An exploration of descriptive machine learning approaches for antimicrobial resistance: Multidrug resistance patterns in Salmonella enterica.

Salmonellosis is one of the most common foodborne diseases worldwide, with the ability to infect humans and animals. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and, particularly, multidrug resistance (MDR) among Salmonella enterica poses a risk to human health. Antimicrobial use (AMU) regulations in livestock have been implemented to reduce AMR and MDR in foodborne pathogens.

Orexin Facilitates the Peripheral Chemoreflex via Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone Neurons Projecting to the Nucleus of the Solitary Tract.

We previously showed that orexin neurons are activated by hypoxia and facilitate the peripheral chemoreflex (PCR)-mediated hypoxic ventilatory response (HVR), mostly by promoting the respiratory frequency response. Orexin neurons project to the nucleus of the solitary tract (nTS) and the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN). The PVN contributes significantly to the PCR and contains nTS-projecting corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) neurons.

Representative Public Health Surveys Pose Several Challenges: Lessons Learned Across 9 Communities During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Community surveillance surveys offer an opportunity to obtain important and timely public health information that may help local municipalities guide their response to public health threats. The objective of this paper is to present approaches, challenges, and solutions from SARS-CoV-2 surveillance surveys conducted in different settings by 2 research teams. For rapid assessment of a representative sample, a 2-stage cluster sampling design was developed by an interdisciplinary team of researchers at Oregon State University between April 2020 and June 2021 across 6 Oregon communities.

Altered 5-HT2A/C receptor binding in the medulla oblongata in the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS): Part II. Age-associated alterations in serotonin receptor binding profiles within medullary nuclei supporting cardiorespiratory homeostasis.

The failure of chemoreflexes, arousal, and/or autoresuscitation to asphyxia may underlie some sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) cases. In Part I, we showed that some SIDS infants had altered 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)2A/C receptor binding in medullary nuclei supporting chemoreflexes, arousal, and autoresuscitation. Here, using the same dataset, we tested the hypotheses that the prevalence of low 5-HT1A and/or 5-HT2A/C receptor binding (defined as levels below the 95% confidence interval of controls-a new approach), and the percentages of nuclei affected are greater in SIDS versus controls, and that the distribution of low binding varied with age of death.

Serotype and anti-microbial resistance trends among bovine Salmonella isolates from samples submitted to a veterinary diagnostic laboratory in central New York, 2007-2021.

Aims: Salmonella enterica is a leading cause of acute enteritis in people, and dairy cattle are an important reservoir of this pathogen. The objective of this study was to analyse serotype and anti-microbial resistance trends of Salmonella isolated from dairy cattle in the United States between 2007 and 2021.

Methods And Results: We collected data for bovine Salmonella isolates obtained from samples submitted to Cornell University's Animal Health Diagnostic Center (AHDC).

Multidrug-resistant pathogens contaminate river water used in irrigation in disenfranchised communities.

Objectives: The contamination of fresh surface waters poses a significant burden on human health and prosperity, especially in marginalized communities with limited resources and inadequate infrastructure. Here, we performed in-depth genomic analyses of multidrug-resistant bacteria (MDR-B) isolated from Al-Oueik river water that is used for irrigation of agricultural fields in a disenfranchised area that also hosts a makeshift Syrian refugee camp.

Methods: A composite freshwater sample was filtered.

Trends of feline Escherichia coli minimum inhibitory concentrations over 14 years illustrate the need for judicious antimicrobial use in cats.

Objective: This study aims to assess the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) trends among Escherichia coli isolated from cats between 2008 and 2022, utilizing MIC data, within a one-health framework.

Sample: The study analyzed MIC results from 1,477 feline E coli isolates that were obtained from samples submitted to the Cornell University Animal Health Diagnostic Center, primarily from the northeastern US.

Methods: MIC values were categorized as susceptible or not susceptible using the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute breakpoints.

Paraventricular nucleus projections to the nucleus tractus solitarii are essential for full expression of hypoxia-induced peripheral chemoreflex responses.

The hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) is essential to peripheral chemoreflex neurocircuitry, but the specific efferent pathways utilized are not well defined. The PVN sends dense projections to the nucleus tractus solitarii (nTS), which exhibits neuronal activation following a hypoxic challenge. We hypothesized that nTS-projecting PVN (PVN-nTS) neurons contribute to hypoxia-induced nTS neuronal activation and cardiorespiratory responses.

Ciprofloxacin-resistant ST198 Salmonella Kentucky in a hospitalized American black bear (Ursus americanus), with evidence of subsequent nosocomial transmission.

Global emergence of ciprofloxacin-resistant ST198 Salmonella Kentucky poses an important public health threat. While conducting Salmonella surveillance among wildlife patients admitted to our veterinary medical teaching hospital in central New York, we isolated multidrug-resistant (MDR) ST198 Salmonella Kentucky from an American black bear (Ursus americanus) in September 2020. The isolate was phenotypically resistant to numerous antimicrobial agents, including ceftriaxone and ciprofloxacin, and several antimicrobial resistance genes and mutational resistance determinants were detected.

Veterinary Students' Knowledge and Awareness of Antimicrobial Stewardship Before and After Clinical Rotations.

Given the global threat of antimicrobial resistance, it is imperative that veterinary graduates are effective antimicrobial stewards. Veterinary students learn the principles of antimicrobial stewardship explicitly, through pre-clinical coursework, and implicitly, through the cases they each encounter on clinical rotations. We aimed to understand the influence of pre-clinical versus clinical learning on veterinary students' knowledge and awareness of antimicrobial concepts to guide efforts to improve instruction in these areas.

Zoonotic Tuberculosis: A Neglected Disease in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region.

is the etiologic agent of bovine tuberculosis (BTB), a serious infectious disease in both humans and animals. BTB is a zoonotic disease primarily affecting cattle and occasionally humans infected through close contact with infected hosts or the consumption of unpasteurized dairy products. Zoonotic tuberculosis is strongly associated with poverty and poor hygiene, and low- and middle-income countries bear the brunt of the disease.

The indelible toll of enteric pathogens: Prevalence, clinical characterization, and seasonal trends in patients with acute community-acquired diarrhea in disenfranchised communities.

Background: There is little information on the epidemiology of enteric pathogens in Lebanon, a low- and middle-income country that suffers from a myriad of public health challenges. To address this knowledge gap, we aimed to assess the prevalence of enteric pathogens, identify risk factors and seasonal variations, and describe associations between pathogens among diarrheic patients in the Lebanese community.

Methodology And Principal Findings: A multicenter cross-sectional community-based study was conducted in the north of Lebanon.

The effect of orexin on the hypoxic ventilatory response of female rats is greatest in the active phase during diestrus.

We recently showed that in male rats, orexin contributes to the hypoxic ventilatory response (HVR), with a stronger effect in the active phase. The effect of orexin on the HVR in females has not been investigated. As estrogen can inhibit orexin neurons, here we hypothesized that orexin neurons are activated by hypoxia and facilitate the HVR only in diestrus, when estrogen is low.

A repeated cross-sectional study of intestinal parasites in Texas shelter dogs using fecal flotation and saline sedimentation.

Estimates of intestinal parasite prevalence in canine populations have largely been based on use of fecal flotation methods only. Dogs in animal shelters are likely at higher risk of intestinal parasite infection because of their previous exposure history. Our objectives were to estimate the prevalence of intestinal parasites among Texas shelter dogs using centrifugal fecal flotation and saline sedimentation techniques, to identify risk factors for infection, and to compare proportions of positive samples detected via fecal flotation vs.

A serotonin-deficient rat model of neurogenic hypertension: influence of sex and sympathetic vascular tone.

Previously we showed that a loss of central nervous system (CNS) 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) (tryptophan hydroxylase 2 knockout; TPH2) leads to hypertension in male rats during wakefulness and REM sleep. Here, we tested the hypotheses that hypertension is also revealed in female TPH2 when sex hormones are controlled, and that the especially high arterial blood pressure (ABP) of male TPH2 rats is due to increased sympathetic vascular tone. The ABP of females was measured specifically during proestrus or estrus and again following ovariectomy.

Catch-22: War, Refugees, COVID-19, and the Scourge of Antimicrobial Resistance.

Wars have hidden repercussions beyond the immediate losses of life, well-being, and prosperity. Those that flee wars and seek refuge in safer locations are not immune to the tragic impacts. Of particular concern is the susceptibility of the refugee populations to infectious diseases and antimicrobial-resistant pathogens.

Assessing central and peripheral respiratory chemoreceptor interaction in humans.

New Findings: What is the central question of this study? We investigated the interaction between central and peripheral respiratory chemoreceptors in healthy, awake human participants by using a background of step increases in steady-state normoxic fraction of inspired carbon dioxide to alter central chemoreceptor activation and by using the transient hypoxia test to target the peripheral chemoreceptors. What is the main finding and its importance? Our data suggest that the interaction between central and peripheral respiratory chemoreceptors is additive in minute ventilation and respiratory rate, but hypo-additive in tidal volume. Our study adds important new data in reconciling chemoreceptor interaction in awake healthy humans and is consistent with previous reports of simple addition in intact rodents and humans.

Integrated Surveillance System for Controlling COVID-19 on a University Campus, 2020‒2021.

To minimize the impacts of COVID-19 and to keep campus open, Cornell University's Ithaca, NY, campus implemented a comprehensive process to monitor COVID-19 spread, support prevention practices, and assess early warning indicators linked to knowledge, behaviors, and attitudes of campus community members. The integrated surveillance approach informed leadership and allowed for prompt adjustments to university policies and practices through evidence-based decisions. This approach enhanced healthy behaviors and promoted the well-being and safety of all community members.

Case-control study to identify risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection among university students in the northeastern USA.

Curbing the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic requires a thorough understanding of risk factors for transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the etiologic agent. Institutions of higher education present unique challenges for controlling disease spread because of features inherent to these settings. Our objective was to determine risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection among a university student population in the northeastern USA during the spring and fall 2021 semesters, using the case-control study design.

Using a multi-model ensemble approach to determine biodiversity hotspots with limited occurrence data in understudied areas: An example using freshwater mussels in México.

Species distribution models (SDMs) are an increasingly important tool for conservation particularly for difficult-to-study locations and with understudied fauna. Our aims were to (1) use SDMs and ensemble SDMs to predict the distribution of freshwater mussels in the Pánuco River Basin in Central México; (2) determine habitat factors shaping freshwater mussel occurrence; and (3) use predicted occupancy across a range of taxa to identify freshwater mussel biodiversity hotspots to guide conservation and management. In the Pánuco River Basin, we modeled the distributions of 11 freshwater mussel species using an ensemble approach, wherein multiple SDM methodologies were combined to create a single ensemble map of predicted occupancy.

Orexin facilitates the ventilatory and behavioral responses of rats to hypoxia.

Orexin neurons are sensitive to CO and contribute to cardiorespiratory homeostasis as well as sensorimotor control. Whether orexin facilitates respiratory and behavioral responses to acute hypoxia is unclear. We hypothesized that orexin neurons are activated by acute hypoxia and that orexin facilitates the hypoxic ventilatory response (HVR), as well as the arterial blood pressure (ABP) and behavioral (movement) responses to acute hypoxia.