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Background: The current economic and social crisis in Latin America has caused migration to the USA, bringing with it Public Health challenges due to the importation of various infectious diseases. Migrants, particularly those with chronic conditions, such as HIV infection and other sexually transmitted infections (STI), are at greater risk due to pharmacological interruption and access to medical care, so the timely detection of diseases acquired during their migration, such as malaria, is crucial to avoid health complications. Objective: To outline by a multidisciplinary approach (Infectology, Parasitology, Epidemiology, molecular Biology, Venereology, and Public Health) the diagnosis and management of a male case with malaria imported to Mexican territory, HIV chronic infection, and latent syphilis. Methods: A male migrant of Venezuelan nationality attended the Clínica Especializada Condesa Iztapalapa in Mexico City for health complications. A comprehensive analysis of laboratory and molecular tests was performed to confirm HIV infection. During the STI diagnostic algorithm, latent syphilis was detected and microscopic observation of blood smears revealed parasitic forms compatible with malaria. Standard and molecular tests were applied under the operational definition for malaria cases for identification, diagnosis, and treatment. Finally, study of clinical history and migration route by questioning for the investigation of the imported case was performed. Results: The immigrant was diagnosed with HIV chronic-stage infection with interrupted antiretroviral therapy (ART), latent syphilis, and malaria by Plasmodium vivax. The ART administered was chosen based on the possible drug interaction with antimalarials and genetic barrier to the HLA-B* allele. Finally, antimicrobial therapy against syphilis was penicillin. From the analysis of the migratory route, incubation time of imported malaria, and questioning, we speculated that the migrant acquired the P. vivax infection in Panama. Conclusions: This case highlights the complex health problems faced by migrants with HIV infection, particularly when they contract additional infections such as malaria during migration and highlights the need for comprehensive access to healthcare and ART, antimalarial and antimicrobial treatments to mitigate the health risks of this vulnerable population.

The prevalence of endoparasites associated with chaetognath abundance in the coastal waters of the Mexican Central Pacific was studied fortnightly from November 2010 to December 2011. A total of 35 (0.21%) out of 16,407 chaetognaths were found to be parasitized. Five out of twelve chaetognath species (Flaccisagitta enflata, F. hexaptera, Parasagitta euneritica, Serratosagitta pacifica, Zonosagitta bedoti) were found to be parasitized by nine endoparasitic taxa: Protists (two morphotypes), digenean metacercariae [Didymozoidae, Hemiuridae, Parahemiurus sp., Lepocreadiidae, Prosorhynchus sp. (Bucephalidae)], and cestodes (metacestodes) [Tetraphyllidea (two morphotypes)]. Parasagitta. euneritica and Z. bedoti were the most abundant chaetognath species, and Protist sp. 2 and Tetraphyllidea sp. 1 were the most abundant parasites. The highest prevalence for most of the endoparasite species occurred in June, and the values varied according to three hydroclimatic periods: stratified (S), semi-mixed (SM), and mixed (M). Eight non-infected chaetognath species, two parasitized chaetognaths (F. enflata and S. pacifica), and two parasites (Protist sp. 1 and Tetraphyllidea sp. 2) were associated with warm temperatures (S and SM periods); in contrast, P. euneritica, Z. bedoti, parasitized F. hexaptera, and the parasite Tetraphyllidea sp. 1 showed a strong local preference for cooler temperatures, high productivity, and high biomass conditions (M periods). We discovered the occurrence of the digenean Prosorhynchus sp. (Bucephalidae) parasitizing the chaetognath P. euneritica, and this is the first report of Prosorhynchus parasitizing chaetognaths worldwide. We also confirmed the presence of Lepocrediidae (metacercariae larval stage) infecting F. hexaptera, a parasite that had only been recorded infecting other chaetognaths of the Atlantic Ocean. The parasite diversity affecting the chaetognath populations of the Central Mexican Pacific coast likely differs between the offshore, outer slope areas, and the surveyed coastal system.

Pyogenic liver abscesses (PLAs) are serious infections in which doctors often fail in identifying the causative agent due to microbiological limitations. These limitations in detecting uncommon pathogens complicate the treatment and recovery. Molecular techniques, like massive sequencing, enable the detection of uncommon pathogens and highlight the shortcomings of traditional cultures. The aim of this work was to characterise the bacterial composition of PLAs through massive sequencing of the V3-V4 hypervariable region of the 16S rRNA gene in cases where conventional culture methods were negative. Purulent material was collected from three patients with PLAs at Hospital Juárez de México. Classical and molecular microbiological cultures were performed in parallel. Metagenomic DNA was extracted and massively sequenced (16S rRNA gene) using the Illumina MiSeq platform. A bioinformatic analysis was performed to determine the diversity at six different taxa levels and the relative abundances. The culture methods were not sufficient to detect the causative agent of the PLAs. However, the massive sequencing revealed the causative agents of the monomicrobial and polymicrobial infectious foci, with Gardnerella vaginalis, Lactobacillus iners, and Prevotella timonensis as the dominant bacteria. The massive sequencing revealed the presence of unusual pathogens that traditional culture failed to detect. There is an immediate need for molecular or comprehensive microbiological culture techniques to search for unusual bacteria in the diagnosis of PLAs.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the changes in enzymic activity, metabolites, and hematological responses during the first 56-d of arrival of newly received calves, which were qualified at reception as high-risk but diagnosed as clinically healthy. A total of 320 blood samples were taken from 64 crossbred bull calves (average initial body weight = 148.3 ± 1.3 kg) at different times from arrival (d 0, 14, 28, 42, and 56 of received). Calves included in the study were received in June (n = 20), November (n = 24), and April (n = 20); thus, experimental treatments were arranged in a generalized complete block design (three blocks = month of arrival). The following parameters were determined: total white blood cells (WBC): lymphocytes (LYM), lymphocytes % (LYM%), monocytes (MON), monocytes % (MON%), granulocytes (GRA), granulocytes % (GRA%), platelets (PLT), and mean platelet volume (MPV); red blood cells (RBC): red blood cell distribution width test % (RDW%), hematocrit (HCT), and mean corpuscular volume (MCV); hemoglobin (HGB): mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC). The enzymatic activity and metabolites analyzed were alkaline phosphatase (ALP), gamma glutamyltransferase (GGT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), total protein (TP), albumin (ALB), globulin (GLO), ALB/GLO ratio, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine (CRE), total bilirubin (TBIL), total cholesterol (TCHO), triglycerides (TG); (4) calcium (Ca), glucose (GLU), sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), and chlorine (Cl−). It was observed that ALP, ALT, TP, ALB, GLO, ALB/GLO ratio, TCHO, TG, Ca, and GLU increased as days from reception increased (linear effect, p ≤ 0.04), whereas CRE and TBIL were reduced (linear effect, p ≤ 0.02). A quadratic response (p ≤ 0.001) was observed to GGT and AST values being maximal on days 1 and 56 after arrival (p ≤ 0.001). Na+, K+, and Cl− concentrations were not affected by prolonged days after arrival. Finally, blood cells of LYM, LYM%, PLT, RBC, HGB, HCT%, MCV, and MCH increased (linear effect, p ≤ 0.001) as the number of days after arrival increased. Whereas MON% was linearly decreased (p ≤ 0.05). It was concluded that even when all parameters were within the range of reference intervals (RIs) determined for healthy cattle, during the period of monitoring, as the days after arrival lengthened, blood serum parameters related to health and immunity increased, and metabolites related to tissue injury decreased. In contrast, plasmatic electrolytes (Na+, K+, and Cl−) were slightly reduced as the day after arrival increased. Apparently, at least 42 d is the minimum period after arrival to permit calves to reach more adequate physiological and metabolic conditions before starting the fattening phase.

Carminic acid is a natural pigment typically found in several insect taxa, including specific insects such as “grana cochinilla fina” in Mexico (Dactylopius coccus Costa). Commercially, it is also referred to as carmine, which is a more concentrated solution presenting as at least 50% carminic acid. To date, this dye has been used in the pharmaceutical, food and cosmetic industries. Unfortunately, one of the main limitations has to do with establishing the appropriate extraction and purification protocol. Currently, there is growing interest in developing eco-friendly and efficient pigment extraction processes for various applications. In this study, we compare the ultrasound- and microwave-assisted extraction versus with a conventional method to obtain carminic acid from cochineal. To do this, we considered three factors that influence the extraction process as independent variables: solvent volume, temperature and irradiation time. The optimization was carried out using the response surface methodology, employing a three-factor and three-level Box–Behnken experimental design. Carminic acid contents were quantified by UV–Vis spectroscopy, and extracts were evaluated by infrared spectroscopy to verify the integrity of the carminic acid molecule. The yield obtained by ultrasound-assisted extraction was 49.2 ± 3.25, with an efficiency of 31.3 mg/min, while microwave-assisted extraction showed a yield of 40.89 ± 2.96, with an efficiency of 27.3 mg/min. Both methods exceeded the extract yield (31.9 ± 3.4%) and efficiency (10.6 mg/min) obtained with the conventional method, demostrating that ultrasound- and microwave-assisted extraction are viable alternatives for obtaining carminic acid, with the potential to be scaled up to an industrial level.

A significant number of alloyed metals applied for different purposes are currently available in industry. The hardness of a piece is an important parameter to consider. The tempering process is widely used to change a metal’s hardness, which is obtained using a hardness test. Once the response is obtained, a way to evaluate the system is by performing an analysis of variance to verify the significance of terms and obtain a regression equation to improve the response. The aim of this work is to illustrate the implementation of an experimental approach based on the steepest ascent method and stopping rules for optimization purposes by considering the hardening process of the steel alloy 4140. The regression coefficients obtained from an experimental design were used to build the steepest path of improvement. The Myers and Khuri stopping rule and the enhanced parabolic stopping rule were applied to determine the best value while individual experimentation is developed. The obtained results, discussion, and a conclusive analysis are disclosed in this document.

Robot manipulators play a critical role in several industrial applications by providing high precision and accuracy. To perform these tasks, manipulator robots require the effective computation of inverse kinematics. Conventional methods to solve IK often encounter significant challenges, such as singularities, non-linear equations, and poor generalization across different robotic configurations. In this work, we propose a novel approach to solve the inverse kinematics (IK) problem in robotic manipulators using a metaheuristic algorithm enhanced with a Jacobian step. Our method overcomes those limitations by selectively applying the Jacobian step to the differential evolution (DE) algorithm. The effectiveness and versatility of the proposed approach are demonstrated through simulations and real-world experimentation on a 5 DOF KUKA robotic arm.

The aim of this study was to evaluate growth performance, dietary energy utilization, and carcass characteristics (carcass weight, dressing percentage, and visceral organ mass) of feedlot lambs fed different levels of AZOMITE (AZO), a source of volcanic clay composed of hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate, the same as that included in a finishing diet. For this reason, 36 Pelibuey × Katahdin crossbred intact male lambs (18.81 ± 3.04 kg initial weight) were used in a feeding trial lasting 81 d. Lambs were grouped by initial weight and assigned within six weight groupings to 18 pens in a randomized complete block design. Diets, offered ad libitum, were corn-based finishing diets with an 88:12 concentrate-to-forage ratio supplemented as follows: 1) no AZO inclusion (CTRL), 2) AZO inclusion at a 0.75% level (0.75AZO) in diet dry matter, 3) AZO inclusion at a 1.50% level (1.5AZO) in diet dry matter. Cracked corn was replaced by AZO. After the feeding trial was finished, lambs were slaughtered and carcass weight was registered and dressing percentage was calculated. The data were analyzed as a randomized complete block design, with the pen as the experimental unit. Water consumption and dry matter intake were not affected (p ≥ 0.11) by supplemental AZO. The incorporation of AZO into the diet increased gain efficiency and observed dietary net energy (NE), being maximal with 0.75% AZO inclusion (quadratic effect, p = 0.02). The observed-to-expected dietary NE in the control group was as anticipated (1.00) according to the estimated energy based on the ingredient composition in diet, while in the 0.75AZO group, the observed dietary energy was 6% above expected, indicating a greater efficiency in energy utilization destined to growth (quadratic effect, p = 0.006). Lambs that were fed the AZO treatment showed an improvement (linear effect, p = 0.04) in hot carcass weight (HCW), and tended (linear effect, p = 0.06) to improve dressing percentage (DP) as AZO was increased in the diet. Visceral organ mass was not affected by the treatments. It is concluded that AZOMITE clay can be included up to 1.5% in finishing diets for lambs without negative effects on the intake of water and feed. Lambs that received diets supplemented with 0.75% AZO showed greater improvements in feed efficiency and dietary energy utilization, but an inclusion of 1.50% resulted in greater improvements to HCW and DP. This is the first report regarding the effects of AZO supplementation in the dietary energy utilization of fattening hairy lambs. Further research about the effects of AZO supplementation on ruminal and total tract digestion, carcass and meat quality, and the health of lambs is needed in order to more deeply understand the effects of AZO on its productivity performance.

A barium-rich Celestine (Sr,Ba)SO4 concentrate from the primary Mexican ore production was used as a thickening agent to produce closed-cell Zn-22Al-2Cu alloy foams, while calcium carbonate was used as a foaming agent. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the foams were analyzed by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and compression tests, respectively. The Zn-22Al-2Cu alloy foams showed a typical lamellar eutectic microstructure, constituted by a zinc-rich phase (η) and a (α) solid solution that was richer in aluminum, while a copper-rich (ε) phase was formed in the interdendritic regions. The SEM micrographs show the presence of small particles and aggregates that are randomly scattered in the cell walls and correspond to unreacted calcite and Celestine–Barian particles, especially for the higher barite addition. The compressive curves showed smooth behavior, wherein the particles at the cell walls did not affect the foam’s compressive behavior. The trial containing 1.5 wt. % of BaSO4 and 1.0 wt. % of CaCO3 showed a higher energy absorption capacity of 5.64 MJ m−3 because of its highest relative density and lowest porosity values. The Celestine–Barian concentrate could be used as a foaming agent for high melt-point metals or alloys based on the TGA results.

Forest cover is deteriorating rapidly due to anthropogenic causes, making its restoration urgent. Plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) could offer a viable solution to ensure successful reforestation efforts. This study aimed to select bacterial strains with mechanisms that promote plant growth and enhance seedling development. The bacterial strains used in this study were isolated from the rhizosphere and endophyte regions of Pinus montezumae Lamb. and Pinus patula Schl. et Cham., two Mexican conifer species commonly used for reforestation purposes. Sixteen bacterial strains were selected for their ability to produce auxins, chitinase, and siderophores, perform nitrogen fixation, and solubilize inorganic phosphates; they also harbored genes encoding antimicrobial production and ACC deaminase. The adhesion to seeds, germination rate, and seedling response of P. montezumae and P. patula were performed following inoculation with 10 bacterial strains exhibiting high plant growth-promoting potential. Some strains demonstrated the capacity to enhance seedling growth. The selected strains were taxonomically characterized and belonged to the genus Serratia, Buttiauxella, and Bacillus. These strains exhibited at least two mechanisms of action, including the production of indole-3-acetic acid, biological nitrogen fixation, and phosphate solubilization, and could serve as potential alternatives for the reforestation of affected areas.

Enzymic activity, metabolites, and hematological responses for reference intervals (RIs) establish ranges of physiological normality, which are useful for diagnosing diseases and physiological alterations. Within the same species, RIs vary according to age, gender, productive and physiological states, and environmental factors including health management and nutrition. RIs have been extensively studied in dairy calves during a critical stage of life (from birth up to first 90 days of age). A critical stage for feedlot calves is their arrival at the feedlot, but no reports determine RIs for different enzymic activity, metabolites, and hematological responses during their initial period at the feedlot. Consequently, a total of 461 high-risk crossbreed beef calves, received on three different dates, were examined upon arrival at the feedlot. Of these, 320 calves (148.3 ± 1.3 kg body weight) whose “clinical health” was evaluated were included in the study. Blood samples were taken upon arrival and on days 14, 28, 42, and 56 to determine the following parameters: enzymic activity, metabolites, electrolytes, white blood cells, platelets, and red blood cells. Enzymic activity, metabolites, and complete blood count were determined by automated analyzers. The freeware Reference Value Advisor Software was used to calculate the non-parametric values of RIs. This study is the first to establish RIs for different enzymic activity, metabolites, and hematological responses in high-risk newly received calves during their initial period at the feedlot. This information will be useful for veterinary clinical practice and research related to the health and welfare of high-risk newly received calves during their initial period at the feedlot.

The aim of this study was to examine the impact of daily calcium propionate (CaPr) supplementation (0 or 20 g/calf) on growth performance, dietary energetics, body fat reserves, serum metabolites, and hematological responses in high-risk beef calves fed diets with varying (50, 60, or 70%) concentrate (CON) levels. In addition, a cost/income analysis of CaPr supplementation was carried out. Forty-eight crossbred bull calves (152.8 ± 1.56 kg body weight and 5.5 months of age) were involved in a fully randomized experimental design employing a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement of treatments. Calves were allocated (n = 8 per treatment) to individual pens (3.14 × 5.25 m) and were subjected to one of the following treatments during 42 d: No CaPr supplementation in diets containing 50, 60, or 70% CON (NoCaPr + 50, NoCaPr + 60, NoCaPr + 70, respectively) or daily CaPr supplementation dosed at 20 g/calf in diets containing 50, 60, or 70% CON (20CaPr + 50, 20CaPr + 60, 20CaPr + 70, respectively). Non-supplemented calves exhibited decreased dry matter intake (DMI) with increasing CON levels in their diets, while CaPr-supplemented calves displayed the opposite effect (interaction, p = 0.04). In calves fed a lower-CON diet (50%), those supplemented with CaPr showed greater average daily gain (ADG, 20.2%, p = 0.05) and lower DMI (2.2%, p = 0.03), resulting in improved ADG/DMI ratio, dietary energy, and energy retention (24.6, 14.4, and 18%, p < 0.05). These effects diminished when calves received diets with 60 or 70% CON but led to a 14.2% increase in rump fat thickness (p = 0.04). Only in non-supplemented CaPr calves, increasing the level of CON from 50 to 70% in the diet increased ADG (21.2%), decreased DMI (2.2%), and improved the ADG/DMI ratio (22.7%), with no impact on dietary net energy utilization. Non-supplemented calves exhibited an increase in lymphocytes as CON levels rose in their diets, whereas CaPr-supplemented calves showed the opposite effect (interaction, p = 0.05). Supplementation of CaPr decreased total protein (TP, p = 0.03) and albumin (ALB, p < 0.01) serum concentrations, with lower concentrations observed in 20CaPr + 50. CaPr supplementation reduced (p = 0.01) total cholesterol (TCHO) levels. An interaction between CaPr and CON level (p = 0.02) was observed since TCHO levels remained consistently low at higher CON levels. Glucose was decreased with increasing levels of CON (p = 0.02) but not (p = 0.85) for CaPr-supplemented calves. NoCaPr + 50 and NoCaPr + 70 increased (p = 0.05) ALB concentration. Gamma glutamyltransferase levels increased (p = 0.05) with increasing CON levels irrespective of CaPr supplementation. Comparing the profit within the same CON level in the diet, CaPr treatments yielded higher income, with the largest difference in profit observed when CaPr was supplemented at 50% CON level (USD 29 more/calf). In conclusion, CaPr supplementation proves to be an effective strategy for enhancing growth performance and dietary energy among high-risk beef calves, resulting in greater economic returns. The groups that received CaPr demonstrated superior profitability, particularly in calves fed diets with lower CON levels. Under the conditions in which this experiment was carried out, the optimal response occurred when the low-CON diet (50%) was supplemented with CaPr.

Forty-eight Pelibuey × Katahdin male intact lambs (25.12 ± 3.79 kg LW) were used in a 70-d growing-finishing trial. Dietary treatments consisted of total mixed corn-based diet supplemented with: (1) no feed additives (Control); (2) 150 mg of essential oils blend plus 0.10 mg of 25-hydroxy-Vit-D3/kg diet offered throughout the 70-d experimental period (EOD3); (3) Control diet fed during the first 35 days and zilpaterol hydrochloride (ZH) supplementation at 6 mg/kg diet offered during the final 35 days of the experiment (32 days with ZH with a withdrawal 3-d before harvest), and (4) basal diet supplemented with EOD3 during first 35 days finishing, and EOD3 in combination with ZH (EOD3 + ZH) during the subsequent 32-days with ZH withdrawal 3 days before harvest. The temperature–humidity index during the experiment averaged 80.4 ± 3.2. There were no treatment interactions (p > 0.20) on growth performance and carcass measures. Supplemental EOD3 did not affect (p = 0.43) dry matter intake (DMI), but increased (p < 0.01) carcass adjusted average daily gain (ADG, 9.2%), gain efficiency (GF, 6.7%), and observed vs. expected dietary net energy for maintenance (NEm, 4.8%) and for gain (NEg, 6.4%). Supplemental ZH did not affect dry matter intake (DMI, p = 0.50) but increased (p < 0.01) carcass adjusted ADG (14.5%), GF (13%) and observed vs. expected dietary NEm (9%) and NEg (11.7%). Compared to control lambs, the combination of both additives increased ADG (24.9%), GF (21.2%), and observed vs. expected dietary NEm and NEg (14.2% and 18.9%, respectively). There were no treatment interactions on carcass characteristics, visceral organ mass, or on gene expression of IGF1, IGF2 and mTOR in longissimus muscle (LM). Supplemental EOD3 increased hot carcass weight (HCW; 4.0%, p < 0.01) but did not affect other carcass measures. Supplemental EOD3 decreased (3%, p = 0.03) intestine mass weight (g intestine/kg empty body weight). Supplemental ZH increased HCW (6%, p < 0.01), dressing percentage (1.7%, p = 0.04), and LM area (9.7%, p < 0.01), and decreased kidney-pelvic-fat percentage (16.2%, p < 0.01), fat thickness (14.7%, p = 0.03), and visceral fat. Compared to controls, the combination of EOD3 with ZH increased HCW (10.2%). It is concluded that growth performance responses to supplemental EOD3 and ZH are additive. Both supplements can be fed in combination without detrimental effects on expected benefits when fed separately. In addition, ZH supplementation improves carcass traits.

Polymer-based composites are widely used in the automotive, security, aeronautical and space industries, to mention a few. This is because of their good mechanical properties, which are similar to those of metals but with the attraction of being lightweight. Kevlar® is extensively used as a reinforcement in the security industry owing to its good ballistic properties. This investigation presents a mechanical characterization based on in-plane quasi-static tensile testing of Kevlar® 29/phenolic resin with a polyvinyl butyral composite using a universal testing system. The methodology developed for the preparation of the coupons is based on pressure, temperature and time. As a result of this work, elastic moduli (EL and ET), Poisson’s ratio (νLT), shear modulus (GLT) and strengths (XT, YT, S) were obtained. It is worth mentioning that there is scarce or no characterization of this material in the literature, and those studies that do characterize it do not present the coupons’ thermoforming conditions or the reasons for the coupons’ dimensions (width, length and thickness).

Multicomponent interpenetrating polymer network (mIPN) hydrogels are promising tissue-engineering scaffolds that could closely resemble key characteristics of native tissues. The mechanical and biochemical properties of mIPNs can be finely controlled to mimic key features of target cellular microenvironments, regulating cell-matrix interactions. In this work, we fabricated hydrogels made of collagen type I (Col I), fibrin, hyaluronic acid (HA), and poly (ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) using a network-by-network fabrication approach. With these mIPNs, we aimed to develop a biomaterial platform that supports the in vitro culture of human astrocytes and potentially serves to assess the effects of the abnormal deposition of fibrin in cortex tissue and simulate key aspects in the progression of neuroinflammation typically found in human pathologies such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and tissue trauma. Our resulting hydrogels closely resembled the complex modulus of AD human brain cortex tissue (~7.35 kPa), promoting cell spreading while allowing for the modulation of fibrin and hyaluronic acid levels. The individual networks and their microarchitecture were evaluated using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Human astrocytes were encapsulated in mIPNs, and negligible cytotoxicity was observed 24 h after the cell encapsulation.

The interruption of bacteriological surveillance due to the COVID-19 pandemic brought serious consequences, such as the collapse of health systems and the possible increase in antimicrobial resistance. Therefore, it is necessary to know the rate of resistance and its associated mechanisms in bacteria causing hospital infections during the pandemic. The aim of this work was to show the phenotypic and molecular characteristics of antimicrobial resistance in ESKAPE bacteria in a Mexican tertiary care hospital in the second and third years of the pandemic. For this purpose, during 2021 and 2022, two hundred unduplicated strains of the ESKAPE group (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter baumannii) were collected from various clinical sources and categorized by resistance according to the CLSI. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) complemented by the Tukey test was performed to search for changes in antimicrobial susceptibility profiles during the study period. Finally, the mechanisms of resistance involved in carbapenem resistance were analyzed, and the search for efflux pumps and high-risk sequence types in A. baumannii was performed by multilocus analysis (MLST). The results showed no changes in K. pneumoniae resistance during the period analyzed. Decreases in quinolone resistance were identified in E. coli (p = 0.039) and P. aeruginosa (p = 0.03). Interestingly, A. baumannii showed increases in resistance to penicillins (p = 0.004), aminoglycosides (p < 0.001, p = 0.027), carbapenems (p = 0.027), and folate inhibitors (p = 0.001). Several genes involved in carbapenem resistance were identified (blaNDM, blaVIM, blaOXA, blaKPC, blaOXA-40, and blaOXA-48) with a predominance of blaOXA-40 and the adeABCRS efflux pump in A. baumannii. Finally, MLST analysis revealed the presence of globally distributed sequence types (ST369 and ST758) related to hospital outbreaks in other parts of the world. The results presented demonstrate that the ESKAPE group has played an important role during the COVID-19 pandemic as nosocomial antibiotic-resistant pathogens and in particular A. baumannii MDR as a potential reservoir of resistance genes. The implications of the increases in antimicrobial resistance in pathogens of the ESKAPE group and mainly in A. baumannii during the COVID-19 pandemic are analyzed and discussed.

A poorly studied issue in women with breast cancer is the role of incretins (GIP (glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide) and GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1)) in the quantity and quality of muscle mass in lean and obese individuals. The current report aims to analyze the patterns of association and the role of incretin in muscle functionality and body composition in women with cancer compared with healthy women (mammography BI-RADS I or II) to elucidate whether GIP and GLP-1 can be used to estimate the risk, in conjunction with overweight or obesity, for breast cancer. We designed a case–control study in women with a breast cancer diagnosis confirmed by biopsy in different clinical stages (CS; n = 87) and healthy women with a mastography BI-RADS I or II within the last year (n = 69). The women were grouped according to body mass index (BMI): lean (2BS), overweight (≥25–2BS), and obese (≥30 kg/m2BS). We found that GLP-1 and GIP levels over 18 pg/mL were associated with a risk of breast cancer (GIP OR = 36.5 and GLP-1 OR = 4.16, for the entire sample), particularly in obese women (GIP OR = 8.8 and GLP-1 OR = 6.5), and coincidentally with low muscle quality indexes, showed an association between obesity, cancer, incretin defects, and loss of muscle functionality.

Objective: This review aims to describe and compare the risk factors, clinical course, diagnosis, and parasitologic features of external ophthalmomyiasis. We also discuss the different preventive measures and the effect of global warming in a large case series reported from January 2000 to December 2022. Methods: We perform a literature review of reported cases of external ophthalmomyiasis to determine the clinical characteristics, therapeutic management, and information on the organisms that most commonly cause external ophthalmomyiasis. Results: A total of 312 cases of external ophthalmomyiasis were recorded. The most common causative organism was Oestrus ovis (Linnaeus) (Diptera: Oestridae), accounting for 72.1% of cases, followed by Dermatobia hominis (Linnaeus Jr. in Pallas, 1781) (Diptera: Oestridae) at 5.4%, Lucilia sericata (Meigen) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) at 0.96%, and Chrysomyia bezziana (Villeneuve) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) at 0.96%. Before experiencing symptoms, 43.6% of cases reported having direct contact with flies or being hit in the eye, 33% reported no associated risk factors, 9.3% reported living with sheep and goats, and 7.7% reported a history of foreign objects entering the eye. The most common symptoms for those affected by O. ovis were sudden onset, including a foreign body sensation and movement, redness, tearing, itching, swelling, irritation, photophobia, burning, and ocular secretion. In cases caused by D. hominis, symptoms included eyelid edema, pain, redness, itching, movement within the lesion, ocular irritation, and discharge. Regarding occupational or recreational activity, agriculture, and livestock had the highest incidence, followed by trades and technical activities, being a student, and having traveled to an endemic region for work or recreation. Conclusion: Patients with red eyes may suffer from external ophthalmomyiasis, which requires a thorough examination to diagnose and treat it early. Moreover, as the temperature increases due to climate change, it is essential to consider how this will affect the spread of different pathogens.

Forty-five male non-castrated crossbred Dorper lambs (40.17 ± 0.35 kg body weight, BW) were employed in a completely randomized design with five treatments to investigate the effects of the duration of calcium propionate (CaPr) supplementation (10 g CaPr/lamb/d for 0, 14, 28, or 42 d before slaughter) on lambs finished with zilpaterol hydrochloride (ZH, 7.2 mg/lamb/d for a fixed period of 28 d before slaughter) regarding their productive performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality. Treatments consisted of the following: (1) No additives (CTL), (2) 0 days on CaPr plus 28 d on ZH, (3) 14 days on CaPr plus 28 d on ZH, (4) 28 days on CaPr plus 28 d on ZH, and (5) 42 days on CaPr plus 28 d on ZH. When compared with CTL, ZH lambs exhibited a similar average daily gain (ADG) but had lower dry matter intake (DMI), leading to increased feed efficiency. Supplementing with ZH alone did not affect carcass traits, visceral mass, whole cuts, or meat quality. Lambs that received both CaPr 28 d and ZH exhibited quadratic increases (p < 0.05) in final body weight (FBW), ADG, and dressing percentage (D%). These increases were optimal at estimated inclusion durations of 26 d for FBW, 30 for ADG, and 39 d for D%. The ADG:DMI ratio and the longissimus muscle area (LMA) both exhibited quadratic increases (p < 0.05). The optimal duration of CaPr supplementation for ADG:DMI ratio was found to be 28 d, while for LMA, it was 14 d. As the period of CaPr supplementation increased, there was a linear increase (p < 0.05) in hot carcass weight, leg circumference, and whole cuts of breast IMPS209 and shoulder IMPS207. Cook loss percent increased quadratically (p < 0.05), and was higher when CaPr was included for an estimated duration of 26 d. As the duration of CaPr supplementation increased, the purge loss percentage (PRL) also increased linearly (p < 0.05). In conclusion, including CaPr in the diet for a duration of 28 d in lambs improved the response to ZH supplementation on the productive performance, carcass weight, and some whole cuts. However, it can also have a negative effect on PRL%.

Background. Currently, most of the research on breast cancer has been carried out in conventional two-dimensional (2D) cell cultures due to its practical benefits, however, the three-dimensional (3D) cell culture is becoming the model of choice in cancer research because it allows cell–cell and cell–extracellular matrix (ECM) interactions, mimicking the native microenvironment of tumors in vivo. Methods. In this work, we evaluated the effect of 3D cell organization on the expression pattern of miRNAs (by Small-RNAseq) and mRNAs (by microarrays) in the breast cancer SKBR3 cell line and analyzed the biological processes and signaling pathways regulated by the differentially expressed protein-coding genes (DE-mRNAs) and miRNAs (DE-microRNAs) found in the organoids. Results. We obtained well-defined cell-aggregated organoids with a grape cluster-like morphology with a size up to 9.2 × 105 μm3. The transcriptomic assays showed that cell growth in organoids significantly affected (all p < 0.01) the gene expression patterns of both miRNAs, and mRNAs, finding 20 upregulated and 19 downregulated DE-microRNAs, as well as 49 upregulated and 123 downregulated DE-mRNAs. In silico analysis showed that a subset of 11 upregulated DE-microRNAs target 70 downregulated DE-mRNAs. These genes are involved in 150 gene ontology (GO) biological processes such as regulation of cell morphogenesis, regulation of cell shape, regulation of canonical Wnt signaling pathway, morphogenesis of epithelium, regulation of cytoskeleton organization, as well as in the MAPK and AGE–RAGE signaling KEGG-pathways. Interestingly, hsa-mir-122-5p (Fold Change (FC) = 15.4), hsa-mir-369-3p (FC = 11.4), and hsa-mir-10b-5p (FC = 20.1) regulated up to 81% of the 70 downregulated DE-mRNAs. Conclusion. The organotypic 3D cell-organization architecture of breast cancer SKBR3 cells impacts the expression pattern of the miRNAs–mRNAs network mainly through overexpression of hsa-mir-122-5p, hsa-mir-369-3p, and hsa-mir-10b-5p. All these findings suggest that the interaction between cell–cell and cell–ECM as well as the change in the culture architecture impacts gene expression, and, therefore, support the pertinence of migrating breast cancer research from conventional cultures to 3D models.

The prevalence of colonization by Pneumocystis jirovecii (P. jirovecii) has not been studied in Mexico. We aimed to determine the prevalence of colonization by P. jirovecii using molecular detection in a population of Mexican patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and describe their clinical and sociodemographic profiles. We enrolled patients discharged from our hospital diagnosed with COPD and without pneumonia (n = 15). The primary outcome of this study was P. jirovecii colonization at the time of discharge, as detected by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of oropharyngeal wash samples. The calculated prevalence of colonization for our study group was 26.66%. There were no statistically significant differences between COPD patients with and without colonization in our groups. Colonization of P. jirovecii in patients with COPD is frequent in the Mexican population; the clinical significance, if any, remains to be determined. Oropharyngeal wash and nested PCR are excellent cost-effective options to simplify sample collection and detection in developing countries and can be used for further studies.

With the aim of evaluating the effect of combining an antibiotic ionophore with plant extracts and probiotics on the productive efficiency (performance and carcass) during the last phase of lamb fattening, 24 Pelibuey × Katahdin male lambs (38.47 ± 3.92 kg, initial weight) were fed with a high-energy diet during for 56 days, and assigned, under a complete randomized block design experiment to one of the following supplement treatments: (1) 28 mg of monensin/kg diet DM supplemented alone (MON), (2) combination of MON plus 2 g/kg diet of a product contained Bacillus subtilis 2.2 × 108 CFU kg diet DM (MON + BS), (3) combination of MON + BS plus 300 mg essential oils/kg diet DM (MON + BS + EO), and (4) BS alone. At the end of the feeding trial (56-d), lambs were slaughtered and carcass variables were measured. Compared to the rest of the treatments, combining MON with BS improved dietary NE by 3.4% and the efficiency of utilization of dietary energy consumed. Inclusion of EO in the MON + BS combination resulted in a similar average daily weight gain (ADG) and feed efficiency (GF) when compared with MON + BS, but showed a lower dietary net energy (NE), hot carcass weight, and dressing percentage. Lambs receiving BS alone showed greater average ADG and dry matter intake (DMI) than lambs receiving MON + BS + EO, but similar feed GF and dietary NE. There were no treatment effects on tissue composition, whole cut, or visceral organ mass. It was concluded that combining probiotics with the ionophore monensin can improve the efficiency of dietary energy utilization in the last phase of finishing. Probiotics supplemented alone result in greater ADG without a difference in dietary energy efficiency when compared with MON alone. Inclusion of EO in the MON + BS combination did not show advantages; on the contrary, it reduced carcass weight and dressing percentage. It is necessary to further research the potential complementary effects of combining diverse sources of natural additives with synthetic antibiotics.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a brain disorder that progressively undermines memory and thinking skills by affecting the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex. The main histopathological hallmarks of AD are the presence of abnormal protein aggregates (Aβ and tau), synaptic dysfunction, aberrant proteostasis, cytoskeletal abnormalities, altered energy homeostasis, DNA and RNA defects, inflammation, and neuronal cell death. However, oxidative stress or oxidative damage is also evident and commonly overlooked or considered a consequence of the advancement of dementia symptoms. The control or onset of oxidative stress is linked to the activity of the amyloid-β peptide, which may serve as both antioxidant and pro-oxidant molecules. Furthermore, oxidative stress is correlated with oxidative damage to proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids in vulnerable cell populations, which ultimately lead to neuronal death through different molecular mechanisms. By recognizing oxidative stress as an integral feature of AD, alternative therapeutic or preventive interventions are developed and tested as potential or complementary therapies for this devastating neurodegenerative disease.

Supplementation with natural additives such as essential oils (EO) or probiotics has resulted in comparable growth performance to that of supplemental monensin in fattening lambs in hot environments. Supra-supplementation levels of vitamin D3 improved the carcass weight and dressing percentage of steers fattened under tropical conditions. We hypothesized that certain combinations of these natural additives could be complementary. For this reason, a feeding trial was carried out using 48 Pelibuey × Katahdin non-castrated male lambs (107 ± 14 d age; 17.9 ± 2.51 kg LW). Lambs were fed an 88:12 concentrate to forage ratio basal diet supplemented (dry matter basis, DMI) with: (1) no additive (CON); (2) 28 mg monensin/kg diet (MON); (3) 150 mg of essential oils containing a combination of thymol, eugenol, vanillin, guaiac, and limonene plus 0.12 mg vitamin D3 (EO + D3)/kg diet; and (4) 300 mg of essential oils containing a combination of carvacrol and cynamaldehyde plus 2 g probiotic (2.2 × 108 CFU of bacillus subtilis/kg diet, EO + BS). Lambs were grouped by initial weight and assigned within six weight groupings to 24 pens (2 lambs/pen, 6 replicas per treatment) in a randomized complete block design. The experiment lasted 121 days. Daily maximal THI exceeded the 80 “danger or “emergency” range for 119 days of the 121 days of the trial. Lambs supplemented with MON had similar DMI, growth performance, and dietary energetics to those of CON lambs. Lambs supplemented with EO + BS had a greater (9.2%, p ≤ 0.05) average daily gain (ADG) than the CON and MON groups due to enhanced (10.2%, p ≤ 0.05) dry matter intake. Thus, gain efficiency (GF) and estimated dietary energy were similar for CON, MON, and EO + BS. Lambs receiving EO + D3 had similar (0.254 vs. 0.262 kg/d) ADG but a lower DMI (8%, p < 0.05) compared with EO + BS lambs. Consequently, GF and estimated dietary net energy were greater (4.9 and 3.7%, respectively; p ≤ 0.05) for EO + D3 lambs. Even when ambient heat load was elevated, the efficiency of utilization of dietary energy (observed-to-expected dietary net energy) was close to 1.00 (0.992) expected for EO + D3 lambs. In contrast, efficiency of energy utilization was depressed by −4.4% for lambs on the other treatments. Compared with the other treatments, lambs receiving EO + D3 had greater longissimus muscle area (5.6%, p < 0.05) and lower kidney pelvic fat (21.8%, p ≤ 0.05). There were no treatment effects on shoulder tissue composition or whole cuts (expressed as % of cold carcass weight). Compared to CON, lambs that were fed with natural additives showed 3.5% lower (p ≤ 0.05) intestine mass. All supplemental additives decreased visceral fat mass, which was minimal with EO + D3 treatment. Combinations of essential oils with vitamins or probiotics were superior to antibiotic monensin in finishing diets for feedlot lambs. Combining EO with probiotics promoted DM intake and gain but not gain efficiency, while combining EO with vitamin D3 supra-supplementation increased dietary energy efficiency and improved some carcass characteristics in lambs fattening under high ambient heat loads.

The demand for jellyfish is growing worldwide, especially due to their high nutraceutical value. In this study, the extraction and characterization of crude gelatin from the brown cannonball jellyfish (Stomolophus meleagris), which is periodically found in large volumes on the American Pacific coasts, were carried out. The crude gelatin obtained by alkaline treatment, with subsequent heat and dialysis treatment, showed an ability to quench free radicals (via ABTS and ORAC methods), and protect human cells against oxidative damage (through inhibition of hemolysis by AAPH), and they protected against mutations caused by aflatoxin B1 in the Salmonella enterica Typhimurium TA100 strain. Furthermore, it was established that these extracts were innocuous for eukaryotic cells (genotoxicity assay). The amino acid profiles indicate a high concentration of glycine and proline, as well as charged amino acids. Electrophoretic, FT-IR, and 1H-NMR studies indicated that one of the main proteins present in this crude gelatin is collagen. The presence of collagen and other proteins was identified by proteomic studies. Alkaline crude gelatin from brown jellyfish could be considered as potential candidates to be evaluated as antioxidant agents in foods in future research.

Visible Light Communications (VLC) are developing as an omnipresent solution for inter-vehicle communications. Based on intensive research efforts, the performance of vehicular VLC systems has significantly improved in terms of noise resilience, communication range, and latencies. Nevertheless, in order to be ready for deployment in real applications, solutions for Medium Access Control (MAC) are also required. In this context, this article provides an intensive evaluation of several optical CDMA MAC solutions and of their efficiency in mitigating the effect of Multiple User Interference (MUI). Intensive simulation results showed that an adequately designed MAC layer can significantly reduce the effects of MUI, ensuring an adequate Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR). The simulation results showed that based on the use of optical CDMA codes, the PDR can be improved from values as low as 20% up to values between 93.2% and 100%. Consequently, the results provided in this article show the high potential of optical CDMA MAC solutions in vehicular VLC applications, reconfirm the high potential of the VLC technology in inter-vehicle communications, and emphasize the need to further develop MAC solutions designed for such applications.

Most pedestrian detection methods focus on bounding boxes based on fusing RGB with lidar. These methods do not relate to how the human eye perceives objects in the real world. Furthermore, lidar and vision can have difficulty detecting pedestrians in scattered environments, and radar can be used to overcome this problem. Therefore, the motivation of this work is to explore, as a preliminary step, the feasibility of fusing lidar, radar, and RGB for pedestrian detection that potentially can be used for autonomous driving that uses a fully connected convolutional neural network architecture for multimodal sensors. The core of the network is based on SegNet, a pixel-wise semantic segmentation network. In this context, lidar and radar were incorporated by transforming them from 3D pointclouds into 2D gray images with 16-bit depths, and RGB images were incorporated with three channels. The proposed architecture uses a single SegNet for each sensor reading, and the outputs are then applied to a fully connected neural network to fuse the three modalities of sensors. Afterwards, an up-sampling network is applied to recover the fused data. Additionally, a custom dataset of 60 images was proposed for training the architecture, with an additional 10 for evaluation and 10 for testing, giving a total of 80 images. The experiment results show a training mean pixel accuracy of 99.7% and a training mean intersection over union of 99.5%. Also, the testing mean of the IoU was 94.4%, and the testing pixel accuracy was 96.2%. These metric results have successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of using semantic segmentation for pedestrian detection under the modalities of three sensors. Despite some overfitting in the model during experimentation, it performed well in detecting people in test mode. Therefore, it is worth emphasizing that the focus of this work is to show that this method is feasible to be used, as it works regardless of the size of the dataset. Also, a bigger dataset would be necessary to achieve a more appropiate training. This method gives the advantage of detecting pedestrians as the human eye does, thereby resulting in less ambiguity. Additionally, this work has also proposed an extrinsic calibration matrix method for sensor alignment between radar and lidar based on singular value decomposition.

The present study investigates the use of gamification to foster commitment and engagement among users with disabilities. Two case studies demonstrating the application of gamification are provided. The first is the development of an application to teach a blind person Mexican currency, and the second one is the creation of an application to aid individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in navigating their environment. The study reveals that universal design for learning principles can be used indirectly to adjust apps for users to utilize the software consistently. This study provides preliminary evaluations for both case studies, which were undertaken with relatively small samples. The first case study revealed that three blind individuals who took part in the review scored an average of 91.7 on the system usability scale. At the same time, the second case study involving the observation of a single individual with ASD also revealed that utilizing the designed app improved performance. Despite the limited sample size, the findings suggest that gamification may effectively encourage and generate commitment among the users with disabilities.

Anthropometric measurements are essential in various fields, such as sports, the automotive industry, clothing, health care, biomechanics, ergonomics, and gait analysis. However, the data collection process for these measurements is costly and time-consuming, and the data collected are not always precise and accurate. In this paper, some of the most widely reported machine vision systems (MVSs) are evaluated to determine the anthropometric length of body segments (BSs) used in gait analysis. The aim is to evaluate the performance of the MVSs and identify the most appropriate vision approach, in terms of accuracy, cost, speed, and computing performance. For this purpose, five BSs of the lower limb were selected and measured using both the MVS and the conventional manual anthropometric measurement (MAM) techniques. The results show that the MVSs represent an excellent alternative to measure the anthropometric parameters corresponding to the BSs, with some advantages in terms of sampling process time, precision, and equipment requirements.

Vehicular visible light communications (VLC) are considered a suitable technology for vehicular platooning applications. Nevertheless, this domain imposes strict performance requirements. Although numerous works have shown that VLC technology is compatible with platooning applications, existing studies are mainly focused on the physical layer performances, mostly ignoring the disruptive effects generated by neighboring vehicular VLC links. Nevertheless, the 5.9 GHz Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) experience has shown that mutual interference can significantly affect the packed delivery ratio, pointing out that these effects should be analyzed for vehicular VLC networks as well. In this context, this article provides a comprehensive investigation focused on the effects of mutual interference generated by neighboring vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) VLC links. Therefore, this work provides an intensive analytical investigation based on simulation and also on experimental results that demonstrate that although ignored, the influence of mutual interference is highly disruptive in vehicular VLC applications. Hence, it has been shown that without preventive measures, the Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR) can decrease below the imposed 90% limit for almost the entire service area. The results have also shown that although less aggressive, multi-user interference affects V2V links even in short-distance conditions. Therefore, this article has the merit of emphasizing a new challenge for vehicular VLC links and points out the importance of multiple-access techniques integration.

Spirometra (Cestoda: Diphyllobothriidea) affects humans and some species of domestic and wild animals which eventually interact with humans. In this article, we report three new cases of Spirometra decipiens (Diesing, 1850) infection observed in two intermediate hosts and one definitive host, in Cuba. Genetic and morphological identification of S. decipiens in two snakes and a domestic dog were carried out by molecular means and routine histological study using hematoxylin–eosin staining, respectively. Taken together, the anatomical location, the host species infected with the specimens and their morphological and genetic features, all the samples were identified as S. decipiens. In each of the three cases, PCR assays using specific primers amplified bands that corresponded to S. decipiens species. To our knowledge, this paper is the first report of S. decipiens in species of Cuban endemic fauna and in the Caribbean islands. These species constitute a real or potential risk of transmission of Spirometra to humans in Cuba.

Canine distemper is caused by canine distemper virus (CDV), a multisystemic infectious disease with a high morbidity and mortality rate in dogs. Nanotechnology represents a development opportunity for new molecules with antiviral effects that may become effective treatments in veterinary medicine. This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in 207 CDV, naturally infected, mixed-breed dogs exhibiting clinical signs of the non-neurological and neurological phases of the disease. Group 1a included 52 dogs (experimental group) diagnosed with non-neurologic distemper treated with 3% oral and nasal AgNPs in addition to supportive therapy. Group 1b included 46 dogs (control group) diagnosed with non-neurological distemper treated with supportive therapy only. Group 2a included 58 dogs with clinical signs of neurological distemper treated with 3% oral and nasal AgNPs in addition to supportive therapy. Group 2b included 51 dogs (control group) diagnosed with clinical signs of neurological distemper treated with supportive therapy only. Efficacy was measured by the difference in survival rates: in Group 1a, the survival rate was 44/52 (84.6%), versus 7/46 in Group 1b (15.2%), while both showed clinical signs of non-neurological distemper. The survival rate of dogs with clinical signs of neurological distemper in Group 2a (38/58; 65.6%) was significantly higher than those in Control Group 2b (0/51; 0%). No adverse reactions were detected in experimental groups treated with AgNPs. AgNPs significantly improved survival in dogs with clinical signs of neurological and non-neurological distemper. The use of AgNPs in the treatment of neurological distemper led to a drastic increase in the proportion of dogs recovered without sequels compared to dogs treated without AgNPs. The evidence demonstrates that AgNP therapy can be considered as a targeted treatment in dogs severely affected by canine distemper virus.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of supplemental granulated cane sugar (GCS) levels (0, 13.3, 26.6, and 39.9% on a dry matter basis) in a steam-flaked corn-based finishing diet on measures of ruminal fermentation and the site and extent of nutrient digestion. Four Holstein steers (251 ± 3.6 kg live weight) with “T” type cannulas in the rumen and proximal duodenum were used in a 4 × 4 Latin square experiment to evaluate the treatments. The experiment lasted 84 d. Replacing steam-flaked corn (SFC) with GCS linearly decreased the flow of ammonia-N (NH3-N) to the small intestine, increasing the flow of microbial nitrogen (MN; quadratic effect, p = 0.02), ruminal N efficiency (linear effect, p = 0.03) and MN efficiency (quadratic effect, p = 0.04). The ruminal digestion of starch and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) decreased (linear effect, p ≤ 0.02) as the level of GCS increased. The postruminal digestion of organic matter (OM), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and starch were not affected by the GCS inclusion. However, postruminal N digestion decreased (linear effect, p = 0.02) as the level of GCS increased. There were no treatment effects on total tract OM digestion. However, total tract NDF and N digestion decreased (linear effect, p ≤ 0.02) as the level of GCS increased. The ruminal pH decreased (linear effect, p < 0.01) as the GCS increased in the diet. The ruminal acetate molar proportion decreased (linear effect, p = 0.02) and the ruminal valerate molar proportion tended to increase (linear effect, p = 0.08) as the level of GCS increased. It is concluded that replacing as much as 13% of SFC with GCS in a finishing diet will enhance the efficiency of N utilization (g non-ammonia-N entering the small intestine/g N intake) without detrimental effects on total tract OM digestion. The inclusion of GCS decreased the ruminal proportion of acetate linearly without an effect on the acetate-to-propionate ratio or estimated methane production. Some of the effects on N utilization at a high level of GCS inclusion (27 and 40%) can be magnified by the differences in the CP content between diets. A higher level of GCS supplementation in the diet decreased the ruminal pH below 5.5, increasing the risk of ruminal acidosis.

Ommochromes are pigments of invertebrates that exhibit oxidative stress protection. The aim of this study was to investigate ommochromes extracted from cephalopod’s skin for their ability to inhibit age-related-macular degeneration (AMD)-related factors such as H2O2-induced and iron-dependent oxidative stress (ferroptosis and erastin), accumulation of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), as well as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and inflammatory cytokines (interleukin 6 and interleukin 8) secretion. As cell systems, we used primary porcine retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), human retinal pigment epithelium cell line ARPE-19 and uveal melanoma cell line OMM-1. In vitro, ommochromes produced an antiglycation effect by the inhibition of fructosylation reaction. The ommochromes showed protective effects against erastin- induced cell death in ARPE-19. In addition, in long-term stimulation (7 days) ommochromes decreased constitutively secreted VEGF, as well as interleukin 6 and interleukin 8 induced by Poly I:C in primary RPE. No relevant effects were detected in OMM-1 cells. The effects are dependent on the cell system, time of exposition, and concentration. This substance is of interest for further research concerning age-related macular degeneration.

In this research, we aimed to isolate and identify native strains of Trichoderma spp. with potential activity against avocado pathogens (Neofusicoccum parvum, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Diaporthe sp., and Phomopsis perseae). Strains of Trichoderma spp. were isolated from roots and soil obtained from avocado orchards from different regions of Mexico. Twenty-five Trichoderma spp. strains were isolated, of which six (TSMICH7, TSMICH8, TRMICH9, TSMICH10, TSMICH15, and TRJAL25) showed greater antagonistic capacity in vitro (>80%) against avocado pathogens. After 96 h, the antagonistic strain undergoes a thickening of hyphae, while the phytopathogen tends to thin, except for Diaporthe sp., which tends to thicken. The characterization of these strains was carried out through morphological observations and the amplification and sequencing of rDNA fragments (ITS regions), as well as the translation elongation factor 1-alpha (Tef 1-α), achieving the identification of Trichoderma harzianum. However, in the in vivo evaluation (applying directly to the avocado fruit), the TSMICH7 strain maintained considerably high effectiveness (>90%) against the four phytopathogens tested, mainly with P. perseae, N. parvum, and Diaporthe sp., increasing the activity of glucanases and chitinases. Therefore, T. harzianum could be used as a biological control agent to inhibit post-harvest pathogens in avocados, thus avoiding significant losses of this fruit of international importance.

Ninety crossbreed bulls (349.5 ± 8.25 kg initial weight) were used in an 87day trial to compare the effects of a blend of essential oils plus 25-hydroxy-Vit-D3 (EO + HyD) versus the combination of monensin with virginiamycin (MON + VM) on feedlot growth performance and carcass characteristics. Dietary treatments (nine replicates/treatment) were supplemented with 40 mg/kg diet dry matter of MON + VM (equal parts) or with 120.12 mg/kg diet dry matter of a combination of standardized mixture of essential oils (120 mg) plus 0.12 mg of 25-hydroxy-vitamin-D3 (EO + HyD). There were no treatment effects on dry matter intake (DMI, p = 0.63). However, the coefficient of variation in day-to-day DMI was greater for EO + HyD than for MON + VM (11.4% vs. 3.88%, p = 0.04). There were no treatment effects (p ≥ 0.17) on daily weight gain, gain-to-feed ratio, and estimated dietary net energy. Cattle supplemented with EO + HyD had greater Longissimus muscle area (7.9%, p < 0.01) and estimated retail yield (1.6%, p = 0.03), and tended to have heavier (1.7%, p = 0.10) carcass weight. Differences among treatments in dressing percentage, fat thickness, kidney–pelvic–heart fat, and marbling score were not appreciable (p > 0.10). It is concluded that growth performance response and dietary energetic are similar for finishing cattle supplemented with EO + HyD vs. MON + VM. However, compared with MON + VM, supplementation with EO + HyD during the finishing phase may improve carcass Longissimus area and carcass yield.

In Mexico, there is a high mortality rate among patients intubated because of COVID-19. The objective of this study was to investigate the associations of age, comorbidities, and biochemical parameters with the in-hospital mortality of COVID-19 patients. A retrospective study of 79 intubated patients admitted to one hospital in Jalisco, Mexico, between July 2020 and January 2021 was performed. Demographic and clinical characteristics were collected. The mean age was 57.7 (±12.8) years, with 83.5% non-survivors and 16.5% survivors. Age, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and D-dimer levels were found to be significantly higher in the non-survivor group (p = 0.011, p = 0.026, p = 0.007, respectively). Patients ≥58 years had a high risk of mortality (OR = 7.017). Significant correlations were also found in some of the study variables: LDH levels and leukocyte count (r = 0.388, p = 0.034) and CRP levels and fibrinogen (r = 0.692, p ˂ 0.001) in the patients ˂58 years. Leukocyte count with LDH levels (r = 0.381, p = 0.024) were significant in the group ≥58 years. No significant difference was observed in the presence of diabetes mellitus (DM) and hypertension. In conclusion, according to logistic regression analysis, age over 58 years represents the main factor associated with mortality in these patients.

The results of the genotypic characterization of Pneumocystis jirovecii are described in lung tissue samples from 41 Cubans who died of AIDS with pneumocystosis between 1995 and 2008. Histological sections of the lung preserved as formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue were examined. PCR amplification and nucleotide sequencing of the two mitochondrial genes (large and small) of the pathogen allowed verification of a predominance of genotype 3 (85T/248C) of the large mitochondrial gene and genotype 3 (160A/196T) of the small mitochondrial gene over a period of 14 years (1995–2008). These results suggest that the 85T/248C//160A/196T genotype circulates with the highest frequency (81.3%) among AIDS patients in Cuba. Multilocus analysis indicates a limited circulation of pathogen genotypes on the island with the existence of a clonal genotype with an epidemic structure. Furthermore, it appears that circulating strains of P. jirovecii have not developed mutations related to sulfonamide resistance. Taken together, the data in this study revealed important elements about pneumocystosis in Cuban patients dying of AIDS and the usefulness of formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded samples to carry out molecular epidemiology studies of P. jirovecii.

The aim of this trial was to test the effects of the use of eubiotics (pro- and prebiotics) alone or in combination in the diet of lambs finished under subtropical climate conditions. For this purpose, 40 Pelibuey × Katahdin lambs (29.5 ± 4.8 kg initial live weight) were used in a 93 day growth-performance experiment. Dietary treatments consisted of a cracked corn-based finishing diet supplemented with (1) no eubiotics (control), (2) 3 g of probiotics (live Saccharomyces cerevisiae, SC), (3) 3 g of prebiotics (mannan oligosaccharide plus b-glucans, MOS), and (4) a combination of 1.5 g of SC and 1.5 g of MOS (SC+MOS). Throughout the study, the average temperature humidity index (THI) was 78.60. Compared to controls, supplementation with SC or MOS, alone did not affect average daily gain (ADG), but enhanced feed efficiency by 5.6% and 6.9% (gain-to-feed ratio, G:F) and dietary net energy by 4.6% and 5.9%, respectively. Compared to controls, SC+MOS enhanced ADG (10%), G:F (9.5%), and dietary net energy (7.2%). Lambs fed SC+MOS had also greater ADG, G:F, and dietary net energy compared to lambs fed SC alone. When compared to MOS, the combination enhanced ADG (10.4%, p = 0.04). This effect could be attributed to the increased dry matter intake (7.6%, p = 0.06), as neither G:F nor dietary energy was significantly affected. Compared with controls and SC, supplementation with MOS alone and SC+MOS increased kidney–pelvic–heart fat, while SC supplementation tended (p = 0.08) to reduce 4.1% the relative intestinal mass (as a proportion of empty body weight) when compared to controls. Treatment effects on the other carcass measures were not significant. In the present study, supplemental probiotics and/or prebiotics improved dietary energetic efficiency in lambs finished under subtropical climatic conditions. The combination of probiotics with prebiotics reinforced this positive effect.