Data in Brief

Botanical dietary supplements (like wheat, barley, teff, oats, white lupin, pumpkin seed, and chickpeas) may contain trace amounts of toxicants in addition to important micronutrients. Developing and validating a reliable protocol for the simultaneous quantification of Cu, Fe, Zn, Mo, Se, Mn, Pb, Al, Ni, and Cr using a PerkinElmer (NexIONTM2000 model) quadrupole ICP MS (including a He collision and reaction cell when needed) with closed vessel microwave digestion using (HNO3 + H2O2) was the aim of this study.The method was subsequently utilized in a sample survey, and the outcomes were evaluated against WHO/JECFA standards. From five study regions, twenty-seven farm-collected botanical powder samples representing seven species were acquired. To create one composite per species, field subsamples were cleaned, air dried, ground, and blended (nine subsamples per botanical: three grabs from each of three farms). HNO3/H2O2 was used to digest aliquots (0.250-0.500gm) in closed microwave containers. Internal standards, multi-point external calibration, procedural blanks, verified reference materials, matrix spikes, and duplicates were all used in ICP MSs multi-element quantitation. Method LODs/LOQs, accuracy (CRM recoveries), and precision (RSD) were calculated.The technique produced low LODs that were suitable for dietary evaluation (typical LOD ranges: Cu, Fe, Zn, Mn, Ni, Cr (0.001-0.01) mg/kg; Mo, Se, Pb, Al (0.002-0.05) mg/kg. For the majority of analytes, within-run RSDs were less than 5%, while CRM recoveries ranged from 88.9 to 110%. The concentrations of essential elements varied greatly (average mg/kg: Fe (280.7{+/-}25.6); Zn (6.0{+/-}0.541); Cu (2.8{+/-}0.269); Mn (398.3{+/-}23.8); {micro}gm/kg: Se (0.061{+/-}0.006); Mo (1.0 {+/-}0.022). Although some composites approached or exceeded conservative intake thresholds for Pb and Al under high consumption scenarios, toxic elements were generally low (mean mg/kg: Pb (0.062{+/-}0.007); Al(185.2{+/-}18.5); Ni(1.6{+/-}0.163); Cr(1.8{+/-}0.171).For the simultaneous nutritional and contaminant profiling of supplements derived from cereals and those not, the validated ICP- MS workflow with microwave HNO3 and H2O2 digestion is suitable. Accurate labeling and consumer safety can be supported by routine screening and supply chain controls.

Animal cell-cultured ingredients are entering the EU and UK pet food markets under frameworks that do not require pre-market, ingredient-level safety assessments, creating an ethical need for transparent safety disclosure. We present the first public safety dossier for this sector, describing the proprietary mouse embryonic stem cell line PE25 and its derived, non-viable cellular and conditioned media ingredient produced in food and feed-grade media. PE25 characterization confirmed Mus musculus identity, sterility, absence of mycoplasma and replication-competent retroviruses, and stable growth. Doxorubicin-induced p53 stress testing, CD44/BMI1 profiling, and soft agar assays showed no cancer-like traits and a non-tumorigenic profile; the final ingredient contains no viable cells. Independent OECD TG 471 and 487 assays confirmed non-genotoxicity. Heavy metals, biogenic amines, solvents, and chemical residues were below regulatory limits. Given process variability, we recommend case-by-case safety evaluation and propose this dossier as a model for responsible commercialization.

Background The placenta serves a critical role in nutrient uptake and waste elimination for the developing fetus. The placenta is also responsible for the uptake and/or exchange of xenobiotics, including medications, between the maternal and fetal bloodstreams. An estimated 40-80% of women take medications or drugs during pregnancy for a variety of conditions. Very little is understood about fetal drug and nutrient exposure during pregnancy and how it may change over the course of fetal development. Objective This study aimed to characterize the abundance of transport proteins in placental tissue, which are important in modulating fetal nutrient and drug exposure, over the duration of pregnancy. Mass spectrometry-based global proteomic analysis revealed trends in the expression of thousands of proteins throughout gestation. Focusing on the membrane-associated proteome enabled an increased emphasis on the solute carrier and ATP-binding cassette families of transporter proteins that are critical for nutrient and xenobiotic transport across the maternal-fetal barrier. Study Design Using data-independent acquisition proteomics, relative abundance of proteins in placental tissue samples was profiled across all three trimesters of pregnancy (Trimester 1 = 16, Trimester 2 = 9, and Term = 9). Membrane fractions were generated to enrich membrane-associated proteins for proteomic analysis. Placental samples were grouped into randomized batches for membrane fraction generation and mass spectrometry analysis. Proteomic search results from each batch were imported into the R programming environment from Skyline, concatenated, and normalized as one data set for downstream analysis. Results A total of 6,331 proteins were detected across all samples with 4,210 proteins identified in every sample. Pathway analysis revealed that as gestational age increases, membrane-associated proteins involved in more complex metabolic pathways increase in relative abundance while those involved in extracellular remodeling events and simple organic ion transport tended to decrease. A total of 139 solute carrier and ATP-binding cassette transport proteins were identified in all samples, and 80 were identified in every sample. In general, membrane-associated proteins, including solute carrier and ATP-binding cassette transport proteins, were significantly enriched in placental tissue collected during early gestation compared to term placental tissue. Conclusion This study presents a comprehensive profiling of membrane-associated proteomic changes during gestation and identifies significant gestational age associated abundance changes at the protein level in several transport protein families. The application of data-independent acquisition global proteomic techniques enabled in-depth analysis of thousands of proteomic changes across pregnancy in a single experiment. These data provide critical information to support future studies into the understanding of fetal exposure to xenobiotics and nutrients circulating in the maternal bloodstream.

Drug-resistant tuberculosis and the rising incidence of nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infections are a growing concern that demands innovative therapeutic strategies. Despite advances in diagnostics, drug discovery, and vaccine strategies, significant gaps remain. Mycobacteriophages and their lytic enzymes offer a promising solution due to their natural abundance and diversity, host specificity and ability to disrupt complex cell envelopes and biofilms. In this study, we report the genomic and functional characterization of a V-Cluster mycobacteriophage, EniyanLRS, isolated near a hospital in Delhi and the encoded endolysins LysA and LysB. EniyanLRS features a 78.53 kbp genome with a notably low GC content (56.9%) as compared to other mycobacteriophages, and an exceptionally long Tape Measuring Protein (TMP) gene (5.97 kbp). Its genome lacks genes related to lysogeny and harbours 24 tRNAs, suggesting high translational efficiency. Phenotypically, EniyanLRS exhibits a siphovirus morphology, lytic lifecycle and infects Mycobacterium smegmatis and drug-resistant Mycobacterium fortuitum. LysA, with its lysozyme-chitinase-amidase domain architecture, did not demonstrate significant antibacterial or antibiofilm activity. Conversely, LysB, an /{beta}-hydrolase, exhibited superior in vitro esterase activity compared to previously reported LysB enzymes and showed pronounced cell wall disruption of M. smegmatis and M. fortuitum, along with considerable antibiofilm efficacy (62.77% and 41.91% inhibition, respectively). Collectively, these findings highlight the potential of EniyanLRS and its LysB enzyme as potent biocontrol agents against pathogenic mycobacteria, which can be explored to treat planktonic cells and biofilm-associated infections.

Alternaria mycotoxins represent an emerging concern due to their frequent occurrence in food and feed. However, available toxicological data remain limited. Under the current EU regulatory framework, and in line with the EFSA/ECHA/JRC guidance for the identification of endocrine disruptors (EDs), assessment of endocrine activity relies on standardized assays performed according to OECD Test Guidelines (TGs) for the estrogen-, androgen- and steroidogenesis- (EAS) modalities. Within the framework of the European Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals (PARC), standardized in vitro methods of regulatory relevance were performed for six chemically characterized Alternaria toxins, aiming to address current regulatory gaps on EAS-mediated activity. Alternariol (AOH), alternariol monomethyl ether (AME), tenuazonic acid (TeA), altertoxin-I (ATX-I), tentoxin (TEN) and altenuene (ALT) were assessed over a broad concentration range, from 0.001 up to 60 M, depending on cytotoxicity and solubility profile of each compound. Our findings indicate estrogenic activity for AOH (PC50: 3.9 - 4.6 {micro}M) and AME (PC50: 5.2 - 8.5 {micro}M) in the estrogen receptor transactivation assay (OECD TG 455), as well as an anti-estrogenic activity for ATX-I (IC30: 0.27 - 0.37 {micro}M). Minimal positive responses were observed at high concentrations for AOH (from the dose of 3 {micro}M) and for AME (from the dose of 10 {micro}M) in the agonistic part of the androgen receptor transactivation assay (OECD TG 458), which may also reflect glucocorticoid receptor activation. No effects on estradiol or testosterone production were observed for any of the tested Alternaria compounds in the steroidogenesis assay (OECD TG 456).

Chemical imaging is a powerful branch of modern microscopy encumbered by a lack of flexible, high-throughput analysis tools. Bespoke analytical pipelines typically perform ratiometric analysis on two layers in a multispectral image to describe the relative composition of molecules in a sample. This strategy has been implemented across fields, spanning histopathology, cell biology, environmental science, and materials science. The commercialization of chemical imaging microscopes has facilitated the collection of large multispectral datasets, necessitating accessible ways to process them. This paper describes Multispectral Analysis Graphical User Interface (msaGUI), a desktop graphical user interface to analyze individual and batch datasets of multispectral images. Data is loaded as CSV, TSV, or TIFFs and processed through a user-defined sequence of modular image operations that can be flexibly combined, e.g. to reduce spectral crosstalk or background noise. After analysis, data is visualized as exportable images, histograms, and statistics. To yield publication-quality figures, outputted images are fully customizable. Written in Python with open-source libraries, the msaGUI program is packaged into an executable for Windows and Mac for a fully no-code application. Other operating systems are supported via the Python source code. In summary, msaGUI provides a rapid and user-friendly solution for analyzing and visualizing multispectral data.

Antimicrobial resistance constitutes a major threat to global public health. Among emerging extensively drug-resistant bacteria (eXDR), carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) expose hospitals to outbreaks through rapid dissemination, and to therapeutic limitations. Through a mixed epidemiological-qualitative methods study, we report the most extensive CPE carriage outbreak known to date in France, which occurred at Hopital Europeen Marseille (HEM) between January and June 2025. By the end of November 2024, the admission of an index patient returning from Senegal carrying an NDM-producing Escherichia coli led to an extensive transmission, despite adherence to national screen and isolate guidelines. More than 7,500 rectal screening tests evidenced 481 CPE carriers (including 343 NDM, 129 OXA-48-like and 9 other CPE), and 14 vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium carriers. This major outbreak conducted to a phenomenal involvement of clinical, technical and administrative teams within the institution. It highlighted operational limitations in current screening, cohorting and biocleaning strategies in the context of hospital-wide outbreak. We describe the outbreak trajectory, the control measures implemented and provide a structured synthesis of lessons learned across organisational, scientific and policy domains.

Carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKp) is a critical global healthcare threat driven by high-risk multidrug-resistant (MDR) clones that acquire hypervirulence genes. Although resistance-virulence co-occurrence is extensively documented, the plasmid-level mechanisms facilitating this convergence remain unclear. In this study, we utilized hybrid short- and long-read whole-genome sequencing of 376 clinical CRKp strains to define the evolutionary trajectories and structural plasmid dynamics of three predominant high-risk clones: ST147 (n=157), ST231 (n=108), and ST2096 (n=111). Carbapenemase genes were present in 90% of isolates, predominantly blaOXA-48-like and blaNDM-5 co-harbored with blaCTX-M-15. Virulence profiling indicated high aerobactin (iuc) prevalence (62.7%), while salmochelin and colibactin were undetected. Hypermucoviscosity occurred infrequently (6.6%) and was independent of rmpA/rmpA2, confirming a clear genotype-phenotype discordance. Comparative plasmid mapping revealed three distinct, lineage-specific plasmid configurations underlying this intermediate convergent pathotype: ST147 exhibited dynamic, mosaic hybrid IncFIB-IncHI1B plasmids; ST2096 showed structurally stabilized hybrids; and ST231 retained virulence and resistance determinants on separate, segregated plasmids. These findings show that convergence is regulated by multiple, clone-specific evolutionary routes rather than a single path, highlighting the critical need for more in-depth genomic surveillance capable of identifying convergent plasmids along with high-risk lineages

Macrolides are key agents for treating infections caused by non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). Nevertheless, chromosomal erm genes conferring inducible macrolide resistance are described in some NTM species, such as Mycobacterium abscessus and M. fortuitum, whereas M. chelonae had long been considered as lacking a functional erm. Recent descriptions from the USA and Japan of a new plasmid-borne erm(55) (erm(55)P) in M. chelonae and other rapidly growing mycobacteria (RGM) have challenged this assumption. We investigated erm(55)P occurrence in clinical RGM referred to the French National Reference Centre for Mycobacteria between 2012 and 2026 by genome screening and erm(55)P specific real-time PCR. Positive isolates underwent long-read whole genome sequencing (GridIon, Oxford Nanopore Technologies). Clarithromycin (CLR) minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined by broth microdilution (RAPMYCO and FRATMYC, Thermo Fisher) and read up to 14 days. Five clinical isolates showing inducible CLR resistance (MIC range <0.25-64 mg/L on day 3-4 and 128 - >128 mg/L on day 14) were positive for erm(55)P: one M. chelonae, three M. neoaurum, and one M. parafortuitum. erm(55)P-positive M. chelonae genomes from this and previous descriptions did not cluster together in the phylogenetic analysis of 263 genomes. The assembled plasmids showed high similarity to previously reported erm(55)-carrying plasmids, especially within the erm(55)P region. The upstream sequence of erm(55)P showed a secondary structure compatible with a possible translation attenuation mechanism. These findings document the first report of a plasmid-borne erm(55) in Europe in M. chelonae and other RGM and raise concern about the emergence of plasmid macrolide resistance in NTM.

Iron is an essential micronutrient that shapes host-pathogen interactions during infection. However, the contribution of iron to the virulence adaptation of the Enterobacter cloacae complex (ECC) remain poorly characterized. This study profiled the effects of iron on E. roggenkampii and E. asburiae clinical isolates. Growth kinetics were assessed in Luria-Bertani broth supplemented with varying iron concentrations and 5% sheep blood, and EDTA. Recovered strains were used for motility and antibiotic susceptibility assays. Phenotypic virulence trait of iron-naive and iron-recovered strains was determined using biofilm formation assays. Whole-genome sequencing was conducted to identify genetic determinants associated with iron acquisition and metabolism. Presence of iron increased bacterial growth, reduced antibiotic susceptibility, and enhanced biofilm formation. At higher iron concentrations, iron-recovered strains exhibited increased biofilm biomass, while there was a high biofilm formation with iron-naive strains at lower iron levels. Genomic analysis identified genes associated with ferrous and ferric iron transport, heme uptake, siderophore biosynthesis, and virulence-related functions, including adhesion and biofilm formation. These findings demonstrate that iron availability and prior exposure modulate ECC physiology and phenotypic traits associated with virulence, supporting a role for iron in shaping adaptive pathogenic potential. Graphical AbstractThe influence of iron metabolism on virulence adaptation of Enterobacter cloacae complex O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=107 SRC="FIGDIR/small/737523v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (28K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@aa351eorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@855345org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@11e0da5org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@11f851_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG

Tenuazonic acid (TeA) is one of the most frequently detected Alternaria mycotoxins in contaminated food. Despite its frequent occurrence, its immunomodulatory effects remain insufficiently characterized. Therefore, the present study investigated the impact of TeA on inflammatory signaling and cytokine regulation in monocytes and intestinal epithelial cell (IEC) models. NF-{kappa}B activity was assessed using a reporter gene assay in THP1-Lucia monocytes, while cytokine mRNA expression and protein secretion were quantified in Caco-2 and HCEC-1CT cells by qRT-PCR and ELISA, respectively. In THP-1 monocytes, TeA significantly suppressed lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced NF-{kappa}B activation in a concentration-dependent manner starting at 25 M, while cytotoxicity occurred only at concentrations [&ge;]100 M. In HCEC-1CT and differentiated Caco-2 cells, TeA increased IL-6, IL-8, and TNF- mRNA levels at non-cytotoxic concentrations ([&ge;]10 M). In Caco-2 cells, these transcriptional changes were accompanied by increased cytokine secretion, whereas HCEC-1CT cells showed only partial effects on the protein level after short-term exposure. Following prolonged incubation, TNF- secretion was increased and IL-6 and IL-8 secretion were slightly reduced. IL-10 remained unaffected under all conditions. Overall, TeA exerted cell type-dependent immunomodulatory effects characterized by immunoinhibitory activity in monocytes and pro-inflammatory responses in IECs, highlighting the complex immunotoxic potential of this Alternaria mycotoxin.

Microscopes are essential tools for discoveries on a scale invisible to the unaided human eye. The development of immuno-fluorescence followed by molecular biology techniques and fluorescent fusion proteins have revolutionised the use of optical microscopy in bioscience. The quality of the data produced is dependent upon the sample, its preparation and the instrument used. However, instruments can degrade over time without easily visible changes to the produced images and, in turn, negatively impacts results. By testing instruments and doing comparisons between results over time and between different instruments, problems can be highlighted and corrective action can be taken. Using small fluorescent beads the point spread function (PSF) of the microscope can be recorded and the image resolution measured. Beads were prepared in a concentration matched to the field of view size and dried onto coverslips and mounted on slides. The beads were then imaged as 3D Z-stacks of sufficient size to fully enclose the PSF of the system. This data was uploaded to OMERO and processed using OMERO-metrics, an OMERO plugin developed for this purpose. This paper summarizes the development of workflows and protocols to enable this process, presents the results obtained and demonstrates the detection of significant instrument issues.

Tenuazonic acid (TeA) is an emerging Alternaria mycotoxin frequently detected in food and feed commodities, raising concerns about its toxicological relevance. Chronic oral exposure to TeA has been reported to induce dysplastic alterations in the esophageal mucosa of mice, while human biomonitoring data indicate an association between TeA exposure and esophageal cancer, although a causal relationship has not yet been established. At a mechanistic level, the effects of TeA in esophageal cells remain poorly characterized. Therefore, this study investigated the impact of TeA on cytotoxicity, oxidative stress, DNA damage, mitochondrial homeostasis, cell-cycle distribution and transcriptomic stress responses in human esophageal KYSE-510 cells. TeA induced a concentration-dependent reduction in metabolic activity and total protein content after 24 h exposure to 0.1-100 M. Significant cytotoxicity was measured starting from 20 M. At sub-cytotoxic concentrations, TeA triggered rapid ROS formation within 5-30 min exposure and induced formamidopyrimidine-DNA glycosylase (FPG) sensitive DNA damage after 1 h exposure (5-7.5 M), indicating oxidative DNA lesions. In addition, TeA altered mitochondrial morphology after 4 h exposure at 7.5 M, manifested by shrinkage of the mitochondrial network area and perinuclear redistribution, while mitochondrial respiration showed only a non-significant tendency towards reduced respiratory capacity. RNA sequencing after 6 h exposure to 10 M TeA revealed oxidative stress-associated transcriptional changes, impaired antioxidant and stress-adaptive responses, and p53-associated stress signaling. Furthermore, TeA induced significant G2/M phase accumulation after 24 h exposure to 1-10 M.

Paleodietary reconstruction requires isotopic data from both humans and their accessible food resources. However, ideally defined accessible food resources, namely those from the same sites and periods as the target human individuals, are not always available for all ancient individuals. The number of sites with human C/N isotopic data far exceeds that with food-resource isotopic data. Consequently, many individuals cannot be linked to corresponding accessible food resources, a limitation that becomes more pronounced in large-scale quantitative dietary reconstructions incorporating a wide range of food-resource categories. Therefore, this study aims to broaden the definition of accessible food resources. To achieve this aim, we compiled food-resource and soil isotopic data ({delta}13C and {delta}15N) from Britain, including 4,012 ancient faunal and plant remains, 394 modern plant samples, and 260 modern soil samples. Region-period combined groups were established for the five major food-resource categories and served as the basic analytical units for detailed isotopic comparisons. Based on these comparisons, we propose broader criteria for defining accessible food resources. No significant intra-group variation was observed in the isotopic values of terrestrial herbivores and omnivores, suggesting that animals within each region-period combined group can serve as accessible food resources for humans from the same group. C3 plants showed substantial spatial variation but limited temporal variation. Accordingly, accessible food resources for C3 plants should be defined by region, namely England, Wales, and Scotland, regardless of chronological period, with humans from each region assigned plant data from their respective region. Marine and freshwater fish showed no clear temporal or spatial variation, and therefore unified datasets can be applied across all human individuals. Our findings enable each ancient human individual to be assigned appropriate accessible food resources, and therefore appropriate food-resource isotope baselines. We further demonstrate that such assignments can effectively reduce sampling bias arising from the use of traditionally defined accessible food resources, which are often limited by small sample sizes.

It was recently reported that Methylobacterium extorquens AM1 produces the citrate-hydroxamate siderophore N-deoxyschizokinen A, identified by LC-HRMS. Multiple properties were inconsistent with the assignment: the feature eluted far later than the other schizokinen derivatives (17 min versus 6-8 min), a reversed-phase shift larger than a single-hydroxyl difference in a molecule can explain, further its accurate mass deviated from the calculated one by 28 ppm, well outside the error on the co-analyzed standards and its diagnostic m/z 105 and 77 fragments suggest a molecule with an aromatic moiety. A replicate comparison of identical samples in plastic versus glass autosampler vials was decisive: the m/z 387 feature was reproducibly present with plastic vials and absent with glass. We therefore conclude that the reported detection of N-deoxyschizokinen A in M. extorquens AM1 is an artifact, and recommend glass-vial and solvent-blank controls, an explicit accurate-mass threshold, and narrow MS/MS isolation when assigning trace siderophore-like features from complex extracts.

Ticks transmit pathogens across wildlife, domestic animals, and humans, and are therefore considered important vectors under the One Health framework. In India, the burden of tick-borne diseases, such as Kyasanur Forest Disease and Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever, remains poorly quantified due to fragmented surveillance and limited spatial data. Here, we present TickMapKB, a curated spatial knowledgebase documenting 72 tick species across more than 600 georeferenced locations in India. The majority of the species belonged to the genera Haemaphysalis, Rhipicephalus, and Hyalomma. Additionally, the resource integrates host associations, pathogen and disease information, morphological identification keys, acaricide resistance profiles, and protein annotations into a single, interactive platform accessible at https://cb.imsc.res.in/tickmapkb/. Specifically, the resource captures 53 pathogens, over 3000 protein annotations, and morphological keys from 26 published resources. TickMapKB thus provides researchers, clinicians, and other stakeholders with integrated spatial, biological, and resistance information to support surveillance planning, resistance management, and tick-borne disease risk assessment.

Alternaria toxins are naturally occurring food contaminants with limited and often inconsistent genotoxicity and mutagenicity data. Within the European Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals (PARC), an OECD-aligned in vitro testing strategy was applied to fill existing data gaps and to characterize the genotoxic potential of major Alternaria toxins using high-purity test materials. Mutagenicity was assessed using bacterial reverse mutation test (OECD TG 471) and SOS/umu assay, while chromosomal damage was assessed using the in vitro micronucleus (MN) assay (OECD TG 487) in TK6 and HepG2 cells, complemented by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and {gamma}H2AX assay in HepaRG cells. Alternariol (AOH), alternariol monomethyl ether (AME), and altertoxin-I (ATX-I) showed clear mutagenicity in bacteria, whereas altenuene (ALT), tenuazonic acid (TeA), and tentoxin (TEN) were negative under the tested conditions. In mammalian cells, AOH, AME, and ATX-I induced MN formation in TK6 cells at concentrations [&ge;]5.5 {micro}M, [&ge;]2.5 {micro}M, and [&ge;]0.21 {micro}M, respectively, with FISH analysis supporting a clastogenic mode of action. In HepG2 cells, all tested toxins induced chromosomal damage, with effect threshold ranging from [&ge;]6.25 {micro}M (AOH) to [&ge;]50 {micro}M (TeA). {gamma}H2AX induction confirmed DNA damage for AOH and ATX-I, and at higher concentrations for TeA (1000 {micro}M). Overall, the data indicate clear in vitro genotoxic potential for AOH, AME, and ATX-I and provide evidence of chromosomal damage for ALT, TEN, and TeA, thereby reducing critical data gaps for hazard assessment.

Dengue fever risk and burden has increased globally in the past decade, with record-breaking outbreaks driving high case numbers, outbreaks increasing in existing transmission suitable regions, and occurring in new locations. A combination of global change processes, including climate change, have provided the environmental backdrop for introductions and resurgences of mosquito-transmitted dengue virus. Understanding shifts in exposure risk is integral to public health preparedness. This study provides global mapping of the thermal suitability of dengue transmission for CMIP6 climate scenarios, across a range of general circulation models (GCMs), and we created spatially explicit demographic projections of transmission risk using year-matched RCP-SSP frameworks for demographic and emissions scenarios. Globally, poleward shifts in projected distributions of suitability for transmission for both Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus suitability are shown in both the near term (2030s) and longer term (2050). Under a 'middle of the road' climate scenario (CMIP6 SSP2-4.5), regions in Africa and Asia are the major areas driving increases in year-round (12 months) population at risk (PAR) through 2050, with an anticipated net gain in 932 million people at risk for Ae. aegypti transmission and 24 million for Ae. albopictus, which includes multiple regions losing areas of year-round suitability as temperatures exceed the higher thermal boundary for transmission. In contrast, the estimated net increase in PAR for one or more months of transmission suitability at a global scale by 2050 is 3.29 billion people for Ae. aegypti transmission and 3.30 billion for Ae. albopictus transmission. This snapshot of a 'middle-of-the-road' combination of climate and demographic driven increases in potential dengue transmission exposure emphasizes the importance of both expanding suitability in new areas, and growing populations in areas approaching and becoming exposed year-round. Globalization, urbanization, and shipping will continue to provide the potential for introductions into newly suitable areas as season lengths increase, sparking outbreaks in unexposed populations. This is compounded and becomes ever more probable as the number of people and places at year-round risk also increases. This project provides all global gridded outputs for onward mapping and reuse, to add to the toolkit to anticipate and prepare for prevention and response to dengue in a changing world.

Background: Natural essential oils exhibit antimicrobial and wound-healing properties, but their therapeutic application is limited by poor water solubility, volatility, and instability. This study developed and characterized a nanoemulsion of Ocimum gratissimum essential oil (OGNe) and evaluated its physicochemical properties, dermal safety, antibacterial activity, and wound-healing potential. Methods: Essential oil was obtained by hydrodistillation and formulated into nanoemulsions by high-speed stirring emulsification. Physicochemical properties, including pH, droplet size, polydispersity index, and storage stability, were determined. Acute dermal toxicity was assessed in Wistar rats following OECD Test Guideline 402. Antibacterial activity was evaluated using broth microdilution, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), and time-kill assays. Wound-healing efficacy was investigated using an excision wound model over 21 days using distilled water and trolamine serving as controls. Results: OGNe exhibited a stable milky appearance, near-neutral pH, and droplet sizes ranging from 26 to 224 nm. No signs of dermal toxicity or behavioral abnormalities were observed after topical administration. The nanoemulsion showed selective antibacterial activity, with the highest susceptibility against Acinetobacter baumannii (MIC = 1.125 L/mL), whereas Escherichia coli remained resistant. Time-kill assays demonstrated concentration-dependent bacteriostatic activity. In vivo, OGNe significantly accelerated wound contraction from day 3 onward (p < 0.0001), achieving healing rates comparable to or exceeding those of trolamine during the inflammatory and proliferative phases. Conclusion: Ocimum gratissimum nanoemulsions represent stable, biocompatible topical formulations that combine selective antibacterial activity with enhanced wound healing, supporting their potential as phytopharmaceutical nanoformulations for the management of acute skin wounds.

Capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry (CE-MS) offers unique analytical advantages for polar metabolite profiling but has remained underutilized in metabolomics relative to liquid chromatography-MS (LC-MS), in part due to challenges in managing migration time drift during data analysis. Here we introduce the use of indexed migration time (iMT) for easily managing this aspect of CE-MS data for metabolomics. Migration time indexing using a panel of stable isotope-labeled (SIL) amino acid reference standards, stored as an iRT database in Skyline, outperformed both uncorrected migration time and relative migration time (RMT) correction across three independent analytical batches spanning 90 samples from four biological matrices. The indexed migration time approach achieved sub-1% relative standard deviation (RSD) in migration index across batches, compared to up to [~]15% RSD for uncorrected migration times. Additionally, we evaluate the use of single-point external calibration in Skyline for the purposes of metabolite quantification from complex matrices in order to ease the burden of translational metabolite quantification from metabolomics using high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). Single-point external calibration using a biological matrix-based calibrator was benchmarked against a 13-point linear calibration curve across a panel of amino acids; above 1 M, greater than 95% of back-calculated concentrations fell within {+/-}20% of multi-point calibration. Application of the complete workflow to plasma, serum, urine, and NIST Standard Reference Material (SRM)-1950 demonstrated low inter-batch variability by principal components analysis, broad metabolite coverage across 126 quantifiable analytes, and strong quantitative concordance (Deming slope = 0.862, pseudo-R2 = 0.994, n = 64 analytes) with an independent comprehensive reference dataset for NIST SRM-1950. Together, these results establish a practical mCE-HRMS metabolomics workflow that bridges targeted and discovery metabolomics paradigms and lays the groundwork for single-point external calibration as a powerful tool for translational metabolomics.