Identifying key weather factors influencing human salmonellosis: A conditional incidence analysis in England, Wales, and the Netherlands.

Objectives: This study aimed to improve the understanding of seasonal incidence pattern observed in salmonellosis by identifying the most influential weather factors, characterising the nature of this association, and assessing whether it is geographically restricted or generalisable to other locations.

Methods: A novel statistical model was employed to estimate the incidence of salmonellosis conditional to various combinations of three simultaneous weather factors from 14 available. The analysis utilised daily salmonellosis cases reported from 2000 to 2016 along with detailed spatial and temporal weather data from England and Wales, and the Netherlands.

Physical activity indexed using table tennis skills modulates the neural dynamics of involuntary retrieval of negative memories.

Memory intrusion is a characteristic of posttraumatic stress disorder manifesting as involuntary flashbacks of negative events. Interference of memory reconsolidation using cognitive tasks has been employed as a noninvasive therapy to prevent subsequent intrusive retrieval. The present study aims to test whether physical activity, with its cognitive demands and unique physiological effects, may provide a novel practice to reduce later involuntary retrieval via the reconsolidation mechanism.

Cross-sectoral genomic surveillance reveals a lack of insight in sources of human infections with Shiga toxin-producing , the Netherlands, 2017 to 2023.

Shiga toxin-producing (STEC) is a zoonotic pathogen associated with illness ranging from mild diarrhoea to haemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) or even death. Cross-sectoral data sharing provides an opportunity to gain insight in reservoirs and sources of human infections and starting points for pro-active measures. Nevertheless, phylogenetic clustering of STEC strains from animals, food and human cases is low in the Dutch surveillance system.

Multi-omics analyses of cancer-linked clinical salmonellae reveal bacterial-induced host metabolic shift and mTOR-dependent cell transformation.

Salmonellae are associated epidemiologically and experimentally with colon cancer. To understand how Salmonella induces cell transformation, we performed multi-omics and phenotypic analyses of Salmonella clinical strains isolated from patients later diagnosed with colon cancer (case strains) and control strains from patients without cancer. We show that high transformation efficiency is a frequent intrinsic feature of clinical (case and control) salmonellae, yet case strains showed higher transformation efficiency than control strains.

Impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic on pathogens transmitted via food in the Netherlands.

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the transmission of many pathogens. The aim was to determine the effect of non-pharmaceutical interventions on the incidence of diseases transmitted via food. Weekly incidence rates for nine foodborne pathogens were collected from national surveillance registries.

Use of whole genome sequencing for surveillance and control of foodborne diseases: and .

Improvements in sequencing quality, availability, speed and costs results in an increased presence of genomics in infectious disease applications. Nevertheless, there are still hurdles in regard to the optimal use of WGS for public health purposes. Here, we discuss the current state ("") and future directions ("") based on literature regarding the use of genomics in surveillance, hazard characterization and source attribution of foodborne pathogens.

Profiling the fecal microbiome and its modulators across the lifespan in the Netherlands.

Defining what constitutes a healthy microbiome throughout our lives remains an ongoing challenge. Understanding to what extent host and environmental factors can influence it has been the primary motivation for large population studies worldwide. Here, we describe the fecal microbiome of 3,746 individuals (0-87 years of age) in a nationwide study in the Netherlands, in association with extensive questionnaires.

Host and environmental factors shape upper airway microbiota and respiratory health across the human lifespan.

Our understanding of the normal variation in the upper respiratory tract (URT) microbiota across the human lifespan and how these relate to host, environment, and health is limited. We studied the microbiota of 3,104 saliva (<10 year-olds)/oropharynx (≥10 year-olds) and 2,485 nasopharynx samples of 3,160 Dutch individuals 0-87 years of age, participating in a cross-sectional population-wide study (PIENTER-3) using 16S-rRNA sequencing. The microbiota composition was strongly related to age, especially in the nasopharynx, with maturation occurring throughout childhood and adolescence.

Association between antimicrobial usage in livestock and antimicrobial resistance in Escherichia coli isolates from human urinary tract infections in the Netherlands, 2009-2020.

Background: In the last decade, veterinary antimicrobial usage (AMU) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) among indicator bacteria in livestock have decreased substantially in the Netherlands. The extent to which this decrease has affected AMR levels among human infections remains unclear.

Objectives: To assess the association between AMU in livestock and AMR in Escherichia coli isolates from human urinary tract infections (UTIs).

Discovery of Vibrio cholerae in Urban Sewage in Copenhagen, Denmark.

We report the discovery of a persistent presence of Vibrio cholerae at very low abundance in the inlet of a single wastewater treatment plant in Copenhagen, Denmark at least since 2015. Remarkably, no environmental or locally transmitted clinical case of V. cholerae has been reported in Denmark for more than 100 years.

Livestock-associated spatial risk factors for human salmonellosis and campylobacteriosis.

Aims: Most human infections with non-typhoid Salmonella (NTS) or Campylobacter are zoonotic in nature and acquired though consumption of contaminated food of mainly animal origin. However, individuals may also acquire salmonellosis or campylobacteriosis through non-foodborne transmission pathways, such as those mediated by the environment. This emphasizes the need to consider both direct and indirect exposure to livestock sources as a possible transmission route for NTS and Campylobacter.

Utility of various genome lengths in diversity and evolution analyses of Hepatitis E virus.

The aim of this study was to investigate to what extent fragments of the HEV genome could be used for accurate diagnostics and inference of viral population-scale processes. For this, we selected all the published whole genome sequences from the NCBI GenBank and trimmed them to various fragment lengths (ORF1,2,3, ORF1, ORF2, ORF3, 493 nt in ORF2 and 148 nt in ORF2). Each of the fragment lengths was used to infer the richness and diversity of the viral sequence types, typing accuracy, and potential use in phylodynamics.

Factors potentially contributing to the decline of the mpox outbreak in the Netherlands, 2022 and 2023.

BackgroundIn 2022 and 2023, a global outbreak of mpox affected mostly gay, bisexual and other men having sex with men (GBMSM). Outbreak control in the Netherlands included isolation, quarantine, post-exposure prophylaxis vaccination and primary preventive vaccination (PPV).AimWe describe the course of the outbreak, the vaccination programme, vaccine effectiveness (VE) of full vaccination against symptomatic disease, and trends in behaviour to generate hypotheses about factors that influenced the outbreak's decline.

Lower prevalence of post-Covid-19 Condition following Omicron SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Objectives: Different SARS-CoV-2 variants can differentially affect the prevalence of Post Covid-19 Condition (PCC). This prospective study assesses prevalence and severity of symptoms three months after an Omicron infection, compared to Delta, test-negative and population controls. This study also assesses symptomology after reinfection and breakthrough infections.

Toward High-Energy-Density Fuels for Direct Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier Fuel Cells: Electrooxidation of 1-Cyclohexylethanol.

Electrochemically active liquid organic hydrogen carriers (EC-LOHCs) can be used directly in fuel cells; so far, however, they have rather low hydrogen storage capacities. In this work, we study the electrooxidation of a potential EC-LOHC with increased energy density, 1-cyclohexylethanol, which consists of two storage functionalities (a secondary alcohol and a cyclohexyl group). We investigated the product spectrum on low-index Pt single-crystal surfaces in an acidic environment by combining cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry, and in situ infrared spectroscopy, supported by density functional theory.

Synthesis and Characterization of Bola-Amphiphilic Porphyrin-Perylenebisimide Architectures.

We report on the synthesis and characterization of a family of three water-soluble bola-amphiphilic zinc-porphyrin-perylenebisimide triads containing oligo carboxylic-acid capped Newkome dendrons in the periphery. Variations of the perylenebisimide (PBI) core geometry and dendron size (G1 and G2 dendrons with 3- and 9-carboxylic acid groups respectively) allow for tuning the supramolecular aggregation behavior with respect to variation of the molecular architecture. The triads show good solubility in basic aqueous media and aggregation to supramolecular assemblies.

New methodology to assess the excess burden of antibiotic resistance using country-specific parameters: a case study regarding urinary tract infections.

Objectives: Antimicrobial resistant (AMR) infections are a major public health problem and the burden on population level is not yet clear. We developed a method to calculate the burden of resistance which uses country-specific parameter estimates and surveillance data to compare the mortality and morbidity due to resistant infection against a counterfactual (the expected burden if infection was antimicrobial susceptible). We illustrate this approach by estimating the excess burden for AMR (defined as having tested positive for extended-spectrum beta-lactamases) urinary tract infections (UTIs) caused by in the Netherlands in 2018, which has a relatively low prevalence of AMR , and in Italy in 2016, which has a relatively high prevalence.

Combining Whole Genome Sequencing Data from Human and Non-Human Sources: Tackling Outbreaks.

() is ubiquitous in nature and known for its ability to contaminate foods during production processes. Near real-time monitoring of whole genome sequences from food and human isolates, complemented with epidemiological data, has been used in the Netherlands since 2019 to increase the speed and success rate of source finding in the case of (active) clusters. Nine clusters with 4 to 19 human cases investigated between January 2019 and May 2023 are described.

Host-derived growth factors drive ERK phosphorylation and MCL1 expression to promote osteosarcoma cell survival during metastatic lung colonization.

Purpose: For patients with osteosarcoma, disease-related mortality most often results from lung metastasis-a phenomenon shared with many solid tumors. While established metastatic lesions behave aggressively, very few of the tumor cells that reach the lung will survive. By identifying mechanisms that facilitate survival of disseminated tumor cells, we can develop therapeutic strategies that prevent and treat metastasis.