Whose microbiome is it?: adaptive interactions of keystone species in plant microbiomes

Plant organs are colonized by diverse microbial organisms that help the plant to ensure fitness and survival in unpredictable environments. Different factors shape the microbiome of plants including the plant genotype, environmental conditions and microbe-microbe interactions. Certain highly interactive microbes were identified as keystone species in plant-associated microbial communities, i.e. species that are important for the structure and integrity of a community, regardless of its abundance in the ecosystem. Keystones in plant microbiomes could be important in structuring early colonization of plants by microorganisms and in controlling the variability of plant-associated microbiomes. The goal of this project was to evaluate the hypothesis that the plant microbiome is a combination of the microbiomes of the host and its keystones, focusing on early colonization. In this work a new amplicon sequencing pipeline was developed to investigate the leaf microbiomes of nine wild Arabidopsis thaliana population identified in Jena, Germany. We found, that their core microbiome is largely, but not completely shared with other co-habituating ground-dwelling ruderal plant species. The difference between A. thaliana bacteriomes and those of other plants depended on how variable bacteriomes were in each population, which changed between years in each population. We then tested the importance of early microbial colonization in two of the wild A. thaliana populations and one A. thaliana reference strain and identified efficient early colonizers as possible keystone species. We found, that if they influenced microbial community assembly they increased the variation of bacterial communities rather than decreasing it. To summarize, early colonizing bacteria affect the outcome of plant-to-plant variation. We hypothesize that these are bacterial keystone species that do not shape the plants microbiome in a specific way, but rather serve as cues leading to more variability

Precisão de impressões de implantes : convencional versus digital

Dissertação para obtenção do grau de Mestre no Instituto Universitário Egas MonizA constante evolução tecnológica, tem-se revelado um grande aliado nas diversas áreas da medicina dentária. O surgimento e desenvolvimento da tecnológica CAD/CAM (Computer Aided Design/Computer Aided Manufacturing) com inicio na década de 80, despertou uma nova realidade na prática clínica diária. A verdadeira finalidade da introdução desta tecnologia, é potencializar a consulta, otimizando o procedimento de impressões intraorais. Com as novas tecnologias emergentes, prevê-se que a medicina dentária seja guiada por esta vaga tecnológica, que dá lugar a esta nova era digital. Será que estes novos dispositivos irão mudar o paradigma na toma e impressões de implantes? O propósito deste trabalho, é explanar duas técnicas distintas de impressões de implantes, convencional e digital, posicionando as recentes tecnologias que surgem no mercado, comparando-as às técnicas consideradas mais tradicionais, tendo em consideração aspetos como: procedimento, técnica, conforto, preferência, tempo de consulta e custos de produção, avaliando tanto na perspetiva do doente, como do operador. Neste contexto, pretende-se com esta monografia concluir, se existe evidência científica que valide e que confirme a existência de vantagens quando comparadas estas duas técnicas. Esta avaliação será executada a partir de uma pesquisa bibliográfica, assente em artigos disponíveis nas bases de dados Cochrane Library , Medline/Pubmed, Scielo, Google Scholar e B-on, dando prioridade a artigos referentes aos últimos 10 anos.The constant technological evolution has proved to be a great ally in the different areas of dental medicine. The emergence and development of CAD / CAM (Computer Aided Design / Computer Aided Manufacturing) technology since the 1980s, has awakened a new reality in daily clinical practice. The real purpose introducing this technology in dentistry, is to potentialize every consultation, optimizing the procedure of intraoral impressions. With new technologies emerging, dental medicine is expected to be guided by this digital wave, which gives rise to this new technological / digital era. Will these new devices change the paradigm in implant impression? The purpose of this master thesis is to expose two different techniques, of implant impression, conventional and digital, positioning the recent technologies that appear on the market, comparing them to more traditional techniques, taking into account factors such as: procedure, technique, comfort and preference for both the patient and the operator, consultation time, production costs. In this context, it is intended to conclude whether there is scientific evidence, so that it can be said that there are advantages when comparing these two techniques. This evaluation will be carried out based on a bibliographic search, based on articles available in the Medline / Pubmed, Cochrane Library, Scielo, Google Scholar e B-on databases, giving priority to articles referring to the last 10 years

Consulting project: Descubriendo Juntxs

El sector de las capacitaciones es cada vez más valorado por las empresas y busca mejorar el desenvolvimiento de las personas, tanto en lo laboral como lo social o familiar. Sin embargo, la desigualdad es una barrera para ciertas personas al momento de poder recibir este servicio. En ese sentido, es que nace Descubriendo Juntxs, empresa fundada el año 2023 con un importante enfoque social: llevar las capacitaciones a gente en los sectores de más difícil acceso peruano, como puede ser el sector rural. Esta realidad es contrastada por la fundadora de la empresa, Saddit Suice Vilchez, la cual es originaria de la ciudad de Huancayo y ha presenciado la desigualdad que vive mucha gente al momento de acceder a capacitaciones o educación de calidad. Por ende, el foco y motivo de la empresa es buscar mejorar la vida de la gente que no tiene fácil acceso a este servicio, a través de capacitaciones y de manera gratuita. Esta labor social viene siendo financiada por la misma empresa a través de los servicios que brinda a sus clientes. No obstante, el problema identificado es que no existen clientes nuevos para la empresa, lo cual ha generado un bajo flujo de caja y una ausencia de movimiento laboral en Descubriendo Juntxs. En consecuencia, el proceso de consultoría se centró en proponer soluciones a corto y mediano plazo, basadas en un análisis cualitativo y cuantitativo, donde se recopiló información de los clientes anteriores, la cual sirvió para estudiarse y contrastarla con nuevas oportunidades encontradas por el equipo. Después de evaluar las alternativas de solución, se propuso una solución final, la cual contempla una estrategia de negocios que servirá para que Descubriendo Juntxs pueda generar nuevos ingresos y luego expanda su equipo a más personas, poniendo en marcha un plan de marketing, necesario para captar más clientes.The training sector is currently witnessing a heightened appreciation among companies, with a strong emphasis on enhancing individuals' performance across professional, social, and familial domains. Nevertheless, the pervasive issue of inequality acts as a significant impediment for certain individuals in accessing these services. It is in this context that Descubriendo Juntxs was established in 2023, underpinned by a profound social mission: to extend training opportunities to individuals residing in the most underserved regions of Peru, particularly in rural areas. The founder of the company, Saddit Vilchez, hailing from the city of Huancayo, brings a personal understanding of the inequalities many people face in their pursuit of quality training and education. Hence, the company's core purpose and driving force revolve around enhancing the lives of individuals who encounter formidable obstacles in accessing such services, all the while delivering this training free of charge. To sustain this noble social endeavor, the company leverages the revenues generated from the services it provides to its clients. However, a critical challenge has emerged in the form of stagnant client acquisition, resulting in reduced cash flow and a notable absence of labor movement within Descubriendo Juntxs. Consequently, the consulting process has been meticulously crafted to propose short and medium-term solutions. Rooted in both qualitative and quantitative analyses, this approach involved the aggregation of insights from prior clients, which were then meticulously scrutinized and aligned with fresh opportunities identified by the consulting team. Following a thorough evaluation of potential alternatives, a final solution has been outlined. This solution entails the formulation of a business strategy designed to enable Descubriendo Juntxs to secure additional income streams and subsequently expand its team, ushering in an era of growth through the implementation of an essential marketing plan aimed at attracting a broader clientele base

Expression and delivery of an endolysin to combat Clostridium perfringens

Clostridium perfringens is a cause for increasing concern due to its responsibility for severe infections both in humans and animals, especially poultry. To find new control strategies to treat C. perfringens infection, we investigated the activity and delivery of a bacteriophage endolysin. We identified a new endolysin, designated CP25L, which shows similarity to an N-acetylmuramoyl-l-alanine amidase domain and is distinct from other C. perfringens endolysins whose activity has been demonstrated in vitro. The cp25l gene was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli, and the gene product demonstrated lytic activity against all 25 C. perfringens strains tested. The probiotic strain Lactobacillus johnsonii FI9785 was engineered to deliver the endolysin to the gastrointestinal tract. The integration of the nisRK two-component regulatory system from the Lactococcus lactis nisin A biosynthesis operon into the chromosome of L. johnsonii allowed constitutive expression of the endolysin under the control of the nisA promoter (P(nisA)), while the use of a signal peptide (SLPmod) led to successful secretion of the active endolysin to the surrounding media. The high specificity and activity of the endolysin suggest that it may be developed as an effective tool to enhance the control of C. perfringens by L. johnsonii in the gastrointestinal tract

Kinetics of Intramolecular Chemical Exchange by Initial Growth Rates of Spin Saturation Transfer Difference Experiments (SSTD NMR)

We report here the Initial Growth Rates SSTD NMR method, as a new powerful tool to obtain the kinetic parameters of intramolecular chemical exchange in challenging small organic and organometallic molecules

a nationwide study to characterize sex differences, incidence, and spatial patterns in Portugal

BACKGROUND/AIM: This study characterized lung cancer (LC) in Portugal, to capture sex differences, regional variation, and spatial distribution. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Variables: age, sex, vital status, region of residence, degree of urbanization, histologic types and stage at diagnosis. Spatial analyses conducted to identify high (HIC) and low incidence (LIC) clusters. RESULTS: In total, 11,642 cases were diagnosed (76.6% male, 23.4% female), with a similar mean age at diagnosis. There were 23,6% locally advanced and 58.4% metastatic disease cases, with 13.4% alive five years after diagnosis. Non-small-cell LC accounted for 77.3% of which 40.8% was adenocarcinoma and 22.7% was squamous cell carcinoma. Standardized incident rate (IR) was 37.5/105, 65.2/105 in males, and 15.7/105 in females, with four HIC (urban) clusters and four LIC (non-urban). CONCLUSION: This study highlighted the sex differences in incidence, mortality, histology, and geographic distribution of LC in Portugal. Considering the advanced stages and the poor overall survival, understanding sex and geographic differences is important for public health interventions.publishersversionpublishe

Editorial: Participatory Evaluation and Impact Assessment in Citizen Science

Editorial to the fteval Journal's special issue #5