Case Report First Report of Clostridium lavalense Isolated in Human Blood Cultures

An 88-year-old man was admitted to the hospital with worsening malaise, fever, and weakness. Anaerobic blood culture bottles revealed the presence of an anaerobic, Gram-positive sporulated bacillus. Empirical antibiotherapy with intravenous piperacillintazobactam was initiated. The patient defervesced after four days and was switched to oral amoxicillin on his 6th day of antibiotic therapy and later discharged from the hospital. Four months later, he had recovered. The bacterium was initially identified as Clostridium butyricum using anaerobic manual identification panel. 16S rRNA gene sequence and phylogenetic analysis showed the bacterium to be Clostridium lavalense, a recently described species with no previously published case of isolation in human diagnostic samples so far. This is the first report of Clostridium lavalense isolation from human blood cultures. Further studies are needed in order to elucidate the role of Clostridium lavalense in human disease and its virulence factors

The APOE ε4 genotype modulates CSF YKL-40 levels and their structural brain correlates in the continuum of Alzheimer's disease but not those of sTREM2

Altres ajuts: This publication is part of the AETIONOMY project (Organising Mechanistic Knowledge about Neurodegenerative Diseases for the Improvement of Drug Development and Therapy) of the EU/EFPIA Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking AETIONOMY grant number 115568. Juan D. Gispert holds a "Ramón y Cajal" fellowship (RYC-2013-13054) and Lorena Rami is part of the "Programa de investigadores del sistema nacional Miguel Servet II" (CPII14/00023; IP: Lorena Rami). This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) within the framework of the Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology (EXC 1010 SyNergy), Cure Alzheimer's Fund, and MetLife Foundation Award (to Christian Haass).Among other metabolic functions, the apolipoprotein E (APOE) plays a crucial role in neuroinflammation. We aimed at assessing whether APOE ε4 modulates levels of glial cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers and their structural cerebral correlates along the continuum of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were acquired in 110 participants (49 control; 19 preclinical; 27 mild cognitive impairment [MCI] due to AD; 15 mild AD dementia) and CSF concentrations of YKL-40 and sTREM2 were determined. Differences in CSF biomarker concentrations and interactions in their association with gray-matter volume according to APOE ε4 status were sought after. Preclinical and MCI carriers showed higher YKL-40 levels. There was a significant interaction in the association between YKL-40 levels and gray-matter volume according to ε4 status. No similar effects could be detected for sTREM2 levels. Our findings are indicative of an increased astroglial activation in APOE ε4 carriers while both groups displayed similar levels of CSF AD core biomarkers

2 cerebrospinal fluid levels are a potential biomarker for microglia activity in early-stage Alzheimer's disease and associate with neuronal injury markers

2 is an innate immune receptor expressed on the surface of microglia. Loss-of-function mutations of 2 are associated with increased risk of Alzheimer's disease (). 2 is a type-1 protein with an ectodomain that is proteolytically cleaved and released into the extracellular space as a soluble variant (2), which can be measured in the cerebrospinal fluid (). In this cross-sectional multicenter study, we investigated whether levels of 2 are changed during the clinical course of , and in cognitively normal individuals with suspected non- pathology (). 2 levels were higher in mild cognitive impairment due to than in all other groups and controls. individuals also had significantly increased 2 compared to controls. Moreover, increased 2 levels were associated with higher total tau and phospho-tau, which are markers of neuronal degeneration and tau pathology. Our data demonstrate that 2 levels are increased in the early symptomatic phase of , probably reflecting a corresponding change of the microglia activation status in response to neuronal degeneration

Low nadir CD4+ T-cell counts predict gut dysbiosis in HIV-1 infection

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 infection causes severe gut and systemic immune damage, but its effects on the gut microbiome remain unclear. Previous shotgun metagenomic studies in HIV-negative subjects linked low-microbial gene counts (LGC) to gut dysbiosis in diseases featuring intestinal inflammation. Using a similar approach in 156 subjects with different HIV-1 phenotypes, we found a strong, independent, dose-effect association between nadir CD4+ T-cell counts and LGC. As in other diseases involving intestinal inflammation, the gut microbiomes of subjects with LGC were enriched in gram-negative Bacteroides, acetogenic bacteria and Proteobacteria, which are able to metabolize reactive oxygen and nitrogen species; and were depleted in oxygen-sensitive methanogenic archaea and sulfate-reducing bacteria. Interestingly, subjects with LGC also showed increased butyrate levels in direct fecal measurements, consistent with enrichment in Roseburia intestinalis despite reductions in other butyrate producers. The microbiomes of subjects with LGC were also enriched in bacterial virulence factors, as well as in genes associated with beta-lactam, lincosamide, tetracycline, and macrolide resistance. Thus, low nadir CD4+ T-cell counts, rather than HIV-1 serostatus per se, predict the presence of gut dysbiosis in HIV-1 infected subjects. Such dysbiosis does not display obvious HIV-specific features; instead, it shares many similarities with other diseases featuring gut inflammation

Contribution of Genetic Background, Traditional Risk Factors, and HIV-Related Factors to Coronary Artery Disease Events in HIV-Positive Persons

We show in human immunodeficiency virus-positive persons that the coronary artery disease effect of an unfavorable genetic background is comparable to previous studies in the general population, and comparable in size to traditional risk factors and antiretroviral regimens known to increase cardiovascular ris

Optical Nanoantennas for Multiband Surface-Enhanced Infrared and Raman Spectroscopy

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2020 WSES guidelines for the detection and management of bile duct injury during cholecystectomy.

Bile duct injury (BDI) is a dangerous complication of cholecystectomy, with significant postoperative sequelae for the patient in terms of morbidity, mortality, and long-term quality of life. BDIs have an estimated incidence of 0.4-1.5%, but considering the number of cholecystectomies performed worldwide, mostly by laparoscopy, surgeons must be prepared to manage this surgical challenge. Most BDIs are recognized either during the procedure or in the immediate postoperative period. However, some BDIs may be discovered later during the postoperative period, and this may translate to delayed or inappropriate treatments. Providing a specific diagnosis and a precise description of the BDI will expedite the decision-making process and increase the chance of treatment success. Subsequently, the choice and timing of the appropriate reconstructive strategy have a critical role in long-term prognosis. Currently, a wide spectrum of multidisciplinary interventions with different degrees of invasiveness is indicated for BDI management. These World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES) guidelines have been produced following an exhaustive review of the current literature and an international expert panel discussion with the aim of providing evidence-based recommendations to facilitate and standardize the detection and management of BDIs during cholecystectomy. In particular, the 2020 WSES guidelines cover the following key aspects: (1) strategies to minimize the risk of BDI during cholecystectomy; (2) BDI rates in general surgery units and review of surgical practice; (3) how to classify, stage, and report BDI once detected; (4) how to manage an intraoperatively detected BDI; (5) indications for antibiotic treatment; (6) indications for clinical, biochemical, and imaging investigations for suspected BDI; and (7) how to manage a postoperatively detected BDI

The FLUXNET2015 dataset and the ONEFlux processing pipeline for eddy covariance data

The FLUXNET2015 dataset provides ecosystem-scale data on CO2, water, and energy exchange between the biosphere and the atmosphere, and other meteorological and biological measurements, from 212 sites around the globe (over 1500 site-years, up to and including year 2014). These sites, independently managed and operated, voluntarily contributed their data to create global datasets. Data were quality controlled and processed using uniform methods, to improve consistency and intercomparability across sites. The dataset is already being used in a number of applications, including ecophysiology studies, remote sensing studies, and development of ecosystem and Earth system models. FLUXNET2015 includes derived-data products, such as gap-filled time series, ecosystem respiration and photosynthetic uptake estimates, estimation of uncertainties, and metadata about the measurements, presented for the first time in this paper. In addition, 206 of these sites are for the first time distributed under a Creative Commons (CC-BY 4.0) license. This paper details this enhanced dataset and the processing methods, now made available as open-source codes, making the dataset more accessible, transparent, and reproducible.Peer reviewe