Oral Health among Elderly, Impact on Life Quality, Access of Elderly Patients to Oral Health Services and Methods to Improve Oral Health: A Narrative Review

Dental health is often neglected among the elderly because of the numerous comorbidities in this population, such as cardiovascular diseases. However, dental health influences general health and quality of life by impacting both the general health and the psychological state of the individual. The present review highlights the main dental comorbidities in the elderly population, their impact on the quality of life, the barriers towards access to dental care in the elderly and methods to improve their dental health. Information related to dental care and its importance must be provided both to older individuals and their caregivers in order to detect dental pathology and treat it adequately. Ensuring dental health involves the whole society of elders, caregivers, dental care providers, the public sector, health policymakers, and the private sector

SELECTED RESULTS ON THE DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING OF SMART BLADES TECHNOLOGIES FOR WIND TURBINES

Within the frame of the Smart Blades and the SmartBlades2 projects, different technologies for developing smart rotor blades for wind turbines have been developed and are still being studied and tested. These cover the three following technologies: bend-twist coupled rotor blades; rotor blades with trailing edge flaps and rotor blades with leading edge slats. In addition, cross-technology topics that need to be considered for successfully implementing all three technologies as well as for evaluating their performance within a wind turbine system are being studied

Meta-omic characterization of the marine invertebrate microbial consortium that produces the chemotherapeutic natural product ET-743

In many macroorganisms, the ultimate source of potent biologically active natural products has remained elusive due to an inability to identify and culture the producing symbiotic microorganisms. As a model system for developing a meta-omic approach to identify and characterize natural product pathways from invertebrate-derived microbial consortia, we chose to investigate the ET-743 (Yondelis) biosynthetic pathway. This molecule is an approved anticancer agent obtained in low abundance (10–4–10–5 % w/w) from the tunicate Ecteinascidia turbinata and is generated in suitable quantities for clinical use by a lengthy semisynthetic process. On the basis of structural similarities to three bacterial secondary metabolites, we hypothesized that ET-743 is the product of a marine bacterial symbiont. Using metagenomic sequencing of total DNA from the tunicate/microbial consortium, we targeted and assembled a 35 kb contig containing 25 genes that comprise the core of the NRPS biosynthetic pathway for this valuable anticancer agent. Rigorous sequence analysis based on codon usage of two large unlinked contigs suggests that Candidatus Endoecteinascidia frumentensis produces the ET-743 metabolite. Subsequent metaproteomic analysis confirmed expression of three key biosynthetic proteins. Moreover, the predicted activity of an enzyme for assembly of the tetrahydroisoquinoline core of ET-743 was verified in vitro. This work provides a foundation for direct production of the drug and new analogues through metabolic engineering. We expect that the interdisciplinary approach described is applicable to diverse host–symbiont systems that generate valuable natural products for drug discovery and development

German research wind farm WiValdi: Planning, installation and testing of innovative research instrumentation for six wind turbine rotor blades

Together with the partners from the German Research Alliance the German Aerospace Center is building the German research wind farm WiValdi (Wind Validation). The wind farm will consist of two standard wind turbines of type E-115 EP3 E4 and a smaller custom build research turbine. The setup of the wind farm is supported by national funding in the research project DFWind. Within DFWind the wind turbine rotor blade research instrumentation has been planned, installed during manufacturing and tested during rotor blade tests at IWES in Bremerhaven. The research instrumentation covers various fields of research from aeroelasticity, structural dynamics, structural health monitoring, vibroacoustic to loads and control. Different types of sensors and measurement systems have been integrated. The sensors vary from classical acceleration sensors over fiber optical acceleration, strain and temperature sensors to innovative continuous fiber optical strain sensors, ultrasonic sensor arrays and finally markers for digital image correlation from inside the blade and on the outer surface. The presentation will give insights in the sensor planning and testing, the instrumentation campaign during manufacturing process and the rotor blade tests before installation on the turbines

Insights into the genome of large sulfur bacteria revealed by analysis of single filaments

Marine sediments are frequently covered by mats of the filamentous Beggiatoa and other large nitrate-storing bacteria that oxidize hydrogen sulfide using either oxygen or nitrate, which they store in intracellular vacuoles. Despite their conspicuous metabolic properties and their biogeochemical importance, little is known about their genetic repertoire because of the lack of pure cultures. Here, we present a unique approach to access the genome of single filaments of Beggiatoa by combining whole genome amplification, pyrosequencing, and optical genome mapping. Sequence assemblies were incomplete and yielded average contig sizes of approximately 1 kb. Pathways for sulfur oxidation, nitrate and oxygen respiration, and CO2 fixation confirm the chemolithoautotrophic physiology of Beggiatoa. In addition, Beggiatoa potentially utilize inorganic sulfur compounds and dimethyl sulfoxide as electron acceptors. We propose a mechanism of vacuolar nitrate accumulation that is linked to proton translocation by vacuolar-type ATPases. Comparative genomics indicates substantial horizontal gene transfer of storage, metabolic, and gliding capabilities between Beggiatoa and cyanobacteria. These capabilities enable Beggiatoa to overcome non-overlapping availabilities of electron donors and acceptors while gliding between oxic and sulfidic zones. The first look into the genome of these filamentous sulfur-oxidizing bacteria substantially deepens the understanding of their evolution and their contribution to sulfur and nitrogen cycling in marine sediments