Splenic fibroblasts control marginal zone B cell movement and function via two distinct Notch2-dependent regulatory programs.

Innate-like splenic marginal zone (MZ) B (MZB) cells play unique roles in immunity due to their rapid responsiveness to blood-borne microbes. How MZB cells integrate cell-extrinsic and -intrinsic processes to achieve accelerated responsiveness is unclear. We found that Delta-like1 (Dll1) Notch ligands in splenic fibroblasts regulated MZB cell pool size, migration, and function.

Regulation of immune cell development, differentiation and function by stromal Notch ligands.

In multicellular organisms, cell-to-cell communication is critical for the regulation of tissue organization. Notch signaling relies on direct interactions between Notch receptors on signal-receiving cells and Notch ligands on adjacent cells. Notch evolved to mediate local cellular interactions that are responsive to spatial cues via dosage-sensitive short-lived signals.

Notch signaling drives intestinal graft-versus-host disease in mice and nonhuman primates.

Notch signaling promotes T cell pathogenicity and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) in mice, with a dominant role for the Delta-like Notch ligand DLL4. To assess whether Notch's effects are evolutionarily conserved and to identify the mechanisms of Notch signaling inhibition, we studied antibody-mediated DLL4 blockade in a nonhuman primate (NHP) model similar to human allo-HCT. Short-term DLL4 blockade improved posttransplant survival with durable protection from gastrointestinal GVHD in particular.

Stromal Notch ligands foster lymphopenia-driven functional plasticity and homeostatic proliferation of naive B cells.

In lymphopenic environments, secondary lymphoid organs regulate the size of B and T cell compartments by supporting the homeostatic proliferation of mature lymphocytes. The molecular mechanisms underlying these responses and their functional consequences remain incompletely understood. To evaluate homeostasis of the mature B cell pool during lymphopenia, we turned to an adoptive transfer model of purified follicular B cells into Rag2-/- mouse recipients.

Compliant vascular models 3D printed with the Stratasys J750: a direct characterization of model distensibility using intravascular ultrasound.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate biomechanical accuracy of 3D printed anatomical vessels using a material jetting printer (J750, Stratasys, Rehovot, Israel) by measuring distensibility via intravascular ultrasound.

Materials And Methods: The test samples are 3D printed tubes to simulate arterial vessels (aorta, carotid artery, and coronary artery). Each vessel type is defined by design geometry of the vessel inner diameter and wall thickness.

Enhancing performance of a computed tomography perfusion software for improved prediction of final infarct volume in acute ischemic stroke patients.

Computed tomography perfusion (CTP) is crucial for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patient diagnosis. To improve infarct prediction, enhanced image processing and automated parameter selection have been implemented in Vital Images' new CTP+ software. We compared CTP+ with its previous version, commercially available software (RAPID and Sphere), and follow-up diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI).

Ultrasound's Impact on Preclinical Medical Student Neurology Unit Grades: Findings After 2 Years.

Objectives: Ultrasound is a valuable tool for anatomy education, but limited evidence exists for using ultrasound to teach neuroanatomy and neurophysiology. Previous work demonstrated a potential increase in medical knowledge in preclinical medical students participating in a neurology ultrasound workshop, however, without comparison to a control group. After 2 years, we assessed how a neurology ultrasound workshop affected the medical knowledge of participating preclinical medical students compared to a traditional curriculum control group.

Effect of computed tomography perfusion post-processing algorithms on optimal threshold selection for final infarct volume prediction.

In acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients, eligibility for endovascular intervention is commonly determined through computed tomography perfusion (CTP) analysis by quantifying ischemic tissue using perfusion parameter thresholds. However, thresholds are not uniform across all analysis methods due to dependencies on patient demographics and computational algorithms. This study aimed to investigate optimal perfusion thresholds for quantifying infarct and penumbra volumes using two post-processing CTP algorithms: Vitrea Bayesian and singular value decomposition plus (SVD+).

Assessment of computed tomography perfusion software in predicting spatial location and volume of infarct in acute ischemic stroke patients: a comparison of Sphere, Vitrea, and RAPID.

Background: CT perfusion (CTP) infarct and penumbra estimations determine the eligibility of patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) for endovascular intervention. This study aimed to determine volumetric and spatial agreement of predicted RAPID, Vitrea, and Sphere CTP infarct with follow-up fluid attenuation inversion recovery (FLAIR) MRI infarct.

Methods: 108 consecutive patients with AIS and large vessel occlusion were included in the study between April 2019 and January 2020 .

Outbreak of food poisoning linked to leeks in cheese sauce: an unusual source.

Between 11-13 December 2018, local public health authorities in the West Midlands, England were alerted to 34 reports of diarrhoea with abdominal cramps. Symptom onset was ~10 h after diners ate Christmas meals at a restaurant between 7-9 December 2018. A retrospective case-control study, environmental and microbiological investigations were undertaken to determine the source and control the outbreak.

Assessment of a Bayesian Vitrea CT Perfusion Analysis to Predict Final Infarct and Penumbra Volumes in Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke: A Comparison with RAPID.

Background And Purpose: Brain CTP is used to estimate infarct and penumbra volumes to determine endovascular treatment eligibility for patients with acute ischemic stroke. We aimed to assess the accuracy of a Bayesian CTP algorithm in determining penumbra and final infarct volumes.

Materials And Methods: Data were retrospectively collected for 105 patients with acute ischemic stroke (55 patients with successful recanalization [TICI 2b/2c/3] and large-vessel occlusions and 50 patients without interventions).

Increasing Access to Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnostic Consultation in Rural and Underserved Communities: Streamlined Evaluation Within Primary Care.

Objective: Preliminary feasibility and clinical utility research has demonstrated that implementation of a streamlined diagnostic model embedded within primary care (PC) clinics promotes early identification of young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Use of this model results in dramatically reduced waits for diagnostic consultation, high levels of family/provider satisfaction, and reductions in referrals to overtaxed tertiary diagnostic centers. The current study extends this work by providing data before/after implementation of a streamlined model across a diverse range of PC clinics that provide health care to rural and underserved communities.

Kinetic model optimization and its application to mitigating the Warburg effect through multiple enzyme alterations.

Pathway engineering is a powerful tool in biotechnological and clinical applications. However, many phenomena cannot be rewired with a single enzyme change, and in a complex network like energy metabolism, the selection of combinations of targets to engineer is a daunting task. To facilitate this process, we have developed an optimization framework and applied it to a mechanistic kinetic model of energy metabolism.

Focal Electrographic Seizures in a Patient With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Speech Delay.

A 6-year-old boy with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) presented to primary care for a new-patient, transfer-of-care evaluation. At the initial encounter, the patient used a maximum of 60 words and was receiving speech and language therapy (SLT) through school. Family history was positive for seizures in the father and paternal grandfather as well as ASD in an older brother.

Prevalence and Determinants of Insomnia After a Myocardial Infarction.

Objectives: This study analyzed cross-sectional data to examine the prevalence of insomnia and to identify factors associated with insomnia after a myocardial infarction (MI).

Methods: The participants were 209 individuals with a recent MI. At approximately 5 weeks post-MI, participants completed standardized self-report measures assessing insomnia (Insomnia Severity Index) and various sociodemographic, clinical, behavioral, and psychosocial variables, including stressful life events, depressive symptoms, and dysfunctional beliefs about sleep.

Effects of methylphenidate on basic and higher-order oculomotor functions.

Eye movements are sensitive indicators of pharmacological effects on sensorimotor and cognitive processing. Methylphenidate (MPH) is one of the most prescribed medications in psychiatry. It is increasingly used as a cognitive enhancer by healthy individuals.

Effect of D-amphetamine on inhibition and motor planning as a function of baseline performance.

Rationale: Baseline performance has been reported to predict dopamine (DA) effects on working memory, following an inverted-U pattern. This pattern may hold true for other executive functions that are DA-sensitive.

Objectives: The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of D: -amphetamine, an indirect DA agonist, on two other putatively DA-sensitive executive functions, inhibition and motor planning, as a function of baseline performance.

Aptamer selection express: a novel method for rapid single-step selection and sensing of aptamers.

Here we describe a new DNA capture element (DCE) sensing system, based on the quenching and dequenching of a double-stranded aptamer. This system shows very good sensitivity and thermal stability. While quenching, dequenching, and separating the DCE systems made from different aptamers (all selected by SELEX), an alternative method to rapidly select aptamers was developed-the Aptamer Selection Express (ASExp).

Summary of the 1st Schizophrenia International Research Society Conference oral sessions, Venice, Italy, June 21-25, 2008: the rapporteur reports.

The Schizophrenia International Research Society held its first scientific conference in Venice, Italy, June 21 to 25th, 2008. A wide range of controversial topics were presented in overlapping and plenary oral sessions. These included new genetic studies, controversies about early detection of schizophrenia and the prodrome, treatment issues, clinical characteristics, cognition, neuropathology and neurophysiology, other etiological considerations, substance abuse co-morbidity, and animal models for investigating disease etiology and for use as targets in drug studies.

Functional MRI characteristics of a focal region of cortical malformation not associated with seizure onset.

Neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that heterotopic tissue of patients with "double cortex" is activated during motor and somatosensory tasks. Activation in patients with malformations of cortical development (MCD) has been variable, likely due to the heterogeneity of the disorder. We examined clinical, electroencephalography (EEG), neuropsychological, and functional MRI findings in a patient with intractable epilepsy secondary to MCD in the left temporal cortex.

Fluorescence assay based on aptamer-quantum dot binding to Bacillus thuringiensis spores.

A novel assay was developed for the detection of Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) spores. The assay is based on the fluorescence observed after binding an aptamer-quantum dot conjugate to BT spores. The in vitro selection and amplification technique called SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential enrichment) was used in order to identify the DNA aptamer sequence specific for BT.

Evaluation of spatial working memory function in children and adults with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and functional MRI studies involving n-back spatial working memory (WM) tasks were conducted in adults and children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), and in age- and sex-matched controls. FMRI experiments demonstrated consistent activations in regions of the brain associated with working memory. Children with FASD displayed greater inferior-middle frontal lobe activity, while greater superior frontal and parietal lobe activity was observed in controls.

Time flies when you're having fun: temporal estimation and the experience of boredom.

Boredom is a common experience in healthy individuals and may be elevated in various neurological or psychiatric conditions. As yet, very little is known about the cognitive or neural bases of the subjective experience of boredom. We examined temporal perception and the temporal allocation of attention in healthy individuals reporting high- or low-levels of boredom.