Evaluation of Materials in a Biomechanical System for Uses in Industrial Lifting Activities

A biomechanical system is proposed for the emulation of the movement of human arm, leg, and spine movements, as an industry alternative to manage heavy operations in a manufacturing process. The Matlab® programming environment is used as a simulation tool for the analysis and validation of this proposed biomechanism. This machine would reduce the accidents due to human exposure to risky industry environments like the particular one at the host company that we are using as a model for our research. They claim that the accidents in this area alone arise to around thirty percent of the total, causing a decrease in the productivity of the company and other economic losses derived from the worker injuries and insurances

A colliding maxillary sinus cancer of adenosquamous carcinoma and small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma - a case report with EGFR copy number analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (SNEC) of maxillary sinus is a rare and aggressive malignancy. A tumor with squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma and SNEC co-existence is extremely rare.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We present a colliding tumor of squamous cell, adenocarcinoma and SNEC in maxillary sinus. The clinical features, diagnosis and EGFR flourescence in situ hybridization (FISH) study are presented. A 52-year-old female had a 1-month history of progressing left cheek swelling and purulent rhinorrhea. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a tumor involving left maxilla and orbital floor. Excision of tumor was done and the defect was reconstructed with free flap. The pathology revealed a malignant tumor composed of squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma and SNEC components. EGFR FISH study showed no gene amplification in 3 components of this tumor. The tumor progressed rapidly and the patient expired at 8 months after surgery.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A colliding tumor of squamous cell, adenocarcinoma and neuroendocrine carcinoma in maxillary sinus was aggressive in behavior and the treatment response was poor due to the complexity of tumor.</p

Nitrate and nitrite in drinking water affect antioxidant enzymes in erythrocytes of rats

The present study evaluated the effect of short term intake of nitrite and nitrate drinking water on the antioxidant system and membrane damage of rat erythrocytes. Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups as follows; the group I received only distilled water ad libitum; the group II was given water with nitrate (a dose of 124 mg/kg of nitrate-nitrogen) as drinking water and the group III was given nitrites dissolved in distilled water in a dose of 150 mg/kg for 7 days. At the end of the study, group III rats showed a significant decrease in activities of glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) and catalase (CAT), while in group II rats, the activity of GPx and CAT were significantly reduced, but no significant changes in glutathione reductase activity and peroxynitrite levels were observed. On the other hand, malondialdehyde (MDA) was increased in both groups with respect to group I. Also, our major results indicate that all treatments changed methemoglobin levels and osmotic fragility in comparison to group I rats. The intensity of alterations was found more severe in rats of group III, followed by rats of group II. It can be concluded from these observations that nitrate or nitrite leads to alterations in the erythrocytes antioxidant defense status mainly throughout NADPH relate enzymes

MIBiG 3.0 : a community-driven effort to annotate experimentally validated biosynthetic gene clusters

With an ever-increasing amount of (meta)genomic data being deposited in sequence databases, (meta)genome mining for natural product biosynthetic pathways occupies a critical role in the discovery of novel pharmaceutical drugs, crop protection agents and biomaterials. The genes that encode these pathways are often organised into biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs). In 2015, we defined the Minimum Information about a Biosynthetic Gene cluster (MIBiG): a standardised data format that describes the minimally required information to uniquely characterise a BGC. We simultaneously constructed an accompanying online database of BGCs, which has since been widely used by the community as a reference dataset for BGCs and was expanded to 2021 entries in 2019 (MIBiG 2.0). Here, we describe MIBiG 3.0, a database update comprising large-scale validation and re-annotation of existing entries and 661 new entries. Particular attention was paid to the annotation of compound structures and biological activities, as well as protein domain selectivities. Together, these new features keep the database up-to-date, and will provide new opportunities for the scientific community to use its freely available data, e.g. for the training of new machine learning models to predict sequence-structure-function relationships for diverse natural products. MIBiG 3.0 is accessible online at https://mibig.secondarymetabolites.org/

MIBiG 3.0: a community-driven effort to annotate experimentally validated biosynthetic gene clusters

Microbial Biotechnolog

Isolation and Genotyping of Helicobacter pylori from Untreated Municipal Wastewater

For this study, we isolated Helicobacter pylori from wastewater by a series of steps beginning with immunomagnetic separation and cell culture. After Gram staining and three standard microbial tests, the 16S rRNA sequences of a total of 23 out of 37 putative H. pylori isolates were verified by PCR. Eleven H. pylori isolates were genotyped and fell into four vacA classes: those with the vacA allelic variants s1a and m1, s1b and m1, s2 and m2, or s2 and m1. Most H. pylori isolates were of the vacA s1a/m1 type, which has been shown to be associated with advanced diseases based on genotyping of H. pylori from gastric cancer patients. These results demonstrated that H. pylori survives in water and may be a potential source of H. pylori transmission, especially where water is not adequately treated

Comunicación corta. Periodo de polinización efectiva en manzano (Malus domestica Borkh) "Red" y "Golden Delicious"

Due to the significant variation in the initial fruit set of apples among seasons and producing regions of Chihuahua, Mexico, it is important to determine the cause(s). Apple fruit yield is strongly determined by the initial fruit set, which is the result of a series of physiological events, such as pollination, pollen tube growth, ovule longevity and fertilisation. During one or two seasons, in the two main apple-producing regions in the state of Chihuahua, México, the effective pollination period (EPP) was evaluated in "Golden Delicious", "RedChief Delicious" and "Golden Delicious Tardío", a regional mutant of Golden Delicious. Daily manual pollinations after the full pink stage were made with "Snow Drift" pollen to determine the EPP. The initial fruit set at 30 days after the last day of hand pollination was evaluated. A daily sampling of flowers was used to measure the pollen tube growth (average growth of 11.70 mm at 96 h) in the pistil and ovule viability in the ovary. The EPP lasted 6 days for RedChief Delicious, 4 days for Golden Delicious, and 10 days for Golden Delicious Tardío. The average ovule longevity of 63% seemed to be a limiting factor for Golden Delicious, leading to a reduced initial fruit set.En el estado de Chihuahua, México, existe una gran variación en el amarre inicial del fruto de manzana entre los diferentes ciclos y regiones productoras, por lo que es importante establecer alguna(s) causa o causas de ello. La producción en el manzano está determinada fuertemente por el amarre inicial de frutos, y éste es el resultado de una serie de eventos fisiológicos como polinización, crecimiento del tubo polínico, longevidad del óvulo y fecundación. Durante uno o dos ciclos, el periodo de polinización efectiva (EPP) se evaluó en "Golden Delicious", "RedChief Delicious" y "Golden Delicious Tardío", un mutante regional de Golden Delicious, en las regiones de mayor producción de manzana en el Estado de Chihuahua, México. Para determinar el EPP, se llevaron a cabo polinizaciones manuales diarias, después del estadio de rosa completo, con polen de Snow Drift. Se evaluó el amarre inicial de frutos a los 30 días después del último día de polinización manual. Se tomaron muestras diarias de flores para determinar el crecimiento del tubo polínico (crecimiento promedio de 11,70 mm a las 96 h) en el pistilo y la viabilidad de los óvulos en el ovario. El EPP observado fue de 6 días para "RedChief Delicious", 4 días en "Golden Delicious" y 10 días en "Golden Delicious Tardío". La viabilidad del óvulo, un promedio de 63%, pudo ser un factor limitante para "Golden Delicious", el cual redujo el amarre inicial de fruto

Construcción de proyectos de tecnologías emergentes en ambientes a distancia: alcances y oportunidades

1. Introducción; 2. Marco conceptual; 2.1 Tecnologías emergentes en ambientes educativos; 2.2 Construcción de conocimiento en ambientes a distancia; 3. Metodología; 4. Resultados; 5. Análisis de datos; 6. Conclusiones y discusión; 7. Referencia

Population expansions shared among coexisting bacterial lineages are revealed by genetic evidence

Comparative population studies can help elucidate the influence of historical events upon current patterns of biodiversity among taxa that coexist in a given geographic area. In particular, comparative assessments derived from population genetics and coalescent theory have been used to investigate population dynamics of bacterial pathogens in order to understand disease epidemics. In contrast, and despite the ecological relevance of non-host associated and naturally occurring bacteria, there is little understanding of the processes determining their diversity. Here we analyzed the patterns of genetic diversity in coexisting populations of three genera of bacteria (Bacillus, Exiguobacterium, and Pseudomonas) that are abundant in the aquatic systems of the Cuatro Cienegas Basin, Mexico. We tested the hypothesis that a common habitat leaves a signature upon the genetic variation present in bacterial populations, independent of phylogenetic relationships. We used multilocus markers to assess genetic diversity and (1) performed comparative phylogenetic analyses, (2) described the genetic structure of bacterial populations, (3) calculated descriptive parameters of genetic diversity, (4) performed neutrality tests, and (5) conducted coalescent-based historical reconstructions. Our results show a trend of synchronic expansions across most populations independent of both lineage and sampling site. Thus, we provide empirical evidence supporting the analysis of coexisting bacterial lineages in natural environments to advance our understanding of bacterial evolution beyond medical or health-related microbes