Changes in composition of respiratory bacteria colonizing pneumococcal conjugate vaccinated children, 2006-2023.

We hypothesized that the introduction of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) would alter patterns of nasopharyngeal colonization and their relationship to acute otitis media (AOM) in children. We prospectively followed 1537 children from age 6-36 months across three periods: 2006-2009 (PCV7 era), 2010-2014 (early-PCV13 era), and 2015-2023 (late-PCV13 era), collecting nasopharyngeal cultures at healthy and AOM visits, with paired tympanocentesis when appropriate. Colonized children had more frequent daycare attendance and less breastfeeding.

Refined cell transfer model reveals roles for Ascl2 and Cxcr3 in splenic localization of mouse NK cells during virus infection.

Cell transfer experiments complement the rigorous investigation of antiviral and antitumor functions of natural killer (NK) cells. Success in these endeavors is enhanced by expansion of small numbers of input NK cells driven by viral antigens or homeostatic proliferation in immunodeficient hosts. In contrast, analysis of other NK-cell functions, including immunoregulation, are non-proliferative and require an intact immune system in recipient mice.

"It's messy and it's massive": How has the open science debate developed in the post-COVID era?

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the global adoption of open science (OS) practices. However, as the pandemic subsides, the debate around OS continues to evolve. This study investigates how the pandemic has shaped the OS discourse and identifies key issues and challenges.

Genetic Diversity, Admixture, and Selection Signatures in a Rarámuri Criollo Cattle Population Introduced to the Southwestern United States.

Rarámuri Criollo (RC) cattle have been raised by the isolated Tarahumara communities of Chihuahua, Mexico, for nearly 500 years, mostly under natural selection and minimal management. RC cattle were introduced to the United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service Jornada Experimental Range (RCJER) in 2005 to begin evaluations of beef production performance and their adaptation to the harsh ecological and climatic conditions of the Northern Chihuahuan Desert. While this research unveiled crucial information on their phenotypic plasticity and adaptation, the genetic diversity and structure of the RCJER population remains poorly understood.

COVID-19-Associated Encephalopathy: A Case Series Demonstrating the Rapid Deterioration of Mental Status and a Review of the Literature.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is known for its severe inflammatory response, often leading to multi-organ dysfunction. Among the less-recognized complications is COVID-19-associated encephalopathy, particularly in the elderly, where it contributes significantly to morbidity and mortality. This report explores the rapid neurocognitive decline observed in six hospitalized patients with COVID-19, with or without pre-existing neurological conditions.

Variability in Vaccine Response and Trajectory in Early Childhood and Association With Demographic Variables, Antibiotic Exposure, and Infection Proneness.

Background: We sought to explore the variability of antibody responses to multiple vaccines during early life in individual children, assess the trajectory of each child longitudinally, determine the associations of demographic variables and antibiotic exposures with vaccine-induced immunity, and link vaccine responsiveness to infection proneness.

Methods: In 357 prospectively recruited children, aged 6-36 months, antibody levels to 13 routine vaccine antigens were measured in sera at multiple time points and normalized to their respective protective thresholds to categorize children into 4 groups: very low, low, normal, and high vaccine responders. Demographic variables and frequency of antibiotic exposure data were collected.

Cotranslational molecular condensation of cochaperones and assembly factors facilitates axonemal dynein biogenesis.

Axonemal dynein, the macromolecular machine that powers ciliary motility, assembles in the cytosol with the help of dynein axonemal assembly factors (DNAAFs). These DNAAFs localize in cytosolic foci thought to form via liquid-liquid phase separation. However, the functional significance of DNAAF foci formation and how the production and assembly of multiple components are so efficiently coordinated, at such enormous scale, remain unclear.

Optimized methods to image hepatic lipid droplets in zebrafish larvae.

The optical transparency of zebrafish larvae enables visualization of subcellular structures in intact organs, and these vertebrates are widely used to study lipid biology and liver disease. Lipid droplet (LD) presence is a prevalent feature of healthy cells, but, under conditions such as nutrient excess, toxicant exposure or metabolic imbalance, LD accumulation in hepatocytes can be a harbinger of more severe forms of liver disease. We undertook a comprehensive analysis of approaches useful to investigate LD distribution and dynamics in physiological and pathological conditions in the liver of zebrafish larvae.

KLF2 determines the susceptibility of T cells to immunoregulatory NK cells.

Natural killer (NK) cells suppress cellular and humoral immune responses via killing of T cells, resulting in diminished vaccine responses in mice and humans. Efforts to overcome this roadblock and achieve optimal immunity require an improved understanding of the molecular mediators facilitating NK cell-targeting of discrete subsets of CD4 T cells. We employed single-cell forensic victimology and CRISPR-Cas9 editing to delineate a transcriptional program uniquely responsible for the susceptibility of a subpopulation of CD4 T cells to perforin-dependent immunoregulation by NK cells.

The LTAR Grazing Land Common Experiment at the Jornada Experimental Range: Old genetics, new precision technologies, and adaptive value chains.

Rangelands and the supply chains connected to them are central to the agrifood systems of the Southwestern United States. Local ranchers are simultaneously arid lands managers, herd managers, and marketing managers. To stay in business, they must adapt to unpredictable forage resources and markets while conserving soils and vegetation resources for the long term.

Development of a hepatic cryoinjury model to study liver regeneration.

The liver is a remarkable organ that can regenerate in response to injury. Depending on the extent of injury, the liver can undergo compensatory hyperplasia or fibrosis. Despite decades of research, the molecular mechanisms underlying these processes are poorly understood.

Structural screening and molecular simulation identify potential ligands against the K700E hot spot variant and functional pockets of SF3B1 to modulate splicing in myelodysplastic syndrome.

Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a blood disorder with ineffective hematopoiesis and risk of transformation to acute myeloid leukemia, is characterized by recurring cytogenetic and molecular alterations. By chromosome analysis, approximately 60% of patients, carry chromosome 5 and 7 alterations, trisomy of chromosome 8 and may also present with increasingly complex karyotypes, especially in higher grade MDS (MDS with refractory anemia and increased blasts type 1 and 2). Moreover, somatic pathogenic variants in genes associated with aberrant mRNA splicing are frequently mutated with SF3B1 the most frequently mutated.

Development of a hepatic cryoinjury model to study liver regeneration.

The liver is a remarkable organ that can regenerate in response to injury. Depending on the extent of injury, the liver can undergo compensatory hyperplasia or fibrosis. Despite decades of research, the molecular mechanisms underlying these processes are poorly understood.

Optimization of the Synthesis and Conjugation of the Methyl Rhamnan Tip of A-Band Polysaccharide and Immunogenicity Evaluation for the Continued Development of a Potential Glycoconjugate Vaccine.

is an antimicrobial-resistant bacterium that has no vaccine approved for human use. Additionally, it has been identified by the World Health Organization as a priority pathogen for novel vaccines and therapeutic development. We previously developed a synthetic mimic of the A-band polysaccharide tip that showed promise in terms of immunogenicity for use as a glycoconjugate vaccine.

Formation and immunological evaluation of Moraxella catarrhalis glycoconjugates based on synthetic oligosaccharides.

Published work has shown that glycoconjugate vaccines, based on truncated detoxified lipopolysaccharides from Moraxella catarrhalis attached through their reducing end to a carrier protein, gave good protection for all three serotypes A, B, and C in mice immunisation experiments. The (from the non-reducing end) truncated LPS structures were obtained from bacterial glycosyl transferase knock-out mutants and contained the de-esterified Lipid A, two Kdo residues and five glucose moieties. This work describes the chemical synthesis of the same outer Moraxella LPS structures, spacer-equipped and further truncated from the reducing end, i.

SLAM-ITseq identifies that Nrf2 induces liver regeneration through the pentose phosphate pathway.

The liver exhibits a remarkable capacity to regenerate following injury. Despite this unique attribute, toxic injury is a leading cause of liver failure. The temporal processes by which the liver senses injury and initiates regeneration remain unclear.

Vasculature is getting Hip(po): Hippo signaling in vascular development and disease.

The Hippo signaling pathway regulates developmental organ growth, regeneration, and cell fate decisions. Although the role of the Hippo pathway, and its transcriptional effectors YAP and TAZ, has been well documented in many cell types and species, only recently have the roles for this pathway come to light in vascular development and disease. Experiments in mice, zebrafish, and in vitro have uncovered roles for the Hippo pathway, YAP, and TAZ in vasculogenesis, angiogenesis, and lymphangiogenesis.

Variable thermal plasticity of leaf functional traits in Andean tropical montane forests.

Tropical montane forests (TMFs) are biodiversity hotspots and provide vital ecosystem services, but they are disproportionately vulnerable to climate warming. In the Andes, cold-affiliated species from high elevations are being displaced at the hot end of their thermal distributions by warm-affiliated species migrating upwards from lower elevations, leading to compositional shifts. Leaf functional traits are strong indicators of plant performance and at the community level have been shown to vary along elevation gradients, reflecting plant adaptations to different environmental niches.

Behavioral Adaptations of Nursing Brangus Cows to Virtual Fencing: Insights from a Training Deployment Phase.

Virtual fencing systems have emerged as a promising technology for managing the distribution of livestock in extensive grazing environments. This study provides comprehensive documentation of the learning process involving two conditional behavioral mechanisms and the documentation of efficient, effective, and safe animal training for virtual fence applications on nursing Brangus cows. Two hypotheses were examined: (1) animals would learn to avoid restricted zones by increasing their use of containment zones within a virtual fence polygon, and (2) animals would progressively receive fewer audio-electric cues over time and increasingly rely on auditory cues for behavioral modification.

Automated prediction of acute promyelocytic leukemia from flow cytometry data using a graph neural network pipeline.

Objectives: Our study aimed to develop a machine learning (ML) model to accurately classify acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) from other types of acute myeloid leukemia (other AML) using multicolor flow cytometry (MFC) data. Multicolor flow cytometry is used to determine immunophenotypes that serve as disease signatures for diagnosis.

Methods: We used a data set of MFC files from 27 patients with APL and 41 patients with other AML, including those with uncommon immunophenotypes.

Real-Time Monitoring of Grazing Cattle Using LORA-WAN Sensors to Improve Precision in Detecting Animal Welfare Implications via Daily Distance Walked Metrics.

Animal welfare monitoring relies on sensor accuracy for detecting changes in animal well-being. We compared the distance calculations based on global positioning system (GPS) data alone or combined with motion data from triaxial accelerometers. The assessment involved static trackers placed outdoors or indoors vs.

The KEAP1-NRF2 pathway regulates TFEB/TFE3-dependent lysosomal biogenesis.

The maintenance of redox and metabolic homeostasis is integral to embryonic development. Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2) is a stress-induced transcription factor that plays a central role in the regulation of redox balance and cellular metabolism. Under homeostatic conditions, NRF2 is repressed by Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (KEAP1).

The African killifish: A short-lived vertebrate model to study the biology of sarcopenia and longevity.

Sarcopenia, the age-related decline in muscle function, places a considerable burden on health-care systems. While the stereotypic hallmarks of sarcopenia are well characterized, their contribution to muscle wasting remains elusive, which is partly due to the limited availability of animal models. Here, we have performed cellular and molecular characterization of skeletal muscle from the African killifish-an extremely short-lived vertebrate-revealing that while many characteristics deteriorate with increasing age, supporting the use of killifish as a model for sarcopenia research, some features surprisingly reverse to an "early-life" state in the extremely old stages.