Laboratory Replication of Ostreid Herpes Virus (OsHV-1) Using Pacific Oyster Tissue Explants.

Pacific oysters ( or ) are one of the most economically important aquaculture species globally. Over the past two decades, ostreid herpesvirus (OsHV-1) has become a major pathogen of cultured Pacific oysters, resulting in widespread mortality with a global distribution. Experimental use of OsHV-1 is challenging for many reasons, including both complexity of host-pathogen dynamics and a lack of functioning model systems.

New Oldowan locality Sare-Abururu (ca. 1.7 Ma) provides evidence of diverse hominin behaviors on the Homa Peninsula, Kenya.

The Homa Peninsula, in southwestern Kenya, continues to yield insights into Oldowan hominin landscape behaviors. The Late Pliocene locality of Nyayanga (∼3-2.6 Ma) preserves some of the oldest Oldowan tools.

A systematic review of preclinical studies evaluating the association between nicotine and the initiation and progression of cancer.

Background: The association between cigarette smoking and the increased risk of many cancers is well established. Conversely, epidemiological studies of smokeless tobacco demonstrate decreased risk, or no elevated risk, of certain cancers versus smoking. However, it is unclear what role, if any, nicotine plays in these associations.

Influenza enhances host susceptibility to non-pulmonary invasive infections.

(group A streptococcus; GAS) causes a variety of invasive diseases (iGAS) such as bacteremia, toxic shock syndrome, and pneumonia, which are associated with high mortality despite the susceptibility of the bacteria to penicillin . Epidemiologic studies indicate that respiratory influenza virus infection is associated with an increase in the frequency of iGAS diseases, including those not directly involving the lung. We modified a murine model of influenza A (IAV)-GAS superinfection to determine if viral pneumonia increased the susceptibility of mice subsequently infected with GAS in the peritoneum.

UBXN2A suppresses the Rictor-mTORC2 signaling pathway, an established tumorigenic pathway in human colorectal cancer.

The mTORC2 pathway plays a critical role in promoting tumor progression in human colorectal cancer (CRC). The regulatory mechanisms for this signaling pathway are only partially understood. We previously identified UBXN2A as a novel tumor suppressor protein in CRCs and hypothesized that UBXN2A suppresses the mTORC2 pathway, thereby inhibiting CRC growth and metastasis.

Study title: A systematic review of RCTs to examine the risk of adverse cardiovascular events with nicotine use.

Associations between cigarette smoking and increased risk of cardiovascular disease are well established. However, it is unclear whether the association is mediated by exposure to nicotine and/or to other constituents in cigarette smoke. The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized control trials (RCTs) was to identify any potential associations between exposure to nicotine and the risk of clinically diagnosed adverse cardiovascular events in adult current users and nonusers of tobacco products.

Enhancing Anti-Tumorigenic Efficacy of Eugenol in Human Colon Cancer Cells Using Enzyme-Responsive Nanoparticles.

This study is focused on the selective delivery and release of the plant-based anticancer compound eugenol (EUG) in colorectal cancer cells (CRC). EUG is an apoptotic and anti-growth compound in diverse malignant tumors, including CRC. However, EUG's rapid metabolization, excretion, and side effects on normal cells at higher dosages are major limitations of its therapeutic potential.

Expanded geographic distribution and dietary strategies of the earliest Oldowan hominins and .

The oldest Oldowan tool sites, from around 2.6 million years ago, have previously been confined to Ethiopia's Afar Triangle. We describe sites at Nyayanga, Kenya, dated to 3.

Late quaternary biotic homogenization of North American mammalian faunas.

Biotic homogenization-increasing similarity of species composition among ecological communities-has been linked to anthropogenic processes operating over the last century. Fossil evidence, however, suggests that humans have had impacts on ecosystems for millennia. We quantify biotic homogenization of North American mammalian assemblages during the late Pleistocene through Holocene (~30,000 ybp to recent), a timespan encompassing increased evidence of humans on the landscape (~20,000-14,000 ybp).

Examination of vertical transmission of Bartonella quintana in body lice following multiple infectious blood meals.

Bartonella quintana is a re-emerging louse-borne pathogen. Horizontal transmission from the body louse vector (Pediculus humanus humanus) to a human host occurs through contact with infectious louse feces containing a high concentration of the bacteria. However, questions have remained about whether vertical transmission from infected vectors to their progeny, which could significantly influence the dynamics of transmission to humans, occurs in body lice.

Holocene bidirectional river system along the Kenya Rift and its influence on East African faunal exchange and diversity gradients.

East Africa is a global biodiversity hotspot and exhibits distinct longitudinal diversity gradients from west to east in freshwater fishes and forest mammals. The assembly of this exceptional biodiversity and the drivers behind diversity gradients remain poorly understood, with diversification often studied at local scales and less attention paid to biotic exchange between Afrotropical regions. Here, we reconstruct a river system that existed for several millennia along the now semiarid Kenya Rift Valley during the humid early Holocene and show how this river system influenced postglacial dispersal of fishes and mammals due to its dual role as a dispersal corridor and barrier.

Training to Promote Empathic Communication in Graduate Medical Education: A Shared Learning Intervention in Internal Medicine and General Surgery.

Background: Empathic communication skills have a growing presence in graduate medical education to empower trainees in serious illness communication.

Objective: Evaluate the impact, feasibility, and acceptability of a shared communication training intervention for residents of different specialties.

Design: A randomized controlled study of standard education v.

A Comparative Study of Body Lice and Bed Bugs Reveals Factors Potentially Involved in Differential Vector Competence for the Relapsing Fever Spirochete Borrelia recurrentis.

Borrelia recurrentis is the causative agent of louse-borne relapsing fever and the only species transmitted by an insect rather than a tick vector. While bed bugs (Cimex lectularius L.) are not established vectors of any human pathogens, a recent study reported that they may be competent vectors of B.

Effects of reduced mobility on trabecular bone density in captive big cats.

Bone responds to elevated mechanical loading by increasing in mass and density. Therefore, wild animals should exhibit greater skeletal mass and density than captive conspecifics. This expectation is pertinent to testing bone functional adaptation theories and to comparative studies, which commonly use skeletal remains that combine zoo and wild-caught specimens.

Pre-clinical safety and therapeutic efficacy of a plant-based alkaloid in a human colon cancer xenograft model.

A high-throughput drug screen revealed that veratridine (VTD), a natural plant alkaloid, induces expression of the anti-cancer protein UBXN2A in colon cancer cells. UBXN2A suppresses mortalin, a heat shock protein, with dominant roles in cancer development including epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), cancer cell stemness, drug resistance, and apoptosis. VTD-dependent expression of UBXN2A leads to the deactivation of mortalin in colon cancer cells, making VTD a potential targeted therapy in malignant tumors with high levels of mortalin.

Establishment of populations and new records of -infected in South Dakota.

Tick-borne diseases are an emerging public health threat in the United States, but surveillance is lacking in some regions. To advance current knowledge of the ecology of ticks and tick-borne diseases in South Dakota, we conducted a survey in the summer of 2019, focusing on the eastern counties of the state. We collected and identified 266 ticks and a subset were tested for the presence of by polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Minimising young children's anxiety through schools (MY-CATS): protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of an online parent-led intervention compared with usual school practice for young children identified as at risk for anxiety disorders.

Background: Identifying and supporting young children who are at risk of developing anxiety disorders would benefit children, families, and wider society. Elevated anxiety symptoms, inhibited temperament, and high parental anxiety are established risk factors for later anxiety disorders, but it remains unclear who is most likely to benefit from prevention and early intervention programmes. Delivering an online intervention through schools to parents of young children who have one or more of these risks could maximise reach.

A -Like Bacterium in Tropical Bed Bugs from Madagascar.

The genus includes several highly virulent human pathogens and some tick endosymbionts. infections are acquired by humans through contact with vertebrate animal reservoirs or contaminated water or dust. The species can also be transmitted by arthropods including ticks, mosquitoes, and flies.

Targeting Colon Cancer Cells with Enzyme-Triggered Casein-Gated Release of Cargo from Mesoporous Silica-Based Nanoparticles.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most widely diagnosed cancers worldwide. Despite notable improvements in therapeutic strategies available to CRC patients, late stages of CRC have a higher incidence rate of drug resistance, which is associated with a higher mortality rate. The development of therapeutic strategies that use nanoparticles as a drug delivery system has become one of the most promising potential approaches for cancer therapy.

Testing potential mechanisms underlying test-potentiated new learning.

An emerging body of studies demonstrates that practicing retrieval of studied information, by comparison with restudying or no treatment, can facilitate subsequent learning and retrieval of new information, a phenomenon termed the (FTE) or . Several theoretical explanations have been proposed to account for the FTE. A release-from-PI theory proposes that interpolated testing induces context changes and enhances event segregation, which in turn protect new learning from proactive interference (PI).

Eastern African environmental variation and its role in the evolution and cultural change of Homo over the last 1 million years.

Characterizing eastern African environmental variability on orbital timescales is crucial to evaluating the hominin evolutionary response to past climate changes. However, there is a dearth of high-resolution, well-dated records of ecosystem dynamics from eastern Africa that cover long time intervals. In the last 1 Myr, there were significant anatomical and cultural developments in Homo, including the origin of Homo sapiens.

Potential of genomic technologies to improve disease resistance in molluscan aquaculture.

Molluscan aquaculture is a major contributor to global seafood production, but is hampered by infectious disease outbreaks that can cause serious economic losses. Selective breeding has been widely used to improve disease resistance in major agricultural and aquaculture species, and has clear potential in molluscs, albeit its commercial application remains at a formative stage. Advances in genomic technologies, especially the development of cost-efficient genomic selection, have the potential to accelerate genetic improvement.