Genome Sequences of Actinobacteria from Extreme Environments in Colombia.

We sequenced six actinobacterial genomes isolated from a salt mine and from soil in a high-mountain Páramo ecosystem. The strains belonged to the genera Streptomyces, Nesterenkonia, and Isoptericola and were sequenced due to their antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities

BRUCELOSIS HUMANA EN ESTUDIANTES DE LA ESCUELA DE BIOANÁLISIS, UNIVERSIDAD DE LOS ANDES-VENEZUELA

La brucelosis genera grandes pérdidas económicas tanto al productor como al país; produciendo graves problemas de salud pública ocasionados por el descuido en el control de la vacunación animal y medidas preventivas al hombre. En la Escuela de Bioánalisis de la Universidad de los Andes la gran mayoría de sus estudiantes provienen de zonas endémicas para la brucelosis como lo son: Santa Barbára del Zulia y El Vigia. Razón que nos motivó a realizar el presente estudio de investigación. Un total de 204 (29.9%) de los estudiantes se les aplicó una encuesta epidemiológica. Luego se les tomo 6 ml de sangre venosa para obtener el suero sanguíneo y ser analizados mediante las técnicas de Rosa de Bengala, la Microaglutinación en placa con fenol con 2-Mercaptoetanol. De esta manera conocer el porcentaje de seropositividad de dicha población estudiantil. Los resultados arrojados indicaron que 3 (1.47%) de los estudiantes fueron seropositivos y 203 (98.5%) seronegativos a los antígenos anti-Brucella sp. Lo que demuestra que en la Escuela de Bioánalisis existe la enfermedad. Abstract Brucellosis causes economic losses both to the producer and the country, producing serious piblic health problems due to the lack of control on animal vaccination and preventive measures to individuals. At the School of Bionalysis at the University of Los Antes, most of the students come from endemic regions to Brucellosis, such as: Santa Barbára del Zulia and El Vigia. This sitiation encouraged us to perform this research. 204 (29.9%) of the students were given a serological survey. Then, 6 ml of blood were drawn to obtain the blood serum and to be analyzed by the Rose Bengal technique, the Microagglutination on the a plate with phenol and 2mercapethanol. At his way could know the seropositive percentage of such student group. The results showed that 3 (1.47%) of the students were seropositive and 203 (98.5%) were seronegative to antigens like anti-Brucella sp. This proves that the disease exists at the School of Bionalysis. Palabras claves: Brucella, zoonosis, humanos, epidemiología, diagnóstico serólogic

In silico Analyses of Immune System Protein Interactome Network, Single-Cell RNA Sequencing of Human Tissues, and Artificial Neural Networks Reveal Potential Therapeutic Targets for Drug Repurposing Against COVID-19

Background: There is pressing urgency to identify therapeutic targets and drugs that allow treating COVID-19 patients effectively.Methods: We performed in silico analyses of immune system protein interactome network, single-cell RNA sequencing of human tissues, and artificial neural networks to reveal potential therapeutic targets for drug repurposing against COVID-19.Results: We screened 1,584 high-confidence immune system proteins in ACE2 and TMPRSS2 co-expressing cells, finding 25 potential therapeutic targets significantly overexpressed in nasal goblet secretory cells, lung type II pneumocytes, and ileal absorptive enterocytes of patients with several immunopathologies. Then, we performed fully connected deep neural networks to find the best multitask classification model to predict the activity of 10,672 drugs, obtaining several approved drugs, compounds under investigation, and experimental compounds with the highest area under the receiver operating characteristics.Conclusion: After being effectively analyzed in clinical trials, these drugs can be considered for treatment of severe COVID-19 patients. Scripts can be downloaded at

The state of the Martian climate

60°N was +2.0°C, relative to the 1981–2010 average value (Fig. 5.1). This marks a new high for the record. The average annual surface air temperature (SAT) anomaly for 2016 for land stations north of starting in 1900, and is a significant increase over the previous highest value of +1.2°C, which was observed in 2007, 2011, and 2015. Average global annual temperatures also showed record values in 2015 and 2016. Currently, the Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate of lower latitudes

Global phylogeography and ancient evolution of the widespread human gut virus crAssphage

Microbiomes are vast communities of microorganisms and viruses that populate all natural ecosystems. Viruses have been considered to be the most variable component of microbiomes, as supported by virome surveys and examples of high genomic mosaicism. However, recent evidence suggests that the human gut virome is remarkably stable compared with that of other environments. Here, we investigate the origin, evolution and epidemiology of crAssphage, a widespread human gut virus. Through a global collaboration, we obtained DNA sequences of crAssphage from more than one-third of the world's countries and showed that the phylogeography of crAssphage is locally clustered within countries, cities and individuals. We also found fully colinear crAssphage-like genomes in both Old-World and New-World primates, suggesting that the association of crAssphage with primates may be millions of years old. Finally, by exploiting a large cohort of more than 1,000 individuals, we tested whether crAssphage is associated with bacterial taxonomic groups of the gut microbiome, diverse human health parameters and a wide range of dietary factors. We identified strong correlations with different clades of bacteria that are related to Bacteroidetes and weak associations with several diet categories, but no significant association with health or disease. We conclude that crAssphage is a benign cosmopolitan virus that may have coevolved with the human lineage and is an integral part of the normal human gut virome

Risk factors for health impairments in children after hospitalization for acute COVID-19 or MIS-C

ObjectiveTo identify risk factors for persistent impairments after pediatric hospitalization for acute coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) or multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.MethodsAcross 25 U.S. Overcoming COVID-19 Network hospitals, we conducted a prospective cohort study of patients <21-years-old hospitalized for acute COVID-19 or MIS-C (May 2020 to March 2022) surveyed 2- to 4-months post-admission. Multivariable regression was used to calculate adjusted risk ratios (aRR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).ResultsOf 232 children with acute COVID-19, 71 (30.6%) had persistent symptoms and 50 (21.6%) had activity impairments at follow-up; for MIS-C (n = 241), 56 (23.2%) had persistent symptoms and 58 (24.1%) had activity impairments. In adjusted analyses of patients with acute COVID-19, receipt of mechanical ventilation was associated with persistent symptoms [aRR 1.83 (95% CI: 1.07, 3.13)] whereas obesity [aRR 2.18 (95% CI: 1.05, 4.51)] and greater organ system involvement [aRR 1.35 (95% CI: 1.13, 1.61)] were associated with activity impairment. For patients with MIS-C, having a pre-existing respiratory condition was associated with persistent symptoms [aRR 3.04 (95% CI: 1.70, 5.41)] whereas obesity [aRR 1.86 (95% CI: 1.09, 3.15)] and greater organ system involvement [aRR 1.26 (1.00, 1.58)] were associated with activity impairments.DiscussionAmong patients hospitalized, nearly one in three hospitalized with acute COVID-19 and one in four hospitalized with MIS-C had persistent impairments for ≥2 months post-hospitalization. Persistent impairments were associated with more severe illness and underlying health conditions, identifying populations to target for follow-up