Insights into the ecological and climate crisis: Emerging infections threatening human health.

The Anthropocene era is marked by unprecedented human-induced alterations to the environment, resulting in a climate emergency and widespread ecological deterioration. A staggering number of up to one million species of plants and animals are in danger of becoming extinct, which includes over 10 % of insect species and 40 % of plant species. Unrestrained release of greenhouse gases, widespread deforestation, intense agricultural practices, excessive fishing, and alterations in land use have exceeded the ecological boundaries that were once responsible for humanity's wellbeing.

Colonization in Adults and Children: A Prospective Study.

We conducted a prospective cohort study at the IRCCS Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital in Negrar di Valpolicella from 2019 to 2021 to investigate the duration of colonization. In addition, the correlation between persistent colonization and the continent of origin, current treatment regimen, clinical manifestations, and parasite coinfection was evaluated. The cohort included subjects who were tested in a previous study (years 2014-2016) and found to be positive for DNA in fecal samples.

The transcription factor OCT6 promotes the dissolution of the naïve pluripotent state by repressing Nanog and activating a formative state gene regulatory network.

In the mouse embryo, the transition from the preimplantation to the postimplantation epiblast is governed by changes in the gene regulatory network (GRN) that lead to transcriptional, epigenetic, and functional changes. This transition can be faithfully recapitulated in vitro by the differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) to epiblast-like cells (EpiLCs), that reside in naïve and formative states of pluripotency, respectively. However, the GRN that drives this conversion is not fully elucidated.

Long-term effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with and without chemosensory disorders at disease onset: a psychophysical and magnetic resonance imaging exploratory study.

A preserved sense of smell and taste allows us to understand many environmental "messages" and results in meaningfully improvements to quality of life. With the COVID-19 pandemic, it became clear how important these senses are for social and nutritional status and catapulted this niche chemosensory research area towards widespread interest. In the current exploratory work, we assessed two groups of post-COVID-19 patients who reported having had (Group 1) or not (Group 2) a smell/taste impairment at the disease onset.

Derivation of two human induced pluripotent stem cell lines carrying a missense mutation in FHL1 (c.377G > A, p.C126Y) linked to familial muscular dystrophy.

FHL1 gene locates in the Xq26 region and encodes for four and half LIM domain protein 1. It plays a crucial role in muscle cells and mutations in FHL1 are related to muscular dystrophy (MD). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were obtained from 2 family patients with MD that carry a pathogenic missense mutation in FHL1 (c.

Pituitary stem cells: past, present and future perspectives.

Pituitary cells that express the transcription factor SOX2 are stem cells because they can self-renew and differentiate into multiple pituitary hormone-producing cell types as organoids. Wounding and physiological challenges can activate pituitary stem cells, but cell numbers are not fully restored, and the ability to mobilize stem cells decreases with increasing age. The basis of these limitations is still unknown.

Generation of two edited iPSCs lines by CRISPR/Cas9 with point mutations in PKP2 gene for arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy in vitro modeling.

The arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) is an inherited heart muscle disease characterized by the progressive replacement of contractile myocardium by fibro-fatty adipose tissue, that generates ventricular arrhythmias and sudden death in patients. The ACM has a genetic origin with alterations in desmosomal genes with the most commonly mutated being the PKP2 gene. We generated two CRISPR/Cas9 edited iPSCs lines, one iPSC line with a point mutation in PKP2 reported in patients with ACM and another iPSC line with a premature stop codon to knock-out the same gene.

Impact, healthcare utilization and costs of travel-associated mosquito-borne diseases in international travellers: a prospective study.

Background: International travellers frequently acquire infectious diseases whilst travelling, yet relatively little is known about the impact and economic burden of these illnesses on travellers. We conducted a prospective exploratory costing study on adult returning travellers with falciparum malaria, dengue, chikungunya or Zika virus.

Methods: Patients were recruited in eight Travel and Tropical Medicine clinics between June 2016 and March 2020 upon travellers' first contact with the health system in their country of residence.

Leprosy in an Adopted Woman Diagnosed by Molecular Tools: A Case Report from a Non-Endemic Area.

Coupled with its rarity in non-endemic areas, the clinical heterogeneity of leprosy makes diagnosis very challenging. We report a diagnosis of multibacillary leprosy in a 22-year-old Indian woman, adopted at the age of 10 and living in Italy. The patient presented with painful skin lesions on the face, trunk, and lower and upper extremities, associated with dysesthesia and a motor deficit in her left leg following corticosteroid therapy interruption.

Management of imported complicated urogenital schistosomiasis in Europe: a TropNet retrospective study.

Background: Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by trematodes of the genus Schistosoma. Schistosoma haematobium causes urogenital schistosomiasis (UGS), a chronic disease characterized by pathology of the urogenital tract leading to potentially severe morbidity for which the treatment is poorly standardized. We conducted a survey in TropNet centres on the clinical presentations and management strategies of complicated urogenital schistosomiasis (cUGS).

, , and Intestinal Protozoal Co-Infections in Italian and Immigrant Populations: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Tropheryma whipplei (TW), Helicobacter pylori (HP), and intestinal protozoa (IP) are widespread pathogens with similar routes of transmission and epidemiological risk factors. Epidemiological data on co-infection between TW, HP, and IP are scarce. We aim to more deeply investigate the co-infection rate for these pathogens, evaluating the risk factors and symptoms.

Association Between Sex Hormone Levels and Clinical Outcomes in Patients With COVID-19 Admitted to Hospital: An Observational, Retrospective, Cohort Study.

Understanding the cause of sex disparities in COVID-19 outcomes is a major challenge. We investigate sex hormone levels and their association with outcomes in COVID-19 patients, stratified by sex and age. This observational, retrospective, cohort study included 138 patients aged 18 years or older with COVID-19, hospitalized in Italy between February 1 and May 30, 2020.

Validation of a Novel Wearable Multistream Data Acquisition and Analysis System for Ergonomic Studies.

Nowadays, the growing interest in gathering physiological data and human behavior in everyday life scenarios is paralleled by an increase in wireless devices recording brain and body signals. However, the technical issues that characterize these solutions often limit the full brain-related assessments in real-life scenarios. Here we introduce the Biohub platform, a hardware/software (HW/SW) integrated wearable system for multistream synchronized acquisitions.

HLA-G gene editing in tumor cell lines as a novel alternative in cancer immunotherapy.

Cancer immunotherapies based mainly on the blockade of immune-checkpoint (IC) molecules by anti-IC antibodies offer new alternatives for treatment in oncological diseases. However, a considerable proportion of patients remain unresponsive to them. Hence, the development of novel clinical immunotherapeutic approaches and/or targets are crucial.

Effect of Embryo Aggregation on Development of Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Bovine Clones.

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is a method with unique ability to reprogram the epigenome of a fully differentiated cell. However, its efficiency remains extremely low. In this work, we assessed and combined two simple strategies to improve the SCNT efficiency in the bovine.

intestinal colonization in immunocompromised children in Iran: a preliminary study.

causes Whipple's disease. Children are reservoirs of this bacterium. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of in children with immunodeficiency in central Iran from July 2018 to February 2019.

Antibody response induced by the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in a cohort of health-care workers, with or without prior SARS-CoV-2 infection: a prospective study.

Objectives: To assess the antibody response to BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in a cohort of health-care workers (HCW), comparing individuals with previous severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and SARS-CoV-2-naive individuals.

Methods: HCW were tested at T0 (day of first dose), T1 (day of second dose) and T2 (2-3 weeks after second dose) for IgG anti-nucleocapsid protein, IgM anti-spike protein and IgG anti-receptor binding domain (IgG-RBD-S). The antibody response was compared between four main groups: group A, individuals with previous infection and positive antibodies at baseline; group B, individuals with the same history but negative antibodies; group C, individuals with no infection history but positive antibodies; group D, naive individuals.

celldeath: A tool for detection of cell death in transmitted light microscopy images by deep learning-based visual recognition.

Cell death experiments are routinely done in many labs around the world, these experiments are the backbone of many assays for drug development. Cell death detection is usually performed in many ways, and requires time and reagents. However, cell death is preceded by slight morphological changes in cell shape and texture.

Imported scrub typhus in Europe: Report of three cases and a literature review.

Background: Scrub typhus is a vector-borne rickettsial infection, which can cause relevant morbidity and mortality. While the number of cases is around a million per year globally, the infection is seldom diagnosed in travellers from Europe.

Methods: We herein report three cases diagnosed in Italian travellers and review the literature about imported cases in Europe in the last 60 years.

Antibody Response to the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine in Subjects with Prior SARS-CoV-2 Infection.

Although antibody levels progressively decrease following SARS-CoV-2 infection, the immune memory persists for months. Thus, individuals who naturally contracted SARS-CoV-2 are expected to develop a more rapid and sustained response to COVID-19 vaccines than naïve individuals. In this study, we analyzed the dynamics of the antibody response to the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in six healthcare workers who contracted SARS-CoV-2 in March 2020, in comparison to nine control subjects without a previous infection.

Porcine oocyte preincubation in oviductal fluid flush before fertilization in the presence of oviductal epithelial cells improves monospermic zygote production.

The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of the combination of oviduct fluid flush (OFF) and oviduct epithelial cells (OEC) in modulating the incidence of polyspermy in pigs. Therefore, for in vitro fertilization (IVF), oocyte and sperm were co-cultured in Tris-buffered medium (TBM) either supplemented with 10% OFF (OFFD group), or in the presence of a bovine OEC monolayer (OEC group), or the oocytes were exposed to OFF for 30 min before IVF (OFFB group), or in the presence of an OEC monolayer (OFFB + OEC group). Regardless of sperm concentration used (0.

Emergence of Lyme borreliosis in the province of Verona, Northern Italy: Five-years of sentinel surveillance.

We investigated the epidemiology, clinical manifestations, laboratory data and antibiotic treatment of Lyme borreliosis in the province of Verona, Northern Italy, during the period 2015-2019. One hundred and 29 cases of Lyme borreliosis were diagnosed in a single hospital representing 27 % of all cases reported in the Veneto region in the same period. The mean annual incidence of Lyme borreliosis was 0.

Generation of myostatin edited horse embryos using CRISPR/Cas9 technology and somatic cell nuclear transfer.

The application of new technologies for gene editing in horses may allow the generation of improved sportive individuals. Here, we aimed to knock out the myostatin gene (MSTN), a negative regulator of muscle mass development, using CRISPR/Cas9 and to generate edited embryos for the first time in horses. We nucleofected horse fetal fibroblasts with 1, 2 or 5 µg of 2 different gRNA/Cas9 plasmids targeting the first exon of MSTN.

Droplet Digital PCR for the Detection of DNA in Whole Blood and Serum: A Comparative Analysis with Other Molecular Methods.

Background: The estimation of parasitaemia can vary according to the method used. Recently, droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) has been proposed as a promising approach in the molecular quantitation of , but its ability to predict the actual parasitaemia on clinical samples has not been largely investigated. Moreover, the possibility of applying the ddPCR-sensitive method to serum samples has never been explored.