A member of the Telenomus californicus Ashmead, 1893 complex parasitizing native cactus moth (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) eggs in Mexico.

A collection of egg parasitoids in the Scelionidae are identified as members of the Telenomus californicus Ashmead, 1893 complex (californicus+dalmanni+arzamae groups). They were reared from eggs of the cactus zebra worm, Melitara cf. junctoliniella Hulst, 1900 (Pyralidae: Phycitinae) infesting Opuntia streptacantha Lemaire, 1839 (Cactaceae) at Bustamante, Nuevo León, Mexico.

Comprehensive Assessment of Initial Adaptation of ESBL Positive ST131 Escherichia coli to Carbapenem Exposure.

Background: It remains unclear how high-risk Escherichia coli lineages, like sequence type (ST) 131, initially adapt to carbapenem exposure in their progression to carbapenem resistance.

Methods: Carbapenem mutation frequency was measured in multiple subclades of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) positive ST131 clinical isolates using a fluctuation assay followed by whole genome sequencing (WGS) characterization. Genomic, transcriptomic, and porin analyses of ST131 C2/H30Rx isolate, MB1860, under prolonged, increasing carbapenem exposure was performed using two experimental evolutionary platforms to measure fast vs.

Brain malformations and seizures by impaired chaperonin function of TRiC.

Malformations of the brain are common and vary in severity, from negligible to potentially fatal. Their causes have not been fully elucidated. Here, we report pathogenic variants in the core protein-folding machinery TRiC/CCT in individuals with brain malformations, intellectual disability, and seizures.

Prion diseases disrupt glutamate/glutamine metabolism in skeletal muscle.

In prion diseases (PrDs), aggregates of misfolded prion protein (PrPSc) accumulate not only in the brain but also in extraneural organs. This raises the question whether prion-specific pathologies arise also extraneurally. Here we sequenced mRNA transcripts in skeletal muscle, spleen and blood of prion-inoculated mice at eight timepoints during disease progression.

Comprehensive Assessment of Initial Adaptation of ESBL Positive ST131 to Carbapenem Exposure.

Background: It remains unclear how high-risk lineages, like sequence type (ST) 131, initially adapt to carbapenem exposure in their progression to becoming carbapenem resistant.

Methods: Carbapenem mutation frequency was measured in multiple subclades of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) positive ST131 clinical isolates using a fluctuation assay followed by whole genome sequencing (WGS) characterization. Genomic, transcriptomic, and porin analyses of ST131 C2/ 30Rx isolate, MB1860, under prolonged, increasing carbapenem exposure was performed using two distinct experimental evolutionary platforms to measure fast vs.

Integrated vegetation management within electrical transmission landscapes promotes floral resource and flower-visiting insect diversity.

Electrical transmission rights-of-way are ubiquitous and critical infrastructure across the landscape. Active vegetation management of these rights-of-way, a necessity to deliver electricity more safely, maintains these landscape features as stages of early successional habitat, a rarity in many regions, making these areas viable movement corridors for many taxa. The goals of this study were to (i) evaluate the effects of different electrical transmission landscape management practices on flowering plant and flower-visiting insect diversity parameters and (ii) generate conservation management inferences for these landscapes.

Transobturator-cable-fixation in pelvic ring injuries with symphyseal disruption - a last resort?

Purpose: The role of transobturator-cable-fixation (TOCF) in traumatic symphyseal rupture of the pelvic ring remains unclear. This case series aims to evaluate TOCF in complex and revision cases in pelvic surgery.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of a chronological case series was conducted, studying pelvic fractures stabilized using TOCF between January 2006 and December 2022.

Is nail-plate docking worth the effort? A biomechanical analysis of docking a plate and a nail in peri-implant femur fractures.

Purpose: The ideal treatment of peri-implant femur fractures (PIFFs) remains unclear due to the thin clinical and biomechanical evidence concerning the most suitable form of osteosynthesis. The purpose of the present study was thus to determine the biomechanical stability that results from combining a cephalomedullary nail and a plate for proximal PIFFs, especially when the nail-plate docking technique is applied.

Methods: Twenty four PIFFs were simulated in both 12 foam and 12 composite specimens and were stabilized via a combination of a cephalomedullary nail and a plate.

Absence of Epidermal Antibodies in Stevens-Johnson Syndrome/Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis Patients but Beware of Single Positive Results.

Background: Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) are rare and potentially life-threatening mucocutaneous blistering diseases that clinically can resemble autoimmune bullous diseases. Moreover, it has been shown that autoantibodies against epidermal proteins are present in SJS/TEN.

Objectives: To establish the presence of antibodies against desmosomal and hemidesmosomal proteins in confirmed SJS/TEN patients.

Case report: Atypical neurofibromatous neoplasm with uncertain biological potential of the sciatic nerve and a widespread arteriovenous fistula mimicking a malignant peripheral nerve tumor in a young patient with neurofibromatosis type 1.

We report an unusual constellation of diseases in a 32-year-old woman with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) diagnosed with the recently described precursor entity of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST), the so-called atypical neurofibromatous neoplasm with unknown biological potential (ANNUBP) and a large symptomatic cervical arteriovenous fistula. An [F] 2-Fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose PET/CT (FDG-PET/CT) was performed to detect and stage a conspicuous symptomatic cervical tumor. The FDG-PET/CT showed high FDG uptake in one of the multiple known tumorous lesions associated with peripheral nerves.

The Joint Vasculitis Registry in German-speaking countries (GeVas): subgroup analysis of 195 GCA patients.

Objectives: Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is one of the most common forms of vasculitis. There is an abundance of studies which are conducted in a randomised controlled trial setting but limited with respect to cohort size and follow-up time. GeVas is the first large-scale registry for vasculitides in German-speaking countries that enables to evaluate this rare disease.

The Joint Vasculitis Registry in German-speaking countries (GeVas): subgroup analysis of 266 AAV patients.

Objectives: Prospective long-term observational data on the disease course of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV) were missing in Germany to date. Therefore, the Joint Vasculitis Registry in German-speaking countries (GeVas) has been established to follow the course of patients with AAV. The aim of this study is to present baseline data of patients with newly diagnosed and relapsing AAV enrolled in the GeVas registry.

Early prediction of ventricular peritoneal shunt dependency in aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage patients by recurrent neural network-based machine learning using routine intensive care unit data.

Aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (aSAH) can lead to complications such as acute hydrocephalic congestion. Treatment of this acute condition often includes establishing an external ventricular drainage (EVD). However, chronic hydrocephalus develops in some patients, who then require placement of a permanent ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt.

Epidermal growth factor receptor inhibition leads to cellular phenotype correction of DSP-mutated keratinocytes.

Desmoplakin (DSP) is a desmosomal component expressed in skin and heart, essential for desmosome stability and intermediate filament connection. Pathogenic variants in the DSP gene encoding DSP, lead to heterogeneous skin, adnexa and heart-related phenotypes, including skin fragility, woolly hair (WH), palmoplantar keratoderma (PPK) and arrhythmogenic/dilated cardiomyopathy (ACM/DCM). The ambiguity of computer-based prediction analysis of pathogenicity and effect of DSP variants, indicates a necessity for functional analysis.

Beyond the skin: B cells in pemphigus vulgaris, tolerance and treatment.

Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is a rare autoimmune bullous disease characterized by blistering of the skin and mucosa owing to the presence of autoantibodies against the desmosome proteins desmoglein 3 and occasionally in conjunction with desmoglein 1. Fundamental research into the pathogenesis of PV has revolutionized its treatment and outcome with rituximab, a B-cell-depleting therapy. The critical contribution of B cells to the pathogenesis of pemphigus is well accepted.

Identification of a novel CG307 sub-clade in third-generation-cephalosporin-resistant causing invasive infections in the USA.

Despite the notable clinical impact, recent molecular epidemiology regarding third-generation-cephalosporin-resistant (3GC-R) in the USA remains limited. We performed whole-genome sequencing of 3GC-R bacteraemia isolates collected from March 2016 to May 2022 at a tertiary care cancer centre in Houston, TX, USA, using Illumina and Oxford Nanopore Technologies platforms. A comprehensive comparative genomic analysis was performed to dissect population structure, transmission dynamics and pan-genomic signatures of our 3GC-R .

Johnson (Hymenoptera, Scelionidae): new diagnostic data, distribution records and host associations.

Specimens of an egg parasitoid wasp, Johnson (Platygastroidea, Scelionidae), were reared from stink bug egg masses collected in the wild, in Maryland, United States. The egg masses were identified morphologically as (Stål), Stål and Dallas (Hemiptera, Pentatomidae). Molecular tools were used to further identify the egg masses as (Say) and (Say).

Deep learning-based NT-proBNP prediction from the ECG for risk assessment in the community.

Objectives: The biomarker N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) has predictive value for identifying individuals at risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, it is not widely used for screening in the general population, potentially due to financial and operational reasons. This study aims to develop a deep-learning model as an efficient means to reliably identify individuals at risk for CVD by predicting serum levels of NT-proBNP from the ECG.

Genetic determinants underlying the progressive phenotype of β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitor resistance in .

The increased feasibility of whole-genome sequencing has generated significant interest in using such molecular diagnostic approaches to characterize difficult-to-treat, antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) infections. Nevertheless, there are current limitations in the accurate prediction of AMR phenotypes based on existing AMR gene database approaches, which primarily correlate a phenotype with the presence/absence of a single AMR gene. Our study utilized a large cohort of cephalosporin-susceptible bacteremia samples to determine how increasing the dosage of narrow-spectrum β-lactamase-encoding genes in conjunction with other diverse β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitor (BL/BLI) genetic determinants contributes to progressively more severe BL/BLI phenotypes.

Cluster Analysis to Explore Clinical Subphenotypes of Eosinophilic Granulomatosis With Polyangiitis.

Objective: Previous studies suggested that distinct phenotypes of eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA; formerly known as Churg-Strauss syndrome) could be determined by the presence or absence of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA), reflecting predominant vasculitic or eosinophilic processes, respectively. This study explored whether ANCA-based clusters or other clusters can be identified in EGPA.

Methods: This study used standardized data of 15 European centers for patients with EGPA fulfilling widely accepted classification criteria.