Molecular Identification of Etiological Agents in Fungal and Bacterial Skin Infections: United States, 2020-2024.

: Cutaneous infections of fungal and bacterial origins are common. An accurate diagnosis-especially concerning pathogens that are difficult to isolate on culture-can be achieved using molecular methods (PCR) with a short turnaround time. : We reviewed records of skin specimens (superficial scrapings) submitted by dermatologists across the United States with a clinically suspected dermatitis.

Antifungal resistance in dermatophytes - review of the epidemiology, diagnostic challenges and treatment strategies for managing infections.

Introduction: There is an increasing number of reports of infections. This species is usually poorly responsive to terbinafine.

Areas Covered: A literature search was conducted in May 2024.

Time-resolved keto-enol tautomerization of the medicinal pigment curcumin.

Curcumin is a medicinal agent that exhibits anti-cancer and anti-Alzheimer's disease properties. It has a keto-enol moiety that gives rise to many of its chemical properties including metal complexation and acid-base equilibria. A previous study has shown that keto-enol tautomerization at this moiety is implicated in the anti-Alzheimer's disease effect of curcumin, highlighting the importance of this process.

Clinicopathologic Heterogeneity and Glial Activation Patterns in Alzheimer Disease.

Importance: Factors associated with clinical heterogeneity in Alzheimer disease (AD) lay along a continuum hypothesized to associate with tangle distribution and are relevant for understanding glial activation considerations in therapeutic advancement.

Objectives: To examine clinicopathologic and neuroimaging characteristics of disease heterogeneity in AD along a quantitative continuum using the corticolimbic index (CLix) to account for individuality of spatially distributed tangles found at autopsy.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cross-sectional study was a retrospective medical record review performed on the Florida Autopsied Multiethnic (FLAME) cohort accessioned from 1991 to 2020.

Clinical Diagnosis and Laboratory Testing of Abnormal Appearing Toenails: A Retrospective Assessment of Confirmatory Testing for Onychomycosis in the United States, 2022-2023.

Onychomycosis is an under-recognized healthcare burden. Despite the risk of misdiagnosis, confirmatory laboratory testing is under-utilized. Histopathologic examination with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is currently the most effective diagnostic method; it offers direct detection and identification of a fungal invasion.

Ethnoracial Risk Variation Across the Psychosis Continuum in the US: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Importance: Studies suggest a higher risk of schizophrenia diagnoses in Black vs White Americans, yet a systematic investigation of disparities that include other ethnoracial groups and multiple outcomes on the psychosis continuum is lacking.

Objective: To identify ethnoracial risk variation in the US across 3 psychosis continuum outcomes (ie, schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, clinical high risk for psychosis [CHR-P], and psychotic symptoms [PSs] and psychotic experiences [PEs]).

Data Sources: PubMed, PsycINFO and Embase were searched up to December 2022.

The blood-brain barrier regulates sleep via Moody G protein-coupled receptor signaling.

Sleep is vital for most animals, yet its mechanism and function remain unclear. We found that permeability of the BBB (blood-brain barrier)-the organ required for the maintenance of homeostatic levels of nutrients, ions, and other molecules in the brain-is modulated by sleep deprivation (SD) and can cell-autonomously effect sleep changes. We observed increased BBB permeability in known sleep mutants as well as in acutely sleep-deprived animals.

Climate change and coastal morphodynamics: Interactions on regional scales.

Climate change and its impacts, combined with unchecked human activities, intensify pressures on coastal environments, resulting in modification of the coastal morphodynamics. Coastal zones are intricate and constantly changing areas, making the monitoring and interpretation of data a challenging task, especially in remote beaches and regions with limited historical data. Traditionally, remote sensing and numerical methods have played a vital role in analysing earth observation data and supporting the monitoring and modelling of complex coastal ecosystems.

Antifungal Resistance, Susceptibility Testing and Treatment of Recalcitrant Dermatophytosis Caused by Trichophyton indotineae: A North American Perspective on Management.

There is an ongoing epidemic of chronic, relapsing dermatophytoses caused by Trichophyton indotineae that are unresponsive to one or multiple antifungal agents. Although this new species may have originated from the Indian subcontinent, there has been a notable increase of its reporting in other countries. Based on current literature, antifungal susceptibility testing (AFST) showed a large variation of terbinafine minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) (0.

Interaction of climate change and marine pollution in Southern India: Implications for coastal zone management practices and policies.

Climate change and marine litter are inextricably linked, and their interaction manifests differently depending on the specific environmental and biological characteristics, and other human activities taking place. The negative impacts resulting from those synergistic interactions are threatening coastal and marine ecosystems and the many goods and services they provide. This is particularly pervasive in the coastal zone of the Indian subcontinent.

Impact of a sepsis tracking sheet and emergency department pharmacists on sepsis compliance measures: a prospective emergency department analysis.

Introduction: Compliance with core sepsis measures in Emergency Departments (ED) remains low, with a limited number of prospective trials highlighting strategies for improvement.

Methods: A prospective historically case-controlled observational analysis assessing the pre- and post -intervention impact of a sepsis tracking sheet (STS) and the involvement of ED pharmacists. PrimaryThe primary outcome was the improvement in compliance with core sepsis measures.

Single-Point Nail Sampling to Diagnose Onychomycosis Caused by Non-Dermatophyte Molds: Utility of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and Histopathology.

The three most commonly used methods for diagnosing non-dermatophyte mold (NDM) onychomycosis are culture, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and histopathology. Toenail samples from 512 patients (1 sample/patient) with suspected onychomycosis were examined using all three diagnostic tests. A statistically significant association was found between PCR and histopathology results, as well as between fungal culture and histopathology results.

The SERPINA5 coding variant E228Q does not contribute to clinicopathologic characteristics in Alzheimer's disease: A cross-sectional study.

We previously demonstrated that increased expression of the SERPINA5 gene is associated with hippocampal vulnerability in Alzheimer's disease (AD) brains. SERPINA5 was further demonstrated to be a novel tau-binding partner that colocalizes within neurofibrillary tangles. Our goal was to determine whether genetic variants in the SERPINA5 gene contributed to clinicopathologic phenotypes in AD.

Detection of Squalene Epoxidase Mutations in United States Patients with Onychomycosis: Implications for Management.

Resistance to oral terbinafine, the most commonly used antifungal to treat dermatophytosis and onychomycosis worldwide, is being increasingly reported. In this study, we aimed to investigate the species distribution and prevalence of squalene epoxidase mutations among toenail dermatophyte isolates. Samples from 15,683 patients suspected of onychomycosis visiting the offices of dermatologists and podiatrists in the United States were analyzed.

Recommendations for Next-Generation Sequencing Germline Variant Confirmation: A Joint Report of the Association for Molecular Pathology and National Society of Genetic Counselors.

Clinical laboratory implementation of next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based constitutional genetic testing has been rapid and widespread. In the absence of widely adopted comprehensive guidance, there remains substantial variability among laboratories in the practice of NGS. One issue of sustained discussion in the field is whether and to what extent orthogonal confirmation of genetic variants identified by NGS is necessary or helpful.

Chronic sleep loss disrupts rhythmic gene expression in .

Genome-wide profiling of rhythmic gene expression has offered new avenues for studying the contribution of circadian clock to diverse biological processes. Sleep has been considered one of the most important physiological processes that are regulated by the circadian clock, however, the effects of chronic sleep loss on rhythmic gene expression remain poorly understood. In the present study, we exploited sleep mutants ( ) and ( ) as models for chronic sleep loss.

Preferential Retention and Transport of Perfluorooctanesulfonic Acid in a Dolomite Aquifer.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) can represent a significant human health risk if present in aquifers used as a drinking water source. Accurate assessment of PFAS exposure risks requires an improved understanding of field-scale PFAS transport in groundwater. Activities at a former firefighter training site in University Park, Pennsylvania introduced perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) to the underlying dolomite aquifer.

MicroRNA-148a-3p is a candidate mediator of increased bone marrow adiposity and bone loss following spinal cord injury.

Spinal cord injury is often followed by osteoporosis characterized by rapid and severe bone loss. This leads to an increased risk of osteoporotic fracture in people with spinal cord injury, resulting in increased healthcare costs, morbidity, and mortality. Though it is common, the mechanisms underlying this osteoporosis are not completely understood and treatment options are limited.

Clinical Impact of Pathogenic Variants in DNA Damage Repair Genes beyond and in Breast and Ovarian Cancer Patients.

Consensus guidelines for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer include management recommendations for pathogenic/likely pathogenic (P/LP) variants in , , and other DNA damage repair (DDR) genes beyond or . We report on clinical management decisions across three academic medical centers resulting from P/LP findings in DDR genes in breast/ovarian cancer patients. Among 2184 patients, 156 (7.

Marine litter and climate change: Inextricably connected threats to the world's oceans.

The global issues of climate change and marine litter are interlinked and understanding these connections is key to managing their combined risks to marine biodiversity and ultimately society. For example, fossil fuel-based plastics cause direct emissions of greenhouse gases and therefore are an important contributing factor to climate change, while other impacts of plastics can manifest as alterations in key species and habitats in coastal and marine environments. Marine litter is acknowledged as a threat multiplier that acts with other stressors such as climate change to cause far greater damage than if they occurred in isolation.

Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography scans in patients with alcohol use disorder.

Background: Diminished uptake of fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) has been observed in patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) but little statistical contrast of the regional brain deficits has been undertaken. This study examined prefrontal cortex inter-regional Brodmann area differences to delineate patterns associated with behavioral, neurotransmitter, and general toxicity hypotheses of cerebral involvement in AUD.

Methods: We obtained data from FDG positron emission tomography (PET) and anatomical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for 87 patients with AUD and 41 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers.

Transcriptional landscape of human microglia implicates age, sex, and APOE-related immunometabolic pathway perturbations.

Microglia have fundamental roles in health and disease; however, effects of age, sex, and genetic factors on human microglia have not been fully explored. We applied bulk and single-cell approaches to comprehensively characterize human microglia transcriptomes and their associations with age, sex, and APOE. We identified a novel microglial signature, characterized its expression in bulk tissue and single-cell microglia transcriptomes.