High resistance barrier and prophylactic protection in preclinical models of SARS-CoV-2 with two siRNA combination.

RNA interference is a natural antiviral mechanism that could be harnessed to combat SARS-CoV-2 infection by targeting and destroying the viral RNA. We identified potent lipophilic small interfering RNA (siRNA) conjugates targeting highly conserved regions of SARS-CoV-2 outside of the spike-encoding region capable of achieving ≥3-log viral reduction. Serial passaging studies demonstrated that a two-siRNA combination prevented development of resistance compared to a single siRNA approach.

Completed genome segments of Maciel, Lechiguanas, and Laguna Negra orthohantaviruses.

New World orthohantaviruses are rodent-borne tri-segmented viruses that cause hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome in humans in the Americas. Molecular diagnostics for orthohantaviruses can be improved with more sequence data. Reported here are completed genomes for Lechiguanas, Maciel, and Laguna Negra viruses.

Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus Diversity and Reassortment, Pakistan, 2017-2020.

Sporadic cases and outbreaks of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) have been documented across Pakistan since 1976; however, data regarding the diversity of CCHF virus (CCHFV) in Pakistan is sparse. We whole-genome sequenced 36 CCHFV samples collected from persons infected in Pakistan during 2017-2020. Most CCHF cases were from Rawalpindi (n = 10), followed by Peshawar (n = 7) and Islamabad (n = 4).

HantaNet: A New MicrobeTrace Application for Hantavirus Classification, Genomic Surveillance, Epidemiology and Outbreak Investigations.

Hantaviruses zoonotically infect humans worldwide with pathogenic consequences and are mainly spread by rodents that shed aerosolized virus particles in urine and feces. Bioinformatics methods for hantavirus diagnostics, genomic surveillance and epidemiology are currently lacking a comprehensive approach for data sharing, integration, visualization, analytics and reporting. With the possibility of hantavirus cases going undetected and spreading over international borders, a significant reporting delay can miss linked transmission events and impedes timely, targeted public health interventions.

has no competitive responses to neighbors: A case study in (non)reproducible plant biology.

Plant-plant competition is ubiquitous in nature. However, studying below ground behavior of roots has always posed certain difficulties. Pea ( L.

CD117/c-kit defines a prostate CSC-like subpopulation driving progression and TKI resistance.

Cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) are associated with cancer progression, metastasis, and recurrence, and may also represent a subset of circulating tumor cells (CTCs). In our prior study, CTCs in advanced prostate cancer patients were found to express CD117/c-kit in a liquid biopsy. Whether CD117 expression played an active or passive role in the aggressiveness and migration of these CTCs remained an open question.

Nitrogen addition pulse has minimal effect in big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) communities on the Pinedale Anticline, Wyoming (USA).

Nitrogen additions are known to elicit variable responses in semi-arid ecosystems, with responses increasing with precipitation. The response of semi-arid ecosystems to nitrogen are important to understand due to their large spatial extent worldwide and the global trend of increasingly available nitrogen. In this study, we evaluated the impact of a single nitrogen addition pulse on a semi-arid big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) ecosystem in western Wyoming.

One size does not fit all: Caste and sex differences in the response of bumblebees (Bombus impatiens) to chronic oral neonicotinoid exposure.

Neonicotinoid insecticides have been implicated in the rapid global decline of bumblebees over recent years, particularly in agricultural and urban areas. While there is much known about neonicotinoid toxicity effects at the colony stage of the bumblebee annual cycle, far less is known about such effects at other stages critical for the maintenance of wild populations. In the present work, individual-based feeding assays were used to show that chronic consumption of the widely used neonicotinoid clothianidin at a field-realistic average rate of 3.

Immune-cognitive system connectivity reduces bumblebee foraging success in complex multisensory floral environments.

Bumblebees are declining at alarming rate worldwide, posing a significant threat to the function and diversity of temperate ecosystems. These declines have been attributed, in part, to the direct effect of specific pathogens on bumblebee survival. However, pathogens may also have a negative impact on host populations indirectly through immune-induced cognitive deficits in infected individuals.

CD117/c-kit in Cancer Stem Cell-Mediated Progression and Therapeutic Resistance.

Metastasis is the primary cause of cancer patient morbidity and mortality, but due to persisting gaps in our knowledge, it remains untreatable. Metastases often occur as patient tumors progress or recur after initial therapy. Tumor recurrence at the primary site may be driven by a cancer stem-like cell or tumor progenitor cell, while recurrence at a secondary site is driven by metastatic cancer stem cells or metastasis-initiating cells.

Grazing and no-till cropping impacts on nitrogen retention in dryland agroecosystems.

As the world's population increases, marginal lands such as drylands are likely to become more important for food production. One proven strategy for improving crop production in drylands involves shifting from conventional tillage to no-till to increase water use efficiency, especially when this shift is coupled with more intensive crop rotations. Practices such as no-till that reduce soil disturbance and increase crop residues may promote C and N storage in soil organic matter, thus promoting N retention and reducing N losses.

First report of the successful operation of a side stream supersaturation hypolimnetic oxygenation system in a eutrophic, shallow reservoir.

Controlling hypolimnetic hypoxia is a key goal of water quality management. Hypoxic conditions can trigger the release of reduced metals and nutrients from lake sediments, resulting in taste and odor problems as well as nuisance algal blooms. In deep lakes and reservoirs, hypolimnetic oxygenation has emerged as a viable solution for combating hypoxia.

Inorganic nitrogen supply and dissolved organic nitrogen abundance across the US Great Plains.

Across US Great Plains grasslands, a gradient of increasing mean annual precipitation from west to east corresponds to increasing aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) and increasing N-limitation. Previous work has shown that there is no increase in net N mineralization rates across this gradient, leading to the question of where eastern prairie grasses obtain the nitrogen to support production. One as-yet unexamined source is soil organic N, despite abundant literature from other ecosystems showing that plants take up dissolved soil organic N.

Surficial gains and subsoil losses of soil carbon and nitrogen during secondary forest development.

Reforestation of formerly cultivated land is widely understood to accumulate above- and belowground detrital organic matter pools, including soil organic matter. However, during 40 years of study of reforestation in the subtropical southeastern USA, repeated observations of above- and belowground carbon documented that significant gains in soil organic matter (SOM) in surface soils (0-7.5 cm) were offset by significant SOM losses in subsoils (35-60 cm).

The "immigrant paradox" phenomenon: assessing problem behaviors and risk factors among immigrant and native adolescents.

We investigated the "immigrant paradox" phenomenon by examining differences in problem behavior engagement and exposure to risk factors across four adolescent groups: 1,157 first-generation, 1,498 second-generation, and 3,316 White and minority third or higher generations. Latent mean differences in problem behavior engagement (i.e.

Helicobacter pylori infection does not promote hepatocellular cancer in a transgenic mouse model of hepatitis C virus pathogenesis.

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infect millions of people and can induce cancer. We investigated if H.

Colitis and colon cancer in WASP-deficient mice require helicobacter species.

Background: Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein-deficient patients and mice are immunodeficient and can develop inflammatory bowel disease. The intestinal microbiome is critical to the development of colitis in most animal models, in which Helicobacter spp. have been implicated in disease pathogenesis.

Testing Jessor's problem behavior theory and syndrome: a nationally representative comparative sample of Latino and African American adolescents.

Based on Jessor's problem behavior theory (PBT; R. Jessor, 1987, Problem-behavior theory, psychosocial development, and adolescent problem drinking, British Journal of Addiction, Vol. 82, pp.

Comparative risk of cardiac catheterisations performed on low birth weight neonates.

To determine whether cardiac catheterisation procedures for low birth weight neonatesr < or = 2.5 kg carries a greater risk of complications compared with neonates > 2.5 kg, we conducted a single-centre retrospective case–control study.

Prevalence of murine Helicobacter spp. Infection is reduced by restocking research colonies with Helicobacter-free mice.

Most academic research colonies of mice are endemically infected with enterohepatic Helicobacter spp. (EHS). We evaluated EHS prevalence in surveillance mice before and after a 10-y period of requiring that imported mice be free of EHS by embryo transfer rederivation or purchase from approved vendors.

Systemic macrophage depletion inhibits Helicobacter bilis-induced proinflammatory cytokine-mediated typhlocolitis and impairs bacterial colonization dynamics in a BALB/c Rag2-/- mouse model of inflammatory bowel disease.

Helicobacter bilis, an enterohepatic helicobacter, is associated with chronic hepatitis in aged immunocompetent inbred mice and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in immunodeficient mice. To evaluate the role of macrophages in H. bilis-induced IBD, Rag2(-/-) BALB/c or wild-type (WT) BALB/c mice were either sham dosed or infected with H.

Infection-induced colitis in mice causes dynamic and tissue-specific changes in stress response and DNA damage leading to colon cancer.

Helicobacter hepaticus-infected Rag2(-/-) mice emulate many aspects of human inflammatory bowel disease, including the development of colitis and colon cancer. To elucidate mechanisms of inflammation-induced carcinogenesis, we undertook a comprehensive analysis of histopathology, molecular damage, and gene expression changes during disease progression in these mice. Infected mice developed severe colitis and hepatitis by 10 wk post-infection, progressing into colon carcinoma by 20 wk post-infection, with pronounced pathology in the cecum and proximal colon marked by infiltration of neutrophils and macrophages.