Plasmids are common in natural bacterial communities, facilitating bacterial evolution via horizontal gene transfer. Bacterial species vary in their proficiency to host plasmids whereas plasmids are stably maintained in some species regardless of selection for plasmid-encoded genes, in other species, even beneficial plasmids are rapidly lost. It is, however, unclear how this variation in host proficiency affects plasmid persistence in communities. Here, we test this using multispecies bacterial soil communities comprising species varying in their proficiency to host a large conjugative mercury resistance plasmid, pQBR103. The plasmid reached higher community-level abundance where beneficial and when introduced to the community in a more proficient host species. Proficient plasmid host species were also better able to disseminate the plasmid to a wider diversity of host species. These findings suggest that the dynamics of plasmids in natural bacterial communities depend not only upon the plasmid's attributes and the selective environment but also upon the proficiency of their host species.Anesthetic and analgesics are essential components of both clinical and research procedures completed in marmosets. A review of current anesthetic and analgesic regimens for marmosets has been complied to provide a concise reference for veterinarians and investigator teams. Published dose regimens for injectable and inhalant anesthetic drugs and analgesic drugs are included. Appropriate physiological monitoring is key to the success of the procedure and perianesthetic options are provided. Although recent publications have refined anesthesia and analgesia practices, our review demonstrates the continued need for evidence-based resources specific to marmosets.
Is maternal use of hormonal contraception associated with the development of epilepsy in the offspring?

We found that maternal use of hormonal contraception was associated with a slightly increased risk of epilepsy in the offspring.

Foetal exposure to exogenous hormones has been associated with changes in brain development. However, little is known about maternal hormonal contraception use and development of epilepsy in the offspring.

A nationwide cohort of all live born children born in Denmark between 1 January 1998 and 31 December 2014, was followed from day 29 after birth for epilepsy (first diagnosis of epilepsy or first redeemed prescription for anti-epileptic medication) to censoring (emigration, death) or 31 December 2015, whichever occurred first.

Diagnoses of epilepsy were obtained from the National Patient Registry. The Danish National Prescription Registry supplied information on redeemed prescriptions for hormonal contraception and anti-epileptic medication. Maternal hormonal contraceptescriptions or used them at a different point in time; potentially leading to an attenuation of the estimates. https://www.selleckchem.com/ In addition, although we were able to account for known risk factors for epilepsy, unknown or residual confounding cannot be ruled out.

Our findings are based on nationwide population-based data and can therefore be applied to other similar populations. However, as this is the first study in this field, further studies are needed to confirm our findings.

No specific funding was obtained for this study, which was supported by internal funding at the Unit of Virus, Lifestyle and Genes. All authors report no conflicts of interest.

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It has been suggested that overweight/obesity (OW/OB) impairs the normal development of body posture in children and adolescents; however, to date, no study has systematically reviewed or quantified the effect of OW/OB on the development of postural alterations in children and adolescents. The purpose of this study was to systematically review the association between OW/OB and postural alterations in children and adolescents and to quantify the evidence on whether children and adolescents with OW/OB have a higher risk of developing postural alterations than their peers of normal weight.

PubMed and Web of Science databases were systematically searched from inception to March 9, 2020. Studies investigating the association between OW/OB and postural alterations in children and adolescents were selected. Nonoriginal articles, participants with movement pattern diseases, and adolescents studied while pregnant were excluded. Two independent reviewers conducted the study selection and data extraction. Qualitativ the effect of OW/OB on the development of postural alterations in children and adolescents.
In March 2020, India declared a nationwide lockdown to control the spread of coronavirus disease 2019. As a result, control efforts against visceral leishmaniasis (VL) were interrupted.

Using an established age-structured deterministic VL transmission model, we predicted the impact of a 6- to 24-month programme interruption on the timeline towards achieving the VL elimination target as well as on the increase of VL cases. We also explored the potential impact of a mitigation strategy after the interruption.

Delays towards the elimination target are estimated to range between 0 and 9y. Highly endemic settings where control efforts have been ongoing for 5-8y are most affected by an interruption, for which we identified a mitigation strategy to be most relevant. However, more importantly, all settings can expect an increase in the number of VL cases. This increase is substantial even for settings with a limited expected delay in achieving the elimination target.

Besides implementing mitigation strategies, it is of great importance to try and keep the duration of the interruption as short as possible to prevent new individuals from becoming infected with VL and continue the efforts towards VL elimination as a public health problem in India.
Besides implementing mitigation strategies, it is of great importance to try and keep the duration of the interruption as short as possible to prevent new individuals from becoming infected with VL and continue the efforts towards VL elimination as a public health problem in India.Amphibian skin bacteria may confer protection against the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), but responses of skin bacteria to different Bd lineages are poorly understood. The global panzootic lineage (Bd-GPL) has caused amphibian declines and extinctions globally. However, other lineages are enzootic (Bd-Asia-2/Brazil). Increased contact rates between Bd-GPL and enzootic lineages via globalization pose unknown consequences for host-microbiome-pathogen dynamics. We conducted a laboratory experiment and used 16S rRNA amplicon-sequencing to assess (i) whether two lineages (Bd-Asia-2/Brazil and Bd-GPL) and their recombinant, in single and mixed infections, differentially affect amphibian skin bacteria; (ii) and the changes associated with the transition to laboratory conditions. We determined no clear differences in bacterial diversity among Bd treatments, despite differences in infection intensity. However, we observed an additive effect of mixed infections on bacterial alpha diversity and a potentially antagonistic interaction between Bd genotypes.