A multi-layered strategy for COVID-19 infection prophylaxis in schools: A review of the evidence for masks, distancing, and ventilation.

Implications for the academic and interpersonal development of children and adolescents underpin a global political consensus to maintain in-classroom teaching during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In support of this aim, the WHO and UNICEF have called for schools around the globe to be made safer from the risk of COVID-19 transmission. Detailed guidance is needed on how this goal can be successfully implemented in a wide variety of educational settings in order to effectively mitigate impacts on the health of students, staff, their families, and society.

Imbalance of peptidoglycan biosynthesis alters the cell surface charge of .

The bacterial cell wall is composed of a thick layer of peptidoglycan and cell wall polymers, which are either embedded in the membrane or linked to the peptidoglycan backbone and referred to as lipoteichoic acid (LTA) and wall teichoic acid (WTA), respectively. Modifications of the peptidoglycan or WTA backbone can alter the susceptibility of the bacterial cell towards cationic antimicrobials and lysozyme. The human pathogen is intrinsically resistant towards lysozyme, mainly due to deacetylation and -acetylation of the peptidoglycan backbone via PgdA and OatA.

Edible Wild Vegetables L. and L.-Antioxidants Affected by Processing.

L. and L., also known as stinging nettle and ground elder, are edible wild green vegetables rich in bioactive and antioxidant polyphenols, vitamins, and minerals.

Genotype Complements the Phenotype: Identification of the Pathogenicity of an LMNA Splice Variant by Nanopore Long-Read Sequencing in a Large DCM Family.

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a common cause of heart failure (HF) and is of familial origin in 20−40% of cases. Genetic testing by next-generation sequencing (NGS) has yielded a definite diagnosis in many cases; however, some remain elusive. In this study, we used a combination of NGS, human-induced pluripotent-stem-cell-derived cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CMs) and nanopore long-read sequencing to identify the causal variant in a multi-generational pedigree of DCM.

Burden of Stroke and Population-Attributable Fractions of Risk Factors in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Background Stroke burden characterization studies in low- and middle-income countries are scarce. We estimated the burden of stroke and its risk factors in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Methods and Results We extracted GBD (Global Burden of Disease) study 2019 data on overall stroke and 3 subtypes (ischemic stroke, intracerebral hemorrhage, and subarachnoid hemorrhage) for 20 LAC countries.

Improved upper limb function in non-ambulant children with SMA type 2 and 3 during nusinersen treatment: a prospective 3-years SMArtCARE registry study.

Background: The development and approval of disease modifying treatments have dramatically changed disease progression in patients with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Nusinersen was approved in Europe in 2017 for the treatment of SMA patients irrespective of age and disease severity. Most data on therapeutic efficacy are available for the infantile-onset SMA.

Reclassification of Hellinger 1944 and (ex McCoy and McClung 1935) Cato . 1988.

, and share a very high similarity based on multi-locus sequence analysis. In this study, their correct taxonomic status was determined using genomic and phenotypic investigations. Average nucleotide identity based on MUMmer alignment of the genomes and DNA-DNA hybridization resulted in values of 98.

More losses than gains during one century of plant biodiversity change in Germany.

Long-term analyses of biodiversity data highlight a 'biodiversity conservation paradox': biological communities show substantial species turnover over the past century, but changes in species richness are marginal. Most studies, however, have focused only on the incidence of species, and have not considered changes in local abundance. Here we asked whether analysing changes in the cover of plant species could reveal previously unrecognized patterns of biodiversity change and provide insights into the underlying mechanisms.

ReSurveyGermany: Vegetation-plot time-series over the past hundred years in Germany.

Vegetation-plot resurvey data are a main source of information on terrestrial biodiversity change, with records reaching back more than one century. Although more and more data from re-sampled plots have been published, there is not yet a comprehensive open-access dataset available for analysis. Here, we compiled and harmonised vegetation-plot resurvey data from Germany covering almost 100 years.

Generation of Sub-nanosecond H Atom Pulses for Scattering from Single-Crystal Epitaxial Graphene.

Pulsed molecular beams allow high-density gas samples to be cooled to low internal temperatures and to produce narrow speed distributions. They are particularly useful in combination with pulsed-laser-based detection schemes and have also been used as pump pulses in pump-probe experiments with neutral matter. The mechanical response of pulsed valves and chopper wheels limits the duration of these pulses typically to about 10-100 μs.

Development of a new grading system to assess the foster performance of lactating sows.

Increasing litter size has created the need for more sophisticated, accurate, and welfare-oriented systems for assessing the foster performance of lactating sows. The estimation of milk yield alone is not sufficient for meeting these requirements. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to develop a grading system for assessing the foster performance of lactating sows that can be easily applied in commercial farm practice.

Older Barbary macaques show limited capacity for self-regulation to avoid hazardous social interactions.

According to the Strength-and-Vulnerability-Integration (SAVI) model, older people are more motivated to avoid negative affect and high arousal than younger people. To explore the biological roots of this effect, we investigate communicative interactions and social information processing in Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) living at 'La Forêt des Singes' in Rocamadour, France. The study combines an analysis of the production of (N = 8185 signals, 84 signallers) and responses to communicative signals (N = 3672 events, 84 receivers) with a field experiment (N = 166 trials, 45 subjects).

RAPIDS, a method for sub-compartmental identification of protein interactomes.

Protein-protein interactions are central to most cellular processes and their dysregulation has been related to the development of various diseases. Proximity-based labeling methods are used to identify the endogenous interaction partners of specific proteins of interest (POIs). The POI is fused to promiscuous enzymes, which generate reactive species in vivo and label proteins in close vicinity.

Open tools for quantitative anonymization of tabular phenotype data: literature review.

Precision medicine relies on molecular and systems biology methods as well as bidirectional association studies of phenotypes and (high-throughput) genomic data. However, the integrated use of such data often faces obstacles, especially in regards to data protection. An important prerequisite for research data processing is usually informed consent.

Dormancy and germination of microsclerotia of are regulated by soil bacteria and soil moisture levels but not by nutrients.

The soil-borne pathogen infects roots of its host plant, oilseed rape, and systemically colonizes stems where it finally forms microsclerotia at crop maturity. Once returned to the soil after harvest, microsclerotia undergo a stage of dormancy, in which they may survive for several years. Since there is neither efficient chemical control nor effective resistance in oilseed rape cultivars to control the disease, alternative control strategies may consist in regulating the germination and dormancy of microsclerotia in the soil.

Higher phage virulence accelerates the evolution of host resistance.

Pathogens vary strikingly in their virulence and the selection they impose on their hosts. While the evolution of different virulence levels is well studied, the evolution of host resistance in response to different virulence levels is less understood and, at present, mainly based on observations and theoretical predictions with few experimental tests. Increased virulence can increase selection for host resistance evolution if the benefits of avoiding infection outweigh resistance costs.

Retinal optical coherence tomography image analysis by a restricted Boltzmann machine.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an emerging imaging technique for ophthalmic disease diagnosis. Two major problems in OCT image analysis are image enhancement and image segmentation. Deep learning methods have achieved excellent performance in image analysis.

Quantifying wood decomposition by insects and fungi using computed tomography scanning and machine learning.

Wood decomposition is a central process contributing to global carbon and nutrient cycling. Quantifying the role of the major biotic agents of wood decomposition, i.e.

The mystery of the human proton-organic cation antiporter: One transport protein or many?

About 30% of all small molecular drugs are organic cations (OCs). If these are more or less hydrophilic, they require membrane transporters to pass through biological membranes. Here, the proton-organic cation (H OC) antiporter may play a physiologically most relevant role, particularly concerning passage through the blood-brain barrier.

IRO/Shift Test Is Comparable to the Jobe Test for Detection of Supraspinatus Lesions.

To determine how the internal rotation and shift (IRO/shift) test compares to the gold standard of clinical tests (Jobe test) for diagnosing supraspinatus lesions and to confirm these clinical results with surgical findings, 100 symptomatic patients were clinically examined between October 2018 and November 2019. All 100 patients were evaluated using both the IRO/shift test and Jobe test. A total of 48 of these patients received surgical intervention.

Psychosocial stress and cannabinoid drugs affect acetylation of α-tubulin (K40) and gene expression in the prefrontal cortex of adult mice.

The dynamics of neuronal microtubules are essential for brain plasticity. Vesicular transport and synaptic transmission, additionally, requires acetylation of α-tubulin, and aberrant tubulin acetylation and neurobiological deficits are associated. Prolonged exposure to a stressor or consumption of drugs of abuse, like marihuana, lead to neurological changes and psychotic disorders.

Characteristics of thermal images of the mammary gland and of performance in sows differing in health status and parity.

Precision livestock farming can combine sensors and complex data to provide a simple score of meaningful productivity, pig welfare, and farm sustainability, which are the main drivers of modern pig production. Examples include using infrared thermography to monitor the temperature of sows to detect the early stages of the disease. To take account of these drivers, we assigned 697 hybrid (BHZP db.