Testing for trazodone, an antidepressant, in hair collected from horses.

Trazodone, a medicine registered for human, is a serotonin agonist-antagonist. At low dose, the drug is sedative due to its antagonist properties. At high dose, it is an agonist with anxiolytic and antidepressant actions.

Enhancing Yeast Transformation: Achieving up to a Tenfold Increase Through a Single Adjustment in the Lithium Acetate-Polyethylene Glycol Method.

The Lithium-PEG method for transforming yeast cells is a standard procedure used in most yeast laboratories. After several optimizations, this method can yield up to 10 transformants per µg of plasmid. Some applications, such as library screening or complex transformations, necessitate maximizing transformation yield.

Tailocin-Mediated Interactions Among Soft Rot Pectobacteriaceae.

Bacteria carry phage-derived elements within their genomes, some of which can produce phage-like particles (tailocins) used as weapons to kill kin strains in response to environmental conditions. This study investigates the production and activity of tailocins by plant-pathogenic bacteria: Pectobacterium, Dickeya, and Musicola genera, which compete for niche, providing an attractive model to study the ecological role of tailocins. Microscopy revealed that most analysed strains (88%) produced tailocins.

ParAquaSeq, a Database of Ecologically Annotated rRNA Sequences Covering Zoosporic Parasites Infecting Aquatic Primary Producers in Natural and Industrial Systems.

Amplicon sequencing tools such as metabarcoding are commonly used for thorough characterisation of microbial diversity in natural samples. They mostly rely on the amplification of conserved universal markers, mainly ribosomal genes, allowing the taxonomic assignment of barcodes. However, linking taxonomic classification with functional traits is not straightforward and requires knowledge of each taxonomic group to confidently assign taxa to a given functional trait.

Behaviour-Based Predictive Scores of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in People With Chronic Hepatitis B (ANRS CO22 HEPATHER).

Background And Aims: Early assessment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk could improve long-term outcomes in people with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Some existing HCC predictive scores are not easily implementable. We developed easy-to-use HCC predictive scores based on behavioural and routine bio-clinical data in people with chronic HBV infection.

Real-World Outcomes of Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma Patients Treated Before the Era of Anti-CD38 Antibodies: The EMMY Cohort From 2017 to 2020.

Aims/background: Recent agents have profoundly reshaped the multiple myeloma (MM) landscape. Their real-world impacts need to be assessed over the long term.

Methods: EMMY is a non-interventional, prospective dynamic cohort, conducted in France, since 2017, with 900 patients enrolled each year.

How to promote co-development between postdocs: a case for peer group meetings.

'Who in their right mind would add another meeting to an already overflowing schedule?' This thought crossed our minds when we first discussed the idea of a postdoc peer group meeting. We are five early career researchers working in the same laboratory, each from a different background, shaped as much by our origins, stages in life, and previous research experience. When we started our series of meetings by asking 'What is a postdoc?', we struggled with our own definition of the position, bringing different answers and perspectives.

Aminoisothiazolamides, a new class of potent inhibitors of lysyl-tRNA synthetase.

Background: Owing to the economic relevance of resistance evolution against herbicides, new chemical entities addressing unprecedented molecular targets are urgently needed to develop future sustainable weed control solutions. As part of our discovery research, the new class of aminoisothiazolamides was investigated.

Results: Aminoisothiazolamide 3-amino-4-chloro-N-(cyclohexylmethyl)isothiazole-5-carboxamide 1a and several of its derivatives displayed potent herbicidal and fungicidal in vivo activity in initial glasshouse tests.

Employing hydrogen stable isotope analysis for traceability of invasive pine wood nematode vector insects.

Background: Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, the pathogen responsible for pine wilt disease, significantly threatens pine forests globally, with rapid infection leading to tree mortality within 40 days. This disease spreads efficiently through vector beetles, with Monochamus alternatus and Monochamus saltuarius serving as the primary vectors and Monochamus galloprovincialis being considered a potential vector in China. Molecular traceability and stable isotope traceability are both important techniques for insect tracing, each with its own advantages and limitations.

Functional and Pangenomic Exploration of Roc Two-Component Regulatory Systems Identifies Novel Players Across Pseudomonas Species.

The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa relies on a large collection of two-component regulatory systems (TCSs) to sense and adapt to changing environments. Among them, the Roc (regulation of cup) system is a one-of-a-kind network of branched TCSs, composed of two histidine kinases (HKs-RocS1 and RocS2) interacting with three response regulators (RRs-RocA1, RocR, and RocA2), which regulate virulence, antibiotic resistance, and biofilm formation. Based on extensive work on the Roc system, previous data suggested the existence of other key regulators yet to be discovered.

Effect of Infratuberosity Anterior Closing Wedge Osteotomy for Posterior Tibial Slope Correction on Patellar Height in Patients Undergoing Revision ACL Reconstruction.

Background: An excessive posterior tibial slope (PTS) is a risk factor for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture or rerupture, and it can be managed by an anterior closing wedge high tibial osteotomy (ACW-HTO). The effect of slope-changing osteotomies on patellar height is poorly described after infratuberosity ACW-HTO.

Purpose: To assess the effect of ACW-HTO on patellar height using an infratuberosity approach.

Gut Microbiome dysbiosis and immune activation correlate with somatic and neuropsychiatric symptoms in COVID-19 patients.

Background: Infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, can lead to a range of physical symptoms and mental health challenges, including stress, anxiety, and depression. These effects are particularly pronounced in hospitalized patients, likely due to the virus's direct and indirect impact on the nervous system. Gut dysbiosis, an imbalance in the gut microbiome, has been implicated in immune dysfunction and chronic inflammation in COVID-19 patients.

Different environmental factors predict the occurrence of tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) and reveal new potential risk areas across Europe via geospatial models.

Background: Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is the most serious tick-borne viral disease in Europe. Identifying TBE risk areas can be difficult due to hyper focal circulation of the TBE virus (TBEV) between mammals and ticks. To better define TBE hazard risks and elucidate regional-specific environmental factors that drive TBEV circulation, we developed two machine-learning (ML) algorithms to predict the habitat suitability (maximum entropy), and occurrence of TBEV (extreme gradient boosting) within distinct European regions (Central Europe, Nordics, and Baltics) using local variables of climate, habitat, topography, and animal hosts and reservoirs.

Diversity and functional features of the root-associated bacteriome are dependent on grapevine susceptibility to Plasmopara viticola.

Background: Plant health depends on beneficial interactions between the roots and their microbiomes. Despite recent progress on the role of the grapevine microbiome, the taxonomic identity and functional traits of microbial taxa specific to healthy or Plasmopara viticola-diseased plants, as well as to the susceptible or resistant cultivar are unknown. Using metabarcoding and shotgun metagenomics sequencing, we investigated the effect of downy mildew on the root-associated microbiome (rhizospheric soil, rhizoplane and endosphere) of 41B-grafted susceptible cultivar (Chardonnay) and resistant interspecific hybrid (Voltis) at flowering and veraison stages.

Chronic intermittent hypoxia disrupts protective microgliosis in ischemic proliferative retinopathy.

Sleep apnea that leads to chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) is an independent risk factor for advanced, debilitating ischemic proliferative retinopathies, such as diabetic retinopathy (DR) and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). The underlying mechanisms are unknown. Here we investigated the consequences of CIH on the ischemic retina of the oxygen-induced retinopathy model.

The specification game: rethinking the evaluation of drug response prediction for precision oncology.

Precision oncology plays a pivotal role in contemporary healthcare, aiming to optimize treatments for each patient based on their unique characteristics. This objective has spurred the emergence of various cancer cell line drug response datasets, driven by the need to facilitate pre-clinical studies by exploring the impact of multi-omics data on drug response. Despite the proliferation of machine learning models for Drug Response Prediction (DRP), their validation remains critical to reliably assess their usefulness for drug discovery, precision oncology and their actual ability to generalize over the immense space of cancer cells and chemical compounds.

Subphenotyping prone position responders with machine learning.

Background: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a heterogeneous condition with varying response to prone positioning. We aimed to identify subphenotypes of ARDS patients undergoing prone positioning using machine learning and assess their association with mortality and response to prone positioning.

Methods: In this retrospective observational study, we enrolled 353 mechanically ventilated ARDS patients who underwent at least one prone positioning cycle.

Association between driving and depression in older adults: findings from an ancillary study of a prospective cohort.

Background: Depression is prevalent among older adults, particularly those with somatic comorbidities, and is linked to cognitive decline and reduced quality of life. Driving may act as a protective factor by enhancing cognitive function and social engagement. However, few prospective studies have investigated this association.

Septoria tritici blotch resistance gene Stb15 encodes a lectin receptor-like kinase.

Septoria tritici blotch (STB), caused by the Dothideomycete fungus Zymoseptoria tritici, is one of the most damaging diseases of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) and the target of costly fungicide applications. In line with the fungus's apoplastic lifestyle, STB resistance genes isolated to date encode receptor-like kinases (RLKs) including a wall-associated kinase (Stb6) and a cysteine-rich kinase (Stb16q). Here we used genome-wide association studies on a diverse panel of 300 whole-genome shotgun-sequenced wheat landraces (WatSeq consortium) to identify a 99-kb region containing six candidates for the Stb15 resistance gene.

Force transmission is a master regulator of mechanical cell competition.

Cell competition is a tissue surveillance mechanism for eliminating unwanted cells, being indispensable in development, infection and tumourigenesis. Although studies have established the role of biochemical mechanisms in this process, due to challenges in measuring forces in these systems, how mechanical forces determine the competition outcome remains unclear. Here we report a form of cell competition that is regulated by differences in force transmission capabilities, selecting for cell types with stronger intercellular adhesion.

Social disadvantage accelerates aging.

Social disadvantage, like advanced age, is a risk factor for a broad range of health conditions; however, whether it influences the aging process remains unclear. Here, using a multicohort approach, we investigated the associations of social disadvantage with age-related plasma proteins and age-related diseases. We found proteomic signatures of accelerated immune aging and 14 specific age-related proteins linked to social disadvantage during both early and later life.

Voretigene neparvovec in RPE65-related inherited retinal dystrophy: the 1-year real-world study LIGHT.

Background: This retrospective real-world study evaluated the effectiveness and safety of subretinal voretigene neparvovec (VN) in French patients (six children, six adults) with inherited retinal dystrophies.

Methods: Data were collected from medical records for the year following bilateral treatment with subretinal VN. Functional vision was assessed using the Streetlab mobility course with obstacles.

Utilizing ctDNA to discover mechanisms of resistance to targeted therapies in patients with metastatic NSCLC: towards more informative trials.

Advances in targeted therapies for patients with non-small-cell lung cancer have substantially improved the outcomes of those with actionable alterations in certain oncogenic driver genes. However, acquired resistance to these targeted therapies remains a major challenge. Understanding the mechanisms underlying acquired resistance will be crucial for the development of strategies that might either overcome this effect or delay the onset.