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IntroductionMyroides is a bacterial genus of opportunistic bacteria responsible for diverse infections including in the skin and soft tissues, urinary tract, cardiovascular system, and bacteremia, although the incidence of its reported infections is low, it is increasing, likely due the use of better bacterial identification methods, but also perhaps due an increase in its prevalence. In addition, their pathogenic role is limited in terms of reporting their microbial physiology, so the present work provides information in this regard in addition to the information that is available in the international literature.ObjectiveTo describe the microbiological and genetic characteristics of seven different Myroides spp. clinical strains and comment on their phylum, pathogenic and resistance characteristics.MethodsSeven Myroides spp., strains associated with infections were included from 1/January/2012 to 1/January/20 and identified by miniaturized biochemistry and MALDI-ToF. Susceptibility tests were performed according to CLSI recommendations by broth microdilution. Whole genome sequencing was performed for each strain and bioinformatics analysis were performed.ResultsStrains were identified at genus level by two methodologies. Our results revealed that likely four strains belong to the species Myroides odoratimimus, while the other two may be undescribed ones. Remarkably, all isolates harbored several genes encoding antibiotic resistance determinants for ß-lactams, aminoglycosides and glycopeptides and in concordance, presented high levels of resistance, against these antibiotics (AK and GN both 100%, ATM, CAZ and FEP 100%, e.g.); moreover, the presences of carbapenemases were evidenced by meropenem (mCIM) and imipenem (CARBA NP) degrading activity in six isolates and two strains possessed plasmids harboring mainly ribosomal RNA genes, tRNAs and genes encoding proteins with unknown functions.ConclusionsOur study increases the knowledge about the biology of this understudied genus and highlights the potential of Myroides to emerge as a broader cause of recalcitrant opportunistic infections.

Prostate cancer is the second most common neoplasia amongst men worldwide. Hereditary susceptibility and ancestral heritage are well-established risk factors that explain the disparity trends across different ethnicities, populations, and regions even within the same country. The Y-chromosome has been considered a prototype biomarker for male health. African, European, Middle Eastern, and Hispanic ancestries exhibit the highest incidences of such neoplasia; Asians have the lowest rates. Nonetheless, the contribution of ancestry patterns has been scarcely explored among Latino males. The Mexican population has an extremely diverse genetic architecture where all the aforementioned ancestral backgrounds converge. Trans-ethnic research could illuminate the aetiology of prostate cancer, involving the migratory patterns, founder effects, and the ethnic contributions to its disparate incidence rates. The contribution of the ancestral heritage to prostate cancer risk were explored through a case-control study (152 cases and 372 controls) study in Mexican Mestizo males. Seventeen microsatellites were used to trace back the ancestral heritage using two Bayesian predictor methods. The lineage R1a seems to contribute to prostate cancer (ORadjusted:8.04, 95%CI:1.41-45.80) development, whereas E1b1a/E1b1b and GHIJ contributed to well-differentiated (Gleason ≤ 7), and late-onset prostate cancer. Meta-analyses reinforced our findings. The mentioned lineages exhibited a connection with the Middle Eastern and North African populations that enriched the patrilineal diversity to the southeast region of the Iberian Peninsula. This ancestral legacy arrived at the New World with the Spanish and Sephardim migrations. Our findings reinforced the contribution of family history and ethnic background to prostate cancer risk, although should be confirmed using a large sample size. Nonetheless, given its complex aetiology, in addition to the genetic component, the lifestyle and xenobiotic exposition could also influence the obtained results.

Introduction: Myroides is a bacterial genus of opportunistic bacteria responsible for diverse infections including in the skin and soft tissues, urinary tract, cardiovascular system, and bacteremia, although the incidence of its reported infections is low, it is increasing, likely due the use of better bacterial identification methods, but also perhaps due an increase in its prevalence. In addition, their pathogenic role is limited in terms of reporting their microbial physiology, so the present work provides information in this regard in addition to the information that is available in the international literature. Objective: To describe the microbiological and genetic characteristics of seven different Myroides spp. clinical strains and comment on their phylum, pathogenic and resistance characteristics. Methods: Seven Myroides spp., strains associated with infections were included from 1/January/2012 to 1/January/20 and identified by miniaturized biochemistry and MALDI-ToF. Susceptibility tests were performed according to CLSI recommendations by broth microdilution. Whole genome sequencing was performed for each strain and bioinformatics analysis were performed. Results: Strains were identified at genus level by two methodologies. Our results revealed that likely four strains belong to the species Myroides odoratimimus, while the other two may be undescribed ones. Remarkably, all isolates harbored several genes encoding antibiotic resistance determinants for ß-lactams, aminoglycosides and glycopeptides and in concordance, presented high levels of resistance, against these antibiotics (AK and GN both 100%, ATM, CAZ and FEP 100%, e.g.); moreover, the presences of carbapenemases were evidenced by meropenem (mCIM) and imipenem (CARBA NP) degrading activity in six isolates and two strains possessed plasmids harboring mainly ribosomal RNA genes, tRNAs and genes encoding proteins with unknown functions. Conclusions: Our study increases the knowledge about the biology of this understudied genus and highlights the potential of Myroides to emerge as a broader cause of recalcitrant opportunistic infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This longitudinal study characterized Salmonella circulating in lymph nodes (LN, n = 800) and beef trimmings (n = 745) from slaughter cattle from a Mexican feedlot. During two years, LN and beef trimming samples were collected 72–96 h post-slaughter, and we obtained 77 isolates of the serovars Anatum (n = 23), Reading (n = 22), Typhimurium (n = 10), London (n = 9), Kentucky (n = 6), Fresno (n = 4), Give, Muenster, and monophasic 1,4,[5],12:i- (n = 1 each). These isolates were subjected to whole genome sequencing, single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based phylogenetic analysis, reconstruction of their ancestral isolation sources through evolutionary analysis, and virulence profiling. Although LN and beef trimmings were not mixed, evolutionary analysis estimated that the common ancestor of all study isolates was likely of LN origin. Moreover, isolates from both sources were highly clonal (0–21 SNP distance), highlighting the complexity of Salmonella transmission dynamics. The pathogen persisted across cattle cohorts, as shown by clonality between isolates collected in different years (1–20 SNP distance). Major virulence genes were highly conserved (97–100% identity to the reference sequences) and most isolates carried a conserved version of pathogenicity islands 1–5, 9, 11, and 12. Typhimurium strains carried the Salmonella plasmid virulence operon (spvRABCD), and a Muenster isolate carried the st313td gene, both of which are associated with invasive phenotypes. Most isolates (49/77) were genetically similar (1–43 SNPs) to strains involved in human salmonellosis, highlighting their public health significance. Further research is needed on Salmonella transmission dynamics in cattle and the mechanisms determining subclinical infection and persistence in farm environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: Blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability has been proposed as a predictor of hemorrhagic transformation (HT) after tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) administration; however, the reliability of perfusion computed tomography (PCT) permeability imaging for predicting HT is uncertain. We aimed to determine the performance of high-permeability region size on PCT (HPrs-PCT) in predicting HT after intravenous tPA administration in patients with acute stroke. METHODS: We performed a multimodal CT protocol (non-contrast CT, PCT, CT angiography) to prospectively study patients with middle cerebral artery occlusion treated with tPA within 4.5 hours of symptom onset. HT was graded at 24 hours using the European-Australasian Acute Stroke Study II criteria. ROC curves selected optimal volume threshold, and multivariate logistic regression analysis identified predictors of HT. RESULTS: The study included 156 patients (50% male, median age 75.5 years). Thirty-seven (23,7%) developed HT [12 (7,7%), parenchymal hematoma type 2 (PH-2)]. At admission, patients with HT had lower platelet values, higher NIHSS scores, increased ischemic lesion volumes, larger HPrs-PCT, and poorer collateral status. The negative predictive value of HPrs-PCT at a threshold of 7mL/100g/min was 0.84 for HT and 0.93 for PH-2. The multiple regression analysis selected HPrs-PCT at 7mL/100g/min combined with platelets and baseline NIHSS score as the best model for predicting HT (AUC 0.77). HPrs-PCT at 7mL/100g/min was the only independent predictor of PH-2 (OR 1, AUC 0.68, p = 0.045). CONCLUSIONS: HPrs-PCT can help predict HT after tPA, and is particularly useful in identifying patients at low risk of developing HT.

Prostate cancer is the second most common neoplasia amongst men worldwide. Hereditary susceptibility and ancestral heritage are well-established risk factors that explain the disparity trends across different ethnicities, populations, and regions even within the same country. The Y-chromosome has been considered a prototype biomarker for male health. African, European, Middle Eastern, and Hispanic ancestries exhibit the highest incidences of such neoplasia; Asians have the lowest rates. Nonetheless, the contribution of ancestry patterns has been scarcely explored among Latino males. The Mexican population has an extremely diverse genetic architecture where all the aforementioned ancestral backgrounds converge. Trans-ethnic research could illuminate the aetiology of prostate cancer, involving the migratory patterns, founder effects, and the ethnic contributions to its disparate incidence rates. The contribution of the ancestral heritage to prostate cancer risk were explored through a case-control study (152 cases and 372 controls) study in Mexican Mestizo males. Seventeen microsatellites were used to trace back the ancestral heritage using two Bayesian predictor methods. The lineage R1a seems to contribute to prostate cancer (ORadjusted:8.04, 95%CI:1.41–45.80) development, whereas E1b1a/E1b1b and GHIJ contributed to well-differentiated (Gleason ≤ 7), and late-onset prostate cancer. Meta-analyses reinforced our findings. The mentioned lineages exhibited a connection with the Middle Eastern and North African populations that enriched the patrilineal diversity to the southeast region of the Iberian Peninsula. This ancestral legacy arrived at the New World with the Spanish and Sephardim migrations. Our findings reinforced the contribution of family history and ethnic background to prostate cancer risk, although should be confirmed using a large sample size. Nonetheless, given its complex aetiology, in addition to the genetic component, the lifestyle and xenobiotic exposition could also influence the obtained results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-drug resistant (MDR) non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) is a public health concern globally. This study reports the phenotypic and genotypic antimicrobial resistance (AMR) profiles of NTS isolates from bovine lymph nodes (n = 48) and ground beef (n = 29). Furthermore, we compared genotypic AMR data of our isolates with those of publicly available NTS genomes from Mexico (n = 2400). The probability of finding MDR isolates was higher in ground beef than in lymph nodes:χ2 = 12.0, P = 0.0005. The most common resistant phenotypes involved tetracycline (40.3%), carbenicillin (26.0%), amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (20.8%), chloramphenicol (19.5%) and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (16.9%), while more than 55% of the isolates showed decreased susceptibility to ciprofloxacin and 26% were MDR. Conversely, resistance to cephalosporins and carbapenems was infrequent (0-9%). MDR phenotypes were strongly associated with NTS serovar (χ2 = 24.5, P

BackgroundSecond-line treatments boost overall survival in advanced gastric cancer (AGC). However, there is a paucity of information as to patterns of use and the results achieved in actual clinical practice.Materials and methodsThe study population comprised patients with AGC in the AGAMENON registry who had received second-line. The objective was to describe the pattern of second-line therapies administered, progression-free survival following second-line (PFS-2), and post-progression survival since first-line (PPS).Results2311 cases with 2066 progression events since first-line (89.3%) were recorded; 245 (10.6%) patients died during first-line treatment and 1326/2066 (64.1%) received a second-line. Median PFS-2 and PPS were 3.1 (95% CI, 2.9-3.3) and 5.8 months (5.5-6.3), respectively. The most widely used strategies were monoCT (56.9%), polyCT (15.0%), ramucirumab+CT (12.6%), platinum-reintroduction (8.3%), trastuzumab+CT (6.1%), and ramucirumab (1.1%). PFS-2/PPS medians gradually increased in monoCT, 2.6/5.1 months; polyCT 3.4/6.3 months; ramucirumab+CT, 4.1/6.5 months; platinum-reintroduction, 4.2/6.7 months, and for the HER2+ subgroup in particular, trastuzumab+CT, 5.2/11.7 months. Correlation between PFS since first-line and OS was moderate in the series as a whole (Kendall's τ = 0.613), lower in those subjects who received second-line (Kendall's τ = 0.539), especially with ramucirumab+CT (Kendall's τ = 0.413).ConclusionThis analysis reveals the diversity in second-line treatment for AGC, highlighting the effectiveness of paclitaxel-ramucirumab and, for a selected subgroup of patients, platinum reintroduction; both strategies endorsed by recent clinical guidelines.

Executives act based on their experiences, values, personality and personal interpretation of the situations which they face in their companies. Investigations in the field of Behavioral Corporate Finance have determined that there are some relations between CEOs' personal traits and financial decisions of large companies, but these results are based on indirect personal trait measurements and on public companies. To see whether such relations also exist between CEOs' personal traits and the financial structure of large private companies, we used psychometric tests to measure their level of optimism, risk attitude and affect heuristic, collected financial data for a period of fourteen years, and considered the economic situation of the country as a key factor in these relations. This paper reports the relationship of executives' personal traits with the financial structure of large Spanish companies for the period 2001-2014. We observed that executives' high optimism (and risk aversion attitude) is positively (negatively) related to long-term debt, whilst positive affect is directly associated to the financial leverage and short-term debt. This paper also reports a change of relations when taking into account the country's economic situation. In effect, by considering this new variable, executives' risk aversion is seen to be associated to financial leverage and short-term debt, whilst CEOs' positive affect is linked to long-term debt. These relations are strongly moderated and they become statistically significant in a contracting economic period. In conclusion, the links between CEOs' personal traits and financial structure of large private Spanish companies make sense when the effect of the economic situation is taken into account. Furthermore, the awareness of these links helps to understand the financial decisions taken within large Spanish companies.

Blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability has been proposed as a predictor of hemorrhagic transformation (HT) after tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) administration; however, the reliability of perfusion computed tomography (PCT) permeability imaging for predicting HT is uncertain. We aimed to determine the performance of high-permeability region size on PCT (HPrs-PCT) in predicting HT after intravenous tPA administration in patients with acute stroke.We performed a multimodal CT protocol (non-contrast CT, PCT, CT angiography) to prospectively study patients with middle cerebral artery occlusion treated with tPA within 4.5 hours of symptom onset. HT was graded at 24 hours using the European-Australasian Acute Stroke Study II criteria. ROC curves selected optimal volume threshold, and multivariate logistic regression analysis identified predictors of HT.The study included 156 patients (50% male, median age 75.5 years). Thirty-seven (23,7%) developed HT [12 (7,7%), parenchymal hematoma type 2 (PH-2)]. At admission, patients with HT had lower platelet values, higher NIHSS scores, increased ischemic lesion volumes, larger HPrs-PCT, and poorer collateral status. The negative predictive value of HPrs-PCT at a threshold of 7mL/100g/min was 0.84 for HT and 0.93 for PH-2. The multiple regression analysis selected HPrs-PCT at 7mL/100g/min combined with platelets and baseline NIHSS score as the best model for predicting HT (AUC 0.77). HPrs-PCT at 7mL/100g/min was the only independent predictor of PH-2 (OR 1, AUC 0.68, p = 0.045).HPrs-PCT can help predict HT after tPA, and is particularly useful in identifying patients at low risk of developing HT.

Dogs have a rich social relationship with humans. One fundamental aspect of it is how dogs pay close attention to human faces in order to guide their behavior, for example, by recognizing their owner and his/her emotional state using visual cues. It is well known that humans have specific brain regions for the processing of other human faces, yet it is unclear how dogs' brains process human faces. For this reason, our study focuses on describing the brain correlates of perception of human faces in dogs using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We trained seven domestic dogs to remain awake, still and unrestrained inside an MRI scanner. We used a visual stimulation paradigm with block design to compare activity elicited by human faces against everyday objects. Brain activity related to the perception of faces changed significantly in several brain regions, but mainly in the bilateral temporal cortex. The opposite contrast (i.e., everyday objects against human faces) showed no significant brain activity change. The temporal cortex is part of the ventral visual pathway, and our results are consistent with reports in other species like primates and sheep, that suggest a high degree of evolutionary conservation of this pathway for face processing. This study introduces the temporal cortex as candidate to process human faces, a pillar of social cognition in dogs.

The molecular mechanisms regulating the accuracy of gene expression are still not fully understood. Among these mechanisms, Nonsense-mediated Decay (NMD) is a quality control process that detects post-transcriptionally abnormal transcripts and leads them to degradation. The UPF1 protein lays at the heart of NMD as shown by several structural and functional features reported for this factor mainly for Homo sapiens and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This process is highly conserved in eukaryotes but functional diversity can be observed in various species. Ustilago maydis is a basidiomycete and the best-known smut, which has become a model to study molecular and cellular eukaryotic mechanisms. In this study, we performed in silico analysis to investigate the structural and biochemical properties of the putative UPF1 homolog in Ustilago maydis. The putative homolog for UPF1 was recognized in the annotated genome for the basidiomycete, exhibiting 66% identity with its human counterpart at the protein level. The known structural and functional domains characteristic of UPF1 homologs were also found. Based on the crystal structures available for UPF1, we constructed different three-dimensional models for umUPF1 in order to analyze the secondary and tertiary structural features of this factor. Using these models, we studied the spatial arrangement of umUPF1 and its capability to interact with UPF2. Moreover, we identified the critical amino acids that mediate the interaction of umUPF1 with UPF2, ATP, RNA and with UPF1 itself. Mutating these amino acids in silico showed an important effect over the native structure. Finally, we performed molecular dynamic simulations for UPF1 proteins from H. sapiens and U. maydis and the results obtained show a similar behavior and physicochemical properties for the protein in both organisms. Overall, our results indicate that the putative UPF1 identified in U. maydis shows a very similar sequence, structural organization, mechanical stability, physicochemical properties and spatial organization in comparison to the NMD factor depicted for Homo sapiens. These observations strongly support the notion that human and fungal UPF1 could perform equivalent biological activities.

Human Interleukin-3 (IL-3) is a lymphokine member of a class of transiently expressed mRNAs harboring Adenosine/Uridine-Rich Elements (ARE) in their 3' untranslated regions (3'-UTRs). The regulatory effects of AREs are often mediated by specific ARE-binding proteins (ARE-BPs). In this report, we show that the human IL-3 3'-UTR plays a post-transcriptional regulation role in two human transformed cell lines. More specifically, we demonstrate that the hIL-3 3'-UTR represses the translation of a luciferase reporter both in HeLa and Jurkat T-cells. These results also revealed that the hIL-3 3'-UTR-mediated translational repression is exerted by an 83 nt region comprised mainly by AREs and some non-ARE sequences. Moreover, electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSAs) and UV-crosslinking analysis show that this hIL-3 ARE-rich region recruits five specific protein complexes, including the ARE-BPs HuR and TIA-1. HuR binding to this ARE-rich region appears to be spatially modulated during T-cell activation. Together, these results suggest that HuR recognizes the ARE-rich region and plays a role in the IL-3 3'-UTR-mediated post-transcriptional control in T-cells.