Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) is an important foodborne pathogen that can cause hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic-uremic syndrome. Cattle are the primary reservoir for STEC, and food or water contaminated with cattle feces is the most common source of infections in humans. Consequently, we conducted a cross-sectional study of 1,096 cattle in six dairy herds (n ‫؍‬ 718 animals) and five beef herds (n ‫؍‬ 378 animals) in the summers of 2011 and 2012 to identify epidemiological factors associated with shedding. Fecal samples were obtained from each animal and cultured for STEC. Multivariate analyses were performed to identify risk factors associated with STEC positivity. The prevalence of STEC was higher in beef cattle (21%) than dairy cattle (13%) (odds ratio [OR], 1.76; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.25, 2.47), with considerable variation occurring across herds (range, 6% to 54%). Dairy cattle were significantly more likely to shed STEC when the average temperature was >28.9°C 1 to 5 days prior to sampling (OR, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.25, 4.91), during their first lactation (OR, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.1, 2.8), and when they were <30 days in milk (OR, 3.9; 95% CI, 2.1, 7.2). These data suggest that the stress or the negative energy balance associated with lactation may result in increased STEC shedding frequencies in Michigan during the warm summer months. Future prevention strategies aimed at reducing stress during lactation or isolating high-risk animals could be implemented to reduce herdlevel shedding levels and avoid transmission of STEC to susceptible animals and people. IMPORTANCE STEC shedding frequencies vary considerably across cattle herds in Michigan, and the shedding frequency of strains belonging to non-O157 serotypes far exceeds the shedding frequency of O157 strains, which is congruent with human infections in the state. Dairy cattle sampled at higher temperatures, in their first lactation, and early in the milk production stage were significantly more likely to shed STEC, which could be due to stress or a negative energy balance. Future studies should focus on the isolation of high-risk animals to decrease herd shedding levels and the potential for contamination of the food supply. Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) is an important foodborne pathogen in both developed and developing countries. STEC can cause hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS), which can lead to kidney failure and death, particularly in young children (1). STEC strains belonging to serotype O157:H7 have been reported to cause human infections at the highest frequency, although there has been a steady increase in the detection of cases caused by STEC serotypes other than O157 (non-O157 STEC) (2-4). This increase is due in part to changes in laboratory diagnostic practices targeting non-O157 STEC (5). The incidence of non-O157 STEC infections in the United States increased from 0.12 per 100,000 population in 2000 to 0.95 per 100,000 in 2010, while the incidence of STEC O157 infections decreased...

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Ensuing protein malnutrition in developing countries, an affordable protein food source needs to be distinguished. Fabaceae family accommodate moth bean (Vigna aconitifolia L.) as its one of the important members that ascertains exceptional nutritional composition. Moth bean is a drought-tolerant food legume of the tropics. Seeds of moth bean serve abundant food protein source besides carbohydrate, fatty acids, minerals and vitamins. Additionally, the level of antioxidant and polyphenol contents in moth bean seeds are substantial. Moth bean legume has several health benefits capable of preventing cardiac diseases, diabetes and obesity to humans, if consumed regularly. This review address nutritional bioavailability and associated health benefits in the seeds of moth bean.

Background: The current standard of genomic profiling of cancer tissues relies upon multiple separate technologies to aid in tumor characterization. Here we describe an NGS panel and analysis workflow for cancer samples that can detect single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), insertions and deletions (INDEL), somatic copy number alterations (SCNAs), and translocations (TLs), Tumor Mutation Burden (TMB) and Microsatellite Instability (MSI) in a single assay. Methods: We have developed a SureSelect target enrichment sequencing panels for comprehensive profiling of single nucleotide variations (SNP/INDEL), gene copy number variations (CNV), and DNA translocations (TL) and relevant microsatellite regions in a single assay. The TMB panel gene list was curated based on genes found in cancer gene databases such as Clinical Interpretations of Variants in Cancer (CIViC), Cancer Genome Interpreter (CGIdb), Catalog of Somatic Mutations in Cancer Census (COSMIC), Precision Oncology Knowledge Base (OncoKB). An accompanying data analysis pipeline will provide highly sensitive and accurate detection of variants and allows for the determination TMB and MSI status. Probes have been selected for over 500 genes to detect SCNAs and translocation in several cancer subtypes. The probes are optimized with the SureSelect XTHS protocol, which enables sensitive and accurate detection of rare mutation events within a heterogeneous sample with molecular barcode-mediated error correction. The SCNAs probes target regions in the genome that help in decreasing the noise for SCNAs calling. The data analysis utilizes either a matched normal or standard control DNA to compute read depth log ratios. Aberrant regions of constant ploidy are first identified followed by the application of a variational streaming algorithm on log ratio and SNP allele frequencies to determine the major clones present in the tumor. Translocation detection was verified on lung cancer samples by analyzing split reads across the fusion breakpoints. Results: By diluting samples with known copy-number aberrations into normal DNA, a limit of detection of ⇐2.3 copies/cell was demonstrated, equivalent to the detection of 3 copies at 30% tumor fraction. A similar approach demonstrated an ability to detect EML4-ALK and SLC24A2-ROS1 translocations at 3% allele frequency. Performance of the assay was further evaluated using 100+ FFPE samples harboring rearrangements, gene amplifications, and SNP/Indels. Concordance to the reference methods (FISH, WES, WGS) was &gt;90%. TMB and MSI algorithms were benchmarked using in silico analysis of TCGA data and performance of the assay was evaluated on FFPE samples with orthogonally-determined MSI/TMB status. Conclusions: This work represents an important advancement in the development of a single assay to detect copy number variation, DNA rearrangement and mutations, TMB and MSI status of a FFPE sample. Citation Format: Arjun Vadapalli, Akanksha Khare, Hanjun Shin, Ashutosh Ashutosh, Linus Forsmark, Anne Lucas, Scott Happe, Gilbert Amparo, Carlos Pabon, Jayati Ghosh, Tracy Liu, Jimmy Jin, Mike Ruvolo, Douglas Roberts. SureSelect sequencing panels and algorithms to detect copy number variations (CNVs), DNA rearrangements, microsatellite Instability and tumor mutational burden (TMB) in FFPE specimens [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 184.

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