A bacterial membrane-disrupting protein stimulates animal metamorphosis.

Unlabelled: Diverse marine animals undergo a metamorphic larval-to-juvenile transition in response to surface-bound bacteria. Although this host-microbe interaction is critical to establishing and maintaining marine animal populations, the functional activity of bacterial products and how they activate the host's metamorphosis program has not yet been defined for any animal. The marine bacterium stimulates the metamorphosis of a tubeworm called by producing a molecular syringe called metamorphosis-associated contractile structures (MACs).

Draft genome sequences of sp. MMG031 and sp. MMG032 isolated from the dinoflagellate .

Here, we report the draft genome sequences of sp. MMG031 and sp. MMG032, isolated from coral-associated dinoflagellate , assembled and analyzed by undergraduate students participating in a Marine Microbial Genomics (MMG) course.

Genetic load determines atrophy in hand cortico-striatal pathways in presymptomatic Huntington's disease.

Huntington's disease (HD) is an inherited neurodegenerative disorder that causes progressive breakdown of striatal neurons. Standard white matter integrity measures like fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity derived from diffusion tensor imaging were analyzed in prodromal-HD subjects; however, they studied either a whole brain or specific subcortical white matter structures with connections to cortical motor areas. In this work, we propose a novel analysis of a longitudinal cohort of 243 prodromal-HD individuals and 88 healthy controls who underwent two or more diffusion MRI scans as part of the PREDICT-HD study.

Co-clinical quantitative tumor volume imaging in ALK-rearranged NSCLC treated with crizotinib.

Purpose: To evaluate and compare the volumetric tumor burden changes during crizotinib therapy in mice and human cohorts with ALK-rearranged non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods: Volumetric tumor burden was quantified on serial imaging studies in 8 bitransgenic mice with ALK-rearranged adenocarcinoma treated with crizotinib, and in 33 human subjects with ALK-rearranged NSCLC treated with crizotinib. The volumetric tumor burden changes and the time to maximal response were compared between mice and humans.

Quantitative examination of a novel clustering method using magnetic resonance diffusion tensor tractography.

MR diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) can measure and visualize organization of white matter fibre tracts in vivo. DTI is a relatively new imaging technique, and new tools developed for quantifying fibre tracts require evaluation. The purpose of this study was to compare the reliability of a novel clustering approach with a multiple region of interest (MROI) approach in both healthy and disease (schizophrenia) populations.

Shape of caudate nucleus and its cognitive correlates in neuroleptic-naive schizotypal personality disorder.

Background: We measured the shape of the head of the caudate nucleus with a new approach based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) subjects in whom we previously reported decreased caudate nucleus volume. We believe MRI shape analysis complements traditional MRI volume measurements.

Methods: Magnetic resonance imaging scans were used to measure the shape of the caudate nucleus in 15 right-handed male subjects with SPD, who had no prior neuroleptic exposure, and in 14 matched normal comparison subjects.