Induction of Salmonella Enteritidis into a Viable but Nonculturable State by Cinnamaldehyde and Its Resuscitation.

Trans-cinnamaldehyde (TC), a typical plant-derived compound, has been widely used in the control of foodborne pathogen contamination. Nevertheless, the risk associated with the occurrence of viable but nonculturable (VBNC) bacteria induced by TC remains unclear. The results of this study showed that Salmonella Enteritidis (S. Enteritidis) entered the VBNC state after being induced by TC at a minimum inhibitory concentration of 312.5 µg/mL and survived for at least 22 days under TC treatment. Enhanced resistance was found against heat treatment (75°C, 30 s), antibiotics (i.e., ampicillin, ceftriaxone sodium, chloramphenicol), and hydrogen peroxide (3%) in VBNC S. Enteritidis. A synergistic effect against VBNC S. Enteritidis occurred when TC was combined with acid treatment, including lactic acid and acetic acid (pH = 3.5). VBNC and resuscitated S. Enteritidis by sodium pyruvate treatment (100 mM) were found to retain the infectious ability to Caco-2 cells. Relative expression levels of the stress-related genes relA, spoT, ppx, lon, katG, sodA, dnaK, and grpE were upregulated in VBNC S. Enteritidis. Accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and protein aggregates was observed in VBNC cells. Besides, the resuscitation of VBNC cells was accompanied with clearance of ROS and protein aggregates. In summary, this study presents a comprehensive characterization of stress tolerance and resuscitation of VBNC S. Enteritidis induced by cinnamaldehyde, and the results provide useful information for the development of effective control strategy against VBNC pathogenic bacteria in food production.

Stress responses and Physiological Changes of Salmonella enterica Serovar Enteritidis on Short-Term and Long-Term Benzalkonium Bromide Adaptation.

Salmonella enterica is a common foodborne pathogen that poses significant safety risks across the world. And benzalkonium bromide (BK) is widely used as a disinfectant to sterilize the food processing equipment. It has been reported that sub-lethal concentration of disinfectants induced not only the homologous resistance but also cross-resistances. This work analyzed the induced resistances of Salmonella Enteritidis by short-term adaptation (STA) and long-term adaptation (LTA) to BK. We have demonstrated that inefficient sterilization exposes Salmonella Enteritidis to sub-lethal concentrations of BK, and adapts bacteria to a higher minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration. In addition, STA, but not LTA, to BK induced heterogeneous resistance to sodium hypochlorite, and cross-resistance to freezing, desiccation, and heating, which may be caused by the membrane composition change of Salmonella Enteritidis. This work could be useful to the optimization of cleaning protocol.

Effect of RpoS on the survival, induction, resuscitation, morphology, and gene expression of viable but non-culturable Salmonella Enteritidis in powdered infant formula.

Involvement of the transcriptional regulator RpoS in the persistence of viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state has been demonstrated in several species of bacteria. This study investigated the role of the RpoS in the formation and resuscitation of VBNC state in Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis CICC 21482 by measuring bacterial survival, morphology, physiological characteristics, and gene expression in wild-type (WT) and rpoS-deletion (ΔrpoS) strains during long-term storage in powdered infant formula (PIF). The ΔrpoS strain was produced by allelic exchange using a suicide plasmid. Bacteria were inoculated into PIF for 635-day storage. Survival, morphology, intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and intercellular quorum sensing autoinducer-2 (AI-2) contents were regularly measured. Resuscitation assays were conducted after obtaining VBNC cells. Gene expression was measured using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). The results showed that RpoS and low temperature conditions were associated with enhanced culturability and recoverability of Salmonella Enteritidis after desiccation storage in low water activity (aw) PIF. In addition, the synthesis of intracellular ROS and intercellular quorum sensing AI-2 was regulated by RpoS, inducing the formation and resuscitation of VBNC cells. Gene expression of soxS, katG and relA was found strongly associated with RpoS. Due to the lack of RpoS factor, the ΔrpoS strain could not normally synthesize SoxS, catalase and (p)ppGpp, resulting in its early shift to the VBNC state. This study elucidates the role of rpoS in desiccation stress and the formation and resuscitation mechanism of VBNC cells under desiccation stress. It serves as the basis for preventing and controlling the recovery of pathogenic bacteria in VBNC state in low aw foods.

Association between glycemic control assessed by continuous glucose monitoring and stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation and diabetes mellitus.

BACKGROUND: Both atrial fibrillation (AF) and diabetes mellitus (DM) are documented risk factors for stroke; however, whether glycemic control is associated with the prevalence of stroke remains unclear in patients with AF and DM. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between glycemic control assessed by continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and the risk of stroke. METHODS: In total, 510 AF patients with DM from April 2013 to June 2017 were included. The subcutaneous sensor of CGM was inserted after hospital admission and lasted for 72 consecutive hours. Time in range (TIR), a novel metric derived from CGM, was defined as the time spent in the target range (3.9-10 mmol/L). A logistic regression model was constructed by regarding TIR as a categorical variable and a continuous variable, respectively. RESULTS: The mean age of the 510 enrolled patients was 69.8 years. Patients who had previously suffered from stroke had a markedly lower TIR than those without diagnosed stroke (55.1%±19.0% vs. 64.2%±15.1%, P<0.001). Compared to patients with TIR ≤46%, the risk of stroke decreased significantly with increasing TIR quartiles: adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of 0.80 for TIR of 46-65%, 0.64 for TIR of 65-81%, and 0.59 for TIR of >81% (all P<0.001). Taking TIR as a continuous variable, the adjusted OR was 0.89 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.82-0.95] per 10% increment in TIR. CONCLUSIONS: This study found that better TIR is independently associated with a decreased risk of stroke in patients with AF and DM.

Efficacy and safety of Qishen Yiqi dripping pills as a complementary treatment for Heart Failure: A protocol of updated systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Heart failure (HF) has become a serious global public health issue due to its high incidence, high mortality and extremely low quality of life. According to several clinical trials, Qishen Yiqi Dripping pills (QSYQ) combined with routine western medicine treatment can further enhance the curative effect of HF patients. However, most of the trials are small in sample size and poor in quality, which can only provide limited evidence-based medicine. The existing systematic reviews of efficacy and safety has provided evidence for the clinical application of QSYQ to a certain extent, but there are still 3 major defects. Here, we will perform a systematic review and meta-analysis that include the randomized clinical trial (RCT) of CACT-IHF, apply meta-regression and subgroup analysis to cope with multiple confounding factors, and add the clinical efficacy standards of TCM, all-cause death and readmission rates as reliable efficacy evaluation indicators. The purpose of this study was to rigorously evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of QSYQ in the complementary treatment of HF with a well-designed systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: Following the strict search strategy, 9 databases will be searched to ensure a comprehensive search. We search the database from the establishment until November 30, 2020. This study will include RCTs of QSYQ in HF patients' complementary treatment. Two searchers will independently draft and carry out the search strategy, and the third member will further complete it. Two members independently screen literature, extract data and cross-check, and solve different opinions through discussion or negotiation with the third member. The risk bias will be evaluated based on Cochrane tool of risk of bias. Meta-regression and subgroup analysis are used to check and deal with the heterogeneity. The data analysis will be conducted by the statistical software Stata 16.0. RESULTS: The results of this research will be delivered in a peer-reviewed journal. CONCLUSION: This study expects to provide credible and scientific evidence for the efficacy and safety of QSYQ in HF's complementary treatment, and at the same time provide a convenient and effective choice for decision-makers and patients. PROTOCOL REGISTRATION NUMBER: INPLASY 2020120106. ETHICAL APPROVAL: Since this study is on the basis of published or registered RCTs, ethical approval and informed consent of patients are not required.

Thermal management for a tube-shell Li-ion battery pack using water evaporation coupled with forced air cooling.

A novel battery thermal management system (BTMS) based on water evaporation (WE) and air-cooling (AC) for a tube-shell Li-ion battery (LIB) pack is designed. A sodium alginate (SA) film with a higher water content above 99% is fortified by adding polyethylene (PE) fibers. The air flow and PE-fiber composite sodium alginate (PECSA) film are both used to control the temperature of the battery pack. Results show that the maximum temperature of the battery pack can be controlled below 32 °C, when WE coupled with AC is used at a discharge rate of 1.8C within a discharge time of 1000 s. This method yields the highest performance of thermal management. The experimental results validate the numerical data, confirming that the design of WE combined with AC helps prevent overheating of a battery pack. This work also provides an automatic refilling system to solve the dehydration problem of the PECSA film.