Molecular Analysis of and Correlations Between Phylogroups and Sequence Types from Different Sources.

is a significant pathogen responsible for infections in both humans and livestock, possessing various virulence mechanisms and antimicrobial resistance that make it even more concerning. In this study, several internationally recognized clones of were identified, such as ST131, ST38, ST648, and ST354, from chicken meat, pork, and human infection samples. Notably, ST131, belonging to phylogroup B2, was the dominant sequence type (ST) in human samples, while ST38, belonging to phylogroup D, was the most prevalent in meat samples.

Microbiome Structures and Beneficial Bacteria in Soybean Roots Under Field Conditions of Prolonged High Temperatures and Drought Stress.

Drought stress has a significant impact on agricultural productivity, affecting key crops such as soybeans, the second most widely cultivated crop in the United States. Endophytic and rhizospheric microbial diversity analyses were conducted with soybean plants cultivated during the 2023 growing season amid extreme weather conditions of prolonged high temperatures and drought in Louisiana. Specifically, surviving and non-surviving soybean plants were collected from two plots of a Louisiana soybean field severely damaged by extreme heat and drought conditions in 2023.

Optimizing Poultry Nutrition to Combat : Insights from the Literature.

infections in poultry production are a significant and pervasive concern, posing substantial risks to both animal and human health. This comprehensive literature review examines the current body of research on the use of various nutritional manipulations as a promising strategy to effectively control and mitigate the prevalence of in poultry. The review covers a range of dietary interventions, particularly the utilization of probiotics, prebiotics, organic acids, and phytochemicals, and thoroughly evaluates their efficacy in reducing colonization within poultry flocks.

Expression of Recombinant Clostridial Neurotoxin by .

Tetanus neurotoxins (TeNT) and botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) are closely related ~150 kDa protein toxins that together comprise the group of clostridial neurotoxins (CNTs) expressed by various species of . While TeNT is expressed as a single polypeptide, BoNTs are always produced alongside multiple non-toxic proteins that form a stabilizing complex with BoNT and are encoded in a conserved toxin gene cluster. It is unknown how evolved without a similar gene cluster and why complex-free TeNT is secreted as a stable and soluble protein by , whereas complexing proteins appear to be essential for BoNT stability in culture supernatants of .

Investigating How Genomic Contexts Impact IS5 Transposition Within the Genome.

Insertions of the transposable element IS5 into its target sites in response to stressful environmental conditions, DNA structures, and DNA-binding proteins are well studied, but how the genomic contexts near IS5's native loci impact its transpositions is largely unknown. Here, by examining the roles of all 11 copies of IS5 within the genome of strain BW25113 in transposition, we reveal that the most significant copy of IS5 is one nested within and oriented in the same direction as the gene, while two other copies of IS5 harboring point mutations are hardly transposed. Transposition activity is heavily reliant on the upstream promoter that drives IS5 transposase gene , with more transpositions resulting from greater promoter activity.

The Role of Inflammation in the Pathogenesis of Viral Respiratory Infections.

Viral respiratory infections (VRIs) are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, making them a significant public health concern. During infection, respiratory viruses, including Influenza virus, SARS-CoV-2, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), trigger an antiviral immune response, specifically boosting the inflammatory response that plays a critical role in their pathogenesis. The inflammatory response induced by respiratory viruses can be a double-edged sword since it can be initially induced to be antiviral and protective/reparative from virus-induced injuries.

A Better Understanding of the Clinical and Pathological Changes in Viral Retinitis: Steps to Improve Visual Outcomes.

Infectious retinitis, though rare, poses a significant threat to vision, often leading to severe and irreversible damage. Various pathogens, including viruses, bacteria, tick-borne agents, parasites, and fungi, can cause this condition. Among these, necrotizing herpetic retinitis represents a critical spectrum of retinal infections primarily caused by herpes viruses such as varicella-zoster virus (VZV), herpes simplex virus (HSV), and cytomegalovirus (CMV).

sp. for the Attenuation of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease in Mice.

Probiotics are studied for their therapeutic potential in the treatment of several diseases, including metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). Part of the significant progress made in understanding the pathogenesis of steatosis has come from identifying the complex interplay between the gut microbiome and liver function. Recently, probiotics have shown beneficial effects for the treatment and prevention of steatosis and MASLD in rodent models and in clinical trials.

Structural Characterization of Encapsulin in Complex with Dye-Decolorizing Peroxide.

(Mtb) is the causative agent of tuberculosis, the world's deadliest infectious disease. Mtb uses a variety of mechanisms to evade the human host's defenses and survive intracellularly. Mtb's oxidative stress response enables Mtb to survive within activated macrophages, an environment with reactive oxygen species and low pH.

The Tick Microbiome: The "Other Bacterial Players" in Tick Biocontrol.

Hard ticks (family Ixodidae) are one of the most predominant arthropod disease vectors worldwide, second only to mosquitoes. In addition to harboring animal and human pathogens, ticks are known to carry a microbial community constituted of non-pathogenic organisms, which includes maternally inherited intracellular endosymbionts and other environmentally acquired extracellular microorganisms. These microbial communities, which include bacteria, viruses, protozoans, and fungi-with often commensal, mutualistic, or parasitic associations with the tick-comprise the tick microbiome, bacteria being the most studied community.

Targeted Variant Assessments of Human Endogenous Retroviral Regions in Whole Genome Sequencing Data Reveal Retroviral Variants Associated with Papillary Thyroid Cancer.

Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is one of the fastest-growing cancers worldwide, lacking established causal factors or validated early diagnostics. Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs), comprising 8% of human genomes, have potential as PTC biomarkers due to their comparably high baseline expression in healthy thyroid tissues, indicating homeostatic roles. However, HERV regions are often overlooked in genome-wide association studies because of their highly repetitive nature, low sequence coverage, and decreased sequencing quality.

Directional and Strain-Specific Interaction Between and .

The interaction between and strains FRI-1169 and MN8, two original isolated strains from menstrual toxic shock syndrome (mTSS) cases, is a key focus for developing non-antibiotic strategies to control -related infections. While the antagonistic effects of species on through mechanisms like organic acid and bacteriocin production are known, the molecular dynamics of these interactions remain underexplored. This study employs a proteomic approach to analyze the interactions between WCFS1 and strains, FRI-1169 and MN8, during co-culture.

Nanopore Sequencing Allows Recovery of High-Quality Completely Closed Genomes of All Species from Powdered Infant Formula Overnight Enrichments.

Precision metagenomic approaches using Oxford Nanopore Technology (ONT) sequencing has been shown to allow recovery of complete genomes of foodborne bacteria from overnight enrichments of agricultural waters. This study tests the applicability of a similar approach for genome recovery from powdered infant formula (PIF) overnight enrichments, where typically dominates the overall microbiome (>90%). This study aimed to test whether using ONT sequencing of overnight PIF enrichments could recover a completely closed genome for further genomic characterization.

Boronic Acid-Containing 3- pyrazolo[4,3-]quinoline Compounds as Dual CLK/ROCK Inhibitors with Anticancer Properties.

The protein kinases CLK and ROCK play key roles in cell growth and migration, respectively, and are potential anticancer targets. ROCK inhibitors have been approved by the FDA for various diseases and CLK inhibitors are currently being trialed in the clinic as anticancer agents. Compounds with polypharmacology are desired, especially in oncology, due to the potential for high efficacy as well as addressing resistance issues.

The Comparative Effect of Morphine on Proliferation of Cancer Cell Lines Originating from Different Organs: An In Vitro Study.

: Opium consumption was recently classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) monograph as carcinogenic to humans based on strong evidence for cancers of the larynx, lung, and urinary bladder, and limited evidence for cancers of the oesophagus, stomach, pancreas, and pharynx. This poses the question of a potential pro-cancer effect of pharmaceutical opioid analgesics. In vitro studies employing a variety of experimental conditions suggest that opioid alkaloids have proliferative or antiproliferative effects.

Low-Dose Oral Ginger Improves Daily Symptom Scores in Asthma.

A significant number of individuals with asthma have poorly controlled daily symptoms and utilize dietary supplements such as ginger in a quest for improved symptom control; however, its effectiveness at improving the control of symptoms is unproven. We questioned whether low-dose oral ginger would improve subjective and objective measurements of asthma control in mild-to-moderate asthmatics. We performed a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded study of a low dose (1 g twice daily) of a dietary supplement of ginger in 32 mild-to-moderate uncontrolled asthmatics over a 2-month trial period while maintaining daily conventional asthma therapies.

Exploring the Feasibility of a Bracketing Approach Utilizing Modeling for Development of Long-Acting Injectables for Regulatory Approval-A Case Study Using Levonorgestrel.

Background: The development of long-acting products of a characterized drug substance is of great interest. It is possible to support the development of these products with available clinical data by matching the exposure to a predefined bracket of a minimal concentration for efficacy and a maximal concentration for safety. This bracketing approach would cut down on the time and cost of new long-acting contraceptive products progressing to market.

Biopolymeric Inhalable Dry Powders for Pulmonary Drug Delivery.

Natural and synthetic biopolymers are gaining popularity in the development of inhaled drug formulations. Their highly tunable properties and ability to sustain drug release allow for the incorporation of attributes not achieved in dry powder inhaler formulations composed only of micronized drugs, standard excipients, and/or carriers. There are multiple physiological barriers to the penetration of inhaled drugs to the epithelial surface, such as the periciliary layer mucus mesh, pulmonary macrophages, and inflammation and mucus compositional changes resulting from respiratory diseases.

Involvement of ATF6 in Octreotide-Induced Endothelial Barrier Enhancement.

: Endothelial hyperpermeability is the hallmark of severe disease, including sepsis and acute respiratory syndrome (ARDS). The development of medical countermeasures to treat the corresponding illness is of utmost importance. Synthetic somatostatin analogs (SSA) are FDA-approved drugs prescribed in patients with neuroendocrine tumors, and they act via growth hormone (GH) suppression.

Synthesis of Diazacyclic and Triazacyclic Small-Molecule Libraries Using Vicinal Chiral Diamines Generated from Modified Short Peptides and Their Application for Drug Discovery.

Small-molecule probes are powerful tools for studying biological systems and can serve as lead compounds for developing new therapeutics. Especially, nitrogen heterocycles are of considerable importance in the pharmaceutical field. These compounds are found in numerous bioactive structures.

Causal Mediation Analysis of Foodborne Outbreaks in the United States: Serotypes and Food Vehicles.

Various serotypes have caused numerous foodborne outbreaks associated with food vehicles in different categories. This study provides evidence on the occurrence and inter-relations between serotypes and the number of deaths mediated by the number of illnesses and hospitalizations. Confirmed foodborne outbreaks of serotypes (n = 2868) that occurred between 1998 and 2021 were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Outbreak Reporting System.

Evaluating the Diagnostic Efficacy of Using Pooled Samples for Chronic Wasting Disease Testing and Surveillance.

Disease monitoring informs the opportunities for intervention by natural resource agencies tasked with managing chronic wasting disease (CWD) in wild cervids. However, allocating funds toward testing can reduce those available for education, outreach, and disease reduction. Implementation of more efficient testing strategies can help meet both an expanding need by resource managers and a burgeoning demand from the hunting public in North America.

Optimizing Swine Oral Fluid Sampling Procedures for Growing Pigs in Commercial Settings.

Pen-based oral fluids are used extensively for surveillance and disease detection in swine, but there is sparse information on the sampling process itself. To address this shortcoming, we documented the pen-based oral fluid sampling process with the aim of optimizing the number of pigs in a pen that contributed to the sample. We quantified the effects of (1) previous experience with rope sampling (training), (2) the number of ropes suspended in the pen, and (3) sampling time on pig participation and pig-rope contact.

From Emergence to Evolution: Dynamics of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant in Florida.

The continual evolution of SARS-CoV-2 has significantly influenced the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the emergence of highly transmissible and immune-evasive variants posing persistent challenges. The Omicron variant, first identified in November 2021, rapidly replaced the Delta variant, becoming the predominant strain worldwide. In Florida, Omicron was first detected in December 2021, leading to an unprecedented surge in cases that surpassed all prior waves, despite extensive vaccination efforts.

Descriptive Epidemiology of Soil-Transmitted Helminth Infections in the United States: Using Big Data to Characterize Patients and Analyze Parasitic Disease Trends.

Soil-transmitted helminths (STH) include species responsible for hookworm disease, ascariasis, and trichuriasis. In the United States, STH infections have been greatly reduced with anthelmintic medications and improved hygiene and sanitation, however, cases still regularly occur, but limited epidemiological data exist. We investigated the occurrence of STH infections using big-data analytics of inpatient medical discharge records (1998-2020).