Biogeographic variation in the microbiome of the ecologically important sponge, Carteriospongia foliascens

Sponges are well known for hosting dense and diverse microbial communities, but how these associations vary with biogeography and environment is less clear. Here we compared the microbiome of an ecologically important sponge species, Carteriospongia foliascens, over a large geographic area and identified environmental factors likely responsible for driving microbial community differences between inshore and offshore locations using co-occurrence networks (NWs). The microbiome of C. foliascens exhibited exceptionally high microbial richness, with more than 9,000 OTUs identified at 97% sequence similarity. A large biogeographic signal was evident at the OTU level despite similar phyla level diversity being observed across all geographic locations. The C. foliascens bacterial community was primarily comprised of Gammaproteobacteria (34.2% ± 3.4%) and Cyanobacteria (32.2% ± 3.5%), with lower abundances of Alphaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, unidentified Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria and Deltaproteobacteria. Co-occurrence NWs revealed a consistent increase in the proportion of Cyanobacteria over Bacteroidetes between turbid inshore and oligotrophic offshore locations, suggesting that the specialist microbiome of C. foliascens is driven by environmental factors.

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Feasibility of progressive sit-to-stand training among older hospitalized patients

Background. In older patients, hospitalization is associated with a decline in functional performance and loss of muscle strength. Loss of muscle strength and functional performance can be prevented by systematic strength training, but details are lacking regarding the optimal exercise program and dose for older patients. Therefore, our aim was to test the feasibility of a progression model for loaded sit-to-stand training among older hospitalized patients.Methods. This is a prospective cohort study conducted as a feasibility study prior to a full-scale trial. We included twenty-four older patients (≥65 yrs) acutely admitted from their own home to the medical services of the hospital. We developed an 8-level progression model for loaded sit-to-stands, which we named STAND. We used STAND as a model to describe how to perform the sit-to-stand exercise as a strength training exercise aimed at reaching a relative load of 8–12 repetitions maximum (RM) for 8–12 repetitions. Weight could be added by the use of a weight vest when needed. The ability of the patients to reach the intended relative load (8–12 RM), while performing sit-to-stands following the STAND model, was tested once during hospitalization and once following discharge in their own homes. A structured interview including assessment of possible modifiers (cognitive status by the Short Orientation Memory test and mobility by the De Morton Mobility Index) was administered both on admission to the hospital and in the home setting. The STAND model was considered feasible if: (1) 75% of the assessed patients could perform the exercise at a given level of the model reaching 8–12 repetitions at a relative load of 8–12 RM for one set of exercise in the hospital and two sets of exercise at home; (2) no ceiling or floor effect was seen; (3) no indication of adverse events were observed. The outcomes assessed were: level of STAND attained, the number of sets performed, perceived exertion (the Borg scale), and pain (the Verbal Ranking Scale).Results. Twenty-four patients consented to participate. Twenty-three of the patients were tested in the hospital and 19 patients were also tested in their home. All three criteria for feasibility were met: (1) in the hospital, 83% could perform the exercise at a given level of STAND, reaching 8–12 repetitions at 8–12 RM for one set, and 79% could do so for two sets in the home setting; (2) for all assessed patients, a possibility of progression or regression was possible—no ceiling or floor effect was observed; (3) no indication of adverse events (pain) was observed. Also, those that scored higher on the De Morton Mobility Index performed the exercise at higher levels of STAND, whereas performance was independent of cognitive status.Conclusions. We found a simple progression model for loaded sit-to-stands (STAND) feasible in acutely admitted older medical patients (≥65 yrs), based on our pre-specified criteria for feasibility.

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Differential scanning calorimetry of whole Escherichia coli treated with the antimicrobial peptide MSI-78 indicate a multi-hit mechanism with ribosomes as a novel target

Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) of intact Escherichia coli (E. coli) was used to identify non-lipidic targets of the antimicrobial peptide (AMP) MSI-78. The DSC thermograms revealed that, in addition to its known lytic properties, MSI-78 also has a striking effect on ribosomes. MSI-78's effect on DSC scans of bacteria was similar to that of kanamycin, an antibiotic drug known to target the 30S small ribosomal subunit. An in vitro transcription/translation assay helped confirm MSI-78's targeting of ribosomes. The scrambled version of MSI-78 also affected the ribosome peak of the DSC scans, but required greater amounts of peptide to cause a similar effect to the unscrambled peptide. Furthermore, the effect of the scrambled peptide was not specific to the ribosomes; other regions of the DSC thermogram were also affected. These results suggest that MSI-78's effects on E. coli are at least somewhat dependent on its particular structural features, rather than a sole function of its overall charge and hydrophobicity. When considered along with earlier work detailing MSI-78's membrane lytic properties, it appears that MSI-78 operates via a multi-hit mechanism with multiple targets.

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2015 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) nosocomial outbreak in South Korea: insights from modeling

Background. Since the emergence of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in 2012, more than 1,300 laboratory confirmed cases of MERS-CoV infections have been reported in Asia, North Africa, and Europe by July 2015. The recent MERS-CoV nosocomial outbreak in South Korea quickly became the second largest such outbreak with 186 total cases and 36 deaths in a little more than one month, second only to Saudi Arabia in country-specific number of reported cases.Methods. We use a simple mathematical model, the Richards model, to trace the temporal course of the South Korea MERS-CoV outbreak. We pinpoint its outbreak turning point and its transmissibility via basic reproduction number R0 in order to ascertain the occurrence of this nosocomial outbreak and how it was quickly brought under control.Results. The estimated outbreak turning point of ti = 23.3 days (95% CI [22.6–24.0]), or 23–24 days after the onset date of the index case on May 11, pinpoints June 3–4 as the time of the turning point or the peak incidence for this outbreak by onset date. R0 is estimated to range between 7.0 and 19.3.Discussion and Conclusion. The turning point of the South Korea MERS-CoV outbreak occurred around May 27–29, when control measures were quickly implemented after laboratory confirmation of the first cluster of nosocomial infections by the index patient. Furthermore, transmissibility of MERS-CoV in the South Korea outbreak was significantly higher than those reported from past MERS-CoV outbreaks in the Middle East, which is attributable to the nosocomial nature of this outbreak. Our estimate of R0 for the South Korea MERS-CoV nosocomial outbreak further highlights the importance and the risk involved in cluster infections and superspreading events in crowded settings such as hospitals. Similar to the 2003 SARS epidemic, outbreaks of infectious diseases with low community transmissibility like MERS-CoV could still occur initially with large clusters of nosocomial infections, but can be quickly and effectively controlled with timely intervention measures.

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Establishing the role of honest broker: bridging the gap between protecting personal health data and clinical research efficiency

Background. The objective of this study is to propose the four conditions for the roles of honest brokers through a review of literature published by ten institutions that are successfully utilizing honest brokers. Furthermore, the study aims to examine whether the Asan Medical Center's (AMC) honest brokers satisfy the four conditions, and examine the need to enhance their roles.Methods. We analyzed the roles, tasks, and types of honest brokers at 10 organizations by reviewing the literature. We also established a Task Force (TF) in our institution for setting the roles and processes of the honest broker system and the honest brokers. The findings of the literature search were compared with the existing systems at AMC—which introduced the honest broker system for the first time in Korea.Results. Only one organization employed an honest broker for validating anonymized clinical data and monitoring the anonymity verifications of the honest broker system. Six organizations complied with HIPAA privacy regulations, while four organizations did not disclose compliance. By comparing functions with those of the AMC, the following four main characteristics of honest brokers were determined: (1) de-identification of clinical data; (2) independence; (3) checking that the data are used only for purposes approved by the IRB; and (4) provision of de-identified data to researchers. These roles were then compared with those of honest brokers at the AMC.Discussion. First, guidelines that regulate the definitions, purposes, roles, and requirements for honest brokers are needed, since there are no currently existing regulations. Second, Korean clinical research institutions and national regulatory departments need to reach a consensus on a Korean version of Limited Data Sets (LDS), since there are no lists that describe the use of personal identification information. Lastly, satisfaction surveys on honest brokers by researchers are necessary to improve the quality of honest brokers.

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Evidence of macrophagous teleosaurid crocodylomorphs in the Corallian Group (Oxfordian, Late Jurassic) of the UK

Teleosaurids were a group of semi-aquatic crocodylomorphs with a fossil record that spanned the Jurassic Period. In the UK, abundant specimens are known from the Oxford Clay Formation (OCF, Callovian to lower Oxfordian), but are very rare in the Kimmeridge Clay Formation (KCF, Kimmeridgian to lower Tithonian), despite their abundance in some contemporaneous deposits in continental Europe. Unfortunately, due to the paucity of material from the intermediate 'Corallian Gap' (middle to upper Oxfordian), we lack an understanding of how and why teleosaurid taxic abundance and diversity declined from the OCF to the KCF. The recognition of an incomplete teleosaurid lower jaw from the Corallian of Weymouth (Dorset, UK) begins to rectify this. The vertically oriented dentition, blunt tooth apices, intense enamel ornamentation that shifts to an anastomosed pattern apically, and deep reception pits on the dentary unambiguously demonstrates the affinity of this specimen with an unnamed sub-clade of macrophagous/durophagous teleosaurids ('Steneosaurus' obtusidens + Machimosaurus). The high symphyseal tooth count allows us to exclude the specimen from M. hugii and M. mosae, but in absence of more diagnostic material we cannot unambiguously assign DORCM G.3939 to a more specific level. Nevertheless, this specimen represents the first mandibular material referable to Teleosauridae from the poorly sampled middle-upper Oxfordian time-span in the UK.

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Are attractive male crickets better able to pay the costs of an immune challenge?

Reproduction and immunity are fitness-related traits that trade-off with each other. Parasite-mediated theories of sexual selection suggest, however, that higher-quality males should suffer smaller costs to reproduction-related traits and behaviours (e.g., sexual display) from an immune challenge because these males possess more resources with which to deal with the challenge. We used Gryllus texensis field crickets to test the prediction that attractive males should better maintain the performance of fitness-related traits (e.g., calling effort) in the face of an immune challenge compared with unattractive males. We found no support for our original predictions. However, that immune activation causes attractive males to significantly increase their calling effort compared with unattractive males suggests that these males might terminally invest in order to compensate for decreased future reproduction.

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