Comparison of Siglec-1 protein networks and expression patterns in sperm and male reproductive tracts of mice, rats, and humans.

Background: Sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectin 1 (Siglec-1) is a transmembrane glycoprotein involved in the sialic acid (Sia)-dependent regulation of the immune system. Siglec-1 expression has recently been identified in the male reproductive tract (MRT) of several species, including humans, cattle, horses, and sheep, and may play a role in modulating fertility in a Sia-dependent manner.

Materials And Methods: In this study, protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis of Siglec-1 was conducted to identify associated network protein conservation, and the expression of Siglec-1 in the MRT of mice and rats, including their accessory sex glands and spermatozoa was determined by immunostaining.

Transcriptional profiling of zebrafish identifies host factors controlling susceptibility to Shigella flexneri.

Shigella flexneri is a human-adapted pathovar of Escherichia coli that can invade the intestinal epithelium, causing inflammation and bacillary dysentery. Although an important human pathogen, the host response to S. flexneri has not been fully described.

Quantifying non-steady state natural gas leakage from the pipelines using an innovative sensor network and model for subsurface emissions - InSENSE.

Detecting and quantifying subsurface leaks remains a challenge due to the complex nature and extent of belowground leak scenarios. To address these scenarios, monitoring and evaluating changes in gas leakage behavior over space and time are crucial for ensuring safe and efficient responses to known or potential gas leaks. This study demonstrates the capability of linking environmental and gas concentration data obtained using a low-cost, near real-time methane (CH) detector network and an inverse gas migration model to capture and quantify non-steady state belowground natural gas (NG) leaks.

Psychological therapies delivered remotely for the management of chronic pain (excluding headache) in adults.

Background: Chronic pain (pain lasting three months or more) is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage. Common types (excluding headache) include back pain, fibromyalgia, and neuropathic pain. Access to traditional face-to-face therapies can be restricted by healthcare resources, geography, and cost.

The transcriptomic response of bovine uterine tissue is altered in response to sperm from high- and low-fertility bulls†.

Despite stringent quality control checks, some bulls with apparently normal semen quality yield lower than expected pregnancy rates. This study profiled the transcriptome and performed histological analysis of the bovine uterus in response to sperm from high-fertility (HF) and low-fertility (LF) bulls. Postmortem uterine biopsies and uterine explants were collected from heifers 12 h after a fixed time artificial insemination (AI) to a synchronized estrus with frozen-thawed semen from five HF (fertility rate 4.

Modeling air emissions from complex facilities at detailed temporal and spatial resolution: The Methane Emission Estimation Tool (MEET).

Recent attention to methane emissions from oil and gas infrastructure has increased interest in comparing measurements with inventory emission estimates. While measurement methods typically estimate emissions over a few periods that are seconds to hours in length, current inventory methods typically produce long-term average emission estimates. This temporal mis-alignment complicates comparisons and leads to underestimates in the uncertainty of measurement methods.

Prevalence and Whole-Genome Sequence-Based Analysis of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli Isolates from the Recto-Anal Junction of Slaughter-Age Irish Sheep.

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) organisms are a diverse group of pathogenic bacteria capable of causing serious human illness, and serogroups O157 and O26 are frequently implicated in human disease. Ruminant hosts are the primary STEC reservoir, and small ruminants are important contributors to STEC transmission. This study investigated the prevalence, serotypes, and shedding dynamics of STEC, including the supershedding of serogroups O157 and O26, in Irish sheep.

Improving reference standards for validation of AI-based radiography.

Objective: Demonstrate the importance of combining multiple readers' opinions, in a context-aware manner, when establishing the reference standard for validation of artificial intelligence (AI) applications for, chest radiographs. By comparing individual readers, majority vote of a panel, and panel-based discussion, we identify methods which maximize interobserver agreement and label reproducibility.

Methods: 1100 frontal chest radiographs were evaluated for 6 findings: airspace opacity, cardiomegaly, pulmonary edema, fracture, nodules, and pneumothorax.

A membrane-depolarizing toxin substrate of the type VII secretion system mediates intraspecies competition.

The type VII protein secretion system (T7SS) is conserved across strains and plays important roles in virulence and interbacterial competition. To date, only one T7SS substrate protein, encoded in a subset of genomes, has been functionally characterized. Here, using an unbiased proteomic approach, we identify TspA as a further T7SS substrate.

Shigella sonnei infection of zebrafish reveals that O-antigen mediates neutrophil tolerance and dysentery incidence.

Shigella flexneri is historically regarded as the primary agent of bacillary dysentery, yet the closely-related Shigella sonnei is replacing S. flexneri, especially in developing countries. The underlying reasons for this dramatic shift are mostly unknown.

Chest Radiograph Interpretation with Deep Learning Models: Assessment with Radiologist-adjudicated Reference Standards and Population-adjusted Evaluation.

BackgroundDeep learning has the potential to augment the use of chest radiography in clinical radiology, but challenges include poor generalizability, spectrum bias, and difficulty comparing across studies.PurposeTo develop and evaluate deep learning models for chest radiograph interpretation by using radiologist-adjudicated reference standards.Materials and MethodsDeep learning models were developed to detect four findings (pneumothorax, opacity, nodule or mass, and fracture) on frontal chest radiographs.

Undisclosed financial ties between guideline writers and pharmaceutical companies: a cross-sectional study across 10 disease categories.

Objectives: To investigate the proportion of potentially relevant undisclosed financial ties between clinical practice guideline writers and pharmaceutical companies.

Design: Cross-sectional study of a stratified random sample of Australian guidelines and writers.

Setting: Guidelines available from Australia's National Health and Medical Research Council guideline database, 2012-2014, stratified across 10 health priority areas.

Pain Acceptance in Adolescents: Development of a Short Form of the CPAQ-A.

Objective: Acceptance of pain is a predictor of pain-related disability and treatment outcome in adolescents with pain. This variable has been previously measured using the Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire for Adolescents (CPAQ-A, McCracken, Gauntlett-Gilbert, & Eccleston, European Journal of Pain, 14, 316-320, 2010). We set out to create a short, eight-item, form of this instrument that retained its factor structure and clinical utility.

A hot and fast ultra-stripped supernova that likely formed a compact neutron star binary.

Compact neutron star binary systems are produced from binary massive stars through stellar evolution involving up to two supernova explosions. The final stages in the formation of these systems have not been directly observed. We report the discovery of iPTF 14gqr (SN 2014ft), a type Ic supernova with a fast-evolving light curve indicating an extremely low ejecta mass (≈0.

Binding of to Human Gastric Mucins Correlates with Binding of TFF1.

binds to the gastric mucin, MUC5AC, and to trefoil factor, TFF1, which has been shown to interact with gastric mucin. We examined the interactions of TFF1 and with purified gastrointestinal mucins from different animal species and from humans printed on a microarray platform to investigate whether TFF1 may play a role in locating in gastric mucus. TFF1 bound almost exclusively to human gastric mucins and did not interact with human colonic mucins.

Scalable and accurate deep learning with electronic health records.

Predictive modeling with electronic health record (EHR) data is anticipated to drive personalized medicine and improve healthcare quality. Constructing predictive statistical models typically requires extraction of curated predictor variables from normalized EHR data, a labor-intensive process that discards the vast majority of information in each patient's record. We propose a representation of patients' entire raw EHR records based on the Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) format.

Use of zebrafish to study infection.

is a leading cause of dysentery worldwide, responsible for up to 165 million cases of shigellosis each year. is also recognised as an exceptional model pathogen to study key issues in cell biology and innate immunity. Several infection models have been useful to explore biology; however, we still lack information regarding the events taking place during the infection process Here, we discuss a selection of mechanistic insights recently gained from studying infection of zebrafish (), with a focus on cytoskeleton rearrangements and cellular immunity.

Assays to Study the Interaction of Campylobacter jejuni with the Mucosal Surface.

Mucosal colonization and overcoming the mucosal barrier are essential steps in the establishment of infection by Campylobacter jejuni. The interaction between C. jejuni and host cells, including binding and invasion, is thought to be the key virulence factor important for pathogenesis of C.

Methods to Assess the Direct Interaction of C. jejuni with Mucins.

Studies of the interaction of bacteria with mucus-secreting cells can be complemented at a more mechanistic level by exploring the interaction of bacteria with purified mucins. Here we describe a far Western blotting approach to show how C. jejuni proteins separated by SDS PAGE and transferred to a membrane or slot blotted directly onto a membrane can be probed using biotinylated mucin.

Characterization and prediction of the mechanism of action of antibiotics through NMR metabolomics.

Background: The emergence of antibiotic resistant pathogenic bacteria has reduced our ability to combat infectious diseases. At the same time the numbers of new antibiotics reaching the market have decreased. This situation has created an urgent need to discover novel antibiotic scaffolds.

Nocturnal behavior in captive giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)--A pilot study.

Captive giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis) are known to perform oral and locomotor stereotypies. However, many studies do not consider the behavioral repertoire of these animals during the time when animals are confined to night quarters. At two zoological institutions, a total of six captive giraffes were observed via camera trap technology throughout six diurnal and nocturnal periods to record feeding, ruminating, and stereotypic behaviors.

Golgi phosphoprotein 2 (GOLPH2) is a novel bile acid-responsive modulator of oesophageal cell migration and invasion.

Background: The aetiology of Barrett's oesophagus (BO) and oesophageal cancer is poorly understood. We previously demonstrated that Golgi structure and function is altered in oesophageal cancer cells. A Golgi-associated protein, GOLPH2, was previously established as a tissue biomarker for BO.

Predicting Short-Term Remembering as Boundedly Optimal Strategy Choice.

It is known that, on average, people adapt their choice of memory strategy to the subjective utility of interaction. What is not known is whether an individual's choices are boundedly optimal. Two experiments are reported that test the hypothesis that an individual's decisions about the distribution of remembering between internal and external resources are boundedly optimal where optimality is defined relative to experience, cognitive constraints, and reward.