Molecular detection of multiple viral targets in untreated urban sewage from Greece

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Urban sewage virological analysis may produce important information about the strains that cause clinical and subclinical infections in the population, thus supporting epidemiological studies.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In the present study, a twenty one-month survey (November 2007 to July 2009) was conducted in order to evaluate the presence of human adenoviruses (hAdV), hepatitis A viruses (HAV), hepatitis E viruses (HEV), Noroviruses (NoV), and human Polyomaviruses (hPyV) in untreated sewage samples collected from the inlet of Patras' municipal biological wastewater treatment plant, located in southwestern Greece. Nucleic acid amplification techniques were applied for viral nucleic acid detection. Positive samples were confirmed by sequencing and comparative phylogenetic analysis was performed on the isolated viral strains.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In total, viruses were detected in 87.5% (42/48) of sewage samples. AdVs, PyVs, HAV, and NoVs were detected in 45.8% (22/48), 68.8% (33/48), 8.3% (4/48), and 6.3% (3/48) of the samples collected from the plant's inlet, while HEV was not detected at all. Adenovirus types 8 (Ad8), 40 (Ad40) and 41 (Ad41) were recognized, while JC and BK polyomaviruses were recorded. Noroviruses were identified as GII.4. HAV was typed as genotype IA.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our study demonstrates the advantages of environmental surveillance as a tool to elucidate the molecular epidemiology of community circulating viruses. We underline the need of environmental surveillance programs in countries such as Greece with inadequate and problematic epidemiological surveillance system and no environmental surveillance system currently in action.</p

Production of a Novel Functional Fruit Beverage Consisting of Cornelian Cherry Juice and Probiotic Bacteria

The present study describes the development of a novel functional beverage through the application of probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum ATCC (American Type Culture Collection) 14917 in Cornelian cherry juice fermentation. The probiotic was employed in free and immobilized in a delignified wheat bran carrier (DWB) form. Cornelian cherry juice was fermented for 24 h and then it was stored at 4 °C for 4 weeks. Several parameters were evaluated such as residual sugar, organic acid and alcohol levels, total phenolics content, and cell viability as well as consumers acceptance. Regarding sugar and organic acids analyses, it was proved that the probiotic free or immobilized biocatalyst was effective. The concentration of ethanol was maintained at low levels (0.3–0.9% v/v). The total phenolic content of fermented Cornelian cherry juice with immobilized cells was recorded in higher levels (214–264 mg GAE/100 mL) for all the cold storage time compared to fermented juice with free cells (165–199 mg GAE/100 mL) and non-fermented juice (135–169 mg GAE/100 mL). Immobilized cells retained their viability in higher levels (9.95 log cfu/mL at the 4th week) compared to free cells (7.36 log cfu/mL at the 4th week). No significant sensory differences were observed among the fermented and the non-fermented samples

Consequences of Job Insecurity on the Psychological and Physical Health of Greek Civil Servants

The aim of this study was to estimate the short term consequences of job insecurity associated with a newly introduced mobility framework in Greece. In specific, the study examined the impact of job insecurity on anxiety, depression, and psychosomatic and musculoskeletal symptoms, two months after the announcement of the mobility framework. In addition the study also examined the &quot;spill over&quot; effects of job insecurity on employees not directly affected by the mobility framework. Personal interviews using a structured questionnaire were conducted for 36 university administrative employees awaiting repositioning, 36 coworkers not at risk, and 28 administrative employees of a local hospital not at risk. Compared to both control groups the employees in the anticipation phase of labor mobility had significantly worse scores for perceived stress, anxiety, depression, positive affect, negative affect, social support, marital discord, common somatic symptoms, and frequency of musculoskeletal pain. This study highlights the immediate detrimental effects of job insecurity on the physical, psychological, and social functioning of employees. There is a need for the development of front line interventions to prevent these effects from developing into chronic conditions with considerable cost for the individual and society in general

Environmental Surveillance. An Additional/Alternative Approach for Virological Surveillance in Greece?

The detection of viruses in the sewage of an urban city by nucleic acid amplification techniques allows the identification of the viral strains that are circulating in the community. The aim of the study was the application of such detection which gives useful data on the distribution, spread, and frequency of these viruses, supporting epidemiological studies of the related viral infections. A two year (2007–2009) survey was conducted in order to evaluate the presence of human adenoviruses (hAdV), hepatitis A viruses (HAV), hepatitis E viruses (HEV), noroviruses (NoV), and human polyomaviruses (hPyV) in sewage samples collected from the inlet of a municipal biological wastewater treatment plant located in southwestern Greece. PCR methods were used for this survey. In total, viruses have been detected in 87.5% (42/48) of the analyzed sewage samples. Analytically, DNA viruses, hAdVs and hPyVs have been detected in 45.8% (22/48) and 68.8% (33/48) of the samples, respectively. As it concerns RNA viruses, HAV was detected in 8.3% (4/48), NoVs in 6.3% (3/48), while HEV has not been detected at all. After sequencing, AdVs were typed as Ad8, Ad40 and Ad41, while both JC and BK hPyVs have been recognized. All NoVs have been identified as GII4, while HAV was typed as genotype IA. Similar long-term studies could be undertaken in countries such as Greece in order to offer a valuable and complementary tool to current problematic epidemiological surveillance systems. This study demonstrates the advantages of environmental surveillance as a tool to determine the epidemiology of viruses circulating in a given community. To our knowledge this was the first of its kind study performed in Greece in order to establish this new way of surveillance

Production of a Novel Functional Fruit Beverage Consisting of Cornelian Cherry Juice and Probiotic Bacteria

The present study describes the development of a novel functional beverage through the application of probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum ATCC (American Type Culture Collection) 14917 in Cornelian cherry juice fermentation. The probiotic was employed in free and immobilized in a delignified wheat bran carrier (DWB) form. Cornelian cherry juice was fermented for 24 h and then it was stored at 4 °C for 4 weeks. Several parameters were evaluated such as residual sugar, organic acid and alcohol levels, total phenolics content, and cell viability as well as consumers acceptance. Regarding sugar and organic acids analyses, it was proved that the probiotic free or immobilized biocatalyst was effective. The concentration of ethanol was maintained at low levels (0.3–0.9% v/v). The total phenolic content of fermented Cornelian cherry juice with immobilized cells was recorded in higher levels (214–264 mg GAE/100 mL) for all the cold storage time compared to fermented juice with free cells (165–199 mg GAE/100 mL) and non-fermented juice (135–169 mg GAE/100 mL). Immobilized cells retained their viability in higher levels (9.95 log cfu/mL at the 4th week) compared to free cells (7.36 log cfu/mL at the 4th week). No significant sensory differences were observed among the fermented and the non-fermented samples

Consequences of Job Insecurity on the Psychological and Physical Health of Greek Civil Servants

The aim of this study was to estimate the short term consequences of job insecurity associated with a newly introduced mobility framework in Greece. In specific, the study examined the impact of job insecurity on anxiety, depression, and psychosomatic and musculoskeletal symptoms, two months after the announcement of the mobility framework. In addition the study also examined the “spill over” effects of job insecurity on employees not directly affected by the mobility framework. Personal interviews using a structured questionnaire were conducted for 36 university administrative employees awaiting repositioning, 36 coworkers not at risk, and 28 administrative employees of a local hospital not at risk. Compared to both control groups the employees in the anticipation phase of labor mobility had significantly worse scores for perceived stress, anxiety, depression, positive affect, negative affect, social support, marital discord, common somatic symptoms, and frequency of musculoskeletal pain. This study highlights the immediate detrimental effects of job insecurity on the physical, psychological, and social functioning of employees. There is a need for the development of front line interventions to prevent these effects from developing into chronic conditions with considerable cost for the individual and society in general

Microbiological Profile of Fracture Related Infection at a UK Major Trauma Centre

Fracture Related Infection (FRI) represents one of the biggest challenges for Trauma and Orthopaedic surgery. A better understanding of the microbiological profile should assist with decision-making and optimising outcomes. Our primary aim was to report on the microbiological profile of FRI cases treated over a six-year period at one of Europe’s busiest trauma centres. Secondarily, we sought to correlate our findings with existing anti-microbiological protocols and report on diagnostic techniques employed in our practice. All adult cases of FRI treated in our institution between 2016 and 2021 were identified, retrospectively. We recorded patient demographics, diagnostic strategies, causative organisms and antibiotic susceptibilities. There were 330 infection episodes in 294 patients. A total of 463 potentially pathogenic organisms (78 different species) were identified from cultures, of which 57.2% were gram-positive and 39.7% gram-negative. Polymicrobial cultures were found in 33.6% of cases and no causative organism was found in 17.5%. The most prevalent organisms were Staphylococcus aureus (24.4%), coagulase-negative Staphylococci (14%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (8.2%), Enterobacter species (7.8%) and Escherichia coli (6.9%). Resistant gram-positive organisms (methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus or vancomycin-resistant Enterococci) were implicated in 3.3% of infection episodes and resistant gram-negatives (extended-spectrum beta-lactamase, ampC or carbapenemase-producing bacteria) in 13.6%. The organisms cultured in 96.3% of infection episodes would have been covered by our empirical systemic antibiotic choice of teicoplanin and meropenem. To our knowledge, this is the largest reported single-centre cohort of FRIs from a major trauma centre. Our results demonstrate patterns in microbiological profiles that should serve to inform the decision-making process regarding antibiotic choices for both prophylaxis and treatment