Mucosal vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 using recombinant influenza viruses delivering self-assembling nanoparticles.

Recombinant influenza viruses are promising vectors that can bolster antibody and resident lymphocyte responses within mucosal sites. This study evaluates recombinant influenza viruses with SARS-CoV-2 RBD genes in eliciting mucosal and systemic responses. Using reverse genetics, we generated replication-competent recombinant influenza viruses carrying heterologous RBD genes in monomeric, trimeric, or ferritin-based nanoparticle forms.

Mentorship advances antimicrobial use surveillance systems in low- and middle-income countries.

A shortage of trained personnel poses significant challenges to implementing antimicrobial use (AMU) surveillance systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Traditional training models, such as workshops, seminars and online courses, often lack the sustained engagement and support necessary for deep learning and skill mastery. This article advocates for mentorship as an effective training method for AMU professionals in LMICs.

Latent Tuberculosis Infection Amongst Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Recipients: The Impact of Routine Pretransplant Review by a Transplant Infectious Diseases Physician.

Background: Identifying patients with latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) is challenging. This is particularly true amongst immunocompromised hosts, in whom the diagnostic accuracy of available tests is limited. The authors evaluated the impact of routine pretransplant review by a transplant infectious diseases (TID) physician on LTBI screening in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (alloHSCT) recipients.

SLAMF7 defines subsets of human effector CD8 T cells.

Long-term control of viral replication relies on the efficient differentiation of memory T cells into effector T cells during secondary immune responses. Recent findings have identified T cell precursors for both memory and exhausted T cells, suggesting the existence of progenitor-like effector T cells. These cells can persist without antigenic challenge but expand and acquire effector functions upon recall immune responses.

Burkholderia cenocepacia outbreak linked to taps in a neonatal intensive care unit.

Background: Burkholderia cenocepacia complex is an important cause of hospital acquired infections. We describe the management of an outbreak in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) due to tap colonisation.

Methods: Microbiological testing of touch (n = 26) and non-touch taps (n = 28), sinks and drains, including genomic sequencing of selected isolates.

Inhibitory KIRs decrease HLA class II-mediated protection in Type 1 Diabetes.

Inhibitory killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (iKIRs) are a family of inhibitory receptors that are expressed by natural killer (NK) cells and late-stage differentiated T cells. There is accumulating evidence that iKIRs regulate T cell-mediated immunity. Recently, we reported that T cell-mediated control was enhanced by iKIRs in chronic viral infections.

DNA methylation analysis on anal swabs for anal cancer screening in people living with HIV.

Introduction: High-resolution anoscopy (HRA) to prevent anal cancer is complex and screening capacity is limited. Previously, we showed that DNA methylation analysis of anal high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL) biopsies can distinguish between HSIL with an increased cancer risk, and HSIL with a low cancer risk, in which treatment may be safely withheld. Here, we assessed the performance of methylation analysis in anal swabs to identify patients with underlying HSIL with an increased cancer risk.

Exploring cytokine outputs for diagnostics in drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS).

Background: In an exploratory study to assess the potential to individualize T-cell diagnostics in antibiotic-associated severe T-cell mediated hypersensitivity, we focused on drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) and the related cytokine outputs IL-4 and IL-5.

Methods: Patients with well-phenotyped RegiSCAR ≥4 DRESS, positive intradermal skin testing, and a previous negative IFN-γ Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSpot (ELISpot) assay were prospectively recruited. We specifically performed an ELISpot assay with IL-4 and IL-5 cytokine outputs.

The rat osteoarthritis bone score for histological pathology relevant to human bone marrow lesions and pain.

Objectives: Histological osteochondral characteristics of inflammation, fibrosis, vascularity, cartilage islands, vessels entering cartilage, thickened trabeculae and cysts are associated with bone marrow lesions (BMLs) in human knee osteoarthritis (OA). We identified and developed a method for scoring comparable pathology in two rat OA knee pain models.

Methods: Rats (n ​= ​8-10 per group) were injected with monoiodoacetate (MIA) or saline, or underwent meniscal transection (MNX) or sham surgery.

Terahertz scanning near-field optical microscopy for biomedical detection: Recent advances, challenges, and future perspectives.

Terahertz (THz) radiation is widely recognized as a non-destructive, label-free, and highly- sensitive tool for biomedical detections. Nevertheless, its application in precision biomedical fields faces challenges due to poor spatial resolution caused by intrinsically long wavelength characteristics. THz scanning near-field optical microscopy (THz-SNOM), which surpasses the Rayleigh criterion, offers micrometer and nanometer-scale spatial resolution, making it possible to perform precise bioinspection with THz imaging.

Liver abscesses secondary to a non-O1/non-O139 Vibrio cholerae bacteremia acquired in a non-coastal area: a case report.

Non-O1/non-O139 Vibrio cholerae (NOVC) strains are a distinct group of Vibrio cholerae that do not cause epidemic cholera. NOVC infections usually cause mild forms of gastroenteritis, and rarely severe (extra)intestinal infections, mostly affecting immunocompromised patients. Here, we describe the clinical course of a patient with NOVC bacteremia causing multiple liver abscesses, after drinking from a freshwater well in a non-coastal area.

Improving the reporting of metagenomic virome-scale data.

Over the last decade metagenomic sequencing has facilitated an increasing number of virome-scale studies, leading to an exponential expansion in understanding of virus diversity. This is partially driven by the decreasing costs of metagenomic sequencing, improvements in computational tools for revealing novel viruses, and an increased understanding of the key role that viruses play in human and animal health. A central concern associated with this remarkable increase in the number of virome-scale studies is the lack of broadly accepted "gold standards" for reporting the data and results generated.

NIS-Seq enables cell-type-agnostic optical perturbation screening.

Optical pooled screening offers a broader-scale alternative to enrichment-based perturbation screening, using fluorescence microscopy to correlate phenotypes and perturbations across single cells. Previous methods work well in large, transcriptionally active cell lines, because they rely on cytosolic detection of endogenously expressed barcoded transcripts; however, they are limited by reliable cell segmentation, cytosol size, transcriptional activity and cell density. Nuclear In-Situ Sequencing (NIS-Seq) expands this technology by creating bright sequencing signals directly from nuclear genomic DNA to screen nucleated cells at high density and high library complexity.

Induction of Fc-dependent functional antibodies against different variants of SARS-CoV-2 varies by vaccine type and prior infection.

Background: SARS-CoV-2 transmission and COVID-19 disease severity is influenced by immunity from natural infection and/or vaccination. Population-level immunity is complicated by the emergence of viral variants. Antibody Fc-dependent effector functions are as important mediators in immunity.

Unveiling the power of high-dimensional cytometry data with cyCONDOR.

High-dimensional cytometry (HDC) is a powerful technology for studying single-cell phenotypes in complex biological systems. Although technological developments and affordability have made HDC broadly available in recent years, technological advances were not coupled with an adequate development of analytical methods that can take full advantage of the complex data generated. While several analytical platforms and bioinformatics tools have become available for the analysis of HDC data, these are either web-hosted with limited scalability or designed for expert computational biologists, making their use unapproachable for wet lab scientists.

Protektem pikinini blong yu trial: protocol for a single arm field trial to assess the effectiveness of treating-all pregnant women with hepatitis B infection with tenofovir prophylaxis to prevent mother-to-child transmission in Vanuatu, 2024-2025.

Background: Hepatitis B infection is a major public health concern in Vanuatu, with approximately 9% of the general population estimated to be living with chronic hepatitis B. Most new infections are due to mother-to-child transmission (MTCT). Hepatitis B vaccination is available in Vanuatu, but coverage rates for first dose within 24 h of birth and third dose are suboptimal.

Infiltrative classical monocyte-derived and SPP1 lipid-associated macrophages mediate inflammation and fibrosis in ANCA-associated glomerulonephritis.

Background And Hypothesis: Kidney macrophage infiltration is a histological hallmark of vasculitic lesions and is strongly linked to disease activity in anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA)-associated glomerulonephritis (AGN). The precise mechanisms by which kidney macrophages influence local inflammation and long-term damage remain largely unknown.

Methods: Here, we investigate kidney macrophage diversity using single-cell transcriptome analysis of 25 485 freshly retrieved unfrozen, high-quality kidney CD45+ immune cells from five AGN patients during active disease, a lupus nephritis and nephrectomy control.

Skeletal muscle adaptations and post-exertional malaise in long COVID.

When acute SARS-CoV-2 infections cause symptoms that persist longer than 3 months, this condition is termed long COVID. Symptoms experienced by patients often include myalgia, fatigue, brain fog, cognitive impairments, and post-exertional malaise (PEM), which is the worsening of symptoms following mental or physical exertion. There is little consensus on the pathophysiology of exercise-induced PEM and skeletal-muscle-related symptoms.

Glucocorticoid dosing and implications for vaccination: Evolution of global definitions.

Despite widespread adoption of "high-dose" glucocorticoid definitions across international immunisation guidelines (i.e., prednisone-equivalent dosing >20 mg/day, or >2 mg/kg/day in children), the rationale remains unclear.

Characterization of a novel SNP identified in Australian group A isolates derived from the M1 lineage.

Group A (GAS) is a human-adapted pathogen responsible for a variety of diseases. The GAS M1 lineage has contributed significantly to the recently reported increases in scarlet fever and invasive infections. However, the basis for its evolutionary success is not yet fully understood.

mRNA vaccines encoding membrane-anchored RBDs of SARS-CoV-2 mutants induce strong humoral responses and can overcome immune imprinting.

We investigated mRNA vaccines encoding a membrane-anchored receptor-binding domain (RBD), each a fusion of a variant RBD, the transmembrane (TM) and cytoplasmic tail fragments of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein. In naive mice, RBD-TM mRNA vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 variants induced strong humoral responses against the target RBD. Multiplex surrogate viral neutralization (sVNT) assays revealed broad neutralizing activity against a range of variant RBDs.

Association of blood inflammatory phenotypes and asthma burden in children with moderate-to-severe asthma.

Background: Underlying immunological mechanisms in children with moderate-to-severe asthma are complex and unclear. We aimed to investigate the association between blood inflammatory parameters and asthma burden in children with moderate-to-severe asthma.

Methods: Blood inflammatory parameters (eosinophil and neutrophil counts and inflammatory mediators using multiplex immunoassay technology) were measured in children (6-17 years) with moderate-to-severe asthma from the SysPharmPediA cohort across four European countries.

Evaluation of Spliceosome Protein SmD2 as a Potential Target for Cancer Therapy.

The core spliceosome Sm proteins are gaining attention as potential targets for cancer treatment. Here, we evaluate this, with focus on SmD2. A pan-cancer analysis including 26 solid tumor types revealed that the SmD2-encoding gene was overexpressed in almost all cancers.

Strengthening the relationship between community resilience and health emergency communication: a systematic review.

Background: Community resilience and health emergency communication are both crucial in promoting a community's ability to endure crises and recover from emergency events. Yet, a notable gap in theory and evidence exists in the relationship between them. We aim to explore the relationship between community resilience and health emergency communication and to identify strategies and interventions to strengthen their usefulness to each other.

Associations between mental illness, TB risk and migrant status.

Background: TB and mental illnesses are public health priorities that often co-exist, with migrants in high-income countries being at risk for both conditions. This study investigates whether mental illness influences TB risk and examines the impact of migration status.

Methods: A nationwide prospective cohort study was conducted in Denmark from 1994-2015, involving migrants matched 1:6 to Danish-born individuals.