Effects of 59Fe, 65Zn and of three soil types on dry matter yield, chemical composition and nitrogen fixation in Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv. carioca

The aim of this work was to study in greenhouse conditions the effects of two levels of iron and zinc on yield and chemical composition of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and on atmospheric nitrogen fixation, in three soils, classified as Terra Roxa Estruturada (TRE), Latossol Vermelho Escuro (LVE), and Podzolico Vermelho Amarelo (PVA). The coefficient of utilization of these micronutrients by this crop and its distribution in above-ground parts and roots were also assessed. The rates for iron were 1.5 and 3.0 ppm, and for zinc, 2.5 and 5.0 ppm. It was applied 7.5 µCi of 59Fe/kg of soil with the lower rate of the stable iron, and 5.0 and 10.0 µCi of Zn/kg of soil in the pots corresponding to the lower and higher rate of the stable zinc, respectively. The plants were harveste at the age of 60 days and nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, iron and zinc contents were determined. Immediately after harvest, symbiotic nitrogen fixation was assessed, using the acetylene reduction method. The detection of 59Fe and 65zn radioactivity were carried out on nitric percloric extract, by gamma ray spectrometry. The behavior of common bean presented high variation among the three soils, for all the variables. There was no influence of treatments of iron and zinc on dry matter of above ground part and root and also on the weight and number of nodules. The rate of 3.0 ppm of iron decreased the capacity of nodules to fix atmospheric nitrogen in relation to rate of 1.5 ppm, while the rate of 5.0 ppm of zinc increased this capacity, in relation to the rate of 2.5 ppm. There was significative effect of treatments on nitrogen, potassium and zinc contents in above ground part and on nitrogen and zinc contents in the root. The absorption of zinc from the fertilizer and the percentagem of zinc in the plant derived from fertilizer were diretly influenced by rate of zinc The higher coefficient of utilization of zinc from the fertilizer was 4.0%.No presente trabalho, conduzido em casa de vegetação, procuramos estudar os efeitos dos micronutrientes ferro e zinco na produção de materia seca, composição química do feijoeiro (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) e na fixação do nitrogênio atmosférico, em três solos, classificados como Terra Roxa Estruturada (TRE), Latossol Vermelho Escuro (LVE) e Podzólico Vermelho Amarelo (PVA). Procuramos também determinar os índices de aproveitamento destes micronutrientes pelo feijoeiro e sua distribuição na parte aérea e na raiz. O delineamento experimental foi um fatorial 3x7, sendo três solos e sete tratamentos por solo, com três repetições. Nos tratamentos, foram utilizados duas doses de ferro e duas doses de zinco em separado ou combinando as doses menores e maiores destes micronutrientes (Fe1Zn1, Fe2Zn2). As doses de ferro foram 1,5 e 3,0 ppm e as de zinco foram 2,5 e 5,0 ppm. Foram aplicados 7,5 µCi de 59Fe/kg de solo nos vasos correspondentes à dose menor de ferro e 5,0 e 10,0 µCi de 65Zn/kg de solo nos vasos correspondentes respectivamente à dose menor e maior de zinco. Todos os tratamentos receberam uma adubação básica. O comportamento do feijoeiro apresentou grande variação entre os três tipos de solos, para todas as variáveis. Não houve influência dos tratamentos de ferro e zinco na produção de parte aérea e raiz e nem no peso e numero dos nodulos. A dose de 3,0 ppm de ferro diminuiu a capacidade dos nódulos de fixarem nitrogênio atmosférico em relação à dose de 1,5 ppm enquanto que a dose de 5,0 ppm de zinco aumentou esta capacidade, em relação à dose de 2,5 ppm. Houve um efeito significativo dos tratamentos na concentração de nitrogênio, potássio, ferro e zinco na parte aérea e na concentração de nitrogênio, e zinco na raiz. A absorção de zinco dos fertilizantes e a percentagem do zinco na planta proveniente do adubo foram influenciadas diretamente pelas doses de zinco. O maior coeficiente de aproveitamento do zinco do adubo foi de 4,0%

Highly-parallelized simulation of a pixelated LArTPC on a GPU

The rapid development of general-purpose computing on graphics processing units (GPGPU) is allowing the implementation of highly-parallelized Monte Carlo simulation chains for particle physics experiments. This technique is particularly suitable for the simulation of a pixelated charge readout for time projection chambers, given the large number of channels that this technology employs. Here we present the first implementation of a full microphysical simulator of a liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) equipped with light readout and pixelated charge readout, developed for the DUNE Near Detector. The software is implemented with an end-to-end set of GPU-optimized algorithms. The algorithms have been written in Python and translated into CUDA kernels using Numba, a just-in-time compiler for a subset of Python and NumPy instructions. The GPU implementation achieves a speed up of four orders of magnitude compared with the equivalent CPU version. The simulation of the current induced on 10^3 pixels takes around 1 ms on the GPU, compared with approximately 10 s on the CPU. The results of the simulation are compared against data from a pixel-readout LArTPC prototype

Hepatic toxicity caused by PLGA-microspheres containing usnic acid from the lichen C ladonia substellata (AHTI) during pregnancy in Wistar rats

ABSTRACT This study aimed to evaluate the teratogenic and hepatotoxic potential of the usnic acid encapsulated into PLGA-microspheres. In total, 12 female Wistar rats in pregnancy were randomly distributed in the control group (n= 6) that received 1.0 mL of physiological solution and treatment group (n= 6) that received 25 mg/kg of encapsulated usnic acid by oral administration. All females were euthanized at day 20 of pregnancy and their fetuses were removed and analyzed. During the pregnancy was observed a reduction in weight gain. There was no difference in serum transaminases levels analyzed as well as any difference in liver weight in both groups. The histomorphometric analysis of the liver from the treatment group revealed an increase in number of hepatocytes and a decrease in nuclear area of these cells. Moreover, no alteration was observed in cell area of hepatocytes or number of Kupffer cells. The fetuses had an increase in total number of hepatocytes and a reduction in the amount of megakaryocytes. These results show the hepatotoxic potential of usnic acid during pregnancy. However, its toxicity can be minimized by encapsulation in microspheres

Streptococcus Agalactiae In Brazil: Serotype Distribution, Virulence Determinants And Antimicrobial Susceptibility

Background: Group B Streptococcus (GBS) remains a major cause of neonatal sepsis and is also associated with invasive and noninvasive infections in pregnant women and non-pregnant adults, elderly and patients with underlying medical conditions. Ten capsular serotypes have been recognized, and determination of their distribution within a specific population or geographical region is important as they are major targets for the development of vaccine strategies. We have evaluated the characteristics of GBS isolates recovered from individuals with infections or colonization by this microorganism, living in different geographic regions of Brazil.Methods: A total of 434 isolates were identified and serotyped by conventional phenotypic tests. The determination of antimicrobial susceptibility was performed by the disk diffusion method. Genes associated with resistance to erythromycin (ermA, ermB, mefA) and tetracycline (tetK, tetL, tetM, tetO) as well as virulence-associated genes (bac, bca, lmb, scpB) were investigated using PCR. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was used to examine the genetic diversity of macrolide-resistant and of a number of selected macrolide-susceptible isolates.Results: Overall, serotypes Ia (27.6%), II (19.1%), Ib (18.7%) and V (13.6%) were the most predominant, followed by serotypes IV (8.1%) and III (6.7%). All the isolates were susceptible to the beta-lactam antimicrobials tested and 97% were resistant to tetracycline. Resistance to erythromycin and clindamycin were found in 4.1% and 3% of the isolates, respectively. Among the resistance genes investigated, tetM (99.3%) and tetO (1.8%) were detected among tetracycline-resistant isolates and ermA (39%) and ermB (27.6%) were found among macrolide-resistant isolates. The lmb and scpB virulence genes were detected in all isolates, while bac and bca were detected in 57 (13.1%) and 237 (54.6%) isolates, respectively. Molecular typing by PFGE showed that resistance to erythromycin was associated with a variety of clones.Conclusion: These findings indicate that GBS isolates circulating in Brazil have a variety of phenotypic and genotypic characteristics, and suggest that macrolide-resistant isolates may arise by both clonal spread and independent acquisition of resistance genes. © 2014 Dutra et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.141Schuchat, A., Epidemiology of group B streptococcal disease in the United States: shifting paradigms (1998) Clin Microbiol Rev, 11, pp. 497-513. , 88893, 9665980Skoff, T.H., Farley, M.M., Petit, S., Increasing burden of invasive group B streptococcal disease in nonpregnant adults, 1990-2007 (2009) Clin Infect Dis, 49, pp. 85-92. , 10.1086/599369, 19480572Maisey, H.C., Doran, K.S., Nizet, V., Recent advances in understanding the molecular basis of group B Streptococcus virulence (2008) Expert Rev Mol Med, 10, pp. 1-16Slotved, H.C., Kong, F., Lambertsen, L., Sauer, S., Gilbert, G.L., Serotype IX, a proposed new Streptococcus agalactiae serotype (2007) J Clin Microbiol, 9, pp. 2929-2936Baker, C.J., Edwards, M.S., Group B streptococcal conjugate vaccines (2003) Arch Dis Child, 88, pp. 375-378. , 10.1136/adc.88.5.375, 1719562, 12716700Dogan, B., Schukken, Y.H., Santisteban, C., Boor, K.J., Distribuition of serotypes and antimicrobial resistance genes among Streptococcus agalactiae isolates from bovine and human hosts (2005) J Clin Microbiol, 43, pp. 5899-5906. , 10.1128/JCM.43.12.5899-5906.2005, 1317170, 16333073Luan, S.-L., Granlund, M., Sellin, M., Lagergard, T., Spratt, B.G., Norgren, M., Multilocus sequence typing of Swedish invasive group B Streptococcus isolates indicates a neonatally associated genetic lineage and capsule switching (2005) J Clin Microbiol, 43, pp. 3727-3733. , 10.1128/JCM.43.8.3727-3733.2005, 1233917, 16081902Gherardi, G., Imperi, M., Baldassarri, L., Pataracchia, M., Alfarone, G., Recchia, S., Orefici, G., Creti, R., Molecular epidemiology and distribuition of serotypes, surface proteins, and antibiotic resistance among Group B streptococci in Italy (2007) J Clin Microbiol, 9, pp. 2909-2916Kim, E., Hans, C.S., Hans, V.N., Marcit, S.K., Helle, B.K., Emergence of invasive serotype VIII group B streptococcal infections in Denmark (2003) J Clin Microbiol, 41, pp. 4442-4444. , 10.1128/JCM.41.9.4442-4444.2003, 193804, 12958288Benchetrit, L.C., Fracalanzza, S.E.L., Peregrino, H., Camelo, A.A., Sanches, L.A.L.R., Carriage of Streptococcus agalactiae in women and neonates and distribution of serological types: a study in Brazil (1982) J Clin Microbiol, 15, pp. 787-790. , 272190, 7047552Duarte, R.S., Bellei, B.C., Miranda, O.P., Brito, M.A., Teixeira, L.M., Distribution of antimicrobial resistance and virulence-related genes among Brazilian group B streptococci recovered from bovine and human sources (2005) Antimicrob Agents Chemother, 49, pp. 97-103. , 10.1128/AAC.49.1.97-103.2005, 538850, 15616281Simões, J.A., Alves, V.M., Fracalanzza, S.E.L., Camargo, R.P., Mathias, H.M., Brolazo, E.M., Phenotypical characteristics of group B Streptococcus in parturients (2007) Braz J Infect Dis, 11, pp. 261-266. , 10.1590/S1413-86702007000200019, 17625774Palmeiro, J.K., Dalla-Costa, L.M., Fracalanzza, S.E.L., Botelho, A.C.N., Nogueira, K.S., Scheffer, M.C., Torres, A.R.L.S., Madeira, H.M.F., Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of group B streptococcal isolates in southern Brazil (2010) J Clin Microbiol, 12, pp. 4397-4403Corrêa, A.B.A., Silva, G.L., Pinto, T.C.A., Oliveira, I.C.M., Fernandes, F.G., Costa, N.S., Mattos, M.C., Benchetrit, L.C., The genetic diversity and phenotypic characterisation of Streptococcus agalactiae isolates from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2011) Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz, 106, pp. 1002-1006. , 10.1590/S0074-02762011000800017, 22241124Pinto, T.C.A., Costa, N.S., Souza, A.R.V., Silva, L.G., Corrêa, A.B.A., Fernandes, F.G., Oliveira, I.C.M., Benchetrit, L.C., Distribution of serotypes and evaluation of antimicrobial susceptibility among humam and bovine Streptococcus agalactiae strains isolated in Brazil between 1980 and 2006 (2013) Braz J Infect Dis, 17, pp. 131-136. , 10.1016/j.bjid.2012.09.006, 23453948Kimura, K., Suzuki, S., Wachino, J., Kurokawa, H., Yamane, K., Shibata, N., Nagano, N., Arakawa, Y., First molecular characterization of group B streptococci with reduced penicillin susceptibility (2008) Antimicrob Agents Chemother, 52, pp. 2890-2897. , 10.1128/AAC.00185-08, 2493108, 18490507Dahesh, S., Point mutation in the group B streptococcal pbp2x gene conferring decreased susceptibility to beta-lactam antibiotics (2008) Antimicrob Agents Chemother, 52, pp. 2915-2918. , 10.1128/AAC.00461-08, 2493126, 18541727Nagano, N., Nagano, Y., Toyama, M., Kimura, K., Tamura, T., Shibayama, K., Arakawa, Y., Nosocomial spread of multidrug-resistant group B streptococci with reduced penicillin susceptibility belonging to clonal complex 1 (2012) J Antimicrob Chemother, 67, pp. 849-856. , 10.1093/jac/dkr546, 22210756Prevention of perinatal group B streptococcal disease: revised guidelines from CDC (2010) MMWR Recomm Rep, 59, pp. 1-31. , RR-10, CDC- Centers for Disease Control and PreventionGonzalez, J.J., Andreu, A., Multicenter study of the mechanisms of resistance and clonal relationships of Streptococcus agalactiae isolates resistant to macrolides, lincosamides, and ketolides in Spain (2005) Antimicrob Agents Chemother, 49, pp. 2525-2527. , 10.1128/AAC.49.6.2525-2527.2005, 1140544, 15917563, The spanish group for the study of perinatal infection from the spanish society for clinical microbiology and infectious diseasesHsush, P.R., Teng, L.J., Lee, L.N., HO, S.W., Yang, P.C., Luh, K.T., High incidence of erythromycin resistance among clinical isolates of Streptococcus agalactiae in Taiwan (2001) Antimicrob Agents Chemother, 45, pp. 3205-3208. , 10.1128/AAC.45.11.3205-3208.2001, 90806, 11600380Desjardins, M., Delgaty, K.L., Ramotar, K., Seetaram, C., Toye, B., Prevalence and mechanisms of erythromycin resistance in group A and group B Streptococcus implications for reporting susceptibility results (2004) J Clin Microbiol, 42, pp. 5620-5623. , 10.1128/JCM.42.12.5620-5623.2004, 535282, 15583291Borchardt, S.M., Debusscher, J.H., Tallman, P.A., Manning, S.D., Marrs, C.F., Kurzynski, T.A., Foxman, B., Frequency of antimicrobial resistance among invasive and colonizing Group B streptococcal isolates (2006) BMC Infect Dis, 6, p. 57. , 10.1186/1471-2334-6-57, 1435911, 16549015Phares, C.R., Lynfield, R., Farley, M.M., Mohle-Boetani, L.H., Petit, S., Craig, A.S., Schaffner, W., Schrag, S.J., Epidemiology of invasive group B streptococcal disease in the United States, 1999-2005 (2008) JAMA, 299, pp. 2056-2065. , 10.1001/jama.299.17.2056, 18460666Martinez, M.A., Ovalle, S.A., Duran, C., Reid, I., Urriola, G., Garay, B., Cifuents, M., Sorotipos y susceptibilidad antimicrobiana de Streptococcus agalactiae (2004) Rev Méd Chil, 132, pp. 549-555Performance standards for antimicrobial susceptibility testing: approved standard (2010) 20th informational supplement Wayne, , PA: CLSI, M100-S20U, CLSISutcliffe, J., Grebe, T., Tait-Kamradt, A., Wondrack, L., Detection of erythromycin-resistant determinants by PCR (1996) Antimicrob Agents Chemother, 40, pp. 2562-2566. , 163576, 8913465Trzcinski, K., Cooper, B.S., Hryniewicz, W., Dowson, C.G., Expression of resistance to tetracyclines in strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (2000) J Antimicrob Chemother, 45, pp. 2778-2781Dmitriev, A., Shakleina, E., Tkacikova, M., Mikula, I., Totolian, Genetic heterogeneity of the pathogenic potentials of human and bovine group B streptococci (2002) Folia Microbiol, 47, pp. 291-295Corrêa, A.B.A., Oliveira, I.C.M., Pinto, T.C.A., Mattos, M.C., Benchetrit, L.C., Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, virulence determinants and antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of type Ia group B streptococci isolated from humans in Brazil (2009) Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz, 104, pp. 599-603. , 10.1590/S0074-02762009000400011, 19722083Teixeira, L.M., Carvalho, M.G.C., Merquior, V.L.C., Steigerwalt, A.G., Brenner, D.J., Facklam, R.R., Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of Vagococcus fluvialis, including strains isolates from human source (1997) J Clin Microbiol, 35, pp. 2778-2781. , 230060, 9350732Hunter, P.R., Gaston, M.A., Numerical index of the discriminatory ability of typing systems: an application of Simpson's index of diversity (1988) J Clin Microbiol, 26, pp. 2465-2466. , 266921, 3069867Grundmann, H., Hori, S., Tanner, G., Determining confidence intervals when measuring genetic diversity and the discriminatory abilities of typing methods for microorganisms (2001) J Clin Microbiol, 39, pp. 4190-4192. , 10.1128/JCM.39.11.4190-4192.2001, 88515, 11682558Andrews, J.L., Diekema, D.J., Hunter, S.K., Rhomberg, P.R., Pfaller, M.A., Jones, R.N., Doern, G.V., Group B streptococci causing neonatal bloodstream infection: antimicrobial susceptibility and serotyping results from SENTRY centers in the Western Hemisphere (2000) Am J Obstet Gynecol, 183, pp. 859-862. , 10.1067/mob.2000.108839, 11035326João, E.C., Gouvea, M.I., Menezes, J.A., Matos, H.J., Cruz, M.L.S., Rodrigues, C.A.S., Caio, A.S.R., Grinsztejn, B.G.J., Group B Streptococcus in a cohort of HIV-infected pregnant women: Prevalence of colonization, identification and antimicrobial susceptibility profile (2011) Scand J Infect Dis, 43, pp. 742-746Martins, E.R., Melo-Cristino, J., Ramirez, M., Dominance of serotype Ia among group B streptococci causing invasive infections in nonpregnant adults in Portugal (2012) J Clin Microbiol, 50, pp. 1219-1227. , 10.1128/JCM.05488-11, 3318525, 22219307Otaguiri, E.S., Morguette, A.E.B., Tavares, E.R., Santos, P.M.M.C., Morey, A.T., Cardoso, J.D., Perugini, M.R.E., Yamada-Ogatta, S.F., Commensal Streptococcus agalactiae isolated from patients seen at University Hospital of Londrina, Paraná, Brazil: capsular types, genotyping, antimicrobial susceptibility and virulence determinants (2013) BMC Microbiol, 13, pp. 297-305. , 10.1186/1471-2180-13-297, 3878097, 24359590Nakamura, P.A.M., Schuab, R.B.B., Neves, F.P.G., Pereira, C.F.A., de Paula, G.R., Barros, R.R., Antimicrobial resistance profiles and genetic characterisation of macrolide resistant isolates of Streptococcus agalactiae (2011) Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz, 106, pp. 119-122. , 10.1590/S0074-02762011000200001, 21537668Culebras, E., Rodriguez-Avial, I., Betriu, C., Redondo, M., Picazo, J., Macrolide and tetracycline resistance and molecular relationships of clinical strains of Streptococcus agalactiae (2002) Antimicrob Agents Chemother, 5, pp. 1574-1576Roberts, M.C., Update on macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin, ketolide, and oxazolidinone resistance genes (2008) FEMS Microbiol Lett, 282, pp. 147-159. , 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2008.01145.x, 18399991Souza, V.C., Kegele, F.C., Souza, S.R., Neves, F.P., de Paula, G.R., Barros, R.R., Antimicrobial susceptibility and genetic diversity of Streptococcus agalactiae recovered from newborns and pregnant women in Brazil (2013) Scand J Infect Dis, 45, pp. 780-785. , 10.3109/00365548.2013.810814, 23876189Pillai, P., Srinivasan, U., Zhang, L., Borchardt, S.M., Debusscher, J., Marrs, C.F., Foxman, B., Streptococcus agalactiae pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns cross capsular types (2009) Epidemiol Infect, 137, pp. 1420-1425. , 10.1017/S0950268809002167, 3703924, 19257912Martins, E.R., Andreu, A., Correia, P., Juncosa, T., Bosch, J., Ramirez, M., Melo-Cristino, J., Group B streptococci causing neonatal infections in Barcelona are a stable clonal population: 18-year surveillance (2011) J Clin Microbiol, 49, pp. 2911-2918. , 10.1128/JCM.00271-11, 3147731, 21697333, Catalan Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease