Dental caries is one of the most common diseases worldwide. Bacteria and fungi are both commensals in the oral cavity; however, most research regarding caries has focused on bacterial impacts. The oral fungal mycobiome associated with caries is not well characterized, and its role in disease is unclear. ITS1 amplicon sequencing was used to generate taxonomic profiles from site-specific supragingival plaque samples (n = 82) obtained from 33 children with different caries status. Children were either caries free (CF), caries active with enamel lesions (CAE), or caries active with dentin lesions (CA). Plaque samples were collected from caries-free surfaces (PF) and from enamel (PE) and dentin (PD) lesions. Taxonomic profiles representing the different categorizations (CF-PF, CAE-PF, CAE-PE, CA-PF, CA-PE, and CA-PD) were used to characterize the mycobiome and its change through disease progression. A total of 139 fungal species were identified. Candida albicans was the most abundant species, followed by Candida dubliniensis. We found that severely progressed plaque communities (CA-PD) were significantly different from healthy plaque communities (CF-PF). A total of 32 taxa were differentially abundant across the plaque categories. C. albicans, C. dubliniensis, Nigrospora oryzae, and an unclassified Microdochium sp. were correlated with caries, whereas 12 other taxa were correlated with health. C. dubliniensis increased steadily as caries progressed, suggesting that C. dubliniensis may play an important role in caries pathogenicity. In contrast, four health-associated fungal taxa have the potential to antagonize the cariogen Streptococcus mutans via xylitol production, suggesting a possible fungal mechanism that could contribute to maintenance of dental health. IMPORTANCE Early-childhood caries is one of the most prevalent diseases in children worldwide and, while preventable, remains a global public health concern. Untreated cavities are painful and expensive and can lead to tooth loss and a lower quality of life. Caries are driven by acid production via microbial fermentation of dietary carbohydrates, resulting in enamel erosion. While caries is a well-studied disease, most research has focused on bacterial impacts, even though fungi are commensal organisms living within the plaque biofilm. There is very little known about how fungi impact caries pathogenicity. The elucidation of fungal taxa involved in caries disease progression is necessary for a more holistic view of the human oral microbiome. Data from this study will improve our understanding of how the fungal community changes as disease progresses and provide insight into the complex etiology of dental caries, which is necessary for the development of treatment plans and preventative measures.

Background This study seeks to understand better the mechanisms underlying the increased risk of caries in HIV-infected school-aged Nigerian children by examining the relationship between the plaque microbiome and perinatal HIV infection and exposure. We also seek to investigate how perinatal HIV infection and exposure impact tooth-specific microbiomes' role on caries disease progression. Methods The participants in this study were children aged 4 to 11 years recruited from the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Nigeria, between May to November 2019. Overall, 568 children were enrolled in three groups: 189 HIV-infected (HI), 189 HIV-exposed but uninfected (HEU) and 190 HIV-unexposed and uninfected (HUU) as controls at visit 1 with a 2.99% and 4.90% attrition rate at visit 2 and visit 3 respectively. Data were obtained with standardized questionnaires. Blood samples were collected for HIV, HBV and HCV screening; CD4, CD8 and full blood count analysis; and plasma samples stored for future investigations; oral samples including saliva, buccal swabs, oropharyngeal swab, tongue swab, dental plaque were collected aseptically from participants at different study visits. Conclusions Results from the study will provide critical information on how HIV exposure, infection, and treatment, influence the oral microbiome and caries susceptibility in children. By determining the effect on community taxonomic structure and gene expression of dental microbiomes, we will elucidate mechanisms that potentially create a predisposition for developing dental caries. As future plans, the relationship between respiratory tract infections, immune and inflammatory markers with dental caries in perinatal HIV infection and exposure will be investigated.

Viollet-le-Duc earned a privileged place in the annals of modern architecture by elaborating a general theory that could respond flexibly to a variety of local traditions, cultural practices, and material resources. In 1877 he undertook to test this theory by applying it to an unfamiliar case-the architecture of Russia. The first study of its type to appear in the West, L'Art russe chronicled Russia's architectural past and predicted its future. The book touched a nationalist nerve in the Russian audience and engendered a heated debate in Russia about the nation's ethnic identity and architectural destiny. Analysis of the text and its critical reception will demonstrate the political timeliness of Viollet-le-Duc's argument for the eminent rationality of allowing national traditions, tastes, and resources to inspire the architect's design choices.

BackgroundSimilar to natural rivers, manmade inlets connect inland runoff to the ocean. Port Everglades Inlet (PEI) is a busy cargo and cruise ship port in South Florida, which can act as a source of pollution to surrounding beaches and offshore coral reefs. Understanding the composition and fluctuations of bacterioplankton communities (“microbiomes”) in major port inlets is important due to potential impacts on surrounding environments. We hypothesize seasonal microbial fluctuations, which were profiled by high throughput 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and analysis.Methods & ResultsSurface water samples were collected every week for one year. A total of four samples per month, two from each sampling location, were used for statistical analysis creating a high sampling frequency and finer sampling scale than previous inlet microbiome studies. We observed significant differences in community alpha diversity between months and seasons. Analysis of composition of microbiomes (ANCOM) tests were run in QIIME 2 at genus level taxonomic classification to determine which genera were differentially abundant between seasons and months. Beta diversity results yielded significant differences in PEI community composition in regard to month, season, water temperature, and salinity. Analysis of potentially pathogenic genera showed presence of Staphylococcus and Streptococcus. However, statistical analysis indicated that these organisms were not present in significantly high abundances throughout the year or between seasons.DiscussionSignificant differences in alpha diversity were observed when comparing microbial communities with respect to time. This observation stems from the high community evenness and low community richness in August. This indicates that only a few organisms dominated the community during this month. August had lower than average rainfall levels for a wet season, which may have contributed to less runoff, and fewer bacterial groups introduced into the port surface waters. Bacterioplankton beta diversity differed significantly by month, season, water temperature, and salinity. The 2013–2014 dry season (October–April), was warmer and wetter than historical averages. This may have driven significant differences in beta diversity. Increased nitrogen and phosphorous concentrations were observed in these dry season months, possibly creating favorable bacterial growth conditions. Potentially pathogenic genera were present in the PEI. However their relatively low, non-significant abundance levels highlight their relatively low risk for public health concerns. This study represents the first to sample a large port at this sampling scale and sequencing depth. These data can help establish the inlet microbial community baseline and supplement the vital monitoring of local marine and recreational environments, all the more poignant in context of local reef disease outbreaks and worldwide coral reef collapse in wake of a harsh 2014–16 El Niño event.

The microbiota associated with the initiation and progression of dental caries has yet to be fully characterized. Although much insight has been gained from 16S rRNA hypervariable region DNA sequencing, this approach has several limitations, including poor taxonomic resolution at the species level.

Appended to a medieval Parisian church in the sixteenth century and stranded by revolutionary destruction, the Gothic Tour Saint-Jacques figures prominently in the city's nineteenth- and twentieth-century architectural imagination. This study of the modern afterlives of an emblematic monument, featured in the projects of Haussmann, Le Corbusier, and the surrealists, uses the lens of "perceptual history," or a plotting of the ways in which the site has been read and inhabited over time, to argue that successive representations of a city fabric have a transformative effect on the lived reality of that fabric. To anchor this rumination within a larger speculation on the how and why of heritage making, we focus as well on the tower's emergent patrimonial status, consolidated by the physical fixes of repeated restoration and the fixing of its image by graphic and photographic representation. The traumas of the tower's particular semantic journey offer compelling evidence of the availability of symbolic redefinition as a viable and even necessary option for historic architectures under pressure in our inherited city centers. Repeatedly spared by its own mutability, the Tour Saint-Jacques would now appear inviolate, embraced as a trace of an unrecoverable past, a contact zone between contemporary Parisians and their forebears.

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Similar to natural rivers, manmade inlets connect inland runoff to the ocean. Port Everglades Inlet (PEI) is a busy cargo and cruise ship port in South Florida, which can act as a source of pollution and nutrients to surrounding beaches and offshore coral reefs.Understanding the composition and fluctuations of bacterioplankton communities ("microbiomes") in major port inlets is important due to their impacts on surrounding marine environments. We hypothesize annual microbial fluctuations based on seasons (wet vs dry), assessed by high throughput 16S rRNA amplicon library sequencing. Surface water samples were collected weekly for one year, creating a high sampling frequency and fine sampling scale. Over 1.4 million 16S rRNA V4 reads generated a total of 16,384 Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) from the PEI habitat. We observed Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria as the most dominant phyla. Analysis of potentially pathogenic genera show the presence of Staphylococcus and Bacillus, albeit at lower relative abundances during peak shipping and tourist months (November -April), thus underscoring their relatively low presence. Statistical analyses indicated significant alpha diversity differences when comparing microbial communities with respect to time.This observation probably stems from the low community richness and abundance in August, which had lower than average rainfall levels for Florida's wet season. The lower rainfall levels may have contributed to less runoff, and subsequently fewer bacterial groups being introduced into the port surface waters. Bacterioplankton beta diversity differed significantly by month and season. The 2013-2014 dry season (October-April), was warmer and wetter than historical averages, which may have driven the significant differences in beta diversity. Increased nitrogen and phosphorous concentrations were also observed in these months, possibly creating favorable bacterial growth conditions. To our knowledge, this study represents the first to sample a large port at this fine sampling 37 Analysis of potentially pathogenic genera show the presence of Staphylococcus and Bacillus, 38 albeit at lower relative abundances during peak shipping and tourist months (November -April), 39 thus underscoring their relatively low risk for public health concerns.40 Discussion. Statistical analyses indicated significant alpha diversity differences when comparing 41 microbial communities with respect to time. This observation probably stems from the low 42 community richness and abundance in August, which had lower than average rainfall levels for 43 Florida's wet season. The lower rainfall levels may have contributed to less runoff, and 44 subsequently fewer bacterial groups being introduced into the port surface waters.45 Bacterioplankton beta diversity differed significantly by month and season. The 2013-2014 dry 46 season (October-April), was warmer and wetter than historical averages, which may have driven 47 the significant differences in beta diversity. Increa...