Studies on Reticulitermes lucifugus Rossi (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae): a review of associated hindgut flagellates and investigations on protist species of the Sicilian subspecies, R. lucifugus \u201cSicily\u201d

The present study was conducted on protist species from R. lucifugus \u201cSicily\u201d subspecies in a field site of Palermo (Sicily, Italy) on June 2015. Since protist species associated with R. lucifugus in Europe are still confused and recent revisions are lacking, this work aims at achieving greater clarity on these symbiosis trough a review of the literature in light of new phylogenetic studies on this termite species. The purpose of this work was also to highlight and quantify protists associated with the Sicilian subspecies, R. l. \u201cSicily\u201d. Results pointed out the real protist community attributable to R. lucifugus from the literature and showed 13 protist species detected in the subspecies R. l. \u201cSicily\u201d. These species were consistent with previous reports except for Spironympha sp., mentioned for the first time from this termite. Total protist population estimates was 26,814.71 \ub1 1,121.92 protists per termite. Dinenympha exilis and D. gracilis were found in greater abundance with relative species abundance of 17%. Monocercomonas termitis, Microjoenia hexamitoides, Trichonympha minor and Pyrsonympha flagellata could be used to distinguish R. lucifugus because these protists are not found in other Reticulitermes species

Rationalizing the Lacking of Inversion Symmetry in a Noncentrosymmetric Polar Racemate : an Experimental and Theoretical Study

The total charge density of PYRAC, a polar (Pca21) organic racemate with Z\u2032 = 2, was derived from high-resolution single-crystal X-ray diffraction data at T = 100(2) K and periodic DFT calculations. The PYRAC asymmetric unit consists of a hydrogen-bonded pair of conformationally different enantiomers, A and Bi, where the subscript \u201ci\u201d indicates a reversed absolute configuration. The lattice stability was compared with that of centrosymmetric possibly competing structures, with the aim of understanding why a noncentrosymmetric lattice framework is obtained from a racemic mixture. The likelihood of specific intermolecular recognition processes among different conformers of PYRAC in the very first stages of nucleation was investigated by DFT simulations in vacuo. Two competing, equivalent interconversion pseudorotatory paths between the most stable A and the least stable B conformers were found. It results that molecules spend most of their time ( 4853%) in the A conformation, whereas the B one is far less populated ( 487%). Therefore, centrosymmetric AAi adducts are formed very frequently in the reaction liquor, whereas the BBi ones are rare. Nevertheless, AAi pairs produce crystal forms with cohesive energies and densities significantly less favorable than those estimated for the noncentrosymmetric heterochiral ABi ones. Therefore, preference for Z\u2032 = 2 in conjunction with noncentrosymmetric point and space groups results from the thermodynamic control of the crystallization process. The capability of forming extended hydrogen bond chains throughout the lattice appears to be a prerequisite to bind together the fundamental ABi repeating units

A Clostridium difficile outbreak in an Italian hospital: The efficacy of the multi-disciplinary and multifaceted approach

Introduction. We described an outbreak of C. difficile that occurred in the Internal Medicine department of an Italian hospital and assessed the efficacy of the measures adopted to manage the outbreak. Methods. The outbreak involved 15 patients and was identified by means of continuous integrated microbiological surveillance, starting with laboratory data (alert organism surveillance). Diarrheal fecal samples from patients with suspected infection by C. difficile underwent rapid membrane immuno-enzymatic testing, which detects both the presence of the glutamate dehydrogenase antigen and the presence of the A and B toxins. Extensive microbiological sampling was carried out both before and after sanitation of the environment, in order to assess the efficacy of the sanitation procedure. Results. The outbreak lasted one and a half month, during which time the Committee for the Prevention of Hospital Infections ordered the implementation of multiple interventions, which enabled the outbreak to be controlled and the occurrence of new cases to be progressively prevented. The strategies adopted mainly involved patient isolation, reinforcement of proper hand hygiene techniques, antimicrobial stewardship and environmental decontamination by means of chlorine-based products. Moreover, the multifaceted management of the outbreak involved numerous sessions of instruction/training for nursing staff and socio-sanitary operatives during the outbreak. Sampling of environmental surfaces enabled two sites contaminated by C. difficile to be identified. Conclusions. Joint planning of multiple infection control practices, together with effective communication and collaboration between the Hospital Infections Committee and the ward involved proved to be successful in controlling the outbreak

Process approach: the way to improve the quality of high-tech products

В статье представлен процесс регламентации бизнес-процесса «Изготовление источников питания», описанного с использованием методологии IDEF0 и программного продукта Business Studio 4.0 на примере подразделения, которое занимается разработкой и изготовлением сварочных источников тока. При моделировании процесса изготовления источников питания была построена матрица атрибутов, в которой определены цели и задачи процессов, владельцы на каждом этапе процесса, несущие ответственность за ход и за результат, определены входы и выходы (документы) процесса, а также критерии результативности и/или эффективности процесса, для осуществления оперативного управления на всех этапах изготовления конечной продукции. В результате работы был разработан комплект документов, в состав которого вошли: регламент процесса изготовления источников тока, положение о подразделении, должностные инструкции сотрудников, участвующих в процессе. Деятельность по регламентации процесса проводилась в рамках подготовки подразделения к сертификации в соответствии с требованиями стандарта ГОСТ РВ 0015-002-2012 «Система разработки и постановки продукции на производство военной техники. Системы менеджмента качества. Общие требования» в системе добровольной сертификации «Военный регистр»

Nectar-inhabiting bacteria: Effects on egg parasitoids of invasive stink bugs

Pests and diseases account for 40% of the food crop losses worldwide [1]. In the era of climate change and global trade, pest occurrence is projected to rise, subsequently increasing the losses in crop production [2]. In this gloomy scenario, it is more than ever crucial to reinforce the resilience of our agroecosystems [3]. Increasing plant diversity in the agricultural landscape leads to a rise in the diversity and abundance of natural enemies of pests [4, 5], such as predators and parasitoids, which are involved in biological control of insect pests. However, the increased occurrence of these natural enemies does not necessarily translate into reductions in pest occurrence [6, 7]. There may be various factors behind this discrepancy. Flowering plants are assumed to improve parasitoid performance by providing food resources, such as nectar, which is a sugar-rich solution on which adult parasitoids rely for their energetic and nutritional needs [8]. However, we still do not understand how floral provisioning contributes to the efficiency of pest suppression by parasitoids. A hidden component may be the colonisation of nectar by microbes, which alter its quality [9]. In this study, the performance of the following three parasitoids was observed: Trissolcus basalis, Ooencyrtus telenomicida and Anastatus bifasciatus. These parasitoids are important in terms of pest control [10] since they attack the eggs of the invasive stink bugs, which have gained a global importance as plant health threats [11, 12]. Nectar was provided ad libitum to female adults that remained in vials. The nectar provided was either fermented by different microbes or non-fermented nectar (control). All microbes were bacteria, which had been previously isolated from the nectar of Fagopyrum esculentum, and belonged to the phyla Firmicutes, Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria. The parasitoids performance was assessed in terms of the number of days during which the insects remained alive. Moreover, the attraction of parasitoids to the bacteria- fermented nectar versus non-fermented nectar was studied by using a four-chamber static olfactometer [13]. The olfactometer consisted of an arena for the insect to walk on and, below the arena, it was divided equally into four chambers, in which the nectar solution was kept on a filter paper. The parasitoids attraction was assessed in terms of their residence time on top of the chambers. Overall, this work highlights the importance of considering the role of nectar-inhabiting microbes in shaping the interactions between parasitoids and their food resources. The results will be discussed in terms of biological control

Polyacrylamide injection vs. Polylactic acid in hiv related lipodystrophy: A rct systematic review

Lipodystrophy is an alteration of fat metabolism that commonly affects HIV-1 positive patients treated with antiretroviral therapy (ART). The facial area is most commonly affected by peripheral lipoatrophy, thus becoming a social stigma related to chronic HIV. Several treatments have been proposed, such as modification of diet, lifestyle and both surgical and nonsurgical procedures. The goal of our systematic review is to examine published clinical studies involving the use of polyacrylamide filler for the treatment of HIV FLA, and to provide evidence-based recommendations based on published efficacy and safety data. Our research was performed on published literature until April 2021. Polyacrylamide gel is a volumetric gel that has been proven stable, nontoxic, nonallergenic, nonembryotoxic and nonabsorbable. Poly-l-lactic acid (PLA) is a biocompatible, biodegradable, synthetic polymer derived from lactic acid. We believe it is essential to draft a pre-and post-injection and operative protocol to define an even setting for the clinical condition. It is desirable that such specifications are included in a large randomized controlled trial and the follow up is longer than the studies that we found, because as we have seen in the literature there are reported adverse events even 3 or 5 years after the injections

Specific Interactions at Cosmic Ray Energies for Extensive Air Showers Experiments

The HIJING and VENUS models of relativistic hadron-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions are used to study interactions of hadron-hadron, hadron-nitrogen and nucleus-nitrogen collisions, specific for the extensive air shower developments initiated by cosmic rays in the atmosphere. The transverse energy, transverse momenta and spectra of secondary particles as well as their energy and mass dependence have been investigated in detail. Results are presented with particular emphasis on the contributions of minijets in HIJING model and validity of superposition models in this energy range.Comment: latex, revtex, 44 pages, 20 figures, 7 tables , submitted to Astroparticle Physic

Observation of time-invariant coherence in a nuclear magnetic resonance quantum simulator

The ability to live in coherent superpositions is a signature trait of quantum systems and constitutes an irreplaceable resource for quantum-enhanced technologies. However, decoherence effects usually destroy quantum superpositions. It has been recently predicted that, in a composite quantum system exposed to dephasing noise, quantum coherence in a transversal reference basis can stay protected for indefinite time. This can occur for a class of quantum states independently of the measure used to quantify coherence, and requires no control on the system during the dynamics. Here, such an invariant coherence phenomenon is observed experimentally in two different setups based on nuclear magnetic resonance at room temperature, realising an effective quantum simulator of two- and four-qubit spin systems. Our study further reveals a novel interplay between coherence and various forms of correlations, and highlights the natural resilience of quantum effects in complex systems

Residual vein thrombosis for assessing duration of anticoagulation after unprovoked deep vein thrombosis of the lower limbs: the extended DACUS study.

Abstract The safest duration of anticoagulation after idiopathic deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is unknown. We conducted a prospective study to assess the optimal duration of vitamin K antagonist (VKA) therapy considering the risk of recurrence of thrombosis according to residual vein thrombosis (RVT). Patients with a first unprovoked DVT were evaluated for the presence of RVT after 3 months of VKA administration; those without RVT suspended VKA, while those with RVT continued oral anticoagulation for up to 2 years. Recurrent thrombosis and/or bleeding events were recorded during treatment (RVT group) and 1 year after VKA withdrawal (both groups). Among 409 patients evaluated for unprovoked DVT, 33.2% (136 of 409 patients) did not have RVT and VKA was stopped. The remaining 273 (66.8%) patients with RVT received anticoagulants for an additional 21 months; during this period of treatment, recurrent venous thromboembolism and major bleeding occurred in 4.7% and 1.1% of patients, respectively. After VKA suspension, the rates of recurrent thrombotic events were 1.4% and 10.4% in the no-RVT and RVT groups, respectively (relative risk = 7.4; 95% confidence interval = 4.9-9.9). These results indicate that in patients without RVT, a short period of treatment with a VKA is sufficient; in those with persistent RVT, treatment extended to 2 years substantially reduces, but does not eliminate, the risk of recurrent thrombosis

Usefulness and limitations of comprehensive characterization of mRNA splicing profiles in the definition of the clinical relevance of BRCA1/2 variants of uncertain significance

Highly penetrant variants of BRCA1/2 genes are involved in hereditary predisposition to breast and ovarian cancer. The detection of pathogenic BRCA variants has a considerable clinical impact, allowing appropriate cancer-risk management. However, a major drawback is represented by the identification of variants of uncertain significance (VUS). Many VUS potentially affect mRNA splicing, making transcript analysis an essential step for the definition of their pathogenicity. Here, we characterize the impact on splicing of ten BRCA1/2 variants. Aberrant splicing patterns were demonstrated for eight variants whose alternative transcripts were fully characterized. Different events were observed, including exon skipping, intron retention, and usage of de novo and cryptic splice sites. Transcripts with premature stop codons or in-frame loss of functionally important residues were generated. Partial/complete splicing effect and quantitative contribution of different isoforms were assessed, leading to variant classification according to Evidence-based Network for the Interpretation of Mutant Alleles (ENIGMA) consortium guidelines. Two variants could be classified as pathogenic and two as likely benign, while due to a partial splicing effect, six variants remained of uncertain significance. The association with an undefined tumor risk justifies caution in recommending aggressive risk-reduction treatments, but prevents the possibility of receiving personalized therapies with potential beneficial effect. This indicates the need for applying additional approaches for the analysis of variants resistant to classification by gene transcript analyses