Hospital toilets and drainage systems as a reservoir for a long-term polyclonal outbreak of clinical infections with multidrug-resistant species complex.

Background: Nosocomial outbreaks with multidrug-resistant bacteria with a probable reservoir in hospital toilets and drainage systems have been increasingly reported.

Aim: To investigate an increase in bacteraemia with extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing at our hospital in 2021; the epidemiology of the outbreak suggested an environmental source.

Methods: Available clinical isolates from patient with infection or rectal carriage from 2019 to 2022 were collected.

Shellfish and shorebirds from the East-Asian Australian flyway as bioindicators for unknown per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances using the total oxidizable precursor assay.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have gained significant global attention due to their extensive industrial use and harmful effects on various organisms. Among these, perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) are well-studied, but their diverse precursors remain challenging to monitor. The Total Oxidizable Precursor (TOP) assay offers a powerful approach to converting these precursors into detectable PFAAs.

Induction of Antigen-Specific Tolerance in a Multiple Sclerosis Model without Broad Immunosuppression.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a severe autoimmune disorder that wreaks havoc on the central nervous system, leading to a spectrum of motor and cognitive impairments. There is no cure, and current treatment strategies rely on broad immunosuppression, leaving patients vulnerable to infections. To address this problem, our approach aims to induce antigen-specific tolerance, a much-needed shift in MS therapy.

Carbonic anhydrase 2-derived drug-responsive domain regulates membrane-bound cytokine expression and function in engineered T cells.

Adoptive cell therapies (ACT) have shown reduced efficacy against solid tumor malignancies compared to hematologic malignancies, partly due to the immunosuppressive nature of the tumor microenvironment (TME). ACT efficacy may be enhanced with pleiotropic cytokines that remodel the TME; however, their expression needs to be tightly controlled to avoid systemic toxicities. Here we show T cells can be armored with membrane-bound cytokines with surface expression regulated using drug-responsive domains (DRDs) developed from the 260-amino acid protein human carbonic anhydrase 2 (CA2).

High dose inactivated influenza vaccine inconsistently improves heterologous antibody responses in an elderly human cohort.

Background: Older adults often mount a weak immune response to standard inactivated influenza vaccines. To induce a stronger response and better protection, a high-dose (HD) version of the inactivated Fluzone vaccine is recommended for individuals >65 years of age. While better immunogenicity and protection against the vaccine strain has been shown, it is not known if the HD vaccine also induces a robust antibody response to heterologous strains.