County-level surveillance for the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum, and its associated pathogen, Ehrlichia chaffeensis, in Kentucky.

Kentucky experiences some of the highest incidence rates for ehrlichiosis nationwide. Ehrlichiosis is a bacterial infection caused primarily by the pathogen Ehrlichia chaffeensis and can be transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected tick, notably Amblyomma americanum. Amblyomma americanum, the lone star tick, is common to Kentucky and much of the southeast, but has expanded farther north in recent years.

Mapping distributions of the Lyme disease vector, Ixodes scapularis, and spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, in Kentucky using passive and active surveillance.

Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne illness in the United States and is becoming more prevalent each year. It is transmitted to humans and animals through the bites of Ixodes scapularis ticks infected with Borrelia burgdorferi in the eastern United States, I. pacificus in the western U.

Chemogenetic silencing of neurons in retrosplenial cortex disrupts sensory preconditioning.

An essential aspect of episodic memory is the formation of associations between neutral sensory cues in the environment. In light of recent evidence that this critical aspect of learning does not require the hippocampus, we tested the involvement of the retrosplenial cortex (RSC) in this process using a chemogenetic approach that allowed us to temporarily silence neurons along the entire rostrocaudal extent of the RSC. A viral vector containing the gene for a synthetic inhibitory G-protein-coupled receptor (hM4Di) was infused into RSC.

Preliminary study of themes of meaning and psychosocial service use among informal cancer caregivers.

Objective: The burden experienced by informal caregivers (ICs) of patients with advanced cancer is well documented. ICs are at risk for anxiety and depression, as well as existential concerns that arise when a loved one is facing a terminal illness. Few psychosocial interventions focus on existential concerns of ICs.

Sandmeyer reaction repurposed for the site-selective, non-oxidizing radioiodination of fully-deprotected peptides: studies on the endogenous opioid peptide α-neoendorphin.

Standard radioiodination methods lack site-selectivity and either mask charges (Bolton-Hunter) or involve oxidative reaction conditions (chloramine-T). Opioid peptides are very sensitive to certain structural modifications, making these labeling methods untenable. In our model opioid peptide, α-neoendorphin, we replaced a tyrosyl hydroxyl with an iodine, and in cell lines stably expressing mu, delta, or kappa opioid receptors, we saw no negative effects on binding.

Synthesis and evaluation of aryl-naloxamide opiate analgesics targeting truncated exon 11-associated μ opioid receptor (MOR-1) splice variants.

3-Iodobenzoylnaltrexamide 1 (IBNtxA) is a potent analgesic acting through a novel receptor target that lack many side-effects of traditional opiates composed, in part, of exon 11-associated truncated six transmembrane domain MOR-1 (6TM/E11) splice variants. To better understand the SAR of this drug target, a number of 4,5-epoxymorphinan analogues were synthesized. Results show the importance of a free 3-phenolic group, a phenyl ring at the 6 position, an iodine at the 3'or 4' position of the phenyl ring, and an N-allyl or c-propylmethyl group to maintain high 6TM/E11 affinity and activity.

Generation of novel radiolabeled opiates through site-selective iodination.

Tritiated opioid radioligands have proven valuable in exploring opioid binding sites. However, tritium has many limitations. Its low specific activity and limited counting efficiency makes it difficult to examine low abundant, high affinity sites and its disposal is problematic due to the need to use organic scintillants and its relatively long half-life.