Broad Cross-Protection Is Induced in Preclinical Models by a Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Composed of L1/L2 Chimeric Virus-Like Particles.

Unlabelled: At least 15 high-risk human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are linked to anogenital preneoplastic lesions and cancer. Currently, there are three licensed prophylactic HPV vaccines based on virus-like particles (VLPs) of the L1 major capsid protein from HPV-2, -4, or -9, including the AS04-adjuvanted HPV-16/18 L1 vaccine. The L2 minor capsid protein contains HPV-neutralizing epitopes that are well conserved across numerous high-risk HPVs.

Magnetic field controlled charge density wave coupling in underdoped YBa2Cu3O6+x.

The application of magnetic fields to layered cuprates suppresses their high-temperature superconducting behaviour and reveals competing ground states. In widely studied underdoped YBa2Cu3O6+x (YBCO), the microscopic nature of field-induced electronic and structural changes at low temperatures remains unclear. Here we report an X-ray study of the high-field charge density wave (CDW) in YBCO.

Association of hospital admission service structure with early transfer to critical care, hospital readmission, and length of stay.

Background: Hospital medical groups use various staffing models that may systematically affect care continuity during the admission process.

Objective: To compare the effect of 2 hospitalist admission service models ("general" and "admitter-rounder") on patient disposition and length of stay.

Design: Retrospective observational cohort study with difference-in-difference analysis.

Early Diastolic Strain Rate in Relation to Systolic and Diastolic Function and Prognosis in Aortic Stenosis.

Objectives: This study examined the impact of early mitral inflow velocity-to-early diastolic strain rate (E/SRe) ratio on long-term outcome after aortic valve replacement (AVR) in aortic stenosis (AS).

Background: In AS, increased filling pressures are associated with a poor prognosis and can be estimated using the early diastolic mitral inflow velocity-to-early diastolic velocity of the mitral annulus (E/e') ratio. Recent studies suggest that the E/SRe ratio surpasses the E/e' ratio in estimating outcome.

GW150914: The Advanced LIGO Detectors in the Era of First Discoveries.

Following a major upgrade, the two advanced detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) held their first observation run between September 2015 and January 2016. With a strain sensitivity of 10^{-23}/sqrt[Hz] at 100 Hz, the product of observable volume and measurement time exceeded that of all previous runs within the first 16 days of coincident observation. On September 14, 2015, the Advanced LIGO detectors observed a transient gravitational-wave signal determined to be the coalescence of two black holes [B.

GW150914: Implications for the Stochastic Gravitational-Wave Background from Binary Black Holes.

The LIGO detection of the gravitational wave transient GW150914, from the inspiral and merger of two black holes with masses ≳30M_{⊙}, suggests a population of binary black holes with relatively high mass. This observation implies that the stochastic gravitational-wave background from binary black holes, created from the incoherent superposition of all the merging binaries in the Universe, could be higher than previously expected. Using the properties of GW150914, we estimate the energy density of such a background from binary black holes.

Hemodynamic responses to mental stress during salt loading.

Purpose: The purpose was to examine whether prolonged moderate stress associated with a student exam would increase the blood pressure response to a salt load in young healthy normotensive individuals.

Methods: Ten healthy young subjects were examined at two different occasions in random order (i) during preparation for a medical exam (prolonged stress) and (ii) outside the exam period (low stress). All subjects consumed a controlled diet for 3 days with low- or high-salt content in randomized order.

Targeted Doxorubicin Delivery to Brain Tumors via Minicells: Proof of Principle Using Dogs with Spontaneously Occurring Tumors as a Model.

Background: Cytotoxic chemotherapy can be very effective for the treatment of cancer but toxicity on normal tissues often limits patient tolerance and often causes long-term adverse effects. The objective of this study was to assist in the preclinical development of using modified, non-living bacterially-derived minicells to deliver the potent chemotherapeutic doxorubicin via epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) targeting. Specifically, this study sought to evaluate the safety and efficacy of EGFR targeted, doxorubicin loaded minicells (designated EGFRminicellsDox) to deliver doxorubicin to spontaneous brain tumors in 17 companion dogs; a comparative oncology model of human brain cancers.

The Importance of Reagent Lot Registration in External Quality Assurance/Proficiency Testing Schemes.

Background: Providers of external quality assurance (EQA)/proficiency testing schemes have traditionally focused on evaluation of measurement procedures and participant performance and little attention has been given to reagent lot variation. The aim of the present study was to show the importance of reagent lot registration and evaluation in EQA schemes.

Methods: Results from the Noklus (Norwegian Quality Improvement of Primary Care Laboratories) urine albumin/creatinine ratio (ACR) and prothrombin time international normalized ratio (INR) point-of-care EQA schemes from 2009-2015 were used as examples in this study.

Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger.

On September 14, 2015 at 09:50:45 UTC the two detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory simultaneously observed a transient gravitational-wave signal. The signal sweeps upwards in frequency from 35 to 250 Hz with a peak gravitational-wave strain of 1.0×10(-21).

Construction of Insulin 18-mer Nanoassemblies Driven by Coordination to Iron(II) and Zinc(II) Ions at Distinct Sites.

Controlled self-assembly (SA) of proteins offers the possibility to tune their properties or to create new materials. Herein, we present the synthesis of a modified human insulin (HI) with two distinct metal-ion binding sites, one native, the other abiotic, enabling hierarchical SA through coordination with two different metal ions. Selective attachment of an abiotic 2,2'-bipyridine (bipy) ligand to HI, yielding HI-bipy, enabled Zn(II)-binding hexamers to SA into trimers of hexamers, [[HI-bipy]6]3, driven by octahedral coordination to a Fe(II)  ion.

Sudden cardiac death in asymptomatic aortic stenosis: is the valve to blame?

An active 68-year-old man with asymptomatic severe aortic stenosis and normal functional capacity on a conventional bicycle exercise test underwent a haemodynamic stress test with simultaneous invasive haemodynamic monitoring and echocardiography during supine bicycle testing as part of a research project. With exercise, the patient developed pulmonary venous hypertension and mild regional wall motion abnormalities on echocardiography. The patient terminated the test due to exhaustion.

Characterization of a 0.35T MR system for phantom image quality stability and in vivo assessment of motion quantification.

ViewRay is a novel MR-guided radiotherapy system capable of imaging in near real-time at four frames per second during treatment using 0.35T field strength. It allows for improved gating techniques and adaptive radiotherapy.

Evaluation of a standardised real-time PCR based DNA-detection method (Realstar®) in whole blood for the diagnosis of primary human cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections in immunocompetent patients.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNA detection in blood could, as a supplementary test to serology, improve the accuracy and speed of diagnosis of an acute CMV infection. In this study we evaluated the performance of a commercially available and standardised CMV PCR assay in whole blood for the diagnosis of a primary infection in immunocompetent adults. Moreover, the kinetics of viral DNA was evaluated in order to provide a time frame in which viral DNA could be detected during an acute primary infection.

The microscopic structure of charge density waves in underdoped YBa2Cu3O6.54 revealed by X-ray diffraction.

Charge density wave (CDW) order appears throughout the underdoped high-temperature cuprate superconductors, but the underlying symmetry breaking and the origin of the CDW remain unclear. We use X-ray diffraction to determine the microscopic structure of the CDWs in an archetypical cuprate YBa2Cu3O6.54 at its superconducting transition temperature ∼ 60 K.

Mouse papillomavirus MmuPV1 infects oral mucosa and preferentially targets the base of the tongue.

In 2010, a new mouse papillomavirus, MmuPV1, was discovered in a colony of NMRI- Foxn1(nu)/Foxn1(nu) athymic mice in India. This finding was significant because it was the first papillomavirus to be found in a laboratory mouse. In this paper we report successful infections of both dorsal and ventral surfaces of the rostral tongues of outbred athymic nude mice.

Specificity of the Metalloregulator CueR for Monovalent Metal Ions: Possible Functional Role of a Coordinated Thiol?

Metal-ion-responsive transcriptional regulators within the MerR family effectively discriminate between mono- and divalent metal ions. Herein we address the origin of the specificity of the CueR protein for monovalent metal ions. Several spectroscopic techniques were employed to study Ag(I) , Zn(II) , and Hg(II) binding to model systems encompassing the metal-ion-binding loop of CueR from E.

Gravitational waves: search results, data analysis and parameter estimation: Amaldi 10 Parallel session C2.

The Amaldi 10 Parallel Session C2 on gravitational wave (GW) search results, data analysis and parameter estimation included three lively sessions of lectures by 13 presenters, and 34 posters. The talks and posters covered a huge range of material, including results and analysis techniques for ground-based GW detectors, targeting anticipated signals from different astrophysical sources: compact binary inspiral, merger and ringdown; GW bursts from intermediate mass binary black hole mergers, cosmic string cusps, core-collapse supernovae, and other unmodeled sources; continuous waves from spinning neutron stars; and a stochastic GW background. There was considerable emphasis on Bayesian techniques for estimating the parameters of coalescing compact binary systems from the gravitational waveforms extracted from the data from the advanced detector network.

The U4 Antibody Epitope on Human Papillomavirus 16 Identified by Cryo-electron Microscopy.

Unlabelled: The human papillomavirus (HPV) major structural protein L1 composes capsomers that are linked together through interactions mediated by the L1 C terminus to constitute a T=7 icosahedral capsid. H16.U4 is a type-specific monoclonal antibody recognizing a conformation-dependent neutralizing epitope of HPV thought to include the L1 protein C terminus.

Tracking vaginal, anal and oral infection in a mouse papillomavirus infection model.

Noninvasive and practical techniques to longitudinally track viral infection are sought after in clinical practice. We report a proof-of-principle study to monitor the viral DNA copy number using a newly established mouse papillomavirus (MmuPV1) mucosal infection model. We hypothesized that viral presence could be identified and quantified by collecting lavage samples from cervicovaginal, anal and oral sites.

Durable immunity to oncogenic human papillomaviruses elicited by adjuvanted recombinant Adeno-associated virus-like particle immunogen displaying L2 17-36 epitopes.

Vaccination with the minor capsid protein L2, notably the 17-36 neutralizing epitope, induces broadly protective antibodies, although the neutralizing titers attained in serum are substantially lower than for the licensed L1 VLP vaccines. Here we examine the impact of other less reactogenic adjuvants upon the induction of durable neutralizing serum antibody responses and protective immunity after vaccination with HPV16 and HPV31 L2 amino acids 17-36 inserted at positions 587 and 453 of VP3, respectively, for surface display on Adeno-Associated Virus 2-like particles [AAVLP (HPV16/31L2)]. Mice were vaccinated three times subcutaneously with AAVLP (HPV16/31L2) at two week intervals at several doses either alone or formulated with alum, alum and MPL, RIBI adjuvant or Cervarix.

The Parasite Fauna of the Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus) in Iceland.

We examined 46 Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus) carcasses from Iceland for parasites, including 29 first-year birds and 17 second-year birds and older. Endoparasites observed were the trematodes Cryptocotyle lingua (prevalence 8%), Cryptocotyle concavum (4%), and Strigea sp. (8%); the cestode Mesocestoides sp.

Resolution and Determination of the Absolute Configuration of a Twisted Bis-Lactam Analogue of Tröger's Base: A Comparative Spectroscopic and Computational Study.

The first reported twisted bis-lactam, a racemic Tröger's base (TB) analogue (2), was resolved into its enantiomers on a chiral stationary phase HPLC column. The absolute configuration of (+)-2 was determined to be (R,R)-2 by comparing experimental and calculated vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra. The absolute configuration of (-)-2 was determined by comparing experimental and calculated electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra.