Antifungal effect of volatile organic compounds produced by Bacillus amyloliquefaciens CPA-8 against fruit pathogen decays of cherry

The present work focuses on the antifungal effect of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by Bacillus amyloliquefaciens CPA-8 against Monilinia laxa, M. fructicola and Botrytis cinera, three postharvest fruit pathogens of sweet cherry fruit. VOCs were evaluated with a double petri dish assay against mycelial and colony growth of target pathogens. For this purpose, CPA-8 was grown on different media and cultured for 24 and 48 h at 30 °C before assays. Data showed that mycelial growth inhibition was higher when CPA-8 was grown on Tryptone Soya Agar (TSA) while no differences were generally observed when CPA-8 was cultured for either, 24 and 48 h. Moreover, no effects were observed on colony growth. The main volatile compounds emitted by CPA-8 were identified by solid-phase microextraction (SPME)-gas chromatography as 1,3 pentadiene, acetoin (3-hydroxy-2-butanone) and thiophene. Pure compounds were also tested in vitro on mycelial growth inhibition and their EC50 values against the three pathogens were estimated. Thiophene was the most effective VOC, showing more than 82% suppression of mycelial growth at the highest concentration (1.35 μL/mL headspace) and EC50 values ranging from 0.06 to 6.67 μL/mL headspace. Finally, the effectiveness of thiophene and CPA-8 VOCs was evaluated against artificially inoculated cherry fruits. Among the target pathogens, M. fructicola was clearly controlled by CPA-8 with less than 25% of rotten fruits compared to the control (65% disease incidence) and for all pathogens, less than 37.5% of CPA-8 treated decayed fruits produced spores (disease sporulation). Otherwise, pure thiophene showed no effect against any pathogen on disease incidence and disease sporulation. The results indicated that VOCs produced by B. amyloliquefaciens CPA-8 could develop an additive antifungal effect against postharvest fruit pathogens on stone fruit.This research was supported by the European project BIOCOMES FP7-612713 and by the Catalan government (Generalitat de Catalunya) for the PhD grant 2016-FI-B2 00143 (Amparo M. Gotor)

Enhancing physicians’ radiology diagnostics of COVID-19’s effects on lung health by leveraging artificial intelligence

Introduction: This study aimed to develop an individualized artificial intelligence model to help radiologists assess the severity of COVID-19's effects on patients' lung health.Methods: Data was collected from medical records of 1103 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 using RT- qPCR between March and June 2020, in Hospital Madrid-Group (HM-Group, Spain). By using Convolutional Neural Networks, we determine the effects of COVID-19 in terms of lung area, opacities, and pulmonary air density. We then combine these variables with age and sex in a regression model to assess the severity of these conditions with respect to fatality risk (death or ICU).Results: Our model can predict high effect with an AUC of 0.736. Finally, we compare the performance of the model with respect to six physicians' diagnosis, and test for improvements on physicians' performance when using the prediction algorithm.Discussion: We find that the algorithm outperforms physicians (39.5% less error), and thus, physicians can significantly benefit from the information provided by the algorithm by reducing error by almost 30%

Pla funcional del Programa d’incorporació de fisioterapeutes a l’atenció primària i comunitària: programa d’incorporació de fisioterapeutes per a la promoció del funcionament i la prevenció de la discapacitat a l’atenció primària i comunitària

Fisioterapeutes; Atenció primària; IncorporacióFisioterapeutas; Atención primaria; IncorporaciónPhysiotherapists; Primary care; IncorporationEl present pla funcional és una eina de suport per a l’acollida i la incorporació dels nous fisioterapeutes1 d’atenció primària i comunitària (FisioAPiC) als equips d’atenció primària (EAP) d’arreu de Catalunya. Aquest és un document dinàmic que requerirà les aportacions dels professionals dels EAP que han incorporat aquest nou rol per tal de fer-lo evolucionar i enriquir-lo en les versions següents

Enhancing physicians’ radiology diagnostics of COVID-19’s effects on lung health by leveraging artificial intelligence

Introduction: This study aimed to develop an individualized artificial intelligence model to help radiologists assess the severity of COVID-19’s effects on patients’ lung health.Methods: Data was collected from medical records of 1103 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 using RT- qPCR between March and June 2020, in Hospital Madrid-Group (HM-Group, Spain). By using Convolutional Neural Networks, we determine the effects of COVID-19 in terms of lung area, opacities, and pulmonary air density. We then combine these variables with age and sex in a regression model to assess the severity of these conditions with respect to fatality risk (death or ICU).Results: Our model can predict high effect with an AUC of 0.736. Finally, we compare the performance of the model with respect to six physicians’ diagnosis, and test for improvements on physicians’ performance when using the prediction algorithm.Discussion: We find that the algorithm outperforms physicians (39.5% less error), and thus, physicians can significantly benefit from the information provided by the algorithm by reducing error by almost 30%

Comparison of sampling methods to assess marine benthic communities: visual vs destructive methods

10th Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research Open Science Conference (SCAR 2022), 1-10 August 2022During the last decades, great efforts have been made to study the diversity and the degree of heterogeneity of Antarctic benthic communities. Numerous investigations on macrobenthic communities have recently been carried out at different sites in Antactic Peninsula using both visual and destructive methods covering a wide latitudinal range. In the present study, we compare the performance of two sampling gears by assessing quantitative data obtained by Agassiz trawls (AGT) and seabed images collected by the Ocean Floor Observation System (OFOS) on the continental shelf of three oceanographically very distinct regions: the Weddell Sea, the Bransfield Strait, and the Drake Passage to provide new quantitative data on the combination of different sampling methods on Antarctic megabethos. A total of 4213 individuals were sampled with AGT and 10550 individuals with OFOS. Combining AGT and OFOS data, we found a total of 19 benthic taxonomic groups. The most dominant groups sampled with AGT were Polychaeta and Ophiuroidea, while Ophiuroidea and Ascidiacea were for OFOS. Ophiuroidea was the most abundant group representing 45% of the individuals in OFOS and 19,1% in AGT. The extremely high abundance of all the taxa observed by OFOS with respect to the abundance estimated with AGT provides important insights into the efficiency of trawl gears in the study of benthic communities. Despite considering the benthic fractions in different resolution but with similar distribution patterns, nondestructive monitoring with visual techniques is extensively recommended for the proper study of Antarctic benthic communities and their consequent managementPeer reviewe

Stability, resolution, and ultra-low wear amplitude modulation atomic force microscopy of DNA: small amplitude small set-point imaging

A way to operate fundamental mode amplitude modulation atomic force microscopy is introduced which optimizes stability and resolution for a given tip size and shows negligible tip wear over extended time periods ( 24 h). In small amplitude smal l set-point (SASS) imaging, the cantilever oscillates with sub-nanometer am plitudes in the proximity of the sample, without the requirement of using large drive forces, a s the dynamics smoothly lead the tip to the surface through the water layer. SASS is demonstrat ed on single molecules of double-stranded DNA in ambient conditions where sharp silicon tips (R 2–5 nm) can resolve the right-handed double helixPeer Reviewe

High-dose neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy versus chemotherapy alone followed by surgery in potentially-resectable stage IIIA-N2 NSCLC. A multi-institutional retrospective study by the Oncologic Group for the Study of Lung Cancer (Spanish Radiation Oncology Society)

BackgroundThe optimal induction treatment in potentially-resectable stage IIIA-N2 NSCLC remains undefined.AimTo compare neoadjuvant high-dose chemoradiotherapy (CRT) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (CHT) in patients with resectable, stage IIIA-N2 non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).MethodsRetrospective, multicentre study of 99 patients diagnosed with stage cT1-T3N2M0 NSCLC who underwent neoadjuvant treatment (high-dose CRT or CHT) followed by surgery between January 2005 and December 2014.Results47 patients (47.5%) underwent CRT and 52 (52.5%) CHT, with a median follow-up of 41 months. Surgery consisted of lobectomy (87.2% and 82.7%, in the CRT and CHT groups, respectively) or pneumonectomy (12.8% vs. 17.3%). Nodal downstaging (to N1/N0) and Pathologic complete response (pCR; pT0pN0) rates were significantly higher in the CRT group (89.4% vs. 57.7% and 46.8% vs. 7.7%, respectively; p