Plasma miR-150-5p in Renal Transplant Recipients with Acute Antibody-Mediated Rejection.

Background: Rejection continues to be the main cause of renal graft loss. Currently, the gold standard for diagnosis is an allograft biopsy; however, because it is time-consuming, costly, and invasive, the pursuit of novel biomarkers has gained interest. Variation in the expressions of miRNAs is currently considered a probable biomarker for the diagnosis of acute rejection. This study aimed to determine whether miR-150-5p in serum is related to microvascular damage in patients with acute antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR). Methods: A total of 27 patients who underwent renal transplantation (RT) with and without ABMR were included in the study. We performed the quantification of hsa-miR-150-5p, hsa-miR-155, hsa-miR-21, hsa-miR-126, and hsa-miR-1 in plasma by RT-qPCR. The expressions between the groups and their correlations with the histological characteristics of the patients with ABMR were also investigated. Results: miR-150-5p significantly increased in the plasma of patients with rejection (p < 0.05), and the changes in miR-150-5p were directly correlated with microvascular inflammation in the allograft biopsies. Clinical utility was determined by ROC analysis with an area under the curve of 0.873. Conclusions: Our results show that the patients with RT with ABMR exhibited increased expression of miR-150-5p compared to patients without rejection, which could have clinical consequences, as well as probable utility in the diagnosis of ABMR, and bioinformatics may help in unraveling the molecular mechanisms underlying ABMR conditions.

Characterizing Relationships Among the Cognitive, Physical, Social-emotional, and Health-related Traits of Military Personnel.

INTRODUCTION: Personnel engaged in high-stakes occupations, such as military personnel, law enforcement, and emergency first responders, must sustain performance through a range of environmental stressors. To maximize the effectiveness of military personnel, an a priori understanding of traits can help predict their physical and cognitive performance under stress and adversity. This work developed and assessed a suite of measures that have the potential to predict performance during operational scenarios. These measures were designed to characterize four specific trait-based domains: cognitive, health, physical, and social-emotional. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and ninety-one active duty U.S. Army soldiers completed interleaved questionnaire-based, seated task-based, and physical task-based measures over a period of 3-5 days. Redundancy analysis, dimensionality reduction, and network analyses revealed several patterns of interest. RESULTS: First, unique variable analysis revealed a minimally redundant battery of instruments. Second, principal component analysis showed that metrics tended to cluster together in three to five components within each domain. Finally, analyses of cross-domain associations using network analysis illustrated that cognitive, health, physical, and social-emotional domains showed strong construct solidarity. CONCLUSIONS: The present battery of metrics presents a fieldable toolkit that may be used to predict operational performance that can be clustered into separate components or used independently. It will aid predictive algorithm development aimed to identify critical predictors of individual military personnel and small-unit performance outcomes.

Infective endocarditis: 10-year experience in a non-cardiovascular center.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Infective endocarditis (IE) is an infection with a poor prognosis, and an associated in-hospital mortality of at least 25%. Optimal therapy of IE requires long-term effective antibiotic therapy and valve surgery in many cases. The aim of this study was to review the demographics, bacteriology, and outcomes of patients with IE admitted to a tertiary referral center in Mexico City, over a 10-year period. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study of patients admitted at Instituto Nacional Salvador Zubiran with a new diagnosis of IE over a 10-year period, from January 2009 to January 2019. Patients who met the definition for definitive diagnosis of infective endocarditis according to the modified Duke criteria were included in the study. RESULTS: There were 62 patients (50.85 ± 17.46 years, 40.3% females) with IE. The culprit microorganism was identified in all cases, with Staphylococcus aureus being the most frequently found (34%). Valve surgery was performed in 58.1%, while 41.9% only received medical treatment. The mortality rate was 25.8% at 30 days and 41.9% at 12 months. Comparing the surgical and medical treatment groups, we found that 50% and 36% in each group, respectively, had died within 12 months of admission. CONCLUSIONS: Our center has a high prevalence of health care-associated endocarditis, mostly related to the presence of intravascular access devices. Most of the patients had a surgical indication. Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and decreased right ventricular systolic function had an increased mortality rate at 12 months.

Antecedentes y objetivo: La endocarditis infecciosa (EI) es una infección de mal pronóstico, con una mortalidad intrahospitalaria que va del 15-20%. La terapia óptima requiere antibioticoterapia efectiva por tiempo prolongado y cirugía valvular en algunos casos. El objetivo de este estudio fue revisar la epidemiología y desenlaces de pacientes con EI en un centro de referencia en la Ciudad de México. Métodos: Cohorte retrospectiva de pacientes admitidos al Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán con diagnóstico de EI en un periodo de 10 años, de enero de 2009 a enero de 2019. Se incluyeron a pacientes que cumplían la definición de diagnóstico definitivo de endocarditis infecciosa de acuerdo a los criterios modificados de Duke. Resultados: Se incluyeron a 62 pacientes (50.85 ± 17.46 años, 40.3% mujeres). Todos los casos tuvieron cultivos positivos, siendo S. aureus el microorganismo más frecuente (34%). El 58.1% de los pacientes recibió tratamiento quirúrgico y 41.9% recibió únicamente tratamiento médico. La mortalidad a 30 días fue de 25.8% y a 12 meses fue de 41.9%. Comparando los grupos de tratamiento médico y quirúrgico, se encontró que 50% y 36% de cada grupo, respectivamente, habían fallecido a los 12 meses. Conclusiones: Encontramos una alta prevalencia de EI asociada a los cuidados de la salud, principalmente en relación a accesos intravasculares. Casi todos los pacientes presentaban un criterio quirúrgico al momento del diagnóstico. Los pacientes con diabetes mellitus tipo 2 y función sistólica del ventrículo derecho disminuida presentaron una mayor mortalidad a 12 meses.

Association Between Density of Foraging Bees and Fruit Set in Commercial Fields of Rabbiteye Blueberries (Ericales: Ericaceae) in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Field-scale data on the relationship between pollinator activity and fruit set are scarce for rabbiteye blueberries (Vaccinium virgatum Aiton). We measured the densities of Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae), Habropoda laboriosa F. (Hymenoptera: Apidae), Bombus Latreille (Hymenoptera: Apidae) spp., and Xylocopa virginica L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in 7-21 commercial fields during each of 3 yr in Louisiana and Mississippi. Foraging bees were counted on 10 'Tifblue' bushes per field on 2 d during bloom, and the density of bees per flower was calculated based on the number of flowers open during the counts. Fruit set was measured 30 d after bloom. The impact of foraging activity on fruit set was inconsistent when densities of either all foragers or foragers of individual taxa were considered. Strong associations were observed only in 2001, with fruit set increased by H. laboriosa and Bombus and with a weaker contribution by A. mellifera. Floral robbery by X. virginica had no measurable negative effects. Populations of H. laboriosa were more consistent than those of other bees across sites. Managed colonies of A. mellifera were added at two densities (12.5 or 2.5 colonies per hectare) in seven fields each in 2001. These supplemental bees did not result in greater forager densities or fruit set in stocked fields. The observations show the challenge of field-scale pollination tests but provide an initial framework for rabbiteye blueberry growers to assess the availability of foraging bees early in bloom to help decide whether to add supplemental A. mellifera to try to enhance pollination if populations of non-Apis bees are low.

Functionality of Varroa-resistant honey bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) when used for western U.S. honey production and almond pollination.

Two types of honey bees, Apis mellifera L., bred for resistance to Varroa destructor Anderson & Trueman, were evaluated for performance when used for honey production in Montana, and for almond pollination the following winter. Colonies of Russian honey bees and outcrossed honey bees with Varroa-sensitive hygiene (VSH) were compared with control colonies of Italian honey bees. All colonies were managed without miticide treatments. In total, 185 and 175 colonies were established for trials in 2010-2011 and 2011-2012, respectively. Survival of colonies with original queens or with supersedure queens was similar among stocks for both years. Colony sizes of the Varroa-resistant stocks were as large as or larger than the control colonies during periods critical to honey production and almond pollination. Honey production varied among stocks. In the first year, all stocks produced similar amounts of honey. In the second year, Russian honey bees colonies produced less honey than the control colonies. V. destructor infestations also varied among stocks. In the first year, control colonies had more infesting mites than either of the Varroa-resistant stocks, especially later in the year. In the second year, the control and outcrossed Varroa-sensitive hygiene colonies had high and damaging levels of infestation while the Russian honey bees colonies maintained lower levels of infestation. Infestations of Acarapis woodi (Rennie) were generally infrequent and low. All the stocks had similarly high Nosema ceranae infections in the spring and following winter of both years. Overall, the two Varroa-resistant stocks functioned adequately in this model beekeeping system.

Functionality of Varroa-resistant honey bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) when used in migratory beekeeping for crop pollination.

Two types of honey bees, Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae), bred for resistance to Varroa destructor Anderson & Trueman were evaluated for performance when used in migratory crop pollination. Colonies of Russian honey bees (RHB) and outcrossed bees with Varroa-sensitive hygiene (VSH) were managed without miticide treatments and compared with colonies of Italian honey bees that served as controls. Control colonies were managed as groups which either were treated twice each year against V. destructor (CT) or kept untreated (CU). Totals of 240 and 247 colonies were established initially for trials in 2008 and 2009, respectively. RHB and VSH colonies generally had adult and brood populations similar to those of the standard CT group regarding pollination requirements. For pollination of almonds [Prunus dulcis (Mill.) D.A.Webb] in February, percentages of colonies meeting the required six or more frames of adult bees were 57% (VSH), 56% (CT), 39% (RHB), and 34% (CU). RHB are known to have small colonies in early spring, but this can be overcome with appropriate feeding. For later pollination requirements in May to July, 94-100% of colonies in the four groups met pollination size requirements for apples (Malus domestica Borkh.), cranberries (Vaccinium macrocarpon Aiton), and lowbush blueberries (Vaccinium angustifolium Aiton). Infestations with V. destructor usually were lowest in CT colonies and tended to be lower in VSH colonies than in RHB and CU colonies. This study demonstrates that bees with the VSH trait and pure RHB offer alternatives for beekeepers to use for commercial crop pollination while reducing reliance on miticides. The high frequency of queen loss (only approximately one fourth of original queens survived each year) suggests that frequent requeening is necessary to maintain desired genetics.

Expression of Varroa sensitive hygiene (VSH) in commercial VSH honey bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae).

We tested six commercial sources of honey bees, Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae), whose breeding incorporated the trait of Varroa sensitive hygiene (VSH). VSH confers resistance to the parasitic mite Varroa destructor Anderson & Trueman by enhancing the ability of the bees to hygienically remove mite-infested brood. VSH production queens (i.e., queens commercially available for use in beekeepers' production colonies) from the six sources were established in colonies which later were measured for VSH. Their responses were compared with those of colonies with three other types of queens, as follows: VSH queens from the selected closed population maintained by USDA-ARS for research and as a source of breeding germplasm, queens from the cooperating commercial distributor of this germplasm, and queens of a commercial, mite-susceptible source. The reduction of mite infestation in brood combs exposed to test colonies for 1 wk differed significantly between groups. On average, colonies with VSH production queens reduced infestation by 44%. This group average was intermediate between the greater removal by pure ARS VSH (76%) and the cooperators' breeding colonies (64%), and the lesser removal by susceptible colonies (7%). VSH production colonies from the different sources had variable expression of hygiene against mites, with average reduced infestations ranging from 22 to 74%. In addition, infertility was high among mites that remained in infested cells in VSH breeder colonies from ARS and the commercial distributor but was lower and more variable in VSH production colonies and susceptible colonies. Commercial VSH production colonies supply mite resistance that generally seems to be useful for beekeeping. Resistance probably could be improved if more VSH drones sources were supplied when VSH production queens are being mated.

Inheritance of resistance to Acarapis woodi (Acari: Tarsonemidae) in crosses between selected resistant Russian and selected susceptible u.s. honey bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae).

The pattern of inheritance of tracheal mite resistance in selected Russian bees was determined in bioassays and in samples from field colonies. Resistant colonies of Russian origin and colonies selected for high susceptibility in the United States were used to generate divergent parental populations. Seven groups of F1 colonies were produced by crossing queens and drones from these selected resistant Russian and selected susceptible populations. In a series of bioassays with young workers exposed in infested colonies, average mite abundance (female mites per worker) in F1 colonies was intermediate (1.04 +/- 0.13 [mean +/- SE]) and significantly different from that of both resistant Russian (0.74 +/- 0.13) and selected susceptible (1.57 +/- 0.13) colonies. Colonies representing the three populations were established in two apiaries in July 2005. Colonies surviving with original queens after 10 mo had mite prevalences supporting the findings of the bioassay. All three resistant colonies had undetectable mite levels, whereas prevalences in four F1 colonies ranged from 0 to 53%, and in 10 susceptible colonies ranged from 0 to 90%. Tracheal mite resistance in Russian bees is likely polygenic, but there may be a number of genes with major dominance interacting with minor genes. Use of selected Russian queens mated with Russian drones or with drones from unknown sources is beneficial for beekeeping in areas with persistent problems with tracheal mite infestation.

Caste, sex and strain of honey bees (Apis mellifera) affect infestation with tracheal mites (Acarapis woodi).

Worker honey bees from genetic strains selected for being resistant (R) or susceptible (S) to tracheal mites typically show large differences in infestation in field colonies and in bioassays that involve controlled exposure to infested bees. We used bioassays exposing newly emerged individuals to infested workers to compare the propensity for tracheal mites to infest queens, drones and workers from R and S colonies. In tests with queens, newly emerged R and S queens were either simultaneously confined in infested colonies (n = 95 and 87 respectively), or individually caged with groups of 5-20 infested workers (n = 119 and 115 respectively). Mite prevalence (percentage of individuals infested) and abundance (foundress mites per individual) after 4-6 days did not differ between R and S queens. In another test, five newly emerged drones and workers from both an R and an S colony, and a queen of one of the two strains, were caged in each of 38 cages with 20 g of workers infested at 60-96% prevalence. Infestations of the R queens (n = 17) and S queens (n = 19) did not differ significantly, but R workers had half the mite abundance of S workers, while R drones received about a third more migrating mites than S drones. In tests to evaluate possible mechanisms, removal of one mesothoracic leg from R and S workers resulted in 2- to 10-fold increase in mite abundance on the treated side, but excising legs did not affect infestation of the corresponding tracheae in drones. This suggests that differences in infestation between R and S workers, but not drones, are largely determined by their ability to remove mites through autogrooming. If autogrooming is the primary mechanism of colony resistance to tracheal mites, selection for resistance to tracheal mites using infestation of hemizygous drones may be inefficient.