Quantifying the combined effect of salt and temperature on the growth of <i>Listeria</i> strains isolated from salmon and salmon processing environments

The effects of temperature and salt concentration on the growth of relevant strains of L. monocytogenes and Listeria innocua, were quantified based on growth in a liquid broth medium, monitored by measuring turbidity. Absorbance curves were used to estimate maximum growth rate and lag time. The growth rates increase with increasing temperatures. The levels were quite similar for both species, although L. monocytogenes showed higher growth rate than L. innocua at 4 °C. Lag time was more affected both by temperature and salt concentration, and these effects were most prominent for L. innocua.</i

Metal release from contaminated estuarine sediment under pH changes in the marine environment

The contaminant release from estuarine sediment due to pH changes was investigated using a modified CEN/TS 14429 pH-dependence leaching test. The test is performed in the range of pH values of 0-14 using deionised water and seawater as leaching solutions. The experimental conditions mimic different circumstances of the marine environment due to the global acidification, carbon dioxide (CO2) leakages from carbon capture and sequestration technologies, and accidental chemical spills in seawater. Leaching test results using seawater as leaching solution show a better neutralisation capacity giving slightly lower metal leaching concentrations than when using deionised water. The contaminated sediment shows a low base-neutralisation capacity (BNCpH 12 = -0.44 eq/kg for deionised water and BNCpH 12 = -1.38 eq/kg for seawater) but a high acid-neutralisation capacity when using deionised water (ANCpH 4 = 3.58 eq/ kg) and seawater (ANCpH 4 = 3.97 eq/kg). Experimental results are modelled with the Visual MINTEQ geochemical software to predict metal release from sediment using both leaching liquids. Surface adsorption to iron- and aluminium- (hydr)oxides was applied for all studied elements. The consideration of the metal-organic matter binding through the NICA-Donnan model and Stockholm Humic Model for lead and copper, respectively, improves the former metal release prediction. Modelled curves can be useful for the environmental impact assessment of seawater acidification due to its match with the experimental values.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Project No. CTM 2011-28437-C02-01, ERDF included. M. C. Martı´n-Torre was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness by means of FPI. Fellowship No. BES-2012-053816

Clinical Presentation of a Complex Neurodevelopmental Disorder Caused by Mutations in ADNP

Background In genome-wide screening studies for de novo mutations underlying autism and intellectual disability, mutations in the ADNP gene are consistently reported among the most frequent. ADNP mutations have been identified in children with autism spectrum disorder comorbid with intellectual disability, distinctive facial features, and deficits in multiple organ systems. However, a comprehensive clinical description of the Helsmoortel-Van der Aa syndrome is lacking. Methods We identified a worldwide cohort of 78 individuals with likely disruptive mutations in ADNP from January 2014 to October 2016 through systematic literature search, by contacting collaborators, and through direct interaction with parents. Clinicians filled in a structured questionnaire on genetic and clinical findings to enable correlations between genotype and phenotype. Clinical photographs and specialist reports were gathered. Parents were interviewed to complement the written questionnaires. Results We report on the detailed clinical characterization of a large cohort of individuals with an ADNP mutation and demonstrate a distinctive combination of clinical features, including mild to severe intellectual disability, autism, severe speech and motor delay, and common facial characteristics. Brain abnormalities, behavioral problems, sleep disturbance, epilepsy, hypotonia, visual problems, congenital heart defects, gastrointestinal problems, short stature, and hormonal deficiencies are common comorbidities. Strikingly, individuals with the recurrent p.Tyr719* mutation were more severely affected. Conclusions This overview defines the full clinical spectrum of individuals with ADNP mutations, a specific autism subtype. We show that individuals with mutations in ADNP have many overlapping clinical features that are distinctive from those of other autism and/or intellectual disability syndromes. In addition, our data show preliminary evidence of a correlation between genotype and phenotype.This work was supported by grants from the European Research Area Networks Network of European Funding for Neuroscience Research through the Research Foundation–Flanders and the Chief Scientist Office–Ministry of Health (to RFK, GV, IG). This research was supported, in part, by grants from the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (Grant No. SFARI 303241 to EEE) and National Institutes of Health (Grant No. R01MH101221 to EEE). This work was also supported by the Italian Ministry of Health and ‘5 per mille’ funding (to CR). For many individuals, sequencing was provided by research initiatives like the Care4Rare Research Consortium in Canada or the Deciphering Developmental Disorders (DDD) study in the UK. The DDD Study presents independent research commissioned by the Health Innovation Challenge Fund (Grant No. HICF-1009–003), a parallel funding partnership between the Wellcome Trust and the Department of Health, and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (Grant No. WT098051). The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the Wellcome Trust or the Department of Health. The study has UK Research Ethics Committee approval (10/H0305/83, granted by the Cambridge South Research Ethics Committee, and GEN/284/12 granted by the Republic of Ireland Research Ethics Committee). The research team acknowledges the support of the National Institute for Health Research, through the Comprehensive Clinical Research Network

Occurrence of Vanadium in Belgian and European Alluvial Soils

Vanadium (V) is a naturally occurring trace element, but total concentrations in soils and sediments are also dependent on the parent material and might be influenced by anthropogenic activities (e.g., steel industry). Despite the fact that threshold values for V in soils and/or sediments exist in various European countries, in Belgium, V is not taken into account when the environmental quality of soils and sediments has to be evaluated, despite the existence of several (diffuse) sources for V. In the first part of the study, the occurrence of V alluvial soils in Belgium was compared with V concentrations in alluvial soils (floodplain soils) across Europe. By analysis of both the Belgian and European data, the relationship between physicochemical soil characteristics and total V concentrations was quantified and some areas polluted with V were detected. A regression equation, in which V concentrations in alluvial soils were expressed as a function of major element composition, was proposed for the Belgian and European data. Additionally, single extractions with CaCl2 (0.01 mol L-1) and ammonium-EDTA (0.05 mol L-1) were used to estimate short- and long-term mobility of V in the alluvial soils

Autism Spectrum Disorders: Translating human deficits into mouse behavior

Autism Spectrum Disorders are a heterogeneous group of neurodevelopmental disorders, with rising incidence but little effective therapeutic intervention available. Currently two main clinical features are described to diagnose ASDs: impaired social interaction and communication, and repetitive behaviors. Much work has focused on understanding underlying causes of ASD by generating animal models of the disease, in the hope of discovering signaling pathways and cellular targets for drug intervention. Here we review how ASD behavioral phenotypes can be modeled in the mouse, the most common animal model currently in use in this field, and discuss examples of genetic mouse models of ASD with behavioral features that recapitulate various symptoms of ASD

Towards the quantification of the effect of acid treatment on the heat tolerance of Escherichia coli K12 at lethal temperatures

The aim of this work is to investigate the effect of acid treatment -before and during heat inactivation- on the heat resistance of Escherichia coli K12 MG1655 cells at lethal temperatures. E. coli cells were grown in Brain Heart Infusion broth until they reached the stationary phase (≈10(9) cfu/mL). Approximately 30 min before thermal inactivation the early stationary phase cells were added in Brain Heart Infusion broth with a specific pH value, achieved with addition of either acetic (50% (v/v)), lactic (50% (v/v)) or hydrochloric acid (30% (v/v)), and inactivation experiments took place at 54 °C and 58 °C. The inactivation dynamics are analysed using the inactivation model of Geeraerd et al. (2000). This enables to define the induced thermotolerance of E. coli as a prolongation of the shoulder and/or a reduction of the inactivation rate. Generally, addition of acids increased the heat resistance of E. coli. The induced resistance depends on the type of acid and on the quantity added, i.e. different levels of acidification lead to a different level of heat resistance. This work provides additional knowledge on the reaction of bacterial cultures to heat after acid treatment -before and during heat treatment- and, therefore, it contributes to an improved understanding of the effect of acid exposure on the bacterial heat resistance

Towards the quantification of the effect of acid treatment on the heat tolerance of Escherichia coli K12 at lethal temperatures.

The aim of this work is to investigate the effect of acid treatment -before and during heat inactivation- on the heat resistance of Escherichia coli K12 MG1655 cells at lethal temperatures. E. coli cells were grown in Brain Heart Infusion broth until they reached the stationary phase (≈10(9) cfu/mL). Approximately 30 min before thermal inactivation the early stationary phase cells were added in Brain Heart Infusion broth with a specific pH value, achieved with addition of either acetic (50% (v/v)), lactic (50% (v/v)) or hydrochloric acid (30% (v/v)), and inactivation experiments took place at 54 °C and 58 °C. The inactivation dynamics are analysed using the inactivation model of Geeraerd et al. (2000). This enables to define the induced thermotolerance of E. coli as a prolongation of the shoulder and/or a reduction of the inactivation rate. Generally, addition of acids increased the heat resistance of E. coli. The induced resistance depends on the type of acid and on the quantity added, i.e. different levels of acidification lead to a different level of heat resistance. This work provides additional knowledge on the reaction of bacterial cultures to heat after acid treatment -before and during heat treatment- and, therefore, it contributes to an improved understanding of the effect of acid exposure on the bacterial heat resistance

Heat inactivation of Escherichia coli K12 MG1655: effect of microbial metabolites and acids in spent medium

Aim: The effect of spent medium, obtained after different time-temperature pre-histories, on the heat inactivation of Escherichia coli K12 MG1655 is studied. Methods and results: Stationary E. coli cells were heated in BHI broth (initial pH 7.5) at different time-temperature scenarios, i.e., (1) 30 °C to 55 °C at 0.14 °C/min, (2) 30 °C to 42 °C at 0.14 °C/min and (3) 30 °C to 42 °C at 0.8 °C/min. After the heat treatment, spent medium was filter-sterilized, non-stressed cells were added and inactivation experiments took place at 54 °C and 58 °C. In all scenarios, increased resistance was observed. The main characteristics of the spent medium - compared to the unmodified BHI broth - are (1) the presence of proteins (proven via SDS-PAGE) and (2) a lower pH of approximately 6. Possibly, the increased resistance is due to these proteins and/or the lower pH. Further experiments revealed that each factor separately may lead to an increased heat resistance. Conclusions: It can be concluded that this increased heat resistance resulted from both the presence of the heat shock proteins in the spent medium and the lowered pH. Experiments, which separate both effects, showed that mainly the lower pH resulted in the increased thermotolerance. Significance and impact of study: This study may lead to a better understanding and control of the heat stress adaptation phenomenon as displayed by E. coli at lethal temperatures. Therefore, it contributes to an improved assessment of the effect of temperature during thermal processes in the food industry. © 2011