Article
Immunology
Ying-Chun Chien, Yu-Tsung Huang, Chun-Hsing Liao, Jung-Yien Chien, Po-Ren Hsueh
Summary: This study investigated the clinical characteristics and outcomes of bacteremia caused by Haemophilus and Aggregatibacter species in patients treated at a medical center between 2006 and 2018. The results showed that the majority of patients with bacteremia had community-acquired disease, with a higher Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score being an independent predictor of poor 7-day clinical outcomes in patients with community-acquired H. influenzae bacteremia.
JOURNAL OF MICROBIOLOGY IMMUNOLOGY AND INFECTION
(2021)
Article
Biology
Skylar R. Hopkins, Cari M. McGregor, Lisa K. Belden, Jeremy M. Wojdak
Summary: In multi-host systems, the abundance, infectivity, and infection intensity of host species play a disproportionate role in maintaining symbionts. However, despite frequent opportunities for interspecific transmission, strong host preferences act as a barrier to transmission.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Didier Bronnimann, Dea Garcia-Hermoso, Francoise Dromer, Fanny Lanternier
Summary: The study found that different species of Scedosporium fungi lead to distinct clinical presentations and outcomes. Infections caused by S. apiospermum were associated with malignancies and cutaneous involvement, while S. boydii infections were more related to solid organ transplantation, cerebral infections, fungemia, and early death. Additionally, infections caused by L. prolificans exhibited a different clinical pattern, with more neutropenic patients, breakthrough infections, fungemia, and disseminated infections.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Angelica Zamudio-Ochoa, Yaroslav Morozov, Azadeh Sarfallah, Michael Anikin, Dmitry Temiakov
Summary: Recognition of mammalian mitochondrial promoters is achieved through the concerted action of mitochondrial RNA polymerase (mtRNAP) and transcription initiation factors TFAM and TFB2M. This study provides insights into the heterogeneity of mitochondrial transcripts and accurately identifies the transcription start sites (TSS) of mammalian and other vertebrate species. The divergent structure of mammalian promoters reveals new aspects of mtDNA evolution and the precise register of the DNA in the initiation complex. The findings also shed light on the molecular basis of promoter recognition and the role of mitochondrial transcription machinery in mitonuclear coevolution and speciation.
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Dylan Baker, James Lauer, Anna Ortega, Sara L. Jackrel, Vincent J. Denef
Summary: Phytoplankton is crucial for life on Earth and its productivity is influenced by microbial communities in the phycosphere. Studying algal-bacterial interactions can help us understand the principles of algal-host interactions.
Article
Ecology
Tad A. Dallas, Pedro Jordano
Summary: In this study, the variability in interactor richness across 299 host-helminth networks was examined using a global database of host-helminth interactions. The results showed that a signal of interactor richness conservation was not detected for more than 95% of host and helminth parasite species. Furthermore, a significant taxonomic signal was detected in the divergence of parasite species richness from a null model for host species.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Aafke Oldenbeuving, Adalberto Gomez-Zuniga, Ximena Florez-Buitrago, Ana M. Gutierrez-Zuluaga, Carlos A. Machado, Tom J. M. Van Dooren, Jacques van Alphen, Jacobus C. Biesmeijer, Edward Allen Herre
Summary: Previous genetic studies in Central Panama suggest a range in host specificity of pollinator wasps associated with strangler figs. To understand factors contributing to this specificity, we used sticky traps to capture fig-pollinating wasps at different stages of the host figs' reproductive cycle. DNA barcoding revealed that wasps were mainly captured at receptive host fig trees, suggesting high specificity. Our results indicate that the occurrence of wasps is not random and other cues, such as chemicals produced by leaves, may play a role in host recognition.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ewa Ostrycharz, Beata Hukowska-Szematowicz
Summary: This article presents key miRNAs involved in viral infections in humans and animals. The authors summarize existing literature data and reveal that 12 miRNAs are mainly involved in human viral infections, while 10 miRNAs are commonly found in animal viral infections. Investigating the roles of these miRNAs can contribute to understanding the pathogenesis of viral diseases and aid in the development of therapeutic agents.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Hamed Javidi, Arshiya Mariam, Gholamreza Khademi, Emily C. Zabor, Ran Zhao, Tomas Radivoyevitch, Daniel M. Rotroff
Summary: This study conducted an empirical research on disease prediction using different deep learning frameworks based on simulated clinical measurements. The results showed that shape variation was more challenging for discrimination than magnitude. Time-series forest-convolutional neural networks (TSF-CNN) and Gramian angular field (GAF)-CNN were the best performing models. In a real-world assessment, the TSF-CNN model predicted T2D using only BMI trajectories with an AUC of 0.72.
NPJ DIGITAL MEDICINE
(2022)
Review
Immunology
Delphine Bonhomme, Catherine Werts
Summary: Leptospirosis is a zoonotic infectious disease that affects all vertebrates. Different mammals can have varying degrees of resistance or susceptibility to the disease, while mice and rats are resistant despite carrying the bacteria. The immune mechanisms that determine host susceptibility to leptospirosis remain unclear, but recent findings suggest that differential immune sensing of leptospires through pattern recognition receptors may play a role.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR AND INFECTION MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Meng Xia, Meenal K. Kheterpal, Samantha C. Wong, Christine Park, William Ratliff, Lawrence Carin, Ricardo Henao
Summary: In this paper, a machine-learning-based approach for lesion identification and malignancy prediction from clinical dermatological images is proposed. The method can handle images acquired via smartphone or dermoscopy capture, and supports both focal and wide-field images. The proposed two-stage approach shows superior performance compared to alternative model architectures. The combination of images and clinical data does not significantly improve over the image-only model. The proposed framework offers comparable performance in terms of malignancy classification to board certified dermatologists.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Masoud Nazarizadeh, Milena Novakova, Geraldine Loot, Nestory P. Gabagambi, Faezeh Fatemizadeh, Odipo Osano, Bronwen Presswell, Robert Poulin, Zoltan Vital, Tomas Scholz, Ali Halajian, Emiliano Trucchi, Pavlina Kocova, Jan Stefka
Summary: Studies on Ligula intestinalis tapeworm provide insights into the importance of host association and biogeography in parasite diversification.
MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETICS AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Review
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Mohamed E. Abd El-Hack, Sameh A. Abdelnour, Mahmoud Kamal, Asmaa F. Khafaga, Afnan M. Shakoori, Rehab M. Bagadood, Hind M. Naffadi, Areej Y. Alyahyawi, Hanan Khojah, Saleh Alghamdi, Mariusz Jaremko, Sylwester Swiatkiewicz
Summary: Lactoferrin (LF) is a protein found in bodily fluids, such as milk, with diverse functions and evolutionary conservation. It has distinct biological abilities that impact mammalian immune structures. However, the daily intake of LF from dairy products is not sufficient to detect its full health-promoting potential.
BIOMEDICINE & PHARMACOTHERAPY
(2023)
Article
Pathology
Jakob M. T. Moran, Long P. Le, Valentina Nardi, Josephine Golas, Alexander A. Farahani, Sylvia Signorelli, Maristela L. Onozato, Ruth K. Foreman, Lyn M. Duncan, Donald P. Lawrence, Jochen K. Lennerz, Dora Dias-Santagata, Mai P. Hoang
Summary: Gene fusions, although rare in melanoma, may have therapeutic implications. A study detected 16 fusions in samples from 16 patients, with 75% of the fusions potentially targetable. Novel fusions and fusions reported in other malignancies but not in melanoma were identified. The detection of fusions may have a clinically significant impact in melanoma patients who have failed front-line immunotherapy.
Article
Biology
Zhi-Hui Su, Ayako Sasaki, Junko Kusumi, Po-An Chou, Hsy-Yu Tzeng, Hong-Qing Li, Hui Yu
Summary: Through studying six closely related fig species and their pollinators in southern China and the Taiwan-Ryukyu islands, it was found that there are instances of pollinator sharing, copollination, and host shifting, leading to insights into the mechanisms underlying pollinator speciation in obligate pollination mutualism.
COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY
(2022)