Systematic survey on the prevalence of genes coding for staphylococcal enterotoxins SElM, SElO, and SElN

Staphylococcus aureus remains a leading cause of food-poisoning with substantial impact on public health. Using a multiplex polymerase chain reaction-DNA enzyme immunoassay (PCR-DEIA), we studied the presence of genes encoding staphylococcal enterotoxin-like (SEl) superantigens sem, sen, and seo, associated with the enterotoxin gene cluster (egc), in 429 clinical Staphylococcus aureus isolates. 294 (68.5%) isolates tested positive for at least one of the three SEl genes. In contrast to the fixed gene combination seg/sei also located on egc, a substantial number of isolates (n = 108) were found to bear only one or two of the genes encoding SElM, SElN, and SElO. Regarding the origin of the S. aureus isolates, a significant difference (P = 0.022) was found for the possession of seo (61.2% of blood isolates versus 42.9% of nasal strains). Also sem (not significantly) was found more common in blood isolates (52.1% versus 40.5%). The survey of the newly described SEl genes sem-seo supports the concept that most clinical S. aureus isolates harbor subsets of pyrogenic toxin superantigens. The potential contribution of seo and sem to the pathogenic potential of S. aureus has to be further evaluated.     

Neutronic characterization of the MEGAPIE target

The MEGAPIE project aimed to design, build and operate a liquid metal spallation neutron target of about 1 MW beam power in the SINQ facility at the Paul Scherrer Institut (Villigen, Switzerland). This project is an important step in the roadmap towards the demonstration of the accelerator driven system (ADS) concept and high power liquid metal targets in general. Following the design phase, an experimental program was defined to provide a complete characterization of the facility by performing a “mapping” of the neutron flux at different points, from the center of the target to the beam lines. The neutronic performance of the target was studied using different experimental techniques with the goals of validating the Monte Carlo codes used in the design of the target; additionally, the performance was compared with the solid lead targets used before and after the MEGAPIE experiment.     

The impact of different hop compounds on the growth of selected beer spoilage bacteria in beer

Beer spoiling lactic acid bacteria are a major reason for quality complaints in breweries around the world. Spoilage by a variety of these bacteria can result in haze, sediment, slime, off-flavours and acidity. As these bacteria occur frequently in the brewing environment, using certain hop products that inhibit the growth of these spoilers could be a solution to prevent problems. To investigate the impact of seven different hop compounds (α-acids, iso-α-acids, tetrahydro-iso-α-acids, rho-iso-α-acids, xanthohumol, iso-xanthohumol and humulinones) on the growth of six major beer spoilage bacteria (Lactobacillus brevis. L. backi, L. coryniformis, L. lindneri, L. buchneri, Pediococcus damnosous), two concentrations (10 and 25 mg/L) of each hop substance were added to unhopped beer. The potential growth of the spoilage bacteria was investigated over 56 consecutive days. A comparison of the results shows a strong inhibition of growth of all spoilage bacteria at 25 mg/L of tetrahydro-iso-α-acids closely followed by α-acids as the second most inhibitory substance. The results showed a high resistance of L. brevis to all hop compounds as well as an inhibition of L. coryniformis and L. buchneri at low concentrations of most hop components. In comparison with the control sample, L. lindneri showed increased growth in the presence of some hop compounds (rho-iso-α-acids, xanthohumol, iso-xanthohumol, humulinones). © 2020 The Authors. Journal of the Institute of Brewing published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Institute of Brewing & Distilling     

Improvements of metabolic imbalances after enteral sodium bicarbonate supplementation in infants of very low birth weight (VLBW)

One of the main points of clinical care is the catch-up growth of VLBW infants especially those of small gestational age (SGA). The required high amounts of protein are often not tolerated [1]. Metabolic imbalances due to immaturities of protein metabolism are described [2, 3] also in infants SGA feeding amounts of proteins comparable to mature newborns [4]. Remarkable signs of overloading by proteins are the elevation of amino acid and the bile acid concentrations in the serum [3, 5, 6]. In some of those cases [7] late metabolic acidosis (LMA) is to be seen. There is evidence in the literature that sodium bicarbonate influences nitrogen [8] and ionic balances [9] in newborn animals without any signs of acidosis, besides its simple buffer function. The aim of this study was to control changes of metabolic imbalances after bicarbonate supplementation before development of acidosis in predisposed infants. Therefore we determined parameters, which were significantly changed with LMA [6] during two feeding schedules: firstly, during bolus supplementation in infants feeding (2.0 +/- 0.4) g/kg BW.d protein and secondly during chronic supplementation of bicarbonate to (3.0 +/- 0.4) g/kg BW.d protein. In relation to the improvement of the nitrogen balance in growing lambs [7] we supposed comparable effect of bicarbonate on metabolic imbalances caused by protein overloading.     

Defining Dry Eye from a Clinical Perspective

Over the past decades, the number of patients with dry eye disease (DED) has increased dramatically. The incidence of DED is higher in Asia than in Europe and North America, suggesting the involvement of cultural or racial factors in DED etiology. Although many definitions of DED have been used, discrepancies exist between the various definitions of dry eye disease (DED) used across the globe. This article presents a clinical consensus on the definition of DED, as formulated in four meetings with global DED experts. The proposed new definition is as follows: “Dry eye is a multifactorial disease characterized by a persistently unstable and/or deficient tear film (TF) causing discomfort and/or visual impairment, accompanied by variable degrees of ocular surface epitheliopathy, inflammation and neurosensory abnormalities.” The key criteria for the diagnosis of DED are unstable TF, inflammation, ocular discomfort and visual impairment. This definition also recommends the assessment of ocular surface epitheliopathy and neurosensory abnormalities in each patient with suspected DED. It is easily applicable in clinical practice and should help practitioners diagnose DED consistently. This consensus definition of DED should also help to guide research and clinical trials that, to date, have been hampered by the lack of an established surrogate endpoint.     

Änderung der Preßfähigkeit durch Austausch von Sojabohnen gegen Sojaextraktionsschrot und Öl

Variations in the Pressing Capability by Exchange of Soya Beans for Soya Extraction Meal and Oil Feeding stuff with a high energy content needs the addition of fats and oil. By this, difficulties in pelleting and formation of solid pellets arise. Therefore the subsequent spraying upon the pellets has been applied in industry. This is not the optimum because of possible oxidation and storage difficulties. Therefore the complete soya beans are applied directly, the fat is enclosed in the cells and better protected against oxidation. Trials in this direction confirm this, high fat amounts in the mixture can be pressed to solid pellets, too. The variation of the fat is investigated by samples during pressing. The peroxide values for example show however a detectable increase, but this is by no means of any interest. If the fats are extracted and stored under defined conditions the influence of the pressing procedure is obviously. The oxidation after conditioning and pelleting is different, depending on the meal mixture. High POV occur which indicate a decrease of quality. Also in long term conditioning a distinctly higher peroxide value is obvious. The effect of the pressing process can be observed only during storage under certain conditions. The results indicate that the pressing capability can be considerably influenced by the kind of the fats and by way of addition. On the other hand some questions remain open.     

Evaluation of rapeseed meals in broiler chicks: Effect of iodine supply and glucosinolate degradation by myrosinase or copper

In rapeseed meals (RSM) of a conventional (c) or a newly bred (n) variety 117 or 44 mmol glucosinolates and glucosinolate degradation products per kg dry matter were detected. Soaking meals in aqueous myrosinase or copper sulphate solution and subsequent drying reduced the content of antinutrients by more than 90%. Broiler chickens were fed (i) a glucosinolate-free diet, or this diet in which half the soybean meal was replaced by RSM of various origins and treatment; (ii) untreated cRSM; (iii) cRSM treated with myrosinase: (iv) cRSM treated with Cu (v) untreated nRSM; or (vi) nRSM treated with myrosinase. These diets were administered with or without supplementary iodine. Chickens receiving the iodine-deficient diets with myrosinase-treated RSM showed growth depression, incomplete feathering, leg injuries and severe goitre. In the serum T⁴ could not be detected. Giving myrosinase-treated RSM plus iodine, or giving other RSM diets irrespective of iodine administration, no growth depression was observed. RSM diets without iodine dosage markedly increased thyroid weight: there were no differences between the RSM variants. In contrast to the treatment with myrosinase, in the sera of the chickens fed on untreated RSM or RSM treated with copper T⁴ could be detected, suggesting that in iodine-deficient conditions differences in serum T⁴ concentration between RSM groups indicate a differing anti-thyroid activity. With iodine supplementation the RSM had a significant effect on thyroid weight. The largest thyroids (five-fold heavier) were in the animals with myrosinase-treated cRSM. The untreated cRSM and the nRSM trebled or doubled the thyroid weight, and the myrosinase-treated nRSM trebled it. The thyroid weight of chicks fed cRSM treated with copper did not differ significantly from the glucosinolate-free control. There was evidence that heating the myrosinase-treated RMS produced anti-thyroid compounds; these should be identified in further investigations.