Decoding the blueprint of receptor binding by filoviruses through large-scale binding assays and machine learning.

Evidence suggests that bats are important hosts of filoviruses, yet the specific species involved remain largely unidentified. Niemann-Pick C1 (NPC1) is an essential entry receptor, with amino acid variations influencing viral susceptibility and species-specific tropism. Herein, we conducted combinatorial binding studies with seven filovirus glycoproteins (GPs) and NPC1 orthologs from 81 bat species.

Cross-Sectional Validation of an Automated Lesion Segmentation Software in Multiple Sclerosis: Comparison with Radiologist Assessments.

Background And Purpose: Magnetic Resonance Imaging is widely used to assess disease burden in multiple sclerosis (MS). This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a commercially available k-nearest neighbors (k-NN) software in quantifying white matter lesion (WML) burden in MS. We compared the software's WML quantification to expert radiologists' assessments.

Modeling maize aflatoxins and fumonisins in a Tanzanian smallholder system: Accounting for diverse risk factors improves mycotoxin models.

Human exposure to mycotoxins is common and often severe in underregulated maize-based food systems. This study explored how monitoring of these systems could help to identify when and where outbreaks occur and inform potential mitigation efforts. Within a maize smallholder system in Kongwa District, Tanzania, we performed two food surveys of mycotoxin contamination at local grain mills, documenting high levels of aflatoxins and fumonisins in maize destined for human consumption.

Getting better with age: Lessons from the Kenya Long-term Exclosure Experiment (KLEE).

The Kenya long-term exclosure experiment (KLEE) was established in 1995 in semi-arid savanna rangeland to examine the separate and combined effects of livestock, wildlife and megaherbivores on their shared environment. The long-term nature of this experiment has allowed us to measure these effects and address questions of stability and resilience in the context of multiple drought-rainy cycles. Here we outline lessons learned over the last 29 years, and how these inform a fundamental tension in long-term studies: how to balance the need for question-driven research with the intangible conviction that long-term data will yield valuable findings.

Enhancing assessment for eating disorders: the impact of a podcast-based pre-treatment psychoeducation intervention.

This study reports the outcome of a low intensity pre-treatment intervention (a guided e-health podcast) for patients with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, delivered between assessment and the start of the full outpatient treatment programme. A case series design was used. A total of 254 patients at a specialist eating disorder service were offered a pre-treatment three-week psychoeducational intervention (Keeping Myself Safe; KMS), and 203 undertook the intervention.