Complete genome sequences of clinical Pandoraea fibrosis isolates

Pandoraea fibrosis is a newly identified Gram-negative bacterial species that was isolated from the respiratory tract of an Australian cystic fibrosis patient. The complete assembled genome sequences of two consecutive isolates (second isolate collected 11 months after antibiotic treatment) from the same individual are presented here

In Vitro Degradation of Poly (L-co-D, L lactic acid) Containing PCL-T

The application of polymer-based bioresorbable temporary devices in the medical field grows continuously, and professionals from several areas act to solve problems related to body functions lost due to diseases, accidents or natural wear. Here we study the influence from poly(caprolactonetriol) (PCL-T) on the degeneration process in the copolymer poly(L-co-DL-lactic acid) (PLDLA) membrane, by producing PLDLA/PCL-T blends with 90/10, 70/30 and 50/50 relative concentrations. The data for in vitro degradation showed that PCL-T decreases the rate of PLDLA. This was obtained with the following techniques: Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Therefore, it is possible to vary the membrane degradation rate by changing the blend composition, which is a tool to tailor a biomaterial.2411

Development, Characterization, and Cellular Adhesion of Poly(L-Lactic Acid)/Poly(Caprolactone Triol) Membranes for Potential Application in Bone Tissue Regeneration

Poly(L-lactide)/poly(caprolactone triol) (PLLA/PCL-T) membranes were prepared by solution casting in 100/0, 90/10, and 70/30 (w/w) ratios. The membranes were analyzed by dynamic mechanical analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and mechanical tests. The thermal analysis showed that the 90/10 and 70/30 preparations were partly miscible systems. The glass transition temperature (T-g) of PLLA decreases as the PCL-T concentration increases, which implies that PCL-T has a plasticizer function. An in vitro study with osteoblastic cells isolated from the calvariae of rats was performed in all preparations. The results obtained in this study showed that the addition of PCL-T to the PLLA matrix modifies its mechanical, thermal, and biological properties. These blends could be useful for tissue engineering for bone applications.371197898

Evaluating the genome and resistome of extensively drug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae using native DNA and RNA Nanopore sequencing

BACKGROUND: Klebsiella pneumoniae frequently harbours multidrug resistance, and current diagnostics struggle to rapidly identify appropriate antibiotics to treat these bacterial infections. The MinION device can sequence native DNA and RNA in real time, providing an opportunity to compare the utility of DNA and RNA for prediction of antibiotic susceptibility. However, the effectiveness of bacterial direct RNA sequencing and base-calling has not previously been investigated. This study interrogated the genome and transcriptome of 4 extensively drug-resistant (XDR) K. pneumoniae clinical isolates; however, further antimicrobial susceptibility testing identified 3 isolates as pandrug-resistant (PDR). RESULTS: The majority of acquired resistance (≥75%) resided on plasmids including several megaplasmids (≥100 kb). DNA sequencing detected most resistance genes (≥70%) within 2 hours of sequencing. Neural network-based base-calling of direct RNA achieved up to 86% identity rate, although ≤23% of reads could be aligned. Direct RNA sequencing (with ∼6 times slower pore translocation) was able to identify (within 10 hours) ≥35% of resistance genes, including those associated with resistance to aminoglycosides, β-lactams, trimethoprim, and sulphonamide and also quinolones, rifampicin, fosfomycin, and phenicol in some isolates. Direct RNA sequencing also identified the presence of operons containing up to 3 resistance genes. Polymyxin-resistant isolates showed a heightened transcription of phoPQ (≥2-fold) and the pmrHFIJKLM operon (≥8-fold). Expression levels estimated from direct RNA sequencing displayed strong correlation (Pearson: 0.86) compared to quantitative real-time PCR across 11 resistance genes. CONCLUSION: Overall, MinION sequencing rapidly detected the XDR/PDR K. pneumoniae resistome, and direct RNA sequencing provided accurate estimation of expression levels of these genes

Aperture-corrected spectroscopic type Ia supernova host galaxy properties

International audienceWe use type Ia supernova (SN Ia) data obtained by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II Supernova Survey (SDSS-II SNS) in combination with the publicly available SDSS DR16 fiber spectroscopy of supernova (SN) host galaxies to correlate SN Ia light-curve parameters and Hubble residuals with several host galaxy properties. Fixed-aperture fiber spectroscopy suffers from aperture effects: the fraction of the galaxy covered by the fiber varies depending on its projected size on the sky, and thus measured properties are not representative of the whole galaxy. The advent of integral field spectroscopy has provided a way to correct the missing light, by studying how these galaxy parameters change with the aperture size. Here we study how the standard SN host galaxy relations change once global host galaxy parameters are corrected for aperture effects. We recover previous trends on SN Hubble residuals with host galaxy properties, but we find that discarding objects with poor fiber coverage instead of correcting for aperture loss introduces biases into the sample that affect SN host galaxy relations. The net effect of applying the commonly used g-band fraction criterion is that intrinsically faint SNe Ia in high-mass galaxies are discarded, thus artificially increasing the height of the mass step by 0.02 mag and its significance. Current and next-generation fixed-aperture fiber-spectroscopy surveys, such as OzDES, DESI, or TiDES with 4MOST, that aim to study SN and galaxy correlations must consider, and correct for, these effects.Key words: dark energy / galaxies: star formation / techniques: spectroscopic / supernovae: general / galaxies: abundances⋆ Full Table D.1 is only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/659/A8

Ecotopes, Natural Infection and Trophic Resources of Triatoma brasiliensis (Hemiptera, Reduviidae, Triatominae)

Triatoma brasiliensis is considered as one of the most important Chagas disease vectors in the northeastern Brazil. This species presents chromatic variations which led to descriptions of subspecies, synonymized by Lent and Wygodzinsky (1979). In order to broaden bionomic knowledge of these distinct colour patterns of T. brasiliensis, captures were performed at different sites, where the chromatic patterns were described: Caicó, Rio Grande do Norte (T. brasiliensis brasiliensis Neiva, 1911), it will be called the "brasiliensis population"; Espinosa, Minas Gerais (T. brasiliensis melanica Neiva & Lent 1941), the "melanica population" and Petrolina, Pernambuco (T. brasiliensis macromelasoma, Galvão 1956), the "macromelasoma population". A fourth chromatic pattern was collected in Juazeiro, Bahia the darker one in overall cuticle coloration, the "Juazeiro population". At the sites of Caicó, Petrolina and Juazeiro, specimens were captured in peridomiciliar ecotopes and in wilderness. In Espinosa the specimens were collected only in wilderness, even though several exhaustive captures have been performed in peridomicile at different sites of this municipality. A total of 298 specimens were captured. The average registered infection rate was 15% for "brasiliensis population" and of 6.6% for "melanica population". Specimens of "macromelasoma" and of "Juazeiro populations" did not present natural infection. Concerning trophic resources, evaluated by the precipitin test, feeding eclecticism for the different colour patterns studied was observed, with dominance of goat blood in household surroundings as well as in wildernes