Univariable analysis showed that hypertension was significantly associated with coiling, with an odds ratio of 1.65 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.04-2.61, p = 0.034). Multivariable analysis corrected for age and sex resulted in an odds ratio of 1.71 (95% CI 1.05-2.80, p = 0.032), while correcting for atherosclerotic plaque at the bifurcation yielded an odds ratio of 1.63 (95% CI 1.00-2.66, p = 0.049). Age and atherosclerotic plaque were not significantly associated with coiling. CONCLUSION The main finding of this study was the significant association of hypertension with coiling of the ICA and the absence of an association with age, plaques and atherosclerotic risk factors other than hypertension.The popularity of mass spectrometry-based lipidomics has soared in the past decade. While the majority of the lipidomics work is being performed in mammalian and other eukaryotic systems, there is also a growing rise in the exploration of bacterial lipidomics. The lipids found in bacteria can be substantially different from those in eukaryotic systems, but they are equally important for maintaining the structure of the bacteria and providing protection from the surrounding environment. In this article, recent applications of lipidomics in combination with molecular biology and applications in microbial strain identification and antibiotic susceptibility are highlighted. The authors‘ perspectives on current challenges facing the field and future directions are also provided.Microfluidic applications such as active particle sorting or selective enrichment require particle classification techniques that are capable of working in real time. In this paper, we explore the use of neural networks for fast label-free particle characterization during microfluidic impedance cytometry. A recurrent neural network is designed to process data from a novel impedance chip layout for enabling real-time multiparametric analysis of the measured impedance data streams. As demonstrated with both synthetic and experimental datasets, the trained network is able to characterize with good accuracy size, velocity, and cross-sectional position of beads, red blood cells, and yeasts, with a unitary prediction time of 0.4 ms. The proposed approach can be extended to other device designs and cell types for electrical parameter extraction. This combination of microfluidic impedance cytometry and machine learning can serve as a stepping stone to real-time single-cell analysis and sorting. Graphical Abstract.The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake.Unveiling the key pathways underlying postnatal beta-cell proliferation can be instrumental to decipher the mechanisms of beta-cell mass plasticity to increased physiological demand of insulin during weight gain and pregnancy. Using transcriptome and global Serine Threonine Kinase activity (STK) analyses of islets from newborn (10 days old) and adult rats, we found that highly proliferative neonatal rat islet cells display a substantially elevated activity of the mitogen activated protein 3 kinase 12, also called dual leucine zipper-bearing kinase (Dlk). As a key upstream component of the c-Jun amino terminal kinase (Jnk) pathway, Dlk overexpression was associated with increased Jnk3 activity and was mainly localized in the beta-cell cytoplasm. We provide the evidence that Dlk associates with and activates Jnk3, and that this cascade stimulates the expression of Ccnd1 and Ccnd2, two essential cyclins controlling postnatal beta-cell replication. PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor cancer Silencing of Dlk or of Jnk3 in neonatal islet cells dramatically hampered primary beta-cell replication and the expression of the two cyclins. Moreover, the expression of Dlk,Jnk3,Ccnd1 and Ccnd2 was induced in high replicative islet beta cells from ob/ob mice during weight gain, and from pregnant female rats. In human islets from non-diabetic obese individuals, DLK expression was also cytoplasmic and the rise of the mRNA level was associated with an increase of JNK3,CCND1andCCND2 mRNA levels, when compared to islets from lean and obese patients with diabetes. In conclusion, we find that activation of Jnk3 signalling by Dlk could be a key mechanism for adapting islet beta-cell mass during postnatal development and weight gain.Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer and its incidence is increasing. The objective of this study was to describe the trends in reimbursed drug and hospital costs of benign and (pre)malignant skin tumours, and to present future projections. Therefore, nationwide hospital and drug reimbursement data (for the period 2007-17) were used. In 2017, malignant skin tumours were the 4th most costly cancer in the Netherlands (after breast, colorectal, and lung cancer). The total costs for skin tumours increased from €278 million for 384,390 patients (in 2007) to €465 million for 578,355 patients (in 2017). Drug costs increased from €0.7 million to €121 million (over the period 2007-17), resulting in a 26% share of overall costs in 2017. Future costs are projected to reach €1.35 billion in 2030. In conclusion, the increasing costs of skin cancer are strongly affected by the increasing incidence and introduction of expensive drugs, and future projections are for an alarming increase.BACKGROUND Replacing tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) with tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) improves renal tubular markers in HIV-infected individuals, but the impact on estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) remains unclear. METHODS We included all participants from the Swiss HIV Cohort Study who switched from a TDF to a TAF-containing antiretroviral regimen or continued TDF. We estimated changes in eGFR and urine protein-to-creatinine ratio (UPCR) after 18 months using mixed-effect models. RESULTS Of 3’520 participants (26.6% women, median age 50 years), 2’404 (68.5%) switched to TAF. Prior to switch, 1’664 (47.3%) had an eGFR less then 90 mL/min, and 1’087 (30.9%) a UPCR ≥15 mg/mmol. In patients with a baseline eGFR ≥90 mL/min, eGFR decreased with the use of TDF and TAF (-1.7 ml/min). Switching to TAF was associated with increases in eGFR of 1.5 mL/min (95% CI 0.5-2.5) if the baseline eGFR was 60-89 mL/min, and 4.1 mL/min (95% CI 1.6-6.6) if less then 60 mL/min. In contrast, eGFR decreased by 5.8 mL/min (95% CI 2.3-9.3) with the continued use of TDF in individuals with a baseline eGFR less then 60 mL/min. UPCR decreased after replacing TDF by TAF, independent of baseline eGFR. CONCLUSIONS Switching from TDF to TAF improves eGFR and proteinuria in patients with renal dysfunction. © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, e-mail journals.permissions@oup.com.African Dust from the Sahara and Sahel regions of Northern Africa is blown intercontinental distances and is the highest portion of atmospheric dust generated each year. During the Northern Hemisphere summer months (boreal summer), these dust events travel into the Caribbean and southern United States. While viability assays, microscopy, and bacterial amplicon analyses have shown that dust-associated microbes may be diverse, the specific microbial taxa that are transported intercontinental distances with these dust events remain poorly characterized. To provide new insights into these issues, five metagenomes of Saharan Dust Events (SDEs) occurring in the Caribbean, collected in the summer months of 2002 and 2008, were analyzed. The data revealed that similar microbial composition existed between three out of the five of the distinct dust events and that fungi were a prominent feature of the metagenomes compared to other environmental samples. These results have implications for better understanding microbial transport through the atmosphere and may implicate that the dust-associated microbial load transiting the Atlantic with Saharan dust is similar from year-to-year. link2 © FEMS 2020.Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco), which consists of eight large subunits (RBCL) and eight small subunits (RBCS), is a major photosynthetic enzyme that is sensitive to chilling stress. However，it is largely unclear how plants maintain high Rubisco content under low temperature conditions. Here, we report that tomato WHIRLY1 (SlWHY1) positively regulates the Rubisco level under chilling stress by directly binding to the promoter region of SlRbcS1, resulting in the activation of SlRbcS1 expression. link3 SlRbcS1 overexpressing lines had higher Rubisco contents and were more resistant to chilling stress compared with WT. qRT-PCR analyses showed that, among the five RbcS genes, only SlRbcS1 expression is up-regulated by chilling treatment. These results indicate that SlWHIRLY1 specifically enhances the levels of SlRbcS1 and confers tolerance to chilling stress. Amino acid sequence of SlRBCS1 shows 92.67% identity with those of other two RBCS proteins and four residues (R57, R105, and NS113) are specifically found in SlRBCS1. However, mutation of these residues to alanine in SlRBCS1 does not influence its function during cold adaptation. Thus, we conclude that high levels of Rubisco, but not the specific residues in SlRBCS1, play important roles in tolerance to chilling stress in tomato. © Crown copyright. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology.To investigate the role of serum cytokine assays to distinguish between active from treated syphilis among serofast patients, we recruited individuals into a prospective cohort study. Participants underwent routine syphilis screening. We selected specimens from a majority cohort of serofast participants with treated and active syphilis. We analyzed specimens with a 62-cytokine multiplex bead-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Cytokines, BDNF and TNFB, were most predictive. We built a decision tree that was 82.4% accurate, 100% (95%CI 82%-100%) sensitive, and 45% (95%CI, 18%-75%) specific. Our decision tree differentiated between serum specimens of serofast participants with treated syphilis and active syphilis. © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, e-mail journals.permissions@oup.com.Anelloviruses are small, single stranded circular DNA viruses. They are extremely diverse and have not been associated with any disease so far. Strikingly, these small entities infect most probably the complete human population, and there are no convincing examples demonstrating viral clearance from infected individuals. The main transmission could be via fecal-oral or airway route, as infections occur at an early age. However, due to the lack of an appropriate culture system, the virus-host interactions remain enigmatic. Anelloviruses are obviously mysterious viruses, and their impact on human life is not yet known, but, with no evidence of a disease association, a potential beneficial effect on human health should also be investigated. © FEMS 2020.In Tunisia, we observed that rotavirus P[8]-3 and P[4] in young children with gastroenteritis associate with the secretor histo-blood-group phenotype. Inversely, the emerging P[8]-4, representing 10% of cases, was exclusively found among nonsecretor patients. Unlike VP8* from P[8]-3 and P[4] strains, the P[8]-4 VP8* protein attached to glycans from saliva samples regardless of the donors Secretor status. Interestingly, a high frequency of FUT2 enzyme deficiency (nonsecretor phenotype) was observed in the population. This may allow co-circulation of P[8]-3 and P[8]-4 strains in secretor and nonsecretor children, respectively. © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, e-mail journals.permissions@oup.com.