Enhancing Orthopedic Infection Control: Carbon Scaffold-Mediated Phage Therapy for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Fracture-Related Infections.

Fracture-related infections are burdensome conditions that affect both a patient's health and financial well-being. Preventing an infection and stabilizing the fracture are critical aspects in a care plan that rely on antibiotics and orthopedic implants, both which need to be improved. Bacteriophage or phage are viruses that specifically kill bacteria and are a promising alternative/companion to antibiotics while enhanced orthopedic implants that are osteoinductive and biodegradable are needed for bone healing.

Evaluating Thera-101 as a Low-Volume Resuscitation Fluid in a Model of Polytrauma.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and hemorrhage remain challenging to treat in austere conditions. Developing a therapeutic to mitigate the associated pathophysiology is critical to meet this treatment gap, especially as these injuries and associated high mortality are possibly preventable. Here, Thera-101 (T-101) was evaluated as low-volume resuscitative fluid in a rat model of TBI and hemorrhage.

Travel from the United Kingdom to the United States by a Symptomatic Patient Infected with the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 Variant - Texas, January 2021.

In December 2020, the B.1.1.

Evaluation of Time to Benefit of Statins for the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Events in Adults Aged 50 to 75 Years: A Meta-analysis.

Importance: Guidelines recommend targeting preventive interventions toward older adults whose life expectancy is greater than the intervention's time to benefit (TTB). The TTB for statin therapy is unknown.

Objective: To conduct a survival meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials of statins to determine the TTB for prevention of a first major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE) in adults aged 50 to 75 years.

Patient-reported measures of well-being in older multiple myeloma patients: use of secondary data source.

Background: Changes in well-being of patients with multiple myeloma (MM) before and after diagnosis have not been quantified.

Aims: Explore the use of secondary data to examine the changes in the well-being of older patients with MM.

Methods: We used the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), linked to Medicare claims to identify older MM patients.

Contribution of FcɛRI-associated vesicles to mast cell-macrophage communication following Francisella tularensis infection.

Understanding innate immune intercellular communication following microbial infection remains a key biological issue. Using live cell imaging, we demonstrate that mast cells actively extend cellular projections to sample the macrophage periphery during Francisella tularensis LVS infection. Mast cell MHCII(hi) expression was elevated from less than 1% to 13% during LVS infection.

Memantine Improves Attentional Processes in Fragile X-Associated Tremor/Ataxia Syndrome: Electrophysiological Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Progressive cognitive deficits are common in patients with fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS), with no targeted treatment yet established. In this substudy of the first randomized controlled trial for FXTAS, we examined the effects of NMDA antagonist memantine on attention and working memory. Data were analyzed for patients (24 in each arm) who completed both the primary memantine trial and two EEG recordings (at baseline and follow-up) using an auditory "oddball" task.

Chlamydia pneumoniae promotes dysfunction of pancreatic beta cells.

The human pathogen Chlamydia pneumoniae has been implicated in chronic inflammatory diseases including type 2 diabetes. Therefore, we designed a study to evaluate pancreatic beta cells and mast cells during chlamydial infection. Our study revealed that C.

NMDA blockade inhibits experience-dependent modification of anterior thalamic head direction cells.

Head Direction (HD) cells of the rodent Papez circuit are thought to reflect the spatial orientation of the animal. Because NMDA transmission is important for spatial behavior, we sought to determine the effects of NMDA blockade on the basic directional signal carried by HD cells and on experience-dependent modification of this system. In Experiment 1, HD cells were recorded from the anterior dorsal thalamus in female Long-Evans rats while they foraged in a familiar enclosure following administration of the NMDA antagonist CPP or saline.

T cell interleukin-15 surface expression in chimpanzees infected with human immunodeficiency virus.

Interleukin-15 (IL-15) contributes to natural killer cell development and immune regulation. However, IL-15 and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) production are significantly reduced during progression to AIDS. We have previously reported that HIV infected chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) express CD3-CD8+ IFN-γ+ natural killer (NK) cells with an inverse correlation to plasma HIV viral load.

Advanced microscopy of star-shaped gold nanoparticles and their adsorption-uptake by macrophages.

Metallic nanoparticles have diverse applications in biomedicine, as diagnostics, image contrast agents, nanosensors and drug delivery systems. Anisotropic metallic nanoparticles possess potential applications in cell imaging and therapy + diagnostics (theranostics), but controlled synthesis and growth of these anisotropic or branched nanostructures has been challenging and usually require use of high concentrations of surfactants. Star-shaped gold nanoparticles were synthesized in high yield through a seed mediated route using HEPES as a precise shape-directing capping agent.

Mast cells: multitalented facilitators of protection against bacterial pathogens.

Mast cells are crucial effector cells evoking immune responses against bacterial pathogens. The positioning of mast cells at the host-environment interface, and the multitude of pathogen-recognition receptors and preformed mediator granules make these cells potentially the earliest to respond to an invading pathogen. In this review, the authors summarize the receptors used by mast cells to recognize invading bacteria and discuss the function of immune mediators released by mast cells in control of bacterial infection.

Comparison of bone marrow-derived and mucosal mast cells in controlling intramacrophage Francisella tularensis replication.

Although the importance of mast cells (MCs) in response to allergens has been characterized extensively, the contribution of these cells in host defense against bacterial pathogens is not well understood. Previously, we have demonstrated that the release of interleukin-4 by bone marrow-derived MCs inhibits intramacrophage replication of Francisella tularensis live vaccine strain (LVS). Because pneumonic tularemia is one of the several manifestations of infection by Francisella, it is important to determine whether MCs present in mucosal tissues, i.

Mast cell TLR2 signaling is crucial for effective killing of Francisella tularensis.

TLR signaling is critical for early host defense against pathogens, but the contributions of mast cell TLR-mediated mechanisms and subsequent effector functions during pulmonary infection are largely unknown. We have previously demonstrated that mast cells, through the production of IL-4, effectively control Francisella tularensis replication. In this study, the highly human virulent strain of F.

Non-FcεR bearing mast cells secrete sufficient interleukin-4 to control Francisella tularensis replication within macrophages.

Mast cells have classically been implicated in the triggering of allergic and anaphylactic reactions. However, recent findings have elucidated the ability of these cells to selectively release a variety of cytokines leading to bacterial clearance through neutrophil and dendritic cell mobilization, and suggest an important role in innate host defenses. Our laboratory has established a primary bone marrow derived mast cell-macrophage co-culture system and found that mast cells mediated a significant inhibition of Francisella tularensis live vaccine strain (LVS) uptake and replication within macrophages through contact and the secreted product interleukin-4 (IL-4).

Tryptophan prototrophy contributes to Francisella tularensis evasion of gamma interferon-mediated host defense.

Francisella tularensis is able to survive and replicate within host macrophages, a trait that is associated with the high virulence of this bacterium. The trpAB genes encode the enzymes required for the final two steps in tryptophan biosynthesis, with TrpB being responsible for the conversion of indole to tryptophan. Consistent with this function, an F.

Mast cells inhibit intramacrophage Francisella tularensis replication via contact and secreted products including IL-4.

Francisella tularensis is an intracellular, Gram-negative bacterium that is the causative agent of pulmonary tularemia. The pathogenesis and mechanisms related to innate resistance against F. tularensis are not completely understood.

Influence of interleukin-15 on CD8+ natural killer cells in human immunodeficiency virus type 1-infected chimpanzees.

Chimpanzees are susceptible to human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) and develop persistent infection but generally do not progress to full-blown AIDS. Several host and immunological factors have been implicated in mediating resistance to disease progression. Chimpanzees have a higher prevalence of circulating natural killer (NK) cells than humans; however, their role in mediating resistance to disease progression is not well understood.