in some cases observed, instead of the parabolic behavior expected for tunnel junctions.

The most modern technique utilized to create intricate and complexly manufactured parts for a variety of applications is called additive manufacturing (AM). Fused deposition modeling (FDM) has received the greatest attention in the development and manufacturing sectors. The main objective of this study was to investigate how printing factors affected the mechanical characteristics of printed samples. Samples were produced using an FDM 3D printer in compliance with ASTM D638 using a variety of input settings, including orientation, layer thickness, speed, and infill pattern. On the printed samples, tensile tests and morphological analysis using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) were done. The findings of this study demonstrate that factors including layer thickness, printing speed, and orientation significantly affect the tensile strength of ABS printed samples. Discovering the process settings that could lead to superior mechanical and physical characteristics would undoubtedly assist designers and manufacturers worldwide as the FDM 3D printer becomes more and more crucial in manufacturing engineering parts.

The article presents the results of a morpho-physiological assessment of rice samples by the strength of growth, as well as an assessment of the degree of development of the conducting system of the flag leaves of rice plants. The resistance of varieties to flooding is very relevant in the fight against weeds due to the deep layer of water that weeds cannot overcome. Currently, there are no zoned varieties in Russia that would meet these requirements. Therefore, the problem of creating such rice varieties is urgent, as it will reduce production costs, reduce grain losses during harvesting, improve the quality of the products obtained, and also reduce the pesticide load on the ecosystem. As a result of research, a number of studied samples revealed the potential to quickly lengthen the first leaves, overcome a large layer of water and accumulate vegetative mass. As a result of the evaluation of the conducting system of the flag leaf of rice plants, it was found that in plants with the flood resistance gene Sub1A, which stops growth under water, the conductive beams were smaller in comparison with other fast-growing samples with the AG, Sk genes. Consequently, fast-growing samples have bigger sizes of the conducting system as a resistance mechanism.

Background: Strongyloidiasis, a neglected disease caused by intestinal nematodes of the genus Strongyloides, is endemic to tropical and subtropical areas such as Vietnam. The morphological diagnosis of larvae by Hara Mori culture technique and microscopicare are considered the standard diagnostic procedures in the endemic areas of Strongyloides spp. However, they could only identify the genus, not the species of Strongyloides. DNA-molecular techniques which are highly sensitive and more cost-effective have been increasingly utilized in detection of Strongyloides species. This study aims to determine prevalence and the species of Strongyloides among resident population in Duc Hoa district, Long An province, Southern Vietnam. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using 1,190 stool samples collected in Duc Hoa district, Long An province, Vietnam, from July, 2017 to November 2018. The stool specimens were transported to the Laboratory of Medical Parasitology, Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine within two hours of collection at an appropriate temperature of 25 oC. All samples were stored at 2 - 8°C and processed within 48 hours for microscopic examination. Molecular detection was carried out at Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, Hochiminh city, VietNam. Results: Of the 1,190 samples tested, Strongyloides spp. larvae were detected in 79 specimens (6.6%) by two classical parasitological methods, namely direct microscopy and the modified Harada-Mori filter paper culture. DNA was extracted from 70 of the 79 samples of Strongyloides spp. larvae, which was subsequently characterized by real-time PCR amplification of the 18S and 28S regions of the rDNA gene. The results showed that 97.1% of the DNA samples were S. stercoralis, 2.9% were co-infections with S. ratti and S. stercoralis, and 2.9% belonged to S. ratti. For all 14 isolates, nucleotide sequencing was compared with other human pathogenic species of Strongyloides whose sequences are available in GenBank. The identity of 12/14 sequences were confirmed as S. stercoralis with a high level of similarity (91.3% - 100%) and over 98% for S. ratti. Between the two co-infection samples, the higher similarity belonged to S. stercoralis. Conclusion: A molecular amplification of small subunit ribosome RNA followed by sequence analysis has been proved to be a suitable method for discrimination of Strongyloides spp. retrieved from stool samples.

Nonporous corundum powder, known as an abrasive material in the industry, was functionalized covalently with protein binders to isolate and enrich specific proteins from complex matrices. The materials based on corundum were characterized by TEM, ESEM, BET, DLS, and zeta potential measurements. The strong Al-O-P bonds between the corundum surface and amino phosphonic acids are used to introduce functional groups for further conjugations. The common crosslinker glutaraldehyde was compared with a hyperbranched polyglycerol (PG) of around 10 kDa. The latter is oxidized with periodate to generate aldehyde groups that can covalently react with the amines of the surface and the amino groups from the protein via a reductive amination process. The amount of bound protein was quantified via aromatic amino acid analysis (AAAA). This work shows that oxidized polyglycerol can be used as an alternative to glutaraldehyde. With polyglycerol, more of the model protein bovine serum albumin (BSA) could be attached to the surface under the same conditions, and lower nonspecific binding (NSB) was observed. As a proof of concept, IgG was extracted with protein A from crude human plasma. The purity of the product was examined by SDS-PAGE. A binding capacity of 1.8 mg IgG per g of corundum powder was achieved. The advantages of corundum are the very low price, extremely high physical and chemical stability, pressure resistance, favorable binding kinetics, and flexible application.

Ensembles of Species Distribution Models (SDMs) represent the geographic ranges of pathogen vectors by combining alternative analytical approaches and merging information on vector occurrences with more extensive environmental data. Biased collection data impact SDMs, regardless of the target species but no studies have compared the differences in the distributions predicted by the ensemble models when different sampling frameworks are used for the same species. We compared Ensemble SDMs for two important Ixodid tick vectors, Amblyomma americanum and Ixodes scapularis in mainland Florida, USA, when inputs were either convenience samples of ticks, or collections obtained using the standard protocols promulgated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Ensemble SDMs for the convenience samples and standard surveys showed only a slight agreement (Kappa = 0.060, A. americanum; 0.053, I. scapularis). Convenience sample SDMs indicated A. americanum and I. scapularis should be absent from 34.5% and 30.9% of the state where standard surveys predicted the highest likelihood of occurrence of the respective vectors. Ensemble models from standard surveys predicted 81.4% and 72.5% (A. americanum and I. scapularis) of convenience sample sites. Omission errors by standard survey SDMs, of the convenience collections, frequently were associated with adjacency to at least one SDM or errors in geocoding algorithms that failed to correctly locate convenience samples. These geocoding errors emphasize commonly overlooked needs to explicitly evaluate and improve data quality for vector survey data used in spatial models.

Concentrations of six polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (benzanthrone, benz[a]anthracene, chrysene, fluoranthene, pyrene, and triphenylene) of soil samples from Diboll, an East Texas city (USA), were analyzed with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Samples were collected from five sites; Old Orchard Park, two heavy traffic intersections (Judd Street and Lumberjack Drive), an industrial site (West Borden Drive), and a truck stop. Acetone and dichloromethane extracts in all samples showed the presence of fluoranthene and pyrene. The sum of fluoranthene and pyrene concentrations in sites followed the order West Borden Drive > Judd Street > Lumberjack Drive > Old Orchard Park > truck stop. Concentrations of fluoranthene and pyrene were in the range 12.3 – 396.5 μg kg^-1 (ppb) and 13.6 – 209.8 μg kg^-1 ₍in dry soil₎, respectively. Benzanthrone, benz[a]anthracene, chrysene, and triphenylene concentrations were < 2 ppb levels. The higher concentrations in soils were associated with sites close to heavy traffic and vehicular emissions.

Digital medicine based on the integration of all medical data of a particular patient, has become a reality today, thanks to information technology. Traditional medical examinations can be supple-mented by assessment results of the oxidative-anti-oxidative (OAO) status of the body [1]. Elec-trochemical sensors are able to not only determine the integral indicators of the OAO system of the body, but also to depict details of the processes occurring in the system. The main obstacle to the widespread use of electrochemical sensors in medical diagnostics is the extremely small amount of the received information in comparison with tens of thousands of known human dis-eases. The problem can be eliminated only by rethinking the purpose of electrochemical measure-ment within the framework of thermodynamics of information processes and information theory. In the information paradigm of electrochemical analysis of biological fluids, a sample is considered as an electrochemical message created by a sensor. The purpose of electrochemical measurement is to obtain information in a volume sufficient to identify the sample composition within the range of possible concentrations of its components. The fundamentals of the thermodynamics of infor-mation processes are considered and conclusions that are of practical importance for the devel-opment of electrochemical sensors and analyzers are derived. It is shown that potentiostatic con-trol of the sensor is physically impacted by the electromechanical instability of the electrical double layer, which is the main source of sensor signal noise. Estimates are of a minimum amount of an-alytical signal information required for identification of a sample of a known composition, such as a biological fluid, are provided. Examples of highly informative analytical signals for flowing and stationary samples are presented. Problems related to the visualization of such signals are noted.

In biology molecules and macromolecules like sugars, proteins, DNA, and RNA are of utter importance. Detecting their presence as well as their conformation is still a challenge in many cases. It is well known that the vibrational states of such molecules lie from the infrared to the TeraHertz range. Spectroscopy can be used to detect such compounds and probe their conformation. Still, terahertz spectroscopy on biosample is a challenge for two main reasons: water absorption; and the small size of the samples. The sample volume is smaller than the cube of the TeraHertz wavelength; the light matter interactions are thus extremely reduced. In this paper, we present the design, fabrication, characterization and the first typical uses of a biophotonic device aiming at increasing light matter interaction to enable terahertz spectroscopy of minute samples on a broad band (0.2–2 THz). We demonstrate time domain spectroscopy experiments on few µl samples showing the validity of our approach.

Ischemic stroke is one of the leading causes of death and permanent disability in the world. Rapid diagnosis and intervention are crucial for reducing its consequences on individuals and societies. Identifying reliable biomarkers for early detection, prognostics and therapy is a criti-cal imperative for improving the stroke patient treatment. Metabolomics has been shown as a promising tool for biomarker discovery since many of the post-ischemic metabolites can found in the plasma or serum of the patient. In this research, we have performed comparative targeted metabolomic analysis of stroke thrombi, patient serums and healthy control serums in order to determine the alteration in the patients’ metabolome. The most statistically altered metabolites characterized in patient compared to control serums were glutamate and serotonin, followed by several lipid metabolites (phospholipids and triacylglycerols) and glucose. In stroke thrombi compared to patient’s serums, the most significantly altered metabolites were classified as li-pids, with choline-containing phospholipids and sphingomyelins having the highest discrimi-natory score. The results of this study could help in understanding the roles of different meta-bolic changes occurring during thrombosis and cerebral ischemia and possibly suggest new metabolic biomarkers of the ischemic stroke.

Halloysite and kaolinite are dioctahedral TO phyllosilicates that drive the interest of scientists for formulating environmental friendly materials, and consequently in the field of ceramics. The main scope of this study was the understanding of the texture evolution upon the dehydroxylation reaction and the influence of the presence of halloysite. In situ synchrotron (002) and (111) poles figures were recorded on the DiffAbs beamline at SOLEIL Synchrotron, from room temperature to 1000°C, on kaolinite and/or halloysite-rich samples shaped by tape casting. Commercial kaolins and halloysite provided by Imerys company were used. The samples were labeled KRG100, KCS100, H100, KRG50H50 and KRG59H50 in relation with the wt. % of kaolin (KRG, KCS) or halloysite (H) clays. In samples KCS100 and KRG100, a strong texture was observed until in situ annealing at 700°C, with respect to the c-axis of kaolinite. One the contrary, the texture with respect to the c-axis of halloysite for the sample H100 was weak whatever the temperature was. Moreover, this weak texture disappeared before the complete dehydroxylation of halloysite. This is due to the opening of some halloysite tubes. When considering the samples KRG50H50 and KCS50H50, a significant texture was observed with the c-axis preferentially oriented perpendicular to the sample surface . The presence of kaolinite platelets predominated onto the alignment of halloysites tubes. Furthermore, it was noted that the halloysite influenced the (002) diffracted intensity into the temperature range 20 °C and 400 °C. Above 400°C, the behavior obtained for the (002) reflection in samples KRG50H50 and KCS50H50 was similar to the behavior noticed for pure kaolins KRG100 and KCS100 respectively. The dehydroxylation temperature range appeared to be relevant with combined effect of kaolinite and halloysite transformations arising from KRG100 or KCS100 and H100 samples. Therefore, the onset point of dehydroxylation is 550 °C ± 25 °C for KRG100, KCS100 KRG50H50 and KCS50H50. For the pure halloysite H100 sample, the dehydroxylation starts at lower temperature 475°C. It was also noted that during the dehydroxylation of kaolinite, the characteristic portion of ring related to the diffracted intensity of the (111) reflection located at χ = 45 ° tended to disappear above 550 °C and led to the formation of a new transitory phase with a (111) reflection with perpendicular alignment to the c-axis. Indeed, an epitaxial relationship with the (111) kaolinite reflection could be assumed. Further X-ray scattering experiments allowed highlighting the effective offset temperature of the dehydroxylation, which was identified as close to 720 °C. The metakaolinite obtained undergone structural transformation to another transitory phase at 1000°C.

In the present study, we aimed to determine the antimicrobial resistance and genetic structure of a population of S. aureus recovered from transient and persistent intramammary infections and nares/muzzles. We investigated the antimicrobial resistance of 189 S. aureus strains using a broad antimicrobial susceptibility profile. Furthermore, 107 S. aureus isolates were strain-typed using staphylococcal protein-A (spa) typing. Here, a great proportion of strains exhibited multidrug resistance to antimicrobials, including resistance to critically important antimicrobials, although no methicillin-resistant S. aureus strains were found. Our study did not strengthen the idea that extramammary niches (i.e., nares/muzzles) are an important source for S. aureus. A discrepancy in the antimicrobial resistance between S. aureus strains isolated from nasal/muzzles and milk samples was observed. Furthermore, S. aureus isolates from transient and persistent IMIs did not differ by spa typing, suggesting that the persistence of bovine IMIs was determined by cow factors. Thus, the high level of multidrug-resistant S. aureus found in the two herds studied together with the predominance of a well udder-adapted S. aureus strain may contribute to the history of the high prevalence of mastitis caused by S. aureus, leading to great animal and public health concerns.

In the presented work, on the example of thin-walled specimens made by selective laser melting technology from AlSi10Mg subjected to preliminary heat treatment, it is shown that there is a critical point of transition from the elastic-plastic region of the engineering stress-strain diagram to the yield and fracture stresses. It was found that the critical point has a strong statistically significant correlation (0.83 by Spearman and 0.93 by Pearson) with the strain hardening coeffi-cient calculated in the section from yield strength to fracture strength. A regression equation linking the critical transition point to the strain hardening coefficient was obtained. It is shown that with increasing plasticity of thin-walled samples obtained by selective laser melting of AlSi10Mg leads to a change in the type of stress distribution in the elastic-plastic region (the Weibull distribution changes to a normal distribution) and the contribution of the probability density of stress distribution described by the Cauchy distribution with a mode near the fracture stress to the full probability density of fracture increases.

Salivary gland tumors are highly variable in clinical presentation and histology. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies 22 types of malignant and 11 types of benign tumors of the salivary glands. Diagnosis of salivary gland tumors is based on imaging (ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging) and fine-needle aspiration biopsy, but the final diagnosis is based on histopathological examination of the removed tumor. In this pilot study, we are testing a new approach to identifying peptide biomarkers in saliva that can be used to diagnose salivary gland tumors. The research material for the peptidomic studies was extracts from washings of neoplastic tissues and healthy tissues (control samples). At the same time, saliva samples from patients and healthy individuals were analysed. The comparison of the peptidome composition of tissue extracts and saliva samples may allow the identification of potential peptide markers of salivary gland tumors in patients' saliva. The peptidome composition extracted from 18 tumor and 18 healthy tissue samples, patient (11 samples) and healthy saliva samples (8 samples) was analysed by LC-MS tandem mass spectrometry. A group of 109 peptides were identified that were present only in the tumor tissue extracts and in the patient saliva samples. Some of the identified peptides were derived from proteins previously suggested as potential biomarkers of salivary gland tumors (ANXA1, BPIFA2, FGB, GAPDH, HSPB1, IGHG1, VIM) or tumors of other tissues or organs (SERPINA1, APOA2, CSTB, GSTP1, S100A8, S100A9, TPI1). Unfortunately, none of the identified peptides were present in all samples analysed. This may be due to the high heterogeneity of this type of cancer. The surprising result was that extracts from tumor tissue did not contain peptides derived from salivary gland-specific proteins (STATH, SMR3B, HTN1, HTN3). These results could suggest that the developing tumor suppresses the production of proteins that are essential components of saliva.

We report a small footprint cost-effective isothermal rapid DNA amplification system, with integrated microfluidics for automated sample analysis and detection of SARS-CoV-2 in human and environmental samples. Our system measures low-level fluorescent signal in real-time during amplification, while maintaining the desired assay temperature, on a low power, portable system footprint. A unique soft microfluidic chip design was implemented to mitigate thermocapillary effects and facilitate optical alignment for automated image capture and signal analysis. The system-on-board prototype coupled with the LAMP primers designed by BioCoS, is sensitive enough to detect viral loads of SARS-CoV-2 in a broad concentration range corresponding to a threshold cycle range of 16 to 39. Clinical specimens were tested at Kingston Health Sciences using a clinically validated PCR assay and variants were determined using whole genome sequencing.

Ti6Al4V samples obtained by selective laser melting were subjected to acid treatment, chemical oxidation in hydrogen peroxide solution and subsequent thermochemical treatment. The effect of temperature and time of acid etching of Ti6Al4V samples on surface roughness, morphology, topography and chemical and phase composition after the thermochemical treatment was studied. The surfaces were characterized using scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and contact profilometry. Pore and protrusion sizes were measured. Acid etching modified the elemental composition and surface roughness of the alloy. Temperature had a greater influence on the morphology, topography and surface roughness of samples than time. Increases in roughness values were observed when applying successive chemical oxidation and thermochemical treatment compared to the values observed on surfaces with acid etching. After the thermochemical treatment, the samples with acid etching at a temperature of 80 °C showed a multiscale topography. In addition, a network-shaped structure was obtained on all surfaces, both on their protrusions and pores previously formed during the acid etching.

A simple, isocratic and robust RP-HPLC method for the analysis of azithromycin was developed, validated and applied for the analysis of bulk samples, tablets and suspensions. The optimum chromatographic conditions for separation were established as mobile phase comprising of acetonitrile-0.1M KH₂PO₄ pH 6.5-0.1M tetrabutyl ammonium hydroxide pH 6.5-water (25:15:1:59% v/v/v/v) delivered at a flow rate of 1.0 ml/min. The stationary phase consisted of reverse-phase XTerra^® (250 mm× 4.6 mm i.d., 5 µm particle size) maintained at a temperature of 43 °C with a UV detection at 215 nm. The method was found to be linear in the range 50-150% (r²=0.997). The limits of detection and quantification were found to be 0.02% (20 µg) and 0.078% (78 µg) respectively with a 100.7% recovery of azithromycin. Degradation products of azithromycin in acidic and oxidative environments at 37 °C were resolved from the active pharmaceutical ingredient and thus the method is fit for the purpose of drug stability confirmation.

Cryosurgery has emerged as a promising method for harvesting veins, but the suitability of these cryostripped veins as grafts remains a subject of investigation. This study delves into uncharted territory by conducting an immunohistochemical analysis and exploring the molecular aspects of venous samples obtained through cryostripping. Existing literature lacks comprehensive data on the components of varicose veins' walls, particularly in relation to protein expression. Furthermore, little is known about the proliferation rate of endothelial cells within varicose veins, which we scrutinize alongside an assessment of CD34 endothelial reactivity. Materials and Methods: Our study encompassed 109 samples procured using the cryostripping method, which involves catheterizing veins with a specialized probe cooled to -85°C. Molecular profiling of the intima and endothelium was conducted using two key markers: CD34 and Ki67. Results: Immunoreactivity for CD34 was discernible across all three layers of the varicose vein walls that were excised using cryostripping. Notably, the endothelial cell layer exhibited intense and uniform positivity in 36 out of the 109 samples under investigation. In contrast, the results regarding Ki67 expression, whether pertaining to the intima or endothelium, remain inconclusive. Conclusions: Our findings advocate for the utilization of CD34 as a reliable marker to assess the morphological and molecular integrity of excised venous specimens. As the use of cryosurgery-harvested veins as grafts gains traction, this research contributes valuable insights into their potential viability for transplantation, opening new avenues for further exploration in the field of vascular surgery.

According to WHO, reducing salt intake to less than 5 g/day means less death, disability, and suffering from heart disease and stroke, with around 1.89 million lives saved every year. In this scoping review, we have reviewed the salt consumption pattern of South Asia. For this purpose, we searched online databases and websites and consulted key informants to address relevant unpublished reports. The inclusion criteria are English-language publications between January 2011 and October 2021, as well as research that evaluated salt intake in the South Asian region and reported salt/sodium 24-hr urine or spot urine samples involving at least 100 participants. A total of 2043 studies were screened, out of which 12 studies fulfilled all the criteria. Our review revealed that reported salt intake in the South Asian region ranges from 6.7-13.3 g/day, which was higher than the WHO-recommended maximum level of 5 g/day in all countries. Men consumed more salt than women. This review demonstrates the critical importance of implementing a salt reduction program in South Asian countries.

Urinary tract infections are among the most frequent infectious diseases and require screening of a great amount of urine samples from patients. However, a high percentage of samples results as negative after urine culture plate test (CPT), demanding a simple and fast preliminary technique to screen out the negative samples. We propose a digital holographic microscopy (DHM) method to inspect fresh urine samples flowing in a glass capillary for 3 minutes, recording holograms at 2 frames per second. After digital reconstruction, bacteria, white and red blood cells, epithelial cells and crystals were identified and counted and the samples were classified as negative or positive according to clinical cutoff values. Taking CPT as reference, we processed 180 urine samples and compared the results with those of urine flow cytometry (UFC). Using standard evaluation metrics for our screening test, we found similar performance for DHM and UFC, indicating DHM as a suitable and fast screening technique retaining several advantages. As a benefit of DHM, the technique is label-free and does not require sample preparation. Moreover, the phase and amplitude images of the cells and other particles present in urine are digitally recorded and can serve for further investigation afterwards.

Platelet polyphosphate (polyP) can be conveniently quantified by a recent methodological breakthrough using 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI). However, the preservation of these biological samples has not yet been standardized. In a preliminary study, possible protocols were screened, and passed protocols were further tested in this study. Pure-platelet-rich plasma (P-PRP) samples and washed platelet suspensions were prepared using blood obtained from non-smoking, healthy male donors and fixed with ThromboFix for 24 h at 4 °C. Mass polyP levels were determined using a fluorometer at wavelengths of 425 and 525 nm. Platelet polyP levels were normalized to platelet counts. Statistical analyses were performed using non-parametric tests. In platelet suspension maintained in fixed conditions at 4 °C (control), platelet polyP levels significantly decreased by 20% at and after 7 days. In contrast, platelet polyP levels in both P-PRP and washed platelet suspensions were maintained without significant reduction for up to 6 weeks by removing ThromboFix after fixation and subsequent freezing in pure water at −80 °C. Owing to the low specificity of DAPI binding and the wavelengths used, fluorometric polyP quantification is often interfered with. Our validated protocols will enable long-term preservation and high-throughput polyP quantification and could be applied to relatively large cohort studies.

Emerging infectious disease threats require rapid response tools to inform diagnostics, treatment, and outbreak control. RNA-based metagenomics offers this; however, most approaches are time-consuming and laborious. Here, we present a simple and fast protocol – the RAPIDprep assay – with the aim to provide cause agnostic laboratory diagnosis of infection within 24 hours of sample collection by sequencing ribosomal RNA-depleted total RNA. The method is based on the synthesis and amplification of double-stranded cDNA followed by short-read sequencing with minimal handling and clean-up steps to improve processing time. The approach was optimized and applied to a range of clinical respiratory samples to demonstrate diagnostic and quantitative performance. Our results showed robust depletion of both human and microbial rRNA, and library amplification across different sample types, qualities and extraction kits using a single protocol without input nucleic acid quantification or quality assessment. Furthermore, we demonstrate the genomic yield of both known and undiagnosed pathogens with complete genomes recovered in most cases to inform molecular epidemiological investigations and vaccine design. The RAPIDprep assay is a simple and effective tool, and representative of an important shift towards integration of modern genomic techniques to infectious disease investigations.

Highly reactive decomposition products of (deuterated) chloroform can deteriorate samples dissolved in this commonly used NMR solvent. For sensitive samples (such as peptides, unsaturated fatty acids, vitamins), this can lead to abnormal NMR spectra (e.g. signal shifts depending on pH, attenuation of signals over time due to chemical changes of analytes, new signals from reaction products). Such irreproducibly influenced spectra are especially problematic for non-targeted analysis methods. To prevent these artefacts, chlorine, phosgene and hydrochloric acid need to be eliminated from deuterated chloroform prior to its use. Since the common stabilization methods have proven insufficient for sensitive NMR samples, another purging method has been tested: Mitigation is easily and reliably achieved by washing the deuterated chloroform with concentrated Na2CO3-solution and subsequent desiccation with oven-dried Na2CO3.

In the post antimicrobial era, increasing attention is paid towards using bacteriophage (phage in short) therapy to control antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The first step in phage therapy applications is isolating highly efficient lytic phages or phage cocktails from various sources. When a double-layer- agar with around 0.7% agar in top agar is employed, it results in a low number of phage isolation with a poor resolution, and in many cases, you miss the phage. To address this problem, a low concentration of agar in top agar is examined for better phage isolation. Here, our results proved the efficiency of isolating phage upon formulating a double-layer agar with 0.3% agar in top agar. A sewage sample was collected then phages were isolated, purified, and spotted on a top layer agar with 0.3% agar. The results showed the possibility of isolating a higher number of phages on 0.3% top agar than 0.7%. The finding advocates using 0.3% top agar for the double-layer agar, as it will provide fast, better, and easy phage screening and isolation.

Impulsive noise is the main limiting factor for transmission over channels affected by electromagnetic interference. We study the estimation of (correlated) Gaussian signals in an impulsive noise scenarios. In this work, we analyze some of the existing as well as some novel estimation algorithms. Their performance is compared, for the first time, for different channel conditions, including the Markov-Middleton scenario, where the impulsive noise switches between different noise states. Following a modern approach in digital communications, the receiver design is based on a factor graph model and implements a message passing algorithm. The correlation among signal samples as well as among noise states brings about a loopy factor graph, where an iterative message passing scheme should be employed. As it is well known, approximate variational inference techniques are necessary in these cases. We propose and analyze different algorithms and provide a complete performance comparison among them, showing that both Expectation Propagation, Transparent Propagation, and the Parallel Iterative Schedule approaches reach a performance close to the optimal, at different channel conditions.

To improve water injection effect, microemulsions (MEs) were used to wet coal seam compared with water and sodium dodecyl sulfate solution (SDS). Wetting effects were characterized by contact angle, X-ray diffraction, Fourier infrared spectroscopy. The results showed that the microemulsion has better spreadability on coal surface and has stronger wettability for coals of different ranks and different particle sizes than traditional wetting agents. The W/O type microemulsion is more affinity to coal than the O/W type and the bicontinuous type.Oxygen and hydrogen contents contributed to wetting. Different wetting agents have the greatest impact on the oxygen-containing functional group absorption zone of coal, but have little impact on the change of clay mineral composition.As the content of quartz increased, the content of montmorillonite was decreased, and the hydrophilicity of coal was increased. This research proposes new ideas for solving coal dust problems and reducing coal mine disasters.

Candida species are one of the most important causes of human infections, especially in hospitals and among immunocompromised patients. The correct and rapid etiological identification of yeast infections is important to provide adequate therapy, reduce mortality and control outbreaks. In this study, Candida species were identified in patients with suspected fungal infection, and phenotypic and genotypic identification methods were compared. A total of 167 axenic fungal cultures and 46 clinical samples were analyzed by HardyCHROM®, MicroScan®, and PCR-RFLP. The species of the C. albicans complex were the most frequent, followed by C. tropicalis and C. glabrata. Less common but clinically relevant species of Candida were also isolated. The comparison between the three methods was concordant, especially for the most common Candida species. Fungal DNA amplification was successful in all clinical samples.

Molecular classifications of colorectal cancer (CRC) are benefitting cancer research by providing insights into subtype-specific disease prognosis and better therapeutic intervention. So far different conventional DNA markers such as microsatellite instability (MSI), CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP), chromosomal instability (CIN), and BRAF and KRAS mutations have been used to classify CRC patients but have not shown promising prognostic values. Here, for the first time, we show classification of CRC tumors from Saudi Arabian patients based on gene expression profile (GEP). An existing method of CRC subtyping has been applied to the GEP of tumors from Saudi CRC patients. Survival analysis was carried out on predicted CRC subtypes. In-silico functional analyses were conducted on the gene signature used for subtype prediction. The predicted subtypes showed distinct but statistically insignificant overall survival distribution (log-rank test, p = 0.069). Comparison of predicted subtypes in Saudi CRC patients with that of the French one showed significant dissimilarity in the two populations (Chi-square test, p = 0.0091). Functional analyses of the gene signature used for subtyping suggest their association with “cancer” and “gastrointestinal diseases”. Most of the signature genes were found differentially expressed in CRC tumors compared to adjacent normal tissues. Such a classification framework might help improve the treatment of colorectal cancer patients.

This is an exercise to explore the concentration of Lithium, Lithium-7 isotope and the possible presence of black dirty ice in the lunar surface using spectral data obtained from the Clementine mission. The main interest in tracing the lithium and presence of dark ice in the lunar surface are closely related to future human settlement missions in the Moon. We investigate the distribution of Lithium and 7 Li isotope on the Lunar surface, employing spectral data from the Clementine images. We utilized Visible (VIS-NIR) imagery at wavelengths of 450, 750, 900, 950, and 1000 nm, along with Near-Infrared (NIR-SWIR) at 1100, 1250, 1500, 2000, 2600, and 2780 nm, encompassing 11 bands in total. This dataset offers a comprehensive coverage of about 80% of the lunar surface, with resolutions ranging from 100 to 500 meters, spanning latitudes from 80°S to 80°N. In order to extract quantitative abundance of Lithium, ground truth sites were used to calibrate the Clementine images. Samples (12045, 15058, 15475, 15555, 62255, 70035, 74220 and 75075) returned from Apollo missions 12, 15, 16 and 17 have been correlated to the Clementine VIS-NIR bands and five spectral ratios. The 5 spectral ratios calculated synthesize the main spectral features of sample spectra that were grouped by their Lithium and 7 Li content using Principal Component Analysis. The ratios spectrally characterize substrates of anorthosite, silica-rich basalts, olivine-rich basalts and High-T mare basalts and Orange soils. Our findings reveal a strong linear correlation between the spectral parameters and the lithium content in the 8 Apollo samples. With the values of the 11 Clementine bands and the 5 spectral ratios for each of the 8 lunar soils we performed linear regression models to estimate the concentration of Lithium and 7 Li. Also, we calculated Digital Terrain Models (DTMs; Altitude, Slope, Aspect, DirectInsolation and WindExposition) from LOLA-DTM to discover relations between relief and spatial distribution of the extended models of lithium and 7 Li. The analysis was conducted in a mask polygon extracted from Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) and located around the Apollo 15 landing site. This analysis seeks to uncover potential 7 Li enrichment through spallation processes, influenced by varying exposure to solar wind. To explore the possibility of find ice mixed with regolithe (black ice) we used a spectral library (350-2500nm) form ices dirty with different concentration of volcanic particles.

Unicellular eukaryotes of the Trypanosomatidae family include human and animal pathogens that belong to the Trypanosoma and Leishmania genera. Diagnosis of the diseases they caused requires the sampling of body fluids (blood, lymph, peritoneal fluid, cerebrospinal fluid, etc.) or organ biopsies (bone marrow, spleen, etc.), which are mostly obtained through invasive methods. Body fluids or appendages can be alternatives to these invasive biopsies but appropriateness remains poorly studied. To further address this question, we perform a systematic review on clues evidencing the presence of parasites, genetic material, antibodies, and antigens in body secretions, appendages, or the organs or proximal tissues that produce these materials. Paper selection was based on searches in PubMed, Web of Science, WorldWideScience, SciELO, Embase, Google. The information of each selected article (n=333) was classified into different sections and data were extracted from 77 papers. The presence of Trypanosomatidae parasites has been tracked in most of organs or proximal tissues that produce body secretions or appendages, in naturally or experimentally infected hosts. The meta-analysis highlights the paucity of studies on Human African Trypanosomiasis and a the absence on animal Trypanosomiasis. Among the collected data high heterogeneity in terms of the I² statistic (100%) is recorded. A high positivity is recorded for antibody and genetic material detection in urine of patients and dogs suffering leishmaniasis, and of antigen for leishmaniasis and Chagas disease. Data on conjunctival swab can be analyzed with molecular methods solely for dogs suffering canine visceral leishmaniasis. Saliva and hair/bristle showed a pretty good positivity that support their potential to be used for leishmaniasis diagnosis. In conclusion, our study pinpoints significant gaps that need to be filled in order to properly address the interest of body secretion and hair or bristle for the diagnosis of infections caused by Leishmania and by other Trypanosomatidae parasites.

Our skin epidermis constitutes the most important innate defense barrier against all pathogens. Therefore, even if skin lesions are common due to infections, scarring, genetic disorders, and other diseases, skin integrity is crucial for maintaining body homeostasis. Marine collagen peptides (MCPs) and Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) have been described as potential wound healing (WH) agents. Recently, through an ex vivo clinical approach, we have demonstrated the nutricosmetic potential of fish cartilage hydrolysate (FCH), which presents a combination of collagen peptides and GAGs. Here, we coupled a clinical approach with in vitro experiments on human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) and applied a Data Independent Acquisition - Parallel Accumulation Serial Fragmentation (diaPASEF) proteomic analysis, to assess the potential benefit of FCH in WH and its mode of action. Our results show that human serum enriched with circulating metabolites resulting from FCH ingestion, improved wound closure in scratch assays. In support, some proteins with anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties or prone to promote hydration and extracellular matrix (ECM) stability showed increased expression in HDFs, after exposure to FCH-enriched serum. These findings suggest that FCH appears as a promising nutrient for WH and skin regeneration.

Gaucher disease (GD) is a lysosomal storage disorder stemming from biallelic mutations in GBA1, characterized by glucocerebrosidase dysfunction and glucocerebroside and glucosylsphingosine accumulation. Since phenotypes of murine models of GD often differ from those in patients, careful characterization of Gba1 mutant mice is necessary to establish their ability to model GD. We performed side-by-side comparative biochemical and pathologic analyses of four murine Gba1 models with genotypes L444P/L444P (p.L483P/p.L483P), L444P/null, D409H/D409H (p.D448H/p.D448H), and D409H/null, along with matched wildtype mice, all with the same genetic background and cage conditions. All mutant mice exhibited significantly lower glucocerebrosidase activity (p < 0.0001) and higher glucosylsphingosine levels than wildtype, with the lowest glucocerebrosidase and highest glucosylsphingosine levels in mice carrying a null allele. Although glucocerebrosidase activity in L444P and D409H mice was similar, D409H mice showed more lipid accumulation. No Gaucher or storage-like cells were detected in any of the Gba1 mutant mice. Quantification of neuroinflammation, dopaminergic neuronal loss, alpha-synuclein levels and motor behavior revealed no significant findings, even in aged animals. Thus, while the models may have utility for testing the effect of different therapies on enzymatic activity, they did not recapitulate the pathological phenotype of patients with GD, and better models are needed.

Human Parechoviruses, officially known as Parechovirus A (PeV-A), is associated with mild gastrointestinal and respiratory illness in young children, however, they may also give rise to Central Nervous System (CNS) infections and neonatal sepsis. While studies have delved into the detection of PeV-A in different populations, the detection of PeV-A in Hispanic populations in Latin American countries is not well-known. The aim of this study was to determine the presence of PeV-A in respiratory, gastrointestinal, and neurological clinical samples of pediatric patients in Panama. Two hundred samples of pediatric patients with a negative diagnosis for the main respiratory viruses, rotavirus and neurological viruses such as herpesvirus, enterovirus and cytomegalovirus, collected between 2014 and 2015, were analyzed by real-time RT-PCR. Eight positive PeV-A infections were detected, 2 in respiratory samples, 5 in stool samples and one detected in cerebrospinal fluid. This is the fisrt report of PeV-A in Panamá.

In the field of computer vision, large-scale image classification tasks are both important and highly challenging. With the ongoing advances in deep learning and optical character recognition (OCR) technologies, neural networks designed to perform large-scale classification play an essential role in facilitating OCR systems. In this study, we developed an automatic OCR system designed to identify up to 13,070 large-scale printed Chinese characters by using deep learning neural networks and fine-tuning techniques. The proposed framework comprises four components, including training dataset synthesis and background simulation, image preprocessing and data augmentation, the process of training the model, and transfer learning. The training data synthesis procedure is composed of a character font generation step and a background simulation process. Three background models are proposed to simulate the factors of the background noise and anti-counterfeiting patterns on ID cards. To expand the diversity of the synthesized training dataset, rotation and zooming data augmentation are applied. A massive dataset comprising more than 19.6 million images was thus created to accommodate the variations in the input images and improve the learning capacity of the CNN model. Subsequently, we modified the GoogLeNet neural architecture by replacing the FC layer with a global average pooling layer to avoid overfitting caused by a massive amount of training data. Consequently, the number of model parameters was reduced. Finally, we employed the transfer learning technique to further refine the CNN model using a small number of real data samples. Experimental results show that the overall recognition performance of the proposed approach is significantly better than that of prior methods and thus demonstrate the effectiveness of proposed framework, which exhibited a recognition accuracy as high as 99.39% on the constructed real ID card dataset.

Non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are opportunistic pathogens that cause illness primarily in the elderly, in the immunocompromised or in patients with underlying lung disease. Mycobacterium chimaera is a NTM species belonging to the M. avium Complex (MAC) group of species. Since 2013, a global outbreak of M. chimaera infection related to heater-cooler units (HCU) used in cardio-thoracic surgery has been identified. This outbreak was caused by a single strain of M. chimaera. In order to estimate the prevalence of this outbreak strain in Israel, we sampled M. chimaera from several HCU machines in Israel, as well as from patients, sequenced their genomes and compared them to the outbreak strain. The presence of mixed mycobacteria species in the samples complicated the analysis of obtained sequences. By applying a metagenomic binning strategy, we were able to obtain genomes of single strains from the mixed samples, and characterized them. M. chimaera strains were compared to each other and to previously reported genomes from other countries. The strain causing the outbreak related to the HCU machines was identified in several such machines in Israel but not in any of the clinical samples.

There are many welded structures in the world such as bridges and viaducts that are subject to fatigue. These structures, generally made of non-alloy or low-alloy steels, have been put into operation some of them with many years ago and have accumulated a large number of variable load cycles over the time. For this reason the occurrence of fatigue phenomenon is inevitable and consists in the occurrence of failures at stresses applied to the structure, below the yield limit of the material. These stresses under the static loads would not cause the failures to appear..This paper will investigate whether two reconditioning techniques “weld toe grinding” and “WIG remelting weld toe”, influences favorably the behavior of welded structures made from HSLA steel, in static and variable loads and therefore if the application of these techniques is justified in both cases. In the paper will be presented the chemical composition and mechanical properties of the base and filler materials, micro and macrostructures, graphics with the variation of microhardness, static and fatigue tensile tests will be performed, and it will be rised durability curve in case of fatigue tests.

Many dairy industries use their own starter cultures rather than Direct vat set culture because of their novelty and specific sensory characteristic it provides to their products. Starter culture rotation is not always possible, if the process involves the use of novel strains. The presence of bacteriophages in the environment leads to the quality instability of the product leads to the unexpected fermentation failure. In this context, a study of the prevalence of bacteriophages in the different sectors of dairy environment is carried out. The Screening of the phages has been undertaken with cheese and yoghurt cultures in the production and processing area. Three tests have been carried out to isolate the phages. Viz., turbidity test, double layer plaque assay, Spot test. Two natural temperate phages have been isolated from the cheese and yoghurt culture. Whereas the samples from the dairy processing environment is negative for phages. The temperate phages belong to the Siphoviridae family. Certain processing area where there is no involvement of starter culture e.g., paneer whey also showed the presence of phages in the whey, which indicates the air borne transmission of phages. Thus, the goal of this article is to make the quality assurance program associated with the production process of the fermented dairy products for the presence of phages in the dairy environment, with special emphasis on the preventive aspects related to this problem in the dairy fermentative industry.

Mindfulness interventions have been implemented in many countries. This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of English and Thai-version of the 15-item mindfulness attention awareness scale (MAAS) across five samples. A descriptive correlation research was conducted in the Philippines and Thailand, and five data sets were generated using self-reported and online questionnaires. Exploratory factor analyses were used to explore the factorial structure of the MAAS. Confirmatory factor analyses were performed to test measurement invariance across samples. Concurrent validity was tested by examining relationships between the MAAS and psychological well-being (PWB). A unidimensional structure of the MAAS was documented across the five samples. The MAAS demonstrated measurement invariance across samples for both English and Thai versions. Concurrent validity was displayed through significant correlations with PWB. This study produced evidence to support the construct validity, concurrent validity, and reliability of the English and Thai versions of MAAS. This study was not registered.

Alphavirus species are globally distributed zoonoses, primarily transmitted by arthropods. In Costa Rica, Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) and Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) are endemic. The objective of this study is to detect these viruses in brain samples from equines displaying nervous signs. For this purpose, four published universal RT-PCR methods were compared. The most sensitive and specific RT-PCR method was used to test a total of 70 brain samples, including 40 from bovines and 30 from equines, all exhibiting nervous signs. In the positive cases, eight different brain regions were extracted and tested using this RT-PCR. Positive cases were confirmed through sequencing. Among the four universal RT-PCR assays, Torii RT-PCR demonstrated the highest sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing VEEV and EEEV. Not all assessed brain regions showed DNA amplification. None of the bovine brains was positive and out of the 30 equine brain samples, only four tested positive, and sequencing confirmed two of these samples as VEEV subtype IE. Torii RT-PCR successfully detected VEEV in pools of the hip-pocampus, spinal cord, and basal nuclei, making these brain regions suitable for diagnosing this virus. None of the samples were positive for EEEV.