Geospatial transmission hotspots of recent HIV infection — Malawi, October 2019–March 2020

What is already known about this topic? A novel HIV infection surveillance initiative was implemented in Malawi to collect data on recent HIV infections among new diagnoses to characterize the epidemic and guide the public health response. What is added by this report? Higher proportions of recent infections were identified among females, persons aged <30 years, and clients at maternal and child health and youth clinics. Spatial analysis identified three hotspots of health facilities with significantly higher rates of recent infection than expected across five districts. What are the implications for public health practice? Geospatial analysis of recent HIV infection surveillance data can identify potential transmission hotspots. This information could be used to tailor program activities to strengthen HIV testing, prevention, and treatment services and ultimately interrupt transmission

Anterior anal sphincter repair can be of long term benefit: a 12-year case cohort from a single surgeon

BACKGROUND: Early surgical results of anterior sphincter repair for faecal incontinence can be good, but in the longer term are often disappointing. This study aimed to determine the short and long term outcomes from anterior sphincter repair and identify factors predictive of long term success. METHODS: Patients who underwent anterior sphincter repair between 1989 and 2001 in one institution were identified. Postal questionnaires were sent to patients, which included validated scoring systems for symptom severity and quality of life assessments for faecal incontinence. Patient demographics and risk factors were recorded as were the results of anorectal physiology studies and endoanal ultrasound. RESULTS: Eighty-five patients underwent repair by one consultant. The length of follow up ranged from 1 to 12 years. Most patients (96%) had early symptom improvement postoperatively. Of the 47 patients assessed long term (≥ 5 years), 28 (60%) maintained this success. Significant improvements in quality of life were observed (P < 0.001). Neither patient, surgical nor anorectal physiology study parameters were predictive of outcome. CONCLUSION: There were no predictive factors of outcome success and no changes in anal manometry identified, however anterior sphincter repair remains worthwhile. Changes in compliance of the anorectum may be responsible for symptom improvement

Enzymology of the branched-chain amino acid oxidation disorders: the valine pathway

Valine is one of the three branched-chain amino acids which undergoes oxidation within mitochondria. In this paper, we describe the current state of knowledge with respect to the enzymology of the valine oxidation pathway and the different disorders affecting oxidation

Different linkages in the long and short regions of the genomes of duck enteritis virus Clone-03 and VAC Strains

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Duck enteritis virus (DEV) is an unassigned member in the family <it>Herpesviridae</it>. To demonstrate further the evolutionary position of DEV in the family <it>Herpesviridae</it>, we have described a 42,897-bp fragment. We demonstrated novel genomic organization at one end of the long (L) region and in the entire short (S) region in the Clone-03 strain of DEV.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A 42,897-bp fragment located downstream of the <it>LOFR11 </it>gene was amplified from the Clone-03 strain of DEV by using 'targeted gene walking PCR'. Twenty-two open reading frames (ORFs) were predicted and determined in the following order: 5'<it>-LORF11-RLORF1</it>-<it>ORF1</it>-<it>ICP4</it>-<it>S1-S2-US1-US10-SORF3-US2-MDV091.5-like-US3-US4-US5-US6-US7-US8-ORFx-US1-S2-S1-ICP4 </it>-3'. This was different from that of the published VAC strain, both in the linkage of the L region and S region, and in the length of the US10 and US7 proteins. The <it>MDV091.5-like </it>gene, <it>ORFx </it>gene, <it>S1 </it>gene and <it>S2 </it>gene were first observed in the DEV genome. The lengths of DEV US10 and US7 were determined to be 311 and 371 amino acids, respectively, in the Clone-03 strain of DEV, and these were different from those of other strains. The comparison of genomic organization in the fragment studied herein with those of other herpesviruses showed that DEV possesses some unique characteristics, such as the duplicated US1 at each end of the US region, and the US5, which showed no homology with those of other herpesviruses. In addition, the results of phylogenetic analysis of ORFs in the represented fragment indicated that DEV is closest to its counterparts VZV (<it>Varicellovirus</it>) and other avian herpesviruses.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The molecular characteristics of the 42,897-bp fragment of Clone-03 have been found to be different from those of the VAC strain. The phylogenetic analysis of genes in this region showed that DEV should be a separate member of the subfamily <it>Alphaherpesvirinae</it>.</p

Structure-Based Vaccines Provide Protection in a Mouse Model of Ehrlichiosis

infection. were protected against the pathogen.Our results demonstrate the power of structural vaccines and could be a new strategy in the development of vaccines to provide protection against pathogenic microorganisms

Analysis of Imprinted Gene Expression in Normal Fertilized and Uniparental Preimplantation Porcine Embryos

In the present study quantitative real-time PCR was used to determine the expression status of eight imprinted genes (GRB10, H19, IGF2R, XIST, IGF2, NNAT, PEG1 and PEG10) during preimplantation development, in normal fertilized and uniparental porcine embryos. The results demonstrated that, in all observed embryo samples, a non imprinted gene expression pattern up to the 16-cell stage of development was common for most genes. This was true for all classes of embryo, regardless of parental-origins and the direction of imprint. However, several differentially expressed genes (H19, IGF2, XIST and PEG10) were detected amongst the classes at the blastocyst stage of development. Most interestingly and despite the fact that maternally and paternally expressed genes should not be expressed in androgenones and parthenogenones, respectively, both uniparental embryos expressed these genes when tested for in this study. In order to account for this phenomenon, we compared the expression patterns of eight imprinted genes along with the methylation status of the IGF2/H19 DMR3 in haploid and diploid parthenogenetic embryos. Our findings revealed that IGF2, NNAT and PEG10 were silenced in haploid but not diploid parthenogenetic blastocysts and differential methylation of the IGF2/H19 DMR3 was consistently observed between haploid and diploid parthenogenetic blastocysts. These results appear to suggest that there exists a process to adjust the expression status of imprinted genes in diploid parthenogenetic embryos and that this phenomenon may be associated with altered methylation at an imprinting control region. In addition we believe that imprinted expression occurs in at least four genes, namely H19, IGF2, XIST and PEG10 in porcine blastocyst stage embryos

Landscape structure affects the prevalence and distribution of a tick-borne zoonotic pathogen

Background Landscape structure can affect pathogen prevalence and persistence with consequences for human and animal health. Few studies have examined how reservoir host species traits may interact with landscape structure to alter pathogen communities and dynamics. Using a landscape of islands and mainland sites we investigated how natural landscape fragmentation affects the prevalence and persistence of the zoonotic tick-borne pathogen complex Borrelia burgdorferi(sensu lato), which causes Lyme borreliosis. We hypothesized that the prevalence of B. burgdorferi (s.l.) would be lower on islands compared to the mainland and B. afzelii, a small mammal specialist genospecies, would be more affected by isolation than bird-associated B. garinii and B. valaisiana and the generalist B. burgdorferi (sensu stricto). Methods Questing (host-seeking) nymphal I. Ricinus ticks (n = 6567) were collected from 12 island and 6 mainland sites in 2011, 2013 and 2015 and tested for B. burgdorferi(s.l.). Deer abundance was estimated using dung transects. Results The prevalence of B. burgdorferi (s.l.) was significantly higher on the mainland (2.5%, 47/1891) compared to island sites (0.9%, 44/4673) (P &lt; 0.01). While all four genospecies of B. burgdorferi (s.l.) were detected on the mainland, bird-associated species B. garinii and B. valaisiana and the generalist genospecies B. burgdorferi(s.s.) predominated on islands. Conclusion We found that landscape structure influenced the prevalence of a zoonotic pathogen, with a lower prevalence detected among island sites compared to the mainland. This was mainly due to the significantly lower prevalence of small mammal-associated B. afzelii. Deer abundance was not related to pathogen prevalence, suggesting that the structure and dynamics of the reservoir host community underpins the observed prevalence patterns, with the higher mobility of bird hosts compared to small mammal hosts leading to a relative predominance of the bird-associated genospecies B. garinii and generalist genospecies B. burgdorferi (s.s.) on islands. In contrast, the lower prevalence of B. afzelii on islands may be due to small mammal populations there exhibiting lower densities, less immigration and stronger population fluctuations. This study suggests that landscape fragmentation can influence the prevalence of a zoonotic pathogen, dependent on the biology of the reservoir host

Environmental Acidification Drives S. pyogenes Pilus Expression and Microcolony Formation on Epithelial Cells in a FCT-Dependent Manner

Group A Streptococcus (GAS, Streptococcus pyogenes) is a Gram-positive human pathogen responsible for a diverse variety of diseases, including pharyngitis, skin infections, invasive necrotizing fasciitis and autoimmune sequelae. We have recently shown that GAS cell adhesion and biofilm formation is associated with the presence of pili on the surface of these bacteria. GAS pilus proteins are encoded in the FCT (Fibronectin- Collagen-T antigen) genomic region, of which nine different variants have been identified so far. In the present study we undertook a global analysis of GAS isolates representing the majority of FCT-variants to investigate the effect of environmental growth conditions on their capacity to form multicellular communities. For FCT-types 2, 3, 5 and 6 and a subset of FCT-4 strains, we observed that acidification resulting from fermentative sugar metabolism leads to an increased ability of the bacteria to form biofilm on abiotic surfaces and microcolonies on epithelial cells. The higher biofilm forming capacity at low environmental pH was directly associated with an enhanced expression of the genes encoding the pilus components and of their transcription regulators. The data indicate that environmental pH affects the expression of most pilus types and thereby the formation of multicellular cell-adhering communities that assist the initial steps of GAS infection

Blood Parasites in Owls with Conservation Implications for the Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis)

The three subspecies of Spotted Owl (Northern, Strix occidentalis caurina; California, S. o. occidentalis; and Mexican, S. o. lucida) are all threatened by habitat loss and range expansion of the Barred Owl (S. varia). An unaddressed threat is whether Barred Owls could be a source of novel strains of disease such as avian malaria (Plasmodium spp.) or other blood parasites potentially harmful for Spotted Owls. Although Barred Owls commonly harbor Plasmodium infections, these parasites have not been documented in the Spotted Owl. We screened 111 Spotted Owls, 44 Barred Owls, and 387 owls of nine other species for haemosporidian parasites (Leucocytozoon, Plasmodium, and Haemoproteus spp.). California Spotted Owls had the greatest number of simultaneous multi-species infections (44%). Additionally, sequencing results revealed that the Northern and California Spotted Owl subspecies together had the highest number of Leucocytozoon parasite lineages (n = 17) and unique lineages (n = 12). This high level of sequence diversity is significant because only one Leucocytozoon species (L. danilewskyi) has been accepted as valid among all owls, suggesting that L. danilewskyi is a cryptic species. Furthermore, a Plasmodium parasite was documented in a Northern Spotted Owl for the first time. West Coast Barred Owls had a lower prevalence of infection (15%) when compared to sympatric Spotted Owls (S. o. caurina 52%, S. o. occidentalis 79%) and Barred Owls from the historic range (61%). Consequently, Barred Owls on the West Coast may have a competitive advantage over the potentially immune compromised Spotted Owls