Publications by authors named "R M Schmithausen"

Article Synopsis
  • Next-generation sequencing for microbial communities is now common, but it requires significant computational resources, highlighting the need for automated, reproducible analysis pipelines.
  • RiboSnake is a new QIIME2-based pipeline built with Snakemake that simplifies gene amplicon sequencing data analysis, offering pre-optimized settings for various sample types.
  • By providing a customizable and user-friendly tool for microbiome analyses, RiboSnake improves efficiency and accessibility for researchers and is available for use on GitHub.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background & Aims: Patients with chronic liver disease (CLD), including cirrhosis, are at increased risk of intractable viral infections and are hyporesponsive to vaccination. Hallmarks of CLD and cirrhosis include microbial translocation and elevated levels of type I interferon (IFN-I). We aimed to investigate the relevance of microbiota-induced IFN-I in the impaired adaptive immune responses observed in CLD.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The presence of neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 correlates with protection against infection and severe COVID-19 disease courses. Understanding the dynamics of antibody development against the SARS-CoV-2 virus is important for recommendations on vaccination strategies and on control of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study investigates the dynamics and extent of α-Spike-Ab development by different vaccines manufactured by Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The role of environmental transmission of SARS-CoV-2 remains unclear. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate whether viral contamination of air, wastewater, and surfaces in quarantined households result in a higher risk for exposed persons. For this study, a source population of 21 households under quarantine conditions with at least one person who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA were randomly selected from a community in North Rhine-Westphalia in March 2020.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF