Dynamic interplay of autophagy and membrane repair during Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection.

Autophagy plays a crucial role in the host response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection, yet the dynamics and regulation of autophagy induction on Mtb-containing vacuoles (MCVs) remain only partially understood. We employed time-lapse confocal microscopy to investigate the recruitment of LC3B (LC3), a key autophagy marker, to MCVs at the single cell level with our newly developed workflow for single cell and single MCV tracking and fluorescence quantification. We show that approximately 70% of MCVs exhibited LC3 recruitment but that was lost in about 40% of those MCVs.

Bacterial meningitis in a quaternary NICU: A multiyear retrospective study.

Bacterial meningitis causes significant morbidity and mortality in infants. Lumbar punctures are often deferred until the results of blood cultures are known and sometimes not considered, making this population susceptible to a missed diagnosis. There are few studies describing the epidemiology of neonatal meningitis in quaternary neonatal intensive care unit settings.

Effects of rapid enteral feed advancement with early human milk fortification in very low birth weight preterm infants > 30 weeks gestation in a resource limited setting- a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To study the effects of rapid enteral feed advancement with early feed fortification in stable very low birth weight (VLBW) infants >30 weeks gestation.

Study Design: Preterm infants (N = 92) were randomized to a) rapid feed advancement-early fortification - REF group (enteral feed advanced at 25-30 ml/kg/day, fortification at 50 ml/kg/day) or b) slow feed advancement-late fortification-SLF group (feed advanced at 15-20 ml/kg/day, fortification at 100 ml/kg/day).

Results: The primary outcome-time to regain birth weight was significantly lower in REF group (9 days vs 13 days, P = 0.

Insights into the growth of GaN thin films through liquid gallium sputtering: A plasma-film combined analysis.

This study presents the detailed characterization of a magnetron-based Ar-N2 plasma discharge used to sputter a liquid Ga target for the deposition of gallium nitride (GaN) thin films. By utilizing in situ diagnostic techniques including optical emission spectroscopy and microwave interferometry, we determine different temperatures (rotational and vibrational of N2 molecules, and electronic excitation of Ar atoms) and electron density, respectively. Beyond providing insights into fundamental plasma physics, our research establishes a significant correlation between gas-phase dynamics, particularly those of gallium atoms (flux and average energy at the substrate) and deposited GaN thin film properties (growth rate and crystalline fraction).

Importance of risk adjusting central line-associated bloodstream infection rates in children.

Objective: Central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) is one of the most prevalent pediatric healthcare-associated infections and is used to benchmark hospital performance. Pediatric patients have increased in acuity and complexity over time. Existing approaches to risk adjustment do not control for individual patient characteristics, which are strong predictors of CLABSI risk and vary over time.

T-cell Responses to Individualized Neoantigen Therapy mRNA-4157 (V940) Alone or in Combination with Pembrolizumab in the Phase 1 KEYNOTE-603 Study.

mRNA-4157 (V940) is an individualized neoantigen therapy targeting up to 34 patient-specific tumor neoantigens to induce T-cell responses and potentiate antitumor activity. We report mechanistic insights into the immunogenicity of mRNA-4157 via characterization of T-cell responses to neoantigens from the first-in-human, phase 1, KEYNOTE-603 study (NCT03313778) in patients with resected non-small cell lung cancer (Part A: 1-mg mRNA-4157, n = 4) or resected cutaneous melanoma (Part D: 1-mg mRNA-4157 + 200-mg pembrolizumab, n = 12). Safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity were assessed.

Sepsis Huddles in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A Retrospective Cohort Study of Late-onset Infection Recognition and Severity Assessment.

Objective: To analyze relationships between provider-documented signs prompting sepsis evaluations, assessments of illness severity, and late-onset infection (LOI).

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study of all infants receiving a sepsis huddle in conjunction with a LOI evaluation. Participants were ≥3 days old and admitted to a level IV neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) from September 2018 through May 2021.

Comparison of parent or caregiver-completed development screening tools with Bayley Scales of Infant Development: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Parent/caregiver-completed developmental testing (PCDT) is integral to developmental care in children; however, there is limited information on its accuracy. In this systematic review, we compared the diagnostic accuracy of PCDT with concurrently administered Bayley Scales of Infant Development for detection of developmental delay (DD) in children below 4 years of age.

Methods: We searched databases PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO and Google Scholar until November 2023.

Synanthropic rodents and shrews are reservoirs of zoonotic bacterial pathogens and act as sentinels for antimicrobial resistance spillover in the environment: A study from Puducherry, India.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global public health concern and needs to be monitored for control. In this study, synanthropic rodents trapped from humans and animal habitats in Puducherry, India, were screened as sentinels for bacterial pathogens of public health importance and antimicrobial resistance spillover. From the trapped rodents and shrews ( = 100) pathogens viz.

A molecular survey of zoonotic pathogens of public health importance in rodents/shrews and their ectoparasites trapped in Puducherry, India.

Background: Globally, India has a high zoonotic disease burden and lacks surveillance data in humans and animals. Rodents are known reservoirs for many zoonotic diseases and their synanthropic behavior poses a great public health threat.

Methods: In this study, trapped rodents/shrews from randomly selected villages within Puducherry, India, and their ectoparasites were screened for zoonotic pathogens, namely, Orientia tsutsugamushi, other pathogenic rickettsiae, Leptospira spp.

Pathological Responses in Asian House Shrews () to the Naturally Acquired Infection.

Scrub typhus is a re-emerging disease caused by , transmitted by mites belonging to the family . Humans and rodents acquire the infection by the bite of larval mites/chiggers. , the Asian house shrew, has been reported to harbor the vector mites and has been naturally infected with .

A novel organic-inorganic matrix nanofiltration membrane for remediating copper with enhanced thermal stability and mechanical strength.

Membrane separation technology in the last 40 years has experienced impressive growth, displacing conventional separation processes due to inherent advantages such as less capital investment, and energy efficiency and the devices were simple, compact, and modular. In the current work, we aimed to synthesize a thin-sheet nanofiltration membrane using chitosan (CS), poly(vinyl) alcohol (PVA), and montmorillonite nanoclay (MMT) for copper removal from aqueous solution. Thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry were employed to evaluate the thermal stability of a novel organic-inorganic hybrid membrane.

Effect of Minimization of Early Blood Sampling Losses Among Extremely Premature Neonates: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of blood sampling stewardship on transfusion requirements among infants born extremely preterm.

Study Design: In this single-center, randomized controlled trial (RCT), infants born at <28 weeks of gestation and birth weight of <1000 g were randomized at 24 hours of age to two different blood sampling approaches: restricted sampling (RS) vs conventional sampling (CS). The stewardship intervention in the RS group included targeted reduction in blood sampling volume and frequency and point of care testing methods in the first 6 weeks after birth.

NEDD4L intramolecular interactions regulate its auto and substrate Na1.5 ubiquitination.

NEDD4L is a HECT-type E3 ligase that catalyzes the addition of ubiquitin to intracellular substrates such as the cardiac voltage-gated sodium channel, Na1.5. The intramolecular interactions of NEDD4L regulate its enzymatic activity which is essential for proteostasis.

Comparative Evaluation of Different Tissues and Molecular Techniques for the Zoonotic Surveillance of Scrub Typhus.

Scrub typhus (ST) is detected in one-fourth of patients with acute febrile illnesses, confirming its nationwide re-emergence. The disease, if not diagnosed, can lead to multiple organ dysfunction and mortality. Being a vector-borne zoonotic disease, the molecular survey for pathogens in animal hosts is essential to predict the risk of its transmission to humans.

Evidence on the prevalence of emerging and re-emerging tick- and flea-borne rickettsial agents in acute encephalitis syndrome endemic areas of northeast Uttar Pradesh, India.

Outbreaks of acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) with unknown aetiology are reported every year in Gorakhpur district, Uttar Pradesh, India, and Orientia tsutsugamushi, the rickettsial pathogen, responsible for scrub typhus has been attributed as the primary cause of AES problem. However, information on the prevalence of other rickettsial infections is lacking. Hence, this study was carried out to assess any occurrence of tick- and flea-borne rickettsial agents in villages reporting AES cases in this district.

Racial and ethnic disparities in common inpatient safety outcomes in a children's hospital cohort.

Background: Emerging evidence has shown racial and ethnic disparities in rates of harm for hospitalised children. Previous work has also demonstrated how highly heterogeneous approaches to collection of race and ethnicity data pose challenges to population-level analyses. This work aims to both create an approach to aggregating safety data from multiple hospitals by race and ethnicity and apply the approach to the examination of potential disparities in high-frequency harm conditions.

Identification of HPV16 E1 and E2-specific T cells in the oropharyngeal cancer tumor microenvironment.

Background: High-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) is a primary cause of an increasing number of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas (OPSCCs). The viral etiology of these cancers provides the opportunity for antigen-directed therapies that are restricted in scope compared with cancers without viral components. However, specific virally-encoded epitopes and their corresponding immune responses are not fully defined.

A universal MHCII technology platform to characterize antigen-specific CD4 T cells.

CD4 T cells are critical to the immune system and perform multiple functions; therefore, their identification and characterization are crucial to better understanding the immune system in both health and disease states. However, current methods rarely preserve their phenotype, thus limiting our understanding of their functions. Here we introduce a flexible, rapid, and robust platform for CD4 T cell identification.

A cyst in the mist: bronchogenic mediastinal cysts.

Malformations of the bronchopulmonary foregut can lead to the formation of bronchogenic mediastinal cysts (BMC). BMC are rare congenital malformations usually found in the middle or posterior mediastinum. Only one-third of patients with BMC are symptomatic.

Personalized neoantigen vaccine NEO-PV-01 with chemotherapy and anti-PD-1 as first-line treatment for non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer.

Neoantigens arising from mutations in tumor DNA provide targets for immune-based therapy. Here, we report the clinical and immune data from a Phase Ib clinical trial of a personalized neoantigen-vaccine NEO-PV-01 in combination with pemetrexed, carboplatin, and pembrolizumab as first-line therapy for advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This analysis of 38 patients treated with the regimen demonstrated no treatment-related serious adverse events.

Laser-Assisted Frenectomy Followed by Post-Operative Tongue Exercises in Ankyloglossia: A Report of Two Cases.

Ankyloglossia, commonly known as tongue-tie, is a developmental abnormality that may interfere in speech and articulation of lingual and sibilant sounds, due to the abnormal lingual frenal attachment. Lingual frenectomy severs the tie, however in adolescents and young adults, kinesthetic awareness, that is, the senses of position and movement of the tongue, needs to be increased. In such a scenario, tongue exercises lend a helping hand.

Development of high-affinity nanobodies specific for Na1.4 and Na1.5 voltage-gated sodium channel isoforms.

Voltage-gated sodium channels, Nas, are responsible for the rapid rise of action potentials in excitable tissues. Na channel mutations have been implicated in several human genetic diseases, such as hypokalemic periodic paralysis, myotonia, and long-QT and Brugada syndromes. Here, we generated high-affinity anti-Na nanobodies (Nbs), Nb17 and Nb82, that recognize the Na1.

Elusive structure of mammalian DGKs.

Mammalian diacylglycerol kinases (DGKs) are a group of enzymes that catalyze the ATP-dependent phosphorylation of diacylglycerol (DAG) to produce phosphatidic acid (PtdOH). In doing so, they modulate the levels of these two important signaling lipids. Currently, ten mammalian DGKs are organized into five classes that vary with respect to domain organization, regulation, and cellular/subcellular distribution.