Socioeconomic indices guided linear mixed-effects and meta-regression modelling of the temporal, global and regional prevalence of Helicobacter pylori in environmental waters: A class I carcinogen.

Environmental waters (EW) substantially lend to the transmission of Helicobacter pylori (Hp). But the increase in Hp infections and antimicrobial resistance is often attributed to socioeconomic status. The connection between socioeconomic status and Hp prevalence in EW is however yet to be investigated. This study aimed to assess the impacts of socioeconomic indices (SI: continent, world bank region (WBR), world bank income (WBI), WHO region, Socio-demographic Index (SDI quintile), Sustainable Development Index (SuDI), and Human Development Index (HDI)) on the prevalence of Hp in EW. Hp-EW data were fitted to a generalized linear mixed-effects model and SI-guided meta-regression models with a 1000-resampling test. The worldwide prevalence of Hp in EW was 21.76% [95% confidence interval [CI]: 10.29-40.29], which declined significantly from 59.52% [43.28-74.37] in 1990-99 to 19.36% [3.99-58.09] in 2010-19 and with increasing trend in 2020-22 (33.33%, 22.66-45.43). Hp prevalence in EW was highest in North America (45.12%, 17.07-76.66), then Europe (22.38%, 5.96-56.74), South America (22.09%, 13.76-33.49), Asia (2.98%, 0.02-85.17), and Africa (2.56%, 0.00-99.99). It was negligibly different among sampling settings, WBI, and WHO regions demonstrating highest prevalence in rural location [42.62%, 3.07-94.56], HIEs [32.82%, 13.19-61.10], and AMR [39.43%, 19.92-63.01], respectively. However, HDI, sample size, and microbiological method robustly predict Hp prevalence in EW justifying 26.08%, 21.15%, and 16.44% of the true difference, respectively. In conclusion, Hp is highly prevalence in EW across regional/socioeconomic strata and thus challenged the uses of socioeconomic status as surrogate for hygienic/sanitary practices in estimating Hp infection prevalence.

Removal of bacterial pathogens and antibiotic resistance bacteria by anaerobic sludge digestion with thermal hydrolysis pre-treatment and alkaline stabilization post-treatment.

Primary sludge (PS) is associated with public health and environmental risks, so regulations focus on reducing the pathogenic and heavy metal contents of the treated material (biosolids), intended for soil amendments and land reclamation. The regulations set limits for Escherichia coli (or fecal coliforms), Salmonella spp., helminth eggs and enterovirus. However, the potential risk due to antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and other human potential pathogenic bacteria (HPB) are not considered. In this work, three sludge treatment processes, having in common an anaerobic digestion step, were applied to assess the removal of regulated bacteria (fecal coliforms, Salmonella spp), ARB and HPB. The treatment arrangements, fed with PS from a full-scale wastewater treatment plant were: 1) Mesophilic anaerobic digestion followed by alkaline stabilization post-treatment (MAD-CaO); 2) Thermophilic anaerobic digestion (TAD) and, 3) Pre-treatment (mild thermo-hydrolysis) followed by TAD (PT-TAD). The results address the identification, quantification (colony forming units) and taxonomic characterization of ARB resistant to ß-lactams and vancomycin, as well as the taxonomic characterization of HPB by sequencing with PacBio. In addition, quantification based on culture media of fecal coliforms and Salmonella spp. is presented. The capabilities and limitations of microbiological and metataxonomomic analyses based on PacBio sequencing are discussed, emphasizing that they complement each other. Genus Aeromonas, Acinetobacter, Citrobacter, Enterobacter, Escherichia, Klebsiella, Ochrobactrum, Pseudomonas and Raoultella, among others, were found in the PS, which are of clinical or environmental importance, being either HPB, HPB-ARB, or non-pathogenic ARB with the potentiality of horizontal gene transfer. Based on the analysis of fecal coliforms and Salmonella spp., the three processes produced class A (highest) biosolids, suitable for unrestricted agriculture applications. Mild thermo-hydrolisis was effective in decreasing ARB cultivability, but it reappeared after the following TAD. O. intermedium (HPB-ARB) was enriched in MAD and TAD while Laribacter hongkongensis (HPB) did persist after the applied treatments.

Attention Test Improvements from a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial of Caregiver Training for HIV-Exposed/Uninfected Ugandan Preschool Children.

OBJECTIVE: To report vigilance attention outcomes from a cluster randomized controlled trial of early childhood development caregiver training for perinatally HIV-exposed/uninfected preschool-age children in rural Uganda. The Early Childhood Vigilance Test (ECVT) provides a webcam recording of proportion of time a child views an animation periodically moving across a computer screen. STUDY DESIGN: Sixty mothers/caregivers received biweekly year-long training sessions of the Mediational Intervention for Sensitizing Caregivers (MISC), and 59 mothers received biweekly training about nutrition, hygiene, and health care. Children were tested for attention at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months with the ECVT, in terms of proportion of time spent viewing a 6-minute animation of animals greeting the child and moving across the computer monitor screen. Time viewing the animation were scored by trained observers using ProCoder program for webcam scoring of proportion of time the child faced the animation. Mixed-effects modeling was used to compare ECVT outcomes for the 2 intervention groups. RESULTS: Unadjusted and adjusted (for age, sex, height, and ECVT at baseline) group differences on ECVT significantly favored the MISC arm at 6 months (P = .03; 95% CI (0.01, 0.11), effect size = 0.46) but not at 12 months. Both groups made significant gains in sustained attention across the year-long intervention (P = .021) with no significant interaction effects between time and treatment arms or sex. CONCLUSIONS: Caregiver early childhood development training enhanced attention in at-risk Ugandan children, which can be foundational to improved working memory and learning, and perhaps related to previous language benefits reported for this cohort. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT00889395.

Comparison of stress conditions to induce viable but non-cultivable state in Salmonella.

Salmonella can enter on the viable but non-culturable state (VBNC), characterized by the loss of ability to grow in routine culture media hindering detection by conventional methods and underestimation of the pathogen. Despite advances in research done so far, studies comparing conditions that lead Salmonella into the VBNC state are scarce. The main objective of this study was to evaluate different stresses to induce Salmonella to the VNBC state. Osmotic (1.2 M NaCl), acid (peracetic acid, 5.66 mg/mL) and oxidative (hydrogen peroxide, 1.20 mg/mL) stress were used at 4 °C to induce Salmonella enterica serovars Enteritidis and Typhimurium to the VBNC state. The culturability loss was monitored in the brain heart infusion (BHI) broth and agar, and the viability was determined by fluorescence microscopy, using the Live/Dead® kit, and by flow cytometry. Besides, the morphological characterization by atomic force microscopy (AFM) was performed. Storage in 1.2 M NaCl at 4 °C induced the VBNC state in Salmonella cells for periods longer than 121 days, and the percentage of viable cells has reached above 80.9%. More aggressive stress conditions promoted by peracetic acid and hydrogen peroxide induced the VBNC state in periods of, at most 0.14 day, and resulted in percentages of 8.5% to 45.5% viable cells, respectively. The counts of viable cells in the flow cytometer corroborate the results obtained by microscopic counts. The VBNC cells obtained in 1.2 M NaCl at 4 °C showed morphological changes, reducing the size and changing the morphology from bacillary to coccoid. No morphological change was observed on the cells stressed by acid or oxidant compounds.

Oxidative foliar photo-necrosis produced by the bacteria Pseudomonas cedrina

BACKGROUND: Although bioactive metabolites capable of causing oxidative photo-necrosis in plant tissues have been identified in fungi, little is known about this type of mechanism in bacteria. These metabolites act as photosensitizers that generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) capable of causing damage to cells. In addition, these metabolites can pass into an energetically excited state when they receive some luminous stimulus, a condition in which they interact with other molecules present in the environment, such as molecular oxygen (O2), also known as triplet oxygen (3 O2), generating ROS. RESULTS: The suspension of the bacterial culture of Pseudomonas cedrina was shown to produce foliar necrosis in papaya leaves (Carica papaya L.) only in the presence of sunlight, which is evidence of photosensitizing mechanisms that generate singlet oxygen (1 O2). From the chemical study of extracts obtained from this bacteria, 3-(4-(2-carboxipropyl) phenyl) but-2-enoic acid (1) was isolated. This compound, in the presence of light and triplet oxygen (3 O2), was able to oxidize ergosterol to its peroxide, since it acted as a photosensitizer producing 1 O2, with which it was corroborated that a photosensitization reaction occurs, mechanism by which this bacterium could prove to cause oxidative foliar photo-necrosis. CONCLUSIONS: P. cedrina was able to induce oxidative foliar photo-necrosis because of its potential ability to produce photosensitizing metabolites that generate singlet oxygen in the plants it colonizes. Based on the above, it can be proposed that some bacteria can cause oxidative foliar photo-necrosis as an important mechanism in the pathogenesis of host species.

Differentially Detectable Mycobacterium tuberculosis Cells in Sputum from Treatment-Naive Subjects in Haiti and Their Proportionate Increase after Initiation of Treatment.

Recent reports indicate that the sputum of 80% or more of treatment-naive subjects with tuberculosis recruited in England or South Africa contained more viable Mycobacterium tuberculosis cells detected by limiting dilution (LD) in liquid culture than detected as CFU. Efforts to generate such differentially detectable (DD) M. tuberculosis populations in vitro have been difficult to reproduce, and the LD assay is prone to artifact. Here, we applied a stringent version of the LD assay to sputum from 33 treatment-naive, HIV-negative Haitian subjects with drug-sensitive tuberculosis (TB) and to a second sputum sample after two weeks of standard treatment with isoniazid, rifampin, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol (HRZE) for 13 of these subjects. Twenty-one percent had statistically defined levels of DD M. tuberculosis in their pretreatment sputum at an average proportional excess over CFU of 3-fold. Sixty-nine percent of those who received HRZE had statistically defined levels of DD M. tuberculosis in their sputum, and of these, the mean proportionate excess over CFU was 7.9-fold. Thus, DD M. tuberculosis is detectable in pretreatment sputum from a significant proportion of subjects in the Western Hemisphere, and certain drugs or drug regimens, while reducing CFU, may at the same time increase the proportional representation of DD M. tuberculosis among the surviving bacilli. Monitoring DD M. tuberculosis may improve our ability to predict the efficacy of efforts to shorten treatment.IMPORTANCE Measurement of the reduction in CFU in sputum of patients with TB up to 2 weeks after the initiation of treatment is the gateway test for a new TB treatment. Reports have suggested that CFU assays fail to detect the majority of viable M. tuberculosis cells in sputum samples from the majority of patients when the number of M. tuberculosis is estimated by limiting dilution (LD). In an effort to avoid potential methodologic confounders, we applied a modified version of the LD assay in a study of a geographically distinct population. We confirmed that differentially detectable (DD) M. tuberculosis is often found before treatment, albeit at lower proportionate levels than in earlier reports. Strikingly, the prevalence and proportionate representation of DD M. tuberculosis increased during standard treatment. Sublethal exposure to certain antibiotics may help generate DD M. tuberculosis cells or enrich their representation among the surviving bacteria, and this may contribute to the need for prolonged treatment with those agents in order to achieve durable cures.

The long-term survival of Propionibacterium freudenreichii in a context of nutrient shortage.

AIMS: Propionibacterium freudenreichii is an actinobacterium widely used in dairy industry during the ripening process of Swiss-type cheeses and which presents probiotic properties. P. freudenreichii is reportedly a hardy bacterium, able to survive during the cheese-making process and when subjected to digestive stresses. During this study the long-term survival (LTS) of P. freudenreichii was investigated for 11 days by means of phenotypic characterization in a culture medium without the addition of any nutrients. METHODS AND RESULTS: For 11 days, in a non-nutrient supplemented culture medium, eight strains were monitored by measuring their optical density, counting colony-forming units (CFU) and using LIVE/DEAD staining and microscopy observation. Under these conditions, all strains displayed high survival rates in the culture medium, their culturability reaching more than 9 log10 CFU ml(-1) after 2 days. After 11 days, this value ranged from 7·8 to 8·2 log10 CFU ml(-1) depending on the strain, and at least 50% of the P. freudenreichii population displayed an intact envelope. As lysis of part of a bacterial population may be a microbial strategy to recover nutrients, in CIRM-BIA 138 (the strain with the highest population at day 11), cell lysis was assessed by quantifying intact bacterial cells using qPCR targeting the housekeeping gene tuf. No lysis was observed. CONCLUSION: Taken together, our results suggest that P. freudenreichii strains use a viable but nonculturable state to adapt to the LTS phase. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Assessing the viability of P. freudenreichii and understanding their mechanisms for survival should be of great interest regarding their potential probiotic applications.

Waterborne pathogens: detection methods and challenges.

Waterborne pathogens and related diseases are a major public health concern worldwide, not only by the morbidity and mortality that they cause, but by the high cost that represents their prevention and treatment. These diseases are directly related to environmental deterioration and pollution. Despite the continued efforts to maintain water safety, waterborne outbreaks are still reported globally. Proper assessment of pathogens on water and water quality monitoring are key factors for decision-making regarding water distribution systems' infrastructure, the choice of best water treatment and prevention waterborne outbreaks. Powerful, sensitive and reproducible diagnostic tools are developed to monitor pathogen contamination in water and be able to detect not only cultivable pathogens but also to detect the occurrence of viable but non-culturable microorganisms as well as the presence of pathogens on biofilms. Quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) is a helpful tool to evaluate the scenarios for pathogen contamination that involve surveillance, detection methods, analysis and decision-making. This review aims to present a research outlook on waterborne outbreaks that have occurred in recent years. This review also focuses in the main molecular techniques for detection of waterborne pathogens and the use of QMRA approach to protect public health.

Three isotypic polymeric complexes with rare earth cations, but-2-enoate anions and 4,4'-(ethane-1,2-diyl)dipyridine and 4,4'-(ethene-1,2-diyl)dipyridine bridging ligands.

Three isotypic rare earth complexes, catena-poly[[aquabis(but-2-enoato-κ(2)O,O')yttrium(III)]-bis(µ-but-2-enoato)-κ(3)O,O':O;κ(3)O:O,O'-[aquabis(but-2-enoato-κ(2)O,O')yttrium(III)]-µ-4,4'-(ethane-1,2-diyl)dipyridine-κ(2)N:N'], [Y2(C4H5O2)6(C12H12N2)(H2O)2], the gadolinium(III) analogue, [Gd2(C4H5O2)6(C12H12N2)(H2O)2], and the gadolinium(III) analogue with a 4,4'-(ethene-1,2-diyl)dipyridine bridging ligand, [Gd2(C4H5O2)6(C12H10N2)(H2O)2], are one-dimensional coordination polymers made up of centrosymmetric dinuclear [M(but-2-enoato)3(H2O)]2 units (M = rare earth), further bridged by centrosymmetric 4,4'-(ethane-1,2-diyl)dipyridine or 4,4'-(ethene-1,2-diyl)dipyridine spacers into sets of chains parallel to the [201̄] direction. There are intra-chain and inter-chain hydrogen bonds in the structures, the former providing cohesion of the linear arrays and the latter promoting the formation of broad planes parallel to (010).

Alteraciones en la superficie ocular y en la película lagrimal en fumadores activos / Alterations in the ocular surface and tear film in active smokers

El consumo de cigarrillo es un factor de riesgo para enfermedades cardiovasculares, pulmonares, de piel y mucosas. Objetivo: evaluar las alteraciones en la calidad y en la cantidad de la película lagrimal, así como en la superficie ocular, en sujetos fumadores activos y en no fumadores. Materiales y métodos: estudio observacional-transversal. Se incluyeron 30 sujetos fumadores y 30 no fumadores, con edades entre los 18 y los 40 años. Se aplicó una encuesta de antecedentes. Quienes cumplieron los criterios de inclusión firmaron el consentimiento informado y se les realizó BUT, Schirmer con anestesia, tinción con fluoresceína y citología de impresión. Se usaron la prueba de Mann-Whitney, chi cuadrado y la razón de prevalencia (RP). Resultados: en el grupo de fumadores se encontró una disminución estadísticamente significativa en la calidad de la película lagrimal (p = 0,000) y aumento significativo en el grado de metaplasia escamosa (p = 0,001), con respecto al grupo de no fumadores. La prevalencia de alteraciones en la película lagrimal fue del 76,7 % en los fumadores (cantidad: 20 % y calidad: 76,7 %). El 60 % presentó algún cambio en la superficie ocular (córnea: 10 % y metaplasia escamosa: 56,7 %). Se estableció una RP de 1,5 (IC 95 %: 0,94-2,0) entre el hábito de fumar y el BUT, y una RP = 2,3 (IC 95 %: 1,8-2,9) entre el hábito de fumar y el grado de metaplasia escamosa conjuntival. Conclusiones: el consumo de cigarrillo mostró una asociación con la disminución en la calidad de la película lagrimal y el aumento en el grado de metaplasia escamosa conjuntival.

A background survey was applied, and those who met the inclusion criteria signed the informed consent, and they were submitted to BUT, Schirmer with anesthesia, fluorescein staining and impression cytology. The Mann-Whitney, Chi-squared and prevalence ratio (PR) tests were performed. Results: A statistically significant decrease in the quality of the tear film (p = 0.000) and significant increase in squamous metaplasia (p = 0.001) was found in the smokers’ group compared to the group of non-smokers. The prevalence of alterations in the tear film was 76.7 % in smokers (Quantity: 20 % and quality: 76.7 %). 60 % showed a change in the ocular surface (cornea: 10 % and squamous metaplasia: 56.7 %). A PR of 1.5 (95 % CI 0.94-2.0) was established between the habit of smoking and BUT, and a PR = 2.3 (95% CI 1.8-2.9) between the habit of smoking and degree of conjunctival squamous metaplasia. Conclusions: Cigarette consumption was associated with a decrease in the quality of the tear film and the increased conjunctival squamous metaplasia.

Tratamiento con clorhidrato de epinastina al 0.05 en pacientes con síndrome de disfunción lagrimal moderado / Treatment with epinastine hydrochloride to 0.05 in patients with moderate tear dysfunction syndrome

Antihistamínicos como el clorhidrato de epinastina tienen actividad antinflamatoria y podrían usarse como tratamiento del síndrome de ojo seco. Objetivo: evaluar los cambios en la sintomatología, película lagrimal y superficie ocular antes y después del tratamiento con clorhidrato de epinastina en pacientes con síndrome de ojo seco. Materiales y métodos: se realizó un estudio piloto doble ciego en 20 pacientes con diagnóstico clínico de ojo seco moderado. Un ojo de cada paciente recibió tratamiento con clorhidrato de epinastina al 0,05 % y el otro recibió hialuronato de sodio al 0,4 %. Los dos ojos recibieron suplemento lagrimal con hialuronato de sodio al 0,4 %. La dosis de tratamiento fue una gota tres veces al día por 45 días. Antes del tratamiento y 30 y 45 días después, se aplicó cuestionario validado para ojo seco (osdi), test de Schirmer 1, but y lisamina verde. Se aplicó la prueba t de Student y rangos de Wilcoxon. Resultados: se encontró un mejoría estadísticamente significativa en sintomatología a l s 30 días de intervención con epinastina (p = 0,000) y 45 días (p = 0,0000). En la superficie ocular hubo mejoría clínica y significativa estadísticamente a los 45 días (p = 0,0001). No se encontraron cambios significativos en la calidad ni en la cantidad de la película lagrimal. La reducción en la sintomatología y el grado de tinción con la epinastina a los 45 días fue estadísticamente significativa (p < 0,05) con respecto al grupo control. Conclusión: la combinación clorhidrato de epinastina al 0,05% y hialuronato de sodio al 0,4% mejora la sintomatología y la superficie ocular en los pacientes con ojo seco moderado. Tratamiento con clorhidrato de epinastina al 0,05 % en pacientes con síndrome de disfunción lagrimal moderado.

Treatment with Epinastine Hydrochloride to 0.05% in Patients with Moderate Tear Dysfunction Syndrome Antihistamines such as epinastine hydrochloride have anti-inflammatory activity and could be used as a treatment for dry eye syndrome. Objective: To assess changes in symptoms, tear film and ocular surface before and after treatment with epinastine hydrochloride in patients with dry eye syndrome. Materials and methods: A double-blind pilot study was carried out in 20 patients with clinical diagnosis of moderate dry eye. One eye of each patient was treated with 0.05% of epinastine hydrochloride and the other received 0.4% of sodium hyaluronate. Both eyes received tear supplement with 0.4% of sodium hyaluronate. The treatment dose was one drop three times a day for 45 days. Before treatment and 30 and 45 days after, the validated questionnaire for dry eye (osdi), the Schirmer 1 Test, but and lissamine green were used. The Student’s t test and Wilcoxon ranges were used. Results: A statistically significant improvement in symptoms after 30 days of the intervention with epinastine was found (p = 0.000) and after 45 days (p = 0.0000).In the ocular surface there was clinically and statistically significant improvement after 45 days (p = 0.0001). No significant changes were found in quality or quantity of the tear film. The reduction in symptoms and in the degree of staining with epinastine after 45 days was statistically significant (p < 0.05) compared with the control group. Conclusion: The combination of epinastine hydrochloride 0.05% and sodium hyaluronate 0.4% improves symptoms and the ocular surface in patients with moderate dry eye.

Disminución en la cantidad y calidad de la película lagrimal en cocineros de asaderos de pollos después de la jornada laboral en el centro de Bogotá / Decrease in quantity and quality of the lachrymal film among cooks of chicken roasting shops after the working day in downtown Bogota

Se realizó un estudio descriptivo que tenia por objetivo determinar los cambios en la calidad y cantidad de la película lagrimal de los cocineros que laboran en asaderos de pollos en la zona centro de Bogotá, expuestos a factores de riesgo como humo y temperaturas altas ( del asador). Se tomaron dos grupos uno control (no expuesto a los factores de riesgo, meseros) y uno experimental (expuesto a los factores de riesgo, los cocineros de pollos) ambos grupos contaban con 20 individuos de género masculino, quienes no presentaban patologías oculares, su edad promedio fue de 27 años.A estos sujetos se les practicaron las pruebas de Schirmer y B.U.T, antes de iniciar su jornada laboral y después de trabajar durante 4 horas, para valorar la calidad y cantidad de película lagrimal. Todos los individuos expuestos al humo y el calor, presentaron disminución leve y moderada de la calidad y cantidad de la película lagrimal al transcurrir las 4 horas de trabajo. Los sujetos que no se encontraban expuestos al humo y el calor no presentaron variaciones significativas en las pruebas realizadas. Se concluyó que los factores de riesgo como el humo y las temperaturas altas se relacionan con la disminución en la cantidad de la película lagrimal y la calidad de la misma, lo cual confirma el hallazgo de casos leves de ojo seco.

It a descriptive study whose main objective is to determine the changes in quantity and quality ofthe lachrymal film among cooks of chicken roastingshops after the working day in downtown Bogotawho are exposed to risk factors such as smoke andhigh temperatures. Two groups were studied: onecalled control (not exposed to risk factors: waiters),and another called experimental (exposed to riskfactors: cooks); both groups had 20 males 27 yearsold approximately, who did not have ocularpathologies. They were practiced Schirmer andBUT tests before their working day and after 4 hoursof work to evaluate the quantity and quality of thelachrymal film. All individuals who were exposedto smoke and heat had a slight and moderatedecrease in quantity and quality of the lachrymalfilm after 4 hours of work. Individuals who werenot exposed to smoke and heat did not presentsignificant variations in the tests. It is concludedthat risk factors such as smoke and hightemperatures are related to decrease in quantity andquality of the lachrymal film, which confirmsfindings of slight cases of dry eye.