Mostly Microbes and Infection

Highlights • Obelisks are a phylogenetically distinct group of microbiome-associated, viroid-like RNAs • Found globally in diverse niches, obelisks also occur in human stool and oral microbiomes • The human oral bacterium  Streptococcus sanguinis  SK36 harbors a distinct “obelisk- S.s ” • Under replete growth conditions, obelisk- S.s  appears to be disposable for SK36 growth  

University of the Pacific recently launched the   Pacific Journal of Health   ( PJH ) as a new way to promote health sciences research and scholarship to the public.  A peer-reviewed online journal, the  PJH  will publish multiple issues per year in fields of health studied on the three campuses of the university. Areas covered will include clinical research and case reports, biomedical research, business and economics of health, education in health disciplines, music therapy, health care delivery, health policy and law and community-based research.   The publication's editor-in-chief is Dr. David Ojcius, chair of the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Pacific's Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry. The editorial board also includes faculty members representing Stanford University School of Medicine; University of California, Merced; California State University, Fresno; University of Paris-Sud, France; and Chang Gung University, Taiwan.   A...

Highlights • Metformin increases the frequency of productively HIV-infected T cells • Metformin acts on HIV-1 replication cycle at post-entry and post-integration levels • Metformin increases BST2 and Bcl-2 expression in productively HIV-infected T cells • Metformin increases viral reservoir recognition by anti-HIV-Env Abs