Preparation of functional metagenomic libraries from low biomass samples using METa assembly and their application to capture antibiotic resistance genes.

A significant challenge in the field of microbiology is the functional annotation of novel genes from microbiomes. The increasing pace of sequencing technology development has made solving this challenge in a high-throughput manner even more important. Functional metagenomics offers a sequence-naive and cultivation-independent solution.

Sulbactam-durlobactam improves cephalosporin and carbapenem susceptibility and time-kill effect against .

Despite the long therapy duration, the treatment outcomes for lung disease (MAB-LD) are very poor. β-Lactams are among the recommended drugs for the treatment of MAB-LD; however, they are prone to hydrolysis by MAB β-lactamase enzymes. Therefore, β-lactamase inhibitors have been developed to overcome this problem.

Teaching critical histories of microbiology: two case studies.

In recent years, microbiologists have emphasized the importance of understanding the historical relation between microbiomes and public health as a means of contributing to social equity. Consistent with critical engaged and anti-racist pedagogical practices, we developed a curricular intervention--that centers critical histories of science as means to educate scientists about how science has contributed to and replicated inequities in society. Here, we describe two case studies that our interdisciplinary team designed, implemented, and assessed specifically for a module on the history of microbiology.

Primary production by the purple nonsulfur bacterium in an acidic, moderately sulfidic warm spring.

Populations of the acidophilic purple nonsulfur bacterium were identified in two geographically distinct thermal areas in Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming, USA), as confirmed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and detection of characteristic methoxylated ketocarotenoids. Microcosm-based carbon uptake assays where oxygenic photosynthesis was excluded via addition of 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea yielded a light-driven dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) assimilation rate (7 ± 2 mg C g C h) comparable to those of highly productive algal mats in acidic hot springs, suggesting that may be performing photoautotrophy at the time of the assay. Rates of acetate assimilation were more than two orders of magnitude lower than DIC assimilation and did not differ between light and dark treatments, indicating photoheterotrophic use of acetate was not occurring, though photoheterotrophic assimilation of other organic compounds cannot be excluded.

Influence of biologic sex and obesity on liver recurrence and survival in patients undergoing upfront surgery for pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

Background: The influence of obesity and sex on outcomes in pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains unclear. The association between obesity (body mass index [BMI], ≥30) and biologic sex (male or female) for outcomes in patients with PDAC undergoing a surgery-first approach was investigated.

Methods: A prospectively maintained pancreatic cancer database at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center was queried to identify all patients undergoing surgery with a pathologic diagnosis of PDAC.

Genomic analysis of transmission within an urban region.

emerged in Chicago, IL, USA, in 2016 and has since become endemic. We used whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of 494 isolates, epidemiologic metadata and patient transfer data to describe the transmission of among Chicago healthcare facilities between 2016 and 2021. In total, 99% of isolates formed a single clade IV phylogenetic lineage, suggesting a single introduction.

Myopathology and Immune Profile of Granulomatous Myositis in Sarcoid Myopathy.

Aims: Sarcoid myopathy (SaM) is characterised by granulomatous myositis (GM) and can overlap with inclusion body myositis (IBM), a late-onset chronic idiopathic inflammatory myopathy with a still enigmatic pathogenesis. As GM can occur in different clinical contexts, we aimed to examine the histomorphologic features and gene expression profiles in cases of definite SaM that may inform diagnostic and therapeutic considerations.

Methods: We performed a multidimensional characterisation of muscle biopsy specimens from patients with 'pure SaM' (n=17), SaM with concomitant IBM (SaM-IBM) (n=2), including histopathologic and ultrastructural analysis in addition to quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction.

The American Cancer Society National Lung Cancer Roundtable strategic plan: Tobacco treatment in the context of lung cancer screening.

Tobacco use is the primary contributor to disease and death in the United States, and cigarette smoking is the leading risk factor for lung cancer. Safe and effective treatments for tobacco dependence exist; however, access to and use of tobacco treatment remains low. The most recent Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services National Coverage Determination requires a shared decision-making visit for lung cancer screening that includes counseling on the importance of maintaining cigarette smoking abstinence if a person formerly smoked; or the importance of smoking cessation if a person currently smokes and, if appropriate, furnishing of information about tobacco-cessation interventions.

Ferrihydrite level in paddy soil affects inorganic arsenic species in rice grains.

Rice is consumed by ∼50% of the global population, grown primarily in flooded paddy fields, and is susceptible to arsenic accumulation. Inorganic arsenic, particularly in reduced form (As(III)), is considered the most toxic and is more likely to accumulate in rice grains under flooded systems. We postulate that increased levels of highly reactive iron minerals, such as ferrihydrite, in paddy soils can regulate the bioavailability of arsenic and reduce its uptake by priming iron plaque formation.

MRI at 0.55 T for Assessment of Pancreatic Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasms: An Intraindividual Comparison Versus 1.5-T and 3-T MRI.

Mid-field (0.55-T) MRI may offer an alternative to higher field strengths for pancreatic intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs) surveillance given high-quality MRCP sequences enabled by longer T2 relaxation times and greater patient comfort resulting from a larger bore and reduced acoustic noise. However, SNR is lower at 0.

Out-of-the-Box Large Language Models for Detecting and Classifying Critical Findings in Radiology Reports Using Various Prompt Strategies.

The increasing complexity and volume of radiology reports present challenges for timely critical findings communication. To evaluate the performance of two out-of-the-box LLMs in detecting and classifying critical findings in radiology reports using various prompt strategies. The analysis included 252 radiology reports of varying modalities and anatomic regions extracted from the MIMIC-III database, divided into a prompt engineering tuning set of 50 reports, a holdout test set of 125 reports, and a pool of 77 remaining reports used as examples for few-shot prompting.

Aerobic Exercise Enhances the Impact of Cognitive Training on Positive Symptoms After a First Episode of Schizophrenia.

We examined the effects of combining cognitive training plus aerobic exercise versus cognitive training alone on positive symptoms in recent-onset schizophrenia patients. Sixty-eight participants were randomly assigned to Cognitive Training plus Exercise (CT&E,  = 37) or Cognitive Training alone (CT,  = 31). All participants were also randomly assigned to either oral risperidone or paliperidone palmitate (PP1M) in a concurrent antipsychotic medication study.

A New Family of Ternary Intermetallic Compounds with Dualistic Atomic Ordering - The ZIP Phases.

A new family of nanostructured ternary intermetallic compounds - named the ZIP phases - is introduced in this work. The ZIP phases exhibit dualistic atomic ordering, i.e.

Associations of sleep duration and quality with risk of incident obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome: Results from the Midlife in the United States study.

Understanding how sleep affects the risk of incident chronic conditions in midlife may reinforce the importance of a healthy sleep pattern for healthy aging and cardiometabolic health. The objective of the study was to examine associations of sleep duration and quality with incident obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome in mid-aged adults. Participants without obesity ( = 381), diabetes ( = 509), or metabolic syndrome ( = 487) from the Biomarker Projects in Midlife in the United States study were examined separately for baseline sleep duration and quality and their associations with incident obesity, diabetes, or metabolic syndrome after an average follow-up of 12 years.

Mammary gland metabolism and its relevance to the fetoplacental expression of cytokine signaling in caveolin-1 null mice.

Mice lacking caveolin-1 (), a major protein of the lipid raft of plasma membrane, show deregulated cellular proliferation of the mammary gland and an abnormal fetoplacental communication during pregnancy. This study leverages a multi-omics approach to test the hypothesis that the absence of elicits a coordinated crosstalk of genes among the mammary gland, placenta and fetal brain in pregnant mice. Integrative analysis of metabolomics and transcriptomics data of mammary glands showed that the loss of significantly impacted specific metabolites and metabolic pathways in the pregnant mice.

Multiyear environmental surveillance in a pediatric teaching hospital: association between airborne mold spores and invasive mold infections.

Background: The utility of routine environmental sampling to monitor the airborne fungal load (AFL) in healthcare settings is uncertain.

Methods: AFL was measured by monthly cultures at a tertiary-care pediatric hospital from November 2018 through October 2023 on eleven units caring for patients at risk for invasive mold infection (IMI). Surveillance for healthcare-associated IMI was conducted for all patients in the healthcare system using locally developed definitions for possible, probable, and definite hospital-onset infections.

Enabling Ultra-High Work Capacity and Scalable Processability of Liquid Crystal Actuators through Densely Entangled Structures.

Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are important soft actuators that show strong promise in many fields where traditional rigid actuators or robotics are impractical. However, their real-world applications are lacking primarily due to inadequate actuation performance and complicated fabrication processes. Here, a novel design is reported that significantly enhances actuation performance while simplifying the fabrication process.