Web Visualization for Spatiotemporal Genomic Epidemiology, Annotation, and Mutation Dynamics of Orthohantavirus hantanense Using Nextstrain.

The phylogeographic inference approach aims to connect genomic data with epidemiology to understand the spread and evolution of pathogens using visualization of spatiotemporal reconstructions. Orthohantavirus hantanense (HTNV), the causative agent of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), represents a significant global public health concern. Here, we introduce a localized Nextstrain platform for HTNV, offering a comprehensive resource for facilitating spatiotemporal genomic surveillance and the study of evolutionary dynamics of viral genomes.

An exploratory survey assessing the determinants of heat stress and heat strain in the Canadian mining industry from the worker's perspective.

With mines extending deeper and rising surface temperatures, workers are exposed to hotter environments. This study aimed to characterize heat stress and strain in the Canadian mining industry and evaluate the utility of the Heat Strain Score Index (HSSI), combined with additional self-reported adverse health outcomes. An exploratory web-based survey was conducted among workers ( = 119) in the Canadian mining industry.

Contaminant-Associated Disruption of the Skin Transcriptome in the Endangered St. Lawrence Estuary Beluga.

The St. Lawrence Estuary (SLE) beluga () population in Canada is Endangered, and endocrine disrupting contaminants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and other halogenated flame retardants, have been identified as a threat to the recovery of this population. Here, potential impacts of these contaminants on SLE beluga were evaluated by comparing skin transcriptome profiles and biological pathways between this population and a population less exposed to contaminants (Eastern Beaufort Sea) used as a reference.

Examining the Biophysical Properties of the Inner Membrane of Gram-Negative ESKAPE Pathogens.

The World Health Organization has identified multidrug-resistant bacteria as a serious global health threat. Gram-negative bacteria are particularly prone to antibiotic resistance, and their high rate of antibiotic resistance has been suggested to be related to the complex structure of their cell membrane. The outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria contains lipopolysaccharides that protect the bacteria against threats such as antibiotics, while the inner membrane houses 20-30% of the bacterial cellular proteins.

Speech-Language Pathology Preservice Preparation for Working in School-Age Literacy: International Perspectives.

Purpose: This narrative review of preservice training of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to work in school-age literacy contexts examines (a) studies regarding SLPs' perceptions of their preservice training and (b) accreditation requirements for preservice training in selected nations.

Method: A review of the literature examining (a) SLPs' perspectives about their preservice training; (b) SLPs' beliefs, confidence, and self-efficacy; and (c) speech-language pathology preservice program content was conducted via analysis of studies published after the year 2010. Policy documents and websites outlining accreditation requirements in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand were reviewed.

The Lanthanide Contraction: What is an Abnormal and Why?

The lanthanide contraction is a widely known phenomenon in which the ionic radii of the Ln ions decrease across the series from La to Lu. As a result, the distance (Ln-Y), where Y is a ligand donor atom, decreases across the series. As shown previously, the decrease normally has a linear dependence on the number of 4f Ln electrons, , and the net change, Δ', is between 0.

Multidimensional scaling improves distance-based clustering for microbiome data.

Motivation: Clustering patients into subgroups based on their microbial compositions can greatly enhance our understanding of the role of microbes in human health and disease etiology. Distance-based clustering methods, such as partitioning around medoids (PAM), are popular due to their computational efficiency and absence of distributional assumptions. However, the performance of these methods can be suboptimal when true cluster memberships are driven by differences in the abundance of only a few microbes, a situation known as the sparse signal scenario.

Prion Protein Endoproteolysis: Cleavage Sites, Mechanisms and Connections to Prion Disease.

Highly abundant in neurons, the cellular prion protein (PrP) is an obligatory precursor to the disease-associated misfolded isoform denoted PrP that accumulates in the rare neurodegenerative disorders referred to either as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) or as prion diseases. The ability of PrP to serve as a substrate for this template-mediated conversion process depends on several criteria but importantly includes the presence or absence of certain endoproteolytic events performed at the cell surface or in acidic endolysosomal compartments. The major endoproteolytic events affecting PrP are referred to as α- and β-cleavages, and in this review we outline the sites within PrP at which the cleavages occur, the mechanisms potentially responsible and their relevance to pathology.

Pyoderma Gangrenosum Improved with Dapsone and Prednisone: A Case Report.

Pyoderma gangrenosum is a rare ulcerative condition that poses diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. Diagnosis and appropriate management are often delayed due to its rarity and the presence of numerous clinical variants. In this case report, the authors present the case of a 36-year-old man who had long-standing and nonhealing ulcers that did not respond to multiple antibiotics and serial wound debridement.

Electroconvulsive shock and transcranial magnetic stimulation do not alter the survival or spine density of adult-born striatal neurons.

Adult neurogenesis has most often been studied in the hippocampus and subventricular zone-olfactory bulb, where newborn neurons contribute to a variety of behaviors. A handful of studies have also investigated adult neurogenesis in other brain regions, but relatively little is known about the properties of neurons added to non-canonical areas. One such region is the striatum.

Impact of exercise with blood flow restriction on muscle hypertrophy and performance outcomes in men and women.

Blood flow restriction training (BFRT) has been previously studied as an alternative form of resistance training to gain lean mass and improve performance outcomes. However, in all exercise studies of BFRT, the proportion of female participants represents only 17-29% of all research participants. This highlights a strong underrepresentation of females and the need for more knowledge on the impact of BFRT and sex differences.

Experience modulates gaze behavior and the effectiveness of information pickup to overcome the inversion effect in biological motion perception.

The inversion effect in biological motion suggests that presenting a point-light display (PLD) in an inverted orientation impairs the observer's ability to perceive the movement, likely due to the observer's unfamiliarity with the dynamic characteristics of inverted motion. Vertical dancers (VDs), accustomed to performing and perceiving others to perform dance movements in an inverted orientation while being suspended in the air, offer a unique perspective on this phenomenon. A previous study showed that VDs were more sensitive to the artificial inversion of PLDs depicting dance movements when compared to typical and non-dancers if given sufficient dynamic information.

The Role of Multimodality Imaging in Multiple Valvular Heart Diseases. A Clinical Consensus Statement of the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI) of the ESC.

With this document, the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI) provides an Expert Consensus on the role of multi-modality imaging (MMI) in the management of patients with multiple valvular heart disease (MVD). Emphasis is given to the use of MMI to unravel the diagnostic challenges that characterize these patients and to improve risk stratification. Complementing the last European Society of Cardiology and European Association of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery guidelines on valvular heart disease, this Expert Consensus document also outlines how MMI assessment should form an integral part of the multi-disciplinary heart team discussion for patients with MVD to help with complex decision-making regarding the choice and timing of treatment.

Therapeutic interception in individuals at risk of rheumatoid arthritis to prevent clinically impactful disease.

Multiple clinical trials for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) prevention have been completed. Here, we set out to report on the lessons learnt from these studies. Researchers who conducted RA prevention trials shared the background, rationale, approach and outcomes and evaluated the lessons learnt to inform the next generation of RA prevention trials.

Aspartate Metabolism-Driven Gut Microbiota Dynamics and RIP-Dependent Mitochondrial Function Counteract Oxidative Stress.

Aspartate (Asp) metabolism-mediated antioxidant functions have important implications for neonatal growth and intestinal health; however, the antioxidant mechanisms through which Asp regulates the gut microbiota and influences RIP activation remain elusive. This study reports that chronic oxidative stress disrupts gut microbiota and metabolite balance and that such imbalance is intricately tied to the perturbation of Asp metabolism. Under normal conditions, in vivo and in vitro studies reveal that exogenous Asp improves intestinal health by regulating epithelial cell proliferation, nutrient uptake, and apoptosis.

Effectiveness of a New Device for Hand, Wrist, and Forearm Rehabilitation: Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Forearm, wrist, and hand impairments affect many individuals and impose a significant economic burden on health care systems. The FEPSim (flexion, extension, pronation, and supination) is designed for hand and wrist rehabilitation. It could become part of the standard care for upper extremity rehabilitation, aiming to improve range of motion, dexterity, and strength during therapeutic activities.

Advancing stroke rehabilitation: the role of wearable technology according to research experts.

Background: Advancements in wearable technology have created new opportunities to monitor stroke survivors' behaviors in daily activities. Research insights are needed to guide its adoption in clinical practice, address current gaps, and shape the future of stroke rehabilitation. This project aims to: (1) Understand stroke rehabilitation researchers' perspectives on the opportunities, challenges, and clinical relevance of wearable technology for stroke rehabilitation, and (2) Identify necessary next steps to integrate wearable technology in research and clinical practice.

Steady-state free precession NMR without Fourier transform: Redefining the capabilities of 19F NMR as a discovery tool.

The 2024 Zurich perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) summit reiterated the urgent need for non-selective analytical approaches for PFC detection. 19F NMR holds great potential, however, sensitivity limitations lead to long analysis times and/or the possibility of not detecting low concentration species. Steady State Free Precession (SSFP) NMR collects the signal in a steady state regime, allowing 100's of acquisitions in the timespan of a single traditional NMR scan.

Brain Function Outcomes of Recent and Lifetime Cannabis Use.

Importance: Cannabis use has increased globally, but its effects on brain function are not fully known, highlighting the need to better determine recent and long-term brain activation outcomes of cannabis use.

Objective: To examine the association of lifetime history of heavy cannabis use and recent cannabis use with brain activation across a range of brain functions in a large sample of young adults in the US.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cross-sectional study used data (2017 release) from the Human Connectome Project (collected between August 2012 and 2015).

The role of circular RNAs in autoimmune diseases: Potential diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

With the emergence of high-quality sequencing technologies, further research on transcriptomes has become possible. Circular RNA (circRNA), a novel type of endogenous RNA molecule with a covalently closed circular structure through "back-splicing," is reported to be widely present in eukaryotic cells and participates mainly in regulating gene and protein expression in various ways. It is becoming a research hotspot in the non-coding RNA field.

In this current wildfire crisis, acknowledge widespread suffering.

With climate change causing more extreme weather events globally, climate scientists have argued that societies have three options: mitigation, adaptation or suffering. In recent years, devastating wildfires have caused significant suffering, yet the extent of this suffering has not been defined. To encapsulate this suffering, we determined impacts and effects of extreme wildfires through two systematic literature reviews.

Abnormal network homogeneity in patients with bipolar disorder in attention network.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a complex psychiatric condition marked by significant mood fluctuations that deeply affect quality of life. Understanding the neural mechanisms underlying BD is critical for improving diagnostic accuracy and developing more effective treatments. This study utilized resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) to investigate functional connectivity within the ventral and dorsal attention networks in 52 patients with BD and 51 healthy controls.