The Intriguing Connection Between the Gut and Lung Microbiomes.

Recent advances in microbiome research have uncovered a dynamic and complex connection between the gut and lungs, known as the gut-lung axis. This bidirectional communication network plays a critical role in modulating immune responses and maintaining respiratory health. Mediated by immune interactions, metabolic byproducts, and microbial communities in both organs, this axis demonstrates how gut-derived signals, such as metabolites and immune modulators, can reach the lung tissue via systemic circulation, influencing respiratory function and disease susceptibility.

The genomics and physiology of abiotic stressors associated with global elevational gradients in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Phenotypic and genomic diversity in Arabidopsis thaliana may be associated with adaptation along its wide elevational range, but it is unclear whether elevational clines are consistent among different mountain ranges. We took a multi-regional view of selection associated with elevation. In a diverse panel of ecotypes, we measured plant traits under alpine stressors (low CO partial pressure, high light, and night freezing) and conducted genome-wide association studies.

The cacao gene atlas: a transcriptome developmental atlas reveals highly tissue-specific and dynamically-regulated gene networks in Theobroma cacao L.

Background: Theobroma cacao, the cocoa tree, is a tropical crop grown for its highly valuable cocoa solids and fat which are the basis of a 200-billion-dollar annual chocolate industry. However, the long generation time and difficulties associated with breeding a tropical tree crop have limited the progress of breeders to develop high-yielding disease-resistant varieties. Development of marker-assisted breeding methods for cacao requires discovery of genomic regions and specific alleles of genes encoding important traits of interest.

An Investigation of Employment Hope as a Key Factor Influencing Perceptions of Subjective Recovery among Adults with Serious Mental Illness Seeking Community Work.

Introduction: Employment is an important contributor to recovery in people with serious mental illness (SMI), yet studies have not explored how subjective elements of employment hope contribute to perceptions of global recovery in this population.

Methods: The current study examined the relationship between employment hope and subjective recovery in 276 unemployed adults with SMI participating in a multi-site clinical trial of a cognitive behavioral group intervention tailored toward work and combined with vocational rehabilitation. Participants had diagnoses of schizophrenia spectrum, bipolar, depressive, and posttraumatic stress disorders, and were receiving services at three Veterans Affairs healthcare facilities in the United States.

Innate Lymphoid Cells and Their Role in the Immune Response to Infections.

Over the past decade, a group of lymphocyte-like cells called innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) has gained considerable attention due to their crucial role in regulating immunity and tissue homeostasis. ILCs, lacking antigen-specific receptors, are a group of functionally differentiated effector cells that act as tissue-resident sentinels against infections. Numerous studies have elucidated the characteristics of ILC subgroups, but the mechanisms controlling protective or pathological responses to pathogens still need to be better understood.

BCG and SARS-CoV-2-What Have We Learned?

Despite controversy over the protective effect of the BCG (Bacille Calmette-Guérin) vaccine in preventing pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) in adults, it has been used worldwide since 1921. Although the first reports in the 1930s had noted a remarkable decrease in child mortality after BCG immunization, this could not be explained solely by a decrease in mortality from TB. These observations gave rise to the suggestion of nonspecific beneficial effects of BCG vaccination, beyond the desired protection against .

Tasting the Tree of Life: Development of a Collaborative, Cross-Campus, Science Outreach Meal Event.

Communicating about science with the public can present a number of challenges, from participation to engagement to impact. In an effort to broadly communicate messages regarding biodiversity, evolution, and tree-thinking with the campus community at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), a public, primarily undergraduate institution, we created a campus-wide, science-themed meal, "Tasting the Tree of Life: Exploring Biodiversity through Cuisine." We created nine meals that incorporated 149 species/ingredients across the Tree of Life.

Role of endogenous nitric oxide in the control of exocrine and endocrine pancreatic secretion in humans.

Background: Nitric oxide (NO) is an unstable vasodilator formed by NO synthetase (NOS) from L-arginine (L-Arg) in various cells but its role in the control of pancreatic secretion in humans has not been examined.

Aims: This study was designed to determine the role of endogenous NO in the control of exocrine and endocrine pancreas using NOS inhibitor, NG-monomethyl-L-Arg (L-NMMA).

Methods: Pancreatic secretion was stimulated by intravenous infusion of secretin (80 pmol/kg/h) plus caerulein (50 pmol/kg/h) and duodenal content was aspirated by gastroduodenal tube.

Expression of an oncofetal 65-kDa phosphoprotein in lymphocytic and granulocytic leukemias.

We examined the expression of an oncofetal 65-kDa phosphoprotein, termed p65, in patients with lymphocytic and granulocytic leukemia. This protein was previously identified in rat fetal tissues and in epithelial cancers of rat and human origin. Using the anti-p65 monoclonal antibodies MB2 and MF11 in a double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), we analyzed the expression of the protein in sera of 80 normal, healthy controls and in 61 patients with benign, nonneoplastic diseases.

[Roxithromycin (Rulid) in treatment of Chlamydia trachomatis genital infections in women].

New macrolide antibiotic, roxithromycin (erythromycin--like group), was tested in treatment of chlamydial genital infection in women. In comparison with doxycycline, roxithromycin showed higher clinical efficiency with fewer sides effects.

Cholecystokinin (CCK) in the amino acid uptake and enzyme protein secretion by the pancreas in humans.

Activation of type A receptors by CCK or cerulein is known to stimulate pancreatic enzyme secretion, but its role in the amino acid (AA) consumption and enzyme synthesis remains unclear. In our study, we used loxiglumide, a potent CCK-A-receptor antagonist, to investigate the role of CCK-A receptors in pancreatic consumption of circulating AAs and enzyme secretion. Five healthy male volunteers were intubated with double-lumen duodenal tube, and duodenal aspirates were collected during 60-min basal periods and then during pancreatic stimulation with iv infusion of secretion (80 pmol/kg/h) plus cerulein (50 pmol/kg/h) during three consecutive 30-min periods.

[Alpha 1-antitrypsin as an endogenous marker of protein-losing enteropathies].

A novelty of the present studies is the use of alpha 1-antitrypsin (A-1--AT) as an endogenous marker of enteric protein loss. Enteric clearance of alpha 1-antitrypsin was determined in 10 patients with the symptoms of PLE, and in 6 healthy individuals. Alpha 1-Antitrypsin concentration has been assayed in single, random samples of feces collected from 42 patients and 12 healthy individuals (normal values: 1.

Comparison of loxiglumide, a cholecystokinin receptor antagonist, and atropine on hormonal and meal-stimulated pancreatic secretion in man.

The effects of loxiglumide, a potent cholecystokinin (CCK)-receptor antagonist, and atropine, a muscarinic receptor blocker, on exocrine pancreatic secretion stimulated by hormones (secretin plus CCK) and a Lundh test meal were studied in healthy young volunteers. Loxiglumide infused intravenously in gradually increasing doses (2-16 mumol/kg-h) caused a dose-dependent inhibition of pancreatic enzyme secretion induced by intravenous infusion of a constant dose of secretin (82 pmol/kg-h) plus CCK-8 (85 pmol/kg-h) but had relatively smaller influence on duodenal volume flow and bicarbonate output. Atropine (20 nmol/kg) also caused a significant reduction in pancreatic enzyme secretion but failed to affect the volume flow or bicarbonate secretion induced by secretin plus CCK, possibly owing to the high doses of secretin and CCK used in these tests.

[Occurrence of Clostridium difficile in feces of children with dysfunction of the digestive tract and other disorders].

Thousand and six hundred ninety two fecal samples from children of few weeks old up to over ten years were tested for the presence of Clostridium difficile. Most of them were treated with antibiotics and showed diarrhea symptoms. Hundred and twenty three strains of C-difficile were submitted to serological typing and their sensitivity to 10 selected antibiotics and chemotherapeutic agents was determined.