Factors Influencing the Pedestrian Injury Severity of Micromobility Crashes

[EN] The growth of micromobility transport in cities has created a new mobility paradigm, but this has also resulted in increased traffic conflicts and collisions. This research focuses on understanding the impacts of micromobility vehicles on pedestrian injury severity in urban areas of Spain between 2016 and 2021. The Random Forest classification model was used to identify the most significant factors and their combinations affecting pedestrian injury severity. To address the issue of unbalanced data, the synthetic minority oversampling technique was employed. The findings indicate that pedestrians' age, specifically those 70 years or older, is the most important variable in determining injury severity. Additionally, collisions at junctions or on weekends are associated with worse outcomes for pedestrians. The results highlight the combined influence of multiple factors, including offenses and distractions by micromobility users and pedestrians. These factors are more prevalent among younger micromobility users and those riding for leisure or on weekends. To enhance micromobility road safety and reduce pedestrian injuries, separating micromobility traffic from pedestrian areas is recommended, restricting micromobility vehicle use on sidewalks, providing training and information to micromobility users, conducting road safety campaigns, increasing enforcement measures, and incorporating buffer zones in bike lanes near on-street parking.This research is part of the research project PID2019-111744RB-I00, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. Likewise, this research has been partially funded by the European Union-Next GenerationEU (RD 289/2021), thanks to the granting of a "Margarita Salas" grant to Almudena Sanjurjo (UP2021-035), researcher at the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (UPM), to carry out astay at the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (UPV)Sanjurjo-De-No, A.; Pérez Zuriaga, AM.; García García, A. (2023). Factors Influencing the Pedestrian Injury Severity of Micromobility Crashes. Sustainability. 15(19):1-17. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151914348117151

Growth response and heavy metals tolerance of Axonopus affinis, inoculated with plant growthpromoting rhizobacteria

Different microorganisms have been used for bioremediation based on their resistance and ability to sequester heavy metals. The use of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) for bioremediation of these contaminants has been successful. A PGPR isolated from hydrocarbons-contaminated soil identified as Bacillus sp., by microbiological and molecular tools and characterized as heavy metal tolerant by minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) assay was inoculated into Axonopus affinis plants. Both of them were exposed to cadmium, nickel, and zinc and the effect of their relationship was analyzed by multivariate analysis. The results did not show a significant growth promotion and development of this Poaceae with rhizobacteria alone, but the presence of heavy metals plus the PGPR assured the survival of plants. This suggests that the plant’s response is related with the metal concentration and the exposure time to the contaminants, as well as with its intrinsic tolerance. The Bacillus sp strain allowed the growth maintenance of A. affinis and enhanced its tolerance to the assayed heavy metals, suggesting a synergistic effect between this species and the rhizobacterium in response to contaminating agents.Keywords: Bioremediation, heavy metals, microorganisms, plant

Composition of lower urinary tract stones in canines in Mexico City

11th International symposium on urolithiasis, Nice, France, 2–5 September 2008 Urological Research (2008) 36:157–232. doi:10.1007/s00240-008-0145-5. http://www.springerlink.com/ content/x263655772684210/fulltext.pdf.Effective long-term management of urolithiasis depends on identification and manipulation of factors contributing to initial stone formation; identification of these factors depends on accurate identification of the mineral composition of the urolith involved. The purpose of this study was to determine the chemical composition of uroliths obtained from the low urinary tract of dogs in Mexico City. One hundred and five cases of urolithiasis were studied in which stones were surgically obtained from the low urinary tracts of dogs treated in different hospitals. The chemical composition of the uroliths was quantita- tively and qualitatively determined by stereoscopic microscopy, IR-spectroscopy, scanning electron micros- copy and X-ray microanalysis. Age of animals ranged from 4 months to 14 years, with a median of 5 years. Compo- sition and distribution of the uroliths were struvite 38.1%,calcium oxalate 26.7%, silica 13.3%, urate 7.6%, mixed 11.4%, compounds 1.9%, and cystine 1%. Most uroliths were found in pure breed dogs (75.2%); 23 different breeds were identified, and more than half of the submissions were from breeds of small size. In our study, the frequency of struvite, calcium oxalate, cystine, urates, mixed and com- pounds stones are in agreement with papers that report on dog populations in America and Europe, but a higher fre- quency of silica uroliths was observed in Mexico City dogs.This work has been partially supported by a project of Waltham Foundation in Mexico

Solution and crystal structures of a C-terminal fragment of the neuronal isoform of the polypyrimidine tract binding protein (nPTB)

The eukaryotic polypyrimidine tract binding protein (PTB) serves primarily as a regulator of alternative splicing of messenger RNA, but is also co-opted to other roles such as RNA localisation and translation initiation from internal ribosome entry sites. The neuronal paralogue of PTB (nPTB) is 75% identical in amino acid sequence with PTB. Although the two proteins have broadly similar RNA binding specificities and effects on RNA splicing, differential expression of PTB and nPTB can lead to the generation of alternatively spliced mRNAs. RNA binding by PTB and nPTB is mediated by four RNA recognition motifs (RRMs). We present here the crystal and solution structures of the C-terminal domain of nPTB (nPTB34) which contains RRMs 3 and 4. As expected the structures are similar to each other and to the solution structure of the equivalent fragment from PTB (PTB34). The result confirms that, as found for PTB, RRMs 3 and 4 of nPTB interact with one another to form a stable unit that presents the RNA-binding surfaces of the component RRMs on opposite sides that face away from each other. The major differences between PTB34 and nPTB34 arise from amino acid side chain substitutions on the exposed β-sheet surfaces and adjoining loops of each RRM, which are likely to modulate interactions with RNA

Differentiation of Bacillus pumilus and Bacillus safensis using MALDI-TOF-MS

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) despite being increasingly used as a method for microbial identification, still present limitations in which concerns the differentiation of closely related species. Bacillus pumillus and Bacillus safensis, are species of biotechnological and pharmaceutical significance, difficult to differentiate by conventional methodologies. In this study, using a well-characterized collection of B. pumillus and B. safensis isolates, we demonstrated the suitability of MALDI-TOF-MS combined with chemometrics to accurately and rapidly identify them. Moreover, characteristic species-specific ion masses were tentatively assigned, using UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot and UniProtKB/TrEMBL databases and primary literature. Delineation of B. pumilus (ions at m/z 5271 and 6122) and B. safensis (ions at m/z 5288, 5568 and 6413) species were supported by a congruent characteristic protein pattern. Moreover, using a chemometric approach, the score plot created by partial least square discriminant analysis (PLSDA) of mass spectra demonstrated the presence of two individualized clusters, each one enclosing isolates belonging to a species-specific spectral group. The generated pool of species-specific proteins comprised mostly ribosomal and SASPs proteins. Therefore, in B. pumilus the specific ion at m/z 5271 was associated with a small acid-soluble spore protein (SASP O) or with 50S protein L35, whereas in B. safensis specific ions at m/z 5288 and 5568 were associated with SASP J and P, respectively, and an ion at m/z 6413 with 50S protein L32. Thus, the resulting unique protein profile combined with chemometric analysis, proved to be valuable tools for B. pumilus and B. safensis discrimination, allowing their reliable, reproducible and rapid identification.Dr. Kasthuri Venkateswaran, Dr. Irene Ouoba, Dr. Joseph W. Kloepper, Dr. Cecilie From and Dr. Maria Morea are gratefully acknowledged for providing isolates FO-36bT, SAFN-027, SAFN-037, KL-052, 51-3C and 82-2C; Bs31; SE 49 (AP3) and SE 52 (AP7); FEL 55, UNG22 and MIL46, respectively. Raquel Branquinho was supported by a PhD fellowship (Ref. SFRH/BD/61410/2009) and Clara Sousa by a post-doctoral fellowship (Ref. SFRH/BPD/70548/2010), from FCT (Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia, Portugal). Hugo Osorio acknowledges the funding from QREN-FEDER through the Operational Program ON. 2 - O Novo Norte. IPATIMUP is an Associate Laboratory of the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education and is partially supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competin

Composition of Human Skin Microbiota Affects Attractiveness to Malaria Mosquitoes

The African malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto continues to play an important role in malaria transmission, which is aggravated by its high degree of anthropophily, making it among the foremost vectors of this disease. In the current study we set out to unravel the strong association between this mosquito species and human beings, as it is determined by odorant cues derived from the human skin. Microbial communities on the skin play key roles in the production of human body odour. We demonstrate that the composition of the skin microbiota affects the degree of attractiveness of human beings to this mosquito species. Bacterial plate counts and 16S rRNA sequencing revealed that individuals that are highly attractive to An. gambiae s.s. have a significantly higher abundance, but lower diversity of bacteria on their skin than individuals that are poorly attractive. Bacterial genera that are correlated with the relative degree of attractiveness to mosquitoes were identified. The discovery of the connection between skin microbial populations and attractiveness to mosquitoes may lead to the development of new mosquito attractants and personalized methods for protection against vectors of malaria and other infectious diseases

Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D, parathyroid hormone, calcium intake, and bone mineral density in Spanish adults

Summary Vitamin D insufficiency is very common among Spanish community-dwelling adult subjects. A threshold of serum 25(OH)D around 30 ng/ml would be necessary for the prevention of secondary hyperparathyroidism and hip bone loss in our population, regardless of the dairy calcium ingestion. Introduction This study aims to assess 25-hydroxyvitamin D?25(OH)D?status in Spanish adult subjects and to analyze its relationships with serum PTH levels, calcium intake, and bone mineral density (BMD). Methods A total of 1811 individuals (1154 postmenopausal women and 657 men) aged 44?93 years participated in the study. Serum 25(OH)D, intact parathyroid hormone (PTH), aminoterminal propeptide of type I collagen (P1NP), and Cterminal telopeptide of type I collagen (?-CTX) levels were measured by electrochemiluminescence. BMD was determined by dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) at lumbar spine, femoral neck, and total hip. Results Serum 25(OH)D levels were below 10, 20, and 30 ng/ml in 5, 40, and 83%of participants, respectively. There was a significant seasonal difference in mean serum 25(OH)D, with higher levels in summer?autumn. In multivariate analysis, 25(OH)D levels were negatively correlated with age, serum PTH and creatinine, body mass index, smoking, alcohol intake, and a number of chronic diseases, but positively with dairy calcium intake. The magnitude of the difference in serum PTH according to 25(OH)D quartiles was not influenced by calcium intake. A threshold of serum 25(OH)D around 30 ng/ml was observed for serum PTH and hip BMD. Conclusions Vitamin D insufficiency is very common among Spanish community-dwelling adult subjects. A threshold of serum 25(OH)D around 30 ng/ml would be necessary for the prevention of secondary hyperparathyroidism and hip bone loss in our population, regardless of the dairy calcium ingestion. Programs to improve vitamin D status may be required in our country

The role of food in the Polish migrant adjustment journey

In 2015, there were 916,000 Poles living in the UK, making them the largest group of non-UK nationals at 16.5 percent of the population. Though increasingly research has focused on the consequences of this migration for both migrants themselves and the receiving country, little research has looked at food habits. This paper will explore the role of food in the Polish migrant adjustment journey. A qualitative approach was adopted, involving semi-structured interviews with nine Polish migrants. In this study, Polish migrants described the move to a new culture as a time of stress and loneliness. Due to a lack of money, they were forced to eat local food, which exacerbated their unease, as they found it to be tasteless and unhealthy. As soon as their financial situation improved, they reverted to a Polish diet, relying on ingredients brought from home, from London, or more recently, purchased from local Polish shops. This gave them comfort, and all participants acknowledged the vital role of food in their adjustment to life in a new culture