Targeted barcoding of variable antibody domains and individual transcriptomes of the human B-cell repertoire using Link-Seq.

Here, we present Link-Seq, a highly efficient droplet microfluidic method for combined sequencing of antibody-encoding genes and the transcriptome of individual B cells at large scale. The method is based on 3' barcoding of the transcriptome and subsequent single-molecule PCR in droplets, which freely shift the barcode along specific gene regions, such as the antibody heavy- and light-chain genes. Using the immune repertoire of COVID-19 patients and healthy donors as a model system, we obtain up to 91.

Identification of a Biosynthetic Gene Cluster for the Production of the Blue-Green Pigment Xylindein by the Fungus .

Xylindein is a blue-green pigment produced by the fungi and Its stunning color and optoelectronic properties make xylindein valuable for textiles and as a natural semiconductor material. However, producing xylindein from culture broths remains challenging because of the slow growth of the species and the poor solubility of xylindein in organic solvents. An alternative production route for obtaining pure xylindein is heterologous expression of the xylindein biosynthetic genes.

Regulatory workshop on standardisation of clinical procedures, endpoints and data robustness of human challenge studies - A stakeholder meeting report.

Inno4Vac, a public-private partnership funded by the IMI2/EU/EFPIA Joint Undertaking (IMI2 JU), brings together academic institutions, SMEs, and pharmaceutical companies to accelerate and de-risk vaccine development. The project has made significant strides in the selection and production of challenge agents for influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and toxigenic Clostridioides difficile for controlled human infection model studies (CHIMs). A regulatory workshop held on March 20, 2024, addressed the standardisation of clinical procedures, ethical considerations, endpoints, and data integrity, highlighting the ongoing initiatives related to these CHIMs.

ASSESSMENT OF SATISFACTION IN PATIENTS UNDERGOING SURGICAL TREATMENT BY THE WALANT TECHNIQUE.

Objective: To analyze the satisfaction of patients who underwent hand surgical treatment with the wide-awake local anesthesia no tourniquet (WALANT) anesthesia technique.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study on the satisfaction of patients who underwent hand surgical treatment with the WALANT technique. These patients were treated at the Hand and Microsurgery outpatient clinic of a public hospital from March 2020 to March 2022.

A multi-level analysis of motor and behavioural dynamics in 9-month-old preterm and term-born infants during changing emotional and interactive contexts.

Computational analysis of infant movement has significant potential to reveal markers of developmental health. We report two studies employing dynamic analyses of motor kinematics and motor behaviours, which characterise movement at two levels, in 9-month-old infants. We investigate the effect of preterm birth (< 33 weeks of gestation) and the effect of changing emotional and social-interactive contexts in the still-face paradigm.

Cytotoxic and proliferation-inhibitory activity of natural and synthetic fungal tropolone sesquiterpenoids in various cell lines.

Fungal specialized metabolites are known for their potent biological activities, among which tropolone sesquiterpenoids (TS) stand out for their diverse bioactivities. Here, we report cytotoxic and proliferation inhibitory effects of the recently discovered TS compounds 4-hydroxyxenovulene B and 4-dihydroxy norpycnidione, and the structurally related 4-hydroxy norxenovulene B and xenovulene B. Inhibition of metabolic activity after TS treatment was observed in Jurkat, PC-3 and FAIK3-5 cells, whereas MDA-MB-231 cells were unresponsive to treatment.

Factors that influence recruitment to COVID-19 vaccine trials: a qualitative evidence synthesis.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic marked a unique period characterised by an extraordinary global virus spread. The collective effort to halt the transmission of the virus led to various public health initiatives, including a variety of COVID-19 vaccine trials. Many of these trials used adaptive methods to address the pandemic's challenges, such as the need for rapid recruitment.

Evolutionary Loss of Male-Specific Coloration Is Associated with the Loss of Androgen Receptor Expression in Skin of Lizards.

AbstractHormones can induce trait development in one species yet have no effect on the same trait in a closely related species, but the mechanisms underlying these differences are unclear. Here, we compare two closely related lizard species to explore the cellular mechanisms associated with the evolutionary loss of hormonally mediated ventral coloration. The eastern fence lizard () has sexually dimorphic blue and black ventral coloration that develops when maturational increases in androgens induce melanin synthesis in males.

Feeding a rich diet supplemented with the translation inhibitor cycloheximide decreases lifespan and ovary size in Drosophila.

Drosophila oogenesis has long been an important model for understanding myriad cellular processes controlling development, RNA biology and patterning. Flies are easily fed drugs to disrupt various molecular pathways. However, this is often done under poor nutrient conditions that adversely affect oogenesis, thus making analysis challenging.

Risk Factors for Hearing Screen Failure in a Single-Family Room Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Objective:  This study aimed to determine hearing screen outcomes and identify clinical and environmental risk factors for hearing screen failure in very preterm infants at a level IV single-family room (SFR) neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Study Design:  We conducted a retrospective study of infants <33 weeks gestational age admitted to a level IV SFR NICU who survived to discharge and had automated auditory brainstem response results available. Demographics, antenatal and postnatal factors, and respiratory support modes and their duration were collected from the electronic medical record.

StreamLight Single-Step Transepithelial Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK) for Myopia and Myopic Astigmatism.

To report the refractive outcomes of StreamLight transepithelial photorefractive keratectomy (PRK). A retrospective case series was conducted which included a total of 205 eyes of 109 patients who underwent StreamLight transepithelial PRK using the Alcon Wavelight EX500 excimer laser. All eyes had myopia or myopic astigmatism, and the preoperative spherical equivalent (SEQ) ranged from -0.

Processing, evaluating, and understanding FMRI data with afni_proc.py.

FMRI data are noisy, complicated to acquire, and typically go through many steps of processing before they are used in a study or clinical practice. Being able to visualize and understand the data from the start through the completion of processing, while being confident that each intermediate step was successful, is challenging. AFNI's is a tool to create and run a processing pipeline for FMRI data.

Management of periprosthetic humerus fractures after shoulder arthroplasty.

Background: The purpose of this retrospective study was to analyze time to fracture union, complications, and outcomes of postoperative periprosthetic humerus fractures after primary shoulder arthroplasty.

Methods: Retrospective review of patients who sustained a postoperative periprosthetic humerus fracture after primary shoulder arthroplasty at a single institution. Fractures were classified according to the Worland Classification system.

Inno4Vac Workshop Report Part 1: Controlled Human Influenza Virus Infection Model (CHIVIM) Strain Selection and Immune Assays for CHIVIM Studies, November 2021, MHRA, UK.

Controlled human infection models (CHIMs) are a critical tool for the understanding of infectious disease progression, characterising immune responses to infection and rapid assessment of vaccines or drug treatments. There is increasing interest in using CHIMs for vaccine development and an obvious need for widely available and fit-for-purpose challenge agents. Inno4Vac is a large European consortium working towards accelerating and de-risking the development of new vaccines, including the development of CHIMs for influenza, respiratory syncytial virus and Clostridioides difficile.

Effects of Testosterone on Gene Expression Are Concordant between Sexes but Divergent across Species of Lizards.

AbstractHormones mediate sexual dimorphism by regulating sex-specific patterns of gene expression, but it is unclear how much of this regulation involves sex-specific hormone levels versus sex-specific transcriptomic responses to the same hormonal signal. Moreover, transcriptomic responses to hormones can evolve, but the extent to which hormonal pleiotropy in gene regulation is conserved across closely related species is not well understood. We addressed these issues by elevating testosterone levels in juvenile females and males of three lizard species before sexual divergence in circulating testosterone and then characterizing transcriptomic responses in the liver.

The Drosophila ribonucleoprotein Clueless is required for ribosome biogenesis in vivo.

As hubs of metabolism, mitochondria contribute critical processes to coordinate and optimize energy and intermediate metabolites. Drosophila Clueless (Clu) and vertebrate CLUH are ribonucleoproteins critical for supporting mitochondrial function; yet do so in multiple ways. Clu-CLUH bind mRNAs, and CLUH regulates mRNA localization and translation of mRNAs encoding proteins destined for mitochondrial import.

Inno4Vac Workshop Report Part 2: RSV-Controlled Human Infection Model (CHIM) Strain Selection and Immune Assays for RSV CHIM Studies, November 2021, MHRA, UK.

Controlled human infection models (CHIMs) are a critical tool for the understanding of infectious disease progression, characterising immune responses to infection and rapid assessment of vaccines or drug treatments. There is increasing interest in using CHIMs for vaccine development and an obvious need for widely available and fit-for-purpose challenge agents. Inno4Vac is a large European consortium working towards accelerating and de-risking the development of new vaccines, including development of CHIMs for influenza, respiratory syncytial virus and Clostridium difficile.

The impact of gas purity on observed reactivity with NO using inductively coupled plasma tandem mass spectrometry.

Interference removal in inductively coupled plasma tandem mass spectrometry (ICP-MS/MS) is strongly dependent on the gas selected for use within the collision/reaction cell. There has been little investigation on the effects that reaction gas impurities may have on the resulting spectra. The reactivity of 60 elements was evaluated using nitric oxide (NO 99.

Feeding a rich diet supplemented with the translation inhibitor cycloheximide decreases lifespan and ovary size in Drosophila.

oogenesis has long been an important model for understanding myriad cellular processes controlling development, RNA biology, and patterning. Flies are easily fed drugs to disrupt various molecular pathways. However, this is often done under poor nutrient conditions that adversely affect oogenesis, thus making analysis challenging.

The Curious Case of Pu: Insight on 5f Orbital Activity from Inductively Coupled Plasma Tandem Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS/MS) Reactions.

A comprehensive understanding of when and how 5f orbitals participate in complex chemical bonding is important for a variety of applications. The actinides are unique in that they possess 5f orbitals and can access high oxidation states, which make them attractive for use in catalysis. Fundamental studies of actinide-ligand interactions offer a mechanism to examine the activation of the 5f orbitals so that the selectivity of 5f orbitals can be assessed.

Processing, evaluating and understanding FMRI data with afni_proc.py.

FMRI data are noisy, complicated to acquire, and typically go through many steps of processing before they are used in a study or clinical practice. Being able to visualize and understand the data from the start through the completion of processing, while being confident that each intermediate step was successful, is challenging. AFNI's is a tool to create and run a processing pipeline for FMRI data.

Meeting Report From "Correlates of Protection for Next Generation Influenza Vaccines: Lessons Learned From the COVID-19 Pandemic".

Background: This report summarizes the discussions and conclusions from the "Correlates of Protection for Next Generation Influenza Vaccines: Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic" meeting, which took place in Seattle, USA, from March 1, 2023, to March 3, 2023.

Conclusions: Discussions around influenza virus correlates of protection and their use continued from where the discussion had been left off in 2019. While there was not much progress in the influenza field itself, many lessons learned during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, especially the importance of mucosal immunity, were discussed and can directly be applied to influenza correlates of protection.

Introducing co-review to .

now offers the option of co-review for our reviewers. Editors-in-Chief Russell J. Cox and Karen Faulds, and Executive Editor Laura Fisher, offer more detail on how this will work.