How etiological beliefs contribute to the structure of depression symptom networks.

Objectives: Each person possesses a unique view surrounding depressive symptomology and etiology that is shaped by idiosyncratic experiences. However, the influence that subjective etiological beliefs regarding a person's depressive symptoms have on actual symptom presentation and organization is seldom considered.

Methods: The current study employed network analytic techniques to examine how subjective views surrounding the cause of depressive symptoms altered actual symptom presentation networks.

Impact of a Purified Microbiome Therapeutic on Abundance of Antimicrobial Resistance Genes in Patients With Recurrent Clostridioides difficile Infection.

Background: The gastrointestinal microbiota is an important line of defense against colonization with antimicrobial resistant (AR) bacteria. In this post hoc analysis of the phase 3 ECOSPOR III trial, we assessed impact of a microbiota-based oral therapeutic (fecal microbiota spores, live; VOWST Oral Spores [VOS], formerly SER-109]; Seres Therapeutics) compared with placebo, on AR gene (ARG) abundance in patients with recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection (rCDI).

Methods: Adults with rCDI were randomized to receive VOS or placebo orally for 3 days following standard-of-care antibiotics.

Chromatin structure can introduce systematic biases in genome-wide analyses of .

The maintenance, regulation, and dynamics of heterochromatin in the human malaria parasite, has drawn increasing attention due to its regulatory role in mutually exclusive virulence gene expression and the silencing of key developmental regulators. The advent of genome-wide analyses such as chromatin-immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing (ChIP-seq) has been instrumental in understanding chromatin composition; however, even in model organisms, ChIP-seq experiments are susceptible to intrinsic experimental biases arising from underlying chromatin structure. We performed a control ChIP-seq experiment, re-analyzed previously published ChIP-seq datasets and compared different analysis approaches to characterize biases of genome-wide analyses in .

Cohesin contributes to transcriptional repression of stage-specific genes in the human malaria parasite.

The complex life cycle of the human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, is driven by specific transcriptional programs, but it is unclear how most genes are activated or silenced at specific times. There is an association between transcription and spatial organization; however, the molecular mechanisms behind genome organization are unclear. While P.

Patient-Perceived Outcomes of Recovery After Trigger Digit Release.

Purpose: Trigger finger release (TFR) is one of the most commonly performed hand surgeries; nevertheless, the time until patients subjectively feel recovered has not been well documented. The limited literature on patient perceptions of recovery after any type of surgery has described that patients and surgeons may have differing views on the time until full recovery. Our primary study question was to determine how long it takes for patients to subjectively feel fully recovered after TFR.

Individuals fearing positivity do not perceive positive affect treatments as strong fits: A novel experimental finding and replication.

Background And Objectives: Positive affect treatments, which hold great promise to connect with those who are otherwise resistant to depression treatments, attempt to upregulate positive emotions. These treatments have potential advantages over standard therapies because they target cross-diagnostic core symptoms (e.g.

SER-109: An Oral Investigational Microbiome Therapeutic for Patients with Recurrent Infection (rCDI).

Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is classified as an urgent health threat by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and affects nearly 500,000 Americans annually. Approximately 20−25% of patients with a primary infection experience a recurrence, and the risk of recurrence increases with subsequent episodes to greater than 40%. The leading risk factor for CDI is broad-spectrum antibiotics, which leads to a loss of microbial diversity and impaired colonization resistance.

SER-109, an Oral Microbiome Therapy for Recurrent Infection.

Background: Current therapies for recurrent infection do not address the disrupted microbiome, which supports spore germination into toxin-producing bacteria. SER-109 is an investigational microbiome therapeutic composed of purified Firmicutes spores for the treatment of recurrent infection.

Methods: We conducted a phase 3, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial in which patients who had had three or more episodes of infection (inclusive of the qualifying acute episode) received SER-109 or placebo (four capsules daily for 3 days) after standard-of-care antibiotic treatment.

Biofilms harbour Clostridioides difficile, serving as a reservoir for recurrent infection.

C. difficile infection (CDI) is a worldwide healthcare problem with ~30% of cases failing primary therapy, placing a burden on healthcare systems and increasing patient morbidity. We have little understanding of why these therapies fail.

Outcomes of Arthroscopic Surgical Treatment of Osteochondral Lesions of the Elbow in Pediatric and Adolescent Athletes.

Background: Osteochondral injuries of the elbow are limiting and affect the ability of pediatric and adolescent athletes to participate in sports.

Purpose: To report short- and midterm outcomes on athletes undergoing microfracture or fragment fixation of osteochondral elbow lesions and evaluate the effects thereof on sporting activity.

Study Design: Case series; Level of evidence, 4.

Exploring the virulence gene interactome with CRISPR/dCas9 in the human malaria parasite.

Mutually exclusive expression of the var multigene family is key to immune evasion and pathogenesis in Plasmodium falciparum, but few factors have been shown to play a direct role. We adapted a CRISPR-based proteomics approach to identify novel factors associated with var genes in their natural chromatin context. Catalytically inactive Cas9 ("dCas9") was targeted to var gene regulatory elements, immunoprecipitated, and analyzed with mass spectrometry.

Ecology of domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) as a host for Guinea worm (Dracunculus medinensis) infection in Ethiopia.

The global programme for the eradication of Guinea worm disease, caused by the parasitic nematode Dracunculus medinensis, has been successful in driving down human cases, but infections in non-human animals, particularly domestic dogs (Canis familiaris), now present a major obstacle to further progress. Dog infections have mainly been found in Chad and, to a lesser extent, in Mali and Ethiopia. While humans classically acquire infection by drinking water containing infected copepods, it has been hypothesized that dogs might additionally or alternatively acquire infection via a novel pathway, such as consumption of fish or frogs as possible transport or paratenic hosts.

Fecal microbiota transplantation for the improvement of metabolism in obesity: The FMT-TRIM double-blind placebo-controlled pilot trial.

Background: There is intense interest about whether modulating gut microbiota can impact systemic metabolism. We investigated the safety of weekly oral fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) capsules from healthy lean donors and their ability to alter gut microbiota and improve metabolic outcomes in patients with obesity.

Methods And Findings: FMT-TRIM was a 12-week double-blind randomized placebo-controlled pilot trial of oral FMT capsules performed at a single US academic medical center.

CRISPR Interference of a Clonally Variant GC-Rich Noncoding RNA Family Leads to General Repression of Genes in Plasmodium falciparum.

The human malaria parasite uses mutually exclusive expression of the PfEMP1-encoding gene family to evade the host immune system. Despite progress in the molecular understanding of the default silencing mechanism, the activation mechanism of the uniquely expressed member remains elusive. A GC-rich noncoding RNA (ncRNA) gene family has coevolved with species that express genes.

Transcriptome-wide dynamics of extensive mA mRNA methylation during Plasmodium falciparum blood-stage development.

Malaria pathogenesis results from the asexual replication of Plasmodium falciparum within human red blood cells, which relies on a precisely timed cascade of gene expression over a 48-h life cycle. Although substantial post-transcriptional regulation of this hardwired program has been observed, it remains unclear how these processes are mediated on a transcriptome-wide level. To this end, we identified mRNA modifications in the P.

Differential loss of components of traditional ecological knowledge following a primate extinction event.

Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), an important component of the modern conservation toolkit, is being eroded in indigenous communities around the world. However, the dynamics of TEK loss in response to ecosystem change and disruption to social-ecological systems, and patterns of variation in vulnerability and resilience of different components of TEK, remain poorly understood. The Hainan gibbon (), a culturally significant primate, was formerly distributed across Hainan Island, China, but became extinct across most of this range within living memory and is now restricted to a single landscape, Bawangling National Nature Reserve.

Concurrent and Overlapping Surgery: Perspectives From Parents of Adolescents Undergoing Spinal Posterior Instrumented Fusion for Idiopathic Scoliosis.

Study Design: Prospective cross-sectional survey.

Objective: To determine the perspectives of parents of patients undergoing posterior instrumented fusion for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) regarding simultaneous surgery and trainee participation.

Summary Of Background Data: Simultaneous ("at the same time") surgery is under scrutiny by the public, government, payers, and the medical community.

Medial patellofemoral ligament repair restores stability in pediatric patients when compared to reconstruction.

Background: Pediatric patellar instability has a high recurrence rate with non-operative care, and medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) reconstruction has known complications. MPFL repair offers an alternative method to restore patellar stability. This study's purpose was to assess the outcomes of MPFL repair in a pediatric cohort, and to compare these outcomes to a cohort of pediatric patients who underwent MPFL reconstruction.

Anhedonia and the Relationship Between Other Depressive Symptoms and Aggressive Behavior.

Depression has been linked to multiple forms of aggressive behavior in college students; however, it is unclear which aspects of depression explain this connection. Anhedonia, defined as the loss of interest and/or pleasure in previously enjoyed activities, may provide unique information about relationships between depression and aggression. Using cross-sectional data from two independent samples of college students ( = 747 and = 736 for Study 1 and Study 2, respectively), we examined whether anhedonia helped explain the relationship between broader depressive symptoms and different forms of aggressive and antisocial behavior.

Genome Assembly of a NF54 Clone Using Single-Molecule Real-Time Sequencing.

is the species of human malaria parasite that causes the most severe form of the disease. Here, we used single-molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing technology from Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) to sequence, assemble , and annotate the genome of a NF54 clone.

Potential Sex Bias Exists in Orthopaedic Basic Science and Translational Research.

Background: Potential sex bias has been shown in general surgery basic science and translational research, with unequal representation of male and female specimens. Because basic science research forms the foundation for clinical studies on which patient care is based, it is important that this research equally consider both sexes. The purpose of this study was to determine if potential sex bias exists in the basic science and translational orthopaedic literature.