Antimicrobial Resistance in Escherichia coli Strains Isolated from Humans and Pet Animals

Throughout scientific literature, we can find evidence that antimicrobial resistance has become a big problem in the recent years on a global scale. Public healthcare systems all over the world are faced with a great challenge in this respect. Obviously, there are many bacteria that can cause infections in humans and animals alike, but somehow it seems that the greatest threat nowadays comes from the Enterobacteriaceae members, especially Escherichia coli. Namely, we are witnesses to the fact that the systems that these bacteria developed to fight off antibiotics are the strongest and most diverse in Enterobacteriaceae. Our great advantage is in understanding the systems that bacteria developed to fight off antibiotics, so these can help us understand the connection between these microorganisms and the occurrence of antibiotic-resistance both in humans and their pets. Furthermore, unfavorable conditions related to the ease of E. coli transmission via the fecal–oral route among humans, environmental sources, and animals only add to the problem. For all the above stated reasons, it is evident that the epidemiology of E. coli strains and resistance mechanisms they have developed over time are extremely significant topics and all scientific findings in this area will be of vital importance in the fight against infections caused by these bacteria

The opening up of the network industries to competition : regulatory aspects and effects on prices

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How natural gas demand has evolved in 2022-2023

Rationale In view of the energy emergency owing to the war in Ukraine, this article analyses how natural gas consumption by households, firms and the electricity sector evolved in 2022 and early 2023, to identify whether the changes are merely conjunctural or structural in nature. Takeaways •Last year was much warmer than usual. This explained households’ lower demand for gas in the first half of 2022, but it was not sufficient to warrant the larger fall in demand in the second half. During the first four months of 2023 the typical temperature-related consumption pattern was restored. •Firms’ demand for gas has been lower than usual since April 2022, including in the first four months of 2023. This lower consumption may partly be on account of energy efficiency improvements and investments in renewables made by firms. •By contrast, in 2022 the electricity sector posted its highest demand for natural gas in recent years, owing to low hydropower and cogeneration output and, especially, to Spanish electricity exports for conjunctural reasons

Estudio comparativo entre aislados clínicos y no clínicos de S. cerevisiae y su papel como patógeno emergente.

RESUMEN La levadura Saccharomyces cerevisiae es la especie más utilizada desde un punto de vista biotecnológico. En la industria agroalimentaria interviene en la elaboración de pan y bebidas alcohólicas como el vino y la cerveza, además se emplea como suplemento dietético y como agente probiótico bajo el nombre de S. cerevisiae var. boulardii. A pesar de sus propiedades beneficiosas, S. cerevisiae se considera actualmente una levadura patógena oportunista emergente de baja virulencia, capaz de causar infecciones principalmente en hospedadores inmunodeprimidos. Con el fin de conocer el posible papel de esta levadura como patógeno emergente, el presente trabajo aborda un estudio comparativo entre aislados clínicos y no clínicos de S. cerevisiae desde diferentes puntos de vista. En primer lugar, la caracterización mediante técnicas moleculares de un gran número de aislados clínicos y su comparación con aislados no clínicos, ha sido de gran ayuda para esclarecer el origen de colonización en infecciones por S. cerevisiae. Dicha caracterización junto con un estudio filogenético de secuencias del gen COX2, evidenciaron dos posibles casos de colonización exógena por parte de cepas de panadería y la cepa probiótica S. cerevisiae var. boulardii. Por otro lado, los estudios de rasgos fenotípicos asociados con virulencia de esta levadura, mostraron que la capacidad de crecimiento a 42º C, el crecimiento pseudohifal y niveles altos en la actividad fosfolipasa, son rasgos de virulencia que marcan la diferencia entre los aislados clínicos y las cepas industriales. Dicho estudio junto con los ensayos en sistemas murino de infección sistémica, han permitido establecer el potencial patógeno de algunas cepas de S. cerevisiae. Finalmente se han observado diferentes grados de activación de las MAP quinasas Slt2 y Kss1 entre los aislados clínicos y no clínicos incluidos en este estudio, además de detectarse la presencia de dos proteínas Slt2 para un grupo de aislados clínicos. El análisis de la secuencia del gen SLT2 ha revelado que estos aislados tienen más de dos alelos que se diferencian en el tamaño, como consecuencia de la variación en un gran número de repeticiones de los trinucleótidos CAA/que codifican glutaminas. Estos estudios pueden ser de gran interés para las industrias de alimentos que incluyen a S. cerevisiae en sus preparados, así como en el ámbito hospitalario, advirtiendo del peligro que conlleva la administración de productos que contengan dicha levadura, a individuos inmunodeprimidos. __________________________________________________________________________________________________Saccharomyces cerevisiae has traditionally been used in industrial fermentative processes, beer and wine production, baking, and as a nutritional supplement or even as a probiotic. This is the case of the probiotic strain of this species, S. cerevisiae var. boulardii which has been widely used in Europe to treat several types of diarrhoea. Although S. cerevisiae and S. boulardii have commonly been considered as safe microorganism, this concept has changed due to an increased number of human infections. Consequently, S. cerevisiae is now considered an emerging opportunistic pathogen that can cause clinically relevant infections, mainly associated with immunocompromised patients. With the aim of know the possible role of this yeast as an opportunistic pathogen, the present work tackles a comparative study between clinical and no clinical isolates of S. cerevisiae from different point of view. This study could be of great interest for all food industry that include S. cerevisiae inside their preparation, just as in the hospital environment, warning of the risk that entail the administration of products which contain the above mentioned yeast to immunosuppressed person

Energy expenditure of Spanish industrial and services firms

The article examines industrial and services firms’ direct energy costs as a proportion of their turnover in 2019, differentiating by fuel type (electricity, natural gas and other fuels) and by firm size and economic sector. The analysis shows that the proportional expenditure on different energy inputs is highly heterogeneous across productive sub-sectors. For energy-intensive sub-sectors, there are also differences in the composition of energy expenditure by firm size. In general, the larger the firm, the lower the proportion of turnover spent on electricity and other fuels, but the higher the proportion spent on natural gas

Household formation and the need for new primary dwellings in the medium term

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The 2022 European Semester and the Recovery and Resilience Facility

Rationale As a result of the pandemic and with the aim of adapting to a constantly changing environment, the European Semester has been immersed in an important restructuring process since 2020. The launch of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), a central element of the Next Generation EU (NGEU) temporary instrument, has made it necessary to adapt the European Semester to avoid overlaps and eliminate unnecessary administrative burdens. Takeaways • For the 2022 cycle, the European Semester preserves its main purpose of broad economic and employment policy coordination, while taking into account the implementation requirements of the RRF. • One of the key developments this year is the reintroduction of country reports and country-specific recommendations. A new recommendation included aims to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, in line with the REPowerEU objectives. • In the case of Spain, the recommendations are to: (i) ensure a prudent fiscal policy, (ii) continue implementing the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, (iii) increase recycling rates, and (iv) reduce dependence on fossil fuels

Box 6. Recent changes en CO2 emissions in Spain

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The housing market in Spain

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