Suboptimal vitamin D status and overweight/obesity are associated with gut integrity and inflammation in minority children and adolescents: A cross-sectional analysis from the MetA-bone trial.

Preserving gut integrity is essential to preventing the development of chronic diseases. Several factors are associated with gut integrity and inflammation in adults. However, there is limited evidence in healthy children.

Effectiveness and costs of the recruitment strategies used in the MetA-Bone trial, a randomized clinical trial to test the effects of soluble corn fiber supplementation for 1 year in children.

Background: Pediatric recruitment into clinical trials is very challenging. A recruitment plan was designed to recruit healthy children (9-14 years) in a trial testing the 1-year effect of corn soluble fiber supplementation on bone mass. We evaluated the effectiveness and costs of the recruitment strategies used in this trial.

Substance use moderates relationships between apolipoprotein E genotype, hepatitis C, cognition, and depression in Miami Adult Studies on HIV (MASH) participants.

The impact of APOE on HIV and HCV disease course, cognition, and memory has been understudied in minoritized populations. This study examined whether scores on cognition and depression measures differed by APOE ε4 carrier status while considering HCV and HIV seropositivity and whether these measures were moderated by substance use. A retrospective analysis examined cognitive and psychological data from participants (n = 493) in the Miami Adult Studies on HIV (MASH) cohort.

Associations between ultraprocessed and minimally processed snacks consumption and overweight/obesity among college students in South Florida.

Objective: Evaluate the association between ultraprocessed and minimally processed snack consumption and overweight/obesity among college students.

Participants: College students.

Methods: Cross-sectional study.

Mowat-Wilson syndrome factor ZEB2 controls early formation of human neural crest through BMP signaling modulation.

Mowat-Wilson syndrome is caused by mutations in ZEB2, with patients exhibiting characteristics indicative of neural crest (NC) defects. We examined the contribution of ZEB2 to human NC formation using a model based on human embryonic stem cells. We found ZEB2 to be one of the earliest factors expressed in prospective human NC, and knockdown revealed a role for ZEB2 in establishing the NC state while repressing pre-placodal and non-neural ectoderm genes.

Perceived Health and Diet Quality Among Hispanics in South Florida.

There is limited information if perceived health is associated with diet quality in Hispanics. A cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate is health perception is associated with diet quality among 109 adults in South Florida. Individuals conducting a primary grocery shopping event were asked to complete a survey about their perceived health and to provide a picture of their grocery receipt to estimate diet quality using the Grocery Purchase Quality Index 2016 (GPQI-2016).

Isolation and Identification of Non-O1/Non-O139 Vibrio cholerae in Wild Birds Inhabiting Wetlands in Metropolitan Lima, Peru.

During a survey in wetlands from southern Lima, Peru, two non-O1/non-O139 Vibrio cholerae isolates were obtained from samples collected from an American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) and a Wren-like Rushbird (Phleocryptes melanops). Vibrio cholerae was identified by amplification and sequencing of 16S rRNA, differentially grown on CHROMagar Vibrio media, and confirmed by ompW amplification. Isolates were confirmed to be non-O1/non-O139 serotypes and to lack the ctxA gene as inferred using PCR.

Pintura Mural para Recolectar Datos Sensibilizantes y Fomentar la Participación en la Investigación Entre los Latinos de EE. UU.

. Describir una intervención de murales implementadas con comunidad envecindarios Latinos para elevar conciencia de barreras delreclutamiento/retención de Latinos en EE. UU.

Diet Quality and Liver Health in People Living with HIV in the MASH Cohort: A Multi-Omic Analysis of the Fecal Microbiome and Metabolome.

The gut-liver axis has been recognized as a potential pathway in which dietary factors may contribute to liver disease in people living with HIV (PLWH). The objective of this study was to explore associations between dietary quality, the fecal microbiome, the metabolome, and liver health in PLWH from the Miami Adult Studies on HIV (MASH) cohort. We performed a cross-sectional analysis of 50 PLWH from the MASH cohort and utilized the USDA Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2015 to measure diet quality.

Multiomic analysis reveals microbiome-related relationships between cocaine use and metabolites.

Objective: Over 19 million individuals globally have a cocaine use disorder, a significant public health crisis. Cocaine has also been associated with a pro-inflammatory state and recently with imbalances in the intestinal microbiota as compared to nonuse. The objective of this pilot study was to characterize the gut microbiota and plasma metabolites in people with HIV (PWH) who use cocaine compared with those who do not.

Cocaine use associated gut permeability and microbial translocation in people living with HIV in the Miami Adult Study on HIV (MASH) cohort.

Objective: Determine if cocaine use impacts gut permeability, promotes microbial translocation and immune activation in people living with HIV (PLWH) using effective antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of 100 PLWH (ART ≥6 months, HIV-RNA <200 copies/mL) from the Miami Adult Studies on HIV (MASH) cohort. Cocaine use was assessed by self-report, urine screen, and blood benzoylecgonine (BE).

Deletion of the homeodomain gene Six3 from kisspeptin neurons causes subfertility in female mice.

The homeodomain transcription factor SIX3 is a known regulator of eye, nose, and forebrain development, and has recently been implicated in female reproduction. Germline heterozygosity of SIX3 is sufficient to cause subfertility, but the cell populations that mediate this role are unknown. The neuropeptide kisspeptin is a critical component of the reproductive axis and plays roles in sexual maturation, ovulation, and the maintenance of gonadotropin secretion.

Mural Painting to Collect Sensitizing Data and Encourage Research Participation Among U.S. Latinos.

Purpose: To describe a mural-based intervention that can be implemented in partnership with community members in Latino neighborhoods in order to improve awareness of barriers to recruitment/retention of U.S. Latinos in clinical research, while augmenting researchers' access to sensitizing concepts critical for rigorous study design.

Soluble CD163 Identifies Those at Risk for Increased Hepatic Inflammation & Fibrosis.

Background: Liver disease remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in HIV-infected persons. Soluble CD163 is a marker of Kupffer cell activation that is highly associated with development of hepatic fibrosis. The relative contributions of HIV-associated systemic immune activation vs other etiologies of injury are poorly characterized.

Kiss1 is differentially regulated in male and female mice by the homeodomain transcription factor VAX1.

Regulation of Kiss1 transcription is crucial to the development and function of the reproductive axis. The homeodomain transcription factor, ventral anterior homeobox 1 (VAX1), has been implicated as a potential regulator of Kiss1 transcription. However, it is unknown whether VAX1 directly mediates transcription within kisspeptin neurons or works indirectly by acting upstream of kisspeptin neuron populations.

Food insecurity is associated with magnetic resonance-determined nonalcoholic fatty liver and liver fibrosis in low-income, middle-aged adults with and without HIV.

Background: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most prevalent liver disease in the United States. Food-insecure individuals often depend on low-cost, energy-dense but nutritionally poor foods, resulting in obesity and chronic diseases related to NAFLD.

Objectives: To determine whether food insecurity is associated with NAFLD in a cohort of HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected and uninfected adults.

Validation and Refinement of Noninvasive Methods to Assess Hepatic Fibrosis: Magnetic Resonance Elastography Versus Enhanced Liver Fibrosis Index.

Background: Noninvasive fibrosis markers are routinely used in patients with liver disease. Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) is recognized as a highly accurate methodology, but a reliable blood test for fibrosis would be useful. We examined performance characteristics of the Enhanced Liver Fibrosis (ELF) Index compared to MRE in a cohort including those with HCV, HIV, and HCV/HIV.

WNT/β-catenin modulates the axial identity of embryonic stem cell-derived human neural crest.

WNT/β-catenin signaling is crucial for neural crest (NC) formation, yet the effects of the magnitude of the WNT signal remain ill-defined. Using a robust model of human NC formation based on human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), we expose that the WNT signal modulates the axial identity of NCs in a dose-dependent manner, with low WNT leading to anterior OTX HOX NC and high WNT leading to posterior OTX HOX NC. Differentiation tests of posterior NC confirm expected derivatives, including posterior-specific adrenal derivatives, and display partial capacity to generate anterior ectomesenchymal derivatives.

Novel linezolid resistance plasmids in Enterococcus from food animals in the USA.

Objectives: To sequence the genomes and determine the genetic mechanisms for linezolid resistance identified in three strains of Enterococcus isolated from cattle and swine caecal contents as part of the US National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) surveillance programme.

Methods: Broth microdilution was used for in vitro antimicrobial susceptibility testing to assess linezolid resistance. Resistance mechanisms and plasmid types were identified from data generated by WGS on Illumina® and PacBio® platforms.

Whole-genome sequencing based characterization of antimicrobial resistance in Enterococcus.

Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) has transformed our understanding of antimicrobial resistance, yielding new insights into the genetics underlying resistance. To date, most studies using WGS to study antimicrobial resistance have focused on gram-negative bacteria in the family Enterobacteriaceae, such as Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli, which have well-defined resistance mechanisms.