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Most importantly, a single-dose vaccination of VV-CPV2-VP2 elicited substantial antibody responses and provided comparable protection for dogs with attenuated CPV2 vaccine. Collectively, this study demonstrated that VV-CPV2-VP2 could be used as a promising vaccine candidate preventing CPV2 from infection for dogs.Soft wearable actuators can help connect machines and humans, providing a personalized, ergonomic, and cooperative physical interface between people and their world. Until now, the torque of these interfaces has been limited, restricting their ability to assist the completely paralyzed. This article presents a method for realizing a soft structure that stably and comfortably applies a knee extension torque to the body that is sufficient for sit-to-stand (STS). The structure, the pleated pneumatic interference actuator (PPIA), is based on pleated inflatables; is lightweight, collapsible, and clothing integratable; and generates torque from buckling of a constrained fabric-reinforced rubber tube. Multiple PPIAs were integrated into a soft orthosis, the soft lift assister for the knee (SLAK). The SLAK was inflated to a pressure of 320 kPa, and it produced a maximum 324 Nm torque at a flexion angle of 82°. This exceeds the peak 180 Nm torque required for STS and torques required for other everyday tasks. The SLAK met the torque requirement for STS, which is more than 93% of the STS motion when worn by a test leg. Worn by a human, it shows potential for complete support, which is more than 100% of the motion. The PPIA’s theoretical model overestimated torque at low to moderate flexion angles and underestimated PPIA torque at high flexion angles. Further development of the PPIA will focus on testing the SLAK with human subjects; increasing the PPIA’s speed and flexibility; reducing the PPIA’s bulk; and improving the PPIA’s model accuracy.Scientists working at the intersection of cognitive psychology and education have developed theoretically-grounded methods to help people learn. One important yet counterintuitive finding is that making information harder to learn – that is, creating desirable difficulties – benefits learners. Some studies suggest that simply presenting information in a difficult-to-read font could serve as a desirable difficulty and therefore promote learning. To address this possibility, we examined the extent to which Sans Forgetica, a newly developed font, improves memory performance – as the creators of the font claim. Across four experiments, we set out to replicate unpublished findings by the font’s creators. Subjects read information in Sans Forgetica or Arial, and rated how difficult the information was to read (Experiment 1) or attempted to recall the information (Experiments 2-4). Although subjects rated Sans Forgetica as being more difficult to read than Arial, Sans Forgetica led to equivalent memory performance, and sometimes even impaired it. These findings suggest that although Sans Forgetica promotes a feeling of disfluency, it does not create a desirable difficulty or benefit memory.Detection of circulating tumor DNA is a new noninvasive technique with potential roles in diagnostic, follow-up, and prognostic evaluation of patients with many types of solid tumors. We aimed to evaluate the role of circulating tumor DNA in the setting of metastatic ovarian carcinoma. A prospective cohort of patients with metastatic ovarian cancer who were referred to systemic therapy was enrolled. Blood samples were collected before the start of treatment and monthly thereafter for 6 months. Circulating tumor DNA was quantified by real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction of different lengths of Arthrobacter luteus elements as described by Umetani et al. A total of 11 patients were included, 2 for primary disease and 9 for recurrent disease. After the first cycle of chemotherapy, patients whose circulating tumor DNA levels increased from baseline were more likely to respond to chemotherapy than those whose circulating tumor DNA levels did not increase (p = 0.035). Furthermore, patients whose circulating tumor DNA levels rose after the first cycle of chemotherapy also had improved disease-free survival compared to those whose circulating tumor DNA levels did not increase (p = 0.0074). We conclude that the increase in circulating tumor DNA values collected in peripheral blood after the first cycle of systemic treatment in patients with advanced ovarian cancer is associated with an early response to systemic treatment and correlates with superior disease-free survival in this population. Circulating tumor DNA might be a specific, noninvasive, and cost-effective new biomarker of early response to systemic treatment in these patients.False smut of rice, caused by Ustilaginoidea virens, has become one of the most important diseases in rice-growing regions worldwide. The disease causes a significant yield loss and imposes health threats to humans and animals by producing mycotoxins. In this review, we update our understanding of the pathogen, including the disease cycle and infection strategies, the decoding of the U. virens genome, comparative/functional genomics, and effector biology. Whereas the decoding of the U. virens genome unveils specific adaptations of the pathogen in successfully occupying rice flowers, progresses in comparative/functional genomics and effector biology have begun to uncover the molecular mechanisms underlying U. virens virulence and pathogenicity. We highlight the identification and characterization of the produced mycotoxins and their biosynthetic pathways in U. virens. The management strategies for this disease are also discussed. The flower-specific infection strategy makes the pathogen a unique tool to unveil novel mechanisms for the interactions beteen nonobligate biotrophic pathogens and their hosts. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Phytopathology, Volume 58 is August 25, 2020. Please see http//www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.Background Infection is the most common complication and cause of death in patients suffering burn injuries. These patients are susceptible to infection and burn wound sepsis secondary to the alterations in their physiology. Diagnosis and management of infections rely on physical examination, cultures, and the pathology of the burn wound. Method We performed an electronic search for articles in the Google Scholar and PubMed databases using the search terms “burn sepsis,” “burn infection,” and “burn critical care.” Results Multiple factors increase burn patients’ risk of invasive infection and sepsis, including underlying factors and co-morbidities, the percent total body surface area of the burn, delays in burn wound excision, and microbial virulence/bacterial count. Etomoxir supplier Organisms causing burn wound infection differ, depending on the time since injury and its location; and diagnosis is multi-factorial. The most common pathogens remain Staphylococcus and Pseudomonas spp. Conclusion Overall, the recognition of burn sepsis is based on clinical findings. Treatment consists of a combination of local dressings, early burn excision, and systemic antimicrobial therapy. The mortality rate has decreased significantly over the past 10 years, but continued efforts at timely management and infection prevention are essential.Objective To investigate the association between maternal obesity as measured by prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) and group B streptococcus (GBS) colonization. Methods We conducted a secondary analysis from the Consortium on Safe Labor Study (CSL) in the United States cohort study (2002-2008). Pregnant women with deliveries at ≥37 weeks of gestation who attempted labor were included (115,070 assessed deliveries). The association between maternal prepregnancy BMI, categorized as normal weight or below ( less then 25 kg/m2), overweight (25 to less then 30 kg/m2), class I obesity (30 to less then 35 kg/m2), class II obesity (35 to less then 40 kg/m2), and class III obesity (≥40 kg/m2), and GBS colonization was modeled using logistic regression with generalized estimating equations. Models adjusted for maternal age, parity, race, pregestational diabetes, insurance status, study site/region, and year of delivery. Results The overall prevalence of GBS colonization was 20.5% (23,625/115,070), which increased with rising maternal BMI, normal weight 19.3% (13,543/70,098), overweight 20.8% (5,353/25,733), class I obesity 23.0% (2,596/11,275), class II obesity 26.1% (1,270/4,850), and class III obesity 27.7% (863/3,114). In multivariable analysis, increasing maternal obesity severity was associated with higher odds of GBS colonization, namely overweight (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.09, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.05-1.13), class I obesity (AOR 1.20, 95% CI 1.15-1.26), class II obesity (AOR 1.42, 95% CI 1.33-1.51), and class III obesity (AOR 1.50; 95% CI 1.38-1.62) compared with normal weight. In secondary analyses, these associations persisted when stratified by maternal race. Conclusions In a national U.S. sample, increasing maternal obesity severity as assessed by prepregnancy BMI was associated with a higher likelihood of maternal GBS colonization during pregnancy.Carbapenemases play important roles in conferring resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics, including the carbapenems. Detection of carbapenemase activity helps to understand the possible mechanism(s) of carbapenem resistance. Identification of carbapenemases is currently being done by various phenotypic methods and molecular methods. However, innovative biochemical and spectrophotometric methods are desirable as they will be easy to perform, affordable, and rapid. A novel chromogenic method called Carba NP test was introduced recently to screen for carbapenemases in clinical isolates of gram-negative pathogens. We adopted this assay (1) to detect the total carbapenemase activity, (2) to discriminate Class A, B, and D carbapenemases with inhibitors, (3) to compare with carbapenemase genotype, and (4) for direct differential diagnosis of carbapenemases in uncultured clinical sample such as tracheal aspirate. The study included 132 purulent tracheal aspirates. All samples were processed and screened by a protocol optimized in our laboratory, which showed good sensitivity and correlation with genotyping and conventional phenotyping. Our protocol not only offers the fastest way to identify the pathogen but also its carbapenemase profile, directly from uncultured clinical samples in less than 4 hr. Our protocol is currently being validated on other types of clinical specimens in our laboratory.Infections caused by metallo-β-lactamase (MBL)-producing bacteria are emerging and carry a significant impact on patients’ outcome. MBL producers are spread worldwide, both in community and hospital setting, with increasingly reported epidemic clusters and the search for MBL inhibitors is an important topic for public health. MBLs are zinc-dependent enzymes whose functioning can be hampered by zinc chelators. We evaluated the potential of six zinc chelators (disulfiram, nitroxoline, 5-amino-8-hydroxyquinoline, 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid [DOTA], cyclam, and N,N,N’,N’-tetrakis (2-pyridymethyl) ethylenediamine [TPEN]) in restoring carbapenem activity against MBL producers. Zinc chelators alone or in combination with meropenem against MBL-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae, Chryseobacterium indologenes, Elizabethkingia meningoseptica, and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia isolates were tested in vitro and in vivo (Galleria mellonella). In vitro experiments showed a synergistic activity between TPEN and meropenem toward all the strains.