The Faecal Microbiome of the Wild European Badger Meles meles:A Comparison Against Other Wild Omnivorous Mammals from Across the Globe

Here we investigate the faecal microbiome of wild European badgers Meles meles using samples collected at post-mortem as part of the All Wales Badger Found Dead study. This is the first published characterisation of the badger microbiome. We initially undertook a sex-matched age comparison between the adult and cub microbiomes, based on sequencing the V3–V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene. Analysis used the QIIME 2 pipeline utilising DADA2 and the Silva database for taxonomy assignment. Fusobacteria appeared to be more abundant in the microbiomes of the cubs than the adults although no significant difference was seen in alpha or beta diversity between the adult and cub badger microbiomes. Comparisons were also made against other wild, omnivorous, mammals’ faecal microbiomes using publicly available data. Significant differences were seen in both alpha and beta diversity between the microbiomes from different species. As a wildlife species of interest to the disease bovine tuberculosis, knowledge of the faecal microbiome could assist in identification of infected badgers. Our work here suggests that, if comparisons were made between the faeces of bTB infected and non-infected badgers, age may not have a significant impact on the microbiome. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00284-022-03064-4

Interviewer: 'Are women and girls ever responsible for the domestic violence they encounter?' Student: 'No, well, unless they did something really, really bad …'

Research shows the ‘gendered nature’ of domestic violence, with Women’s Aid (a UK-based charity) estimating that 1 in 4 women are affected (2014). This paper reports on a project - funded by Comic Relief, completed by Nottinghamshire Domestic Violence Forum (now known as Equation) and evaluated by Nottingham Trent University. The project adopts a Whole School Approach in seeking to prevent domestic violence. Students at three secondary schools attended between one and five blocks of work, and special events. There is evidence of positive developments - with young people showing understanding of domestic violence as well as the margins between healthy and unhealthy relationships. However, not all students could reply ‘never’ to the question of ‘are women and girls to blame for the domestic violence they experience?’, remarking that if the woman had done something ‘really, really bad’ then violence might be justified. We argue that young people’s uncertainties need to be situated within the gender-unequal socio-contexts of contemporary society, and further call for a WSA to domestic violence prevention to be a compulsory part of the UK national curriculum

Consistency in Polyclonal T-cell Responses to Gluten between Children and Adults with Celiac Disease

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Developing antigen-specific approaches for diagnosis and treatment of celiac disease requires a detailed understanding of the specificity of T cells for gluten. The existing paradigm is that T-cell lines and clones from children differ from those of adults in the hierarchy and diversity of peptide recognition. We aimed to characterize the T-cell response to gluten in children vs adults with celiac disease. METHODS: Forty-one children with biopsy-proven celiac disease (median age, 9 years old; 17 male), who had been on strict gluten-free diets for at least 3 months, were given a 3-day challenge with wheat; blood samples were collected and gluten-specific T cells were measured. We analyzed responses of T cells from these children and from 4 adults with celiac disease to a peptide library and measured T-cell receptor bias. We isolated T-cell clones that recognized dominant peptides and assessed whether gluten peptide recognition was similar between T-cell clones from children and adults. RESULTS: We detected gluten-specific responses by T cells from 30 of the children with celiac disease (73%). T cells from the children recognized the same peptides that were immunogenic to adults with celiac disease; deamidation of peptides increased these responses. Age and time since diagnosis did not affect the magnitude of T-cell responses to dominant peptides. T-cell clones specific for dominant α- or ω-gliadin peptides from children with celiac disease had comparable levels of reactivity to wheat, rye, and barley peptides as T-cell clones from adults with celiac disease. The α-gliadin-specific T cells from children had biases in T-cell receptor usage similar to those in adults. CONCLUSIONS: T cells from children with celiac disease recognize similar gluten peptides as T cells from adults with celiac disease. The findings indicate that peptide-based diagnostics and therapeutics for adults may also be used for children. Copyright © 2015 AGA Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

The Solar Activity Monitor Network – SAMNet

The Solar Activity Magnetic Monitor (SAMM) Network (SAMNet) is a future UK-led international network of ground-based solar telescope stations. SAMNet, at its full capacity, will continuously monitor the Sun’s intensity, magnetic, and Doppler velocity fields at multiple heights in the solar atmosphere (from photosphere to upper chromosphere). Each SAMM sentinel will be equipped with a cluster of identical telescopes each with a different magneto-optical filter (MOFs) to take observations in K I, Na D, and Ca I spectral bands. A subset of SAMM stations will have white-light coronagraphs and emission line coronal spectropolarimeters. The objectives of SAMNet are to provide observational data for space weather research and forecast. The goal is to achieve an operationally sufficient lead time of e.g., flare warning of 2–8 h and provide many sought-after continuous synoptic maps (e.g., LoS magnetic and velocity fields, intensity) of the lower solar atmosphere with a spatial resolution limited only by seeing or diffraction limit, and with a cadence of 10 min. The individual SAMM sentinels will be connected to their master HQ hub where data received from all the slave stations will be automatically processed and flare warning issued up to 26 h in advance

A Scoping Review of Home Produced Heroin and Amphetamine Type Stimulant Substitutes: Implications for Prevention, Treatment and Policy

Several home-produced substances such as krokodil and boltushka are prevalent in many Eastern European countries. Anecdotal reports of its use have been circulating in Germany and Norway; however, this has not been confirmed. Its use has also been reported by the media in the USA, although only one confirmed report of its use exists. Home-produced drugs are associated with high levels of morbidity and a number of complex health issues such as the spread of blood borne viruses, gangrene, and internal organ damage. The high incidence of HIV rates amongst people who inject home-produced substances is a public health concern. The resulting physical health consequences of injecting these crude substances are very severe in comparison to heroin or amphetamine acquired in black markets. Due to this fact and the increased mortality associated with these substances, professionals in the area of prevention, treatment, and policy development need to be cognisant of the presentation, harms, and the dangers associated with home-produced substances globally. This scoping review aimed to examine existing literature on the subject of home-produced heroin and amphetamine-type stimulant substitutes. The review discussed the many implications such research may have in the areas of policy and practice. Data were gathered through the use of qualitative secondary resources such as journal articles, reports, reviews, case studies, and media reports. The home production of these substances relies on the utilisation of precursor drugs such as less potent stimulants, tranquillizers, analgesics, and sedatives or natural plant ingredients. The Internet underpins the facilitation of this practice as recipes, and diverted pharmaceutical sales are available widely online, and currently, ease of access to the Internet is evident worldwide. This review highlights the necessity of prevention, education, and also harm reduction related to home-produced drugs and also recommends consistent monitoring of online drug fora, online drug marketplaces, and unregulated pharmacies

KSHV Manipulates Notch Signaling by DLL4 and JAG1 to Alter Cell Cycle Genes in Lymphatic Endothelia

Increased expression of Notch signaling pathway components is observed in Kaposi sarcoma (KS), but the mechanism underlying the manipulation of the canonical Notch pathway by the causative agent of KS, Kaposi sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV), has not been fully elucidated. Here, we describe the mechanism through which KSHV directly modulates the expression of the Notch ligands JAG1 and DLL4 in lymphatic endothelial cells. Expression of KSHV-encoded vFLIP induces JAG1 through an NF kappa B-dependent mechanism, while vGPCR upregulates DLL4 through a mechanism dependent on ERK. Both vFLIP and vGPCR instigate functional Notch signalling through NOTCH4. Gene expression profiling showed that JAG1- or DLL4-stimulated signaling results in the suppression of genes associated with the cell cycle in adjacent lymphatic endothelial cells, indicating a role for Notch signaling in inducing cellular quiescence in these cells. Upregulation of JAG1 and DLL4 by KSHV could therefore alter the expression of cell cycle components in neighbouring uninfected cells during latent and lytic phases of viral infection, influencing cellular quiescence and plasticity. In addition, differences in signaling potency between these ligands suggest a possible complementary role for JAG1 and DLL4 in the context of KS

Histological, histochemical and ultrastructural analysis of muscular dystrophy in the chicken

Imperial Users onl