QuICSeedR: an R package for analyzing fluorophore-assisted seed amplification assay data.

Motivation: Fluorophore-assisted seed amplification assays (F-SAAs), such as real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) and fluorophore-assisted protein misfolding cyclic amplification (F-PMCA), have become indispensable tools for studying protein misfolding in neurodegenerative diseases. However, analyzing data generated by these techniques often requires complex and time-consuming manual processes. In addition, the lack of standardization in F-SAA data analysis presents a significant challenge to the interpretation and reproducibility of F-SAA results across different laboratories and studies.

A new mouse model for PRPH2 pattern dystrophy exhibits functional compensation prior and subsequent to retinal degeneration.

Mutations in PRPH2 are a relatively common cause of sight-robbing inherited retinal degenerations (IRDs). Peripherin-2 (PRPH2) is a photoreceptor-specific tetraspanin protein that structures the disk rim membranes of rod and cone outer segment (OS) organelles, and is required for OS morphogenesis. PRPH2 is noteworthy for its broad spectrum of disease phenotypes; both inter- and intra-familial heterogeneity have been widely observed and this variability in disease expression and penetrance confounds efforts to understand genotype-phenotype correlations and pathophysiology.

The establishment of a collaborative surveillance program with indigenous hunters to characterize primate health in Southern Guyana.

The consumption of primates is integral to the traditional subsistence strategies of many Indigenous communities throughout Amazonia. Understanding the overall health of primates harvested for food in the region is critical to Indigenous food security and thus, these communities are highly invested in long-term primate population health. Here, we describe the establishment of a surveillance comanagement program among the Waiwai, an Indigenous community in the Konashen Amerindian Protected Area (KAPA).

Nanopore adaptive sampling for targeted mitochondrial genome sequencing and bloodmeal identification in hematophagous insects.

Background: Blood-feeding insects are important vectors for an array of zoonotic pathogens. While previous efforts toward generating molecular resources have largely focused on major vectors of global medical and veterinary importance, molecular data across a large number of hematophagous insect taxa remain limited. Advancements in long-read sequencing technologies and associated bioinformatic pipelines provide new opportunities for targeted sequencing of insect mitochondrial (mt) genomes.

A mixed-methods approach to understanding domestic dog health and disease transmission risk in an indigenous reserve in Guyana, South America.

Domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) can transmit a variety of pathogens due to their ubiquitousness in urban, rural and natural environments, and their close interactions with wildlife and humans. In this study, we used a mixed-methods approach to assess the role of domestic dogs as potential intermediaries of disease transmission from wildlife to humans among indigenous Waiwai in the Konashen Community Owned Conservation Area, Guyana. To address these objectives we 1) performed physical examinations and collected biological samples to assess Waiwai domestic dog health, and 2) administered questionnaires to characterize the role of dogs in the community and identify potential transmission pathways between wildlife, dogs, and humans.