Publications by authors named "Call J"

Background: SL-172154 is a hexameric fusion protein adjoining the extracellular domain of SIRPα to the extracellular domain of CD40L via an inert IgG-derived Fc domain. In preclinical studies, a murine equivalent SIRPα-Fc-CD40L fusion protein provided superior antitumor immunity in comparison to CD47- and CD40-targeted antibodies. A first-in-human phase I trial of SL-172154 was conducted in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.

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Chimpanzees excel at inference tasks which require that they search for a single food item from partial information. Yet, when presented with 2-item tasks which test the same inference operation, chimpanzees show a consistent breakdown in performance. Here we test a diverse zoo-housed cohort (n = 24) comprising all 4 great ape species under the classic 4-cup 2-item task, previously administered to children and chimpanzees, and a modified task administered to baboons.

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Virtual environment software is increasingly being employed as a non-invasive method in primate cognition research. Familiar and novel stimuli can be presented in new ways, opening the door to studying aspects of cognition in captivity which previously may not have been feasible. Despite the increased complexity of visual input compared to more traditional computerised studies, several groups of captive primates have now been trained to navigate virtual three-dimensional environments.

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Article Synopsis
  • This study examined how two levels of low-intensity vibration training (0.6 g and 1.0 g) affected muscle and bone recovery in mice after a muscle injury known as volumetric muscle loss (VML).
  • Mice were divided into groups receiving either no treatment or varying levels of vibration training for 15 minutes a day over 8 weeks post-injury.
  • Results showed that bone structure improved with vibration training, particularly at the 1.0 g level, while muscle function showed less significant enhancement, suggesting that vibration training may be more beneficial for bone recovery than for muscle after VML.
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Although literature regarding HIV prevention among transgender and nonbinary (TNB) people has grown considerably, important gaps remain, particularly in relation to the HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) care cascade. Additional research is needed to understand when and why TNB people exit the PrEP care cascade to inform interventions to better support these populations. Moreover, most studies have focused on transgender women, though transgender men and nonbinary people also experience a disproportionate prevalence of HIV relative to cisgender populations.

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Pragmatic theories assume that during communicative exchanges humans strive to be optimally informative and spontaneously adjust their communicative signals to satisfy their addressee's inferred epistemic needs. For instance, when necessary, adults flexibly and appropriately modify their communicative gestures to provide their partner the relevant information she lacks about the situation. To investigate this ability in infants, we designed a cooperative task in which 18-month-olds were asked to point at the target object they wanted to receive.

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  • Prolonged bedrest and lack of physical activity after traumatic musculoskeletal injuries, particularly volumetric muscle loss (VML), can severely limit muscle adaptability and cause metabolic issues.
  • In a study with adult mice, activity restriction combined with VML increased carbohydrate usage and altered metabolic ratios, indicating lower capacity for fatty acid oxidation, while the overall muscle metabolome remained unchanged.
  • The findings suggest that VML injury leads to changes in fatty acid metabolism, which could be worsened by reduced activity, potentially leading to triglyceride accumulation in muscle.
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  • Peripheral nerve-crush injury promotes neuromuscular junction (NMJ) recovery, showing improved muscle function as nerve re-innervates, while volumetric muscle loss (VML) leads to permanent muscle function loss and chronic NMJ impairments.
  • In a study with adult mice, researchers compared the effects of nerve-crush versus VML on NMJ remodeling, monitoring recovery over time post-injury.
  • Results indicated that while nerve-crush injury allowed for complete recovery of muscle strength, VML resulted in persistent deficits, along with abnormal signaling and structural changes at the NMJ, with some noted sex differences in recovery rates.
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Kinetoplastid organisms, including Trypanosoma brucei, are a significant health burden in many tropical and semitropical countries. Much of their metabolism is poorly understood. To better study kinetoplastid metabolism, chemical probes that inhibit kinetoplastid enzymes are needed.

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When presented with the option of either an immediate benefit or a larger, later reward, we may behave impatiently by choosing instant gratification. Nonetheless, when we can make the same decision ahead of time and plan for the future, we tend to make more patient choices. Here, we explored whether great apes share this core feature of human decision-making, often referred to as dynamic inconsistency.

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When chimpanzees search for hidden food, do they realize that their guesses may not be correct? We applied a post-decision wagering paradigm to a simple two-cup search task, varying whether we gave participants visual access to the baiting and then asking after they had chosen one of the cups whether they would prefer a smaller but certain reward instead of their original choice (experiment 1). Results showed that chimpanzees were more likely to accept the smaller reward in occluded than visible conditions. Experiment 2 found the same effect when we blocked visual access but manipulated the number of hiding locations for the food piece, showing that the effect is not owing to representation type.

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Differences in the tool use of non-human primates and humans are subject of ongoing debate. In humans, representations of object functions underpin efficient tool use. Yet, representations of object functions can lead to functional fixedness, which describes the fixation on a familiar tool function leading to less efficient problem solving when the problem requires using the tool for a new function.

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The objectives of this study were to determine the effect of COVID-19 on physical therapy (PT) mobilization of trauma patients and to determine if mobilization affected patient course in the ICU. This retrospective study included patients who were admitted to the ICU of a level II trauma center. The patients were divided into two groups, i.

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Neophilia is a measure of individuals' attraction to novelty and is thought to provide important fitness benefits related to the acquisition of information and the ability to solve novel problems. Although neophilia is thought to vary across individuals and species, few studies have made direct comparisons to assess the factors that predict this variation. Here we operationalized neophilia as the probability of interacting with novel objects and compared the response to familiar and novel objects in 53 captive individuals belonging to seven different primate species: chimpanzees ), bonobos (), Sumatran orangutans (), gorillas (), long-tailed macaques (), tufted capuchin monkeys (), and Geoffroy's spider monkeys ().

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Background: Substance use in adolescence is associated with multiple negative outcomes. Lesbian, gay, or bisexual or transgender or nonbinary (TNB) youth, and those who question their sexual orientation or gender, are more likely to engage in substance use than straight or cisgender youth. However, the extant literature largely considers sexual orientation and gender identity independently.

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Cumulative cultural evolution has been claimed to be a uniquely human phenomenon pivotal to the biological success of our species. One plausible condition for cumulative cultural evolution to emerge is individuals' ability to use social learning to acquire know-how that they cannot easily innovate by themselves. It has been suggested that chimpanzees may be capable of such know-how social learning, but this assertion remains largely untested.

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The strength of human society can largely be attributed to the tendency to work together to achieve outcomes that are not possible alone. Effective social coordination benefits from mentally representing a partner's actions. Specifically, humans optimize social coordination by forming internal action models adapted to joint rather than individual task demands.

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Skeletal muscle development is a highly ordered process orchestrated transcriptionally by the myogenic regulatory factors. However, the downstream molecular mechanisms of myogenic regulatory factor functions in myogenesis are not fully understood. Here, we identified the RNA-binding protein Musashi2 (Msi2) as a myogenin target gene and a post-transcriptional regulator of myoblast differentiation.

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Article Synopsis
  • Chronic hypoxia exacerbates muscle atrophy and weakness in mice, significantly reducing muscle mass and strength while impairing muscle regeneration abilities.
  • The study highlights the crucial role of hypoxia-inducible factor HIF-2α in muscle stem cell proliferation and regeneration, revealing negative effects on recovery post-injury.
  • Various experimental approaches, including the use of knockout mice and specific inhibitors, were utilized to investigate the molecular mechanisms driving these effects, with statistical analyses confirming the results.
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