Clinical video telehealth can be used to deliver functional circuit exercise training to older veterans in remote locations.

Exercise is critical for health maintenance in late life. The COVID-19 shelter in place and social distancing orders resulted in wide-scale interruptions of exercise therapies, placing older adults at risk for the consequences of decreased mobilization. The purpose of this paper is to describe rapid transition of the Gerofit facility-based group exercise program to telehealth delivery. This Gerofit-to-Home (GTH) program continued with group-based synchronous exercise classes that ranged from 1 to 24 Veterans per class and 1 to 9 classes offered per week in the different locations. Three hundred and eight of 1149 (27%) Veterans active in the Gerofit facility-based programs made the transition to the telehealth delivered classes. Participants physical performance testing continued remotely as scheduled with comparisons between most recent facility-based and remote testing suggesting that participants retained physical function. Detailed protocols for remote physical performance testing and sample exercise routines are described. Translation to remote delivery of exercise programs for older adults could mitigate negative health effects.

Analysis of the increasing wealth of metagenomic data collected from diverse environments can lead to the discovery of novel branches on the tree of life. Here we analyse 5.2 Tb of metagenomic data collected globally to discover a novel bacterial phylum ('Candidatus Kryptonia') found exclusively in high-temperature pH-neutral geothermal springs. This lineage had remained hidden as a taxonomic 'blind spot' because of mismatches in the primers commonly used for ribosomal gene surveys. Genome reconstruction from metagenomic data combined with single-cell genomics results in several high-quality genomes representing four genera from the new phylum. Metabolic reconstruction indicates a heterotrophic lifestyle with conspicuous nutritional deficiencies, suggesting the need for metabolic complementarity with other microbes. Co-occurrence patterns identifies a number of putative partners, including an uncultured Armatimonadetes lineage. The discovery of Kryptonia within previously studied geothermal springs underscores the importance of globally sampled metagenomic data in detection of microbial novelty, and highlights the extraordinary diversity of microbial life still awaiting discovery.