scholarly journals Microbiota of Wild Fruits from the Amazon Region of Ecuador: Linking Diversity and Functional Potential of Lactic Acid Bacteria with Their Origin

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriela N. Tenea ◽  
Pablo Jarrin-V ◽  
Lucia Yepez

Subtropical wild fruits are a reservoir of microbial diversity and represent a potential source of beneficial microorganisms. Wild fruits provide essential nutrients, minerals, and antioxidants that contribute to human health. Many of these wild fruits are used by indigenous peoples for medicine and food, but there is yet an unexplored potential in the study of their properties and benefits. Wild fruits from the Amazon region and their associated active substances or bacterial communities can prevent disease, provide appropriate nutrition, contribute to new sources of income, and improve lives. Despite its condition as a megabiodiverse country, Ecuador suffers from limited access to its genetic resources, and particularly for research. A total of 41 isolates were obtained from six wild Amazonian fruit species and were molecularly classified into the genera Lactiplantibacillus (31 isolates), Lactococcus (3 isolates), Weissella (3 isolates), and Enterococcus (1 isolate). Three isolates showed large divergence in sequence variability and were not identified by the taxonomic assignment algorithm. Inferred phylogenies on the 16S rRNA gene explained the relationship between lineages and their origin. Carbohydrate metabolism and antimicrobial profiles were evaluated, and the isolates were classified from a functional perspective. Antimicrobial profiles showed a wide-range spectrum against several Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. To our knowledge, this is the first study assessing the diversity of LAB in native tropical fruits from the Amazon region of Ecuador and their promising functional properties. The obtained isolates and their assessed properties are valuable genetic resources to be further investigated for industrial and pharmaceutical applications.

Plant Disease ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiahuai Hu

In Arizona, industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa) is a newly cultivated crop for fiber, oil, cosmetic products, and health food. During July to September 2020, two fields of industrial hemp crops were identified in southern Arizona with 10 to 30% incidence of plants showing witches’ broom. Disease incidence was assessed by counting symptomatic plants in 4 randomly selected rows of 25 plants in each field. Symptoms ranged from leaf mottling and yellowing on mildly affected plants to leaf curling and shortened internode length of stem on severely affected plants (Fig. 1). Shoots were randomly collected from eight symptomatic plants and three asymptomatic plants in the same area. Genomic DNA was extracted from 200 mg of each sample using DNeasy Plant Pro Kit (Qiagen Inc., Valencia, CA) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Phytoplasma was tested by a real-time PCR assay and TaqMan probe targeting the 23S ribosomal RNA gene that detects a wide range of known Phytoplasmas (Hodgetts et al., 2009). Beet curly top virus (BCTV) was targeted using BCTV-specific primers BCTV1 and BCTV2 following a method by Rondon (Rondon et al., 2016). BCTV was not detected in the plants, but Phytoplasmas were detected in all eight symptomatic plants, but not in the three control plants. The positive DNA samples were used to identify the phytoplasma by nested PCR using universal phytoplasma-specific primer pairs P1/P6 (Deng, S. et al. 1991) and R16F2n/R16R2 (Gundersen et al., 1996) targeting the 16S rRNA gene and the resulting 1.25 kb fragment in 4 positive samples was subjected to Sanger sequencing (Eton Bioscience, San Diego). All 4 sequences were identical and deposited in GenBank under accession MW981356. BLASTn results indicated 100% identity with that of several ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma trifolii’ strains on potato (KR072666, KF178706) in Washington and chile peppers (HQ436488) in New Mexico. It also shared 99.84% identity with the sequence of the reference strain of Candidatus Phytoplasma trifolii’ (AY390261) that caused clover proliferation. The phytoplasma AZH1 was classified as a member of subgroup A within group16SrVI using iPhyClassifier, an interactive online tool for phytoplasma classification and taxonomic assignment (Zhao et al., 2013). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the phytoplasma AZH1 clustered with other isolates of 'Candidatus Phytoplasma trifolii' (Fig. 2), including the strain NV1 associated with witches’ broom on C. sativa in Nevada (Feng et al. 2019). This is the first report of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma trifolii’ related strain associated with yellowing and witches’ broom on hemp in Arizona. This finding is significant as the observation of symptoms at 30% incidence in one field suggested that the identified pathogen may pose a significant threat to the production of industrial hemp production in Arizona.


2008 ◽  
pp. 61-76
Author(s):  
A. Porshakov ◽  
A. Ponomarenko

The role of monetary factor in generating inflationary processes in Russia has stimulated various debates in social and scientific circles for a relatively long time. The authors show that identification of the specificity of relationship between money and inflation requires a complex approach based on statistical modeling and involving a wide range of indicators relevant for the price changes in the economy. As a result a model of inflation for Russia implying the decomposition of inflation dynamics into demand-side and supply-side factors is suggested. The main conclusion drawn is that during the recent years the volume of inflationary pressures in the Russian economy has been determined by the deviation of money supply from money demand, rather than by money supply alone. At the same time, monetary factor has a long-run spread over time impact on inflation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-79
Author(s):  
Colin S. Gordon

Effect systems are lightweight extensions to type systems that can verify a wide range of important properties with modest developer burden. But our general understanding of effect systems is limited primarily to systems where the order of effects is irrelevant. Understanding such systems in terms of a semilattice of effects grounds understanding of the essential issues and provides guidance when designing new effect systems. By contrast, sequential effect systems—where the order of effects is important—lack an established algebraic structure on effects. We present an abstract polymorphic effect system parameterized by an effect quantale—an algebraic structure with well-defined properties that can model the effects of a range of existing sequential effect systems. We define effect quantales, derive useful properties, and show how they cleanly model a variety of known sequential effect systems. We show that for most effect quantales, there is an induced notion of iterating a sequential effect; that for systems we consider the derived iteration agrees with the manually designed iteration operators in prior work; and that this induced notion of iteration is as precise as possible when defined. We also position effect quantales with respect to work on categorical semantics for sequential effect systems, clarifying the distinctions between these systems and our own in the course of giving a thorough survey of these frameworks. Our derived iteration construct should generalize to these semantic structures, addressing limitations of that work. Finally, we consider the relationship between sequential effects and Kleene Algebras, where the latter may be used as instances of the former.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s258-s259
Author(s):  
James Harrigan ◽  
Ebbing Lautenbach ◽  
Emily Reesey ◽  
Magda Wernovsky ◽  
Pam Tolomeo ◽  
...  

Background: Clinically diagnosed ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is common in the long-term acute-care hospital (LTACH) setting and may contribute to adverse ventilator-associated events (VAEs). Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a common causative organism of VAP. We evaluated the impact of respiratory P. aeruginosa colonization and bacterial community dominance, both diagnosed and undiagnosed, on subsequent P. aeruginosa VAP and VAE events during long-term acute care. Methods: We enrolled 83 patients on LTACH admission for ventilator weaning, performed longitudinal sampling of endotracheal aspirates followed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing (Illumina HiSeq), and bacterial community profiling (QIIME2). Statistical analysis was performed with R and Stan; mixed-effects models were fit to relate the abundance of respiratory Psa on admission to clinically diagnosed VAP and VAE events. Results: Of the 83 patients included, 12 were diagnosed with P. aeruginosa pneumonia during the 14 days prior to LTACH admission (known P. aeruginosa), and 22 additional patients received anti–P. aeruginosa antibiotics within 48 hours of admission (suspected P. aeruginosa); 49 patients had no known or suspected P. aeruginosa (unknown P. aeruginosa). Among the known P. aeruginosa group, all 12 patients had P. aeruginosa detectable by 16S sequencing, with elevated admission P. aeruginosa proportional abundance (median, 0.97; IQR, 0.33–1). Among the suspected P. aeruginosa group, all 22 patients had P. aeruginosa detectable by 16S sequencing, with a wide range of admission P. aeruginosa proportional abundance (median, 0.0088; IQR, 0.00012–0.31). Of the 49 patients in the unknown group, 47 also had detectable respiratory Psa, and many had high P. aeruginosa proportional abundance at admission (median, 0.014; IQR, 0.00025–0.52). Incident P. aeruginosa VAP was observed within 30 days in 4 of the known P. aeruginosa patients (33.3%), 5 of the suspected P. aeruginosa patients (22.7%), and 8 of the unknown P. aeruginosa patients (16.3%). VAE was observed within 30 days in 1 of the known P. aeruginosa patients (8.3%), 2 of the suspected P. aeruginosa patients (9.1%), and 1 of the unknown P. aeruginosa patients (2%). Admission P. aeruginosa abundance was positively associated with VAP and VAE risk in all groups, but the association only achieved statistical significance in the unknown group (type S error <0.002 for 30-day VAP and <0.011 for 30-day VAE). Conclusions: We identified a high prevalence of unrecognized respiratory P. aeruginosa colonization among patients admitted to LTACH for weaning from mechanical ventilation. The admission P. aeruginosa proportional abundance was strongly associated with increased risk of incident P. aeruginosa VAP among these patients.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Paul Theo Zebhauser ◽  
Achim Berthele ◽  
Marie-Sophie Franz ◽  
Oliver Goldhardt ◽  
Janine Diehl-Schmid ◽  
...  

Background: Tau proteins are established biomarkers of neuroaxonal damage in a wide range of neurodegenerative conditions. Although measurement of total-Tau in the cerebrospinal fluid is widely used in research and clinical settings, the relationship between age and total-Tau in the cerebrospinal fluid is yet to be fully understood. While past studies reported a correlation between age and total-Tau in the cerebrospinal fluid of healthy adults, in clinical practice the same cut-off value is used independently of patient’s age. Objective: To further explore the relationship between age and total-Tau and to disentangle neurodegenerative from drainage-dependent effects. Methods: We analyzed cerebrospinal fluid samples of 76 carefully selected cognitively healthy adults and included amyloid-β 1–40 as a potential marker of drainage from the brain’s interstitial system. Results: We found a significant correlation of total-Tau and age, which was no longer present when correcting total-Tau for amyloid-β 1–40 concentrations. These findings were replicated under varied inclusion criteria. Conclusion: Results call into question the association of age and total-Tau in the cerebrospinal fluid. Furthermore, they suggest diagnostic utility of amyloid-β 1–40 as a possible proxy for drainage-mechanisms into the cerebrospinal fluid when interpreting biomarker concentrations for neurodegenerative diseases.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-56
Author(s):  
Francesco Baino ◽  
Elisa Fiume

AbstractPorosity is known to play a pivotal role in dictating the functional properties of biomedical scaffolds, with special reference to mechanical performance. While compressive strength is relatively easy to be experimentally assessed even for brittle ceramic and glass foams, elastic properties are much more difficult to be reliably estimated. Therefore, describing and, hence, predicting the relationship between porosity and elastic properties based only on the constitutive parameters of the solid material is still a challenge. In this work, we quantitatively compare the predictive capability of a set of different models in describing, over a wide range of porosity, the elastic modulus (7 models), shear modulus (3 models) and Poisson’s ratio (7 models) of bioactive silicate glass-derived scaffolds produced by foam replication. For these types of biomedical materials, the porosity dependence of elastic and shear moduli follows a second-order power-law approximation, whereas the relationship between porosity and Poisson’s ratio is well fitted by a linear equation.


2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 488-530
Author(s):  
Cynthia Fowler

This article examines the Religious Art of Today exhibition, originally held in 1944 at Boston’s Institute of Modern Art and then reformulated for the Dayton Art Institute in Ohio. The exhibition was eclectic in that it included a wide range of artists and a diversity of faiths, and engaged the debate held among museum professionals about the relationship between religion and modern art. The article focuses closely on Catholic, Jewish, and Navajo art included in the exhibition. The IMA’s commitment to the figurative tradition afforded artists the opportunity to explore their identities—as Jews, as Catholics, as Navajos—using recognizable religious subjects. That the works in the exhibition were selected as representative of modern art resulted in a convergence of discourses related to modern art with those of religious/cultural identity.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (13) ◽  
pp. 3888
Author(s):  
Boon-Peng Puah ◽  
Juriyati Jalil ◽  
Ali Attiq ◽  
Yusof Kamisah

Lycopene is a well-known compound found commonly in tomatoes which brings wide range of health benefits against cardiovascular diseases and cancers. From an anti-cancer perspective, lycopene is often associated with reduced risk of prostate cancer and people often look for it as a dietary supplement which may help to prevent cancer. Previous scientific evidence exhibited that the anti-cancer activity of lycopene relies on its ability to suppress oncogene expressions and induce proapoptotic pathways. To further explore the real potential of lycopene in cancer prevention, this review discusses the new insights and perspectives on the anti-cancer activities of lycopene which could help to drive new direction for research. The relationship between inflammation and cancer is being highlighted, whereby lycopene suppresses cancer via resolution of inflammation are also discussed herein. The immune system was found to be a part of the anti-cancer system of lycopene as it modulates immune cells to suppress tumor growth and progression. Lycopene, which is under the family of carotenoids, was found to play special role in suppressing lung cancer.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 3668 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rakan Alyamani ◽  
Suzanna Long ◽  
Mohammad Nurunnabi

With the increase in awareness about the wide range of issues and adverse effects associated with the use of conventional energy sources came an increase in project management research related to sustainability and sustainable development. Part of that research is devoted to the development of sustainable project typologies that classify projects based on a variety of external factors that can significantly impact these projects. This research focuses on developing a sustainable project typology that classifies sustainable projects based on the external institutional influences. The typology explores the influence of the coercive, normative, and mimetic institutional isomorphisms on the expected level of change, level of uncertainty, project team skills and experience levels, and the level of technology information exchange in sustainable projects. Two case studies are presented to demonstrate the use of the typology to classify sustainable projects based on the external institutional influences.


Transport ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 418-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Basarić ◽  
Jadranka Jović

The research presented in this paper is aimed at defining a model that enables the management of the relationship between private vehicles and public transport applying the available instruments of city transport policy such as parking policy and public transport policy measures. Statistical data used for modelling is sourced from the database in a wide range of EU cities. The target model was developed in the form of stepwise regression analysis. Very favourable statistical results were obtained, and the subsequent tests on the city of Novi Sad (250000 inhabitants) led to the conclusion that the obtained results were suitable for implementation in practice. The results of the implemented procedure are of great importance for the enhancement of the existing transport policies in cities, as they enable the development of strategies for finding combinations of instruments that would bring the transport system and urban environment into a desired-viable rather than consequential condition.


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