Publications by authors named "Brewer M"

(Theobald) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), commonly called the sorghum aphid, is an invasive pest of sorghum () (L.) in North America. It was first observed in 2013 along the Gulf Coastal Plains ecoregion of Texas, Louisiana (USA), and Mexico, where it quickly established itself as an economically important pest within a few years.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

, the causative agent of zoonotic toxocariasis in humans, is a parasitic roundworm of canids with a complex lifecycle. While macrocyclic lactones (MLs) are successful at treating adult infections when used at FDA-approved doses in dogs, they fail to kill somatic third-stage larvae. In this study, we profiled the transcriptome of third-stage larvae derived from larvated eggs and treated with 10 μM of the MLs - ivermectin and moxidectin with Illumina sequencing.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The environmental use of azole fungicides has led to selective sweeps across multiple loci in the Aspergillus fumigatus genome causing the rapid global expansion of a genetically distinct cluster of resistant genotypes. Isolates within this cluster are also more likely to be resistant to agricultural antifungals with unrelated modes of action. Here we show that this cluster is not only multi-azole resistant but has increased propensity to develop resistance to next generation antifungals because of variants in the DNA mismatch repair system.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: This study considers concepts and tools of landscape ecology and geographic information systems (GIS) to prioritize insect monitoring in large-scale crops, using the cotton agroecosystem of the Texas Gulf Coast and two plant bug species ( Distant and (Reuter) [Hemiptera: Miridae]) as a case study. The two species differed in host plants and time span as cotton pests.

Methods: and abundance in early growth of cotton were regressed on landscape metrics.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The UK Universal Credit (UC) welfare reform simplified the benefits system whilst strongly incentivising a return to sustainable employment. Exploiting a staggered roll-out, we estimate the differential effect of unemployment under UC versus the former system on mental health. Groups with fewer insurance possibilities - single adults and lone parents - experience a mental health deterioration of 8.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Pastoralism is gaining in recognition for its provision of a broad range of ecosystem services. However, in Western countries, especially in Europe, it has been in decline for decades and its future is uncertain. Professional satisfaction, social appreciation and community integration are key factors for the sustainability of any activity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Scar tissue formation is a critical part of wound healing but can disrupt tissue function, particularly in cases like uterine scarring from cesarean sections.
  • The research focused on how deep uterine scars contribute to a condition called placenta accreta spectrum (PAS), where invasive cells can lead to serious complications during pregnancy.
  • The study found that scar tissue activates the mechanosensitive ion channel, Piezo1, which triggers inflammatory pathways and draws invasive cells towards the scar, highlighting how scar mechanics can disturb normal tissue interactions and potentially relate to cancer spread.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Unlabelled: Urinary obstruction causes injury to the renal papilla and leads to defects in the ability to concentrate urine which predisposes to progressive kidney injury. However, the regenerative capacity of the papilla after reversal of obstruction is poorly understood. To address this, we developed a mouse model of reversible urinary obstruction which is characterized by extensive papillary injury, followed by a robust regeneration response and complete histological recovery over a 3- month period.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a serious illness in babies that causes a lot of damage to their intestines and can be very dangerous.
  • A protein called eCIRP makes this illness worse, but researchers think a special treatment called MOP3 could help reduce the damage from NEC.
  • In tests on mice, babies without eCIRP were much healthier, and using MOP3 improved survival rates and reduced injuries related to NEC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Renal arteriovenous malformations (AVM) represent an uncommon vascular condition characterized by an abnormal direct communication between an intrarenal artery and vein. Though asymptomatic in many individuals, treatment is often indicated if the AVM causes flank pain, hematuria, or medically refractory hypertension, or if there is an associated renal artery aneurysm. We present a case of a large right renal AVM with associated renal artery aneurysm and large varix which was incidentally found on magnetic resonance imaging of the spine.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Bow Hunter syndrome (BHS) is a rare disorder characterized by mechanical occlusion of the vertebral artery (VA) during neck rotation, resulting in symptomatic, transient, and positional vertebrobasilar insufficiency. We describe a case of a 76-year-old female who presented with dizziness and right ear tinnitus triggered by right head rotation. Her symptoms would immediately resolve upon returning her head to the neutral position.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Australian Interprofessional Socialisation and Valuing Scale (ISVS)-21 and provide an invariant measure for health practitioners and students to assess interprofessional socialisation.

Methods: The COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) were used as guidelines. This research began with a key step: conducting a pilot study to assess content validity, a requirement of COSMIN for item development.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The increase in reports of resistance to macrocyclic lactones in the canine heartworm, Dirofilaria immitis is alarming. While DNA based tests have been well-validated, they can be expensive. In a previous study, we showed that two biochemical tests adapted to a 96- well plate format and read in a spectrophotometer could detect differences among lab validated D.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The addition of enoxysilanes to vinyl diazonium ions occurs with varying levels of diastereoselectivity. To understand the origins of the stereoselectivity, we studied these transformations using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The selectivity stems from a stabilizing cation-π interaction that orients the nucleophile and the diazonium ion.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: The aim of the study is to estimate in a sample of US fire investigators the (1) prevalence of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) risk, and mental health services use and (2) association between organizational stigma and mental health disorders.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study design used to administer between November 2023 and January 2024, a 35-item behavioral/mental health survey.

Results: Approximately 18.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - Randomised control trial data suggest that stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is effective for patients with up to 4 brain metastases, with non-randomised data supporting its use in up to 10.
  • - There is ongoing debate regarding the effectiveness of SRS for patients with more than 10 brain metastases, which this study addresses by analyzing data from 1181 patients.
  • - Results indicate that median survival for patients with more than 10 brain metastases is similar to those with 2-4 metastases, suggesting these patients may also benefit from SRS treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Plant diseases significantly impact food security and food safety. It was estimated that food production needs to increase by 50% to feed the projected 9.3 billion people by 2050.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Venous stasis ulcers are nonhealing wounds caused by poor blood flow, often related to issues with vein valves or blockages.
  • A 71-year-old man with serious blood disorders developed chronic ulcers and pain in his left leg due to compression of a major vein by an enlarged spleen.
  • Although he was being considered for a treatment to reduce spleen size, he passed away from other health issues before any procedures could be done, highlighting potential treatment options for similar cases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A novel group of biocidal compounds are the Crystal 3D (Cry) and Cytolytic (Cyt) proteins produced by Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). Some Bt Cry proteins have a selective nematocidal activity, with Cry5B being the most studied. Cry5B kills nematode parasites by binding selectively to membrane glycosphingolipids, then forming pores in the cell membranes of the intestine leading to damage.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The Lewis acid mediated reaction of allyltributylstannane compounds with β-hydroxy-α-diazo carbonyls gives β-allyl-α-diazo carbonyl products in good yields. This reaction proceeds a vinyl diazonium ion intermediate which is intercepted by the allylstannane nucleophile. Importantly, the diazo functional group is retained over the course of the reaction to give diazo-containing scaffolds with increased molecular complexity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: This study aimed to validate the Collaborative Practice Assessment Tool (CPAT) in the Australian setting and provide a quality instrument in terms of psychometric properties that can be used to measure interprofessional outcomes for both healthcare practitioners and students. The outcomes evaluated include the capacity to work in an interprofessional team, good interprofessional communication skills, leadership skills, ensuring clear division of tasks and roles in a team, effective conflict management, and being actively involved with patients and their families/communities in care.

Methods: The COSMIN (COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments) taxonomy and standards were used as guides for evaluating the psychometric properties of the Australian CPAT, which include evaluations regarding instrument development requirements of sample target and size, content validity, internal structure (structural validity, internal consistency reliability and measurement invariance), and hypotheses testing.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The lack of standardization in antibody validation remains a major contributor to irreproducibility of human research. To address this, we have applied a standardized approach to validate a panel of antibodies to identify 18 major cell types and 5 extracellular matrix compartments in the human kidney by immunofluorescence (IF) microscopy. We have used these to generate an organ mapping antibody panel for two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) cyclical IF (CyCIF) to provide a more detailed method for evaluating tissue segmentation and volumes using a larger panel of markers than would normally be possible using standard fluorescence microscopy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The transmembrane protein claudin-1 is critical for formation of the epidermal barrier structure called tight junctions (TJ) and has been shown to be important in multiple disease states. These include neonatal ichthyosis and sclerosing cholangitis syndrome, atopic dermatitis and various viral infections. To develop a model to investigate the role of claudin-1 in different disease settings, we used CRISPR/Cas9 to generate human immortalized keratinocyte (KC) lines lacking claudin-1 (CLDN1 KO).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF