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OHEJP Project METAPRO

OHEJP Project: METAPRO Poster at “32nd European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID)&rdquo

12 Month PhD Report of the year 2021 of the PhD project METAPRO

OHEJP Project: METAPRO Poster at “31st European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID)&rdquo

OHEJP Project: METAPRO Short oral presentation at “XXVIII Congreso de la Sociedad Española de Microbiología (SEM)"

OHEJP Project: METAPRO Poster at “One Health EJP Annual Scientific Meeting 2021”. ONLINE, June 2021

Natural rubber still has socioeconomic, environmental and technical importance, despite the production of several synthetic similar polymers in the last 70 years. The Amazon Rainforest, the genetic base of Hevea brasiliensis, harbors a great diversity of ecosystems that can result in differentiated latex and elastomer molecules, from trees of the same species or other species and varieties of laticifer plants. Even so, there is little research to compare latex and rubber properties produced from native trees and planted clones. In this work, rubber latex was collected from four locations in the Amazon, including the historical places of Boim and Belterra and the most cultivated clone in Brazil, the RRIM 600, from a hevea plantation in the Center-West of Brazil. The following colloid properties were determined: pH, viscosity, particle size, dry rubber content, total solids content, gel content, total lipids, and total proteins. The molecular weight and the main physical and mechanical properties of the rubbers were also determined. Some main results can be highlighted: the rubber sample from Acre, in the extreme Western part of the Amazon, presented the highest molecular weight, while the Belterra sample, from remaining plantations of the Ford Project in Amazon, showed the highest values for mechanical properties. On the other hand, the technical characteristics of the RRIM 600 clone are close to the results obtained for the Boim sample, in Para, of the micro-region from where Henry Wickham collected the 70,000 seeds in 1876, from which the species was internationally domesticated. The present work is one of the very few studies to have been carried out with latex and rubber of these ancient rubber trees.

OHEJP Project: METAPRO When taking samples of animal origin, in addition to the information regarding which farm they originate from, and which animals have been sampled, it is imperative that information regarding the conditions in which the animals are housed, and are handled is also obtained. All this information aids the data analysis and allows accurate comparisons to be made between farms. Therefore, we have designed a comprehensive questionnaire in order to collect all the necessary data. The questionnaire is divided into 15 sections and attempts to cover basic farm data as well as data about management, sanitary conditions or antibiotic use. In addition, the questionnaire is provided in both English and Spanish, in order to facilitate the collection of data according to the country where the samples are obtained within the METAPRO project. We consider that this deliverable should be made public in case any member of the One Health EJP consortium or other projects intends to carry out any sampling on farms so that they can use this questionnaire directly or use it as a basis for the creation of one that is closer to their requirements.

Objectives: To investigate the relevance of multicopy plasmids in antimicrobial resistance and assess their mobilization mediated by phage particles Methods: Several databases with complete sequences of plasmids and annotated genes were analysed. The 16S methyltransferase gene armA conferring high-level aminoglycoside resistance was used as a marker in eight different plasmids, from different incompatibility groups, and with differing sizes and plasmid copy numbers. All plasmids were transformed into Escherichia coli bearing one of four different lysogenic phages. Upon induction, encapsidation of armA in phage particles was evaluated using qRT–PCR and Southern blotting. Results: Multicopy plasmids carry a vast set of emerging clinically important antimicrobial resistance genes. However, 60% of these plasmids do not bear mobility (MOB) genes. When carried on these multicopy plasmids, mobilization of a marker gene armA into phage capsids was up to 10000 times more frequent than when it was encoded by a large plasmid with a low copy number. Conclusions: Multicopy plasmids and phages, two major mobile genetic elements (MGE) in bacteria, represent a novel high-efficiency transmission route of antimicrobial resistance genes that deserves further investigation. ARDIG

OHEJP Project: METAPRO Poster at “One Health EJP Annual Scientific Meeting 2020&rdquo

ObjectivesTo investigate the relevance of multicopy plasmids in antimicrobial resistance and assess their mobilization mediated by phage particlesMethodsSeveral databases with complete sequences of plasmids and annotated genes were analysed. The 16S methyltransferase gene armA conferring high-level aminoglycoside resistance was used as a marker in eight different plasmids, from different incompatibility groups, and with differing sizes and plasmid copy numbers. All plasmids were transformed into Escherichia coli bearing one of four different lysogenic phages. Upon induction, encapsidation of armA in phage particles was evaluated using qRT–PCR and Southern blotting.ResultsMulticopy plasmids carry a vast set of emerging clinically important antimicrobial resistance genes. However, 60% of these plasmids do not bear mobility (MOB) genes. When carried on these multicopy plasmids, mobilization of a marker gene armA into phage capsids was up to 10000 times more frequent than when it was encoded by a large plasmid with a low copy number.ConclusionsMulticopy plasmids and phages, two major mobile genetic elements (MGE) in bacteria, represent a novel high-efficiency transmission route of antimicrobial resistance genes that deserves further investigation.

From January 28th to February 10th, 2008 the Italian Society of Cardiac Rehabilitation and Prevention (GICR) conducted a national web-based survey aimed to provide specific and updated information on organization and core components of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) in Italy, and to describe, both in residential and out-patient settings, indications for CR, clinical characteristics of referred patients, risk profile, performed diagnostic procedures, exercise and educational programme, treatments and arrangements for the follow-up [1, 2]. The ISYDE-2008 is a multicenter, longitudinal, prospective observation study whose design was previously described [1, 2].

Antibiotic resistance is one of the most worrying threats to global public health today. Numerous common infections are becoming harder, and even impossible, to treat due to the loss of effectiveness of these molecules against resistant bacteria. This is a complex scenario involving multiple elements, and must therefore be confronted with a multidisciplinary approach (1).

By considering the effects of climate change in urban areas, the paper investigates the benefits of environmental design strategies as green stormwater infrastructures. The environmental dimension of spatial planning sits alongside and AQ1 interfaceswith other sustainability challenges in the urban environment.Moreover, the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic focused their crucial importance in the reorganization of places that are “safe” because they allow movement through cities with minimal risk of contagion, providing an adequate opportunity for safe AQ2 socialization. The research studied the design of green streets equipped with GSI devices in a portion of the town of Aversa (CE), to mitigate flooding, improve the microclimatic conditions and the quality of public spaces. The work was carried out with the support of software simulation of the microclimatic and physical behavior of urban areas (ENVI-Met) and evaluation of the benefits of ecosystem services (iTree Eco), performing in a cyclic way the phases of Analysis, Design and Verification. The approach allowed to refine the results obtained by selecting the most appropriate solutions for the project. The computer simulation of microclimatic conditions is a useful tool for the environmental assessment of limited urban ecosystems, where it would be particularly costly to install a series of small stations to detect the local weather conditions. The holistic approach to urban regeneration planning and project leads to a constant assessment of the increase of the ecosystem services resulting from the solutions chosen in the cyclical process of research through design.

Understanding the interrelations between natural and built environments is at the base of the reconfiguration criteria of man-made areas. Starting from the results of a research project on the requalification of urban outdoor spaces in a rational comprehensive city pilot case, the implementation of green stormwater infrastructures was tested, considering a section of the hydrographic network. The method hereby presented evaluates the benefits caused by nature-based solutions, formulating a research through design project to compare the performance of the vegetation based on analyses carried out at different scales. The investigation of the relations among the considered environmental parameters contributes to innovating the environmental requalification approach.

Public space and street networks form a significant and central determinant of urban quality. The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic has focused their crucial importance in the reorganisation of places that are “safe” because they allow movement through cities with minimal risk of contagion. While addressing the need for social distancing, open air exercise, and mobility without use of public transport, these measures resulted in other environmental and social benefits. Living with the coronavirus pandemic has produced a series of adaptative actions, such as barring or limiting automobile traffic, thereby expanding street space for pedestrians and bicyclists, whose impact is, as yet, difficult to fathom because of their contingent, temporary nature. In this context, this case study proposes a sustainable bicycle network to inform the future, permanent street redesign. Based on topographic, morphologic, and climatic data, it evaluates a series of contiguous road sections, defining redesign capacities and critical conditions to implement sustainable interventions to manage urban runoff, mitigate of extreme heat events, expand pedestrian paths and provide a bicycle network. This holistic approach to sustainable urban design evaluation, supported by reproducible data and parameters, serves as a replicable model for the sustainable redesign of roads in other urban settings. The extent, integration, and complexity of the study engaged an interdisciplinary framework, facilitating detailed planning and design and quantified assessments of environmental outcomes.

The interdisciplinary approach was applied to analyze the complexity of the Mediterranean landscape of a case study of urban and peri-urban areas surrounding the Strada Statale 7bis, in Campania. In order to mitigate the periodic flooding of the area, a Green Street network was studied for the sustainable management of rainwater and the reduction of waterproofing in the urban area, capable of improving the quality of the open space, wastewater, and air, recharge underground aquifers, counteract high-temperature regimes by decreasing the effects of urban heat island and the greenhouse gases.

L'approccio interdisciplinare è stato applicato per analizzare la complessità del paesaggio mediterraneo di un caso studio di zone urbane e periurbane circostanti la Strada Statale 7bis, in Campania. Al fine di mitigare i periodici allagamenti dell'area, si è studiata una rete di Green Street per la gestione sostenibile delle acque meteoriche e la riduzione dell'impermeabilizzazione nel territorio urbano, in grado di migliorare la qualità dello spazio aperto, delle acque reflue e dell'aria, ricaricare le falde acquifere sotterranee, contrastare i regimi di alte temperature diminuendo gli effetti di isola di calore urbana e la quantità di gas serra.

The definition and meaning of permeability in various technical-scientific sectors, from Architecture to Earth Sciences, as well as the use of this parameter for surfaces, soils, and subsoil, are illustrated.

Si illustrano definizione e significato di permeabilità in vari settori tecnico-scientifici, dall'Architettura alle Scienze della Terra, e l'utilizzo di questo parametro per le superfici, i suoli ed il sottosuolo.