Dosage Compensation throughout the Schistosoma mansoni Lifecycle: Specific Chromatin Landscape of the Z Chromosome.

Differentiated sex chromosomes are accompanied by a difference in gene dose between X/Z-specific and autosomal genes. At the transcriptomic level, these sex-linked genes can lead to expression imbalance, or gene dosage can be compensated by epigenetic mechanisms and results into expression level equalization. Schistosoma mansoni has been previously described as a ZW species (i.

Effect of Vine Water and Nitrogen Status, as Well as Temperature, on Some Aroma Compounds of Aged Red Bordeaux Wines.

Wine aging bouquet is defined as a positive, complex evolution of aromas during bottle aging. The aim of this study was to look for the link between some of the vine status parameters and the development, during wine aging, of volatile compounds such as DMS, tabanones, and some wine aromatic heterocycles. The potential influence of air temperature was investigated as well as vine nitrogen and water status.

Towards harmonisation of entomological surveillance in the Mediterranean area.

Background: The Mediterranean Basin is historically a hotspot for trade, transport, and migration. As a result, countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea share common public health threats. Among them are vector-borne diseases, and in particular, mosquito-borne viral diseases are prime candidates as (re)emerging diseases and are likely to spread across the area.

Cross-Reactivity to Cephalosporins and Carbapenems in Penicillin-Allergic Patients: Two Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses.

Background: There is no recent systematic review on the risk of cross-reactivity to cephalosporins and carbapenems in penicillin-allergic patients despite many new studies on the subject. All past reviews have several limitations such as not including any patient with a T-cell-mediated penicillin allergy.

Objectives: To determine the risk of cross-reactivity to cephalosporins and carbapenems in patients with a proven IgE- or T-cell-mediated penicillin allergy.

Human aging DNA methylation signatures are conserved but accelerated in cultured fibroblasts.

Aging is associated with progressive and site-specific changes in DNA methylation (DNAm). These global changes are captured by DNAm clocks that accurately predict chronological age in humans but relatively little is known about how clocks perform . Here we culture primary human fibroblasts across the cellular lifespan (~6 months) and use four different DNAm clocks to show that age-related DNAm signatures are conserved and accelerated .

Accelerating research on biological aging and mental health: Current challenges and future directions.

Aging is associated with complex biological changes that can be accelerated, slowed, or even temporarily reversed by biological and non-biological factors. This article focuses on the link between biological aging, psychological stressors, and mental illness. Rather than comprehensively reviewing this rapidly expanding field, we highlight challenges in this area of research and propose potential strategies to accelerate progress in this field.

Predictors of ccf-mtDNA reactivity to acute psychological stress identified using machine learning classifiers: A proof-of-concept.

Objective: We have previously found that acute psychological stress may affect mitochondria and trigger an increase in serum mitochondrial DNA, known as circulating cell-free mtDNA (ccf-mtDNA). Similar to other stress reactivity measures, there are substantial unexplained inter-individual differences in the magnitude of ccf-mtDNA reactivity, as well as within-person differences across different occasions of testing. Here, we sought to identify psychological and physiological predictors of ccf-mtDNA reactivity using machine learning-based multivariate classifiers.

Surgery Does Not Improve Survival in Patients With Isolated Severe Tricuspid Regurgitation.

Background: Patients with isolated tricuspid regurgitation (TR) in the absence of left-sided valvular dysfunction are often managed nonoperatively.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of surgery for isolated TR, comparing survival for isolated severe TR patients who underwent surgery with those who did not.

Methods: A longitudinal echocardiography database was used to perform a retrospective analysis of 3,276 adult patients with isolated severe TR from November 2001 to March 2016.

Acute psychological stress increases serum circulating cell-free mitochondrial DNA.

Intrinsic biological mechanisms transduce psychological stress into physiological adaptation that requires energy, but the role of mitochondria and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in this process has not been defined in humans. Here, we show that similar to physical injury, exposure to psychological stress increases serum circulating cell-free mtDNA (ccf-mtDNA) levels. Healthy midlife adults exposed on two separate occasions to a brief psychological challenge exhibited a 2-3-fold increase in ccf-mtDNA, with no change in ccf-nuclear DNA levels, establishing the magnitude and specificity for ccf-mtDNA reactivity.

Health and Disease-Emergent States Resulting From Adaptive Social and Biological Network Interactions.

Health is an adaptive state unique to each person. This subjective state must be distinguished from the objective state of disease. The experience of health and illness (or poor health) can occur both in the absence and presence of objective disease.

Effect of low-temperature storage on the content of folate, vitamin B , ascorbic acid, chlorogenic acid, tyrosine, and phenylalanine in potatoes.

Background: Changes in the metabolite composition of potato tubers during low-temperature storage can affect their nutritional value, susceptibility to bruising, and processing qualities. Here, we measured changes in the amounts of folate, vitamin B , and vitamin C, and the blackspot pigment precursors chlorogenic acid and tyrosine, as well as phenylalanine, in five potato varieties stored at 7.8 °C for 8 months in 2015 and 2016.

The application of appropriate use criteria for transthoracic echocardiography in a cardiac intensive care unit.

Background: Appropriate use criteria (AUC) represent an important mechanism by which to promote the rational utilization of healthcare resources. No study to date has been conducted assessing the applicability of current AUC to transthoracic echocardiograms (TTEs) performed in a cardiac intensive care unit (CICU). We analyzed 2 years of consecutive TTEs performed in a CICU at a quaternary-care academic medical center, hypothesizing that current AUC may not adequately describe the role of TTE in a modern CICU.

grass-derived carbon dots to selectively detect Fe ions.

Novel fluorescent carbon dots (CDs) were synthesized using an economically feasible and green one-step heating process. , a perennial grass and an inexpensive sustainable biomass, was utilized as the starting material to prepare CDs and doped CDs (nitrogen, phosphorous and nitrogen-phosphorous dual doped). The abundance of oxygen-containing functional groups in -derived CDs (MCD) and doped MCD was confirmed Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS).

Association Between Transthoracic Echocardiography Appropriateness and Echocardiographic Findings.

Background: The association between appropriate use criteria and echocardiographic findings in patients with chronic cardiovascular diseases is unknown.

Methods: As a substudy of the Echo WISELY (Will Inappropriate Scenarios for Echocardiography Lessen Significantly) trial, 9,230 transthoracic echocardiographic (TTE) examinations from six Ontario academic hospitals were linked to a registry of echocardiographic findings. The TTE studies were rated appropriate), rarely appropriate, or may be appropriate according to the 2011 appropriate use criteria.

Optimal Technique for Measurement of Linear Left Ventricular Dimensions.

Introduction: Echocardiographic assessment of the left ventricle (LV) begins with the measurement of linear dimensions that approximate its ellipsoid diameter. These linear dimensions have historically been measured at the basal level of the LV, which is not representative of its true diameter. The objective of this study was to determine the optimal level to measure LV cavity dimensions to more accurately estimate its size and mass.

Baseline Characteristics and Risk Profiles of Participants in the ISCHEMIA Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: It is unknown whether coronary revascularization, when added to optimal medical therapy, improves prognosis in patients with stable ischemic heart disease (SIHD) at increased risk of cardiovascular events owing to moderate or severe ischemia.

Objective: To describe baseline characteristics of participants enrolled and randomized in the International Study of Comparative Health Effectiveness With Medical and Invasive Approaches (ISCHEMIA) trial and to evaluate whether qualification by stress imaging or nonimaging exercise tolerance test (ETT) influenced risk profiles.

Design, Setting, And Participants: The ISCHEMIA trial recruited patients with SIHD with moderate or severe ischemia on stress testing.

Neutropenic Enterocolitis in Critically Ill Patients: Spectrum of the Disease and Risk of Invasive Fungal Disease.

Objectives: Neutropenic enterocolitis occurs in about 5.3% of patients hospitalized for hematologic malignancies receiving chemotherapy. Data from critically ill patients with neutropenic enterocolitis are scarce.