Benchmarking of Hi-C tools for scaffolding plant genomes obtained from PacBio HiFi and ONT reads.

The implementation of Hi-C reads in the genome assembly process allows the ordering of large regions of the genome in scaffolds and the generation of chromosome-level assemblies. Several bioinformatics tools have been developed for genome scaffolding with Hi-C, and each tool has advantages and disadvantages that need to be carefully evaluated before their adoption. We generated two assemblies of obtained from the same raw PacBio HiFi and Oxford Nanopore Technologies data.

No association between the early-life gut microbiota and childhood body mass index and body composition.

Background: The gut microbiota has been implicated in adult obesity, but the causality is still unclear. It has been hypothesized that an obesity-prone gut microbiota can be established in infancy, but only few studies have examined the early-life gut microbiota in relation to obesity in childhood, and no consistent associations have been reported. Here, we examine the association between the early-life gut microbiota and body mass index (BMI) development and body composition throughout childhood.

Co-localization of antibiotic resistance genes is widespread in the infant gut microbiome and associates with an immature gut microbial composition.

Background: In environmental bacteria, the selective advantage of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) can be increased through co-localization with genes such as other ARGs, biocide resistance genes, metal resistance genes, and virulence genes (VGs). The gut microbiome of infants has been shown to contain numerous ARGs, however, co-localization related to ARGs is unknown during early life despite frequent exposures to biocides and metals from an early age.

Results: We conducted a comprehensive analysis of genetic co-localization of resistance genes in a cohort of 662 Danish children and examined the association between such co-localization and environmental factors as well as gut microbial maturation.

Advances in active knee brace technology: A review of gait analysis, actuation, and control applications.

This article discusses the significance of knee joint mechanics and the consequences of knee dysfunctions on an individual's quality of life. The utilization of active knee braces, which incorporate concepts of mechatronics systems, is investigated here as a potential treatment option. The complexity of the construction of the knee joint, which has six degrees of motion and is more prone to injury since it bears weight, is emphasized in this article.

Differential responses of the gut microbiome and resistome to antibiotic exposures in infants and adults.

Despite their crucial importance for human health, there is still relatively limited knowledge on how the gut resistome changes or responds to antibiotic treatment across ages, especially in the latter case. Here, we use fecal metagenomic data from 662 Danish infants and 217 young adults to fill this gap. The gut resistomes are characterized by a bimodal distribution driven by E.