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Background: COVID-19 vaccines reduced mortality, hospitalizations and ICUs admissions. Conversely, the impact of vaccination on Long COVID-19 syndrome is still unclear. This study compared the prevalence of post-acute sequelae at short and long-term follow-up among hospitalized unvaccinated and vaccinated COVID-19 survivors through a multidisciplinary approach. Methods: After 2 months from discharge, unvaccinated and vaccinated COVID-19 survivors underwent a follow-up visit at a dedicated “post-COVID-19 Outpatient Clinic”. The follow-up visit included a cardiovascular evaluation, blood tests, chest computed tomography, 6-min walking test (6MWT), spirometry. A one-year telephone follow-up was performed to assess re-hospitalizations, death and long-lasting symptoms. An additional 1:1 case-control matching analysis adjusted for baseline characteristics was performed. Results: Between June 2020 and June 2022, a total of 458 unvaccinated and vaccinated patients (229 per group) underwent the follow-up visit. Vaccinated patients had lower rates of ICU admissions (1.7 % vs 9.6 %, p=

The intestinal epithelial barrier facilitates homeostatic host-microbiota interactions and immunological tolerance. However, mechanistic dissections of barrier dynamics following luminal stimulation pose a substantial challenge. Here, we describe an ex vivo intestinal permeability assay, X-IPA, for quantitative analysis of gut permeability dynamics at the whole-tissue level. We demonstrate that specific gut microbes and metabolites induce rapid, dose-dependent increases to gut permeability, thus providing a powerful approach for precise investigation of barrier functions., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

The plasticity of root development represents a key trait that enables plants to adapt to diverse environmental cues. The pattern of cell wall deposition, alongside other parameters, affects the extent, and direction of root growth. In this study, we report that FASCICLIN-LIKE ARABINOGALACTAN PROTEIN 18 (FLA18) plays a role during root elongation in Arabidopsis thaliana . Using root-specific co-expression analysis, we identified FLA18 to be co-expressed with a sub-set of genes required for root elongation. FLA18 encodes for a putative extra-cellular arabinogalactan protein from the FLA -gene family. Two independent T-DNA insertion lines, named fla18-1 and fla18-2 , display short and swollen lateral roots (LRs) when grown on sensitizing condition of high-sucrose containing medium. Unlike fla4/salt overly sensitive 5 ( sos5 ), previously shown to display short and swollen primary root (PR) and LRs under these conditions, the PR of the fla18 mutants is slightly longer compared to the wild-type. Overexpression of the FLA18 CDS complemented the fla18 root phenotype. Genetic interaction between either of the fla18 alleles and sos5 reveals a more severe perturbation of anisotropic growth in both PR and LRs, as compared to the single mutants and the wild-type under restrictive conditions of high sucrose or high-salt containing medium. Additionally, under salt-stress conditions, fla18sos5 had a small, chlorotic shoot phenotype, that was not observed in any of the single mutants or the wild type. As previously shown for sos5 , the fla18-1 and fla18-1sos5 root-elongation phenotype is suppressed by abscisic acid (ABA) and display hypersensitivity to the ABA synthesis inhibitor, Fluridon. Last, similar to other cell wall mutants, fla18 root elongation is hypersensitive to the cellulose synthase inhibitor, Isoxaben. Altogether, the presented data assign a new role for FLA18 in the regulation of root elongation. Future studies of the unique vs. redundant roles of FLA proteins during root elongation is anticipated to shed a new light on the regulation of root architecture during plant adaptation to different growth conditions., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Allelign Ashagre, Zaltzman, Idan-Molakandov, Romano, Tzfadia and Harpaz-Saad.)

Objective: To evaluate, in an elderly Portuguese population, the diagnostic capacities of the most popular treadmill stress test protocols., Design: Retrospective study of an elderly Portuguese population submitted to a stress test., Patients and Methods: A population of 45 patients (35 male), aged 65 or more years, consecutively submitted to a stress test. The average age of the group was 67.8 +/- 2.9 years. The three protocols (Bruce, Bruce Modified and Naughton) were comparatively studied in terms of the patients capacity to execute the protocol, capacity to obtain a maximum and a diagnostic stress test, and the complications of the stress test protocol., Main Results: The Bruce protocol was used in 19 patients, the Bruce Modified in 13 patients and the Naughton protocol in 13 patients. The three protocols did not lead to any complication. The Bruce protocol led to a larger increment in heart rate (p < 0.001) and to larger maximum rate pressure product (p < 0.05) than the Naughton one. The Bruce protocol obtained a larger number of diagnostic tests (p < 0.01) and a significantly lower number of inconclusive stress tests. The Naughton protocol led to a larger duration of the exercise tests and was not suitable for some of the elderly patients owing to the exhaustion of the protocol. The results obtained with the Bruce Modified protocol were among those of other two protocols., Conclusions: In the elderly, the stress tests are safe and useful in the diagnosis of exercise induced ischemia and in the stratification of cardiovascular risk. From the protocols studied, the Bruce protocol was the most adequate, globally speaking, for this group of patients. The Bruce protocol presented a better diagnostic capacity with no complications related to the protocol.