Sex bias in tuberculosis in the developing world

Tuberculosis (TB), the most deadly global single organism infectious disease, kills nearly twice as many men as women. Understanding the factors that drive this bias in TB mortality is an important aspect of the global effort to reduce the enormous burden of this disease in the developing world. One third of the world’s population is estimated to be infected TB, with Low and Middle Income Countries (LMIC) bearing the greatest disease burden. In LMIC sex bias in TB is influenced by sociocultural, behavioural as well as biological factors, with dynamic interactions between reporting variables, other confounding variables and physiological mechanisms, which each influence one another to produce the male-biased sex ratio observed in TB transmission, prevalence and mortality. While confounding factors are addressed in the existing global drive to tackle TB it is the biological aspects of sex bias in TB that present specific challenges for diagnosis and treatment in men and women as they potentially influence future immunological-based interventions to treat TB

The Functional Significance of Allelic Diversity in Candida Albicans

Allelic expression imbalance, or AEI, is the term given to differences in the expression levels of the two alleles of a gene. AEI has been previously identified in a number of species using various techniques. Here, the genome-wide extent of allelic expression imbalance in the pathogenic yeast species, Candida albicans, was examined through use of RNA sequencing in combination with a novel computational pipeline based around the diploid reference genome. Techniques for validating these results were investigated, and the difficulties surrounding specificity and quantification are discussed. As C. albicans is a highly heterozygous species, it was hypothesised that polymorphisms within alleles lead to differences in allele expression, which are further linked to differences in allele function. The functional consequences of AEI were therefore interrogated through investigation of Gene Ontology, identification of condition specific responses in AEI, and targeted construction and phenotypic screening of heterozygous knockout strains. Together, these results strongly suggest that divergence in allele expression is not linked to differences in allele function. Investigations of the possible control mechanisms behind the differences in allele expression were considered, with a focus upon structural factors such as chromosomal location, GC content, allele length and codon usage. However, issues with establishing causality are present, and difficulties lie in distinguishing between functional differences and consequences of bias in sequencing technologies. This piece of research has advanced the understanding of gene expression mechanisms within a medically important pathogen, paving the way for further investigations into the functional consequences of allelic expression imbalance in Candida albicans.BBSR

Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, and Augmented Reality in Counseling: Distinctions, Evidence, and Research Considerations

Technology is experiencing a growing presence in counseling and mental health, attracting attention from counselors, researchers, and the general public. This growth has the potential to change counseling practice, counselor education, and how users access mental health services. In this article we provide definitions of and distinctions between three common technologies that are used in the counseling field—Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, and Augmented Reality. We also provide examples of the use of each technology, ethical implications, research support, and recommendations for future research

Directing citizens to create advance directives

This article describes the Swiss law on advance directives that was passed at the beginning of 2013 and led to more certainty about the legally binding character of such directives. However, for various reasons the drafting of advance directives is not yet widespread in Switzerland, and many resources might be put to better use if this became a common practice. A recent proposal by members of a political party to make the discussion, although not the actual drafting, of advance directives mandatory was rejected by the Swiss Federal Parliament, and the proposal was written off after having been pending for 2 years. We consider that the rejection of this proposal was not justified and that discussion of advance directives should become mandatory, so that individuals can fully assume their role as responsible citizens taking proactive decisions. The decision not to draft advance directives should be a deliberate one, marking a shift from the current "opt-in" approach to an "opt-out" scenario

Changes in the gut microbiota of Nigerian infants within the first year of life

Acknowledgments We would like to thank our recruited Mums and babies for providing the samples without which this study would not have been possible. We thank the Centre for Genome Enabled Biology and Medicine for Illumina sequencing and useful discussions.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Gut mucosal microbiome signatures of colorectal cancer differ according to BMI status

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We gratefully acknowledge the NHS Grampian Biorepository for providing access to CRC patient samples and data. We thank members of the GI Research Team for discussions and advice. The authors thank Brennan Martin and the Centre for Genome Enabled Biology and Medicine for useful discussions.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Editorial : Curriculum Applications in Microbiology: Bioinformatics in the Classroom

We would like to thank all of the authors who submitted to this special topic, committed to the furthering of academic creativity, excellence, and rigor in the challenging and virtual instructional world of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). To you and all of our educators globally, you are indispensable.Non peer reviewedPublisher PD

The Effect of Vitamin D on Intestinal Inflammation and Faecal Microbiota in Patients with Ulcerative Colitis

This work was supported by the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation Fellowship awarded to Dr Mayur Garg, and St Mark’s Foundation Research Grant 2015 awarded to Prof Ailsa Hart and Dr Mayur Garg.Peer reviewedPostprin

β-Glucan is a major growth substrate for human gut bacteria related to Coprococcus eutactus

A clone encoding carboxymethyl cellulase activity was isolated during functional screening of a human gut metagenomic library using Lactococcus lactis MG1363 as heterologous host. The insert carried a glycoside hydrolase family 9 (GH9) catalytic domain with sequence similarity to a gene from Coprococcus eutactus ART55/1. Genome surveys indicated a limited distribution of GH9 domains among dominant human colonic anaerobes. Genomes of C. eutactus-related strains harboured two GH9-encoding and four GH5-encoding genes, but the strains did not appear to degrade cellulose. Instead, they grew well on β-glucans and one of the strains also grew on galactomannan, galactan, glucomannan and starch. Coprococcus comes and Coprococcus catus strains did not harbour GH9 genes and were not able to grow on β-glucans. Gene expression and proteomic analysis of C. eutactus ART55/1 grown on cellobiose, β-glucan and lichenan revealed similar changes in expression in comparison to glucose. On β-glucan and lichenan only, one of the four GH5 genes was strongly upregulated. Growth on glucomannan led to a transcriptional response of many genes, in particular a strong upregulation of glycoside hydrolases involved in mannan degradation. Thus, β-glucans are a major growth substrate for species related to C. eutactus, with glucomannan and galactans alternative substrates for some strains

The reflexive imperative in the digital age:Using Archer’s ‘fractured reflexivity’ to theorise widening inequities in UK general practice

‘Reflexivity’, as used by Margaret Archer, means creative self-mastery that enables individuals to evaluate their social situation and act purposively within it. People with complex health and social needs may be less able to reflect on their predicament and act to address it. Reflexivity is imperative in complex and changing social situations. The substantial widening of health inequities since the introduction of remote and digital modalities in health care has been well-documented but inadequately theorised. In this article, we use Archer’s theory of fractured reflexivity to understand digital disparities in data from a 28-month longitudinal ethnographic study of 12 UK general practices and a sample of in-depth clinical cases from ‘Deep End’ practices serving highly deprived populations. Through four composite patient cases crafted to illustrate different dimensions of disadvantage, we show how adverse past experiences and structural inequities intersect with patients’ reflexive capacity to self-advocate and act strategically. In some cases, staff were able to use creative workarounds to compensate for patients’ fractured reflexivity, but such actions were limited by workforce capacity and staff awareness. Unless a more systematic safety net is introduced and resourced, people with complex needs are likely to remain multiply disadvantaged by remote and digital health care