Macroepibenthic communities at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula,an ecological survey at different spatial scales

The Southern Ocean ecosystem at the Antarctic Peninsula has steep natural environmental gradients, e.g. in terms of water masses and ice cover, and experiences regional above global average climate change. An ecological macroepibenthic survey was conducted in three ecoregions in the north-western Weddell Sea, on the continental shelf of the Antarctic Peninsula in the Bransfield Strait and on the shelf of the South Shetland Islands in the Drake Passage, defined by their environmental envelop. The aim was to improve the so far poor knowledge of the structure of this component of the Southern Ocean ecosystem and its ecological driving forces. It can also provide a baseline to assess the impact of ongoing climate change to the benthic diversity, functioning and ecosystem services. Different intermediate-scaled topographic features such as canyon systems including the corresponding topographically defined habitats ‘bank’, ‘upper slope’, ‘slope’ and ‘canyon/deep’ were sampled. In addition, the physical and biological environmental factors such as sea-ice cover, chlorophyll-a concentration, small-scale bottom topography and water masses were analysed. Catches by Agassiz trawl showed high among-station variability in biomass of 96 higher systematic groups including ecological key taxa. Large-scale patterns separating the three ecoregions from each other could be correlated with the two environmental factors, sea-ice and depth. Attribution to habitats only poorly explained benthic composition, and small-scale bottom topography did not explain such patterns at all. The large-scale factors, sea-ice and depth, might have caused large-scale differences in pelagic benthic coupling, whilst small-scale variability, also affecting larger scales, seemed to be predominantly driven by unknown physical drivers or biological interactions.     

Application of multiparametric procedures for assessing the heritability of circadian health

At present, the measurement of circadian system status under free-living conditions by the use of sensors is a relatively new technique. The data obtained using these methods are influenced by strong environmental masking factors and artifacts that can affect its recording. Therefore, the use of integrative variables such as TAP, a measure that includes temperature, activity and position that reduces these drawbacks and the number of parameters obtained is necessary. However, the relative genetic contribution to this circadian marker is unknown. The aim of our study was to ascertain the relative importance of genetic influences in TAP, and for each of its components using classical twin models. The study was performed in 53 pairs of female twins [28 monozygotic (MZ) and 25 dizygotic (DZ)] with mean age 52 ± 6 years. Circadian patterns were studied by analyzing temperature, body position and activity for 1 week every 1 min with “Circadianware®.”. Genetic influences affecting the variability of each of the measurements were estimated by comparing the observed data in twin pairs. MZ twins showed higher intrapair correlations than DZ twins for most of the parameters. Genetic factors (broad sense heritability) were responsible for about 40–72% of TAP variance in parameters such as mesor, acrophase, amplitude, Rayleigh test, percentage of rhythmicity and circadian function index. We found more homogeneous heritability estimates of the circadian system when using an integrative technique such as TAP than with individual variables alone, suggesting that this measurement can be more reliable and less subject to environmental artifacts.     

Probiotic Lactobacillus fermentum UCO-979C biofilm formation on AGS and Caco-2 cells and Helicobacter pylori inhibition

The ability of the human isolate Lactobacillus fermentum UCO-979C to form biofilm and synthesize exopolysaccharide on abiotic and biotic models is described. These properties were compared with the well-known Lactobacillus casei Shirota to better understand their anti-Helicobacter pylori probiotic activities. The two strains of lactobacilli synthesized exopolysaccharide as detected by the Dubois method and formed biofilm on abiotic and biotic surfaces visualized by crystal violet staining and scanning electron microscopy. Concomitantly, these strains inhibited H. pylori urease activity by up to 80.4% (strain UCO-979C) and 66.8% (strain Shirota) in gastric adenocarcinoma (AGS) cells, but the two species showed equal levels of inhibition (~84%) in colorectal adenocarcinoma (Caco-2) cells. The results suggest that L. fermentum UCO-979C has probiotic potential against H. pylori infections. However, further analyses are needed to explain the increased activity observed against the pathogen in AGS cells as compared to L. casei Shirota.     

RASPA: molecular simulation software for adsorption and diffusion in flexible nanoporous materials

A new software package, RASPA, for simulating adsorption and diffusion of molecules in flexible nanoporous materials is presented. The code implements the latest state-of-the-art algorithms for molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo (MC) in various ensembles including symplectic/measure-preserving integrators, Ewald summation, configurational-bias MC, continuous fractional component MC, reactive MC and Baker's minimisation. We show example applications of RASPA in computing coexistence properties, adsorption isotherms for single and multiple components, self- and collective diffusivities, reaction systems and visualisation. The software is released under the GNU General Public License.     

Assessment of biofilm formation by Scedosporium apiospermum,S. aurantiacum,S. minutisporum and Lomentospora prolificans

Reported herein is the ability of Scedosporium apiospermum, S. aurantiacum, S. minutisporum and Lomentospora prolificans conidia to adhere, differentiate into hyphae and form biofilms on both polystyrene and lung epithelial cells. To different degrees, all of the fungi adhered to polystyrene after 4 h, with a predominance of those with germinated conidia. Prolonged fungi–polystyrene contact resulted in the formation of a monolayer of intertwined mycelia, which was identified as a typical biofilm structure due to the presence of a viable mycelial biomass, extracellular matrix and enhanced antifungal resistance. Ultrastructural details were revealed by SEM and CLSM, showing the dense compaction of the mycelial biomass and the presence of channels within the organized biofilm. A similar biofilm structure was observed following the co-culture of each fungus with A549 cells, revealing a mycelial trap covering all of the lung epithelial monolayer. Collectively, these results highlight the potential for biofilm formation by these clinically relevant fungal pathogens.     

Sleep and rest activity measured by wrist actigraphy in an HIV-infected patient with Steven–Johnson syndrome

The Steven–Johnson syndrome (SJS) is characterized by a sudden onset of mucous membrane erosion (predominantly oral mucosa, lips, and conjunctivae) with widespread blistering of the skin involving up to 10% of the body surface area. It is almost always a drug-related reaction, although it can be caused by infections and immunizations. A 33-year-old man with recent diagnosis of HIV infection developed antiretroviral treatment (ART)-associated SJS. Physical activity and sleep parameters were recorded by wrist actigraphy in four different consecutive scenarios: baseline assessment, first ART regimen, hospitalization, and second ART regimen. Significant differences were observed in physical activity patterns between the four phases. No differences in sleep parameters were found. To our knowledge, this is the first study recording physical activity changes and sleep during a SJS reaction.