Zonula Occludens Toxin Acts as an Adjuvant through Different Mucosal Routes and Induces Protective Immune Responses

Zonula occludens toxin (Zot) is produced by Vibrio cholerae and has the ability to increase mucosal permeability by reversibly affecting the structure of tight junctions. Because of this property, Zot is a promising tool for mucosal drug and antigen (Ag) delivery. Here we show that Zot acts as a mucosal adjuvant to induce long-lasting and protective immune responses upon mucosal immunization of mice. Indeed, the intranasal delivery of ovalbumin with two different recombinant forms of Zot in BALB/c mice resulted in high Ag-specific serum immunoglobulin G titers that were maintained over the course of a year. Moreover, His-Zot induced humoral and cell-mediated responses to tetanus toxoid in C57BL/6 mice and protected the mice against a systemic challenge with tetanus toxin. In addition, we found that Zot also acts as an adjuvant through the intrarectal route and that it has very low immunogenicity compared to the adjuvant Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin. Finally, by using an octapeptide representing the putative binding site of Zot and of its endogenous analogue zonulin, we provide evidence that Zot may bind a mucosal receptor on nasal mucosa and may mimic an endogenous regulator of tight junctions to deliver Ags in the submucosa. In conclusion, Zot is a novel and effective mucosal adjuvant that may be useful for the development of mucosal vaccines

Signal classification using neural networks

The aim of this paper is to classify two kind of signals recorded by seismic station: artificial explosions and seismic activity. The problem is approached from both the preprocessing and the classification point of view. For the preprocessing stage, instead of the conventional Fourier Transform, we use a Linear Prediction Coding (LPC) algorithm, which allows to compress the data and extract robust features for the signal representation, For the classification stage, we have compared the performance of several neural models. An unsupervised method, based on the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and the Mixture of Gaussian (MoG) clustering algorithm, gives a 70% percentage of correct classification. The Elman Recurrent Neural Nets (RNN) is able to reach 91% of correct classification on the test set. However this performance is strongly and critically dependent on the order of presentation of the events. Instead a MLP with a single hidden layer gives the 86% of correct classification on the test set, independently of the order of presentation of the patterns

Basic knowledge and misconceptions on antibiotic use: a comparative survey between Veterinary College and High School students in Bari (Italy)

Misconceptions about the use and effectiveness of antibiotics contribute to the persistence of antimicrobial resistance. The aim of this study was to gather information on appropriate use of antibiotics in students from the Veterinary Medicine College (G1, n = 119) and from High School (G2, n = 220), from Bari (Italy) through a questionnaire. The response rate was 89% in G1 and 89.5% in G2. Fifty-five % of college students and 79% of high-school students had taken antibiotics in the last 12 months. Unsurprisingly, high-school students had more misconceptions about antibiotics than G1. The majority of misconceptions stated that i) antibiotics kill viruses (OR 8.4, CI 4.8-14.7, p < 0.001); ii) they are active against cold and flu (OR 4.6, CI 2.6-8.1, p < 0.001); iii) it is possible to purchase antibiotics without a medical prescription (OR 7.3, CI 4.3-12.5, p < 0.001). Information campaigns among young people are urgently needed to reduce misuse and to improve knowledge on antibiotics

In vitro antiviral activity of Ficus carica latex against caprine herpesvirus-1

The latex of Ficus carica Linn. (Moraceae) has been shown to possess antiviral properties against some human viruses. To determine the ability of F. carica latex (F-latex) to interfere with the infection of caprine herpesvirus-1 (CpHV-1) in vitro, F- latex was resuspended in culture media containing 1% ethanol and was tested for potential antiviral effects against CpHV-1. Titration of CpHV-1 in the presence or in the absence of F-latex was performed on monolayers of Madin Darby Bovine Kidney (MDBK) cells. Simultaneous addition of F-latex and CpHV-1 to monolayers of MDBK cells resulted in a significant reduction of CpHV-1 titres 3 days post-infection and this effect was comparable to that induced by acyclovir. The study suggests that the F-latex is able to interfere with the replication of CpHV-1 in vitro on MDBK cells and future studies will determine the mechanisms responsible for the observed antiviral activity

African Swine Fever—How to Unravel Fake News in Veterinary Medicine

In recent years, fake scientific news has spread much faster through the Internet and social media within the so-called “infodemic”. African Swine Fever (ASF) is a perfect case study to prove how fake news can undermine the public health response, even in the veterinary field. ASF is a highly contagious infective disease affecting exclusively domestic and wild pigs such as wild boars. ASF can cause social damage and economic losses both directly (due to the high mortality rate) and indirectly (due to international sanctions). Although ASF is not a threat to human health, since 2018 newspapers have often reported false or misleading news, ranging from misinterpreted findings/data to fake or alarmistic news. In some cases, fake news was spread, such as the use of snipers at the border of nations to kill wild boars, or those reports concerning possible risks to human health. In order to provide real and fact-based news on epidemics, some organizations have created easy-to-read infographic and iconographic materials, available on their websites, to help the readers identifying the fake news. Indeed, it is crucial that governments and scientific organizations work against fear and anxiety, using simple and clear communication

Antimicrobial Resistance in Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta caretta): A Comparison between Clinical and Commensal Bacterial Isolates

Gram negative organisms are frequently isolated from Caretta caretta turtles, which can act as reservoir species for resistant microorganisms in the aquatic environment. C. caretta, which have no history of treatment with antimicrobials, are useful sentinel species for resistant microbes. In this culture-based study, commensal bacteria isolated from oral and cloacal samples of 98 healthy C. caretta were compared to clinical isolates from the wounds of 102 injured animals, in order to investigate the presence of AMR bacteria in free-living loggerheads from the Adriatic Sea. A total of 410 isolates were cultured. Escherichia coli and genera such as Serratia, Moraxella, Kluyvera, Salmonella were isolated only in healthy animals, while Acinetobacter, Enterobacter, Klebsiella and Morganella were isolated only from the wounds of the injured animals. When tested for susceptibility to ampicillin, amoxicillin + clavulanic acid, ceftazidime, cefuroxime, gentamicin, doxycycline, ciprofloxacin and enrofloxacin, the clinical isolates showed highly significant differences in AMR rates vs. commensal isolates for all the drugs tested, except for doxycycline. The detection of high AMR rates in loggerheads is of clinical and microbiological significance since it impacts both the choice of a proper antibiotic therapy and the implementation of conservation programs