Main functions and taxonomic distribution of virulence genes in Brucella melitensis 16 M.

Many virulence genes have been detected in attenuated mutants of Brucella melitensis 16 M; nevertheless, a complete report of these genes, including the main Cluster of Orthologous Groups (COG) represented as well as the taxonomical distribution among all complete bacterial and archaeal genomes, has not been analyzed. In this work a total of 160 virulence genes that have been reported in attenuated mutants in B. melitensis were included and analyzed. Additionally, we obtained 250 B. melitensis randomly selected genes as a reference group for the taxonomical comparisons. The COGs and the taxonomical distribution profile for 789 nonredundant bacterial and archaeal genomes were obtained and compared with the whole-genome COG distribution and with the 250 randomly selected genes, respectively. The main COGs associated with virulence genes corresponded to the following: intracellular trafficking, secretion and vesicular transport (U); cell motility (N); nucleotide transport and metabolism (F); transcription (K); and cell wall/membrane/envelope biogenesis (M). In addition, we found that virulence genes presented a higher proportion of orthologs in the Euryarchaeota and Proteobacteria phyla, with a significant decrease in Chlamydiae, Bacteroidetes, Tenericutes, Firmicutes and Thermotogae. In conclusion, we found that genes related to specific functions are more relevant to B. melitensis virulence, with the COG U the most significant. Additionally, the taxonomical distribution of virulence genes highlights the importance of these genes in the related Proteobacteria, being less relevant in distant groups of organisms with the exception of Euryarchaeota

A Web Application for Biomedical Text Mining of Scientific Literature Associated with Coronavirus-Related Syndromes: Coronavirus Finder

In this study, a web application was developed that comprises scientific literature associated with the Coronaviridae family, specifically for those viruses that are members of the Genus Betacoronavirus, responsible for emerging diseases with a great impact on human health: Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Related Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Related Coronavirus (SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2). The information compiled on this webserver aims to understand the basics of these viruses’ infection, and the nature of their pathogenesis, enabling the identification of molecular and cellular components that may function as potential targets on the design and development of successful treatments for the diseases associated with the Coronaviridae family. Some of the web application’s primary functions are searching for keywords within the scientific literature, natural language processing for the extraction of genes and words, the generation and visualization of gene networks associated with viral diseases derived from the analysis of latent semantic space, and cosine similarity measures. Interestingly, our gene association analysis reveals drug targets in understudies, and new targets suggested in the scientific literature to treat coronavirus

Comparison of the taxonomic distribution of virulence genes and randomly selected genes of <i>B. melitensis</i> 16 M in bacterial and archaeal groups.

<p>N =  Number, A.P.: adjusted percentage, this is the corresponding percentage of the number of orthologs per each 100 genes of each organisms and divided by the number of organisms in each group, P value obtained with chi-squared test and Fisher exact test, *p value ≤0.05. In order to understand the differences in the percentages between the groups, the percentage and not the adjusted percentage must be taken into account, the adjusted percentage should only be considered in descriptive results, i.e., to know the distribution of orthologs in the organisms groups in each set of genes.</p

Virulence genes in <i>B. melitensis</i> 16 M reported in the literature.

<p>Abbreviations: N.O.: number of orthologs in 789 non-redundant bacterial and archaeal genomes, COG: cluster of orthologous groups, A: RNA processing and modification, B: chromatin structure and dynamics, C: energy production and conversion, D: cell cycle control, cell division, chromosome partitioning, E: amino acid transport and metabolism, F: nucleotide transport and metabolism, G: carbohydrate transport and metabolism, H: coenzyme transport and metabolism, I: lipid transport and metabolism, J: translation, ribosomal structure and biogenesis, K: transcription, L: replication, recombination and repair, M: cell wall/membrane/envelope biogenesis, N: cell motility, NC: not in COG, O: posttranslational modifications, protein turnover, chaperones, P: inorganic ion transport and metabolism, Q: secondary metabolites biosynthesis, transport and catabolism, R: general function prediction only, S: function unknown, T: signal transduction mechanisms, U: intracellular trafficking, secretion and vesicular transport, V: defense mechanisms, W: extracellular structures.</p

Comparison of COG distribution in the virulence genes with the <i>B. melitensis</i> 16 M genome COG distribution.

<p>P value obtained with chi-squared test and Fisher exact test,</p><p>*p-value ≤0.05. Abbreviations: COG: cluster of orthologous groups, A: RNA processing and modification, B: chromatin structure and dynamics, C: energy production and conversion, D: cell cycle control, cell division, chromosome partitioning, E: amino acid transport and metabolism, F: nucleotide transport and metabolism, G: carbohydrate transport and metabolism, H: coenzyme transport and metabolism, I: lipid transport and metabolism, J: translation, ribosomal structure and biogenesis, K: transcription, L: replication, recombination and repair, M: cell wall/membrane/envelope biogenesis, N: cell motility, NC: not in COG, O: posttranslational modifications, protein turnover, chaperones, P: inorganic ion transport and metabolism, Q: secondary metabolites biosynthesis, transport and catabolism, R: general function prediction only, S: function unknown, T: signal transduction mechanisms, U: intracellular trafficking, secretion and vesicular transport, V: defense mechanisms, W: extracellular structures.</p

Comparison of the taxonomic distribution of virulence genes and randomly selected genes of <i>B. melitensis</i> 16 M within <i>Proteobacteria</i> group.

<p>N =  Number, A.P.: adjusted percentage, this is the corresponding percentage of the number of orthologs per each 100 genes of each organisms and divided by the number of organisms in each group, P value obtained with chi-squared test and Fisher exact test,</p><p>*p value ≤0.05. In order to understand the differences in the percentages between the groups, the percentage and not the adjusted percentage must be taken into account, the adjusted percentage should only be considered in descriptive results, i.e., to know the distribution of orthologs in the organisms groups in each set of genes.</p

Sex Differences in Mental Status and Coping Strategies among Adult Mexican Population: A Cross-Sectional Study

We performed a cross-sectional study in order to determine the association between stress coping strategies and stress, depression, and anxiety, in which the Mexican population was invited to answer these variables by an electronic questionnaire. A total of 1283 people were included, of which 64.8% were women. Women presented higher levels of stress, depression, and anxiety than men; likewise, women showed a higher frequency of some maladaptive coping strategies (behavioral disengagement and denial) and lower levels of some adaptive ones (active coping and planning); additionally, maladaptive coping strategies were positively correlated with stress and depression in both sexes: self-blame, behavioral disengagement, denial, substance use, and self-distraction. Likewise, there were negative correlations between stress and depression and the adaptive strategies: planning, active coping, acceptance, and positive reframing. For women, religion presented negative correlations with stress, depression, and anxiety, and humor showed low positive correlations with stress, anxiety, and depression. In conclusion, most adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies are common in both sexes with the exception of religion, which seems to be adaptive in women and neutral in men, and humor, which seems to be adaptive in men and maladaptive in women. In addition, emotional and instrumental support seem to be neutral in both sexes

Association of Health and Psychological Factors with Academic Achievement and Non-Verbal Intelligence in University Students with Low Academic Performance: The Influence of Sex

Academic achievement, measured with the grade point average (GPA), is a stable characteristic that has been associated with many sociodemographic and psychological variables; however, the relation of these variables with GPA has not been totally elucidated. The objective of this study was to perform an association of health, psychological and personal variables with GPA and non-verbal intelligence in low-academic performance population according to sex. We invited health sciences university students who had failed the same subject twice to complete a set of sociodemographic and psychological variables and a non-verbal intelligence test. The GPA, admission exam test and preparatory GPA were obtained. We included 124 students, and found that GPA was associated with non-verbal intelligence in women but not in men; in whom, having a job and having a romantic partner, were more correlated. In women, positive relations with others, emotion perception and weekly physical activity hours were marginally correlated with GPA; while in men, emotion regulation and self-motivation had a tendency of correlation with GPA. In addition, we found that non-verbal intelligence was associated somatization and the number of diseases in women. Academic achievement is regulated by different variables in each sex; therefore, intervention programs addressed by sex are needed to increase it

Family Functioning and Suicide Attempts in Mexican Adolescents

Suicide is considered a public health problem that affects families worldwide. Family functioning is the capability of the family system to fulfill needs during the stages of its development. In this study, we focused on evaluating family cohesion and adaptability in a group of adolescents who had attempted suicide and were hospitalized at a hospital for mental health disorders, compared to a control group. Methods: based on Olson’s circumplex model, we used the FACES III scale to gain insights into the family functioning of both suicidal and control groups. Results: The case group presented lower scores in cohesion and adaptability compared to the control group, with moderate effect-size for cohesion (Cohen’s d/r test = 1.217/0.52) and low effect-size for adaptability (Cohen’s d/r test = 0.746/0.35) (p < 0.001 for both variables), and also presented predominantly disengaged families (72.5% in the case group vs. 27.5% in the control group) and structured families (45% in the case group vs. 23.8% in the control group). The type of family described by the adolescents with a history of suicide attempts may explain the presence of low self-esteem and little emotional support usually present in this type of patient

Family Functioning and Suicide Attempts in Mexican Adolescents

Suicide is considered a public health problem that affects families worldwide. Family functioning is the capability of the family system to fulfill needs during the stages of its development. In this study, we focused on evaluating family cohesion and adaptability in a group of adolescents who had attempted suicide and were hospitalized at a hospital for mental health disorders, compared to a control group. Methods: based on Olson&rsquo;s circumplex model, we used the FACES III scale to gain insights into the family functioning of both suicidal and control groups. Results: The case group presented lower scores in cohesion and adaptability compared to the control group, with moderate effect-size for cohesion (Cohen&rsquo;s d/r test = 1.217/0.52) and low effect-size for adaptability (Cohen&rsquo;s d/r test = 0.746/0.35) (p &lt; 0.001 for both variables), and also presented predominantly disengaged families (72.5% in the case group vs. 27.5% in the control group) and structured families (45% in the case group vs. 23.8% in the control group). The type of family described by the adolescents with a history of suicide attempts may explain the presence of low self-esteem and little emotional support usually present in this type of patient