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Brucellosis is a commonly neglected zoonosis that remains a serious global public health concern. The epidemiological evolution of human brucellosis has considerably changed over the past few decades, and epidemic geography is continuously expanding. Human brucellosis is emerging and re-emerging, and is imported from areas where it is endemic due to travel, immigration, and international trade. The disease continues to be prevalent in Asia and Africa, including West Asia, Central Asia, North Africa, and East Africa, with the highest incidence in Syria, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Iran, Algeria, and Kenya. Re-emerging cases are frequently recorded in places where brucellosis has been controlled, such as Bosnia, Herzegovina, Azerbaijan, and the USA. In countries with a high disease burden, disease control and eradication have been extremely difficult because of livestock farming being the only source of livelihood, unique religious beliefs regarding animals, nomadic lifestyle, and low socioeconomic levels. Interventions focused on protecting livestock keepers are needed, particularly for those assisting with goat and sheep births and the consumption of raw dairy products. Notably, in most countries with a high disease burden, each period of several years with a low incidence rate was followed by a subsequent increase in cases, highlighting the necessity of continuous investment and surveillance. In addition, advocacy for the inclusion of brucellosis as a globally mandated reported disease, strict restrictions on animal movement, mandated consumption of pasteurized milk, and health education are needed. This study will help form an evidence-based strategy for international organizations to curb the future spread of brucellosis.

In plants, transcriptional regulation is the most important tool for modulating flavonoid biosynthesis. The basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors are only one example how then flavonoid pathway is regulated. There are other transcription factors as well. In this study, the codon-optimized VvbHLH1 gene from grape was chemically synthesized. Overexpression of VvbHLH1 significantly increased the accumulation of flavonoids and enhanced salt and drought tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants. Real-time quantitative PCR analysis showed that overexpression of VvbHLH1 resulted in the up-regulation of genes involved in flavonoid biosynthesis, abscisic acid (ABA) signaling pathway, proline biosynthesis, stress responses and ROS scavenging under salt and drought stresses. Further analyses under salt and drought stresses showed significant increases of ABA and proline content, superoxide dismutase and peroxidase activities, as well as significant reduction of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and malonaldehyde content. The results demonstrate the explicit role of VvbHLH1 in conferring salt and drought tolerance by increasing the accumulation of flavonoids and ABA signalling in transgenic A. thaliana. The VvbHLH1 gene has the potential to be used to increase the content of valuable flavonoids and improve the tolerance to abiotic stresses in A. thaliana and other plants.

In the rapidly evolving field of personalized news recommendation, capturing and effectively utilizing user interests remains a significant challenge due to the vast diversity and dynamic nature of user interactions with news content. Existing recommendation models often fail to fully integrate candidate news items into user interest modeling, which can result in suboptimal recommendation accuracy and relevance. This limitation stems from their insufficient ability to jointly consider user history and the characteristics of candidate news items in the modeling process. To address this challenges, we propose the Multi-view Knowledge Representation Learning (MKRL) framework for personalized news recommendation, which leverages a multi-view news encoder and candidate-aware attention mechanisms to enhance user interest modeling. Unlike traditional methods, MKRL incorporates candidate news articles directly into the user interest modeling process, enabling the model to better understand and predict user preferences based on both historical behavior and potential new content. This is achieved through a sophisticated architecture that blends a multi-view news encoder and candidate-aware attention mechanisms, which together capture a more holistic and dynamic view of user interests. The MKRL framework innovatively integrates convolutional neural networks with multi-head attention modules to capture intricate contextual information from both user history and candidate news, allowing the model to recognize fine-grained patterns. The multi-head attention dynamically weighs user interactions and candidate news based on relevance, enhancing recommendation accuracy. Additionally, MKRL's multi-view approach represents news from different perspectives, enabling richer and more personalized recommendations. Extensive experiments on three real-world datasets demonstrate that our proposed framework outperforms state-of-the-art baselines in recommendation accuracy, validating its effectiveness.

Background Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is recognized as a climate-sensitive disease, yet the precise influence of meteorological factors on its incidence remains underexplored. This study leverages Causal Convolutional Neural Networks (Causal CNNs) to investigate the epidemiological characteristics of HFMD in Ningbo City, China, from 2014 to 2019, and to assess the predictive role of meteorological factors, offering novel insights for real-time surveillance and control. Methods Daily meteorological data and HFMD incidence data for Ningbo from 2014 to 2019 were obtained from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The Causal CNNs and the Granger causality test were applied for prediction and analysis. Results From 2014 to 2019, the average annual incidence of HFMD in Ningbo was 398.66 per 100,000. The disease showed notable seasonality and annual periodicity, with a bimodal distribution peaking in June–July and October–November each year. The daily mean temperature and relative humidity demonstrated similar annual cyclical variations to HFMD incidence, while daily mean pressure exhibited opposite trends. The Causal CNNs model indicated that daily mean temperature, relative humidity, pressure, and wind speed had better predictive effects with a lag of 19 days [the mean square errors (MSE) were 0.490, 0.333, 0.529, 0.325, respectively, and the mean absolute errors (MAE) were 0.491, 0.355, 0.531, 0.433, respectively]. The Granger causality test confirmed significant correlations between HFMD incidence and daily mean temperature, relative humidity, pressure, and wind speed (The F values were 5.660, 6.878, 4.330, 1.726, respectively, and all P  < 0.05). Conclusion Meteorological factors, particularly mean temperature, relative humidity, pressure, and wind speed, may significantly influence HFMD incidence in Ningbo. The Causal CNNs model provides relatively accurate predictions, supporting its potential for enhancing HFMD surveillance and informing targeted public health interventions.

Golf is a sophisticated sport that integrates precision, skillfulness, and strategic thinking, with swing techniques of different clubs exhibiting distinct biomechanical characteristics. This study aims to investigate the biomechanical characteristics of golfers' full swings with different clubs from kinematic and dynamics perspectives, thereby providing insights for optimizing full swing techniques. Ten low-handicap right-handed college male golfers were recruited, and their full swing parameters with the driver, 5-iron, and 7-iron (each club was successfully collected 10 times) were synchronously collected using a 250 Hz infrared motion capture system and a 1000 Hz three-dimensional force platform. A one-way ANOVA was conducted to compare biomechanical indicators during the swing motion across different clubs. There were significant kinematic differences between the driver and irons, yet smaller differences between 5-iron and 7-iron. As a whole, irons showed a faster peak time and a smaller angular velocity. The GRF of different clubs exhibited different dynamic characteristics at various swing moments, yet the dynamic regularity remained consistent throughout the full swing. During the downswing, the horizontal angular impulse of the driver was greater than irons, and the frontal angular impulse of the 5-iron was greater than that of both driver and 7-iron. The characteristics of the driver are slow - paced energy accumulation, delayed acceleration, and horizontal sweeping shots; the characteristics of the 5-iron are that the leading arm coordinates with the frontal angular impulse to optimize the shot trajectory; the characteristics of the 7-iron are compact transition and precise shots driven by the torso.

Plant heat stress transcription factors (Hsfs) are the critical components involved in mediating responses to various environmental stressors. However, the detailed roles of many plant Hsfs are far from fully understood. In this study, an Hsf (SlHsfA3) was isolated from the cultivated tomato (Solanum lycopersicum, Sl) and functionally characterized at the genetic and developmental levels. The nucleus-localized SlHsfA3 was basally and ubiquitously expressed in different plant organs. The expression of SlHsfA3 was induced dramatically by heat stress, moderately by high salinity, and slightly by drought, but was not induced by abscisic acid (ABA). The ectopic overexpression of SlHsfA3 conferred increased thermotolerance and late flowering phenotype to transgenic Arabidopsis plants. Moreover, SlHsfA3 played a negative role in controlling seed germination under salt stress. RNA-sequencing data demonstrated that a number of heat shock proteins (Hsps) and stress-associated genes were induced in Arabidopsis plants overexpressing SlHsfA3. A gel shift experiment and transient expression assays in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves demonstrated that SlHsfA3 directly activates the expression of SlHsp26.1-P and SlHsp21.5-ER. Taken together, our results suggest that SlHsfA3 behaves as a typical Hsf to contribute to plant thermotolerance. The late flowering and seed germination phenotypes and the RNA-seq data derived from SlHsfA3 overexpression lines lend more credence to the hypothesis that plant Hsfs participate in diverse physiological and biochemical processes related to adverse conditions.

Severe α1-antitrypsin deficiency caused by the Z variant (Glu342Lys; ZZ-AT) is a well-known genetic cause for emphysema. Although severe lack of antiproteinase protection is the critical etiologic factor for ZZ-AT-associated chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), some reports have suggested enhanced lung inflammation as a factor in ZZ-AT homozygotes. To provide molecular characterization of inflammation in ZZ-AT. Inflammatory cell and cytokine profile (nuclear factor-κB, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-α), intracellular polymerization of Z-AT, and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress markers (protein kinase RNA-like ER kinase, activator transcription factor 4) were assessed in transgenic mice and transfected cells in response to cigarette smoke, and in explanted lungs from ZZ and MM individuals with severe COPD. Compared with M-AT, transgenic Z-AT mice lungs exposed to cigarette smoke had higher levels of pulmonary cytokines, neutrophils, and macrophages and an exaggerated ER stress. Similarly, the ER overload response was greater in lungs from ZZ-AT homozygotes with COPD, and was particularly found in pulmonary epithelial cells. Cigarette smoke increased intracellular Z-AT polymers, ER overload response, and proinflammatory cytokine release in Z-AT-expressing pulmonary epithelial cells, which could be prevented with an inhibitor of polymerization, an antioxidant, and an inhibitor of protein kinase RNA-like ER kinase. We show here that aggregation of intracellular mutant Z-AT invokes a specific deleterious cellular inflammatory phenotype in COPD. Oxidant-induced intracellular polymerization of Z-AT in epithelial cells causes ER stress, and promotes excess cytokine and cellular inflammation. This pathway is likely to contribute to the development of COPD in ZZ-AT homozygotes, and therefore merits further investigation.

Nocardia species are ubiquitous in natural environments and can cause nocardiosis. Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole has long been the monotherapy treatment of choice, but resistance to this treatment has recently emerged. In this study, we used microplate Alamar Blue assays to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of 65 standard Nocardia isolates, including 28 type strains and 20 clinical Nocardia isolates, to 32 antimicrobial agents, including 13 little studied drugs. Susceptibility to the most commonly used drug, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, was observed in 98% of the isolates. Linezolid, meropenem, and amikacin were also highly effective, with 98%, 95%, and 90% susceptibility, respectively, among the isolates. The isolates showed a high percentage of resistance or nonsusceptibility to isoniazid, rifampicin, and ethambutol. For the remaining antimicrobials, resistance was species-specific among isolates and was observed in traditional drug pattern types. In addition, the antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of a variety of rarely encountered standard Nocardia species are reported, as are the results for rarely reported clinical antibiotics. We also provide a timely update of antimicrobial susceptibility patterns that includes three new drug pattern types. The data from this study provide information on antimicrobial activity against specific Nocardia species and yield important clues for the optimization of species-specific Nocardia therapies.

Malaria remains a significant public health concern in Africa, and the emerging coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may have negatively impacted malaria control. Here, we conducted a descriptive epidemiological analysis of malaria globally, and preliminarily explored the impact of COVID-19 on the malaria elimination program in regions of Africa (AFR). The present analysis found that there was a vast heterogeneity of incidence of deaths caused by malaria globally in different continents, and the highest malaria burden was observed in AFR. In 2020, there was an obviously increasing trend in the malaria epidemic in AFR, while the other four continents exhibited stable and declining patterns. Historically, malaria has been largely concentrated in high-malaria-burden regions, such as West Africa, and there has been an obvious increasing trend in Nigeria. These data suggest that dynamic changes in the malaria epidemic situation worldwide have primarily originated from AFR, and West Africa has played an important role in the global malaria increase in recent years. Under the coercion of COVID-19, multiple factors have co-driven the increase in malaria in AFR, including insufficient financial investments, a high native malaria burden, weak surveillance systems, limited medical resources, and low socioeconomic development levels. In addition, the shift of medical resources (e.g., health workers and personal protective equipment (PPE), the manufacturing of diagnostic reagents, and drugs) from malaria control to emergency COVID-19 response in the pandemic’s early stage caused disruptions, reductions, and delays in pillar malaria control measures, leading to a significant negative impact on malaria control. In particular, a funding shortfall at both the international and domestic levels led to a “significant threat,” resulting in vast gaps in access to proven malaria control tools. Although there has been a declining trend in malaria control over time due to COVID-19, the effect still cannot be ignored. Hence, we recommend the implementation of medical and technical resource assistance as a priority strategy to support Africa (West Africa) in order to curb further transmission.

Human brucellosis is a severe public health threat in Xinjiang; however, the epidemiological evolution and molecular correlation of strains are still unclear. In this study, join point regression analysis, spatiotemporal scan analysis, conventional biotyping approaches, and multiple locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) were applied to characterize the epidemiological landscape. A total of 78,689 cases were reported from 1957 to 2023. The average annual reported cases and incidence rates were 1174.46 and 5.28/100,000, respectively. Join point analysis revealed that disease incidence trends increased from 2004 (329, 1.77/100,000) to 2023 (9,334, 36.08/100,000) (AAPC = 17.26, P  = 0.00), and affected counties expanded from 21 in 2004 to 100 in 2023, implying that human brucellosis continues to worsen. In 2023, the incidence rates in most counties in southern Xinjiang were higher than 2.0/100,000, and human brucellosis has become endemic in southern Xinjiang. These data demonstrate that human brucellosis is continuously spreading and expanding in Xinjiang. High incidence rate of clusters was detected in North Xinjiang from 2013 to 2023, involving 54 counties. The substantial increase in ruminant farming has increased the risk of infection in humans. A total of 28 Brucella strains were isolated in patients, all B. melitensis bv. 3. MLVA revealed that the dominant genotypes consisted of strains from different areas, hosts, and years; strains from a common original continuously spread, small ruminant trade and transfer contributed to the spread of strains in adjacent regions. Therefore, strengthening surveillance and control of animal brucellosis is vital for preventing its further spread.