Publications by authors named "E G S Gentry"
Article Synopsis
- Radiology reports often use complex jargon that can confuse patients, leading to anxiety and difficulty understanding their health information.
- This review explores how different formats of radiology reports affect how patients perceive, remember, and act on the information they receive about their health.
- The findings show that using simpler language, illustrations, and glossaries in radiology reports significantly improves patient understanding and reduces anxiety compared to traditional formats.
Article Synopsis
- Microbialites, which are layered structures formed by microbial mats, are abundant in the fossil record and are currently being identified worldwide, presenting a challenge for understanding their formation and environmental functions.
- Researchers conducted a study on living stromatolites in South Africa, collecting samples from various locations to analyze the composition and small molecule production of microbial communities using advanced techniques like gene sequencing and metabolomics.
- The study identified a new group of metabolites called ibhayipeptolides, highlighting the diverse chemistry present in these microbialites and paving the way for future research on their roles and functions in the environment.
Article Synopsis
- Anthropogenic pollution poses a significant threat to aquatic ecosystems, particularly in coastal areas of the Global South, where knowledge of harmful compounds in Dissolved Organic Matter (DOM) is lacking.
- This study utilized non-targeted tandem mass spectrometry to analyze the DOM composition in Algoa Bay and its two estuaries, revealing a wide range of pollutants including pharmaceuticals and pesticides.
- Results showed that the urbanized Swartkops Estuary was dominated by urban pollutants, while the Sundays Estuary was mainly affected by agrochemicals from agriculture, highlighting the diverse sources of pollution in the region.
Bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract produce amino acid bile acid amidates that can affect host-mediated metabolic processes; however, the bacterial gene(s) responsible for their production remain unknown. Herein, we report that bile salt hydrolase (BSH) possesses dual functions in bile acid metabolism. Specifically, we identified a previously unknown role for BSH as an amine N-acyltransferase that conjugates amines to bile acids, thus forming bacterial bile acid amidates (BBAAs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFmicrobeMASST, a taxonomically informed mass spectrometry (MS) search tool, tackles limited microbial metabolite annotation in untargeted metabolomics experiments. Leveraging a curated database of >60,000 microbial monocultures, users can search known and unknown MS/MS spectra and link them to their respective microbial producers via MS/MS fragmentation patterns. Identification of microbe-derived metabolites and relative producers without a priori knowledge will vastly enhance the understanding of microorganisms' role in ecology and human health.
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