International audienceRecent work conducted in several laboratories has shown that the [FeFe]-hydrogenase maturase HydG synthesizes both CO and CN– from tyrosine. We have very recently found that although CN– synthesis does not need the [4Fe-4S] cluster found in the HydG C-terminal domain, CO synthesis does require it. We have also proposed that the +H2N·–CH2–CO2– radical is a precursor for these two active site ligands. Here, we have extended our characterization of both the wild-type enzyme and a ThiH-like HydG truncated mutant, with small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) spectroscopy, homology modeling and functional studies

Anticoagulant therapy is a cornerstone treatment for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) due to the high rates of thromboembolic complications associated with this disease. We hypothesized that chronic antithrombotic therapy could play a protective role in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. Retrospective, observational study of all patients admitted to our hospital for ≥ 24 h from March 1 to May 31, 2020 with SARS-CoV-2. The objective was to evaluate clinical outcomes and mortality in COVID-19 patients receiving chronic anticoagulation (AC) or antiplatelet therapy (AP) prior to hospital admission. A total of 1612 patients were evaluated. The mean (standard deviation; SD) age was 66.5 (17.1) years. Patients were divided into three groups according to the use of antithrombotic therapy prior to admission (AP, AC, or no-antithrombotic treatment). At admission, 9.6% of the patients were taking anticoagulants and 19.1% antiplatelet therapy. The overall mortality rate was 19.3%. On the multivariate analysis there were no significant differences in mortality between the antithrombotic groups (AC or AP) and the no-antithrombotic group (control group). Patients on AC had lower ICU admission rates than the control group (OR: 0.41, 95% CI, 0.18–0.93). Anticoagulation therapy prior to hospitalization for COVID-19 was associated with lower ICU admission rates. However, there were no significant differences in mortality between the patients receiving chronic antithrombotic therapy and patients not taking antithrombotic medications. These findings suggest that chronic anticoagulation therapy at the time of COVID-19 infection may reduce disease severity and thus the need for ICU admission.

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Here we present a novel, simple, and versatile experimental setup aimed to perform wide angle x-ray scattering (WAXS) measurements alone or in simultaneous combination with small angle x-ray scattering measurements. The design of the WAXS goniometer allows one to obtain high resolution diffraction patterns in a broad angular range. The setup can incorporate a hot stage in order to evaluate temperature resolved experiments. The performance of the equipment has been verified in the BM16 beam line of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility with different well known samples such as alumina, isotropic film of high density polyethylene (HDPE), and oriented HPDE fiber.

We have developed a helium gas flow cryostat for use on synchrotron tender to hard X-ray beamlines. Very efficient sample cooling is achieved because the sample is placed directly in the cooling helium flow on a removable sample holder. The cryostat is compact and easy to operate; samples can be changed in less than 5 min at any temperature. The cryostat has a temperature range of 2.5-325 K with temperature stability better than 0.1 K. The very wide optical angle and the ability to operate in any orientation mean that the cryostat can easily be adapted for different X-ray techniques. It is already in use on different beamlines at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), ALBA Synchrotron Light Facility (ALBA), and Diamond Light Source (DLS) for inelastic X-ray scattering, powder diffraction, and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Results obtained at these beamlines are presented here.