Heat exposure in outdoor work environments poses risks to worker health and productivity. Engineering solutions like cool surfaces that increase surface albedo and reduce temperatures may help mitigate these impacts. We conducted detailed micrometeorological modeling to analyze surface characteristics and heat exposure for outdoor workers at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) under current conditions and three hypothetical albedo-increase scenarios.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTransposase genes are ubiquitous in all domains of life and provide a rich reservoir for the evolution of novel protein functions. Here we report deep evolutionary links between bacterial IS110-family transposases, which catalyse RNA-guided DNA recombination using bridge RNAs, and archaeal/eukaryotic Nop5-family proteins, which promote RNA-guided RNA 2'-O-methylation using C/D-box snoRNAs. On the basis of conservation of protein sequence, domain architecture, three-dimensional structure and non-coding RNA features, alongside phylogenetic analyses, we propose that programmable RNA modification emerged through the exaptation of components derived from IS110-like transposons.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEscherichia coli is an increasingly antibiotic-resistant opportunistic pathogen. Few data are available on its ecological and evolutionary dynamics in its primary commensal niche, the vertebrate gut. Using Illumina and/or Nanopore technologies, we sequenced whole genomes of 210 E.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe co-evolution of prokaryotes, phages and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) has driven the diversification of defense and anti-defense systems alike. Anti-defense proteins have diverse functional domains, sequences and are typically small, creating a challenge to detect anti-defense homologs across prokaryotic and phage genomes. To date, no tools comprehensively annotate anti-defense proteins within a desired sequence.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPredicting bacteriophage infection of specific bacterial strains promises advancements in phage therapy and microbial ecology. Whether the dynamics of well-established phage-host model systems generalize to the wide diversity of microbes is currently unknown. Here we show that we could accurately predict the outcomes of phage-bacteria interactions at the strain level in natural isolates from the genus Escherichia using only genomic data (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of 86%).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFViruses compete with each other for limited cellular resources, and some deliver defence mechanisms that protect the host from competing genetic parasites. The phage antirestriction induced system (PARIS) is a defence system, often encoded in viral genomes, that is composed of a 55 kDa ABC ATPase (AriA) and a 35 kDa TOPRIM nuclease (AriB). However, the mechanism by which AriA and AriB function in phage defence is unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImmune defence mechanisms exist across the tree of life in such diversity that prokaryotic antiviral responses have historically been considered unrelated to eukaryotic immunity. Mechanisms of defence in divergent eukaryotes were similarly believed to be largely clade specific. However, recent data indicate that a subset of modules (domains and proteins) from prokaryote defence systems are conserved in eukaryotes and populate many stages of innate immune pathways.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Vasospastic angina (VSA) and spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) are challenging causes of non-atherosclerotic acute coronary syndromes (ACS). Here, we report a unique ACS case with coexisting VSA and SCAD, highlighting specific strategies in diagnosis and management of these poorly studied conditions.
Case Summary: A woman in her mid-60s with a history of suspected microvascular angina and no atherosclerosis in a previously performed coronary computed tomography angiography presented with worsening chest pain.
Psychiatric nurses who work with people who are involved with the justice system experience ethical and moral tension arising from their dual role (care and control). This is known to significantly affect the development of a therapeutic relationship between nurses and patients. (a) better understand how justice system involvement affects people living with mental disorders and the nurses who work with them; (b) explore the influence of judiciarization on social interactions between these actors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Limitations in the quality of race-and-ethnicity information in Medicare's data systems constrain efforts to assess disparities in care among older Americans. Using demographic information from standardized patient assessments may be an efficient way to enhance the accuracy and completeness of race-and-ethnicity information in Medicare's data systems, but it is critical to first establish the accuracy of these data as they may be prone to inaccurate observer-reported or third-party-based information. This study evaluates the accuracy of patient-level race-and-ethnicity information included in the Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS) submitted by home health agencies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImportance: Equity is an essential domain of health care quality. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) developed 2 Disparity Methods that together assess equity in clinical outcomes.
Objectives: To define a measure of equitable readmissions; identify hospitals with equitable readmissions by insurance (dual eligible vs non-dual eligible) or patient race (Black vs White); and compare hospitals with and without equitable readmissions by hospital characteristics and performance on accountability measures (quality, cost, and value).
Objectives: The purpose of this study is to describe the long-term results of the 'réparation à l'étage ventriculaire' (REV) technique for double-outlet right ventricle and transposition of the great arteries (TGA) with pulmonary stenosis (PS).
Methods: Between 1980 and 2021, 157 patients underwent a REV procedure (median age and weight: 20.8 months and 7.
Viruses are parasites that infect all living organisms, and bacteria are no exception. To defend themselves against their viruses (phages), bacteria have developed numerous and sophisticated defense mechanisms, our understanding of which is rapidly growing. In the 2000s, only a handful of mechanisms were known and only two of them seemed to be found in most bacteria.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe involvement of people living with mental illness in the judicial process, whether in civil or criminal justice system, is a growing phenomenon that can be defined as judiciarization. Such over-representation of people with mental illness in the justice system is related to several issues, including stigma, experienced coercion, loss of autonomy and social isolation. To explore this understudied phenomenon in nursing research, we conducted a study to better understand how judiciarization affects people living with mental illness.
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