Identification of Parameters of Host Cell Vulnerability during Salmonella Infection by Quantitative Image Analysis and Modeling.

targets and enters epithelial cells at permissive entry sites: some cells are more likely to be infected than others. However, the parameters that lead to host cell heterogeneity are not known. Here, we quantitatively characterized host cell vulnerability to infection based on imaged parameters.

An objective comparison of cell-tracking algorithms.

We present a combined report on the results of three editions of the Cell Tracking Challenge, an ongoing initiative aimed at promoting the development and objective evaluation of cell segmentation and tracking algorithms. With 21 participating algorithms and a data repository consisting of 13 data sets from various microscopy modalities, the challenge displays today's state-of-the-art methodology in the field. We analyzed the challenge results using performance measures for segmentation and tracking that rank all participating methods.

Structure, function and regulation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa porins.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a Gram-negative bacterium belonging to the γ-proteobacteria. Like other members of the Pseudomonas genus, it is known for its metabolic versatility and its ability to colonize a wide range of ecological niches, such as rhizosphere, water environments and animal hosts, including humans where it can cause severe infections. Another particularity of P.

Mouse subthalamic nucleus neurons with local axon collaterals.

The neuronal population of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) has the ability to prolong incoming cortical excitation. This could result from intra-STN feedback excitation. The combination of inducible genetic fate mapping techniques with in vitro targeted patch-clamp recordings, allowed identifying a new type of STN neurons that possess a highly collateralized intrinsic axon.

Exposure to human-associated fecal indicators and self-reported illness among swimmers at recreational beaches: a cohort study.

Background: Fecal indicator bacteria used to assess illness risks in recreational waters (e.g., Escherichia coli, Enterococci) cannot discriminate among pollution sources.

ICM conversion to epiblast by FGF/ERK inhibition is limited in time and requires transcription and protein degradation.

Inner cell Mass (ICM) specification into epiblast (Epi) and primitive endoderm (PrE) is an asynchronous and progressive process taking place between E3.0 to E3.75 under the control of the Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF)/Extracellular signal-Regulated Kinase (ERK) signaling pathway.

Trajectories of Fear-Avoidance Beliefs on Physical Activity Over Two Years in People With Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Objective: To identify and describe 2-year trajectories of fear-avoidance beliefs on physical activity and to identify predictors of these trajectories in people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: We included 2,569 persons with RA (77% women, mean age 58 years). Data on fear-avoidance beliefs (Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire physical activity subscale [FABQ-PA]; range 0-24), sociodemographics, disease-related variables, self-efficacy, and health-enhancing physical activity (HEPA) were collected from registers and by questionnaires at baseline, 14, and 26 months.

Is there a role for IL-17 in the pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis?

In systemic sclerosis (SSc) immuno-inflammatory events are central to disease development. Amongst other mediators of inflammation, interleukin 17 (IL-17) and Th17 cells have been reported to be increased in the peripheral blood and target organs including involved skin in SSc. They participate and amplify inflammatory responses by inducing the production of cytokines such as IL-6, chemokines such as CCL2 and CXCL8 (IL-8), matrix metalloproteinases-1, -2, -9 and the expression of adhesion molecules in stromal cells including fibroblasts and endothelial cells.

Foot Pain in Relation to Ipsilateral and Contralateral Lower-Extremity Pain in a Population-Based Study.

Background: Clinical observations note that foot pain can be linked to contralateral pain at the knee or hip, yet we are unaware of any community-based studies that have investigated the sidedness of pain. Because clinic-based patient samples are often different from the general population, the purpose of this study was to determine whether knee or hip pain is more prevalent with contralateral foot pain than with ipsilateral foot pain in a population-based cohort.

Methods: Framingham Foot Study participants (2002-2008) with information on foot, knee, and hip pain were included in this cross-sectional analysis.

BioFlow: a non-invasive, image-based method to measure speed, pressure and forces inside living cells.

Cell motility is governed by a complex molecular machinery that converts physico-chemical cues into whole-cell movement. Understanding the underlying biophysical mechanisms requires the ability to measure physical quantities inside the cell in a simple, reproducible and preferably non-invasive manner. To this end, we developed BioFlow, a computational mechano-imaging method and associated software able to extract intracellular measurements including pressure, forces and velocity everywhere inside freely moving cells in two and three dimensions with high spatial resolution in a non-invasive manner.

Integrated preservation and sample clean up procedures for studying water ingestion by recreational swimmers via urinary biomarker determination.

The use of cyanuric acid as a biomarker for ingestion of swimming pool water may lead to quantitative knowledge of the volume of water ingested during swimming, contributing to a better understanding of disease resulting from ingestion of environmental contaminants. When swimming pool water containing chlorinated cyanurates is inadvertently ingested, cyanuric acid is excreted quantitatively within 24 h as a urinary biomarker of ingestion. Because the volume of water ingested can be quantitatively estimated by calculation from the concentration of cyanuric acid in 24 h urine samples, a procedure for preservation, cleanup, and analysis of cyanuric acid was developed to meet the logistical demands of large scale studies.

Comparison of the Systemic and Local Pharmacokinetics of Clonidine Mucoadhesive Buccal Tablets with Reference Clonidine Oral Tablets in Healthy Volunteers: An Open-Label Randomised Cross-Over Trial.

Introduction: The clonidine mucoadhesive buccal tablet (MBT) is a novel delivery system resulting in high and sustained concentrations of clonidine in the oral cavity. In a phase II clinical trial, clonidine MBT reduced the incidence of severe oral mucositis (OM) compared to placebo in head and neck cancer patients undergoing chemoradiation. This study compared the pharmacokinetics (PK), safety and tolerability of clonidine MBT with a reference oral tablet (OT).

Combination of t(4;14), del(17p13), del(1p32) and 1q21 gain FISH probes identifies clonal heterogeneity and enhances the detection of adverse cytogenetic profiles in 233 newly diagnosed multiple myeloma.

Background: Our aim was to set the FISH combination of del(17p13), t(4;14), 1q21 gain and del(1p32), four adverse cytogenetic factors rarely evaluated together, and compare our technical thresholds with those defined in the literature.

Methods: Two hundred thirty-three patients with MM at diagnosis were studied using FISH to target 4 unfavorable cytogenetic abnormalities: 17p13 deletion, t(4;14) translocation, 1p32 deletion and 1q21 gain. Technical thresholds were determined for each probe using isolated CD138-expressing PC from patients without MM.

Mineralisation of atmospheric aerosol particles and further analysis of trace elements by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry.

Several protocols using different treatments (various mixtures of acids at different temperatures for mineralisation) or using several analysis instrumentations were tested with the aim to define the method allowing the analysis of some groups of elements. This study proposes a protocol of sample treatment and analysis permitting in a single batch the determination of 16 elements (Al, As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, Ti, V and Zn) with different chemical features such as volatile or refractory trace elements. This method is specifically adapted to chemical matrices found in unpolluted to moderately polluted atmospheric aerosol samples.

Reduced parahippocampal theta activity during spatial navigation in low, but not in high elderly performers.

Objective: Cognitive aging varies widely among individuals. Whereas optimal cognitive agers show highly preserved cognitive functions throughout life, other subjects experience cognitive deficits in various cognitive domains. Among them, elderly individuals frequently report difficulties in spatial navigation.

Ingestion of swimming pool water by recreational swimmers.

The volume of water ingested by swimmers while swimming is of great interest to individuals who develop risk assessments using quantitative microbial risk assessment or epidemiological approaches. We have used chloroisocyanurate disinfected swimming pool waters to determine the amount of water swallowed by swimmers during swimming activity. The chloroisocyanurate, which is in equilibrium with chlorine and cyanuric acid in the pool water, provides a biomarker, cyanuric acid, that once swallowed passes through the body into the urine unchanged.

Improving Transitions to Postacute Care for Elderly Patients Using a Novel Video-Conferencing Program: ECHO-Care Transitions.

Purpose: Within 30 days of hospital discharge to a skilled nursing facility, older adults are at high risk for death, re-hospitalization, and high-cost health care. The purpose of this study was to examine whether a novel videoconference program called Extension for Community Health Outcomes-Care Transitions (ECHO-CT) that connects an interdisciplinary hospital-based team with clinicians at skilled nursing facilities reduces patient mortality, hospital readmission, skilled nursing facility length of stay, and 30-day health care costs.

Methods: We undertook a prospective cohort study comparing cost and health care utilization outcomes between ECHO-CT facilities and matched comparisons from January 2014-December 2014.

Immunoprevalence to Six Waterborne Pathogens in Beachgoers at Boquerón Beach, Puerto Rico: Application of a Microsphere-Based Salivary Antibody Multiplex Immunoassay.

Waterborne infectious diseases are a major public health concern worldwide. Few methods have been established that are capable of measuring human exposure to multiple waterborne pathogens simultaneously using non-invasive samples such as saliva. Most current methods measure exposure to only one pathogen at a time, require large volumes of individual samples collected using invasive procedures, and are very labor intensive.

Coliphages and Gastrointestinal Illness in Recreational Waters: Pooled Analysis of Six Coastal Beach Cohorts.

Background: Coliphages have been proposed as indicators of fecal contamination in recreational waters because they better mimic the persistence of pathogenic viruses in the environment and wastewater treatment than fecal indicator bacteria. We estimated the association between coliphages and gastrointestinal illness and compared it with the association with culturable enterococci.

Methods: We pooled data from six prospective cohort studies that enrolled coastal beachgoers in California, Alabama, and Rhode Island.

Foot Function, Foot Pain, and Falls in Older Adults: The Framingham Foot Study.

Background: Although foot pain has been linked to fall risk, contributions of pain severity, foot posture, or foot function are unclear. These factors were examined in a cohort of older adults.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the associations of foot pain, severity of foot pain, and measures of foot posture and dynamic foot function with reported falls in a large, well-described cohort of older adults from the Framingham Foot Study.

Stable hydrogen and oxygen isotopes of tap water reveal structure of the San Francisco Bay Area's water system and adjustments during a major drought.

Water availability and sustainability in the Western United States is a major flashpoint among expanding communities, growing industries, and productive agricultural lands. This issue came to a head in 2015 in the State of California, when the State mandated a 25% reduction in urban water use following a multi-year drought that significantly depleted water resources. Water demands and challenges in supplying water are only expected to intensify as climate perturbations, such as the 2012-2015 California Drought, become more common.

Combination of electrospray ionization, atmospheric pressure photoionization and laser desorption ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotronic resonance mass spectrometry for the investigation of complex mixtures - Application to the petroleomic analysis of bio-oils.

The comprehensive description of complex mixtures such as bio-oils is required to understand and improve the different processes involved during biological, environmental or industrial operation. In this context, we have to consider how different ionization sources can improve a non-targeted approach. Thus, the Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) has been coupled to electrospray ionization (ESI), laser desorption ionization (LDI) and atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) to characterize an oak pyrolysis bio-oil.