Intestinal colonization due to Escherichia coli ST131: Risk factors and prevalence

Background Escherichia coli sequence type 131 (ST131) is a successful clonal group that has dramatically spread during the last decades and is considered an important driver for the rapid increase of quinolone resistance in E. coli. Methods Risk factors for rectal colonization by ST131 Escherichia coli (irrespective of ESBL production) were investigated in 64 household members (18 were colonized) and 54 hospital contacts (HC; 10 colonized) of 34 and 30 index patients with community and nosocomial infection due to these organisms, respectively, using multilevel analysis with a p limit of < 0.1. Result Colonization among household members was associated with the use of proton-pump inhibitors (PPI) by the household member (OR = 3.08; 95% CI: 0.88–10.8) and higher age of index patients (OR = 1.05; 95% CI; 1.01–1.10), and among HC, with being bed-ridden (OR = 21.1; 95% CI: 3.61–160.0) and having a urinary catheter (OR = 8.4; 95% CI: 0.87–76.9). Conclusion Use of PPI and variables associated with higher need of person-to-person contact are associated with increased risk of rectal colonization by ST131. These results should be considered for infection control purposes.Plan Nacional de I + D + i 2013-2016Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España)European Development Regional Fund REIPI RD12/0015/0010 REIPI RD16/0016/0001Instituto de Salud Carlos III 070190 AC16/000076-MODERN AC16/AC16/00072-ST131TSJunta de Andalucía CTS5259 CTS21

Hepatitis E Virus in the Iberian Peninsula: A Systematic Review

One of the most frequent causes of acute viral hepatitis is hepatitis E virus (HEV) causing 20 million infections worldwide each year and 44,000 deaths. Studies on HEV in the Iberian Peninsula have been increasing through time with HEV infection being identified in humans and animals. The aim of the present systematic review was to compile and evaluate all the published data on HEV from studies performed in humans, animals and environmental samples in the Iberian Peninsula. The electronic databases Mendeley, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science were thoroughly searched, and research published up until February 01, 2023 were included. Resulting in a total of 151 eligible papers by full reading and application of PRISMA exclusion/inclusion criteria. Overall, the present review shows that several HEV genotypes, namely HEV-1, 3, 4, and 6 as well as Rocahepevirus, are circulating in humans, animals, and in the environment in the Iberian Peninsula. HEV-3 was the most common genotype circulating in humans in Portugal and Spain, as expected for developed countries, with HEV-1 only being detected in travelers and emigrants from HEV endemic regions. Spain is the biggest pork producer in Europe and given the high circulation of HEV in pigs, with HEV-3 being primarily associated to zoonotic transmission through consumption of swine meat and meat products, in our opinion, the introduction of an HEV surveillance system in swine and inclusion of HEV in diagnostic routines for acute and chronic human hepatitis would be important. Additionally, we propose that establishing a monitoring mechanism for HEV is crucial in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the prevalence of this illness and the various strains present in the Iberian Peninsula, as well as their potential impact on public health.Open access funding provided by FCT|FCCN (b-on)

Quasi-exactly Solvable Lie Superalgebras of Differential Operators

In this paper, we study Lie superalgebras of $2\times 2$ matrix-valued first-order differential operators on the complex line. We first completely classify all such superalgebras of finite dimension. Among the finite-dimensional superalgebras whose odd subspace is nontrivial, we find those admitting a finite-dimensional invariant module of smooth vector-valued functions, and classify all the resulting finite-dimensional modules. The latter Lie superalgebras and their modules are the building blocks in the construction of QES quantum mechanical models for spin 1/2 particles in one dimension.Comment: LaTeX2e using the amstex and amssymb packages, 24 page

Trichomycetes in Argentinean Aquatic Insect Larvae

Investigations of larval aquatic Diptera (Chironomidae, Simuliidae, Culicidae), Coleoptera (Scirtidae), and Plecoptera (Gripopterygidae, Notonemouridae) in Buenos Aires Province and three Provinces in Patagonia (Rio Negro, Chubut, Neuquen) have revealed 19 species of gut fungi (Zygomycota: Trichomycetes). Three of the species represent new monotypic genera: Coleopteromyces amnicus, Plecopteromyces patagoniensis, and Stachylinoides arctata. This is the first report of a Harpellales living in a Coleoptera larva. New species were Carouxella coemeteriensis, Paramoebidium digitoideum, Smittium esteparum, S. tronadorium, and Stachylina platensis. In addition, what may be new species of Smittium and Stachylina are described but not named. Two of the species, Harpella meridianalis and Smittium cylindrosporum, were previously know only from southern Chile. The other six previously described species found in Argentina have a wider geographic distribution, including Smittium morbosum which is pathogenic to mosquito larvae. A key to Argentinean species of Trichomycetes and comments on their biogeography are provided

8-Methoxy-4-(4-Methoxyphenyl)Quinoline

In the title compound, C 17H 15NO 2, the dihedral angle between the quinoline and benzene ring systems is 62.17 (1)°. In the crystal, zigzag chains propagating in c are linked by C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, and weak C-H⋯π inter-actions link the chains

Regulation of snares in the endovacuolar system of aspergillus nidulans

3 p.Peer reviewe

Hepatitis E virus in wild and domestic rabbits from Portugal: a combined molecular and longitudinal serological study

Hepatitis E virus (HEV), species Paslahepevirus balayani, poses a global public health threat, especially in developing countries, by causing acute enterically transmitted hepatitis. HEV infects various mammalian hosts and belongs to the genus Paslahepevirus in the family Hepeviridae. While swine are recognized as the main hosts of HEV, rabbits, which can also be affected by swine HEV-3 related strains, serve as the primary reservoir for the distinct emerging and zoonotic HEV-3ra subtype. In Portugal, where the European wild rabbit is abundant, their role in HEV epidemiology remains unclear. The primary aim of the present research was to evaluate the circulation and the potential for HEV infection within these species. This study employed a molecular and longitudinal serological approach to investigate HEV in Portuguese rabbits. Among the 205 wild rabbits tested, a seroprevalence of 2.44% (95% CI: 0.80–5.60) was found, with no significant associations with age, sex, localization, or sampling dates. Seropositive animals were found in the south and center regions of the country. HEV RNA was not detected in 120 fecal samples, suggesting a natural, low level, and widespread viral circulation. The study underscores the need for further research to comprehend HEV dynamics in these species, which is crucial for assessing potential transmission risks to humans.Sérgio Santos-Silva thanks Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) for the financial support of his Ph.D work under the scholarship 2021.09461.BD contract through the Maria de Sousa-2021 program. Helena M.R. Gonçalves received financial support from FCT/MCTES, DOI https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDP/50006/2020 and DOI https://doi.org/10.54499/2022.04199.CEECIND/CP1724/CT0008. António Rivero-Juarez is supported by a contract from the Spanish Junta de Andalucía (Nicolas Monardes program: C1-0001-2023). Pedro López-López was the recipient of a Margarita Salas contract funded by Plan de Recuperación, Transformación y Resiliencia, NextGeneration EU. Funding: Open access funding provided by FCT|FCCN (b-on). This research was funded by Fundação para Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), grant number 2021.09461.BD

Toward a Latinx Stratification Economics

This paper describes Latinx stratification economics (LSE) as a scholarly approach to studying the economic status of Latinas/os/es/xs primarily in the United States. We coin the term LSE to refer to work that draws on and is in conversation with both the emergent, interdisciplinary subfield of stratification economics (SE) and the interdisciplinary field of Latinx studies (LS). SE and LS have distinct intellectual traditions and drawing on both leads to strong theoretical and empirical scholarship on Latinxs, on the operation of race across space and historical time, and on the intersection of race with other systems of domination. We discuss how, based on these perspectives, it is misguided to expect racial/ethnic categories like Hispanic to be consistent over time and space and to correspond reliably with phenotypical characteristics or culture. We argue that a good faith reading of the LS literature would result in the recommendation to subordinate models of migration to models of colonialism and imperialism. We discuss the significance of normative goals and social justice to complement “gap analysis” comparisons to non-Hispanic whites. Lastly, we discuss deficiencies of the dominant models of discrimination and, as an alternative, we highlight rational models of racism that involve strategic identifications with whiteness, blackness, and mestizaje, including by members who identify as Latinx or those with Hispanic ancestry

An Approach to Standardize Methods for Fluence Determination in Bench-Scale Pulsed Light Experiments

Pulsed light (PL) is a fast non-thermal technology for decontamination based on the application of pulses of highintensity polychromatic light including UV-C light. Continuous-wave (CW) ultraviolet (UV) light technology is based on the application of monochromatic or polychromatic low-intensity light for long times. Appropriate UV dosimetry is fundamental in order to intercompare results and for scaling up. There are standard methods for bench-top CW UV treatments but not for tests involving PL dosimetry. The present article introduces the fundamentals of photochemistry and photophysics, adapts a protocol for CW UV dosimetry to PL tests, and critically revises current ways of reporting results of PL tests.Ciencias de la Alimentació