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BackgroundLow rates of heart failure (HF) hospitalizations were observed during the 2020 peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, posthospitalization follow-up transitioned to a predominantly telemedicine model. It is unknown whether the shift to telemedicine impacted disparities in posthospitalization follow-up or HF readmissions. ObjectiveThe aim of this paper is to determine whether the shift to telemedicine impacted racial and ethnic as well as socioeconomic disparities in acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) follow-up and HF readmissions. We additionally sought to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the severity of ADHF hospitalizations. MethodsThis was a retrospective cohort study of HF admissions across 8 participating hospitals during the initial peak of the COVID-19 pandemic (March 15 to June 1, 2020), compared to the same time frame in 2019. Patients were stratified by race, ethnicity, and median neighborhood income. Hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) admission rates, inpatient mortality, 7-day follow-up, and 30-day readmissions were assessed. ResultsFrom March 15, 2019, to June 1, 2020, there were 1162 hospitalizations for ADHF included in the study. There were significantly fewer admissions for ADHF in 2020, compared with 2019 (442 vs 720; P

Objective: To describe the appearance of lesions noted on abdominal computed tomography (CT) in dogs with spontaneous hemoperitoneum and determine the utility in using CT to differentiate benign from malignant lesions., Design: Retrospective case series., Setting: Single-center, university veterinary teaching emergency service., Animals: Twenty-six dogs presented between 2015 and 2020 with spontaneous hemoperitoneum confirmed via abdominocentesis with pre- and postcontrast abdominal CT performed prior to surgery or euthanasia., Interventions: None., Measurements and Main Results: On histopathological diagnosis, 20 of 26 lesions were found to be malignant, and 6 of 26 were benign. Two radiologists reviewed the CTs. Radiologist 1 correctly identified 5 of 6 (83.3%) benign cases and 18 of 20 (90%) malignant cases. Radiologist 2 correctly identified 2 of 6 (33.3%) benign lesions and 18 of 20 (90%) malignant cases. Of the 10 imaging descriptors evaluated, none were significantly associated with the histological diagnosis., Conclusions: Results from the current study suggest that abdominal CT imaging of spontaneous hemoperitoneum cases is not a reliable indicator of malignancy versus benignancy. As such, prognosis should not be defined using this modality alone prior to emergency surgery and instead should be concluded based on the clinical course of the patient and histopathological findings of the resected tissues after surgery., (© Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society 2023.)

Objective: To investigate the CT features of cavitary pulmonary lesions and determine their utility to differentiate malignant from benign lesions., Animals: This retrospective study included cases from 5 veterinary medical centers between January 1 2010, and December 31, 2020. Inclusion criteria included having a gas-filled cavitary pulmonary lesion on thoracic CT and definitive diagnosis by either cytology or histopathology. Forty-two animals (27 dogs and 15 cats) were included in this study., Procedures: Medical records systems/imaging databases were searched, and cases meeting inclusion criteria were selected. The CT studies were interpreted by a third-year radiology resident, and findings were reviewed by a board-certified veterinary radiologist., Results: 7 of the 13 lesion characteristics investigated were not statistically associated with the final diagnosis of the lesion, whereas 6 were statistically associated. Those that were associated included the presence of intralesional contrast enhancement, type of intralesional contrast enhancement (heterogenous and homogenous analyzed separately), presence of additional nodules, wall thickness of the lesion at its thickest point, and wall thickness at the thinnest point., Clinical Relevance: Results from the present study showed that thoracic CT imaging of cavitary pulmonary lesions can be used to further refine the list of differential diagnoses. Based on this data set, in lesions that have heterogenous contrast enhancement, additional pulmonary nodules, and wall thickness > 40 mm at their thickest point, it would be reasonable to consider malignant neoplastic disease higher on the list of differentials than other causes.

We report the heterologous expression, structure, and antimicrobial activity of a lasso peptide, ubonodin, encoded in the genome of Burkholderia ubonensis. The topology of ubonodin is unprecedented amongst lasso peptides, with 18 of its 28 amino acids found in the mechanically bonded loop segment. Ubonodin inhibits RNA polymerase in vitro and has potent antimicrobial activity against several pathogenic members of the Burkholderia genus, most notably B. cepacia and B. multivorans, causative agents of lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients., (© 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

We report the identification of citrocin, a 19-amino acid-long antimicrobial lasso peptide from the bacteria Citrobacter pasteurii and Citrobacter braakii We refactored the citrocin gene cluster and heterologously expressed it in Escherichia coli We determined citrocin's NMR structure in water and found that is reminiscent of that of microcin J25 (MccJ25), an RNA polymerase-inhibiting lasso peptide that hijacks the TonB-dependent transporter FhuA to gain entry into cells. Citrocin has moderate antimicrobial activity against E. coli and Citrobacter strains. We then performed an in vitro RNA polymerase (RNAP) inhibition assay using citrocin and microcin J25 against E. coli RNAP. Citrocin has a higher minimal inhibition concentration than microcin J25 does against E. coli but surprisingly is ∼100-fold more potent as an RNAP inhibitor. This suggests that citrocin uptake by E. coli is limited. We found that unlike MccJ25, citrocin's activity against E. coli relied on neither of the two proton motive force-linked systems, Ton and Tol-Pal, for transport across the outer membrane. The structure of citrocin contains a patch of positive charge consisting of Lys-5 and Arg-17. We performed mutagenesis on these residues and found that the R17Y construct was matured into a lasso peptide but no longer had activity, showing the importance of this side chain for antimicrobial activity. In summary, we heterologously expressed and structurally and biochemically characterized an antimicrobial lasso peptide, citrocin. Despite being similar to MccJ25 in sequence, citrocin has an altered activity profile and does not use the same outer-membrane transporter to enter susceptible cells., (© 2019 Cheung-Lee et al.)

Previous employment of the ligands 2-methoxy-6-[(methylimino)methyl]phenol (L 1 H) and 2-methoxy-6-[(phenylimino)methyl]phenol (L 2 H) has resulted in the self-assembly of pseudo metallocalix[6]arene complexes of general formulae: [M 7 (μ 3 -OH) 6 (L x ) 6 ](NO 3 ) y (M = Ni(ii), x = 1, y = 2 (1) and Co(ii/iii), x = 2, y = 3 (2)). Extrapolating upon this work, we report the coordination chemistry of ligands 2-methoxy-6-{[(2-methoxyphenyl)imino]methyl}phenol (L 3 H), 2-[(benzylimino)methyl]-6-methoxyphenol (L 4 H), 2-[(benzylamino)methyl]-6-methoxyphenol (L 5 H) and 2-[(benzylamino)methyl]-4-bromo-6-methoxyphenol (L 6 H), whose structures are modifications of ligands L 1-2 H. These ligands are employed in the synthesis and characterisation of the dimetallic complex [Ni(ii) 2 (L 3 ) 3 (H 2 O)](NO 3 )·2H 2 O·3MeOH (3); the monometallic complexes [Ni(ii)(L 4 ) 2 ] (4) and [Co(iii)(L 4 ) 3 ]·H 2 O·MeOH (5a); and the tetranuclear pseudo metallocalix[4]arene complexes: [(NO 3 )⊂Co(ii) 4 (μ 3 -OH) 2 (L 5 ) 4 (H 2 O) 2 ](NO 3 )·H 2 O (6), [(NO 3 )⊂Ni(ii) 4 (μ 3 -OH) 2 (L 5 ) 4 (H 2 O) 2 ](NO 3 )·H 2 O (7) and [Ni(ii) 4 (μ 3 -OH) 2 (L 6 ) 4 (NO 3 ) 2 ]·MeCN (8). The tetrametallic 'butterfly' core topologies in 6-8 are discussed with respect to their structural and topological relationship with their heptanuclear [M 7 ] (M = Co(ii), Ni(ii)) pseudo metallocalix[6]arene ancestors (1 and 2).

The immune response of patients with seborrhoeic dermatitis and healthy age- and sex-matched controls was examined to test the hypothesis that an inadequate or inappropriate immune response to Malassezia yeast leads to seborrhoeic dermatitis. Antibody responses were examined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) and Western blots and lymphocyte responses using lymphocyte proliferation assays. The level of IgG and IgM specific for whole yeast cells or extracted proteins of two isolates of M. furfur was tested in ELISA. A wide range of antibody levels was found but the patient and control groups were indistinguishable (n = 19), and the groups could not be distinguished by the pattern of Malassezia proteins recognized by their sera in Western blots. The average affinity of the subjects' antibodies specific for Malassezia cells or proteins was measured using ammonium thiocyanate dissociation. Most of the sera had moderate affinities corresponding to 50% dissociation at thiocyanate concentrations of 0.5-1.0 mol/L. There was no difference between patients and matched controls. The proliferation of the patients' lymphocytes in response to a number of M. furfur cell preparations was measured: whole cells, cytoplasmic proteins, cell walls, soluble molecules extracted from the cell walls using sonication, and a commercial preparation. There was a wide range of responses between individuals, but there was no difference between the three groups: patients with seborrhoeic dermatitis (n = 16), healthy controls (n = 16) and a group suffering from other inflammatory skin conditions (n = 15). The results do not support the hypothesis that an inadequate immune response to Malassezia yeast could lead to seborrhoeic dermatitis. Other possible pathological mechanisms include toxin production or lipase activity.

The products of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) genes UL5, UL8 and UL52 form a complex in virus-infected cells that exhibits both DNA helicase and DNA primase activities. UL8 protein was purified from insect cells infected with a recombinant baculovirus and used to generate monoclonal antibodies (MAbs). MAb 0811 was shown to recognize the UL8 protein in both Western blots and immunoprecipitation assays and to co-precipitate the other two proteins in the complex from insect cells triply infected with recombinants expressing the UL5, UL8 and UL52 polypeptides. Experiments performed using extracts from doubly infected cells indicated that UL8 could interact separately with both the UL5 and UL52 proteins. Similar experiments using a recombinant virus that expressed the HSV-1 origin-binding protein (OBP), UL9, demonstrated a direct physical interaction between the helicase-primase complex and OBP which involved the UL8 subunit. The C-terminal DNA-binding domain of OBP is dispensable for this interaction, as evidenced by the ability of MAb 0811 to co-precipitate a truncated UL9 protein, containing only the N-terminal 535 amino acids, with UL8.

A rapid and simple two-step scheme for the purification of herpes simplex virus type 1 UL8 protein from insect cells infected with a recombinant baculovirus has been developed. The scheme involves DEAE-Sepharose and phenyl-Sepharose chromatography and yields approximately 1.5 mg of protein from 2.4 x 10(8) infected cells. The protein remains intact during purification as judged by its reactivity with amino and carboxy termini-specific antisera. Gel filtration chromatography showed that the protein exists as a monomer in solution. No binding of the protein to ssDNA or dsDNA or to a DNA/RNA hybrid could be demonstrated using a gel mobility shift assay.