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Purpose: To assess the accuracy of various Pentacam indices in distinguishing keratoconus (KC) in pediatric patients with high astigmatism and to establish appropriate cutoff values., Methods: This prospective multicenter cross-sectional study included 312 eyes from 167 patients aged 6 to 18 years (mean age, 13.1 ± 3.2 years) evaluated with Oculus Pentacam HR. Patients were categorized into 4 groups: KC, forme fruste keratoconus, astigmatism greater than 2 diopters (Cyl2D), and control. A subgroup of Cyl2D comprised patients with astigmatism greater than 4 diopters (Cyl4D). Twenty-three Pentacam indices were analyzed, and receiver operating characteristic curves determined optimal cutoff points, sensitivity, and specificity., Results: The best indices for distinguishing KC from Cyl2D were high-order aberration root mean square of the anterior corneal surface (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.987), Belin/Ambrosio enhanced ectasia total derivation (0.971), index of vertical asymmetry (0.971), average pachymetric progression index (0.962), maximum Ambrosio relational thickness (0.960), posterior elevation (0.952), and anterior elevation (0.948). The accuracy of these indices was highest in the control group and lowest in the Cyl4D group. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was significantly lower for fruste keratoconus than KC. Optimal cutoff values were higher for astigmatic patients than for those with no refractive error., Conclusions: Most indices effectively distinguished between KC and normal pediatric patients. For individuals with high astigmatism, we suggest focusing on specific indices such as high-order aberration root mean square, Belin/Ambrosio enhanced ectasia total derivation value, maximum Ambrosio relational thickness, average pachymetric progression index, and index of vertical asymmetry. Optimal cutoff points for these patients were higher than those for nonastigmatic children and differed from adult populations., Competing Interests: The authors have no funding or conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Listeria monocytogenes is a human opportunistic foodborne pathogen that produces life-threatening infections with a high mortality rate. The control of Listeria in the food production environment and effective clinical management of human listeriosis are challenging due to the emergence of antibiotic resistance. Hence we evaluate the in vitro anti-Listeria activity of two synthetic cruzioseptins reproducing their natural sequences CZS-9, and CZS-12, and one engineered sequence based on CZS-1, named [K4K15]CZS-1. The assessment of the in vitro potential of cruzioseptins, highlighted the promising antibacterial effect of [K4K15]CZS-1 in very low concentrations (0.91 μM) and its thermal stability at high-temperature conditions, is compatible with the food industry. Microscopic and metabolomic analyses suggest cruzioseptin induces anti-Listeria bioactivity through membrane disruption and changes in the intracellular metabolome. We also report that [K4K15]CZS-1 is not resistant to peptidases/proteases emphasizing a key advantage for their use as a food preservative. However, there is a need for further structural and functional optimisations for the potential clinical application as an antibiotic. In conclusion, [K4K15]CZS-1 stand out as membrane-active peptides with the ability to induce shifts in the bacteria metabolome and inspire the development of strategies for the prevention of L. monocytogenes emergence and dissemination., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. and Société Française de Biochimie et Biologie Moléculaire (SFBBM). All rights reserved.)

The study aimed to evaluate the precision of different Pentacam indices in diagnosing keratoconus (KC) in pediatric patients with and without Down Syndrome (DS) and determine suitable cutoff values. This prospective multicenter cross-sectional study evaluated 216 eyes of 131 patients aged 6-18 years (mean age 12.5 ± 3.2 years) using Pentacam. Patients were categorized into four groups: KC, forme fruste keratoconus (FK), DS, and control, excluding DS patients with topographic KC. Receiver operating characteristic curves were generated to determine the optimal cutoff points and compare the accuracy in identifying KC and FK in patients with and without DS. In DS patients, corneal morphology resembled KC features. The most effective indices for distinguishing KC in DS patients were the average pachymetric progression index (AUC = 0.961), higher-order aberration of the anterior cornea (AUC = 0.953), anterior elevation (AUC = 0.946), posterior elevation (AUC = 0.947), index of vertical asymmetry (AUC = 0.943), and Belin/Ambrosio enhanced ectasia total derivation value (AUC = 0.941). None of the indices showed good accuracy for distinguishing FK in DS patients. The thresholds of these indices differed significantly from non-DS patients. The results highlighted the need for DS-specific cutoff values to avoid false-positive or false-negative diagnoses in this population.

The brewery industry is under economic and environmental pressure to minimize residual management costs, particularly brewery spent grain (BSG), which accounts for 80-85% (w/w) of the total by-products generated. BSG is a lignocellulosic material primarily composed of carbohydrates, proteins and lipids. Developing a biorefinery model for conversion of BSG into value-added products is a plausible idea. Previous work optimized the pretreatment of BSG with the ionic liquid [N 1112OH ][Gly] and further release of fermentable sugar-containing solutions by enzymatic hydrolysis, using an enzymatic cocktail obtained by solid-state fermentation of BSG with Aspergillus brasiliensis CECT 2700 and Trichoderma reesei CECT 2414. The current work ends the biorefinery process, studying the fermentation of these culture media with two LAB strains, Lactobacillus pentosus CECT 4023 and Lactobacillus plantarum CECT 221, from which the production of organic acids, bacteriocins, and microbial biosurfactants (mBS) was obtained. In addition to the bacteriocin activity observed, a mass balance of the whole biorefinery process quantified the production of 106.4 g lactic acid and 6.76 g mBS with L. plantarum and 116.1 g lactic acid and 4.65 g mBS with L. pentosus from 1 kg of dry BSG. Thus, BSG shows a great potential for waste valorization, playing a major role in the implementation of biomass biorefineries in circular bioeconomy., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest Authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Among the 13 types of propolis classified in Brazil according to their physicochemical properties, green propolis and brown propolis are the most commonly found and used. In this work, a comparison of the physicochemical properties of green and brown propolis produced in Minas Gerais, Brazil was performed according to the methodology established by the Brazilian legislation. And, the content of 9 bioactive compounds in the samples was determined by RP-HPLC. GrProp showed a higher content of pinocembrin, artepillin C and baccharin, and a higher quantity of total flavonoids, in comparison with BrwProp. The mechanical mass content in both types of propolis was above the limit established by legislation. However, the other physicochemical parameters were within the limits. The chemical composition, especially the flavonoid content and the free radical (DPPH) scavenger property confer to both types of propolis a promising pharmacological activity., (© 2023 Wiley-VHCA AG, Zurich, Switzerland.)

Novel environmentally friendly pretreatments have been developed in recent years to improve biomass fractionation. Solid-state fermentation (SSF) and treatment with ionic liquids show low environmental impact and can be used in biorefinery of biomass. In this work, these processes were assessed with brewery spent grain (BSG). First, BSG was used as a substrate to produce cellulases and xylanases by SSF with the fungi Aspergillus brasiliensis CECT 2700 and Trichoderma reesei CECT 2414. Then, BSG was pretreated with the ionic liquid [N 1112 OH][Gly] and hydrolyzed with the crude enzymatic extracts. Results showed that SSF of BSG with A. brasiliensis achieved the highest enzyme production; meanwhile, the pretreatment with ionic liquids allowed glucan and xylan fractions to increase and reduce the lignin content. In addition, a mixture of the extracts from both fungi in a ratio of 2.5:0.5 Aspergillus / Trichoderma ( v / v ) efficiently hydrolyzed the BSG previously treated with the ionic liquid [N 1112 OH][Gly], reaching saccharification percentages of 80.68%, 54.29%, and 19.58% for glucan, xylan, and arabinan, respectively. In conclusion, the results demonstrated that the BSG biorefinery process developed in this work is an effective way to obtain fermentable sugar-containing solutions, which can be used to produce value-added products.

Bacteriocins are antimicrobial peptides produced by different species of bacteria, especially the Gram-positive lactic acid bacteria (LAB). Pediococcus pentosaceus is widely applied in the industry and stands out as Bacteriocin-Like Inhibitory Substances (BLIS) producer known to inhibit pathogens commonly considered a concern in the food industries. This study aimed to perform in silico comparisons of P. pentosaceus genomes available in the public GenBank database focusing on their pediocin-like bacteriocins repertoire. The pan-genome analysis evidenced a temporal signal in the pattern of gene gain and loss, supporting the hypothesis that the complete genetic repertoire of this group of bacteria is still uncovered. Thirteen bacteriocin genes from Class II and III were predicted in the accessory genome. Four pediocin-like bacteriocins (54% of the detected bacteriocin repertoire) and their accompanying immunity genes are highlighted; penocin A, coagulin A, pediocin PA-1, and plantaricin 423. Additionally, in silico, modeling of the pediocin-like bacteriocins revealed different configurations of the helix motif compared to other physically determined pediocin-like structures. Comparative and phylogenomic analyses support the hypothesis that a dynamic mechanism of bacteriocin acquisition and purging is not dependent on the bacterial isolation source origin. Synteny analysis revealed that while coagulin A, pediocin PA-1, and Plantaricin 423 loci are associated with insertion sequences mainly from the IS 30 family and are likely of plasmid origin, penocin A lies in a conserved chromosomal locus. The results presented here provide insights into the unique pediocin-like bacteriocin peptide fold, genomic diversity, and the evolution of the bacteriocin genetic repertoire of P. pentosaceus , shedding new insights into the role of these biomolecules for application in inhibiting bacterial pathogens, and suggesting that prospecting and sequencing new strains is still an alternative to mining for new probiotic compounds., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2022 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Research Network of Computational and Structural Biotechnology.)

Bacillus aryabhattai BA03, a strain isolated in our laboratory, has interesting properties related to the production of natural aromas and flavors. Specifically, we have found that it was able to produce vanillin from ferulic acid (FA). Furthermore, this strain produces high amounts of 4-vinylguaiacol in only 14h, this being the only intermediate metabolite observed in the process. FA is an inexpensive feedstock for the production of natural value-added compounds when extracted from lignocellulosic wastes. In this study, we optimized the operational conditions (temperature, pH and agitation), medium composition and bioconversion technology (batch or fed-batch) to produce vanillin. In a fed-batch process conducted with just one additional supplementation after 24h, the maximal concentration of vanillin (147.1±0.9mg/L) was observed after 216h (Q V =0.681mg/Lh; Y V/fFA =0.082mg/mg) after degrading 90.3% FA. In view of our data, we postulate that Bacillus aryabhattai BA03 carries out a decarboxylation of ferulic acid as a metabolic pathway., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The wild strain Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 was explored in ferulic acid-based media to produce naturally the aroma components of the cured vanilla pod, namely vanillin,vanillic acid, and vanillyl alcohol. Other phenolic compounds(4-vinyl guaiacol, guaiacol, and protocatechuic acid) were also evaluated. The influence of medium composition,fermentation technology (batch or fed-batch), supplementation with vanillic acid, and inoculum concentration on ferulic acid biotransformation were evaluated. The results postulate the initial concentration of cell mass as the variable with the strongest impact on ferulic acid metabolization under the studied conditions. The highest amounts of vanillin and vanillic acid were achieved at intermediate values of cell mass.Vanillyl alcohol and protocatechuic acid were more closely linked to high cell mass concentrations. Conversely, 4-vinyl guaiacol reached its highest amount at the lowest amount of cell mass. Guaiacol was not detected in any case. Therefore,the initial cell concentration must be considered a critical parameter when using Amycolaptosis sp. ATCC 39116 for the production of vanillin and related compounds.