Insight into heavy metal resistome of soil psychrotolerant bacteria originating from King George Island (Antarctica)

The presence of heavy metals in Antarctica is an emerging issue, especially as (bio)weathering of metal-containing minerals occurs and human influence is more and more visible in this region. Chemical analysis of three soil samples collected from the remote regions of King George Island (Antarctica) revealed the presence of heavy metals (mainly copper, mercury, and zinc) at relatively high concentrations. Physiological characterization of over 200 heavy metal-resistant, psychrotolerant bacterial strains isolated from the Antarctic soil samples was performed. This enabled an insight into the heavy metal resistome of these cultivable bacteria and revealed the prevalence of co-resistance phenotypes. All bacteria identified in this study were screened for the presence of selected heavy metal-resistance genes, which resulted in identification of arsB (25), copA (3), czcA (33), and merA (26) genes in 62 strains. Comparative analysis of their nucleotide sequences provided an insight into the diversity of heavy metal-resistance genes in Antarctic bacteria

Cloud‐to‐ground lightning dipole moment from simultaneous observations by ELF receiver and combined direction finding and time‐of‐arrival lightning detection system

We present a new method of automatic detection of ELF impulses related to cloud‐to‐ground lightning at distances 1–2 Mm from a broadband ELF receiver and also we present a new numerical automated technique for calculating the lightning dipole moment. We have performed the detection for two known data sets of lightning flashes detected by the French lightning detection network Meteorage in southwest Europe over two 48 h periods 28–29 July and 6–7 September 2005. The number of flashes identified in the ELF data compared to the number of flashes detected by Meteorage reach 10–25% when little local activity close to the ELF station is present. The local thunderstorm activity worsens the detection of lightning from larger distances and the efficiency of identification of ELF impulses as lightning can decrease to a few percent. By combining the information on the location of the lightning flashes from Meteorage with the ELF data, lightning dipole moments can be calculated. Our results suggest the dipole moment is linearly correlated with the lightning peak current (p ≃ 7.5 Imax) but the dispersion of the dipole moment for a given peak current is significant. One of the reasons of such dispersion is the contribution of the lightning continuing current to the ELF signal

Sequence determination and analysis of three plasmids of Pseudomonas sp. GLE121, a psychrophile isolated from surface ice of Ecology Glacier (Antarctica)

Pseudomonas sp. GLE121 (a psychrophilic Antarctic strain) carries three plasmids: pGLE121P1 (6899 bp), pGLE121P2 (8330 bp) and pGLE121P3 (39,583 bp). Plasmids pGLE121P1 and pGLE121P2 show significant sequence similarity to members of the IncP-9 and IncP-7 incompatibility groups, respectively, while the largest replicon, pGLE121P3, is highly related to plasmid pNCPPB880-40 of Pseudomonas syringae pathovar tomato NCPPB880. All three plasmids have a narrow host range, limited to members of the genus Pseudomonas. Plasmid pGLE121P3 encodes a conjugal transfer system, while pGLE121P1 carries only a putative MOB module, conserved in many mobilizable plasmids. Plasmid pGLE121P3 contains an additional load of genetic information, including a pair of genes with homology to the rulAB operon, responsible for ultraviolet radiation (UVR) tolerance. Given the increasing UV exposure in Antarctic regions, the expression of these genes is likely to be an important adaptive response

Blood pressure control in tertiary-care hypertensive patients during COVID-19 pandemic

Background: Cardiovascular risk factors distribution during the pandemic suggests worsening of the cardiovascular risk profile of hypertensive patients. At the same time, data on quality of hypertension control during the COVID-19 pandemic are scarce, in Poland. The aim of the study was to analyse the quality of blood pressure (BP) control in a group of patients who required regular control in tertiary care. Material and methods: The study included  patients regularly monitored in Gdańsk Hypertension Centre for at least 4 years with at least 2 visits a year prior the analysis. The size of the group was calculated based on the original data of first 50 consecutive records of patients (power of 90%). Records were retrospectively analysed with respect to office blood pressure (oBP) control. Additionally, within-visit BP variability was calculated (difference of maximum and minimum BP from 3 measurements); body weight, age, sex, duration of hypertension, number of visits per year, seasonal BP variability, use of telemedical services, comorbidities and BP-lowering treatment were recorded. Results: The study enrolled 220 patients. The values of systolic BP (sBP) before and after the break in the whole group were 135.8 ± 17.1 mm Hg vs. 137.9 ±19.5 mm Hg; P=0.08, and a diastolic BP (dBP) of 80.3 ±11.4 mm Hg vs. 82.6 ±12.2 mm Hg; p = 0.001. After adjusting for seasonal variation of BP, the respective differences were: sBP: 134.8 ± 16.5 vs. 138.0 ± 19.4; p = 0.03, and dBP: 79.4 ±10.9 vs. 82.2 ± 11.9; p = 0.004. Before 2020, 61.4% of patients were controlled (BP < 140/90 mm Hg), whereas after the pandemic-driven break in regular visits the control rate decreased to 55.5% (p = 0.21). Conclusions: BP increased significantly and the rate of BP control decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic in a group of patients requiring tertiary care for hypertension

Probing fluconazole deposition inside mesoporous silica using solid-state NMR spectroscopy: crystallization of a confined metastable form and phase transformations under storage conditions

Encapsulation of molecules into mesoporous silica carriers continues to attract considerable interest in the area of drug delivery and crystal engineering. Here, MCM-41, SBA-15 and MCF silica matrices were used to encapsulate fluconazole (FLU), a pharmaceutically relevant molecule with known conformational flexibility, using the melting method. The composites have been characterized using 1H, 13C and 19F NMR spectroscopy, nitrogen adsorption, PXRD and thermal analysis (DSC, TGA). Drug loading up to 50 wt.% allowed us to probe the crystallization process and detecting different local environments of confined FLU molecules. 19F NMR spectroscopy enabled us to detect the gradual pore filling of silica with FLU and differentiate the amorphous domains and surface species. The use of the complementary structural and thermal techniques enabled to monitor crystallization of the metastable FLU form II in MCF. Using 1H and 19F NMR spectroscopy we observed pore-size dependent reversible dehydration/hydration behaviour in the MCM and SBA composites. As water content has considerable importance in understanding of physicochemical stability and shelf-life of pharmaceutical formulations, experimental evidence of the effect of API-water-carrier interactions on the API adsorption mechanism on silica surface is highlighted

Exploring the Potential of Sulfur Moieties in Compounds Inhibiting Steroidogenesis

This study reports on the synthesis and evaluation of novel compounds replacing the nitrogen-containing heterocyclic ring on the chemical backbone structure of cytochrome P450 17α-hydroxylase/12,20-lyase (CYP17A1) inhibitors with a phenyl bearing a sulfur-based substituent. Initial screening revealed compounds with marked inhibition of CYP17A1 activity. The selectivity of compounds was thereafter determined against cytochrome P450 21-hydroxylase, cytochrome P450 3A4, and cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase. Additionally, the compounds showed weak inhibitory activity against aldo-keto reductase 1C3 (AKR1C3). The compounds’ impact on steroid hormone levels was also assessed, with some notable modulatory effects observed. This work paves the way for developing more potent dual inhibitors specifically targeting CYP17A1 and AKR1C3