98%
921
2 minutes
20
A set of vectors for improved tetracycline-dependent gene regulation in Staphylococcus aureus is presented. Plasmid pRAB11 was generated from pRMC2 by adding a second tet operator within the TetR-regulated promoter P(xyl/tet). Pronounced repression was observed in the absence of anhydrotetracycline (ATc) combined with high induction in the presence of the drug, as demonstrated for pRAB11 bearing staphylococcal nuclease nuc1, lacZ or gfp. Also, in plasmid pCG261, the pRAB11 tetR-P(xyl/tet) regulatory architecture permitted tight repression and a stepwise increase in transcript amounts of the target gene rny (putative RNase) correlated with rising ATc concentrations. Additionally, pRAB11-derived vectors harbouring semi-rationally designed P(xyl/tet)-like fragments, mutated at up to six defined positions, were constructed. Sixteen mutant sequences with single to quadruple exchanges were analysed for transcriptional strength and ATc-dependent inducibility. A set of promoters with gradually decreased activities and improved repression is presented. Finally, the implementation of reverse TetR revtetR-r2, which exhibits three amino acid exchanges and binds to tetO in the presence of ATc, yielded an efficiently co-repressible vector within the pRAB11 system. Intriguingly, revtetR was found to contain a fourth mutation only after propagation in S. aureus. We predict that the described vectors constitute valuable tools for staphylococcal genetics.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://dx.doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.052548-0 | DOI Listing |
N Engl J Med
September 2025
Rwanda Biomedical Center, Kigali.
Background: On September 27, 2024, Rwanda reported an outbreak of Marburg virus disease (MVD), after a cluster of cases of viral hemorrhagic fever was detected at two urban hospitals.
Methods: We report key aspects of the epidemiology, clinical manifestations, and treatment of MVD during this outbreak, as well as the overall response to the outbreak. We performed a retrospective epidemiologic and clinical analysis of data compiled across all pillars of the outbreak response and a case-series analysis to characterize clinical features, disease progression, and outcomes among patients who received supportive care and investigational therapeutic agents.
J Cataract Refract Surg
July 2025
Department of Ophthalmology, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg/Saar, Germany.
Topic: The aim of this study was to assess the meta-analysis of the studies comparing transepithelial photorefractive keratectomy (TransPRK) to classical photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) (mechanical or alcohol-assisted).
Clinical Relevance: While PRK is a well-established procedure, TransPRK, a newer, minimally invasive technique may reduce surgery time and improve patient outcomes. Comparing these techniques helps optimize surgical choices.
PLoS One
September 2025
School of Computer Science, CHART Laboratory, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom.
Background And Objective: Male fertility assessment through sperm morphology analysis remains a critical component of reproductive health evaluation, as abnormal sperm morphology is strongly correlated with reduced fertility rates and poor assisted reproductive technology outcomes. Traditional manual analysis performed by embryologists is time-intensive, subjective, and prone to significant inter-observer variability, with studies reporting up to 40% disagreement between expert evaluators. This research presents a novel deep learning framework combining Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM) with ResNet50 architecture and advanced deep feature engineering (DFE) techniques for automated, objective sperm morphology classification.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLoS One
September 2025
School of Design and Art, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
This study addresses the limitations of traditional interior space design, particularly the timeliness and uniqueness of solutions, by proposing an optimized design framework that integrates a two-stage deep learning network with a single-sample-driven mechanism. In the first stage, the framework employs a Transformer network to extract multi-dimensional features (such as spatial layout, color distribution, furniture style, etc.) from input space images, generating an initial feature vector.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBrain
September 2025
Sorbonne University, Inserm U1127, CNRS UMR7225, UM75, Paris Brain Institute, Movement Investigation and Therapeutics Team, 75013 Paris, France.
Adolescence is frequently called the second brain maturation period. In Tourette disorder (TD), the clinical trajectory of tics and associated psychiatric co-morbidities vary significantly across individuals during the transition from adolescents to adulthood. In this study, we aimed to identify patterns of resting-state functional connectivity that differentiate adolescents with TD from their neurotypical peers, and to monitor symptom-specific functional changes over time.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF