Preliminary evaluation of in vitro bacteriostatic and bactericidal effect of salt on leptospira spp

Environmental resistance is an important factor for understanding the epidemiology of leptospirosis. Recently, new Leptospira hosts were identified, including also marine mammals. Moreover, halotolerant Leptospira strain, isolated from the environment and animals, highlighted the capability of this microorganism to persist in the seawater. The aim of this research was to investigate the bacteriostatic and bactericidal effect of salt on Leptospira strains belonging to 16 different serovars. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values were verified through the microdilutions method starting from a 20% sodium chloride concentration. MIC values obtained were between 0.3125% and 10% of salt, while MBC values between 0.625% and >20%. Icterohaemorrhagiae (MIC: 0.3125%; MBC: 0.625%) resulted the most inhibited serovar, while the most resistant was Tarassovi (MIC: 10%; MBC: >20%). Interestingly, trends were reported for Pomona (MIC: 1.25%; MBC: >20%) and Bratislava (MIC: 0.625%; MBC: 20%), highlighting low MIC values but high MBC values. This is the first investigation aimed at the in vitro effect of salt on the growth of Leptospira spp. reference strains

Una visión del problema de las malezas en colombia

Este trabajo, son notas a cerca del problema que significa la vegetación adventicia en los sistemas de cultivos de un país tropical como Colombia. Se consideran entre otros aspectos, la actitud de los diversos estamentos involucrados en la producción aqrícola frente al problema de las malezas, la estimación de pérdidas en los cultivos debidas a las malezas, se mencionan algunas de las especies de arvenses de importancia económica de acuerdo con la altitud, los métodos y tecnologías utilizadas para manejar estas especies y finalmente, se hacen algunasconsideraciones acerca del estado actual en Colombia sobre la investigación, decencia y extensión en Malherbología

Microbial profile of the ventriculum of honey bee (apis mellifera ligustica spinola, 1806) fed with veterinary drugs, dietary supplements and non-protein amino acids

The effects of veterinary drugs, dietary supplements and non-protein amino acids on the European honey bee (Apis mellifera ligustica Spinola, 1806) ventriculum microbial profile were investigated. Total viable aerobic bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae, staphylococci, Escherichia coli, lactic acid bacteria, Pseudomonas spp., aerobic bacterial endospores and Enterococcus spp. were determined using a culture-based method. Two veterinary drugs (Varromed® and Api-Bioxal®), two commercial dietary supplements (ApiHerb® and ApiGo®) and two non-protein amino acids (GABA and beta-alanine) were administered for one week to honey bee foragers reared in laboratory cages. After one week, E. coli and Staphylococcus spp. were significantly affected by the veterinary drugs (p < 0.001). Furthermore, dietary supplements and non-protein amino acids induced significant changes in Staphylococcus spp., E. coli and Pseudomonas spp. (p < 0.001). In conclusion, the results of this investigation showed that the administration of the veterinary drugs, dietary supplements and non-protein amino acids tested, affected the ventriculum microbiological profile of Apis mellifera ligustica

Candidate molecular markers of hygienic behavior in honeybees (Apis mellifera): an expression study

Honeybees (Apis mellifera) evolved social immunity mechanisms based on coordinated behavioral mechanisms for reducing the disease risk in the hive. Among these, Hygienic Behavior (HB) leads to the uncapping and removal of dead, diseased or parasitized brood (Cremer, 2007). The characterization of expression markers of HB could greatly assist in-field selection still incomplete. This work was characterized by a transversal approach: from in-field phenotypic characterization, to expression profiling of selected honeybee brain non-coding (microRNAs) and coding (RNAm) genes to assess differential expression of selected gene targets between selected honeybee families with high and low HB, respectively. After a preliminary work performed in 2015, during spring 2016 honeybee nurses were sampled from 28 hives simultaneously with the evaluation of HB score through freeze-killed brood assay performed with the cooperation of professional honeybee breeders (E. Bonfanti, L. Sesso). The nurses from 16 families (8 with the highest and 8 with the lowest HB scores, respectively) underwent expression analysis of the following target genes potentially linked to HB and/or learning processes: ame-miR-219, ame-miR-276, let-7a (Behura, 2010) ame-miR-932 (Cristino, 2014), and Act5C, Mblk-1 (Takeuchi, 2001) and Obp4 (Chandrasekaran, 2011). The experimental workflow was as follows: 1) dissection and pooling of brains, 2) total RNA extraction, quantification and retrotranscription, 3) RT-quantitative Real Time PCR. The differential expression analysis of the candidate markers, performed after selection of the normalizing gene through geNorm and NormFinder algorithms, highlighted a correlation of OBP4 and ACT5C expression level with HB score

Correspondence Between Cognitive and Audiological Evaluations Among the Elderly: A Preliminary Report of an Audiological Screening Model of Subjects at Risk of Cognitive Decline With Slight to Moderate Hearing Loss

Epidemiological studies show increasing prevalence rates of cognitive decline and hearing loss with age, particularly after the age of 65 years. These conditions are reported to be associated, although conclusive evidence of causality and implications is lacking. Nevertheless, audiological and cognitive assessment among elderly people is a key target for comprehensive and multidisciplinary evaluation of the subject's frailty status. To evaluate the use of tools for identifying older adults at risk of hearing loss and cognitive decline and to compare skills and abilities in terms of hearing and cognitive performances between older adults and young subjects, we performed a prospective cross-sectional study using supraliminal auditory tests. The relationship between cognitive assessment results and audiometric results was investigated, and reference ranges for different ages or stages of disease were determined. Patients older than 65 years with different degrees of hearing function were enrolled. Each subject underwent an extensive audiological assessment, including tonal and speech audiometry, Italian Matrix Sentence Test, and speech audiometry with logatomes in quiet. Cognitive function was screened and then verified by experienced clinicians using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Score, the Geriatric Depression Scale, and further investigations in some. One hundred twenty-three subjects were finally enrolled during 2016-2019: 103 were >65 years of age and 20 were younger participants (as controls). Cognitive functions showed a correlation with the audiological results in post-lingual hearing-impaired patients, in particular in those affected by slight to moderate hearing loss and aged more than 70 years. Audiological testing can thus be useful in clinical assessment and identification of patients at risk of cognitive impairment. The study was limited by its sample size (CI 95%; CL 10%), strict dependence on language, and hearing threshold. Further investigations should be conducted to confirm the reported results and to verify similar screening models

Response to novel objects and foraging tasks by common marmoset (Callithrix Jacchus) female Pairs

Many studies have shown that environmental enrichment can significantly improve the psychological well-being of captive primates, increasing the occurrence of explorative behavior and thus reducing boredom. The response of primates to enrichment devices may be affected by many factors such as species, sex, age, personality and social context. Environmental enrichment is particularly important for social primates living in unnatural social groupings (i.e. same-sex pairs or singly housed animals), who have very few, or no, benefits from the presence of social companions in addition to all the problems related to captivity (e.g. increased inactivity). This study analyses the effects of enrichment devices (i.e. novel objects and foraging tasks) on the behavior of common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) female pairs, a species that usually lives in family groups. It aims to determine which aspects of an enrichment device are more likely to elicit explorative behaviors, and how aggressive and stress-related behaviors are affected by its presence. Overall, the marmosets explored foraging tasks significantly longer than novel objects. The type of object, which varied in size, shape and aural responsiveness (i.e. they made a noise when the monkey touched them), did not affect the response of the monkeys, but they explored objects that were placed higher in the enclosure more than those placed lower down.Younger monkeys were more attracted to the enrichment devices than the older ones. Finally, stress-related behavior (i.e. scratching) significantly decreased when the monkeys were presented with the objects; aggressive behavior as unaffected. This study supports the importance of environmental enrichment for captive primates and shows that in marmosets its effectiveness strongly depends upon the height of the device in the enclosure and the presence of hidden food. The findings can be explained ifone considers the foraging behavior of wild common marmosets. Broader applications for the research findings are suggested in relation to enrichment

Applying multidimensional computerized adaptive testing to the MSQOL-54: a simulation study

Background: The Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life-54 (MSQOL-54) is one of the most commonly-used MS-specific health-related quality of life (HRQOL) measures. It is a multidimensional, MS-specific HRQOL inventory, which includes the generic SF-36 core items, supplemented with 18 MS-targeted items. Availability of an adaptive short version providing immediate item scoring may improve instrument usability and validity. However, multidimensional computerized adaptive testing (MCAT) has not been previously applied to MSQOL-54 items. We thus aimed to apply MCAT to the MSQOL-54 and assess its performance. Methods: Responses from a large international sample of 3669 MS patients were assessed. We calibrated 52 (of the 54) items using bifactor graded response model (10 group factors and one general HRQOL factor). Then, eight simulations were run with different termination criteria: standard errors (SE) for the general factor and group factors set to different values, and change in factor estimates from one item to the next set at < 0.01 for both the general and the group factors. Performance of the MCAT was assessed by the number of administered items, root mean square difference (RMSD), and correlation. Results: Eight items were removed due to local dependency. The simulation with SE set to 0.32 (general factor), and no SE thresholds (group factors) provided satisfactory performance: the median number of administered items was 24, RMSD was 0.32, and correlation was 0.94. Conclusions: Compared to the full-length MSQOL-54, the simulated MCAT required fewer items without losing precision for the general HRQOL factor. Further work is needed to add/integrate/revise MSQOL-54 items in order to make the calibration and MCAT performance efficient also on group factors, so that the MCAT version may be used in clinical practice and research