Publications by authors named "David Boyd"

Tobacco use during pregnancy has many deleterious health consequences for not only the smoking mother, but also on the unborn fetus. Children of smoking mothers are reported to have higher frequency and severity of respiratory diseases later in life; however, the mechanisms driving this increased vulnerability are not clearly understood. One potential cause of increased disease susceptibility is an altered immune system, originating in epigenetically maladaptive hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs).

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Identifying conserved mechanisms used by viruses to delay host innate responses can reveal potential targets for antiviral therapeutics. Here, we investigated coronavirus nonstructural protein 15 (nsp15), which encodes a highly conserved endoribonuclease (EndoU). EndoU functions as an immune antagonist by limiting the accumulation of viral replication intermediates that would otherwise be sensed by the host.

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We examined global records of accessible natural history voucher collections (with publicly available data and reliable locality data) for terrestrial and freshwater vascular plants, fungi, freshwater fishes, birds, mammals, and herpetofauna (amphibians and reptiles) and highlight areas of the world that would be considered undersampled and sometimes called 'unexplored' (., have relatively low, or no evidence of, past sampling efforts) under typical Western-scientific descriptions. We also question what 'unexplored' may mean in these contexts and explain how replacing the term in favor of more nuanced phrasing (.

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Influenza A virus (IAV) infections can cause life-threatening illness in humans. The severity of disease is directly linked to virus replication in the alveoli of the lower respiratory tract. In particular, the lytic death of infected alveolar epithelial cells (AECs) is a major driver of influenza severity.

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Phospholipid scramblase 1 (PLSCR1) is an antiviral interferon-stimulated gene (ISG) that has several known anti-influenza functions such as interfering with viral nuclear import, regulating toll-like receptor (TLR) 9 and potentiating the expression of other ISGs. However, the exact mechanisms of anti-flu activity of PLSCR1 in relation to its expression compartment and enzymatic activity, and the molecular and cellular mechanisms involved have not been completely explored. Moreover, only limited animal models have been studied to delineate its role at the tissue level in influenza infections.

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Article Synopsis
  • Breast cancer's complexity necessitates a deeper understanding of cellular diversity to improve treatment methods, particularly by studying genetic variations in its subtypes at a single-cell level.
  • This study integrates single-cell RNA sequencing from various sources, resulting in a diverse dataset of 117 samples, which include different breast cancer subtypes like HR+, HER2+, and TNBC, to analyze similarities and differences across models.
  • Results show that PDX models better reflect patient samples than TNBC cell lines, with therapeutic efficacy linked to subtype proportions, underscoring the importance of these findings for preclinical research decisions in breast cancer treatment development.*
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The taxonomy of the Parachela-Oxygaster-Macrochirichthys clade of Xenocyprididae has been confused since the original descriptions of Parachela oxygastroides and Parachela hypophthalmus in the mid-19th century. The confusion seems attributable to the substantial intraspecific variation in color and other morphological characteristics of species of Oxygaster and Parachela. Morphological data on 401 specimens from throughout the range of Parachela and molecular phylogenetic analyses indicate that six available species names for Parachela are valid: Parachela cyanea, P.

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Respiratory infections cause significant morbidity and mortality, yet it is unclear why some individuals succumb to severe disease. In patients hospitalized with avian A(H7N9) influenza, we investigated early drivers underpinning fatal disease. Transcriptomics strongly linked oleoyl-acyl-carrier-protein (ACP) hydrolase (OLAH), an enzyme mediating fatty acid production, with fatal A(H7N9) early after hospital admission, persisting until death.

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Obesity, and the associated metabolic syndrome, is a risk factor for increased disease severity with a variety of infectious agents, including influenza virus. Yet, the mechanisms are only partially understood. As the number of people, particularly children, living with obesity continues to rise, it is critical to understand the role of host status on disease pathogenesis.

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Article Synopsis
  • Severe influenza A virus can cause serious issues like lung damage and breathing problems, and there are currently no good medicines to treat it.
  • A new drug called UH15-38 has been created to stop a harmful process (called necroptosis) that makes the lung problems worse during severe infections.
  • Tests showed that UH15-38 helped reduce lung inflammation and saved lives in infected patients, even when given later in the illness, making it a promising option for treating severe influenza and related conditions.
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Objective: Little research explores military perspectives on medical disability-related transition. A qualitative study sought to understand transition experiences of United States military Service members found unfit for duty following medical and physical evaluation boards (MEBs and PEBs).

Methods: Confidential telephone interviews were conducted with 25 current and prior Service members.

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The development of mRNA vaccines has increased rapidly since the COVID-19 pandemic. As one of the critical attributes, understanding mRNA lipid nanoparticle (LNP) stability is critical in the vaccine product development. However, the correlation between LNPs' physiochemical characteristics and their potency still remains unclear.

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Objective: To examine the impact of pre-fellowship publications on future research productivity and career placement among head and neck (H&N) surgery fellowship graduates.

Methods: H&N surgery fellowship graduates between 2014 and 2022 were identified from publicly available data. Timing of fellowship graduation, number of publications during each stage of education and training, and number of first authorship publications were analyzed for association with scholarly productivity and academic career placement.

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Unlabelled: Obesity, and the associated metabolic syndrome, is a risk factor for increased disease severity with a variety of infectious agents, including influenza virus. Yet the mechanisms are only partially understood. As the number of people, particularly children, living with obesity continues to rise, it is critical to understand the role of host status on disease pathogenesis.

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In recent years, there has been an explosion of interest in how fibroblasts initiate, sustain, and resolve inflammation across disease states. Fibroblasts contain heterogeneous subsets with diverse functionality. The phenotypes of these populations vary depending on their spatial distribution within the tissue and the immunopathologic cues contributing to disease progression.

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Garra panitvongi, new species, is described from the Ataran River drainage, Salween River basin, of southeastern Myanmar and western Thailand. It is the sixth species of Garra known from the Salween River basin and is readily distinguished from all congeners by the red-orange color of the body and caudal fin, and a pointed proboscis with a blue stripe on each side from the anterior margin of the orbit to the tip of the proboscis and with the stripes forming a V-shape. Garra panitvongi is known in the aquarium trade as the Redtail Garra.

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Article Synopsis
  • Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women, with estrogen receptor positive (ER+) being the most common subtype.
  • Improved survival rates for ER+ breast cancer patients are largely thanks to antiestrogen treatments like tamoxifen, but about 30% of patients face recurrence and treatment resistance.
  • This study identifies two new combination therapies (simeprevir and VX-680) that, when paired with tamoxifen, significantly lower tumor levels in animal models and could enhance the effectiveness of tamoxifen in treating ER+ breast cancer.
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Astroviruses cause a spectrum of diseases spanning asymptomatic infections to severe diarrhea, but little is understood about their pathogenesis. We previously determined that small intestinal goblet cells were the main cell type infected by murine astrovirus-1. Here, we focused on the host immune response to infection and inadvertently discovered a role for indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (Ido1), a host tryptophan catabolizing enzyme, in the cellular tropism of murine and human astroviruses.

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This audit collates data on alcohol-related gastrointestinal (GI) admissions at Monash Health, Victoria, during the prolonged, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related lockdown July to October 2020 compared with the same periods in 2019 and 2021. We found a 58% increase in admissions in 2020 and a 16% increase in 2021, which also increased disproportionately to overall health service emergency presentations. Self-reported alcohol consumption increased by 2.

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Article Synopsis
  • Basal-like triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is tough to treat because of its resistance mechanisms, but it typically has a highly active PI3K pathway instead of PIK3CA mutations.
  • BYL-719, a PIK3CA inhibitor with minimal drug interactions, has shown promise in combination therapies, particularly in cases where other treatments have failed.
  • Research using patient-derived xenografts identified effective drug combinations involving BYL-719 and other compounds, suggesting a new treatment approach for cancers driven by PIK3CA and related pathways.
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This study investigated the mechanism of carbapenem resistance in an complex positive by the modified carbapenem inactivation method (mCIM) but negative by the Rosco Neo-Rapid Carb Kit, β CARBA, and conventional PCR for common carbapenemase genes (KPC, NDM, OXA-48, IMP, VIM, GES, and IMI/NMC). Using whole genome sequencing (WGS) data we confirmed the identification of (ST1639) and the presence of located on a 148kb IncFII(Yp) plasmid. This is the first occurrence of a clinical isolate harboring the FRI-8 carbapenemase and the second occurrence of FRI in Canada.

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Privately protected areas (PPAs) are a potentially innovative conservation tool. Legal recognition is necessary for their success, especially where there are institutional challenges to nature conservation, such as in South America. Although PPAs have increased in South America since the early 2000s, there is a critical information gap pertaining to their legal frameworks.

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Article Synopsis
  • Racial and ethnic minority groups have faced greater challenges from COVID-19, prompting a study to analyze how these factors relate to critical clinical outcomes, like the need for ventilation and mortality rates.
  • The study analyzed data from 2,931 patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19 from March to July 2020, separating them into non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic groups, finding significant differences in age and health outcomes among the groups.
  • Black and Hispanic patients showed higher odds of requiring mechanical ventilation compared to White patients, but once age was considered, there were no significant differences in death rates between these racial groups.
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The goals of this study were to identify transcriptomic changes that arise in basal-like breast cancer cells during the development of resistance to epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors (EGFRi) and to identify drugs that are cytotoxic once EGFRi resistance occurs. Human patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) were grown in immunodeficient mice and treated with a set of EGFRi; the EGFRi erlotinib was selected for more expansive in vivo studies. Single-cell RNA sequencing was performed on mammary tumors from the basal-like PDX WHIM2 that was treated with vehicle or erlotinib for 9 weeks.

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