Symbiosis, dysbiosis and the impact of horizontal exchange on bacterial microbiomes in higher fungus-gardening ants.

Advances in our understanding of symbiotic stability have demonstrated that microorganisms are key to understanding the homeostasis of obligate symbioses. Fungus-gardening ants are excellent model systems for exploring how microorganisms may be involved in symbiotic homeostasis as the host and symbionts are macroscopic and can be easily experimentally manipulated. Their coevolutionary history has been well-studied; examinations of which have depicted broad clade-to-clade specificity between the ants and fungus.

Impact of Modifying Abicipar Manufacturing Process in Patients with Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration: MAPLE Study Results.

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of modifying the abicipar pegol (abicipar) manufacturing process on the safety and treatment effect of abicipar in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD).

Methods: A new process for manufacturing abicipar was developed to reduce host cell impurities. In a prospective, Phase 2, multicenter, open-label, 28-week clinical trial, patients (n=123) with active nAMD received intravitreal injections of abicipar 2 mg at baseline (day 1) and weeks 4, 8, 16, and 24.

Outcome harvesting as a methodology for the retrospective evaluation of small-scale community development interventions.

Purpose: Undertaking evaluations of public health interventions can be problematic, particularly where there are multiple stakeholders and high degrees of complexity. This is especially true with regards to the evaluation of community interventions that can include multiple actors with differing priorities, budgets and resources. Using the example of a place-based community wellbeing project, this paper discusses the practical application of 'Outcome Harvesting' as a methodology for retrospective, responsive and collaborative evaluation in public health research.

Three-Dimensional Visualization With Virtual Reality Facilitates Complex Live Donor Renal Transplant.

Living donor renal transplant involves highly technical operations in both a healthy donor and a recipient with end-stage kidney disease. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography angiography (CTA) is used to assess critical donor anatomy, but its interpretation becomes increasingly difficult as renal anatomy becomes more complex. A related donor was denied because of prohibitive anatomy seen on the pretransplant evaluation CTA.

Environments and Hosts Structure the Bacterial Microbiomes of Fungus-Gardening Ants and their Symbiotic Fungus Gardens.

The fungus gardening-ant system is considered a complex, multi-tiered symbiosis, as it is composed of ants, their fungus, and microorganisms associated with either ants or fungus. We examine the bacterial microbiome of Trachymyrmex septentrionalis and Mycetomoellerius turrifex ants and their symbiotic fungus gardens, using 16S rRNA Illumina sequencing, over a region spanning approximately 350 km (east and central Texas). Typically, microorganisms can be acquired from a parent colony (vertical transmission) or from the environment (horizontal transmission).