Search Results (524)

Listeriosis is a dangerous zoonosis caused by bacteria of the genus Listeria, with Listeria monocytogenes (LM) being the most pathogenic species. Listeria monocytogenes has been detected in various animal species and in humans, and its ability to evolve from an environmental saprophyte to a powerful intracellular pathogen is driven by the invasion mechanisms and virulence factors that enable cell invasion, replication and cell-to-cell spread. Key regulatory systems, including positive regulatory factor A (PrfA) and the stress-responsive sigma factor σ^B, control the expression of virulence genes and facilitate invasion of host cells. Listeriosis poses a significant threat to cattle, sheep and goat herds, leading to abortions, septicemia and meningoencephalitis, and ruminants are important reservoirs for Listeria, facilitating transmission to humans. Other Listeria species such as Listeria ivanovii and Listeria innocua can also cause disease in ruminants. Resilience of LM in food processing environments makes it an important foodborne pathogen that is frequently transmitted through contaminated meat and dairy products, with contamination often occurring along the food production chain. In humans, listeriosis primarily affects immunocompromised individuals, pregnant women and the elderly and leads to severe conditions, such as meningitis, septicemia and spontaneous abortion. Possible treatment requires antibiotics that penetrate the blood–brain barrier. Despite the relatively low antimicrobial resistance, multidrug-resistant LM strains have been detected in animals, food and the environment. Controlling and monitoring the disease at the herd level, along with adopting a One Health approach, are crucial to protect human and animal health and to minimize the potential negative impacts on the environment. Full article

In this paper, the humidity-sensing characteristics of gelatin were compared with those of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) at L-band (1 ~ 2 GHz) microwave frequencies. A capacitive microwave sensor based on a defected ground structure with a modified interdigital capacitor (DGS-MIDC) in a microstrip transmission line operating at 1.5 GHz without any coating was used. Gelatin is a natural polymer based on protein sourced from animal collagen, whereas PVA is a high-sensitivity hydrophilic polymer that is widely used for humidity sensors and has a good film-forming property. Two DGS-MIDC-based microwave sensors coated with type A gelatin and PVA, respectively, with a thickness of 0.02 mm were fabricated. The percent relative frequency shift (PRFS) and percent relative magnitude shift (PRMS) based on the changes in the resonant frequency and magnitude level of the transmission coefficient for the microwave sensor were used to compare the humidity-sensing characteristics. The relative humidity (RH) was varied from 50% to 80% with a step of 10% at a fixed temperature of around 25 °C using a low-reflective temperature and humidity chamber manufactured with Styrofoam. The experiment’s results show that the capacitive humidity sensitivity of the gelatin-coated microwave sensor in terms of the PRFS and PRMS was higher compared to that of the PVA-coated one. In particular, the sensitivity of the gelatin-coated microwave sensor at a low RH from 50% to 60% was much greater compared to that of the PVA-coated one. In addition, the relative permittivity of the fabricated microwave sensors coated with PVA and gelatin was extracted by using the measured PRFS and the equation was derived by curve-fitting the simulated results. The change in the extracted relative permittivity for the gelatin-coated microwave sensor was larger than that of the PVA-coated one for varying the RH. Full article

Background: In recent years, the utilization of blood concentrates in dentistry has become increasingly prevalent. In 2014, the development of injectable platelet-rich fibrin (i-PRF) was achieved. One of the key benefits of i-PRF is its ability to consistently release a range of growth factors. This review aimed to determine whether i-PRF could be used for gingival augmentation. Methods: The research involved a search of the PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases using the following search terms: (“microneedling” or “micro needling” or “injectable platelet-rich fibrin” or “i-PRF”) and (“gingival augmentation” or “augmentation” or “attached gingiva” or “attached mucosa” or “soft tissue augmentation” or “KM” or “keratinized mucosa”). Results: Of the 668 results, 8 articles meeting the inclusion criteria were included in the article. The results of the studies analyzed indicated a significant increase in gingival thickness. Furthermore, some articles demonstrated an increase in keratinized tissue width. The augmentation of the gingival thickness with i-PRF yielded no inferior results in comparison to the free gingival graft, which is the current gold standard, resulting in a superior aesthetic outcome and a reduction in postoperative discomfort. Conclusions: This systematic review allowed the authors to conclude that the use of i-PRF or hyaluronic acid may be the first step towards developing a non-surgical method of gingival augmentation. Full article

Dry socket or alveolar osteitis is a common postoperative complication following tooth extraction, characterized by severe pain due to the disintegration of the blood clot within the socket. Various factors contribute to its development, such as traumatic extraction, patient age and sex, smoking, and anesthetic use. To mitigate this condition, socket preservation techniques, including the use of bone substitute materials, have been employed. Platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) has emerged as a promising biomaterial, enhancing healing and reducing the incidence of dry socket. Materials and Methods: This systematic review, adhering to the PRISMA guidelines and registered with PROSPERO (ID: CRD 578018), examines the efficacy of PRF in managing dry socket by analyzing studies from PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science published between January 2013 and May 2024. Boolean keywords have been used in the search strategy: (“Treatment”) AND (“Dry Socket”) AND (“Platelet Rich Fibrin” OR “PRF”). A total of 738 publications were found using the electronic database search. After the screening phase, 13 records were chosen for qualitative analysis. The results from multiple clinical trials and comparative studies indicate that PRF significantly reduces postoperative pain, expedites healing, and lowers the incidence of Alveolar Osteitis. Despite promising results, further large-scale, randomized studies are needed to validate PRF as a standard treatment for dry socket. Full article

Medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) is a rare condition, typically seen in patients receiving antiresorptive or antiangiogenic drugs. This study aims to synthesize reports and case series of MRONJ regarding sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatments applied. Following PRISMA guidelines, a search for case reports and case series was carried out in the PubMed-Medline database until March 2024. A total of 88 articles were included in this review, in a total of 151 cases. The key findings reveal that females were the most affected individuals (71% of the cases) with the average age at diagnosis being 66.27 years with a standard deviation of ±13.03. Stage 2 was the most observed stage, in 43% of cases, and zoledronic acid was the most commonly used drug (32% of cases). The oral route was the most common route of administration, in 26% of cases, with an average administration duration of 60.88 months (standard deviation ± 50.92). The mandible was the most commonly affected anatomical location (in 60% of cases). Amoxicillin + clavulanic acid (875 mg + 125 mg) and chlorhexidine (0.12%) were the most used antibiotics and mouthwash, with 16% and 26% of the cases, respectively. Surgical debridement was the most common surgical procedure, in 32% of cases, while the use of an L-PRF membrane was the most prevalent unconventional treatment, in 21% of cases. This study identified a statistically significant relationship between unconventional treatments and the cure of MRONJ (p < 0.001), indicating the need for further research to confirm these results. Full article

Streptococcus agalactiae ATCC 27956 is a highly contagious Gram-positive bacterium that causes mastitis, has a high infectivity for mammary epithelial cells, and becomes challenging to treat. However, the molecular interactions between it and mammary epithelial cells remain poorly understood. This study analyzed differential gene expression in mammary epithelial cells with varying levels of S. agalactiae infection using UID-Dual transcriptome sequencing and bioinformatics tools. This study identified 211 differentially expressed mRNAs (DEmRNAs) and 452 differentially expressed lncRNAs (DElncRNAs) in host cells, primarily enriched in anti-inflammatory responses, immune responses, and cancer-related processes. Additionally, 854 pathogen differentially expressed mRNAs (pDEmRNAs) were identified, mainly enriched in protein metabolism, gene expression, and biosynthesis processes. Mammary epithelial cells activate pathways, such as the ERK1/2 pathway, to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) to eliminate bacteria. The bacteria disrupt the host’s innate immune mechanisms by interfering with the alternative splicing processes of mammary epithelial cells. Specifically, the bacterial genes of tsf, prfB, and infC can interfere with lncRNAs targeting RUNX1 and BCL2L11 in mammary epithelial cells, affecting the alternative splicing of target genes and altering normal molecular regulation. Full article

Increasing inter-pedal distance (Q-Factor: QF) in cycling increases peak internal knee abduction moments (KAbM). The effect of smaller and normalized changes in QF has not been investigated. The purposes of this study were to examine changes in KAbM with small and normalized increases and whether static knee alignment accounts for any changes in knee biomechanics in cycling. Fifteen healthy participants were included (age: 22.7 ± 2.5 years, BMI: 23.95 ± 3.21 kg/m²). Motion capture and instrumented pedals collected kinematic and pedal reaction force (PRF) data, respectively, while participants cycled at five different QFs. Each participant’s mechanical axis angle (MAA) was estimated using motion capture. Each participant’s QFs were normalized by starting at 160 mm and increasing by 2% of the participant’s leg length (L), where the five QF conditions were as follows: QF1 (160), QF2 (160 + 0.02 × L), QF3 (160 + 0.04 × L), QF4 (160 + 0.06 × L), and QF5 (160 + 0.08 × L). A linear mixed model was performed to detect differences between QF conditions. KAbM increased by more than 30% in QF5 from QF1, QF2, QF3, and QF4. Medial PRF increased by at least 20% in QF5 from QF1, QF2, and QF3. MAA had varying degrees of correlation with the variables of interest. These results suggest that KAbM is more sensitive to changes in QF at greater QF increases. Full article

Listeriosis is one of the most serious foodborne diseases under surveillance, with an overall mortality rate in the EU currently being high at 18.1%. Therefore, this study aims to investigate Listeria monocytogenes strains isolated from clinical and food samples for susceptibility to antimicrobials, presence of virulence factors, and genetic diversity. Species were identified using the MALDI-TOF, resistance to 11 antibiotics was determined according to EUCAST guidelines, and multiplex PCR was used for serotyping and detecting virulence genes. Strains were genotyped using the PFGE method. Clinical strains showed full sensitivity to all tested antibiotics. In total, 33.3% of strains from food products were found to be resistant to ciprofloxacin and 4.2% to tetracycline. Most of the tested isolates (79.2%) belonged to serotype 1/2a-3a, and the rest (20.8%) belonged to serotype 4ab-4b,4d-4e. Five virulence genes (prfA, hlyA, plcB, inlA, and lmo2672) were detected in all strains studied. The llsX gene was the least common, in 37.5% of clinical strains and 18.75% of strains isolated from food products. Among the analyzed strains, 13 strains displayed unique PFGE profiles. The other 11 strains belong to 3 clusters of pulsotypes: cluster 1 (2 strains), cluster 2 (6 strains), and cluster 3 (2 strains). The percentage of hospitalizations and deaths of Polish patients with listeriosis indicates the seriousness of this disease, especially in an aging society, while the molecular testing of clinical strains has been rarely performed, which makes it difficult to determine the source of infection. Full article

Background: Schatzker type II fractures usually need to be grafted. Autograft bone from the iliac crest represents the gold standard, but it comes with high rates of morbidity on the donor side. Sticky bone is one of the regenerative therapies that aims to find new solutions to treat bone defects and to overcome the limitation of conventional options regarding bone grafts, due to their content in growth factors, which offer osteo-induction and osteo-conduction properties. Notably, regenerative dentistry has been at the forefront of applying these products in bone regeneration, demonstrating that PRF produces a highly promising “sticky bone” when combined with bone chips. To the best of our knowledge, this grafting technique has not been used in the orthopedic field to date. Methods: The subject was a 53-year-old woman with a Schatzker type II tibial plateau fracture, for which a new autologous bone grafting technique, i.e., sticky bone, was used for the treatment of the fracture. Results: This case reports the effectiveness of sticky bone as autologous bone graft used in Shatzker type II tibial plateau fracture. As an indispensable component of regenerative medicine, it seems to be an ideal biologic graft with a fibrin-rich structure that provides effective treatment in impressed tibial plateau fractures. Conclusion: Sticky bone showed promising results and should be considered in the future as an appropriate bone implant. Full article

In this work, we report the synthesis of a new thiosemicarbazone-based drug of N′-(di(pyridin-2-yl)methylene)-4-(thiazol-2-yl)piperazine-1-carbothiohydrazide (HL) featuring a thiazole spectator for efficient coordination with Cu(II) to give [CuCl(L)]₂ (1) and [Cu(NO₃)(L)]₂ (2). Both 1 and 2 exhibit dimeric structures ascribed to the presence of di-2-pyridylketone moieties that demonstrate dual functions of chelation and intermolecular bridging. HL, 1, and 2 are highly toxic against hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines Hep-G2, PLC/PRF/5, and HuH-7 with half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) values as low as 3.26 nmol/mL (HL), 2.18 nmol/mL (1), and 2.54 × 10⁻⁵ nmol/mL (2) for PLC/PRF/5. While the free ligand HL may elicit its anticancer effect via the sequestration of bio-relevant metal ions (i.e., Fe³⁺ and Cu²⁺), 1 and 2 are also capable of generating cytotoxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) to inhibit cancer cell proliferation. Our preliminary pharmacokinetic studies revealed that oral administration (per os, PO) of HL has a significantly longer half-life t_1/2 of 21.61 ± 9.4 h, nearly doubled as compared with that of the intravenous (i.v.) administration of 11.88 ± 1.66 h, certifying HL as an effective chemotherapeutic drug via PO administration. Full article

A single-frequency, Q-switched Er:YAG laser, pumped by a 1532 nm fiber laser, has been demonstrated. At the pulse repetition frequency (PRF) of 200 Hz, the maximum single-frequency laser of 5.5 mJ is attained, and, correspondingly, the pulse width is 212 ns. Using the heterodyne technique, the single-frequency laser spectrum’s full width at half maximum is determined to be 2.73 MHz. The experimental results show that the single-frequency laser has excellent beam quality factors (M²) of 1.18 and 1.21. Full article

Moringa oleifera Lam. (horseradish tree) leaves demonstrate high nutritional value, are rich in proteins, and are widely used in folk medicine and food. This study investigated the presence of secondary metabolites and antinutritional proteins in leaf extract (LE) and the protein-rich fraction (PRF) derived from M. oleifera leaves, as well as the cytotoxicity to human cells, hemolytic activity, and in vivo acute toxicity and genotoxicity in mice. The flavonoids rutin and vitexin as well as trypsin inhibitors and lectins were detected in LE and PRF. Neither sample demonstrated toxicity against human peripheral blood mononuclear cells and both showed low hemolytic action. In vivo, LE and PRF did not show antinutritional effects and caused no death. The hematological parameters of the animals in the treated group were similar to those of the control. A significant increase in the serum levels of alanine aminotransferase and a discrete leukocyte infiltration with cytoplasmic vacuolization of the hepatocytes in the liver were detected in LE-treated animals. The preparations were not genotoxic or mutagenic. This study shows that LE and PRF are not antinutritional agents and presented low acute toxicity and no genotoxicity or mutagenicity. The present study contributes to the determination of the safety of using M. oleifera leaf proteins. Full article

This paper explores the problem of automated robot program generation from limited historical data when neither accurate geometric environmental models nor online vision feedback are available. The Program Reuse Framework (PRF) is developed, which uses expert-defined motion classes, a novel data structure introduced in this work, to learn affordances, workspaces, and skills from historical data. Historical data comprise raw robot joint trajectories and descriptions of the robot task being completed. Given new tasks, motion classes are then used again to formulate an optimization problem capable of generating new open-loop, skill-based programs to complete the tasks. To cope with a lack of geometric models, a technique to learn safe workspaces from demonstrations is developed, allowing the risk of new programs to be estimated before execution. A new learnable motion primitive for redundant manipulators is introduced, called a redundancy dynamical movement primitive, which enables new end-effector goals to be reached while mimicking the whole-arm behavior of a demonstration. A mobile manipulator part transportation task is used throughout to illustrate each step of the framework. Full article

Platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) is prepared by spontaneous coagulation of fractionated blood. When squeezed between two plates, PRF is separated into solid PRF membranes and a liquid exudate, the PRF serum. The question arises regarding how much the overall activity remains in the PRF membranes and what is discarded into the PRF serum. To this end, we have exposed gingival fibroblasts to lysates prepared from PRF membranes and PRF serum, followed by bulk RNA sequencing. A total of 268 up- and 136 down-regulated genes in gingival fibroblasts exposed to PRF membrane lysates were significantly regulated under the premise of a minimum log2 with 2.5-fold change and a minus log10 significance level of two, respectively. PRF serum only caused 62 up- and 32 down-regulated genes under these conditions. Among the 46 commonly up-regulated genes were CXCL1, CXCL5, CXCL6, CXCL8, IL33, IL6, and PTGS2/COX2, stanniocalcin-1—all linked to an inflammatory response. PRF membrane lysates further increased chemokines CCL2, CCL7, CXCL2, CXCL3, and IL1R1, IL1RL1, and IL1RN, as well as the paracrine factors IL11, LIF, IGF1, BMP2, BMP6, FGF2, and CCN2/CTGF, and all hyaluronan synthases. On the other hand, PRF serum increased DKK1. The genes commonly down-regulated by PRF membrane lysates and PRF serum included interferon-induced protein with tetratricopeptide repeats (IFIT1, IFIT2, IFIT3) and odd-skipped-related transcription factors (OSR1 and OSR2), as well as FGF18 and GDF15, respectively. Taken together, PRF membrane lysates, compared to PRF serum, cause a more complex response in gingival fibroblasts, but each increased chemokine expression in gingival fibroblasts. Full article

Bedinvetmab (Librela^®) represents a new class of canine osteoarthritis pain therapy. The aim of this study was to understand patient selection, usage behaviours, and satisfaction amongst veterinarians using bedinvetmab. Overall, 1932 patient record forms (PRF) were collected from 375 veterinarians across five countries in Europe. Veterinarians were asked to provide 5–7 PRF representing an average patient prescribed bedinvetmab. Veterinarian satisfaction with bedinvetmab usage averaged 8.0 out of 10.0 across all countries. Dissatisfaction as a reason for discontinuation was less than 1% for veterinarians. Veterinarians prescribed bedinvetmab broadly, across patient severity stages, weights, and ages. Adherence to monthly dosing per the product label was over 99%, and compliance with bedinvetmab treatment regimens was 85%. Following initiation of bedinvetmab, the proportion of patients requiring multiple pharmacological therapies for osteoarthritis pain fell from 47% to 31% (p < 0.05). After initiation of bedinvetmab, the mean total number of pharmacological therapies per patient across the population was 1.3, a reduction from 1.9 pre-treatment (p < 0.05). This investigation provides evidence on the benefit of bedinvetmab use post-launch in a broad population of dogs across the five most populous countries in western Europe. Compliance and satisfaction appear high and the use of other analgesic therapies to treat osteoarthritis pain is reduced in most cases following administration of bedinvetmab. Full article