Scaled-up production of gelatin-cellulose nanocrystal bionanocomposite films by continuous casting.

In this study, continuous casting is proposed as a suitable approach to scale up the production of gelatin-cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) bionanocomposites. The processing conditions and bionanocomposite properties were established based on the ζ-potential and gelatin content, and CNCs concentration, respectively. Gelatin film-forming solution at 20 wt% was required for proper continuous casting processing, leading to a productivity of 0.20 m2 film/min, which was at least 1000-fold higher than that of the classical bench casting. The gelatin-CNCs bionanocomposites displayed transparency, flexibility, and improved UV-barrier and thermal properties. Adding only 0.5 wt% of CNCs resulted in an increase of 77 % and 48 % in the tensile strength and Young's modulus of gelatin, respectively. Comparison with previous nanocellulose-based nanocomposites pointed out the relatively superior performance of the gelatin-CNCs bionanocomposites obtained by continuous casting for various applications, including flexible food packaging.

Galba truncatula and Fasciola hepatica: Genetic costructures and interactions with intermediate host dispersal.

Antagonistic interactions between hosts and parasites are key structuring forces in natural populations. Demographic factors like extinction, migration and the effective population size shape host-parasite metapopulational dynamics. Therefore, to understand the evolution of host-parasite systems it is necessary to study the distribution of the genetic variation of both entities simultaneously. In this paper, we investigate the population genetics co-structure of parasites and hosts within a metapopulation of the liver fluke, Fasciola hepatica, and two of its intermediate hosts, the main intermediate host in Europe, Galba truncatula, and a new intermediate host, Omphiscola glabra, in Central France. Our results reveal an absence of specificity of flukes as regard to the two alternative hosts though O. glabra shows higher prevalence of F. hepatica. Host and parasites displayed contrasting population genetics structure with very small, highly inbred (selfing) and strongly isolated G. truncatula populations and much bigger, panmictic and more dispersive F. hepatica. This could indicate a local adaptation of the parasite and a local maladaptation of the host. We also unveil a parasite-mediated biased population genetics structure suggesting that infected G. truncatula disperse more; have higher dispersal survival than uninfected snails or, more likely, that immigrant snails are infected more often than local snails (local parasites are less adapted to local hosts). Finally, an absence, or at least an ambiguous signature of isolation by distance was observed in both host and parasite population. A very weak migration rate for G. truncatula provides a reasonable explanation for this ambiguous result. Alternatively, smaller sample sizes combined with modest migration rates might explain the difficulties to unveil the signal in F. hepatica.

Incidence, Demographics, and Clinical Characteristics of Diabetes of the Exocrine Pancreas (Type 3c): A Retrospective Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to describe the incidence of diabetes following pancreatic disease, assess how these patients are classified by clinicians, and compare clinical characteristics with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Primary care records in England (n = 2,360,631) were searched for incident cases of adult-onset diabetes between 1 January 2005 and 31 March 2016. We examined demographics, diabetes classification, glycemic control, and insulin use in those with and without pancreatic disease (subcategorized into acute pancreatitis or chronic pancreatic disease) before diabetes diagnosis. Regression analysis was used to control for baseline potential risk factors for poor glycemic control (HbA1c ≥7% [53 mmol/mol]) and insulin requirement. RESULTS: We identified 31,789 new diagnoses of adult-onset diabetes. Diabetes following pancreatic disease (2.59 [95% CI 2.38-2.81] per 100,000 person-years) was more common than type 1 diabetes (1.64 [1.47-1.82]; P < 0.001). The 559 cases of diabetes following pancreatic disease were mostly classified by clinicians as type 2 diabetes (87.8%) and uncommonly as diabetes of the exocrine pancreas (2.7%). Diabetes following pancreatic disease was diagnosed at a median age of 59 years and BMI of 29.2 kg/m2. Diabetes following pancreatic disease was associated with poor glycemic control (adjusted odds ratio, 1.7 [1.3-2.2]; P < 0.001) compared with type 2 diabetes. Insulin use within 5 years was 4.1% (3.8-4.4) with type 2 diabetes, 20.9% (14.6-28.9) with diabetes following acute pancreatitis, and 45.8% (34.2-57.9) with diabetes following chronic pancreatic disease. CONCLUSIONS: Diabetes of the exocrine pancreas is frequently labeled type 2 diabetes but has worse glycemic control and a markedly greater requirement for insulin.

Incidence of nutrition deterioration in nonseriously ill hospitalized children younger than 5 years.

BACKGROUND: The concept of deterioration of nutrition status in inpatient children, also called nutrition deterioration (ND), has gained widespread importance and is described as significant weight loss during hospitalization periods. Our main purpose was to determine the incidence of ND in nonseriously ill children younger than age 5 years admitted as inpatients and explore the presence of associated factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This descriptive study analyzed a prospective cohort of hospitalized children. We considered a significant weight loss of >2% or >0.25 SD in body mass index with respect to the admission weight. The correspondence between the 2 methods was assessed. The frequency of some clinical variables and its association with the outcome was explored. RESULTS: The incidence of ND was 28.5% with at least 1 of the 2 methods of detection and was 20% with both definitions. The correlation between both methods was high (κ = 0.79). In children with ND, results were statistically significant in those with 5 or more stools a day, those hospitalized 5 or more days, and patients with lower respiratory tract disease. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of ND was higher than that reported in the literature in children with nonserious disease. Diarrhea, lower respiratory tract disease, and hospital length of stay seem to be associated with these results. More studies are required to establish associations with those factors for an early detection of children at risk and for early interventions.

Morphological and molecular characterization of Neotropic Lymnaeidae (Gastropoda: Lymnaeoidea), vectors of fasciolosis.

Lymnaeidae play a crucial role in the transmission of fasciolosis, a disease of medical and veterinary importance. In the Neotropic, a region where fasciolosis is emergent, eight Lymnaeidae species are currently considered valid. However, our knowledge of the diversity of this taxon is hindered by the fact that lymnaeids exhibit extremely homogeneous anatomical traits. Because most species are difficult to identify using classic taxonomy, it is difficult to establish an epidemiological risk map of fasciolosis in the Neotropic. In this paper, we contribute to our understanding of the diversity of lymnaeids in this region of the world. We perform conchological, anatomical and DNA-based analyses (phylogeny and barcoding) of almost all species of Lymnaeidae inhabiting the Neotropic to compare the reliability of classic taxonomy and DNA-based approaches, and to delimitate species boundaries. Our results demonstrate that while morphological traits are unable to separate phenotypically similar species, DNA-based approaches unambiguously ascribe individuals to one species or another. We demonstrate that a taxon found in Colombia and Venezuela (Galba sp.) is closely related yet sufficiently divergent from Galba truncatula, G. humilis, G. cousini, G. cubensis, G. neotropica and G. viatrix to be considered as a different species. In addition, barcode results suggest that G. cubensis, G. neotropica and G. viatrix might be conspecifics. We conclude that conchological and anatomical characters are uninformative to identify closely related species of Lymnaeidae and that DNA-based approaches should be preferred.

Patterns of mating-system evolution in hermaphroditic animals: correlations among selfing rate, inbreeding depression, and the timing of reproduction.

In hermaphrodites, traits that influence the selfing rate can coevolve with inbreeding depression, leading to the emergence of evolutionary syndromes. Theory predicts a negative correlation between inbreeding depression and selfing rate across species. This prediction has only been examined and validated in vascular plants. Furthermore, selfing rates are often influenced by environmental conditions (e.g., lack of mates or pollinators), and species are predicted to evolve mechanisms to buffer this variation. We extend previous studies of mating-system syndromes in two ways. First, we assembled a new dataset on Basommatophoran snails (17 species, including new data on 12 species). Second, we measured how species responded to variation in mate availability. Specifically, we quantified the waiting time before selfing (i.e., how long the onset of reproduction is delayed in the absence of mates). Selfing rates were negatively correlated with both inbreeding depression and the waiting time. Species with stronger inbreeding depression exhibited longer waiting times. These patterns obtained on Basommatophorans still hold when including eight other hermaphroditic animals. Our results support the hypothesis that selection drives the evolution of mating-system syndromes in animals. The reaction norm of selfing rates to mate availability is a key target of natural selection in this context.

Bridging gaps in the molecular phylogeny of the Lymnaeidae (Gastropoda: Pulmonata), vectors of Fascioliasis.

BACKGROUND: Lymnaeidae snails play a prominent role in the transmission of helminths, mainly trematodes of medical and veterinary importance (e.g., Fasciola liver flukes). As this family exhibits a great diversity in shell morphology but extremely homogeneous anatomical traits, the systematics of Lymnaeidae has long been controversial. Using the most complete dataset to date, we examined phylogenetic relationships among 50 taxa of this family using a supermatrix approach (concatenation of the 16 S, ITS-1 and ITS-2 genes, representing 5054 base pairs) involving both Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Inference. RESULTS: Our phylogenetic analysis demonstrates the existence of three deep clades of Lymnaeidae representing the main geographic origin of species (America, Eurasia and the Indo-Pacific region). This phylogeny allowed us to discuss on potential biological invasions and map important characters, such as, the susceptibility to infection by Fasciola hepatica and F. gigantica, and the haploid number of chromosomes (n). We found that intermediate hosts of F. gigantica cluster within one deep clade, while intermediate hosts of F. hepatica are widely spread across the phylogeny. In addition, chromosome number seems to have evolved from n = 18 to n = 17 and n = 16. CONCLUSION: Our study contributes to deepen our understanding of Lymnaeidae phylogeny by both sampling at worldwide scale and combining information from various genes (supermatrix approach). This phylogeny provides insights into the evolutionary relationships among genera and species and demonstrates that the nomenclature of most genera in the Lymnaeidae does not reflect evolutionary relationships. This study highlights the importance of performing basic studies in systematics to guide epidemiological control programs.

Hidratación parenteral con solución 90 (Solución Pizarro) en niños deshidratados por enfermedad diarreica / Parenteral rehydratation with pizarro`s solution, of infants dehydrated by diarrheal disease

El objetivo de este estudio fue comprobar la seguridad y eficacia de la solución recomendada por Pizarro para el tratamiento parenteral de la deshidratación. Se hidrataron 50 niños con edad promedio de 10.3 mas o menos 8.1 meses. De ellos 31 fueron hombres y 19 mujeres; 27 (54 por ciento) presentaban desnutrición y 45 (90 por ciento) habían recibido hidratación oral. Se programó la corrección del déficit con 25 ml/kg/hora. Se tomaron muestras de sangre para sodio, potasio, glicemia y gases arteriales al ingreso y cuando ya los niños estaban hidratados. Todos los niños se hidrataron sin complicaciones. Peso al ingreso: 6.63 :t 2.85 kg. Peso ganado: 5.18 mas o menos 2.59 por ciento. Volumen de solución utilizado: 105.8 mas o menos 45.8 ml/kg. Tiempo de hidratación: 4.32 mas o menos 2.13 horas. Sodio al ingreso 139.32 mas o menos 9.03 mmol/l. Sodio final: 137.1 mas o menos 7.62 mmol/l. Potasio al ingreso : 4.10 mas o menos 1.06 mmol/l. Potasio final: 4.22 mas o menos 0.76 mmol/l. pH al ingreso: 7.25 mas o menos 0.197. pH final: 7.34 mas o menos 0.088. Glicemia al ingreso: 122.18 mas o menos 66.31 mg/dl. Glicemia final: 117.46 mas o menos 47 mg/dl. Se concluyó que la Solución de Pizarro es útil y segura para conseguir la hidratación de niños deshidratados por enfermedad diarreica cuando no se la puede alcanzar por vía oral.

Pizarro's solution for parenteral rehydration has the following composition in mmol/l: sodium: 90, potassium 20, chloride 80, acetate 30 and glucose 111. Fifty dehydrated infants were parenterally rehydrated with this solution in order to confirm its safety and efficacy. Mean age was 10.3± 8.1 months (SEM); 31 were males and 19 females; 27 (54%) were undernourished; 45 (90%) had previously received oral rehydration therapy. Pizarro's solution was intravenously administered at the rate of 25 ml/kg/hour. Blood samples for determination of sodium, potassium, glucose and blood gases were drawn at the beginning of therapy and after achieving rehydration. AII infants were rehydrated uneventfully. Initial weight was 6.63 ± 2.85 kg. Average weight gain was 5.18 ± 2.59%. The volume of fluid administered was 105.8 ± 45.8 ml/kg. Time to achieve rehydration was 4.32 ± 2.13 hours. Serum sodium levels were 139.32 ± 9.03 and 137.10 ± 7.62 mmol/l, serum potassium levels were 4.10 ± 1.06 and 4.22 ± 0.76 mmol/l, blood pH was 7.25 ± 0.197 and 7.34 ± 0.088, blood glucose levels were 122.18 ± 66.31 and 117.46 ± 47 mg/dl at admission and after rehydration, respectively. We concluded that Pizarro's solution is suitable and safe for intravenous rehydration of infants dehydrated by diarrheal disease when oral rehydration therapy is not feasible