LD-transpeptidase-mediated cell envelope remodeling enables developmental transitions and survival in and .

and are two phylogenetically related bacterial pathogens that exhibit extreme intrinsic resistance when they enter into a dormancy-like state. This enables both pathogens to survive extended periods in growth-limited environments. Survival is dependent upon their ability to undergo developmental transitions into two phenotypically distinct variants, one specialized for intracellular replication and another for prolonged survival in the environment and host.

The Cutaneous Pathology of Erythromelalgia and Its Role in Establishing Critical Clues Regarding Pathogenesis.

Erythromelalgia, a rare cutaneous pain syndrome, is characterized by acral burning pain and flushing, often alleviated by cold and rest. Primary erythromelalgia is caused by gain-of-function mutations of genes encoding for sodium channels, resulting in hyperexcitability of pain signaling neurons. Autoimmunity and hematologic dyscrasias such as thrombocythemia have been implicated in secondary erythromelalgia.

Patient-Reported Fatigue Associated with Joint Histopathology in Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Objective: Fatigue is important for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) but is poorly understood. We sought to study associations of fatigue with clinical features, disease activity, and synovial histology.

Methods: Patients meeting the American College of Rheumatology/EULAR 1987 and/or 2010 RA criteria were recruited before elective total joint replacement.

A Pilot Study of the Gut Microbiota in Spine Fusion Surgery Patients.

Background: The microbiome has been identified as a contributor to bone quality. As skeletal health is critical to success of orthopedic surgery, the gut microbiome may be a modifiable factor associated with postoperative outcomes. For spine fusion surgery in particular, bone formation and sufficient bone mineral density are essential for successful outcomes.

Identify biological Alzheimer's disease using a novel nucleic acid-linked protein immunoassay.

Blood-based biomarkers have been revolutionizing the detection, diagnosis and screening of Alzheimer's disease. Specifically, phosphorylated-tau variants (p-tau, p-tau and p-tau) are promising biomarkers for identifying Alzheimer's disease pathology. Antibody-based assays such as single molecule arrays immunoassays are powerful tools to investigate pathological changes indicated by blood-based biomarkers and have been studied extensively in the Alzheimer's disease research field.

Principal investigator gender and clinical trial success: analysis of over 3000 obstetrics and gynecology trials.

Background: In obstetrics and gynecology (OBGYN) research, gender disparities permeate through leadership, funding, promotion, mentorship, publishing, compensation, and publicity. Few studies have investigated OBGYN clinical trial leadership as it relates to investigator gender. Thus, we undertook an investigation of principal investigator (PI) gender and clinical trial success.

Achieving reliable patient reported outcomes collection to measure health care improvement in a learning health network: lessons from pediatric rheumatology care and outcomes improvement network.

Introduction: Data from the Pediatric Rheumatology Care and Outcomes Improvement Network (PR-COIN) registry suggests that reliable collection of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) varies across sites. The objective of this study was to better understand the practices of collecting PROs at PR-COIN sites.

Methods: A REDCap survey was sent to the lead representative for each PR-COIN site.

Prevalence and mortality trends of hemoglobinopathies in Italy: a nationwide study.

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Seagrass wasting disease prevalence and lesion area increase with invertebrate grazing across the northeastern Pacific.

Disease is a key driver of community and ecosystem structure, especially when it strikes foundation species. In the widespread marine foundation species eelgrass (Zostera marina), outbreaks of wasting disease have caused large-scale meadow collapse in the past, and the causative pathogen, Labyrinthula zosterae, is commonly found in meadows globally. Research to date has mainly focused on abiotic environmental drivers of seagrass wasting disease, but there is strong evidence from other systems that biotic interactions such as herbivory can facilitate plant diseases.

Psychometric Properties of the Critical Appraisal Tool for Anatomical Meta-Analysis.

The hallmark of evidence-based anatomy (EBA) is the anatomical meta-analysis (AMA). The Critical Appraisal Tool for Anatomical Meta-Analysis (CATAM) was recently published to enable users to appraise AMAs quickly and effectively. The tool is valuable for students and clinicians who need to judge the quality of AMAs, which informs clinical decision making and results in better patient care.

Predictive models are indeed useful for causal inference.

The subject of investigating causation in ecology has been widely discussed in recent years, especially by advocates of a structural causal model (SCM) approach. Some of these advocates have criticized the use of predictive models and model selection for drawing inferences about causation. We argue that the comparison of model-based predictions with observations is a key step in hypothetico-deductive (H-D) science and remains a valid approach for assessing causation.

Patient Perceptions of Provider Race Concordance and Quality of Chronic Illness Care.

Background: Black people are more likely to have hypertension and report lower quality of care than White people. Patient-provider race concordance could improve perceived quality of care, potentially lessening disparities.

Objective: Investigate the association between patient-provider race concordance and patient-perceived quality of chronic disease care, as measured by the Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care (PACIC) scale.

Thermal variation influences the transcriptome of the major malaria vector Anopheles stephensi.

The distribution and abundance of ectothermic mosquitoes are strongly affected by temperature, but mechanisms remain unexplored. We describe the effect of temperature on the transcriptome of Anopheles stephensi, an invasive vector of human malaria. Adult females were maintained across a range of mean temperatures (20 °C, 24 °C and 28 °C), with daily fluctuations of +5 °C and -4 °C at each mean temperature.

Separating nanobubble nucleation for transfer-resistance-free electrocatalysis.

Electrocatalytic gas-evolving reactions often result in bubble-covered surfaces, impeding the mass transfer to active sites. Such an issue will be worsened in practical high-current-density conditions and can cause sudden cell failure. Herein, we develop an on-chip microcell-based total-internal-reflection-fluorescence-microscopy to enable operando imaging of bubbles at sub-50 nm and dynamic probing of their nucleation during hydrogen evolution reaction.

Reducing Quotation Errors in Scientific Manuscripts: A Novel Approach from the Global Andrology Forum.

Purpose: This study investigated 1) the frequency of quotation errors in multi-authored medical manuscripts in andrology, 2) analyzed common types of quotation errors and the methods used to rectify them, and 3) evaluated their impact on manuscript accuracy, credibility, and research conclusions.

Materials And Methods: Twelve manuscripts written by the Global Andrology Forum (GAF) members between 2023 and 2024 were randomly selected for this study. The manuscripts and "Quotation Verification Sheets" were analyzed by senior GAF researchers to detect the number and types of quotation errors.

Cellulose nanofibers/polyacrylic acid hydrogels integrated with a 3D printed strip: A platform for screening prostate cancer via sarcosine detection.

Cellulose nanofiber/polyacrylic acid (CNF/PAA) hydrogel-based colorimetric sensor was fabricated for non-invasive screening of prostate cancer (PCa) via selective detection of sarcosine. The hydrogel was synthesized by photo-crosslinking of acrylic acid in the presence of CNF which acted as mechanical reinforcement and as color enhancer. The hydrogel exhibited a high aqueous absorption and high mechanical strength.

Urinary Selenium, Cranial MRI, and Cognitive Function in American Indians: The Strong Heart Study.

Introduction: Selenium (Se), a trace element found in soil and groundwater, is necessary for many biological functions, including cerebrovascular health, through selenoprotein formation. However, high concentrations may be harmful. American Indians face elevated cerebrovascular disease rates, which may be associated with other trace elements, such as Se.

Breast milk delivery of an engineered dimeric IgA protects neonates against rotavirus.

Dimeric IgA (dIgA) is the dominant antibody in many mucosal tissues. It is actively transported onto mucosal surfaces as secretory IgA (sIgA) which plays an integral role in protection against enteric pathogens, particularly in young children. Therapeutic strategies that deliver engineered, potently neutralizing antibodies directly into the infant intestine through breast milk could provide enhanced antimicrobial protection for neonates.

Developmental synchrony and extraordinary multiplication rates in pathogenic organisms.

The multiplication rates of pathogenic organisms influence disease progression, efficacy of immunity and therapeutics, and potential for within-host evolution. Thus, accurate estimates of multiplication rates are essential for biological understanding. We recently showed that common methods for inferring multiplication rates from malaria infection data substantially overestimate true values (i.

Disparities in Rehabilitation Services for Victims of Violence.

Introduction: Access to rehabilitation services after a traumatic injury improves functional outcomes. No study has examined the association between injury intent, violent versus nonviolent, and receipt of rehabilitation services after injury.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of injured adult patients admitted to our level I trauma center from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2021.

De novo design of peptide binders to conformationally diverse targets with contrastive language modeling.

Designing binders to target undruggable proteins presents a formidable challenge in drug discovery. In this work, we provide an algorithmic framework to design short, target-binding linear peptides, requiring only the amino acid sequence of the target protein. To do this, we propose a process to generate naturalistic peptide candidates through Gaussian perturbation of the peptidic latent space of the ESM-2 protein language model and subsequently screen these novel sequences for target-selective interaction activity via a contrastive language-image pretraining (CLIP)-based contrastive learning architecture.

Microenvironment actuated CAR T cells improve solid tumor efficacy without toxicity.

A major limiting factor in the success of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy for the treatment of solid tumors is targeting tumor antigens also found on normal tissues. CAR T cells against GD2 induced rapid, fatal neurotoxicity because of CAR recognition of GD2 normal mouse brain tissue. To improve the selectivity of the CAR T cell, we engineered a synthetic Notch receptor that selectively expresses the CAR upon binding to P-selectin, a cell adhesion protein overexpressed in tumor neovasculature.