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

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

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)

Vortex deformation and breaking in superconductors: A microscopic description

Vortex breaking has been traditionally studied for nonuniform critical current densities, although it may also appear due to nonuniform pinning force distributions. In this article we study the case of a high-pinning/low-pinning/high-pinning layered structure. We have developed an elastic model for describing the deformation of a vortex in these systems in the presence of a uniform transport current density $J$ for any arbitrary orientation of the transport current and the magnetic field. If $J$ is above a certain critical value, $J_c$, the vortex breaks and a finite effective resistance appears. Our model can be applied to some experimental configurations where vortex breaking naturally exists. This is the case for YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-x}$ (YBCO) low angle grain boundaries and films on vicinal substrates, where the breaking is experienced by Abrikosov-Josephson vortices (AJV) and Josephson string vortices (SV), respectively. With our model, we have experimentally extracted some intrinsic parameters of the AJV and SV, such as the line tension $\epsilon_l$ and compared it to existing predictions based on the vortex structure.Comment: 11 figures in 13 files; minor changes after printing proof

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

Aseptic meningitis in a patient taking etanercept for rheumatoid arthritis: a case report

Background \ud We report a case of a 53 year old lady recently commenced on etanercept, an anti-TNF (tumour necrosis factor) therapy for rheumatoid arthritis presenting with \ud confusion, pyrexia and an erythematous rash. \ud \ud Case presentation \ud A lumbar puncture was highly suggestive of bacterial meningitis, but CSF cultures produced no growth, and polymerase chain reactions (PCR) for all previously reported bacterial, fungal and viral causes of meningitis were negative. \ud \ud Conclusions \ud This case report describes aseptic meningitis as a previously unreported complication of etanercept therapy, and serves as a reminder of the rare but potentially lifethreatening risk of serious infections in patients taking anti-TNF therapy for a variety of conditions

The kinematics of the bi-lobal supernova remnant G 65.3+5.7 - Paper II

Further deep, narrow-band images in the light of [O III] 5007 A have been added to the previous mosaic of the faint galactic supernova remnant G 65.3+5.7. Additionally longslit spatially resolved [O III] 5007 A line profiles have been obtained at sample positions using the Manchester Echelle Spectrometer at the San Pedro Martir observatory. The remnant is shown to be predominantly bi-lobal with an EW axis for this structure. However, a faint additional northern lobe has now been revealed. Splitting of the profiles along the slit lengths, when extrapolated to the remnant's centre, although uncertain suggests that the expansion velocity of this remnant is between 124 and 187 km/s ie much lower than the 400 km/s previously predicted for the forward shock velocity from the X-ray emission. An expansion proper motion measurement of 2.1+-0.4 arcsec in 48 years for the remnant's filamentary edge in the light of Halpha+[N II] has also been made. When combined with an expansion velocity of ~155 km/s, a distance of ~800 pc to G 65.3+5.7 is derived. Several possibilities are considered for the large difference in the expansion velocity measured here and the 400 km/s shock velocity required to generate the X-ray emission. It is also suggested that the morphology of the remnant may be created by a tilt in the galactic magnetic field in this vicinity.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in A&