Maturation of conventional dendritic cells (cDCs) is crucial for maintaining tolerogenic safeguards against auto-immunity and for promoting immunogenic responses to pathogens and cancer. The subcellular mechanism for cDC maturation remains poorly defined. We show that cDCs mature by leveraging an internal reservoir of cholesterol (harnessed from extracellular cell debris and generated by de novo synthesis) to assemble lipid nanodomains on cell surfaces of maturing cDCs, enhance expression of maturation markers and stabilize immune receptor signaling.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Studies have demonstrated successful outcomes with early weightbearing following open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) of specific ankle fractures. The external validity of an early weightbearing protocol and its effects on patient-reported outcome information scores (PROMIS) has yet to be investigated. This study aimed to investigate the effects of an early weightbearing protocol for all operatively treated ankle fractures and its impact on clinical outcomes and complications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of word choice on the quality of narrative feedback in ophthalmology resident trainee assessments following the introduction of competency-based medical education at Queen's University.
Methods: Assessment data from July 2017-December 2020 were retrieved from Elentra (Integrated Teaching and Learning Platform) and anonymized. Written feedback was assigned a Quality of Assessment for Learning (QuAL) score out of five based on this previously validated rubric.