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During prosthetic joint infection (PJI), optimal surgical management with exchange of the device is sometimes impossible, especially in the elderly population. Thus, prolonged suppressive antibiotic therapy (PSAT) is the only option to prevent acute sepsis, but little is known about this strategy. We aimed to describe the characteristics, outcome and tolerance of PSAT in elderly patients with PJI. We performed a national cross-sectional cohort study of patients >75 years old and treated with PSAT for PJI. We evaluated the occurrence of events, which were defined as: (i) local or systemic progression of the infection (failure), (ii) death and (iii) discontinuation or switch of PSAT. A total of 136 patients were included, with a median age of 83 years [interquartile range (IQR) 81–88]. The predominant pathogen involved was Staphylococcus (62.1%) ( Staphylococcus aureus in 41.7%). A single antimicrobial drug was prescribed in 96 cases (70.6%). There were 46 (33.8%) patients with an event: 25 (18%) with an adverse drug reaction leading to definitive discontinuation or switch of PSAT, 8 (5.9%) with progression of sepsis and 13 died (9.6%). Among patients under follow-up, the survival rate without an event at 2 years was 61% [95% confidence interval (CI): 51;74]. In the multivariate Cox analysis, patients with higher World Health Organization (WHO) score had an increased risk of an event [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.5, p  = 0.014], whereas patients treated with beta-lactams are associated with less risk of events occurring (HR = 0.5, p  = 0.048). In our cohort, PSAT could be an effective and safe option for PJI in the elderly.

The aim of this study was to assess the infectious diseases (ID) wards of tertiary hospitals in France and Turkey for technical capacity, infection control, characteristics of patients, infections, infecting organisms, and therapeutic approaches. This cross-sectional study was carried out on a single day on one of the weekdays of June 17–21, 2013. Overall, 36 ID departments from Turkey ( n  = 21) and France ( n  = 15) were involved. On the study day, 273 patients were hospitalized in Turkish and 324 patients were followed in French ID departments. The numbers of patients and beds in the hospitals, and presence of an intensive care unit (ICU) room in the ID ward was not different in both France and Turkey. Bed occupancy in the ID ward, single rooms, and negative pressure rooms were significantly higher in France. The presence of a laboratory inside the ID ward was more common in Turkish ID wards. The configuration of infection control committees, and their qualifications and surveillance types were quite similar in both countries. Although differences existed based on epidemiology, the distribution of infections were uniform on both sides. In Turkey, anti-Gram-positive agents, carbapenems, and tigecycline, and in France, cephalosporins, penicillins, aminoglycosides, and metronidazole were more frequently preferred. Enteric Gram-negatives and hepatitis B and C were more frequent in Turkey, while human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and streptococci were more common in France ( p  < 0.05 for all significances). Various differences and similarities existed in France and Turkey in the ID wards. However, the current scene is that ID are managed with high standards in both countries.

A case of intracranial mixed malignant germ cell tumor (GCT) in a patient with the Klinefelter syndrome (KS) is reported. Extragonadal GCTs, including those of intracranial origin, have previously been noted in KS patients. A review of the English literature suggests that although this phenomenon is rare, there appears to be more than a coincidental relationship between GCTs and a 47, XXY karyotype. This case represents the sixth reported case of intracranial GCT in KS but the first to be histologically confirmed to have mixed malignant germ cell elements. This occurrence of malignant cell types in a KS patient emphasizes the need for a histologic diagnosis prior to initiation of therapy.

Plant growth–promoting bacteria show great potential for use in agriculture although efficient application remains challenging to achieve. Cells often lose viability during inoculant production and application, jeopardizing the efficacy of the inoculant. Since desiccation has been documented to be the primary stress factor affecting the decrease in survival, obtaining xerotolerance in plant growth–promoting bacteria is appealing. The molecular damage that occurs by drying bacteria has been broadly investigated, although a complete view is still lacking due to the complex nature of the process. Mechanic, structural, and metabolic changes that occur as a result of water depletion may potentially afflict lethal damage to membranes, DNA, and proteins. Bacteria respond to these harsh conditions by increasing production of exopolysaccharides, changing composition of the membrane, improving the stability of proteins, reducing oxidative stress, and repairing DNA damage. This review provides insight into the complex nature of desiccation stress in bacteria in order to facilitate strategic choices to improve survival and shelf life of newly developed inoculants.Key PointsDesiccation-induced damage affects most major macromolecules in bacteria.Most bacteria are not xerotolerant despite multiple endogenous adaption mechanisms.Sensitivity to drying severely hampers inoculant quality.

Despite improvement in clinical management, allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell trans-plantation (HSCT) is still hampered by high morbidity and mortality rates, mainly due to graft versus host disease (GvHD). Recently, it has been demonstrated that the allogeneic immune response might be influenced by external factors such as tissues microenvironment or host microbiota. Here we used high throughput metabolomics to analyze two cohorts of geno-typically HLA-identical related recipient and donor pairs. Metabolomic profiles markedly differ between recipients and donors. At the onset of acute GvHD, in addition to host-derived metabolites, we identify significant variation in microbiota-derived metabolites, especially in aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) ligands, bile acids and plasmalogens. Altogether, our findings support that the allogeneic immune response during acute GvHD might be influenced by bile acids and by the decreased production of AhR ligands by microbiota that could limit indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase induction and influence allogeneic T cell reactivity.

Worldwide electricity consumption increases by 2.6% each year. Greenhouse gas emissions due to electricity production raise by 2.1% per year on average. The development of efficient low-carbon-footprint renewable energy systems is urgently needed. CPVMatch investigates the feasibility of mirror or lens-based High Concentration Photovoltaic (HCPV) systems. Thanks to innovative four junction solar cells, new glass coatings, Position Sensitive Detectors (PSD), and DC/DC converters, it is possible to reach concentration levels higher than 800× and a module efficiency between 36.7% and 41.6%. From a circular economy’s standpoint, the use of concentration technologies lowers the need in active material, increases recyclability, and reduces the risk of material contamination. By using the Life Cycle Assessment method, it is demonstrated that HCPV presents a carbon footprint ranking between 16.4 and 18.4 g CO2-eq/kWh. A comparison with other energy means for 16 impact categories including primary energy demand and particle emissions points out that the environmental footprint of HCPV is typically 50 to 100 times lower than fossil fuels footprint. HCPV’s footprint is also three times lower than that of crystalline photovoltaic solutions and is close to the environmental performance of wind power and hydropower.

Immunological non-responders (InRs) are HIV-infected individuals in whom the administration of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), although successful in suppressing viral replication, cannot properly reconstitute patient circulating CD4 T-cell number to immunocompetent levels. The causes for this immunological failure remain elusive, and no therapeutic strategy is available to restore a proper CD4 T-cell immune response in these individuals. We have recently demonstrated that platelets harboring infectious HIV are a hallmark of InR, and we now report on a causal connection between HIV-containing platelets and T-cell dysfunctions. We show here that , platelet-T-cell conjugates are more frequent among CD4 T cells in InRs displaying HIV-containing platelets (<350 CD4 T cells/μl blood for >1 year) as compared with healthy donors or immunological responders (IRs; >350 CD4 T cells/μl). This contact between platelet containing HIV and T cell in the conjugates is not infectious for CD4 T cells, as coculture of platelets from InRs containing HIV with healthy donor CD4 T cells fails to propagate infection to CD4 T cells. In contrast, when macrophages are the target of platelets containing HIV from InRs, macrophages become infected. Differential transcriptomic analyses comparing InR and IR CD4 T cells reveal an upregulation of genes involved in both aerobic and anaerobic glycolysis in CD4 T cells from InR vs. IR individuals. Accordingly, InR platelets containing HIV induce a dysfunctional increase in glycolysis-mediated energy production in CD4 T cells as compared with T cells cocultured with IR platelets devoid of virus. In contrast, macrophage metabolism is not affected by platelet contact. Altogether, this brief report demonstrates a direct causal link between presence of HIV in platelets and T-cell dysfunctions typical of InR, contributing to devise a platelet-targeted therapy for improving immune reconstitution in these individuals.

Introduction and literature reviewAbiotic resources are extensively used in industrialized societies to deliver multiple services that contribute to human well-being. Their increased extraction and use can potentially reduce their accessibility, increase competition among users, and ultimately lead to a deficit of those services. Life cycle assessment is a relevant tool to assess the potential damages of dissipating natural resources. Building on the general consensus recommending evaluating the damages on the instrumental value of resources to humans in order to assess the consequences of resources dissipation, this research work proposes a novel conceptual framework to assess the potential loss of services provided by abiotic resources, which when facing unmet demand can lead to a deficit to human users and have consequences on human well-being.ResultsA framework is proposed to describe the mechanisms that link human intervention on the resources in the accessible stock to competition among users. Users facing the deficit of resource services are assumed to have to pay to recover the services, using backup technologies. The mechanisms that are proposed to be characterized are dissipation and degradation. Data needed to later operationalize the framework for abiotic resources are identified. It also proposes a framework at the life cycle inventory level to harmonize life cycle inventories with the current impact assessment framework to fully characterize impacts on resource services. It regards ensuring mass balances of elements between inputs and outputs of life cycle inventory datasets as well as including the functionality of resource flows.Discussion and conclusionsThe framework provides recommendations for the development of operational life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methods for resource services deficit assessment. It establishes the impact pathway to damage on the area of protection “Resource Services”, data needed to feed the model and recommendations to improve the current state of life cycle inventories to be harmonized with the LCIA framework.

Metal-related production activities are essential to the low-carbon energy transition but can generate significant social and environmental impacts that influence project success and public acceptance. The MetalliCan dataset compiles and structures data from 23 open datasets and over 150 reports from more than 40 companies in metal-related sectors, offering a high-resolution, site-specific foundation for sustainability impact analysis in Canada. It was constructed following a systematic and reproducible procedure to integrate heterogeneous data sources at the finest granularity possible and ensure traceability and interoperability. MetalliCan covers 48 commodities and 270 domestic sites including active mines, smelters and refineries, as well as advanced projects. It contains information on environmental dimensions-e.g. greenhouse gases, pollutants, water, land, material use and waste-and social dimensions-e.g. affected population, conflicts, protected lands, future water risk and climate conditions. The code and dataset are openly accessible and can be exploited for industrial ecology research, such as life-cycle assessment, material flow analysis and environmental-extended input-output, as well as criticality, social and prospective studies.

Microbial communities are crucial in host adaptation to stressors, particularly in dynamic ecosystems. In aquatic environments, Daphnia magna is ideal for studying host-microbiome interactions due to its ecological importance and sensitivity. Adaptation to toxins, such as those produced by cyanobacteria, may involve both host and microbial gene repertoires. Yet, the influence of microbiota composition and function on host performance remains poorly understood. Because epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation regulate gene expression and mediate adaptive responses, we also investigated whether these associations are reflected in DNA methylation levels. To address this, we conducted a fully factorial transplant experiment using microbiota-depleted Daphnia colonised with microbiota from the same or different genotype, previously exposed to toxic or nontoxic diets, or left uncolonised. We assessed life-history traits, microbial composition (16S rRNA genes), functional profiles (whole-genome-resequencing), and DNA methylation (colorimetric quantification). Daphnia fed nontoxic diets grew larger and reproduced more. Increased methylation occurred when microbiota donors differed from the host genotype and was strongest under toxic diet. Dysbiosis and reduced performance were noted in individuals colonised with toxic-diet microbiota from another genotype, where Limnohabitans spp. was reduced or absent. Signs of hormesis emerged when Daphnia received microbiota from their own genotype reared on nontoxic diets. DNA methylation of both host and microbiota was associated with functional pathways, including increased mitochondrial fatty acid biosynthesis. These findings highlight the importance of host-microbiota matching and microbial environmental history in shaping host performance and epigenetic responses, emphasizing the need to consider host-microbe-environment interactions in evolutionary and ecological studies.