Uropathogenic Escherichia coli virulence characteristics and antimicrobial resistance amongst pediatric urinary tract infections.

Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) harbors virulence factors responsible for bacterial adhesion and invasion. In addition, the bacterium is accountable for the occurrence of pediatric urinary tract infections globally and is becoming problematic due to the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. The current research investigated UPEC prevalence, virulence characteristics, and antimicrobial resistance in pediatric urinary tract infection (UTI). 200 urine specimens were taken from hospitalized pediatric patients who suffered from UTIs. E. coli was recovered from urine specimens using the microbial culture. Disc diffusion method was used to assess antimicrobial resistance and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to assess the virulence factors distribution amongst the UPEC bacteria. Seventy-five out of 250 (30.00%) urine samples were positive for the UPEC bacteria. The UPEC prevalence amongst pediatric patients was 25.83% and 33.84%, respectively. UPEC bacteria harbored the maximum resistance toward gentamicin (45.33%), ampicillin (44.00%), and ciprofloxacin (40.00%). Cytotoxic necrotizing factor 1 (Cnf1) (53.33%) and pyelonephritis-associated pil (pap) (42.66%) were the most frequently identified virulence factors amongst the UPEC bacteria. The high prevalence of UPEC isolates harboring antimicrobial resistance and virulence factors suggest that diseases caused by them need more expansive healthcare monitoring with essential demand for novel antimicrobials.

Ten simple rules for improving communication among scientists.

Communication is a fundamental part of scientific development and methodology. With the advancement of the internet and social networks, communication has become rapid and sometimes overwhelming, especially in science. It is important to provide scientists with useful, effective, and dynamic tools to establish and build a fluid communication framework that allows for scientific advancement. Therefore, in this article, we present advice and recommendations that can help promote and improve science communication while respecting an adequate balance in the degree of commitment toward collaborative work. We have developed 10 rules shown in increasing order of commitment that are grouped into 3 key categories: (1) speak (based on active participation); (2) join (based on joining scientific groups); and (3) assess (based on the analysis and retrospective consideration of the weaknesses and strengths). We include examples and resources that provide actionable strategies for involvement and engagement with science communication, from basic steps to more advanced, introspective, and long-term commitments. Overall, we aim to help spread science from within and encourage and engage scientists to become involved in science communication effectively and dynamically.

Exploring a novel genomic safe-haven site in the human pathogenic mould Aspergillus fumigatus.

Aspergillus fumigatus is the most important airborne fungal pathogen and allergen of humans causing high morbidity and mortality worldwide. The factors that govern pathogenicity of this organism are multi-factorial and are poorly understood. Molecular tools to dissect the mechanisms of pathogenicity in A. fumigatus have improved significantly over the last 20 years however many procedures have not been standardised for A. fumigatus. Here, we present a new genomic safe-haven locus at the site of an inactivated transposon, named SH-aft4, which can be used to insert DNA sequences in the genome of this fungus without impacting its phenotype. We show that we are able to effectively express a transgene construct from the SH-aft4 and that natural regulation of promoter function is conserved at this site. Furthermore, the SH-aft4 locus is highly conserved in the genome of a wide range of clinical and environmental isolates including the isolates commonly used by many laboratories CEA10, Af293 and ATCC46645, allowing a wide range of isolates to be manipulated. Our results show that the aft4 locus can serve as a site for integration of a wide range of genetic constructs to aid functional genomics studies of this important human fungal pathogen.

Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats System of Genome Engineering in Embryos to Repair Genes.

CRISPR is a powerful gene editing tool for correcting disease-causing mutations. It is becoming more and more evident that CRISPR is a promising approach to treating human genetic diseases. The technologies for adding or removing genes have made significant advances over the past few years and have shown promising potential outcomes. In the current study, we mainly introduce the CRISPR/Cas system and there are several applications in the treatment of genetic diseases, particularly during embryo development.