Biogeographical distribution of gut microbiome composition and function is partially recapitulated by fecal transplantation into germ-free mice.

Fecal microbiota transplantation has been vital for establishing whether host phenotypes can be conferred through the microbiome. However, whether the existing microbial ecology along the mouse gastrointestinal tract can be recapitulated in germ-free mice colonized with stool remains unknown. We first identified microbes and their predicted functions specific to each of six intestinal regions in three cohorts of specific pathogen-free mice spanning two facilities.

Determination of linearized pDNA template in mRNA production process using HPLC.

The recent clinical success of messenger RNA (mRNA) technology in managing the Covid pandemic has triggered an unprecedented innovation in production and analytical technologies for this therapeutic modality. mRNA is produced by enzymatic transcription of plasmid DNA (pDNA) using polymerase in a cell-free process of in vitro transcription. After transcription, the pDNA is considered a process-related impurity and is removed from the mRNA product enzymatically, chromatographically, or by precipitation.

Sunny-Day Flooding and Mortality Risk in Coastal Florida.

Sea-level rise is likely to worsen the impacts of hurricanes, storm surges, and tidal flooding on coastal access to basic services. We investigate the historical impact of tidal flooding on mortality rates of the elderly population in coastal Florida using administrative records of individual deaths, demographics, and residential location combined with tidal gauge and high-resolution elevation data. We incorporate data capturing storm and precipitation events into our empirical model to distinguish between disruptions from routine sunny-day flooding and less predictable tropical storm-induced flooding.

Climate migration amplifies demographic change and population aging.

The warnings of potential climate migration first appeared in the scientific literature in the late 1970s when increased recognition that disintegrating ice sheets could drive people to migrate from coastal cities. Since that time, scientists have modeled potential climate migration without integrating other population processes, potentially obscuring the demographic amplification of this migration. Climate migration could amplify demographic change-enhancing migration to destinations and suppressing migration to origins.

Integrating climate change induced flood risk into future population projections.

Flood exposure has been linked to shifts in population sizes and composition. Traditionally, these changes have been observed at a local level providing insight to local dynamics but not general trends, or at a coarse resolution that does not capture localized shifts. Using historic flood data between 2000-2023 across the Contiguous United States (CONUS), we identify the relationships between flood exposure and population change.

Open-source magnetic resonance imaging: Improving access, science, and education through global collaboration.

Open-source practices and resources in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have increased substantially in recent years. This trend started with software and data being published open-source and, more recently, open-source hardware designs have become increasingly available. These developments towards a culture of sharing and establishing nonexclusive global collaborations have already improved the reproducibility and reusability of code and designs, while providing a more inclusive approach, especially for low-income settings.

Measurement of social norms for entertainment-education.

Background: While there has been a marked increase in measurement and scholarship surrounding social norms in recent years, there is little evidence related to social norms measurement in the context of health campaigns utilizing entertainment-education. Entertainment-education goals and objectives have shifted over time to include social norms and an update is needed to merge contemporary practice with the most recent measures from the literature. The aim of the present study was to analyze commonly used quantitative measures and their properties for social norms and entertainment-education, specifically on the topic of family planning, to bolster ongoing research and practice efforts by validating items for social norms measurement in entertainment-education programs.

Geography, not lifestyle, explains the population structure of free-living and host-associated deep-sea hydrothermal vent snail symbionts.

Background: Marine symbioses are predominantly established through horizontal acquisition of microbial symbionts from the environment. However, genetic and functional comparisons of free-living populations of symbionts to their host-associated counterparts are sparse. Here, we assembled the first genomes of the chemoautotrophic gammaproteobacterial symbionts affiliated with the deep-sea snail Alviniconcha hessleri from two separate hydrothermal vent fields of the Mariana Back-Arc Basin.

Dietary Supplement Use in Women Diagnosed with Breast Cancer.

Background: Vitamins, minerals, and natural product (NP)-derived dietary supplements are commonly used among women with breast cancer, where interactions with treatments and the disease are possible, emphasizing the importance for health care providers to be aware of supplement use.

Objectives: The study aimed to investigate current vitamin/mineral (VM) and NP supplement use among those diagnosed with breast cancer, including usage based on tumor type or concurrent breast cancer treatments and primary information sources for specific supplements.

Methods: Social media recruiting to complete an online questionnaire self-reporting current VM and NP use and breast cancer diagnosis and treatment information primarily attracted US participants.

Curcumin Supplementation and Human Disease: A Scoping Review of Clinical Trials.

Medicinal properties of turmeric ( L.), a plant used for centuries as an anti-inflammatory, are attributed to its polyphenolic curcuminoids, where curcumin predominates. Although "curcumin" supplements are a top-selling botanical with promising pre-clinical effects, questions remain regarding biological activity in humans.

Menstrual management among adolescent girls in Uttar Pradesh, India: An examination of interpersonal and mediated communication as delivery mechanisms for practical guidance.

Background: Adolescent girls' right to achieve menstrual health and hygiene management (MHHM) healthfully is yet to be realized. One reason is the lack of practical guidance on the procurement, use, and disposal of menstrual products. This study defined interpersonal practical guidance (IPG) as face-to-face communication and mediated practical guidance (MPG) as social and behavior change communication (SBCC) intervention-driven communications through print and media materials.

Fecal and Tissue Microbiota Are Associated with Tumor T-Cell Infiltration and Mesenteric Lymph Node Involvement in Colorectal Cancer.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is associated with alterations of the fecal and tissue-associated microbiome. Preclinical models support a pathogenic role of the microbiome in CRC, including in promoting metastasis and modulating antitumor immune responses. To investigate whether the microbiome is associated with lymph node metastasis and T cell infiltration in human CRC, we performed 16S rRNA gene sequencing of feces, tumor core, tumor surface, and healthy adjacent tissue collected from 34 CRC patients undergoing surgery (28 fecal samples and 39 tissue samples).

Multi-omics profiles of the intestinal microbiome in irritable bowel syndrome and its bowel habit subtypes.

Background: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common gastrointestinal disorder that is thought to involve alterations in the gut microbiome, but robust microbial signatures have been challenging to identify. As prior studies have primarily focused on composition, we hypothesized that multi-omics assessment of microbial function incorporating both metatranscriptomics and metabolomics would further delineate microbial profiles of IBS and its subtypes.

Methods: Fecal samples were collected from a racially/ethnically diverse cohort of 495 subjects, including 318 IBS patients and 177 healthy controls, for analysis by 16S rRNA gene sequencing (n = 486), metatranscriptomics (n = 327), and untargeted metabolomics (n = 368).

Genome assembly of the chemosynthetic endosymbiont of the hydrothermal vent snail Alviniconcha adamantis from the Mariana Arc.

Chemosynthetic animal-microbe symbioses sustain hydrothermal vent communities in the global deep sea. In the Indo-Pacific Ocean, hydrothermal ecosystems are often dominated by gastropod species of the genus Alviniconcha, which live in association with chemosynthetic Gammaproteobacteria or Campylobacteria. While the symbiont genomes of most extant Alviniconcha species have been sequenced, no genome information is currently available for the gammaproteobacterial endosymbiont of Alviniconcha adamantis-a comparatively shallow living species that is thought to be the ancestor to all other present Alviniconcha lineages.

Research Note: Demographic Change on the United States Coast, 2020-2100.

Prospective demographic information of the United States is limited to national-level analyses and subnational analyses of the total population. With nearly 40% of the U.S.

User Beware: Concerning Findings from the Post 2011-2012 U.S. Internal Revenue Service Migration Data.

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) makes publicly and freely available period migration data at the state and county levels.

A Systematic Review of Menstrual Health and Hygiene Management (MHHM) as a Human Right for Adolescents Girls.

Despite its relationship with several development issues and sexual health, menstrual health and hygiene management among adolescents have until recently been ignored by practitioners and researchers. This paper is a systematic review of existing literature and argues that menstrual health and hygiene management is a human rights issue. 28,745 articles were screened, with 84 articles included in the full-text review and quality assessment.

Housing unit and urbanization estimates for the continental U.S. in consistent tract boundaries, 1940-2019.

Subcounty housing unit counts are important for studying geo-historical patterns of (sub)urbanization, land-use change, and residential loss and gain. The most commonly used subcounty geographical unit for social research in the United States is the census tract. However, the changing geometries and historically incomplete coverage of tracts present significant obstacles for longitudinal analysis that existing datasets do not sufficiently address.

Half of US population exposed to adverse lead levels in early childhood.

SignificanceConsiderable effort is expended to protect today's children from lead exposure, but there is little evidence on the harms past lead exposures continue to hold for yesterday's children, who are victims of what we term legacy lead exposures. We estimate that over 170 million Americans alive today were exposed to high-lead levels in early childhood, several million of whom were exposed to five-plus times the current reference level. Our estimates allow future work to plan for the health needs of these Americans and to inform estimation of the true contributions of lead exposure to population health.

Assessing population exposure to coastal flooding due to sea level rise.

The exposure of populations to sea-level rise (SLR) is a leading indicator assessing the impact of future climate change on coastal regions. SLR exposes coastal populations to a spectrum of impacts with broad spatial and temporal heterogeneity, but exposure assessments often narrowly define the spatial zone of flooding. Here we show how choice of zone results in differential exposure estimates across space and time.

Racial disparities for COVID19 mortality in Georgia: Spatial analysis by age based on excess deaths.

Introduction: This study uses multiple measures of excess deaths to analyze racial disparities in COVID-19 mortality across Georgia.

Methods: The Georgia Department of Public Health provided monthly mortality data for 2010-2020 stratified by race/ethnicity, age, county, and recorded cause of death. We first calculate crude mortality rates by health district during the time period for all groups for March through June for our historical period to identify significant time-series outliers in 2020 distinguishable from general trend variations.

What Works to Address Violence Against Children (VAC) in and Around Schools.

Violence against children (VAC) is a pervasive, global issue with both short- and long-term health, social, and economic consequences. This systematic review sought to identify best practices for designing and implementing social and behavior change communication (SBCC) programs targeting VAC in and around schools. Combinations of key search terms within five domains were entered into four databases: PubMed Central, Google Scholar, Sociological Abstracts, and EBSCOhost.

Damage-induced chromatome dynamics link Ubiquitin ligase and proteasome recruitment to histone loss and efficient DNA repair.

Eukaryotic cells package their genomes around histone octamers. In response to DNA damage, checkpoint activation in yeast induces core histone degradation resulting in 20%-40% reduction in nucleosome occupancy. To gain insight into this process, we developed a new approach to analyze the chromatin-associated proteome comprehensively before and after damage.