Integrating biological knowledge for mechanistic inference in the host-associated microbiome.

Advances in high-throughput technologies have enhanced our ability to describe microbial communities as they relate to human health and disease. Alongside the growth in sequencing data has come an influx of resources that synthesize knowledge surrounding microbial traits, functions, and metabolic potential with knowledge of how they may impact host pathways to influence disease phenotypes. These knowledge bases can enable the development of mechanistic explanations that may underlie correlations detected between microbial communities and disease.

Accurate Plane Fat Grafting in Gluteal Augmentation: An Anatomic Study.

Background: The safety of gluteal fat grafting is a global concern in plastic surgery.

Objective: The goal of this study was to test whether fat grafting to the buttocks with Auto Stop Reach (ASR) technology prevents penetration from the subcutaneous space into the fascia and muscle layers of the buttocks.

Methods: Fat transfer simulation was performed with blue dye on 8 fresh tissue cadaver buttocks by 3 board-certified plastic surgeons (S.

Antiretroviral treatment is less effective at reducing gut microbiome-associated inflammation and T cell activation in people living with HIV in rural versus urban Zimbabwe.

The widespread availability of antiretroviral therapy (ART) for people living with HIV (PLWH) has dramatically reduced mortality and improved life expectancy. However, even with suppression of HIV-1 replication, chronic immune activation and elevated inflammation persist. Chronic immune activation has been linked to a pro-inflammatory gut microbiome composition, exacerbated by compromised intestinal barrier integrity that occurs after HIV infection.

Structural and functional studies of scorpine: A channel blocker and cytolytic peptide.

Scorpine is an antimicrobial and antimalarial peptide isolated from Pandinus imperator scorpion venom. As there are few functional and structural studies reported on scorpine-like peptides, we investigated the recombinant truncated N- and C-terminal domains as well as complete scorpine using biological assays and determined the N- and C-terminal structures using solution nuclear magnetic resonance. The study was conducted using recombinant N- and C-terminal peptides and complete scorpine expressed in Escherichia coli.

[National and regional social observatories of tuberculosis in eight countries in Latin America and the CaribbeanObservatórios sociais nacionais e regional de tuberculose em oito países da América Latina e do Caribe].

Ending tuberculosis (TB) requires a multisectoral approach, including participation from organized civil society. With the support of a regional project (OBSERVA TB) financed by the Global Fund, TB social observatories have been created since 2019 in eight countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (Bolivia, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico, and Peru), as well as a regional TB social observatory, as part of implementation of the ENGAGE-TB approach promoted by the World Health Organization. This article presents the implementation model, advances, and challenges of TB social observatories.