Effect of valaciclovir on CD4 count decline in untreated HIV: an international randomized controlled trial.

Objectives: To determine the impact of valaciclovir on HIV disease progression in treatment-naive HIV-positive adults.

Methods: In this fully blind, multicentre, 1:1 randomized placebo-controlled trial, treatment-naive HIV-1-positive adults with CD4 counts 400-900 cells/mm3 and not meeting contemporaneous recommendations for combination ART (cART) were randomized to valaciclovir 500 mg or placebo twice daily, and followed quarterly until having two consecutive CD4 counts ≤350 cells/mm3 or initiating cART for any reason. The primary analysis compared the rate of CD4 count decline by study arm after adjusting for baseline CD4 count and viral load (VL).

Cutting Edge Therapeutic Insights Derived from Molecular Biology of Pediatric High-Grade Glioma and Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG).

Pediatric high-grade glioma (pHGG) and brainstem gliomas are some of the most challenging cancers to treat in children, with no effective therapies and 5-year survival at ~2% for diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) patients. The standard of care for pHGG as a whole remains surgery and radiation combined with chemotherapy, while radiation alone is standard treatment for DIPG. Unfortunately, these therapies lack specificity for malignant glioma cells and have few to no reliable biomarkers of efficacy.

PARS PLANA VITRECTOMY FOR THE TREATMENT OF TRACTIONAL AND DEGENERATIVE LAMELLAR MACULAR HOLES: Functional and Anatomical Results.

Purpose: Functional and anatomical outcomes of vitrectomy with membrane peeling were compared in tractional lamellar macular holes (LMH)/macular pseudoholes (MPH) versus degenerative LMH.

Methods: This multicenter retrospective study enrolled patients with a minimum follow-up of 6 months. The association of spectral domain optical coherence tomography parameters with preoperative and postoperative best-corrected visual acuity was analyzed.

TET2 Deficiency Causes Germinal Center Hyperplasia, Impairs Plasma Cell Differentiation, and Promotes B-cell Lymphomagenesis.

somatic mutations occur in ∼10% of diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCL) but are of unknown significance. Herein, we show that TET2 is required for the humoral immune response and is a DLBCL tumor suppressor. TET2 loss of function disrupts transit of B cells through germinal centers (GC), causing GC hyperplasia, impaired class switch recombination, blockade of plasma cell differentiation, and a preneoplastic phenotype.

Phaco-non-penetrating deep sclerectomy in ocular hypertension secondary to dexamethasone intravitreal implant.

Purpose: To evaluate the characteristics and progression of patients treated with a 0.7mg dexamethasone intravitreal implant (Ozurdex) and required glaucoma filtering surgery (phaco-non-penetrating deep sclerectomy) to control ocular hypertension (OHT).

Methods: A retrospective observational study including patients treated with Ozurdex in a tertiary-care university hospital from May 2011 to April 2016.

PREOPERATIVE VITREORETINAL INTERFACE ABNORMALITIES ON SPECTRAL DOMAIN OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY AS RISK FACTOR FOR PSEUDOPHAKIC CYSTOID MACULAR EDEMA AFTER PHACOEMULSIFICATION.

Purpose: We assessed the role of vitreoretinal interface status in the development of pseudophakic cystoid macular edema (PCME) after cataract surgery.

Methods: Prospective cohort study in which 112 patients (112 eyes) scheduled for cataract surgery were selected at random to undergo spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) within 1 week preoperatively and at 1 and 3 months postoperatively. Spectral domain OCT macular images included no vitreoretinal contact, focal and diffuse vitreomacular adhesion, focal and diffuse vitreomacular traction, epiretinal membrane, macular hole, and macular edema.

Realized niche and spatial pattern of native and exotic halophyte hybrids.

Interspecific hybridization is an important and common evolutionary mechanism, but field-based evaluations of changes in realized niches and zonation patterns of native and exotic hybrids relative to those of their parental plant species are rare. Would native hybrids forming hybrid zones between their parental species show realized niches similar to that of their parents, whereas would exotic hybrids show larger realized niches than their parents, and alter zonation patterns of native species? To address these questions, we examined key sediment characteristics in plots representing realized niches of native Sarcocornia hybrids, invasive Spartina hybrids and parental species in 14 salt marshes from four estuaries in the Gulf of Cadiz, Southwest Iberian Peninsula. In one representative marsh, the presence of plant taxa relative to intertidal plant zonation was recorded.

Polycomb complexes associate with enhancers and promote oncogenic transcriptional programs in cancer through multiple mechanisms.

Polycomb repressive complex 1 (PRC1) plays essential roles in cell fate decisions and development. However, its role in cancer is less well understood. Here, we show that RNF2, encoding RING1B, and canonical PRC1 (cPRC1) genes are overexpressed in breast cancer.

Nutrient Dependent Cross-Kingdom Interactions: Fungi and Bacteria From an Oligotrophic Desert Oasis.

Microbial interactions play a key role in ecosystem functioning, with nutrient availability as an important determinant. Although phylogenetically distant bacteria and fungi commonly co-occur in nature, information on their cross-kingdom interactions under unstable, extreme environments remains poor. Hence, the aims of this work were to evaluate potential interactions among fungi and bacteria isolated from a phosphorous oligotrophic aquatic system in the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin, Mexico, and to test the nutrients-based shifts.

Additional α-glucosidase inhibitors from Malbranchea flavorosea (Leotiomycetes, Ascomycota).

From the rice-based culture of Malbranchea flavorosea, three new compounds namely flavoroseoside B (5-desoxy-5-chloro-flavoroseoside) (2), 4-hydroxy-2-O-α-ribofuranosyl-5-methylacetophenone (3), and (S)-3,4-dihydro-3-(1H-indol-3-ylmethyl)-4-methyl-1H-1,4-benzodiazepine-2,5-dione (4), along with three known compounds, rosigenin (5), massarilactone B (6), and riboxylarinol B (7) were obtained. The structures were determined by spectroscopic methods. Compound 4 and its synthetic analog 3,4-dihydro-3-(1H-indol-3-ylmethyl)-1-methyl-1H-1,4-benzodiazepine-2,5-dione (9) inhibited the activity of Ruminococus obeum α-glucosidase enzyme.

Correction: The γ33 subunit of R-phycoerythrin from Gracilaria chilensis has a typical double linked phycourobilin similar to β subunit.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

PHARYNGO-ILEO-COLO-ANASTOMOSIS WITH MICRO-VASCULAR BLOOD SUPPLY AUGMENTATION FOR ESOPHAGO-GASTRIC REPLACEMENT DUE TO ESOPHAGO-GASTRIC NECROSIS AFTER CAUSTIC INGESTION.

Background: Complete esophago-gastric necrosis after caustic ingestion is a challenging surgical scenario for reconstruction of the upper digestive transit.

Aim: To present a surgical technique for reconstruction of the upper digestive tract after total esophagectomy and gastrectomy due to esophageal and gastric necrosis.

Method: The transit was re-established by means of a pharyngo-ileo-colic interposition with microsurgical arterial and venous anastomosis for augmentation of blood supply.

Loss and Regain of Weight After Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy According to Preoperative BMI : Late Results of a Prospective Study (78-138 months) with 93% of Follow-Up.

Introduction: The long-term results in sleeve gastrectomy (SG) have been reported in few publications. None of them has evaluated the importance of preoperative BMI (kg/m) in the final results.

Objective: To determine the loss and regain of weight after SG, determining the influence of preoperative BMI in final results.

Detection of Race-Specific Resistance Against Puccinia coronata f. sp. avenae in Brachypodium Species.

Oat crown rust caused by Puccinia coronata f. sp. avenae is the most destructive foliar disease of cultivated oat.

Synthesis and Antibacterial Activity of Metal(loid) Nanostructures by Environmental Multi-Metal(loid) Resistant Bacteria and Metal(loid)-Reducing Flavoproteins.

Microbes are suitable candidates to recover and decontaminate different environments from soluble metal ions, either via reduction or precipitation to generate insoluble, non-toxic derivatives. In general, microorganisms reduce toxic metal ions generating nanostructures (NS), which display great applicability in biotechnological processes. Since the molecular bases of bacterial reduction are still unknown, the search for new -environmentally safe and less expensive- methods to synthesize NS have made biological systems attractive candidates.

Oncogenic N-Ras and Tet2 haploinsufficiency collaborate to dysregulate hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells.

Concurrent genetic lesions exist in a majority of patients with hematologic malignancies. Among these, somatic mutations that activate oncogenes and inactivate the epigenetic modifier ten-eleven translocation 2 () frequently co-occur in human chronic myelomonocytic leukemias (CMMLs) and acute myeloid leukemias, suggesting a cooperativity in malignant transformation. To test this, we applied a conditional murine model that endogenously expressed oncogenic and monoallelic loss of and explored the collaborative role specifically within hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) at disease initiation.

The γ subunit of R-phycoerythrin from has a typical double linked phycourobilin similar to β subunit.

Phycobilisomes (PBS) are accessory light harvesting protein complexes formed mainly by phycobiliproteins (PBPs). The PBPs absorb light that is efficiently transferred to Photosystems due to chromophores covalently bound to specific cysteine residues. Besides phycobiliproteins (PE), the PBS contains linker proteins responsible for assembly and stabilization of the whole complex and the tuning of energy transfer steps between chromophores.

Clinical Decision-Making when Treating Diabetic Macular Edema Patients with Dexamethasone Intravitreal Implants.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disease frequently associated with comorbidities that include diabetic macular edema (DME). The current medical approach to treating DME involves intravitreal injections with either anti-vascular endothelial growth factors or steroids. However, the burden associated with intravitreal injections and DM-derived complications is high, underlining the need to find optimal treatment regimens.

Comparative genomic analysis of a new tellurite-resistant strain isolated from the Antarctic Peninsula.

The genus is a cosmopolitan and diverse group of aerobic, cold-adapted, Gram-negative bacteria exhibiting biotechnological potential for low-temperature applications including bioremediation. Here, we present the draft genome sequence of a bacterium from the genus isolated from a sediment sample from King George Island, Antarctica (3,490,622 bp; 18 scaffolds; G + C = 42.76%).

A Near-Complete Haplotype-Phased Genome of the Dikaryotic Wheat Stripe Rust Fungus f. sp. Reveals High Interhaplotype Diversity.

A long-standing biological question is how evolution has shaped the genomic architecture of dikaryotic fungi. To answer this, high-quality genomic resources that enable haplotype comparisons are essential. Short-read genome assemblies for dikaryotic fungi are highly fragmented and lack haplotype-specific information due to the high heterozygosity and repeat content of these genomes.

Assembly and Phasing of Dikaryotic Genomes from Two Isolates of f. sp. , the Causal Agent of Oat Crown Rust.

Oat crown rust, caused by the fungus f. sp. , is a devastating disease that impacts worldwide oat production.

Insights in Fungal Bioprospecting in Mexico.

Fungi have consistently been one of the richest sources of natural products, with unprecedented chemical scaffolds and potent biological activities. During the last 20 years, pharmacognosy researchers in Mexico, in collaboration with mycologists, have discovered many novel bioactive fungi natural products and new fungal species. To date, more than 100 bioactive secondary metabolites from 20 fungi from different ecosystems throughout Mexico have been documented in peer-reviewed literature according to Scopus and SciFinder databases.