Virulence factors among enterococci isolated from traditional fermented meat products produced in the North of Portugal

The aim of this work was to characterize Enterococcus spp. isolated from Alheira, Chouriça de Vinhais and Salpicão de Vinhais, fermented meat products produced in the North of Portugal, concerning their potential pathogenicity. One hundred and eighty two isolates (76 identified as Enterococcus faecalis, 44 as Enterococcus faecium, 1 as Enterococcus casseliflavus and 61 as Enterococcus spp.) were studied. Twenty six percent of isolates were gelatinase producers. None of the isolates produced lipase nor DNase activities. Hemolytic activity using sheep and human blood from two types (A and O) was assessed. One isolate was b-hemolytic in human blood. Results obtained in sheep blood were quite different from those obtained in human blood. Biofilm production in batch and in fed-batch mode was evaluated. In batch mode, only 28.0% and 3.9% of isolates were classified as moderate and strong biofilm producers, respectively, and in fed-batch mode, 35.7% and 63.2% of isolates were classified as moderate and strong biofilm producers, respectively. The presence of 13 virulence genes (efaAfs, efaAfm, esp, agg, cylM, cylB, cylA, cylLL cylLs and gelE) were investigated by PCR. The majority of enterococcal isolates showed the presence of one or more virulence factors, the most frequent genotype being efaAfs+ gelE+ agg+ (41.5%). E. faecalis isolates harbored multiple virulence traits, while E. faecium isolates were generally free of virulence determinants. Phenotypic and genotypic evidence of potential virulence factors were identified in Enterococcus spp. isolates, which is a reason of concern

Equal access for equal need: Eliciting public preferences for access to health treatment by employment status

The National Health Service in the UK is set up under the principle of “equal access for equal need”, where those with identical medical needs should be given equal priority in receiving health care. However, non-medical needs may also be relevant in health care decision-making. This paper considers how members of the general public value access to a health service given equal medical needs, where some service users have additional non-medical needs. There are three primary research questions. First, are public preferences regarding access to a health care service symmetric and inequality averse? Second, are public preferences asymmetric across different needs groups? And third, which individual characteristics of respondents are predictive of different public preferences in this domain? An online survey of the UK general public was conducted in January 2017 using binary choice questions. The hypothetical scenarios involved allocating extra resources from a social perspective, to reduce the waiting time to access a mental health service for the unemployed, for the employed, or for both groups. Based on a valid sample of 662 respondents, the study found that the three main preference categories were: inequality averse and symmetric, inequality averse and asymmetric in favour of the unemployed, and inequality seeking and asymmetric in favour of the unemployed, with the first group being the largest. Respondents’ current labour market status was found to explain their preferences so that those who were currently job-seeking were more likely to demonstrate preferences that favoured the unemployed, and those who were currently unemployed were less likely to demonstrate asymmetric preferences that favoured the employed. The implications from these findings are that health policies in the UK that support equal access for equal medical need are likely to be received most favourably, yet a non-trivial minority may support policies favouring those with other, non-medical needs

Bacteriocin production by spray-dried lactic acid bacteria

Cell survival and antagonistic activity against Listeria innocua, Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus were investigated after spray-drying three bacteriocin-producing strains of lactic acid bacteria: Carnobacterium divergens, Lactobacillus salivarius and Lactobacillus sakei

Problem-based learning approaches in meteorology

Problem-Based Learning, despite recent controversies about its effectiveness, is used extensively as a teaching method throughout higher education. In meteorology, there has been little attempt to incorporate Problem-Based Learning techniques into the curriculum. Motivated by a desire to enhance the reflective engagement of students within a current field course module, this project describes the implementation of two test Problem-Based Learning activities and testing and improvement using several different and complementary means of evaluation. By the end of a 2-year program of design, implementation, testing, and reflection and re-evaluation, two robust, engaging activities have been developed that provide an enhanced and diverse learning environment in the field course. The results suggest that Problem-Based Learning techniques would be a useful addition to the meteorology curriculum and suggestions for courses and activities that may benefit from this approach are included in the conclusions

Spin density wave dislocation in chromium probed by coherent x-ray diffraction

We report on the study of a magnetic dislocation in pure chromium. Coherent x-ray diffraction profiles obtained on the incommensurate Spin Density Wave (SDW) reflection are consistent with the presence of a dislocation of the magnetic order, embedded at a few micrometers from the surface of the sample. Beyond the specific case of magnetic dislocations in chromium, this work may open up a new method for the study of magnetic defects embedded in the bulk.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure

Plasma Metabolomics Implicate Modified Transfer RNAs and Altered Bioenergetics in the Outcome of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.

BACKGROUND: -Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a heterogeneous disorder with high mortality. METHODS: -We conducted a comprehensive study of plasma metabolites using ultra-performance liquid chromatography mass-spectrometry to (1) identify patients at high risk of early death, (2) identify patients who respond well to treatment and (3) provide novel molecular insights into disease pathogenesis. RESULTS: -53 circulating metabolites distinguished well-phenotyped patients with idiopathic or heritable PAH (n=365) from healthy controls (n=121) following correction for multiple testing (p<7.3e-5) and confounding factors, including drug therapy, renal and hepatic impairment. A subset of 20/53 metabolites also discriminated PAH patients from disease controls (symptomatic patients without pulmonary hypertension, n=139). 62 metabolites were prognostic in PAH, with 36/62 independent of established prognostic markers. Increased levels of tRNA-specific modified nucleosides (N2,N2-dimethylguanosine, N1-methylinosine), TCA cycle intermediates (malate, fumarate), glutamate, fatty acid acylcarnitines, tryptophan and polyamine metabolites and decreased levels of steroids, sphingomyelins and phosphatidylcholines distinguished patients from controls. The largest differences correlated with increased risk of death and correction of several metabolites over time was associated with a better outcome. Patients who responded to calcium channel blocker therapy had metabolic profiles similar to healthy controls. CONCLUSIONS: -Metabolic profiles in PAH are strongly related to survival and should be considered part of the deep phenotypic characterisation of this disease. Our results support the investigation of targeted therapeutic strategies that seek to address the alterations in translational regulation and energy metabolism that characterize these patients

The First VERITAS Telescope

The first atmospheric Cherenkov telescope of VERITAS (the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System) has been in operation since February 2005. We present here a technical description of the instrument and a summary of its performance. The calibration methods are described, along with the results of Monte Carlo simulations of the telescope and comparisons between real and simulated data. The analysis of TeV $\gamma$-ray observations of the Crab Nebula, including the reconstructed energy spectrum, is shown to give results consistent with earlier measurements. The telescope is operating as expected and has met or exceeded all design specifications.Comment: Accepted by Astroparticle Physic

Temporal fluctuations of waves in weakly nonlinear disordered media

We consider the multiple scattering of a scalar wave in a disordered medium with a weak nonlinearity of Kerr type. The perturbation theory, developed to calculate the temporal autocorrelation function of scattered wave, fails at short correlation times. A self-consistent calculation shows that for nonlinearities exceeding a certain threshold value, the multiple-scattering speckle pattern becomes unstable and exhibits spontaneous fluctuations even in the absence of scatterer motion. The instability is due to a distributed feedback in the system "coherent wave + nonlinear disordered medium". The feedback is provided by the multiple scattering. The development of instability is independent of the sign of nonlinearity.Comment: RevTeX, 15 pages (including 5 figures), accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Active Brownian Particles. From Individual to Collective Stochastic Dynamics

We review theoretical models of individual motility as well as collective dynamics and pattern formation of active particles. We focus on simple models of active dynamics with a particular emphasis on nonlinear and stochastic dynamics of such self-propelled entities in the framework of statistical mechanics. Examples of such active units in complex physico-chemical and biological systems are chemically powered nano-rods, localized patterns in reaction-diffusion system, motile cells or macroscopic animals. Based on the description of individual motion of point-like active particles by stochastic differential equations, we discuss different velocity-dependent friction functions, the impact of various types of fluctuations and calculate characteristic observables such as stationary velocity distributions or diffusion coefficients. Finally, we consider not only the free and confined individual active dynamics but also different types of interaction between active particles. The resulting collective dynamical behavior of large assemblies and aggregates of active units is discussed and an overview over some recent results on spatiotemporal pattern formation in such systems is given.Comment: 161 pages, Review, Eur Phys J Special-Topics, accepte