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Enterobacteriaceae are known to proliferate in cucumber juice, deriving energy from the fermentation of sugars to organic acids and ethanol, and theoretically generating carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). We hypothesized that the CO 2 produced by the indigenous Enterobacteriaceae in the early stage of cucumber fermentation accumulates in the fermenting fruits causing bloater defect. The ability of seven Enterobacteriaceae , indigenous to cucumber, to grow and produce CO 2 in cucumber juice medium (CJM), a sterile model system for cucumber fermentation, was characterized. The induction of bloater defect in cucumber fermentation conducted with pasteurized and acidified fruits was also evaluated. The generation times of the seven Enterobacteriaceae in CJM ranged between 0.25 and 8.20 h and resulted in carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) production to estimated amounts of 7.22-171.5 mM. Enterobacter cancerogenus and Enterobacter nimipressuralis were among the bacteria that produced the most and the least CO 2 in CJM, respectively, at estimated mM concentrations of 171.58 ± 42.96 and 16.85 ± 6.53. Inoculation of E. cancerogenus and E. nimipressuralis in acidified and pasteurized cucumbers resulted in the production of 138 and 27 mM CO 2 , respectively. Such Enterobacteriaceae produced 2% hydrogen in the model cucumber fermentations. A bloater index of 25.4 and 17.4 was calculated from the cucumbers fermented by E. cancerogenus and E. nimipressuralis , respectively, whereas no defect was observed in the fruits collected from uninoculated control fermentation jars. It is concluded that the metabolic activity of the Enterobacteriaceae indigenous to cucumber can produce sufficient CO 2 in cucumber fermentations to induce bloater defect., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Published 2023. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. Food Science & Nutrition published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Objectives: Mesothelioma is a nearly uniformly fatal tumor. Multimodality therapy including cytoreductive surgery and chemotherapy is associated with long-term survival in some patients. Cytoreductive surgery for thoracic disease includes a lung-sparing operation called an "extended pleurectomy/decortication" or a lung-sacrificing surgery called an "extrapleural pneumonectomy." The benefit of cytoreductive surgery for bicavitary disease (chest and abdomen) is poorly understood. Our objective was to evaluate the long-term survivals for patients undergoing cytoreductive surgery for bicavitary disease and to determine whether any prognostic factors were associated with outcome., Methods: We reviewed our Institutional Review Board-approved, institutional, International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer Mesothelioma Staging Project database. Inclusion criteria were all patients who underwent cytoreductive surgery for bicavitary disease. Overall survival was calculated by Kaplan-Meier methodology. All International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer database elements were evaluated by univariable analysis., Results: From February 2014 to August 2021, 440 patients with mesothelioma were evaluated. Fourteen patients (3%) underwent cytoreductive surgery of both chest and abdomen as a planned 2-stage operation. Most patients (13/14; 93%) underwent chest surgery before abdomen surgery. For the entire cohort, the median overall survival was 33.6 months with a 5-year survival of 20%. Extended pleurectomy/decortication was associated with a better outcome compared with extrapleural pneumonectomy, with median overall survivals of 58.2 versus 13.5 months, respectively., Conclusions: For a highly selected group of patients with bicavitary mesothelioma, long-term survival can be achieved with an aggressive, staged surgical approach. The patients who undergo extended pleurectomy/decortication with preservation of the lung appear to have more favorable outcomes compared with patients undergoing extrapleural pneumonectomy., (Copyright © 2022 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This study investigated the ability of ɣ-proteobacteria, indigenous to fresh cucumber, to grow in the expressed fruit juice (CJM) and fermentation. It was hypothesized that fresh cucumbers can support prolific growth of ɣ-proteobacteria but that the cover brine composition and acid production by the competing lactobacilli in the fermentation of the fruit act as inhibitory agents. The ɣ-proteobacteria proliferated in CJM with an average maximum growth rate (μ max ) of 0.3895 ± 0.0929 and doubling time (T d ) of 1.885 ± 0.465/h. A significant difference was found between the ɣ-proteobacteria μ max and T d relative to Lactiplantibacillus pentosus LA0445 (0.2319 ± 0.019; 2.89/h) and Levilactobacillus brevis 7.2.43 (0.221 ± 0.015; 3.35/h) but not Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 3.2.8 (0.412 ± 0.119; 1.87/h). While inoculation level insignificantly altered the μ max and T d of the bacteria tested; it impacted the length of lag and stationary phases for the lactobacilli. Unlike the lactobacilli, the ɣ-proteobacteria were inhibited in CJM supplemented with a low salt fermentation cover brine containing calcium chloride, acetic acid and potassium sorbate. The ɣ-proteobacteria, P. agglomerans , was unable to proliferate in cucumber fermentations brined with calcium chloride at a pH of 6.0 ± 0.1 and the population of Enterobacteriaceae was outcompeted by the lactobacilli within 36 h. Together these observations demonstrate that the prolific growth of ɣ-proteobacteria in CJM is not replicated in cucumber fermentation. While the ɣ-proteobacteria growth rate is faster that most lactobacilli in CJM, their growth in cucumber fermentation is prevented by the cover brine and the acid produced by the indigenous lactobacilli. Thus, the lactobacilli indigenous to cucumber and cover brine composition influence the safety and quality of fermented cucumbers. IMPORTANCE While the abundance of specific ɣ-proteobacteria species varies among vegetable type, several harbor Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonadaceae that benefit the plant system. It is documented that such bacterial populations decrease in density early in vegetable fermentations. Consequently, it is assumed that they do not contribute to the quality of finished products. This study explored the viability of ɣ-proteobacteria in CJM, used as a model system, CJM supplemented with fermentation cover brine and cucumber fermentation, which are characterized by an extremely acidic endpoint pH (3.23 ± 0.17; n  = 391). The data presented demonstrates that fresh cucumbers provide the nutrients needed by ɣ-proteobacteria to proliferate and reduce pH to 4.47 ± 0.12. However, ɣ-proteobacteria are unable to proliferate in cucumber fermentation. Control of ɣ-proteobacteria in fermentations depends on the cover brine constituents and the indigenous competing lactobacilli. This knowledge is of importance when developing guidelines for the safe fermentation of vegetables, particularly with low salt.

Oligometastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is metastatic disease that refers to a limited number of metastatic sites. It is analogous to an intermediate stage of NSCLC, between localized and widely metastatic disease, even though no staging criteria establishes this distinction. Oligometastatic NSCLC describes a patient subgroup with limited metastasis to one or a few organs. These patients seem to have a more indolent cancer than those with diffuse metastasis. For these select patients with oligometastatic disease, the use of palliative systemic therapy over local aggressive treatment may be a missed opportunity to improve survival. The clear definition of this subgroup and identification of the best treatment remains the current challenge in the management of the disease. Surgery was the early cornerstone in the treatment of limited disease; however, as modalities such as chemotherapy, stereotactic radiosurgery, and immunotherapy have matured, the role of excision is less clearly defined. There are sparse randomized controlled trials comparing the efficacy of different treatment modalities in patients with oligometastatic NSCLC. However, there is a growing body of retrospective research detailing the prognostic factors that characterize the role of surgery in the management of these patients. This article clarifies the context and definition of the term oligometastatic, as it applies to NSCLC, and reviews the current results in the use of surgery for its management.

The Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus pentosus genotypes existing in industrial-scale cucumber fermentations were defined using rep-PCR-(GTG)5. The ability of each genotype to ferment cucumbers under various conditions was evaluated. Rep-PCR-(GTG)5 was the technique capable of illustrating the most intraspecies discrimination compared to the sequencing of housekeeping genes (recA, dnaK, pheS and rpoA), MLST and RAPD with primers LP1, OPL5, M14 and COC. Ten genotypic clusters were defined for the 199 L. pentosus tested and three for the 17 L. plantarum clones. The ability of the 216 clones genotyped and 37 additional cucumber fermentation isolates, of the same species, to rapidly decrease the pH of cucumber juice medium under various combinations of sodium chloride (0 or 6%), initial pH (4.0 or 5.2) and temperatures (15 or 30 °C) was determined using a fractional factorial screening design. A reduced fermentation ability was observed for the L. plantarum strains as compared to L. pentosus, except for clone 3.2.8, which had a ropy phenotype and aligned to genotypic cluster A. L. pentosus strains belonging to three genotypic clusters (B, D and J) were more efficient in cucumber juice fermentation as compared to most L. plantarum strains. This research identified three genetically diverse L. pentosus strains and one L. plantarum as candidates for starter cultures for commercial cucumber fermentations., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

In northwestern Argentina (NWA), pepper crops are threatened by the emergence of begomoviruses due to the spread of its vector, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius). The genus Begomovirus includes pathogens that can have a monopartite or bipartite genome and are occasionally associated with sub-viral particles called satellites. This study characterized the diversity of begomovirus and alphasatellite species infecting pepper in NWA using a metagenomic approach. Using RCA-NGS (rolling circle amplification-next generation sequencing), 19 full-length begomovirus genomes (DNA-A and DNA-B) and one alphasatellite were assembled. This ecogenomic approach revealed six begomoviruses in single infections: soybean blistering mosaic virus (SbBMV), tomato yellow spot virus (ToYSV), tomato yellow vein streak virus (ToYVSV), tomato dwarf leaf virus (ToDfLV), sida golden mosaic Brazil virus (SiGMBRV), and a new proposed species, named pepper blistering leaf virus (PepBLV). SbBMV was the most frequently detected species, followed by ToYSV. Moreover, a new alphasatellite associated with ToYSV, named tomato yellow spot alphasatellite 2 (ToYSA-2), was reported for the first time in Argentina. For the Americas, this was the first report of an alphasatellite found in a crop (pepper) and in a weed ( Leonurus japonicus ). We also detected intra-species and inter-species recombination.

Plant viruses that are members of the Geminiviridae family have circular single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) genome and are responsible for major crop diseases worldwide. We have identified and characterized a novel monopartite geminivirus infecting tomato in Argentina. The full-length genome was cloned and sequenced. The genome-wide pairwise identity calculation that resulted in a maximum of 63% identity with all of other known geminiviruses indicated that it is a new geminivirus species. Biolistic infected plants presented interveinal yellowing, apical leaf curling and extreme root hypotrophy. Thus, the name proposed for this species is tomato apical leaf curl virus (ToALCV). The phylogenetic inferences suggested different evolutionary relationships for the replication-associated protein (Rep) and the coat protein (CP). Besides, the sequence similarity network (SSN) protein analyses showed that the complementary-sense gene products (RepA, Rep and C3) are similar to capulavirus while the viron-sense gene products (CP, MP and V3) are similar to topocuvirus, curtovirus and becurtovirus. Based on the data presented, ToALCV genome appears to have "modular organization" supported by its recombination origin. Analyses of the specificity-determining positions (SDPs) of the CP of geminiviruses defined nine subgroups that include geminiviruses that share the same type of insect vector. Our sequences were clustered with the sequences of topocuvirus, whose vector is the treehopper, Micrutalis malleifera . Also, a set of the highest scored amino acid residues was predicted for the CP, which could determine differences in virus transmission specificity. We predict that a treehopper could be the vector of ToALCV, but transmission assays need to be performed to confirm this. Given everything we demonstrate in this paper, ToALCV can be considered a type member of a new putative genus of the Geminiviridae family.

The whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius), is a cryptic species complex that attacks >600 different species of plants and transmits several plant viruses causing severe economic losses. Until 2010, the B. tabaci complex comprised 24 distinct putative species. Recently, at least 15 new species have been reported. The objective of this study was to identify B. tabaci species present in bean, melon, and tomato crops in Argentina by applying phylogenetic analyses and pairwise comparison of genetic distances of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (mtCOI) sequences. The 39 proposed whitefly species were identified with both analyses, and the presence in Argentina of one indigenous species, New World 2 (NW2), and two introduced species, Middle East-Asia Minor one (MEAM1) and Mediterranean, was confirmed. Common bean crop presented the three whitefly species detected, with NW2, MEAM1, and Mediterranean being present all together under field conditions. Also, Mediterranean was the only species identified in tomato, whereas MEAM1 was found in melon. To the best of our knowledge, Mediterranean is a recent invasive species in open-field agriculture in the American continent and in greenhouse tomato in Argentina. Additionally, we provide the first report of MEAM1 in common bean and melon. These findings raise several questions on the future scenario of B. tabaci and the viruses it transmits in Argentina., (© The Authors 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Begomoviruses seriously threaten tomato production in South America. Here, we present the molecular characterization of a novel tomato-infecting begomovirus isolated in Argentina and demonstrate its infectivity. After cloning and sequencing the complete genome of this new virus, pairwise genetic distance and phylogenetic analyses revealed that it is a novel virus that is closely related to other begomoviruses found in Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia. We have proposed naming the virus tomato mottle wrinkle virus (ToMoWrV), based on symptoms produced upon its biolistic inoculation into tomato plants. Recombination analysis revealed that ToMoWrV is a recombinant, with parental sequences likely belonging to the South American begomoviruses soybean blistering mosaic virus (SoBlMV) and tomato yellow vein streak virus (ToYVSV).

Begomovirus infection is becoming a threat in fresh-market tomato in Argentina, where mixed infections with begomoviruses are common. The complete sequence of a begomovirus isolate infecting tomato sampled in Salta was molecularly characterized. Phylogenetic analysis showed that this virus isolate is closely related to previously reported Brazilian, Bolivian and Argentinean begomoviruses. The associated symptoms in Nicotiana benthamiana and Solanum lycopersicum were determined by biolistic delivery of infectious DNA-A and DNA-B clones. This begomovirus isolate induced leaf mottling, rugosity and dwarfing, and growth retardation in tomato. Based on these symptoms, we propose the name of tomato dwarf leaf virus (ToDLV) for this new begomovirus.

New strategies for cervical cancer screening include human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing. Using self-testing methods would increase access to testing in both developed and developing countries. The purpose of this study was to compare time-to-clearance of specific HPV types between clinician-collected-lavage (CC-L) and self-collected (SC) sampling in a single cohort. CC-L and SC samples were obtained every 4 months at alternate 2-month windows from 537 women. Eighteen high-risk (HR) HPV and 4 low-risk (LR) HPV were examined. Proportional hazards model was used to compare time-to-clearance between methods for combined HR and for 13 specific HPV types. Prentice-Wilcoxon test was used for within-subject paired comparison. In the independent analysis for combined HR and LR types, no differences were found. For specific types, time-to-clearance for all HPV types examined between CC-L and SC samples was similar except for HPV 66 which showed a trend to clear slower by SC (p = 0.09). When comparing methods in the same woman, time-to-clearance was similar for all types except for HPV 16 which showed a trend to clear slower by CC-L means (p = 0.08). When we examined pattern of clearance among the CC-L samples, the fastest types to clear were HPV 6, 18, 66, 84 and 39 and the slowest were HPV 62, 68, 59 and 16. These patterns of fast and slow were similar for SC samples. Our findings suggest using SC vaginal swabs would observe similar natural histories of HPV compared to studies using CC-L specimens making self-testing feasible for repeated HPV DNA detection.