Gammaherpesvirus reactivation can promote diseases or impair reproduction. Understanding reactivation patterns and associated risks of different stressors is therefore important. Nevertheless, outside the laboratory or captive environment, studies on the effects of stress on gammaherpesvirus reactivation in wild mammals are lacking. Here we used Mustelid gammaherpesvirus 1 (MusGHV-1) infection in European badgers (Meles meles) as a host-pathogen wildlife model to study the effects of a variety of demographic, physiological and environmental stressors on virus shedding in the genital tract. We collected 251 genital swabs from 150 free-ranging individuals across three seasons and screened them for the presence of MusGHV-1 DNA using PCR targeting the DNA polymerase gene. We explored possible links between MusGHV-1 DNA presence and seven variables reflecting stressors, using logistic regression analysis. The results reveal different sets of risk factors between juveniles and adults, likely reflecting primary infection and reactivation. In adults, virus shedding was more likely in badgers in poorer body condition and younger than 5 years or older than 7; while in juveniles, virus shedding is more likely in females and individuals in better body condition. However, living in social groups with more cubs was a risk factor for all badgers. We discuss possible explanations for these risk factors and their links to stress in badgers.The fact that >99% of mitochondrial proteins are encoded by the nuclear genome and synthesised in the cytosol renders the process of mitochondrial protein import fundamental for normal organelle physiology. In addition to this, the nuclear genome comprises most of the proteins required for respiratory complex assembly and function. This means that without fully functional protein import, mitochondrial respiration will be defective, and the major cellular ATP source depleted. When mitochondrial protein import is impaired, a number of stress response pathways are activated in order to overcome the dysfunction and restore mitochondrial and cellular proteostasis. However, prolonged impaired mitochondrial protein import and subsequent defective respiratory chain function contributes to a number of diseases including primary mitochondrial diseases and neurodegeneration. This review focuses on how the processes of mitochondrial protein translocation and respiratory complex assembly and function are interlinked, how they are regulated, and their importance in health and disease.Lung cancer is a worldwide prevalent malignancy. This disease has a low survival rate due to diagnosis at a late stage challenged by the involvement of metastatic sites. Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is presented in 85% of cases. The last decade has experienced substantial advancements in scientific research, leading to a novel targeted therapeutic approach. The newly developed pharmaceutical agents are aimed towards specific mutations, detected in individual patients inflicted by lung cancer. These drugs have longer and improved response rates compared to traditional chemotherapy. Recent studies were able to identify rare mutations found in pulmonary tumors. Among the gene alterations detected were mesenchymal epithelial transition factor (MET), human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2), B-type Raf kinase (BRAF), c-ROS proto-oncogene (ROS1), rearranged during transfection (RET) and neurotrophic tyrosine kinase (NTRK). Ongoing clinical trials are gaining insight onto possible first and second lines of medical treatment options intended to enable progression-free survival to lung cancer patients.Background and Objectives In advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), functional status is significantly impaired mainly as a result of disease related respiratory symptoms such as dyspnea or as a result of fatigue, which is the extra-respiratory symptom the most prevalent in this setting. “Physical” frailty, considered to be an aging phenotype, has defining traits that can also be considered when studying impaired functional status, but little is known about this relationship in advanced COPD. This review discusses the relevance of this type of frailty in advanced COPD and evaluates it utility and its clinical applicability as a potential outcome measure in palliative care for COPD. Materials and Methods A conceptual review on the functional status as an outcome measure of mortality and morbidity in COPD, and an update on the definition and traits of frailty. Results Data on the prognostic role of frailty in COPD are rather limited, but individual data on traits of frailty demonstrating their relationship with mortality and morbidity in advanced COPD are available and supportive. AZD9291 Conclusions Frailty assessment in COPD patients is becoming a relevant issue not only for its potential prognostic value for increased morbidity or for mortality, but also for its potential role as a measure of functional status in palliative care for advanced COPD.Diagnostic imaging in bladder cancer plays an important role since it is needed from pretreatment staging to follow-up, but a morphological evaluation performed with both CT and MRI showed low sensitivities and specificities in detecting pathologic lymph nodes, due to the occurrence of false positive results. Implementation of functional information provided by PET/CT could be a determinant in the management of patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer. A focus on the role of 18F-FDG PET/CT and alternative tracers in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer is provided in this analysis in order to outline its potential applications in staging settings and response evaluation after neoadjuvant chemotherapy.The irrational use of antibiotics has led to a high emergence of multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacteria. The traditional overuse of antibiotics in the animal feed industry plays a crucial role in the emergence of these pathogens that pose both economic and health problems. In addition, antibiotics have also recently experienced an increase to treat companion animal infections, promoting the emergence of MDR bacteria in pets, which can reach humans. Phages have been proposed as an alternative for antibiotics for the treatment of livestock and companion animal infections due to their multiple advantages as adaptative drugs, such as their ability to evolve, to multiply at the site of infections, and their high specificity. Moreover, phage-derived enzymes may also be an interesting approach. However, the lack of regulation for this type of pharmaceutical hinders its potential commercialization. In this review, we summarize the main recent studies on phage therapy in livestock and companion animals, providing an insight into current advances in this area and the future of treatments for bacterial infections.