Articles

MamA essentiality in Mycobacterium smegmatis is explained by the presence of an apparent cognate restriction endonuclease

Restriction-Modification (R-M) systems are ubiquitous in bacteria and were considered for years as rudimentary immune systems that protect bacterial cells from foreign DNA. Currently, these R-M systems are rec...

Authors: Samantha E. Randall, Maria Carla Martini, Ying Zhou, Samantha R. Joubran and Scarlet S. Shell

Intestinal helminthic parasites of rodents in the central region of Iran: first report of a capillariid nematode from Dryomys nitedula

Rodents play an important role to spread zoonotic diseases through society. The current study was carried out to collect informative data on the intestinal helminthic infections of wild rodents in Taleqan Coun...

Authors: Sina Mohtasebi, Aref Teimouri, Iraj Mobedi, Alireza Mohtasebi, Hamed Abbasian and Mohammad Javad Abbaszadeh Afshar

The expression profile of virus-recognizing toll-like receptors in natural killer cells of Cypriot multiple sclerosis patients

The exact aetiology of multiple sclerosis (MS) remains elusive, although several environmental and genetic risk factors have been implicated to varying degrees. Among the environmental risk factors, viral infe...

Authors: Elie Deeba, Anastasia Lambrianides, Marios Pantzaris, George Krashias and Christina Christodoulou

Psyllium supplementation is associated with changes in the fecal microbiota of horses

Prophylactic supplementation of psyllium husk is recommended to enhance passage of ingested sand from the gastrointestinal tracts of horses. We hypothesized that psyllium supplementation would increase fecal s...

Authors: Michael J. Mienaltowski, Ashley Belt, John D. Henderson, Tannah N. Boyd, Nicole Marter, Elizabeth A. Maga and Edward J. DePeters

High prevalence of hepatitis A in indigenous population in north Brazil

Little is known about hepatitis A virus (HAV) prevalence in indigenous communities. This study aims to evaluate the prevalence of HAV in indigenous community compared to urban population located at Western Ama...

Authors: Vanessa Salete de Paula, Flavio Augusto Pádua Milagres, Guilherme de Macêdo Oliveira, Juliana Custódio Miguel, Helena Medina Cruz, Leticia de Paula Scalioni, Vanessa Alves Marques, Monica de Avelar Figueiredo Mafra Magalhães, Anselmo Rocha Romão, Renata Gracie and Livia Melo Villar

Development of diagnostic PCR and LAMP markers for MALE STERILITY 1 (MS1) in Cryptomeria japonica D. Don

Due to the allergic nature of the pollen of Cryptomeria japonica, the most important Japanese forestry conifer, a pollen-free cultivar is preferred. Mutant trees detected in nature have been used to produce a pol...

Authors: Yoichi Hasegawa, Saneyoshi Ueno, Fu-Jin Wei, Asako Matsumoto, Tokuko Ujino-Ihara, Kentaro Uchiyama, Yoshinari Moriguchi, Masahiro Kasahara, Takeshi Fujino, Shuji Shigenobu, Katsushi Yamaguchi, Takahiro Bino and Tetsuji Hakamata

Correction to: Energy-dense nutrient-poor snacks and risk of non-alcoholic fattyliver disease: a case–control study in Iran

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Authors: Zahra Yari, Makan Cheraghpour, Vahideh Aghamohammadi, Meysam Alipour, Nila Ghanei and Azita Hekmatdoost

Effect of dapsone alone and in combination with intracellular antibiotics against the biofilm form of B. burgdorferi

Lyme disease is a tick-borne, multisystemic disease caused by Borrelia burgdorferi. Standard treatments for early Lyme disease include short courses of oral antibiotics but relapses often occur after discontinuat...

Authors: Richard I. Horowitz, Krithika Murali, Gauri Gaur, Phyllis R. Freeman and Eva Sapi

The effects of hedgehog ligand neutralising antibody 5E1 in a mouse model of endometriosis

Endometriosis is a common and painful condition characterised by the formation of endometrial lesions within the peritoneal cavity. Previous studies have suggested a role for hedgehog signalling in the pathoge...

Authors: F. L. Cousins, J. K. Farley, R. Kerrigan, S. Mukherjee, S. Darzi, C. E. Gargett and J. A. Deane

Simulation data for the analysis of Bayesian posterior significance and effect size indices for the two-sample t-test to support reproducible medical research

The data presented herein represents the simulated datasets of a recently conducted larger study which investigated the behaviour of Bayesian indices of significance and effect size as alternatives to traditio...

Authors: Riko Kelter

Fixed point theorems for nonlinear contractive mappings in ordered b-metric space with auxiliary function

Authors: Namana Seshagiri Rao, Karusala Kalyani and Belay Mitiku

Plants expressing murine pro-apoptotic protein Bid do not have enhanced PCD

The purpose of this study was to explore whether plant programmed cell death (PCD) cascade can sense the presence of the animal-only BH3 protein Bid, a BCL-2 family protein known to play a regulatory role in t...

Authors: Anna Manara, Zahra Imanifard, Linda Fracasso, Diana Bellin and Massimo Crimi

“A one-size-fits-all model is not good”?: ambivalent perceptions and experiences of African immigrant parents towards Swedish sexual and reproductive health services for young people

Parents have a key role regarding young people’s access to sexual and reproductive health services, thus their perceptions go a long way towards promoting or discouraging young people from using such services....

Authors: Cartrine Nancy Anyango, Faustine Kyungu Nkulu Kalengayi, Isabel Goicolea and Ida Linander

Dietary inflammatory index is associated with pain intensity and some components of quality of life in patients with knee osteoarthritis

We aim to measure dietary inflammatory index (DII) and its association with functional status, pain intensity and quality of life (QOL) in patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA). Dietary information from 220 ...

Authors: Vahideh Toopchizadeh, Neda Dolatkhah, Dawood Aghamohammadi, Mahrokh Rasouli and Maryam Hashemian

Implementation of external quality assessment of microscopy for improved parasite detection and confirmatory diagnosis of malaria in Tanzanian Military health facilities

Good quality microscopy is critical for accurate detection and confirmation of malaria parasite infections. Microscopy relies on the skills of technicians to prepare and read slides, high quality reagents, and...

Authors: Akili K. Kalinga, Saidi Mgata, Reginald A. Kavishe, Lucas Mahikwano, Lucky Temu, Christopher Mswanya, Charles Mwanziva, George Amoo, Edwin Kamau, Brian Vesely and Deus S. Ishengoma

Ficus palmata Forskål (beles adgi) as a source of milk clotting agent: a preliminary research

The demand for cheese, the insufficient supply and high cost of rennet, and the ethical issues of harvesting rennet oblige us to search for suitable alternatives of finding new proteases from plants. Ficus palmat...

Authors: Desta Berhe Sbhatu, Hailekiros Tadesse Tekle and Kiros Haddish Tesfamariam

A novel target enrichment strategy in next-generation sequencing through 7-deaza-dGTP-resistant enzymatic digestion

Owing to the overwhelming dominance of human and commensal microbe sequences, low efficiency is a major concern in clinical viral sequencing using next-generation sequencing. DNA composed of 7-deaza-2′-deoxygu...

Authors: Peng Peng, Yanjuan Xu, Adrian M. Di Bisceglie and Xiaofeng Fan

Rapid and economical drug resistance profiling with Nanopore MinION for clinical specimens with low bacillary burden of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

We designed and tested a Nanopore sequencing panel for direct tuberculosis drug resistance profiling. The panel targeted 10 resistance-associated loci. We assessed the feasibility of amplifying and sequencing ...

Authors: Wai Sing Chan, Chun Hang Au, Yvonne Chung, Henry Chi Ming Leung, Dona N. Ho, Elaine Yue Ling Wong, Tak Wah Lam, Tsun Leung Chan, Edmond Shiu Kwan Ma and Bone Siu Fai Tang

Egg white hydrolyzate reduces mental fatigue: randomized, double-blind, controlled study

This study aimed to show that ingesting egg white hydrolyzate (EWH) could improve antioxidant capacity and reduce mental fatigue. Two clinical trials were conducted to examine the antioxidant capacity and the ...

Authors: Mariko Oe, Hisae Sakamoto, Hiroshi Nishiyama, Ryou Sasahara, Yasunobu Masuda, Mizuho Adachi and Tetsunari Nishiyama

A cohort study among 402 patients with penile cancer in Maranhão, Northeast Brazil with the highest worldwide incidence

Maranhão State—Northeast Brazil–has the world’s highest incidence of penile cancer. This study describes the epidemiological, histopathological and clinical profile of patients stricken across that Brazilian s...

Authors: Ciro Bezerra Vieira, Antonio Teixeira-Júnior, Laisson Feitoza, Jaqueline Pinho, José Calixto, Francisco Sérgio Moura Silva do Nascimento, Marcos Adriano Garcia Campos, Joyce Lages, Antonio Machado Alencar Junior, Fernando Soares, Isabela Cunha and Gyl Eanes Barros Silva

Dynamics of the transcriptome during chicken embryo development based on primordial germ cells

Regulation of gene expression during embryo development on the basis of migration of primordial germ cells (PGCs) in vivo has been rarely studied due to limited cell number and the necessity to isolate PGCs fr...

Authors: Aleksandra Dunislawska, Agata Szczerba, Maria Siwek and Marek Bednarczyk

Comprehensive transcriptome resource for response to phytohormone-induced signaling in Capsicum annuum L.

Phytohormones are small signaling molecules with crucial roles in plant growth, development, and environmental adaptation to biotic and abiotic stress responses. Despite several previously published molecular ...

Authors: Junesung Lee, Jae-Young Nam, Hakgi Jang, Nayoung Kim, Yong-Min Kim, Won-Hee Kang and Seon-In Yeom

Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy in obese patients with ventricular assist devices: a data note

Patients with end-stage heart failure (ESHF) treated with ventricular assist devices (VADs) tend to gain weight after implantation, which is associated with higher complication rates and is a contraindication ...

Authors: Adrian daSilva-deAbreu, Kiran Garikapati, Bader Aldeen Alhafez, Sapna Desai, Clement Eiswirth, Selim Krim, Hamang Patel, Carl J. Lavie, Hector O. Ventura, Juan Francisco Loro-Ferrer and Stacy A. Mandras

Reducing Glut2 throughout the body does not result in cognitive behaviour differences in aged male mice

GLUT2 is a major facilitative glucose transporter, expressed from the SLC2A2 gene, with essential roles in the liver. Recent work in mice has shown that preventing Glut2 production in specific neuronal population...

Authors: Nicola Morrice, Lidy van Aalten, Alison McNeilly, Rory J. McCrimmon, Ewan R. Pearson, Rosamund Langston and Calum Sutherland

Alterations in gene expression in the spinal cord of mice lacking Nfix

Nuclear Factor One X (NFIX) is a transcription factor expressed by neural stem cells within the developing mouse brain and spinal cord. In order to characterise the pathways by which NFIX may regulate neural s...

Authors: Elise Matuzelski, Alexandra Essebier, Lachlan Harris, Richard M. Gronostajski, Tracey J. Harvey and Michael Piper

Genome resequencing data for Iranian local dogs and wolves

The data provided herein represent the whole-genome resequencing data related to three wolves and three Iranian local dogs. The understanding of genome evolution during animal domestication is an interesting s...

Authors: Zeinab Amiri Ghanatsaman, Guo-Dong Wang, Masood Asadi Fozi, Ya-Ping Zhang and Ali Esmailizadeh

Voluntary exercise in mesothelioma: effects on tumour growth and treatment response in a murine model

There is substantial evidence that exercise can safely reduce the risk of cancer and improve survival in different human cancer populations. Long latency periods associated with carcinogen–induced cancers like...

Authors: Scott A. Fisher, Carolyn J. Peddle-McIntyre, Kimberley Burton, Robert U.  Newton, Elly Marcq, Richard A. Lake and Anna K. Nowak

Investigating climatic changes of the wind regime over Western Iran

The aim of the present study was to reveal changes in the wind regime by investigating wind-speed data from meteorological stations in western Iran and comparing them in the last three decades (1986–2015).

Authors: Zohreh Maryanaji and Omid Hamidi

Relationship between household food insecurity and food and nutrition literacy among children of 9–12 years of age: a cross-sectional study in a city of Iran

The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between household food insecurity (HFI) with food and nutrition literacy (FNLIT) in a sample of Iranian children. This cross sectional study was performed o...

Authors: Fatemeh Khorramrouz, Azam Doustmohammadian, Omid Eslami, Majid Khadem-Rezaiyan, Parisa Pourmohammadi, Maryam Amini and Maryam Khosravi

Analysis of drug sensitivity of human high-grade osteosarcoma in a chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) model: a proof of principle study

Multi-agent chemotherapy is an important pillar in treatment of high-grade osteosarcoma. In an effort to improve patient survival, it is imperative to determine the effectiveness of new substances. The objecti...

Authors: Wiebke K. Guder, Wolfgang Hartmann, Marcel Trautmann, Jendrik Hardes, Eva Wardelmann, Maurice Balke and Arne Streitbürger

Acne keloidalis nuchae and hypertension in black subjects: a case–control study

The aim of this case–control study was to look for an association between hypertension and acne keloidalis nuchae (AKN) in black subjects.

Authors: Bayaki Saka, Julienne Noude Teclessou, Sefako Abla Akakpo, Soulemane Pessinaba, Piham Gnossike, Garba Mahamadou, Panawé Kassang, Abas Mouhari-Toure, Koussake Kombate and Palokinam Pitché

Newborn’s first bath: any preferred timing? A pilot study from Lebanon

To try to find the most appropriate time for the newborn’s first bath. This prospective randomized study was conducted in one hospital (July–September 2017).

Authors: Joelle Mardini, Clara Rahme, Odette Matar, Sophia Abou Khalil, Souheil Hallit and Marie-Claude Fadous Khalife

Detection of colonisation by extended-spectrum beta-lactamase or carbapenemase producing Enterobacterales from frozen stool specimens

To determine the impact of pre-culture ultra-low temperature (ULT, − 80 °C) storage of human stool specimens on recovery of Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase (ESBL) or Carbapenemase (CPM) producing Enterobacterale...

Authors: Pisey Tan, Shweta R. Singh, Bunsoth Mao, Konstantin Evdokimov, Vonthanak Saphonn, Li Yang Hsu and Paul Turner

Eight enteric-coated 50 mg diclofenac sodium tablet formulations marketed in Saudi Arabia: in vitro quality evaluation

To evaluate in vitro quality of enteric-coated 50 mg diclofenac sodium tablet formulations on Saudi market.

Authors: Muhammad M. Hammami, Rajaa F. Hussein, Reem AlSwayeh and Syed N. Alvi

Access to oral rehydration solution and zinc supplementation for treatment of childhood diarrhoeal diseases in Sudan

The decline in diarrhoeal disease-related mortality globally has been attributed to the use of oral rehydration solution (ORS) and zinc supplementation. However, data on ORS and zinc supplementation in Sudan a...

Authors: Sagad Omer Obeid Mohamed, Mansour Osman Alhaj Alawad, Asaad Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed and Ahmed Abdallah Ali Mahmoud

Annotated genome sequences of the carnivorous plant Roridula gorgonias and a non-carnivorous relative, Clethra arborea

Plant carnivory is distributed across the tree of life and has evolved at least six times independently, but sequenced and annotated nuclear genomes of carnivorous plants are currently lacking. We have sequenc...

Authors: Stefanie Hartmann, Michaela Preick, Silke Abelt, André Scheffel and Michael Hofreiter

Focal brain ischemia in mice does not cause electrophysiological signs of critical illness neuropathy

Critical illness polyneuropathy (CIP) is a common complication of severe systemic illness treated in intensive care medicine. Ischemic stroke leads to an acute critical injury of the brain with hemiparesis, im...

Authors: Petra Huehnchen, Klaus Viktor Toyka, Karen Gertz, Matthias Endres and Wolfgang Boehmerle

Comparative analysis of cadmium uptake and distribution in contrasting canadian flax cultivars

Humans consume low quantities of cadmium (Cd), a non-nutritive and potentially toxic heavy metal, primarily via the dietary intake of grains. A trial experiment was conducted to investigate physiological and d...

Authors: Megan A. House, Lester W. Young, Xia Liu, Karsten Liber, Axel Diederichsen and Helen M. Booker

Factors associated with HIV and syphilis screenings among pregnant women at first antenatal visit in Lusaka, Zambia

To identify characteristics associated with obtaining HIV and syphilis screenings of pregnant women attending a first antenatal visit in Lusaka, Zambia.

Authors: Rindcy Davis, Xu Xiong, Fernando Althabe, John Lefante, Maria Luisa Cafferata, Musaku Mwenechanya, Friday Habulembe Mwanakalanga, Elwyn Chomba and Pierre Buekens

An assessment of serial co-cultivation approach for generating novel Zymomonas mobilis strains

The alphaproteobacterium Zymomonas mobilis is an efficient ethanol producer, and Z. mobilis-based biorefinery shows great potential for biofuel production. Serial co-cultivation is an emerging approach that promo...

Authors: Katsuya Fuchino and Per Bruheim

Increasing ventilator surge capacity in COVID 19 pandemic: design, manufacture and in vitro–in vivo testing in anaesthetized healthy pigs of a rapid prototyped mechanical ventilator

The advent of new technologies has made it possible to explore alternative ventilator manufacturing to meet the worldwide shortfall for mechanical ventilators especially in pandemics. We describe a method usin...

Authors: Jayesh Dhanani, George Pang, Jason Pincus, Benjamin Ahern, Wendy Goodwin, Nicholas Cowling, Grant Whitten, Mohd. H. Abdul-Aziz, Steven Martin, Peter Corke and Kevin B. Laupland

Investigating the frequency of free-living amoeba in water resources with emphasis on Acanthamoeba in Bandar Abbas city, Hormozgan province, Iran in 2019–2020

These amoebas can cause dangerous illnesses when they accidentally enter the human body, so it is necessary to determine various forms of organisms in water resources to prevent the danger they can cause and r...

Authors: Homa Attariani, Habibollah Turki, Saeed Shoja, Abdoreza Salahi-Moghaddam, Amin Ghanbarnejad and Jebreil Shamseddin

An anti-perfringolysin O monoclonal antibody cross-reactive with streptolysin O protects against streptococcal toxic shock syndrome

Streptococcus pyogenes (Group A Streptococcus; GAS) causes a variety of infections that include life-threatening, severe invasive GAS infections, such as streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS), with > 30% mort...

Authors: Takayuki Matsumura, Ayae Nishiyama, Michio Aiko, Akira Ainai, Tadayoshi Ikebe, Joe Chiba, Manabu Ato and Yoshimasa Takahashi

Evaluation of the development process and effects of a foot care program with educational tools for nurses and care workers as in-home service providers

Nurses and care workers who provide in-home services play important roles in assessing and providing care for older people who lack foot self-care abilities. We aimed to evaluate the development process and ef...

Authors: Kashiko Fujii and Minna Stolt

Perioperative hemoglobin decrement as an independent risk of poor early graft function in kidney transplantation

Perioperative change of hemoglobin concentration (Hb) was associated with acute kidney injury in patients who underwent non-cardiac surgery, but has never been investigated in kidney transplant patients. This ...

Authors: Arpa Chutipongtanate, Arpakorn Kantain, Atiporn Inksathit, Surasak Kantachuvesiri, Vasant Sumethkul, Siriwan Jirasiritham, Sopon Jirasiritham and Somchai Chutipongtanate

Imiquimod does not elicit inflammatory responses in the skin of the naked mole rat (Heterocephalus glaber)

Naked mole rat (Heterocephalus glaber) has recently attracted interest in biomedical research due to its exceptional longevity, cancer resistance and tolerance to potentially harmful conditions or stimuli. Given ...

Authors: Mosiany Letura Kisipan, Rodi Omondi Ojoo, Titus I. Kanui and Klas S. P. Abelson

The role of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex species on apoptosis and necroptosis state of macrophages derived from active pulmonary tuberculosis patients

The role of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) species in tuberculosis (TB) infection in human is still questioned. The aim of this study was to determine whether M. tuberculosis and M. bovis is associated...

Authors: Budi Yanti, Mulyadi Mulyadi, Muhammad Amin, Harapan Harapan, Ni Made Mertaniasih and Soetjipto Soetjipto

Efficient direct shoot organogenesis and genetic stability in micropropagated sacha inchi (Plukenetia volubilis L.)

It is necessary to improve biotech platforms based on in vitro cell tissue culture to support sacha inchi (Plukenetia volubilis L.) research programs and draw on the nutritional value of the high polyunsaturated ...

Authors: Catalina Restrepo-Osorio, Alejandro Gil-Correal, Lina Chamorro-Gutiérrez, Viviana Ramírez-Ríos, Javier C. Álvarez and Diego Villanueva-Mejía

Draft genome sequence of Clostridium jeddahense EE-R19 isolated from an anaerobic digester

Clostridium species of the order Clostridiales are mostly strictly anaerobic rod-shaped bacteria. They can be detected in a variety of environments, including the intestines of humans and animals, soil, water, an...

Authors: Elvira E. Ziganshina, Waleed S. Mohammed and Ayrat M. Ziganshin

The draft genome of Labeo catla

Labeo catla (catla), one of the three Indian major carps, is native to the Indo-Gangetic riverine system of India as well as the rivers of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar. Its higher growth rate and compa...

Authors: Lakshman Sahoo, Paramananda Das, Bismay Sahoo, Gargee Das, Prem Kumar Meher, Uday Kumar Udit, Kanta Das Mahapatra and Jitendra Kumar Sundaray