Multiscale heterogeneity in filamentous microbes

Microbial cells within clonal populations can display different morphologies or carry out different tasks. This heterogeneity is beneficial at the population level and allows microbes to spread risk or separate incompatible activities. Heterogeneity is also evident in filamentous bacteria and fungi, which form mycelial networks consisting of interconnected hyphae. Here, heterogeneity is observed between clonal mycelial particles, between different zones of colonies, between adjacent hyphae and even between adjacent compartments of individual hyphae. In this review, we compare this multiscale heterogeneity in filamentous bacteria and fungi and discuss the underlying mechanisms. These mechanisms might provide targets to improve the exploitability of these organisms as cell factories in the biotech sector.Microbial Biotechnolog

Expanding the chemical space for natural products by Aspergillus-Streptomyces co-cultivation and biotransformation

Microbial Biotechnolog

Aggregation of germlings is a major contributing factor towards mycelial heterogeneity of Streptomyces

Microbial Biotechnolog

Digital media in primary schools: literacy or technology? Analyzing government and media discourses

This article examines the political and the media discourses concerning the Portuguese governmental program responsible for delivering a laptop named “Magalhães” to all primary school children. The analysis is based on the official documents related to the launch and development of the initiative as well as the press coverage of this topic. The main purpose is to recognize the dominant public discourses and to find out what the media select for the debate in the public sphere. This analysis was done with a particular focus on the critical media literacy framework. The results reveal that the press highlighted the negative aspects of that program and that this framing could have a strong impact on how it was accepted and understood by the public opinion. Analysis also reveals that the governmental initiative was predominantly driven by technological objectives, in particular the access to technology, rather than media literacy objectives.The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This paper is part of a three years project named "Navigating with 'Magalhaes': Study on the Impact of Digital Media in Schoolchildren" funded by FCT - Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) and co-funded by FEDER - Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (ERDF: European Regional Development Fund) through COMPETE - Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade (Operational Competitiveness Programme)

Assessment of Fibrinolysis in Sepsis Patients with Urokinase Modified Thromboelastography

INTRODUCTION: Impairment of fibrinolysis during sepsis is associated with worse outcome. Early identification of this condition could be of interest. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether a modified point-of-care viscoelastic hemostatic assay can detect sepsis-induced impairment of fibrinolysis and to correlate impaired fibrinolysis with morbidity and mortality. METHODS: This single center observational prospective pilot study was performed in an adult Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a tertiary academic hospital. Forty consecutive patients admitted to the ICU with severe sepsis or septic shock were included. Forty healthy individuals served as controls. We modified conventional kaolin activated thromboelastography (TEG) adding urokinase to improve assessment of fibrinolysis in real time (UK-TEG). TEG, UK-TEG, plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI)-1, thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI), d-dimer, DIC scores and morbidity (rated with the SOFA score) were measured upon ICU admission. Logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) of mortality at ICU discharge. RESULTS: UK-TEG revealed a greater impairment of fibrinolysis in sepsis patients compared to healthy individuals confirmed by PAI-1. TAFI was not different between sepsis patients and healthy individuals. 18/40 sepsis patients had fibrinolysis impaired according to UK-TEG and showed higher SOFA score (8 (6-13) vs 5 (4-7), p = 0.03), higher mortality (39% vs 5%, p = 0.01) and greater markers of cellular damage (lactate levels, LDH and bilirubin). Mortality at ICU discharge was predicted by the degree of fibrinolysis impairment measured by UK-TEG Ly30 (%) parameter (OR 0.95, 95% CI 0.93-0.98, p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Sepsis-induced impairment of fibrinolysis detected at UK-TEG was associated with increased markers of cellular damage, morbidity and mortality

Analysis of Alzheimer's disease severity across brain regions by topological analysis of gene co-expression networks

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder involving variations in the transcriptome of many genes. AD does not affect all brain regions simultaneously. Identifying the differences among the affected regions may shed more light onto the disease progression. We developed a novel method involving the differential topology of gene coexpression networks to understand the association among affected regions and disease severity.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We analysed microarray data of four regions - entorhinal cortex (EC), hippocampus (HIP), posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and middle temporal gyrus (MTG) from AD affected and normal subjects. A coexpression network was built for each region and the topological overlap between them was examined. Genes with zero topological overlap between two region-specific networks were used to characterise the differences between the two regions.</p> <p>Results and conclusion</p> <p>Results indicate that MTG shows early AD pathology compared to the other regions. We postulate that if the MTG gets affected later in the disease, post-mortem analyses of individuals with end-stage AD will show signs of early AD in the MTG, while the EC, HIP and PCC will have severe pathology. Such knowledge is useful for data collection in clinical studies where sample selection is a limiting factor as well as highlighting the underlying biology of disease progression.</p

Mind the Hermeneutical Gap: A Terminological Issue in Kumārajīva’s Version of the Diamond Sutra

The Jingang banruoboluomi jing 金剛般若波羅蜜經 T 235, translated by Kumārajīva at the beginning of the 5th century CE, is the earliest and most influential of the six Chinese versions of the Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā. No doubt it can be regarded as the Chinese Diamond Sutra par excellence: almost all of the numerous Chinese commentaries devoted to this scripture (which constitute a rich source for exploring the reception of this text in China) are based on Kumārajīva’s version. This article focuses on the use of the term xiang 相 in this translation and in some related commentaries, showing how Kumārajīva’s creative translation technique exerted a profound influence on the Chinese understanding of this Mahāyāna scripture