The term “biofilm,” with specific respect to microbiological applications, was coined by the late Professor J. William (Bill) Costerton, of the University of Montana. Professor Costerton observed that bacteria and other cellular microorganisms often create their own living space to support their long-term survival, propagation, and spread. And with that, Bill Costerton opened a new [...]
Clinical Laboratories Data from clinical laboratories (the percentage of specimens tested that are positive for influenza) are used to monitor whether influenza activity is increasing or decreasing. Read more CDC… The post Weekly U.S. Influenza Surveillance Report appeared first on Healthier Environment Living Program.
Abstract Comprehensive, high-quality reference genomes are required for functional characterization and taxonomic assignment of the human gut microbiota. We present the Unified Human Gastrointestinal Genome (UHGG) collection, comprising 204,938 nonredundant genomes from 4,644 gut prokaryotes. These genomes encode >170 million protein sequences, which we collated in the Unified Human Gastrointestinal Protein (UHGP) catalog. The UHGP [...]
Hong Kong moved to plug loopholes exempting seafarers and aircrew from Covid-19 quarantine rules amid mounting criticism from health experts, as the city continued to struggle with the third wave of coronavirus infections, confirming another 128 cases on Sunday. But health experts questioned why the changes would only come into effect from Wednesday rather than [...]
Scientists have figured out how COVID-19 causes many people to lose their sense of smell. And they have good news: The loss appears to be temporary because the actual cells in the nose that detect smell aren’t harmed. Temporary loss of smell is called anosmia by doctors. It’s one of the earliest and most commonly [...]
Abstract The GAS6/TYRO3-AXL-MERTK (TAM) signaling pathway is essential for full and sustained platelet activation, as well as thrombus stabilization. Inhibition of this pathway decreases platelet aggregation, shape change, clot retraction, aggregate formation under flow conditions, and surface expression of activation markers. Transgenic mice deficient in GAS6, or any of the TAM family of receptors that [...]
Objectives: To describe the investigation of a community-based outbreak of Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1, with retirement home and acute care hospital sub-clusters in Montréal, QC, and the key challenges encountered. Methods: There were 14 cases of L. pneumophila serogroup 1 infection with an onset date between June 7 and August 21, 2019. The environmental investigation included sampling of water cooling towers [...]
At first, the images of lungs infected by the novel coronavirus were hard to come by. It was early in the pandemic, and Joseph Paul Cohen, a researcher at the University of Montreal, was trying to stockpile radiology scans to train an artificial intelligence model to recognize warning signs of severe illness. With so few images [...]
Abstract: Altered olfactory function is a common symptom of COVID-19, but its etiology is unknown. A key question is whether SARS-CoV-2 (CoV-2) – the causal agent in COVID-19 – affects olfaction directly, by infecting olfactory sensory neurons or their targets in the olfactory bulb, or indirectly, through perturbation of supporting cells. Here we identify cell types [...]
The Nicaraguan government’s disastrous coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) strategy has precipitated uncontrolled contagion and deaths and threatens regional security. The crisis in Nicaragua deserves the attention of the international scientific community. Early in the pandemic, Central American countries adopted measures to fight COVID-19. Nicaragua, however, instituted only “epidemiological control at borders through surveillance,” relying on travelers [...]
