161 research outputs found
The Missionary Herald and Examiner
No full textJames Napp graduated from Kalamazoo College in 1908. Following graduation, Napp became a professor at the Syrian Protestant College in what is now Beirut, Lebanon. He would eventually become a missionary with the American Presbyterian Mission in Kolhapur, India where he was an educational supervisor from 1920-1944. There is little known about the following publication. It likely stems from The Missionary Herald, a Christian publication in circulation from 1805-1906. It is believed that Napp is the author of this issue. Within its pages Napp describes life as a missionary, challenges faced with opposition to the missionary schools, and his experience listening to Ghandhi perform a speech in front of a crowd of thousands
Antimicrobial Efficacy of a Historical High-Frequency Plasma Apparatus in Comparison With 2 Modern, Cold Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Devices
No full textBackground. Today, highly sophisticated devices deliver cold atmospheric pressure plasma (CAPP) with a multitude of bioactive properties, opening the window to a new medical field: plasma medicine. Different techniques to create the optimal plasma device for different medical indications are currently being explored. However, even a 100 years ago, CAPP was briefly used in the related form of high-frequency therapy. The objective of our study was to compare historic with modern techniques regarding antimicrobial efficacy. Methods. First, 26 different clinical isolates of relevant wound pathogens were treated in vitro with a historic violet wand (VW) and 2 modern plasma sources (kINPen 09 and dielectric barrier discharge [DBD]) and the obtained inhibition areas (IAs) were compared. Second, a biofilm model was used to compare biofilm inactivation by VW, DBD, ethanol, and polyhexanide treatment. Results. DBD with the largest electrode produced the largest IAs. VW showed results similar to 2 different modes of the kINPen 09. IAs of VW were enlargeable by attaching a larger electrode. Against biofilms, VW was less effective than DBD but more effective than ethanol 70% and polyhexanide. Conclusion. The proven antimicrobial efficacy of VW may encourage the development of new, potent plasma devices based on the very simple and inexpensive technique of the historic high-frequency apparatus.German Federal Ministry of Education and Research [13N9773, 13N9779
Effect of Plasma-Activated Bleaching on Enamel Microhardness and Morphology
No full textThis in vitro study aimed to evaluate the effect of nonthermal atmospheric pressure plasma (NAPP)-activated hydrogen peroxide (HP) and deionized water (DW) on enamel microhardness and enamel surface morphology.Complex Fluid Processin
In Vitro Susceptibility of Multidrug Resistant Skin and Wound Pathogens Against Low Temperature Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet (APPJ) and Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma ( DBD)
No full textPlasma medicine has become an emerging field in medical sciences since cold plasma has demonstrated important antimicrobial properties. As microbial plasma susceptibility data yet are not available, the susceptibility of 194 wound isolates exhibiting multiple antibiotic resistance was tested in vitro to CP and correlated with inhibition zones. Inhibition zones increased in parallel with the number of antibiotic classes to which the tested strain exhibit resistance. CP exhibited strong antimicrobial efficacy against most important clinical skin and wound pathogens in vitro irrespective of multidrug resistance.German Federal Ministry of Education and Research [13N9773, 13N9779
Epidemiological and Pathological Studies for Streptococcus suis
No full textStreptococcus suis és un important patogen porcí amb distribució mundial. Tot i habitar de manera natural a les vies respiratòries dels porcs, a vegades pot produir malaltia als garrins en el moment del deslletament, caracteritzada per artritis, meningitis i/o mort sobtada. És a més un patogen zoonòtic, particularment rellevant als països del sud-est asiàtic. En aquesta tesis s’ha fet una estimació de la prevalença i el cost de la malaltia associats a S. suis per a tres dels principals països productors de porc a Europa: Alemanya, Països Baixos i Espanya (Estudi I). Els nostres resultats mostren que la malaltia té una alta incidència en les explotacions porcines d’aquests països, amb diferències substancials en la prevalença i la mortalitat entre fases, i una major prevalença en la transició. Els costos van ser més elevats a Alemanya, seguit de Països Baixos i Espanya, i s’expliquen fonamentalment per les mesures aplicades per a prevenir o controlar S. suis (autovacunes i antimicrobians). Malgrat que els garrins són colonitzats per S. suis en el moment del naixement, només una part desenvolupa la malaltia posteriorment. S’han estudiat diferents factors tradicionalment associats amb l’aparició de la malaltia en dues explotacions porcines catalanes (Estudi II). L’estrès dels animals i una elevada humitat en maternitat, la presència del virus de la síndrome respiratòria i reproductiva porcina, la temperatura més baixa en transició, així com la menor paritat de les truges augmenten el risc de desenvolupar signes clínics associats a la malaltia. La susceptibilitat de l’hoste i la virulència de les soques de S. suis presents a les granges també juguen un paper molt important en l’aparició de la malaltia. S’ha estudiat la resposta immune innata contra S. suis en garrins nascuts per cesària i privats de calostre amb un desafiament per via intranasal amb una soca virulenta i una altra no virulenta de S. suis (Estudi III). Aquesta infecció va permetre observar per primera vegada la resposta davant la colonització en mucosa nasal, sang, pulmó, tràquea, fetge i melsa mitjançant anàlisi transcriptòmic. La resposta a la soca no virulenta de S. suis es caracteritzà per un control ràpid en el lloc d’inoculació. Per altra banda, la resposta inflamatòria local de la soca virulenta es va mantenir més temps en la mucosa nasal, demostrant que la resposta de l’hoste depèn de la virulència de la soca. Addicionalment, la soca virulenta es va detectar més profundament a l’interior de la làmina cribosa de l’os etmoides, observació que suggereix una ruta alternativa d’invasió per a S. suis. Els antimicrobians s’han fet servir com a eines per al control de la malaltia causada per S. suis, tanmateix, el seu ús comporta l’aparició i propagació de resistències. Per tal d’afrontar el repte de reduir l’ús d’antimicrobians en el bestiar, es va provar l’eficàcia protectora d’una barreja de probiòtics nasals davant un desafiament letal amb una soca virulenta de S. suis (Estudi IV). Els comensals, pertanyents als gèneres Rothia, Moraxella i una soca no virulenta de S. suis, es van seleccionar en funció de diferents criteris, com l’abundància relativa en garrins sans, la inhibició in vitro de S. suis o la capacitat d’adherència. Tot i la falta de diferències significatives entre els grups, els garrins inoculats amb una combinació de dues soques de Rothia i una altra de Moraxella mostraren la millor taxa de supervivència i menor gravetat de signes clínics i lesions després del desafiament. Aquests resultats estableixen les bases per a futurs estudis amb probiòtics nasals porcins, una alternativa en la prevenció de malalties degudes a patògens colonitzadors primerencs de les vies respiratòries.Streptococcus suis es un importante patógeno porcino con una distribución mundial. A pesar de ser un habitante natural de las vías respiratorias de los cerdos, en ocasiones puede causar en los lechones una enfermedad caracterizada por artritis, meningitis y/o muerte súbita. Es también un patógeno zoonótico, particularmente importante en los países del sudeste asiático. En la presente tesis se ha estimado la prevalencia y el coste de la enfermedad asociada a S. suis para tres de los principales países productores de cerdos de Europa: Alemania, Países Bajos y España (Estudio I). Nuestros resultados mostraron que la enfermedad tiene una alta incidencia, con diferencias sustanciales en la prevalencia y mortalidad entre fases productivas. Los costes fueron mayores en Alemania, seguido de Países Bajos y España, y se explicaron fundamentalmente por las medidas aplicadas para prevenir o controlar S. suis (autovacunas y antimicrobianos). A pesar de que los lechones son colonizados por S. suis en el momento del nacimiento, solo una parte desarrollan la enfermedad más tarde. Debido a ello, fueron estudiados diferentes factores que tradicionalmente se han asociado a la aparición de la enfermedad en dos explotaciones porcinas catalanas (Estudio II). El estrés de los animales y la humedad más elevada en maternidad, la presencia del virus del síndrome respiratorio y reproductivo porcino, la temperatura más baja en transición, así como la menor paridad de las madres, aumentaron el riesgo de desarrollar signos clínicos asociados con la enfermedad. La susceptibilidad del hospedador y la virulencia de las cepas de S. suis presentes en las granjas juegan también un papel importante en el desarrollo de la enfermedad. Se estudió la respuesta inmune innata contra S. suis en lechones nacidos por cesárea y privados de calostro mediante el desafío por vía intranasal con una cepa virulenta y otra no virulenta de S. suis (Estudio III). Se observó así por primera vez la respuesta frente a la colonización en mucosa nasal, sangre, pulmón, tráquea, hígado y bazo mediante análisis transcriptómico. La respuesta a la cepa no virulenta de S. suis se caracterizó por un rápido control en el sitio de inoculación. Sin embargo, para la cepa virulenta, la respuesta inflamatoria local se mantuvo más tiempo en la mucosa nasal, lo que demuestra que la respuesta del hospedador depende de la virulencia de la cepa. Además, la cepa virulenta se detectó más profundamente en el interior de la lámina cribosa del hueso etmoides, lo que sugiere una ruta alternativa de invasión. Los antimicrobianos han sido una de las herramientas utilizadas para el control de la enfermedad provocada por S. suis, no obstante, su uso conlleva la aparición y propagación de resistencias. Para afrontar el reto de reducir el uso de antimicrobianos en el ganado, se probó la eficacia protectora de una mezcla de probióticos nasales frente a un desafío letal con una cepa virulenta de S. suis (Estudio IV). Los comensales, pertenecientes a los géneros Rothia y Moraxella, y una cepa no virulenta de S. suis, se seleccionaron en función de diferentes criterios, como la abundancia relativa en lechones sanos, la inhibición in vitro de S. suis o su capacidad de adherencia. A pesar de la falta de diferencias significativas entre los grupos, los lechones inoculados con una combinación de dos cepas de Rothia y otra de Moraxella mostraron la mejor tasa de supervivencia y menor gravedad de signos clínicos y lesiones después del desafío. Estos resultados sientan las bases para futuros estudios con probióticos nasales porcinos, una alternativa en la prevención de enfermedades causadas por patógenos que son colonizadores tempranos de las vías respiratorias.Streptococcus suis is a major swine pathogen with a worldwide distribution. Despite being a natural inhabitant of the pig respiratory tract, it can sometimes cause disease in weaning piglets, characterized by arthritis, meningitis, and/or sudden death. It is also a zoonotic pathogen, particularly important in Southeastern Asian countries. The impact of the disease in porcine production seems to be significant, but there are no accurate estimations. In this thesis the prevalence and cost of the S. suis-associated disease were estimated for three of the main pig-producing countries in Europe: Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain (Study I). Our results showed that the disease is highly prevalent in pig farms in these countries, with substantial differences in prevalence and mortality between phases, and higher prevalence in the post-weaning period. Costs were higher in Germany, followed by the Netherlands and Spain, and they were essentially explained by the measures applied to prevent or control S. suis (autovaccines and antimicrobials), although the value of the animals that die because of the pathogen was also important in the post-weaning period. Pigs in commercial farms get colonized by S. suis early in life, but only a fraction of farms and pigs develop the disease later. Because of the endemic aspect of S. suis and the estimated prevalence, different factors that have traditionally been associated with the appearance of S. suis disease were studied in two Catalan farms (Study II). Results showed that animal stress and higher humidity before weaning, presence of porcine respiratory and reproductive syndrome virus, lower temperature after weaning, and lower parity of the dams increased the risk of developing the disease. Host susceptibility and the virulence of the strains present in the farms also play an important role in the development of the disease. The pig response against this early colonizer was studied in cesarean-derived colostrum-deprived piglets intranasally inoculated either with a virulent or a non-virulent S. suis strain (Study III). This infection allowed the observation for the first time of the innate immune response against the colonization in nasal mucosa, blood, lung, trachea, liver, and spleen by transcriptional analysis. On the one hand, the host response to the non-virulent S. suis strain was characterized by rapid control at the site of inoculation. On the other hand, the piglet local inflammatory response was maintained longer in nasal mucosa for the virulent strain, demonstrating that the host response depends on the virulence of the strain. In addition, the virulent strain was detected deep in the cribriform plate of the ethmoid bone, suggesting that this may be an alternative route of invasion for S. suis. Antimicrobials are one of the tools used for control of S. suis disease, with the consequent problems in the emergence and spread of resistances. Recently, the microbiota was identified as a factor involved in health. Thus, in order to face the current challenge of reducing the use of antimicrobials in livestock, the protective efficacy of a mixture of nasal probiotics was tested against a lethal challenge with a virulent S. suis strain (Study IV). Commensals, belonging to the genera Rothia, Moraxella and a non-virulent S. suis strain, were selected based on different criteria, such as relative abundant in healthy piglets or in vitro S. suis inhibition. Despite the lack of significant differences between groups, piglets inoculated with a combination of two Rothia and one Moraxella showed the best survival rate and less severe clinical signs and lesions after challenge. This study lays the groundwork for future studies with porcine nasal probiotics, an alternative to prevent the diseases caused by pathogens that are early colonizers of the upper respiratory tract.Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Programa de Doctorat en Medicina i Sanitat Animal
Tracking of Inhaled Near-Infrared Fluorescent Nanoparticles in Lungs of SKH-1 Mice with Allergic Airway Inflammation
No full textMolecular imaging of inflammatory lung diseases, such as asthma, has been limited to date. The recruitment of innate immune cells to the airways is central to the inflammation process. This study exploits these cells for imaging purposes within the lung, using inhaled polystyrene nanoparticles loaded with the near-infrared fluorescence dye Itrybe (Itrybe-NPs). By means of in vivo and ex vivo fluorescence reflectance imaging of an ovalbumin-based allergic airway inflammation (AA!) model in hairless SKH-1 mice, we show that subsequent to intranasal application of Itrybe-NPs, AAI lungs display fluorescence intensities significantly higher than those in lungs of control mice for at least 24 h. Ex vivo immunofluorescence analysis of lung tissue demonstrates the uptake of Itrybe-NPs predominantly by CD68(+)CD11c(+)ECF-(L+MHCIIlow) cells, identifying them as alveolar M2 macrophages in the peribronchial and alveolar areas. The in vivo results were validated by confocal microscopy, overlapping tile analysis, and flow cytometry, showing an amount of Itrybe-NP-containing macrophages in lungs of AAI mice significantly larger than that in controls. A small percentage of NP-containing cells were identified as dendritic cells. Flow cytometry of tracheobronchial lymph nodes showed that Itrybe-NPs were negligible in lung draining lymph nodes 24 h after inhalation. This imaging approach may advance preclinical monitoring of AAI in vivo over time and aid the investigation of the role that macrophages play during lung inflammation. Furthermore, it allows for tracking of inhaled nanoparticles and can hence be utilized for studies of the fate of potential new nanotherapeutics
Beurteilung und akutes Management der dekompensierten Klappenvitien auf der Intensivstation : eine aktuelle Übersicht
No full textR05.3 How the scale of temperature measures affects the estimate of transmission of mosquito-borne diseases
No full textVector-borne diseases account for more than 17% of all human infectious diseases and result in more than 700,000 deaths annually. A significant part of vector-borne diseases is caused by pathogens transmitted by mosquitoes, and include diseases as relevant as Malaria, Dengue, or West Nile Fever.
Mosquitoes are ectotherms; therefore, their physiology and life histories are driven by environmental temperature (Mordecai et al., 2013). Similarly, the processes involved in the transmission of mosquito-borne pathogens are highly dependent on ambient temperatures (Shocket et al., 2018). The relationship between those factors and the temperature is usually unimodal (i.e., once the minimum temperature needed for that factor is reached, the value of the factor increases until it peaks at an optimum temperature, and then decreases to zero at the maximum temperature). The transmission of mosquito-borne diseases can be quantified using the Basic Reproductive Number (R0), which defines the number of cases of a disease that arise when one case is introduced into a totally susceptible population. An ideal approach to evaluate the relationship between the risk of transmission of mosquito-borne diseases and temperature is the R0 equation.
The objective of our study was to quantify the effect that the precision with which temperature is measured (hours, days, months) has on the estimates of transmission of mosquito-borne diseases. In order to do that, we used mechanistic models to quantify the basic reproductive number (R0), which we applied to different mosquito-pathogen combinations: West Nile virus (WNV) and Culex pipiens, dengue virus (DENV) and both Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti and P. falciparum malaria parasites and Anopheles mosquitoes. At the world level, the higher the precision, resulted in significantly smaller estimates of transmission and much larger transmission areas, and those results were consistent for different mosquito-pathogen combinations and for the different months of the year. However, when that effect was evaluated at a smaller spatial scale (i.e. climatic areas), spatio-temporal heterogeneities were observed. For example, hourly rather than monthly temperatures tended to decrease the estimates of transmission in areas of tropical climate but increased them in areas of continental climate. While those effects were clearly different between climatic areas, they were consistent for the different mosquito-pathogen combinations within a climatic area
A fluorescence assay for tetradecyltrimethylammonium mono-oxygenase activity that catalyzes the cleavage of the C–N bond with the production of trimethylamine
No full textThis article describes a simple fluorescent method for the determination of tetradecyltrimethylammonium monooxygenase (TTAB-monooxygenase) activity involving N‑dealkylation of tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide with concomitant production of trimethylamine (TMA). Activity was determined by measuring the formation of TMA using the morin reagent and aluminium (Al). Morin reacts with Al to form a fluorescent complex, Al-morin. In the presence of TMA, Al is tightly associated with TMA, and cannot be sequestered by morin, thus providing evidence for formation of the Al-TMA complex. The concentration of TMA is estimated by calibration graphs constructed by plotting the fluorescence intensity of the Al-morin complex versus TMA concentration. The fluorescence intensities of the Al-morin complexes quenched by TMA are linearly dependent on both the time of the TTAB-monooxygenase reaction and the amount of protein used in the reaction. The kinetic behaviour is characterized by K0.5 = 4.26 x 10-4 M, and the apparent Hill coefficient (napp) = 2.24. These values are both comparable to those determined by GC-MS (K0.5 = 4.41 x 10-4 M and napp = 2.35). Advantages of this assay include rapid and efficient implementation and potential employment for routine accurate determinations of TTAB-monooxygenase activity over a wide range of substrate concentrations.Fil: Liffourrena, Andres Sebastian. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología Molecular; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Boeris, Paola Sabrina. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología Molecular; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Salvano, M. A.. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Lucchesi, Gloria Ines. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología Molecular; Argentin
Dinàmica del virus de la febre hemorràgica de Crimea-Congo en dos ungulats silvestres del nordest d’Espanya
No full textinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
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