Bees of the Mediterranean basin: biodiversity insights from specimens in the IMBE collection (Marseille, France).

Background: The spectacular decline in pollinators and their prominent role in pollination of natural and cultivated plants has stimulated research on pollinating insects. Over the last ten years, much ecological research has been carried out on bees, often generating a large volume of specimens and increasing the importance of entomological collections. Here, we present the bee collection of the IMBE laboratory (Marseille, France) after ten years of study of plant-pollinator networks.

Infective Endocarditis in Belgium: Prospective Data in Adults from the ESC EORP European Endocarditis Registry.

(1) Background: infective endocarditis (IE) is a significant health concern associated with important morbidity and mortality. Only limited, often monocentric, retrospective data on IE in Belgium are available. This prospective study sought to assess the clinical characteristics and outcomes of Belgian IE patients in the ESC EORP European endocarditis (EURO-ENDO) registry; (2) Methods: 132 IE patients were identified based on the ESC 2015 criteria and included in six tertiary hospitals in Belgium; (3) Results: The average Belgian IE patient was male and 62.

Hoverflies of the Timon-David collection (Diptera, Syrphidae).

Background: Hoverflies are among the most important insect pollinators and there is documented evidence of a recent decline in their populations. To trace the past distributions of hoverfly species, verified records of historical collections are essential.

New Information: Here, we provide data on 1071 specimens of hoverflies collected or received by Jean Timon-David and hosted at the Marseille Natural History Museum, France.

Comparative performance of ISAGA IgM and ELISA assays for the diagnosis of maternal and congenital Toxoplasma infections: which technique could replace ISAGA IgM?

The ISAGA immunocapture test for the detection of anti-Toxoplasma immunoglobulin M is a manual technique known for its excellent sensitivity and specificity. The purpose of this retrospective, multicenter study was to compare the performances and agreement between ISAGA and other IgM detection techniques before cessation of ISAGA production. The analytic performance of the different tests was evaluated using 1,341 serum samples from adults with positive IgM and negative IgG to Toxoplasma gondii, and 1,206 sera from neonates born to mothers with seroconversion.

[Loss of chance in compensation for non-accidental bodily injury: inventory].

Loss of chance in compensation for non-accidental bodily injury: inventory The main problem with this notion is the hypothetical nature of the loss of chance, insofar as it is impossible to take for sure if the hoped-for event would actually haved occurred. This this is the main difficulty encountered when estimating a loss of chance. The aim of this work is to identify a number of tools that will serve as a basis for the assessment of loss of chance damage.

Post-vaccine COVID-19 in patients with multiple sclerosis or neuromyelitis optica.

Introduction: Recent studies suggested that anti-CD20 and fingolimod may be associated with lower anti-spike protein-based immunoglobulin-G response following COVID-19 vaccination. We evaluated if COVID-19 occurred despite vaccination among patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuromyelitis optica (NMO), using the COVISEP registry.

Case Series: We report 18 cases of COVID-19 after two doses of BNT162b2-vaccination, 13 of which treated with anti-CD20 and four with fingolimod.

Vaccine market access pathways in the EU27 and the United Kingdom - analysis and recommendations for improvements.

Background: Vaccine market access (VMA) pathways across the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK) are complex, lengthy, and heterogeneous, particularly when compared with pharmaceuticals. The knowledge base to inform recommendations for optimization of VMA is lacking. We therefore conducted a comprehensive evaluation of EU VMA pathways.

Characterizing the Relationship Between the Chemical Structures of Drugs and their Activities on Primary Cultures of Pediatric Solid Tumors.

Background: Despite continued efforts to develop new treatments, there is an urgent need to discover new drug leads to treat tumors exhibiting primary or secondary resistance to existing drugs. Cell cultures derived from patient-derived orthotopic xenografts are promising pre-clinical models to better predict drug response in cancer recurrence.

Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between the physiochemical properties of drugs and their in vitro potency as well as identifying chemical scaffolds biasedtowards selectivity or promiscuity of such drugs.

Frozen Zoo: a collection of permafrost samples containing viable protists and their viruses.

Background: Permafrost, frozen ground cemented with ice, occupies about a quarter of the Earth's hard surface and reaches up to 1000 metres depth. Due to constant subzero temperatures, permafrost represents a unique record of past epochs, whenever it comes to accumulated methane, oxygen isotope ratio or stored mummies of animals. Permafrost is also a unique environment where cryptobiotic stages of different microorganisms are trapped and stored alive for up to hundreds of thousands of years.

Moving exercise research in multiple sclerosis forward (the MoXFo initiative): Developing consensus statements for research.

Exercise as a subset of physical activity is a cornerstone in the management of multiple sclerosis (MS) based on its pleotropic effects. There is an exponential increase in the quantity of research on exercise in MS, yet a number of barriers associated with study content and quality hamper rapid progress in the field. To address these barriers and accelerate discovery, a new international partnership of MS-related experts in exercise has emerged with the goal of advancing the research agenda.

Longitudinal study of functional brain network reorganization in clinically isolated syndrome.

Background: There is a lack of longitudinal studies exploring the topological organization of functional brain networks at the early stages of multiple sclerosis (MS).

Objective: This study aims to assess potential brain functional reorganization at rest in patients with CIS (PwCIS) after 1 year of evolution and to characterize the dynamics of functional brain networks at the early stage of the disease.

Methods: We prospectively included 41 PwCIS and 19 matched healthy controls (HCs).

Atezolizumab: feasible second-line therapy for patients with non-small cell lung cancer? A review of efficacy, safety and place in therapy.

Advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) prognosis is still poor and has recently been reformed by the development of immune checkpoint inhibitors and the approval of anti-PD-1 (programmed cell-death 1) treatments such as nivolumab and pembrolizumab in second line. More recently, atezolizumab (MDPL 3280A), a programmed cell-death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor, was also studied in this setting. Here, we report a review of the literature assessing the efficacy, safety, and place of atezolizumab in the second-line treatment of advanced NSCLC.

Correlation between afferent rearrangements and behavioral deficits after local excitotoxic insult in the mammalian vestibule: a rat model of vertigo symptoms.

Damage to inner ear afferent terminals is believed to result in many auditory and vestibular dysfunctions. The sequence of afferent injuries and repair, as well as their correlation with vertigo symptoms, remains poorly documented. In particular, information on the changes that take place at the primary vestibular endings during the first hours following a selective insult is lacking.

Ultrasonographic measurement of antral area for estimating gastric fluid volume in parturients.

Background: The aim of this prospective observational study was to assess the performance of ultrasonographic gastric antral area (GAA) to predict gastric fluid volumes of >0.4, >0.8 and >1.

A defect in homologous recombination leads to increased translesion synthesis in E. coli.

DNA damage tolerance pathways allow cells to duplicate their genomes despite the presence of replication blocking lesions. Cells possess two major tolerance strategies, namely translesion synthesis (TLS) and homology directed gap repair (HDGR). TLS pathways involve specialized DNA polymerases that are able to synthesize past DNA lesions with an intrinsic risk of causing point mutations.

ARA290, a Specific Agonist of Erythropoietin/CD131 Heteroreceptor, Improves Circulating Endothelial Progenitors' Angiogenic Potential and Homing Ability.

Background: Alternate erythropoietin (EPO)-mediated signaling via the EPOR/CD131 heteromeric receptor exerts the tissue-protective actions of EPO in a wide spectrum of injuries, especially ischemic diseases. Circulating endothelial progenitor cells contribute to endothelial repair and post-natal angiogenesis after chronic ischemic injury. This work aims to investigate the effects of ARA290, a specific agonist of EPOR/CD131 complex, on a subpopulation of endothelial progenitor cells named endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs) and to characterize its contribution to ECFCs-induced angiogenesis after peripheral ischemia.

Expression of Genes with Copy Number Alterations and Survival of Patients with Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma.

Background/aim: Individual molecular information might improve management of pancreatic adenocarcinoma. To identify actionable genes, at the transcriptional level, we investigated candidate genes that we had previously identified using array-comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH).

Materials And Methods: We collected 10 public gene-expression datasets, gathering a total of 524 pancreatic samples (105 normal and 419 malignant tissues).

Aspergillus tubingensis: a major filamentous fungus found in the airways of patients with lung disease.

The black Aspergillus group comprises A. niger and 18 other species, which are morphologically indistinguishable. Among this species subset, A.

GABAergic Synchronization in Epilepsy.

γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the cerebral cortex. GABAergic inhibition enables synchronization of activity in cortical networks, and contributes to generation of variety of brain activity patterns. In relation to epilepsy, GABAergic inhibition has been traditionally viewed as the main mechanism counterbalancing glutamatergic excitation and preventing hypersynchronous neuronal discharges.

Dynamic recruitment of Ets1 to both nucleosome-occupied and -depleted enhancer regions mediates a transcriptional program switch during early T-cell differentiation.

Ets1 is a sequence-specific transcription factor that plays an important role during hematopoiesis, and is essential for the transition of CD4(-)/CD8(-) double negative (DN) to CD4(+)/CD8(+) double positive (DP) thymocytes. Using genome-wide and functional approaches, we investigated the binding properties, transcriptional role and chromatin environment of Ets1 during this transition. We found that while Ets1 binding at distal sites was associated with active genes at both DN and DP stages, its enhancer activity was attained at the DP stage, as reflected by levels of the core transcriptional hallmarks H3K4me1/3, RNA Polymerase II and eRNA.

Schizophyllum commune: an emergent or misdiagnosed fungal pathogen in rhinology?

Schizophyllum commune is a common basidiomycete fungus that is rarely involved in human disease. The medical records of patients operated on for fungal rhinosinusitis (FRS) in two University Hospitals between 2012 and 2014 were reviewed. Within the two-year survey, six female, and notably no male, patients were diagnosed with S.

Routine identification and mixed species detection in 6,192 clinical yeast isolates.

The clinical laboratory methods used to diagnose yeast infections should be rapid, reliable, and capable of detecting mixed infections with species exhibiting a distinct antifungal susceptibility profile. In this study, we report the performance of a procedure combining the detection of mixed yeast cultures with a chromogenic medium and MALDI-TOF identification of the colonies. We then evaluated the impact that (i) the isolation medium and (ii) lowering the identification log score (LS) threshold value have on yeast identification performance in the routine laboratory.