Lactobacillaceae and Cell Adhesion: Genomic and Functional Screening

The analysis of collections of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from traditional fermented plant foods in tropical countries may enable the detection of LAB with interesting properties. Binding capacity is often the main criterion used to investigate the probiotic characteristics of bacteria. In this study, we focused on a collection of 163 Lactobacillaceace comprising 156 bacteria isolated from traditional amylaceous fermented foods and seven strains taken from a collection and used as controls. The collection had a series of analyses to assess binding potential for the selection of new probiotic candidates. The presence/absence of 14 genes involved in binding to the gastrointestinal tract was assessed. This enabled the detection of all the housekeeping genes (ef-Tu, eno, gap, groEl and srtA) in the entire collection, of some of the other genes (apf, cnb, fpbA, mapA, mub) in 86% to 100% of LAB, and of the other genes (cbsA, gtf, msa, slpA) in 0% to 8% of LAB. Most of the bacteria isolated from traditional fermented foods exhibited a genetic profile favorable for their binding to the gastrointestinal tract. We selected 30 strains with different genetic profiles to test their binding ability to non-mucus (HT29) and mucus secreting (HT29-MTX) cell lines as well as their ability to degrade mucus. Assays on both lines revealed high variability in binding properties among the LAB, depending on the cell model used. Finally, we investigated if their binding ability was linked to tighter cross-talk between bacteria and eukaryotic cells by measuring the expression of bacterial genes and of the eukaryotic MUC2 gene. Results showed that wild LAB from tropical amylaceous fermented food had a much higher binding capacity than the two LAB currently known to be probiotics. However their adhesion was not linked to any particular genetic equipment

Prevalence of Frailty in European Emergency Departments (FEED): an international flash mob study

Introduction Current emergency care systems are not optimized to respond to multiple and complex problems associated with frailty. Services may require reconfiguration to effectively deliver comprehensive frailty care, yet its prevalence and variation are poorly understood. This study primarily determined the prevalence of frailty among older people attending emergency care. Methods This cross-sectional study used a flash mob approach to collect observational European emergency care data over a 24-h period (04 July 2023). Sites were identified through the European Task Force for Geriatric Emergency Medicine collaboration and social media. Data were collected for all individuals aged 65 + who attended emergency care, and for all adults aged 18 + at a subset of sites. Variables included demographics, Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS), vital signs, and disposition. European and national frailty prevalence was determined with proportions with each CFS level and with dichotomized CFS 5 + (mild or more severe frailty). Results Sixty-two sites in fourteen European countries recruited five thousand seven hundred eighty-five individuals. 40% of 3479 older people had at least mild frailty, with countries ranging from 26 to 51%. They had median age 77 (IQR, 13) years and 53% were female. Across 22 sites observing all adult attenders, older people living with frailty comprised 14%. Conclusion 40% of older people using European emergency care had CFS 5 + . Frailty prevalence varied widely among European care systems. These differences likely reflected entrance selection and provide windows of opportunity for system configuration and workforce planning

The effects of the Paris climate agreement on stock markets: evidence from the German stock market

We investigate the effects of the 2016 Paris Climate Agreement on the German stock market by considering the impact of 20 announcements pertaining to the Agreement on 17 industries. The event study methodology is used for this purpose, together with several robustness tests, such as the nonparametric rank test and non-parametric conditional distribution approach. The change in systematic risk following the announcements is captured by using various risk models. In general, we find that the Paris Climate Agreement is achieving its objectives in the short run. Our results show that the announcements affected polluting industries in terms of risk and return. Furthermore, we observe two distinct diamond risk structures when (1) Conference of the Parties(COP)21 took place, and (2) the Agreement came into force

Contrarian investment strategies work better for dually-traded stocks: Evidence from Hong Kong

We investigate the profitability of contrarian investment strategies for equities listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX), which are separated into cross-listed firms and firms listed only in Hong Kong. We also investigate the relationship between stock returns and past trading volume for these equities. We report significantly higher contrarian profits for the period investigated and find that this is a persistent feature of stock returns for cross-listed companies. We also document that contrarian portfolios earn returns as high as 8.01% per month for the dually-traded companies and just 1.83% for only HKEX-listed firms. We find that volume has only a limited ability to explain contrarian profits. All extreme profits disappeared after adjusting for the Fama and French three-factor model

Sequence Conservation in the Coat Protein Gene of Tobacco streak virus Isolates Causing Necrosis Disease in Cotton, Mung bean, Sunflower and Sunn-hemp in India

350-356Natural infection of Tobacco streak virus (TSV) in cotton, mung bean, sunflower and sunn-hemp, collected from different locations in India, was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The coat protein (CP) gene sequences of the six TSV isolates originating from different hosts and locations were amplified. The resulting amplicons were cloned and sequenced to assess molecular variability. The sequence and phylogenetic analyses revealed that the CP gene among TSV isolates collected from different hosts and locations was highly conserved (99-100%), suggesting a common origin