A Multi-Institutional Description of Processes and Outcomes of Postbaccalaureate Research Education Programs in the Mid-Atlantic Region.

Outcome data from 6 National Institutes of Health-funded Postbaccalaureate Research Education Programs (PREPs) in the Mid-Atlantic region were combined to give a multi-institutional perspective on their scholars' characteristics and progress through biomedical research training. The institutions hosting these programs were Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the Medical University of South Carolina, the University of Maryland School of Medicine, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The authors summarize the institutional pathways, demographics, undergraduate institutions, and graduate institutions for a total of 384 PREP scholars who completed the programs by June 2021.

Baltimore pediatric ocular trauma study: Health disparities and outcomes in pediatric and adolescent open globe trauma.

Purpose Children represent approximately one-third of patients with serious ocular injuries. Our study evaluates associations between race and socioeconomic status in presentation and outcomes of pediatric and adolescent traumatic open globe injuries. Methods We conducted a retrospective chart review of traumatic open globe injuries in pediatric and adolescent patients presenting to Johns Hopkins Hospital and University of Maryland Medical Center between 2006 and 2020.

Targeting Natural Killer T Cells in Solid Malignancies.

Natural killer T (NKT) cells are a unique subset of lymphocytes that recognize lipid antigens in the context of the non-classical class I MHC molecule, CD1d, and serve as a link between the innate and adaptive immune system through their expeditious release of cytokines. Whereas NKT have well-established roles in mitigating a number of human diseases, herein, we focus on their role in cancer. NKT cells have been shown to directly and indirectly mediate anti-tumor immunity and manipulating their effector functions can have therapeutic significances in treatment of cancer.

Alterations in cellular metabolism modulate CD1d-mediated NKT-cell responses.

Natural killer T (NKT) cells play a critical role in the host's innate immune response. CD1d-mediated presentation of glycolipid antigens to NKT cells has been established; however, the mechanisms by which NKT cells recognize infected or cancerous cells remain unclear. 5(')-AMP activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a master regulator of lipogenic pathways.

Allometry and growth of eight tree taxa in United Kingdom woodlands.

As part of a project to develop predictive ecosystem models of United Kingdom woodlands we have collated data from two United Kingdom woodlands - Wytham Woods and Alice Holt. Here we present data from 582 individual trees of eight taxa in the form of summary variables relating to the allometric relationships between trunk diameter, height, crown height, crown radius and trunk radial growth rate to the tree's light environment and diameter at breast height. In addition the raw data files containing the variables from which the summary data were obtained.

The natural tumorcide Manumycin-A targets protein phosphatase 1α and reduces hydrogen peroxide to induce lymphoma apoptosis.

Numerous compounds for treating human disease have been discovered in nature. Manumycin-A (Man-A) is a natural, well-tolerated microbial metabolite and a potent experimental tumoricide. We recently showed that Man-A stimulated reactive oxygen species (ROS) which were upstream of serine/threonine (Ser/Thr) dephosphorylation and caspase-dependent cleavage of MEK and Akt in lymphoma apoptosis.

Bcl-xL regulates CD1d-mediated antigen presentation to NKT cells by altering CD1d trafficking through the endocytic pathway.

NKT cells are a unique subset of T cells that recognize glycolipid Ags presented in the context of CD1d molecules. NKT cells mount strong antitumor responses and are a major focus in developing effective cancer immunotherapy. It is known that CD1d molecules are constantly internalized from the cell surface, recycled through the endocytic compartments, and re-expressed on the cell surface.

Estimating the sex-specific effects of genes on facial attractiveness and sexual dimorphism.

Human facial attractiveness and facial sexual dimorphism (masculinity-femininity) are important facets of mate choice and are hypothesized to honestly advertise genetic quality. However, it is unclear whether genes influencing facial attractiveness and masculinity-femininity have similar, opposing, or independent effects across sex, and the heritability of these phenotypes is poorly characterized. To investigate these issues, we assessed facial attractiveness and facial masculinity-femininity in the largest genetically informative sample (n = 1,580 same- and opposite-sex twin pairs and siblings) to assess these questions to date.

Adolescent peer choice and cigarette smoking: evidence of active gene-environment correlation?

Both peer groups and genetics have been associated with adolescent smoking behavior. Recently, Loehlin (Loehlin, J. C.

Anti-MS4a4B treatment abrogates MS4a4B-mediated protection in T cells and ameliorates experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

Recent data show that anti-CD20 therapy is effective for some autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS). However, the efficacy of anti-CD20 therapy for MS is largely limited because anti-CD20 antibodies target only B cells. In previous studies, we have investigated the function of MS4a4B, a novel CD20 homologue, in T cell proliferation.

Rapid detection of an ABT-737-sensitive primed for death state in cells using microplate-based respirometry.

Cells that exhibit an absolute dependence on the anti-apoptotic BCL-2 protein for survival are termed "primed for death" and are killed by the BCL-2 antagonist ABT-737. Many cancers exhibit a primed phenotype, including some that are resistant to conventional chemotherapy due to high BCL-2 expression. We show here that 1) stable BCL-2 overexpression alone can induce a primed for death state and 2) that an ABT-737-induced loss of functional cytochrome c from the electron transport chain causes a reduction in maximal respiration that is readily detectable by microplate-based respirometry.

Insulin receptor substrate 1 expression enhances the sensitivity of 32D cells to chemotherapy-induced cell death.

The adapters IRS1 and IRS2 link growth factor receptors to downstream signaling pathways that regulate proliferation and survival. Both suppress factor-withdrawal-induced apoptosis and have been implicated in cancer progression. However, recent studies suggest IRS1 and IRS2 mediate differential functions in cancer pathogenesis.

TCR stimulation upregulates MS4a4B expression through induction of AP-1 transcription factor during T cell activation.

MS4a4B is a novel member of the membrane-spanning 4-domain family, subfamily A (MS4A) specifically expressed in mouse T cells. We have shown previously that expression of MS4a4B in T cells is upregulated upon T cell activation, suggesting that MS4a4B may play a functional role in regulation of T cell responses. However, little is known about the mechanisms that regulate MS4a4B gene expression.

Cognitive-behavioral group therapy versus group psychotherapy for social anxiety disorder among college students: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: In this randomized controlled trial, cognitive-behavioral group therapy (CBGT) for social anxiety disorder (SAD) was compared to group psychotherapy (GPT), a credible, structurally equivalent control condition that included only nonspecific factors of group treatment (such as group dynamics).

Methods: Participants were 45 college students at the University of Colorado with a primary diagnosis of SAD. Each treatment condition comprised eight group sessions lasting 2 hr each.

MS4a4B, a CD20 homologue in T cells, inhibits T cell propagation by modulation of cell cycle.

MS4a4B, a CD20 homologue in T cells, is a novel member of the MS4A gene family in mice. The MS4A family includes CD20, FcεRIβ, HTm4 and at least 26 novel members that are characterized by their structural features: with four membrane-spanning domains, two extracellular domains and two cytoplasmic regions. CD20, FcεRIβ and HTm4 have been found to function in B cells, mast cells and hematopoietic cells respectively.

Variation in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene is associated with symptoms of depression.

Background: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is putatively involved in the pathophysiology of depression. This study examined associations between BDNF genotype at the Val66Met locus, depression symptoms, and serum BDNF levels.

Methods: Twenty-eight subjects in the primary study (25 female, 3 male) completed diagnostic interviews, self-report questionnaires, and provided blood samples for serum BDNF quantification and buccal cell samples for genotyping.

B cells induce tolerance by presenting endogenous peptide-IgG on MHC class II molecules via an IFN-gamma-inducible lysosomal thiol reductase-dependent pathway.

We have previously demonstrated that splenic B cells, transduced with peptide-IgG fusion proteins, are efficient tolerogenic APCs in vivo. Specific hyporesponsiveness to epitopes encoded in the peptide-IgG fusion protein has been achieved to over one dozen Ags, and clinical efficacy has been established in animal models for several autoimmune diseases and hemophilia. Previous studies also demonstrated that tolerance in this system requires MHC class II expression by the transduced B cells.

Reactive oxygen species-dependent destruction of MEK and Akt in Manumycin stimulated death of lymphoid tumor and myeloma cell lines.

Manumycin-A (Man-A) is a farnesyltransferase inhibitor (FTI), which was originally identified as an effective tumoricide against several cancers, especially ones harboring constitutively active Ras. However, it is becoming apparent that Man-A can stimulate tumor death independently of FTases. Antioxidant treatment blocked Man-A-stimulated DNA damage and reversed Man-A-inhibited tumor growth.

IL-4 protects the B-cell lymphoma cell line CH31 from anti-IgM-induced growth arrest and apoptosis: contribution of the PI-3 kinase/AKT pathway.

Interleukin-4 (IL-4) promotes lymphocyte survival and protects primary lymphomas from apoptosis. Previous studies reported differential requirements for the signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 (STAT6) and IRS2/phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI-3K) signaling pathways in mediating the IL-4-induced protection from Fas-mediated apoptosis. In this study, we characterized IL-4-activated signals that suppress anti-IgM-mediated apoptosis and growth arrest of CH31, a model B-cell lymphoma line.

The intraclass covariance matrix.

Introduced by C.R. Rao in 1945, the intraclass covariance matrix has seen little use in behavioral genetic research, despite the fact that it was developed to deal with family data.

Cholesky problems.

Behavioral geneticists commonly parameterize a genetic or environmental covariance matrix as the product of a lower diagonal matrix postmultiplied by its transpose-a technique commonly referred to as "fitting a Cholesky." Here, simulations demonstrate that this procedure is sometimes valid, but at other times: (1) may not produce fit statistics that are distributed as a chi2; or (2) if the distribution of the fit statistic is chi2, then the degrees of freedom (df) are not always the difference between the number of parameters in the general model less the number of parameters in a constrained model. It is hypothesized that the problem is related to the fact that the Cholesky parameterization requires that the covariance matrix formed by the product be either positive definite or singular.

The Washington University Twin Study of alcoholism.

Genetic contributions to the liability to develop alcoholism in males of Northern and Western European ancestry are well-established. However, questions remain concerning the role of genetic variation in the etiology of alcoholism among non-white populations, among women, and the possibility of etiological heterogeneity in subtypes of alcoholism. The answers to these questions are needed to help define phenotypes for molecular genetic studies searching for QTLs for alcoholism.