Genome-scale resources in the infant gut symbiont Bifidobacterium breve reveal genetic determinants of colonization and host-microbe interactions.

Bifidobacteria represent a dominant constituent of human gut microbiomes during infancy, influencing nutrition, immune development, and resistance to infection. Despite interest in bifidobacteria as a live biotic therapy, our understanding of colonization, host-microbe interactions, and the health-promoting effects of bifidobacteria is limited. To address these major knowledge gaps, we used a large-scale genetic approach to create a mutant fitness compendium in Bifidobacterium breve.

Sensorimotor function: Muscle spindle macrophages in the loop.

Motor coordination relies on muscle spindles and the stretch reflexes they enable. A new study shows that spindle-resident macrophages can drive sensory signaling and muscle contraction. This implicates immune cells in a process considered the exclusive domain of neuromuscular systems.

SUMO style defense: How post-translational modification via SUMO conjugation promotes plant defense.

SUMOylation is a reversible post-translational modification that contributes to various biological processes in plants. In this issue of Developmental Cell, Zhang et al. show that covalent attachment of SUMO to PROPEP proteins promotes their proteolytic cleavage by metacaspase to release small signaling peptides (plant elictor peptides [PEPs]), triggering the release of the mature peptide in response to cell wall damage.

Second booster doses of adenoviral- and mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines increase protection against COVID-19 hospitalization: Final analysis from the REFORCO-Brazil real-world effectiveness study during Omicron.

Background: Booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines are required to maintain protection against SARS-CoV-2. However, real-world evidence from South America, needed to inform optimal vaccination strategies, is lacking. Herein, we present the final analysis of REFORCO-Brazil, a large-scale assessment of relative vaccine effectiveness (rVE) of second boosters (vs first boosters) against hospitalization with COVID-19.

Video Head Impulse Test in Survivors From Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: New Perspectives for Implementation of Assessment in Rehabilitation.

Objective: This study aims to evaluate vestibular function by instrumental assessment of the angular vestibulo-ocular reflex (aVOR) in survivors from severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI) and analyze related clinical characteristics and functional balance scales.

Setting: This study was conducted on inpatients accepted at Santa Lucia Foundation-Neurorehabilitation Hospital for Research and Healthcare (Rome, Italy), from January to September 2023.

Participants: Twenty-one survivors from sTBI with a median age of 48 years (IQR = 27) were included in this study, recruited through the neurorehabilitation services.

Direct and indirect impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on life expectancy and person-years of life lost with and without disability: A systematic analysis for 18 European countries, 2020-2022.

Background: The direct and indirect impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on life expectancy (LE) and years of life lost with and without disability remain unclear. Accounting for pre-pandemic trends in morbidity and mortality, we assessed these impacts in 18 European countries, for the years 2020-2022.

Methods And Findings: We used multi-state Markov modeling based on several data sources to track transitions of the population aged 35 or older between eight health states from disease-free, combinations of cardiovascular disease, cognitive impairment, dementia, and disability, through to death.

Characterizing the genetic diversity and population structure of Plasmodium knowlesi in Aceh Province, Indonesia.

As in other parts of Southeast Asia, efforts to achieve or sustain malaria elimination in Indonesia have been threatened by the emergence of human infection with the primate species P. knowlesi. To understand the transmission dynamics of this species, investigation of P.

Sustainable and scalable one-pot synthesis of diaryliodonium salts.

Two one-pot routes from iodoarenes to diaryliodonium triflates have been developed in the sustainable solvent ethyl acetate. The first method yields the recently reported aryl(dimethylisoxazolyl)iodonium triflates, circumventing the need for stepwise synthesis of this chemoselective arylating reagent. The second method gives other types of diaryliodonium salts, and the scalability of the protocols was exhibited with two >45 mmol scale-ups with impressively low -factors.

Surface-based versus voxel-based finite element head models: comparative analyses of strain responses.

Finite element (FE) models of the human head are important injury assessment tools but developing a high-quality, hexahedral-meshed FE head model without compromising geometric accuracy is a challenging task. Important brain features, such as the cortical folds and ventricles, were captured only in a handful of FE head models that were primarily developed from two meshing techniques, i.e.

Combination treatment with anti-RANKL and antibiotics for preventing joint destruction in septic arthritis.

Septic arthritis, the most severe joint disease, is frequently caused by Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). A substantial proportion of patients with septic arthritis experience poor joint outcomes, often necessitating joint replacement surgery.

Sexual orientation differences in mental health service use and unmet mental health care needs: a cross-sectional population-based study of young adults.

Purpose: This study aims to examine sexual orientation differences in mental health services use and unmet mental health care needs, and to explore associated sociodemographic factors in a populational-based sample of Swedish young adults (aged 18-34).

Methods: Data from the Pathways to Longitudinally Understanding Stress (PLUS) study were used (2019, N = 2,126, participation rate of 37.8%).

Mobile Electronic Patient-Reported Outcomes and Interactive Support During Breast and Prostate Cancer Treatment: Health Economic Evaluation From Two Randomized Controlled Trials.

Background: Digital interventions for supportive care during cancer treatment incorporating electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePROs) can enhance early detection of symptoms and facilitate timely symptom management. However, economic evaluations are needed.

Objective: This study aims to conduct a cost-utility analysis of an app for ePRO and interactive support from the perspective of the payer (Region Stockholm Health Care Organization) and to explore its impact on patient health care utilization and costs.

Sex Differences in Apolipoprotein E and Alzheimer Disease Pathology Across Ancestries.

Importance: Age, sex, and apolipoprotein E (APOE) are the strongest risk factors for late-onset Alzheimer disease (AD). The role of APOE in AD varies with sex and ancestry. While the association of APOE with AD biomarkers also varies across sex and ancestry, no study has systematically investigated both sex-specific and ancestry differences of APOE on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers together, resulting in limited insights and generalizability.

A Pragmatic Approach to Handling Censored Data Below the Lower Limit of Quantification in Pharmacokinetic Modeling.

Proper handling of data below the lower limit of quantification (BLQ) is crucial for accurate pharmacokinetic parameter estimation. The M3 method proposed by Beal uses a likelihood-based approach that is precise but has been reported to suffer from numerical issues in converging. Common alternatives include ignoring the BLQs (M1), imputing half of the lower limit of quantification and ignoring trailing BLQs (M6) or imputing zero (M7).

Women's desire to have a midwife they know during labor and birth has increased significantly over time.

Background: In Sweden, women often meet with different midwives during antenatal, intrapartum, and postpartum care, due to the structure of maternity care, with few alternatives which provide continuity. This study aims to explore women's interest in having a midwife they know present during labor and birth and to identify the characteristics of women who prefer this option.

Methods: A comparative study was conducted involving two Swedish nationwide cohorts of Swedish-speaking pregnant women.

PopGLen-A Snakemake pipeline for performing population genomic analyses using genotype likelihood-based methods.

Summary: PopGLen is a Snakemake workflow for performing population genomic analyses within a genotype-likelihood framework, integrating steps for raw sequence processing of both historical and modern DNA, quality control, multiple filtering schemes, and population genomic analysis. Currently, the population genomic analyses included allow for estimating linkage disequilibrium, kinship, genetic diversity, genetic differentiation, population structure, inbreeding, and allele frequencies. Through Snakemake, it is highly scalable, and all steps of the workflow are automated, with results compiled into an HTML report.

Physical activity levels and associated biopsychosocial characteristics among attendees to exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation.

Aim: Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation (exCR) reduces morbidity and mortality after acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Little is known about physical activity levels at exCR program completion and associated demographic, medical, and psychosocial factors.

Methods: Cross-sectional data from the ongoing Keep-Up-Going study was used, including 100 participants with recent ACS and >80% attendance to 3 months supervised exCR program.

Genomic Insights Into the Origin, Decline and Recovery of the Once Critically Endangered Iberian Lynx.

The Iberian lynx was at the brink of extinction by the year 2000 but has since then, and thanks to intensive conservation measures, gone through a remarkable recovery, providing a much-welcomed and encouraging conservation success story. Genetic issues have probably contributed to the decline in the past, and the genetic management of inbreeding and genetic diversity is likely contributing to its recent recovery. The species was an early adopter of genetic and genomic approaches, and the combination of an extreme decline, an intensive monitoring and management programme and extensive genomic resources and data makes the Iberian lynx an excellent model for conservation genomics.

Deficiency in peptidoglycan recycling promotes β-lactam sensitivity in .

Peptidoglycan (PG)-modifying enzymes play a crucial role in cell wall remodeling, essential for growth and division. Cell wall degradation products are transported to the cytoplasm and recycled back in most gram-negative bacteria, and PG recycling is also linked to β-lactam resistance in many bacteria. is intrinsically resistant to β-lactams.

Metal preference of glyoxalase II, a quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics study.

The catalytic activity of the binuclear glyoxalase II (GlxII) enzyme is closely linked to the type and charge of metal ions in its active site. Using hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) calculations, we investigated the reaction mechanism of human GlxII, which features two Zn(II) ions in its active site. By systematically replacing these Zn(II) ions with Fe(II), Fe(III), or Co(II), we evaluated the impact of metal substitutions on reaction energetics and active-site geometry.

Safety and efficacy of proton pump inhibitors in preterm infants with gastroesophageal reflux disease.

Background: Although physiological reflux is seen in nearly all newborns to varying degrees, symptoms can be severe and cause gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). In preterm infants, one symptom that is often attributed to GERD is apnea and associated cardiorespiratory events, such as bradycardia and oxygen desaturation. Although the relationship between GERD and apnea, bradycardia, and desaturation events remains a subject of ongoing investigation, trials of agents that reduce gastric acidity, such as proton pump inhibitors (PPI), have been conducted to assess the effect of these agents on GERD.

Additional Operations Following Sacroiliac Joint Fusions: A Minimum 3-year Follow-up Cohort Study of Patients Operated for Chronic Sacroiliac Joint Pain.

Study Design: A retrospective analysis of prospectively collected registry data.

Objective: To examine the subsequent pattern of surgeries and outcome of sacroiliac joint fusions (SJF) in patients previously operated in the lumbar spine as well as those scheduled for primary SJF.

Summary Of Background Data: Patients with SI joint pain often have a history of previous back surgery, but it is unclear how often patients require back surgery after SI-joint fusion.

Vasomotor and fibrinolytic effects of leptin in man.

The adipocyte-derived hormone leptin has been associated with the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease. The mechanisms underlying this association are unclear but may relate to effects on the vascular endothelium. Our aim was to explore the effects of leptin on endothelial vasomotor and fibrinolytic function in healthy volunteers and patients with coronary artery disease.