Using cryoprobes of different sizes combined with cone-beam computed tomography-derived augmented fluoroscopy and endobronchial ultrasound to diagnose peripheral pulmonary lesions: a propensity-matched study.

BACKGROUND: Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) and cone-beam computed tomography-derived augmented fluoroscopy (CBCT-AF) are utilized for the diagnosis of peripheral pulmonary lesions (PPLs). Combining them with transbronchial cryobiopsy (TBC) can provide sufficient tissue for genetic analysis. However, cryoprobes of different sizes have varying degrees of flexibility, which can affect their ability to access the target bronchus and potentially impact the accuracy. The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic efficacy of cryoprobes of varying sizes in CBCT-AF and EBUS for the diagnosis of PPLs. METHODS: Patients who underwent endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial biopsy (EBUS-TBB) and TBC combined with CBCT-AF for PPLs diagnosis between January 2021 and May 2022 were included. Propensity score matching and competing-risks regression were utilized for data analysis. Primary outcome was the diagnostic accuracy of TBC. RESULTS: A total of 284 patients underwent TBC, with 172 using a 1.7-mm cryoprobe (1.7 group) and 112 using a 1.1-mm cryoprobe (1.1 group). Finally, we included 99 paired patients following propensity score matching. The diagnostic accuracy of TBC was higher in the 1.1 group (80.8% vs. 69.7%, P = 0.050), with a similar rate of complications. Subgroup analysis also revealed that the 1.1 group had better accuracy when PPLs were located in the upper lobe (85.2% vs. 66.1%, P = 0.020), when PPLs were smaller than 20 mm (78.8% vs. 48.8%, P = 0.008), and when intra-procedural CBCT was needed to be used (79.5% vs. 42.3%, P = 0.001). TBC obtained larger specimens than TBB in both groups. There is still a trend of larger sample size obtained in the 1.7 group, but there is no statistically different between our two study groups (40.8 mm2 vs. 22.0 mm2, P = 0.283). CONCLUSIONS: The combination of TBC with CBCT-AF and EBUS is effective in diagnosing PPLs, and a thin cryoprobe is preferred when the PPLs located in difficult areas.

TransEBUS: The interpretation of endobronchial ultrasound image using hybrid transformer for differentiating malignant and benign mediastinal lesions.

The purpose of this study is to establish a deep learning automatic assistance diagnosis system for benign and malignant classification of mediastinal lesions in endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) images. EBUS images are in the form of video and contain multiple imaging modes. Different imaging modes and different frames can reflect the different characteristics of lesions. Compared with previous studies, the proposed model can efficiently extract and integrate the spatiotemporal relationships between different modes and does not require manual selection of representative frames. In recent years, Vision Transformer has received much attention in the field of computer vision. Combined with convolutional neural networks, hybrid transformers can also perform well on small datasets. This study designed a novel deep learning architecture based on hybrid transformer called TransEBUS. By adding learnable parameters in the temporal dimension, TransEBUS was able to extract spatiotemporal features from insufficient data. In addition, we designed a two-stream module to integrate information from three different imaging modes of EBUS. Furthermore, we applied contrastive learning when training TransEBUS, enabling it to learn discriminative representation of benign and malignant mediastinal lesions. The results show that TransEBUS achieved a diagnostic accuracy of 82% and an area under the curve of 0.8812 in the test dataset, outperforming other methods. It also shows that several models can improve performance by incorporating two-stream module. Our proposed system has shown its potential to help physicians distinguishing benign and malignant mediastinal lesions, thereby ensuring the accuracy of EBUS examination.

Effects of colonization-associated gene yqiC on global transcriptome, cellular respiration, and oxidative stress in Salmonella Typhimurium.

BACKGROUND: yqiC is required for colonizing the Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) in human cells; however, how yqiC regulates nontyphoidal Salmonella (NTS) genes to influence bacteria-host interactions remains unclear. METHODS: The global transcriptomes of S. Typhimurium yqiC-deleted mutant (ΔyqiC) and its wild-type strain SL1344 after 2 h of in vitro infection with Caco-2 cells were obtained through RNA sequencing to conduct comparisons and identify major yqiC-regulated genes, particularly those involved in Salmonella pathogenicity islands (SPIs), ubiquinone and menaquinone biosynthesis, electron transportation chains (ETCs), and carbohydrate/energy metabolism. A Seahorse XFp Analyzer and assays of NADH/NAD+ and H2O2 were used to compare oxygen consumption and extracellular acidification, glycolysis parameters, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) generation, NADH/NAD+ ratios, and H2O2 production between ΔyqiC and SL1344. RESULTS: After S. Typhimurium interacts with Caco-2 cells, yqiC represses gene upregulation in aspartate carbamoyl transferase, type 1 fimbriae, and iron-sulfur assembly, and it is required for expressing ilvB operon, flagellin, tdcABCD, and dmsAB. Furthermore, yqiC is required for expressing mainly SPI-1 genes and specific SPI-4, SPI-5, and SPI-6 genes; however, it diversely regulates SPI-2 and SPI-3 gene expression. yqiC significantly contributes to menD expression in menaquinone biosynthesis. A Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis revealed the extensive association of yqiC with carbohydrate and energy metabolism. yqiC contributes to ATP generation, and the analyzer results demonstrate that yqiC is required for maintaining cellular respiration and metabolic potential under energy stress and for achieving glycolysis, glycolytic capacity, and glycolytic reserve. yqiC is also required for expressing ndh, cydA, nuoE, and sdhB but suppresses cyoC upregulation in the ETC of aerobically and anaerobically grown S. Typhimurium; priming with Caco-2 cells caused a reversed regulation of yiqC toward upregulation in these ETC complex genes. Furthermore, yqiC is required for maintaining NADH/NAD+ redox status and H2O2 production. CONCLUSIONS: Specific unreported genes that were considerably regulated by the colonization-associated gene yqiC in NTS were identified, and the key role and tentative mechanisms of yqiC in the extensive modulation of virulence factors, SPIs, ubiquinone and menaquinone biosynthesis, ETCs, glycolysis, and oxidative stress were discovered.

ICTV Virus Taxonomy Profile: Retroviridae 2021.

Viruses in the family Retroviridae are found in a wide variety of vertebrate hosts. Enveloped virions are 80-100 nm in diameter with an inner core containing the viral genome and replicative enzymes. Core morphology is often characteristic for viruses within the same genus. Replication involves reverse transcription and integration into host cell DNA, resulting in a provirus. Integration into germline cells can result in a heritable provirus known as an endogenous retrovirus. This is a summary of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) Report on the family Retroviridae, which is available at ictv.global/report/retroviridae.

Rapid on-site cytologic evaluation by pulmonologist improved diagnostic accuracy of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial biopsy.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Rapid on-site cytologic evaluation (ROSE) has been shown to improve the diagnostic accuracy of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial biopsy (EBUS-TBB). However, ROSE by a cytopathologist or cytotechnologist is not always available during the procedure. The purposes of this study were to verify that a pulmonologist, after receiving training in cytology, could accurately assess an EBUS-TBB specimen on-site, and to evaluate the contribution of ROSE to EBUS-TBB. METHODS: A retrospective chart review of patients who underwent EBUS-TBB for diagnosis of peripheral pulmonary lesions (PPLs) from January 2014 to June 2017 was performed. PPLs without a malignant diagnosis were excluded. The ROSE result determined by a pulmonologist was compared to the formal imprint cytologic report and pathologic report. The diagnostic accuracy of EBUS-TBB was also compared between those with and without ROSE. RESULTS: Two hundred ninety-three patients who underwent 336 EBUS-TBB procedures for PPL diagnosis and were found to have proven malignancy were enrolled. Eighty-six procedures were performed with ROSE. With the formal imprint cytologic diagnosis as the standard, ROSE had 96.9% sensitivity, 68.2% specificity, 89.9% positive predictive value (PPV), 88.2% negative predictive value (NPV), and 89.5% diagnostic accuracy. With the formal pathologic result as the standard, ROSE had 88.2% sensitivity, 80% specificity, 97.1% PPV, 47.1% NPV, and 87.2% diagnostic accuracy, respectively. The diagnostic accuracy was significantly higher when ROSE was performed during EBUS-TBB (88.4% vs 68.0%, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: A trained pulmonologist can interpret adequately cytologic smears on-site and effectively improve the accuracy of EBUS-TBB in the diagnosis of PPLs.

Differentiating malignant and benign lymph nodes using endobronchial ultrasound elastography.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) elastography is a new technique that provides information on tissue compressibility during endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA). The purposes of this study were to evaluate the utility of EBUS elastography in differentiating malignant and benign mediastinal lymph nodes (LNs) and to explore the factors that influence its accuracy. METHODS: A retrospective chart review of patients who underwent EBUS-TBNA from October 2016 to July 2017 was performed. EBUS with conventional B-mode features and elastographic patterns were compared with the final pathology results or clinical follow-up. We used the following EBUS elastographic patterns for classification: type 1, predominantly non-blue (green, yellow and red); type 2, part blue, part non-blue; type 3, predominantly blue. The potential impacts of the characteristics of LNs, the underlying lung diseases and obtaining fibrotic components from EBUS-TBNA specimens were evaluated relative to the accuracy of EBUS elastography. RESULTS: A total of 206 LNs from 94 patients were retrospectively evaluated. In classifying type 1 as 'benign' and type 3 as 'malignant,' the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and diagnostic accuracy rate were 90.6, 82.6, 71.6, 94.7 and 85.2%, respectively. The EBUS elastographic patterns had higher diagnostic yields and negative predictive values than conventional B-mode features. Logistic regression analysis revealed that central necrosis was a factor that influenced the accuracy of elastography in malignant LNs. The fibrotic component within benign LNs could cause an incorrect elastographic pattern. CONCLUSION: EBUS elastography is a valuable tool in discriminating benign and malignant mediastinal LNs.

Nomenclature for endogenous retrovirus (ERV) loci.

Retroviral integration into germline DNA can result in the formation of a vertically inherited proviral sequence called an endogenous retrovirus (ERV). Over the course of their evolution, vertebrate genomes have accumulated many thousands of ERV loci. These sequences provide useful retrospective information about ancient retroviruses, and have also played an important role in shaping the evolution of vertebrate genomes. There is an immediate need for a unified system of nomenclature for ERV loci, not only to assist genome annotation, but also to facilitate research on ERVs and their impact on genome biology and evolution. In this review, we examine how ERV nomenclatures have developed, and consider the possibilities for the implementation of a systematic approach for naming ERV loci. We propose that such a nomenclature should not only provide unique identifiers for individual loci, but also denote orthologous relationships between ERVs in different species. In addition, we propose that-where possible-mnemonic links to previous, well-established names for ERV loci and groups should be retained. We show how this approach can be applied and integrated into existing taxonomic and nomenclature schemes for retroviruses, ERVs and transposable elements.

Conformational Changes in the 5' End of the HIV-1 Genome Dependent on the Debranching Enzyme DBR1 during Early Stages of Infection.

Previous studies in our laboratory showed that the RNA debranching enzyme (DBR1) is not required for early steps in HIV cDNA formation but is necessary for synthesis of intermediate and late cDNA products. To further characterize this effect, we evaluated the topology of the 5' end of the HIV-1 RNA genome during early infection with and without inhibition of DBR1 synthesis. Cells were transfected with DBR1 short hairpin RNA (shRNA) followed 48 h later by infection with an HIV-1-derived vector containing an RNase H-deficient reverse transcriptase (RT). RNA was isolated at several times postinfection and treated with various RNA-modifying enzymes prior to rapid amplification of 5' cDNA ends (5' RACE) for HIV-1 RNA and quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR (qRT-PCR). In infected cells, DBR1 knockdown inhibited detection of free HIV-1 RNA 5' ends at all time points. The difference in detection of free HIV-1 RNA 5' ends in infected DBR1 knockdown versus control cells was eliminated by in vitro incubation of infected cell RNAs with yeast or human DBR1 enzyme prior to 5' RACE and qRT-PCR. This was dependent on the 2'-5' phosphatase activity of DBR1, since it did not occur when we used the catalytically inactive DBR1(N85A) mutant. Finally, HIV-1 RNA from infected DBR1 knockdown cells was resistant to RNase R that degrades linear RNAs but not RNAs in circular or lariat-like conformations. These results provide evidence for formation of a lariat-like structure involving the 5' end of HIV-1 RNA during an early step in infection and the involvement of DBR1 in resolving it.IMPORTANCE Our findings support a new view of the early steps in HIV genome replication. We show that the HIV genomic RNA is rapidly decapped and forms a lariat-like structure after entering a cell. The lariat-like structure is subsequently resolved by the cellular enzyme DBR1, leaving a 5' phosphate. This pathway is similar to the formation and resolution of pre-mRNA intron lariats and therefore suggests that similar mechanisms may be used by HIV. Our work therefore opens a new area of investigation in HIV replication and may ultimately uncover new targets for inhibiting HIV replication and for preventing the development of AIDS.

Complex Dynamics of Virus Spread from Low Infection Multiplicities: Implications for the Spread of Oncolytic Viruses.

While virus growth dynamics have been well-characterized in several infections, data are typically collected once the virus population becomes easily detectable. Earlier dynamics, however, remain less understood. We recently reported unusual early dynamics in an experimental system using adenovirus infection of human embryonic kidney (293) cells. Under identical experimental conditions, inoculation at low infection multiplicities resulted in either robust spread, or in limited spread that eventually stalled, with both outcomes occurring with approximately equal frequencies. The reasons underlying these observations have not been understood. Here, we present further experimental data showing that inhibition of interferon-induced antiviral states in cells results in a significant increase in the percentage of robust infections that are observed, implicating a race between virus replication and the spread of the anti-viral state as a central mechanism. Analysis of a variety of computational models, however, reveals that this alone cannot explain the simultaneous occurrence of both viral growth outcomes under identical conditions, and that additional biological mechanisms have to be invoked to explain the data. One such mechanism is the ability of the virus to overcome the antiviral state through multiple infection of cells. If this is included in the model, two outcomes of viral spread are found to be simultaneously stable, depending on initial conditions. In stochastic versions of such models, the system can go by chance to either state from identical initial conditions, with the relative frequency of the outcomes depending on the strength of the interferon-based anti-viral response, consistent with the experiments. This demonstrates considerable complexity during the early phase of the infection that can influence the ability of a virus to become successfully established. Implications for the initial dynamics of oncolytic virus spread through tumors are discussed.

Role for a Zinc Finger Protein (Zfp111) in Transformation of 208F Rat Fibroblasts by Jaagsiekte Sheep Retrovirus Envelope Protein.

UNLABELLED: The native envelope gene (env) of Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus (JSRV) also acts as an oncogene. To investigate the mechanism of transformation, we performed yeast 2-hybrid screening for cellular proteins that interact with Env. Among several candidates, we identified mouse or rat zinc finger protein 111 (zfp111). The interaction between Env and Zfp111 was confirmed through in vivo coimmunoprecipitation assays. Knockdown of endogenous Zfp111 caused a decrease in cell transformation by JSRV Env, while overexpression of Zfp111 increased overall Env transformation, supporting a role for Zfp111 in Env transformation. Knockdown of Zfp111 had no effect on the growth rate of parental rat 208F cells, while it decreased the proliferation rate of JSRV-transformed 208F cells, suggesting that JSRV-transformed cells became dependent on Zfp111. In addition, Zfp111 preferentially bound to a higher-mobility form of JSRV Env that has not been described previously. The higher-mobility form of Env (P70(env)) was found exclusively in the nuclear fraction, and size of its polypeptide backbone was the same as that of the cytoplasmic Env polyprotein (Pr80(env)). The differences in glycosylation between the two versions of Env were characterized. These results identify a novel cellular protein, Zfp111, that binds to the JSRV Env protein, and this binding plays a role in Env transformation. These results indicate that JSRV transformation also involves proteins and interactions in the nucleus. IMPORTANCE: The envelope protein (Env) of Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus (JSRV) is an oncogene, but its mechanism of cell transformation is still unclear. Here we identified seven candidate cellular proteins that can interact with JSRV Env by yeast two-hybrid screening. This study focused on one of the seven candidates, zinc finger protein 111 (Zfp111). Zfp111 was shown to interact with JSRV Env in cells and to be involved in JSRV transformation. Moreover, coexpression of JSRV Env and Zfp111 led to the identification of a novel nuclear form of the JSRV Env protein that binds Zfp111. Nuclear Env was found to differ by glycosylation from the cytoplasmic Env precursor to the virion envelope proteins. These results suggest that JSRV Env transformation may involve nuclear events such as an alteration in transcription mediated by Env-Zfp111 interactions.

Murine leukemia virus glycosylated Gag blocks apolipoprotein B editing complex 3 and cytosolic sensor access to the reverse transcription complex.

Pathogenic retroviruses have evolved multiple means for evading host restriction factors such as apolipoprotein B editing complex (APOBEC3) proteins. Here, we show that murine leukemia virus (MLV) has a unique means of counteracting APOBEC3 and other cytosolic sensors of viral nucleic acid. Using virus isolated from infected WT and APOBEC3 KO mice, we demonstrate that the MLV glycosylated Gag protein (glyco-Gag) enhances viral core stability. Moreover, in vitro endogenous reverse transcription reactions of the glyco-Gag mutant virus were substantially inhibited compared with WT virus, but only in the presence of APOBEC3. Thus, glyco-Gag rendered the reverse transcription complex in the viral core resistant to APOBEC3. Glyco-Gag in the virion also rendered MLV resistant to other cytosolic sensors of viral reverse transcription products in newly infected cells. Strikingly, glyco-Gag mutant virus reverted to glyco-Gag-containing virus only in WT and not APOBEC3 KO mice, indicating that counteracting APOBEC3 is the major function of glyco-Gag. Thus, in contrast to the HIV viral infectivity factor protein, which prevents APOBEC3 packaging in the virion, the MLV glyco-Gag protein uses a unique mechanism to counteract the antiviral action of APOBEC3 in vivo--namely, protecting the reverse transcription complex in viral cores from APOBEC3. These data suggest that capsid integrity may play a critical role in virus resistance to intrinsic cellular antiviral resistance factors that act at the early stages of infection.

Targeting of the MNK-eIF4E axis in blast crisis chronic myeloid leukemia inhibits leukemia stem cell function.

Chronic myeloid leukemia responds well to therapy targeting the oncogenic fusion protein BCR-ABL1 in chronic phase, but is resistant to treatment after it progresses to blast crisis (BC). BC is characterized by elevated ß-catenin signaling in granulocyte macrophage progenitors (GMPs), which enables this population to function as leukemia stem cells (LSCs) and act as a reservoir for resistance. Because normal hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and LSCs depend on ß-catenin signaling for self-renewal, strategies to specifically target BC will require identification of drugable factors capable of distinguishing between self-renewal in BC LSCs and normal HSCs. Here, we show that the MAP kinase interacting serine/threonine kinase (MNK)-eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) axis is overexpressed in BC GMPs but not normal HSCs, and that MNK kinase-dependent eIF4E phosphorylation at serine 209 activates ß-catenin signaling in BC GMPs. Mechanistically, eIF4E overexpression and phosphorylation leads to increased ß-catenin protein synthesis, whereas MNK-dependent eIF4E phosphorylation is required for nuclear translocation and activation of ß-catenin. Accordingly, we found that a panel of small molecule MNK kinase inhibitors prevented eIF4E phosphorylation, ß-catenin activation, and BC LSC function in vitro and in vivo. Our findings identify the MNK-eIF4E axis as a specific and critical regulator of BC self-renewal, and suggest that pharmacologic inhibition of the MNK kinases may be therapeutically useful in BC chronic myeloid leukemia.

Human and murine APOBEC3s restrict replication of koala retrovirus by different mechanisms.

BACKGROUND: Koala retrovirus (KoRV) is an endogenous and exogenous retrovirus of koalas that may cause lymphoma. As for many other gammaretroviruses, the KoRV genome can potentially encode an alternate form of Gag protein, glyco-gag. RESULTS: In this study, a convenient assay for assessing KoRV infectivity in vitro was employed: the use of DERSE cells (initially developed to search for infectious xenotropic murine leukemia-like viruses). Using infection of DERSE and other human cell lines (HEK293T), no evidence for expression of glyco-gag by KoRV was found, either in expression of glyco-gag protein or changes in infectivity when the putative glyco-gag reading frame was mutated. Since glyco-gag mediates resistance of Moloney murine leukemia virus to the restriction factor APOBEC3, the sensitivity of KoRV (wt or putatively mutant for glyco-gag) to restriction by murine (mA3) or human APOBEC3s was investigated. Both mA3 and hA3G potently inhibited KoRV infectivity. Interestingly, hA3G restriction was accompanied by extensive G → A hypermutation during reverse transcription while mA3 restriction was not. Glyco-gag status did not affect the results. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that the mechanisms of APOBEC3 restriction of KoRV by hA3G and mA3 differ (deamination dependent vs. independent) and glyco-gag does not play a role in the restriction.

Low carrier density epitaxial graphene devices on SiC.

The transport characteristics of graphene devices with low n- or p-type carrier density (∼10(10) -10(11) cm(-2) ), fabricated using a new process that results in minimal organic surface residues, are reported. The p-type molecular doping responsible for the low carrier densities is initiated by aqua regia. The resulting devices exhibit highly developed ν = 2 quantized Hall resistance plateaus at magnetic field strengths of less than 4 T.

Impairment of HIV-1 cDNA synthesis by DBR1 knockdown.

UNLABELLED: Previous studies showed that short hairpin RNA (shRNA) knockdown of the RNA lariat debranching enzyme (DBR1) led to a decrease in the production of HIV-1 cDNA. To further characterize this effect, DBR1 shRNA was introduced into GHOST-R5X4 cells, followed by infection at a multiplicity near unity with HIV-1 or an HIV-1-derived vector. DNA and RNA were isolated from whole cells and from cytoplasmic and nuclear fractions at different times postinfection. Inhibition of DBR1 had little or no effect on the formation of minus-strand strong-stop cDNA but caused a significant reduction in the formation of intermediate and full-length cDNA. Moreover, minus-strand strong-stop DNA rapidly accumulated in the cytoplasm in the first 2 h of infection but shifted to the nuclear fraction by 6 h postinfection. Regardless of DBR1 inhibition, greater than 95% of intermediate-length and full-length HIV-1 cDNA was found in the nuclear fraction at all time points. Thus, under these experimental conditions, HIV-1 cDNA synthesis was initiated in the cytoplasm and completed in the nucleus or perinuclear region of the infected cell. When nuclear import of the HIV-1 reverse transcription complex was blocked by expressing a truncated form of the mRNA cleavage and polyadenylation factor CPSF6, the completion of HIV-1 vector cDNA synthesis was detected in the cytoplasm, where it was not inhibited by DBR1 knockdown. Refinement of the cell fractionation procedure indicated that the completion of reverse transcription occurred both within nuclei and in the perinuclear region. Taken together the results indicate that in infections at a multiplicity near 1, HIV-1 reverse transcription is completed in the nucleus or perinuclear region of the infected cell, where it is dependent on DBR1. When nuclear transport is inhibited, reverse transcription is completed in the cytoplasm in a DBR1-independent manner. Thus, there are at least two mechanisms of HIV-1 reverse transcription that require different factors and occur in different intracellular locations. IMPORTANCE: This study shows that HIV-1 reverse transcription starts in the cytoplasm but is completed in or on the surface of the nucleus. Moreover, we show that nuclear reverse transcription is dependent on the activity of the human RNA lariat debranchng enzyme (DBR1), while cytoplasmic reverse transcription is not. These findings may provide new avenues for inhibiting HIV-1 replication and therefore may lead to new medicines for treating HIV-1-infected individuals.

Localization and electron-electron interactions in few-layer epitaxial graphene.

This paper presents a study of the quantum corrections caused by electron-electron interactions and localization to the conductivity in few-layer epitaxial graphene, in which the carriers responsible for transport are massive. The results demonstrate that the diffusive model, which can generally provide good insights into the magnetotransport of two-dimensional systems in conventional semiconductor structures, is applicable to few-layer epitaxial graphene when the unique properties of graphene on the substrate, such as intervalley scattering, are taken into account. It is suggested that magnetic-field-dependent electron-electron interactions and Kondo physics are required for obtaining a thorough understanding of magnetotransport in few-layer epitaxial graphene.

Cryptosporidium-induced acute kidney injury in a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

Cryptosporidium is a pathogen that can cause infectious enteritis especially in immunocompromised patients. Acute kidney injury, electrolyte imbalance, and acid-base disorders may occur as a result of high volumes of intestinal fluid loss, which has not been previously reported to be a common manifestation of cryptosporidiosis. Numerous antigen detection methods can be used to ensure early diagnosis of Cryptosporidium infection, which is crucial to prevent morbidities. We report a unique case of cryptosporidiosis in a 33-year-old male patient with acute kidney injury and profound hypokalemia, hyponatremia, hypocalcemia, hypophosphatemia, hypomagnesemia, and metabolic acidosis. Following the initiation of antiretroviral therapy to human immunodeficiency virus, the patient's symptoms improved and he recovered fully from kidney injury and electrolyte imbalance, highlighting the importance of early antiretroviral therapy.