Therapeutic Ultrasound for Topical Corneal Delivery of Macromolecules.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to utilize therapeutic ultrasound in enhancing delivery of topical macromolecules into the cornea.

Methods: Rabbit corneas were dissected and placed in a diffusion cell with a small ultra-red fluorescent protein (smURFP; molecular weight of 32,000 Da) as a macromolecule solution. The corneas were treated with continuous ultrasound application at frequencies of 400 or 600 kHz and intensities of 0.

Small ultra-red fluorescent protein nanoparticles as exogenous probes for noninvasive tumor imaging in vivo.

Nanoparticles are excellent imaging agents for cancer, but variability in chemical structure, racemic mixtures, and addition of heavy metals hinders FDA approval in the United States. We developed a small ultra-red fluorescent protein, named smURFP, to have optical properties similar to the small-molecule Cy5, a heptamethine subclass of cyanine dyes (Ex/Em = 642/670 nm). smURFP has a fluorescence quantum yield of 18% and expresses so well in E.

Nucleic Acid Extraction and Sequencing from Low-Biomass Synthetic Mars Analog Soils for Life Detection.

Recent studies regarding the origins of life and Mars-Earth meteorite transfer simulations suggest that biological informational polymers, such as nucleic acids (DNA and RNA), have the potential to provide unambiguous evidence of life on Mars. To this end, we are developing a metagenomics-based life-detection instrument which integrates nucleic acid extraction and nanopore sequencing: the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Genomes (SETG). Our goal is to isolate and sequence nucleic acids from extant or preserved life on Mars in order to determine if a particular genetic sequence (1) is distantly related to life on Earth, indicating a shared ancestry due to lithological exchange, or (2) is unrelated to life on Earth, suggesting convergent origins of life on Mars.

Eligibility of monoclonal antibody-based therapy for patients with severe asthma: a Canadian cross-sectional perspective.

Background: Based on immunologic phenotypes underlying asthma, use of monoclonal antibody based therapies is becoming the new standard of care for severe, corticosteroid refractory clinical symptoms. Patients may qualify for one or more of these targeted treatments, based on clinical characteristics and approved indications. However, the statistics are not well characterized, particularly in the Canadian population.

Sequencing nothing: Exploring failure modes of nanopore sensing and implications for life detection.

The detection of extant life is a major focus of many planned future planetary missions, a current challenge of which is the ability to target biomarkers capable of providing unambiguous evidence of life. DNA sequencing is increasingly recognized as a powerful tool for life detection for planetary exploration missions; beyond use of sequence information to determine the origins of the sample (e.g.

CarrierSeq: a sequence analysis workflow for low-input nanopore sequencing.

Background: Long-read nanopore sequencing technology is of particular significance for taxonomic identification at or below the species level. For many environmental samples, the total extractable DNA is far below the current input requirements of nanopore sequencing, preventing "sample to sequence" metagenomics from low-biomass or recalcitrant samples.

Results: Here we address this problem by employing carrier sequencing, a method to sequence low-input DNA by preparing the target DNA with a genomic carrier to achieve ideal library preparation and sequencing stoichiometry without amplification.

Complete Genome Sequence of Phytopathogenic Pectobacterium atrosepticum Bacteriophage Peat1.

Pectobacterium atrosepticum is a common phytopathogen causing significant economic losses worldwide. To develop a biocontrol strategy for this blackleg pathogen of solanaceous plants, P. atrosepticum bacteriophage Peat1 was isolated and its genome completely sequenced.

Testosterone modulation of anxiety in gonadally-suppressed male rhesus monkeys: a role for gonadotropins?

Testosterone (T) has repeatedly been shown to have anxiolytic properties in rodents, but findings in primates are more mixed. To examine the effects of exogenous T on anxiety, we tested pharmacologically-castrated adult male rhesus monkeys in a modified version of the Human Intruder Paradigm, which measured defensive responses to an unfamiliar human staring directly at them for 2 min. Monkeys were tested at 2 week intervals during 4 experimental conditions lasting 4 weeks each: at baseline, during treatment with the gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist leuprolide acetate (200 μg/kg; Lupron phase), during treatment with Lupron+T enanthate (TE, 5 mg/kg; TE phase) and during treatment with Lupron+oil vehicle (oil phase).

Creating a representative map for arthroscopy simulation.

The goal of this research was to create accurate task decompositions for arthroscopic shoulder and knee procedures. The methodology used has previously shown to be effective in other minimally invasive surgeries. Future research will integrate these task decompositions into surgical simulators and, along with movement and force data, will help create evaluation tools for surgical students.

Tomato Ve disease resistance genes encode cell surface-like receptors.

In tomato, Ve is implicated in race-specific resistance to infection by Verticillium species causing crop disease. Characterization of the Ve locus involved positional cloning and isolation of two closely linked inverted genes. Expression of individual Ve genes in susceptible potato plants conferred resistance to an aggressive race 1 isolate of Verticillium albo-atrum.

Development of sequence characterized DNA markers linked to a dominant verticillium wilt resistance gene in tomato.

Sequences were determined for codominant RAPD markers closely linked to the Ve locus, a dominant verticillium wilt resistance gene in tomato. Analysis of the sequences linked to Ve and ve revealed a perfectly homologous sequence with a central polymorphic region comprising 79 nucleotide substitutions, insertions, and deletions. Codominant and allele-specific SCARs were developed using conserved and polymorphic sequences linked to the Ve locus.

Identification of a Gene Conferring High Levels of Resistance to Verticillium Wilt in Solanum chacoense.

Verticillium wilt (Verticillium albo-atrum) is an important disease affecting potato tuber yield and quality. In North America the major commercial cultivars are susceptible and management strategies for control of the pathogen rely mainly on soil fumigation and crop rotation. In this study 398 genotypes from accessions of Solanum berthaultii, S.

Identification of a codominant amplified polymorphic DNA marker linked to the verticillium wilt resistance gene in tomato.

Resistance to verticillium wilt, a vascular disease causing yield losses in many crops, is conferred in tomato by a single dominant allele, Ve. A population segregating for the Ve allele was generated using near-isogenic tomato lines. Analysis of the parental tomato DNA using the polymerase chain reaction and 400 random primers, each 10 deoxyribonucleotides in length, produced 1,880 amplified DNA fragments.

Efficient shoot regeneration of Brassica campestris using cotyledon explants cultured in vitro.

A system has been developed for efficient regeneration of shoots from Brassica campestris in vitro. Using 4-day old cotyledons with petioles as expiants and a combination of BA and NAA in the regeneration media, up to 70% of expiants produced shoots after 2 weeks in culture. The optimal conditions for regeneration were found to include a BA concentration of 2mgL(-1) and NAA concentration of 1mgL(-1).

Specific truncations of an acetolactate synthase gene from Brassica napus efficiently complement ilvB/ilvG mutants of Salmonella typhimurium.

The expression of an acetolactate synthase (ALS) gene isolated from the cruciferous plant Brassica napus was investigated in Salmonella typhimurium. Using an expression plasmid containing the highly active trc (trp-lac) promoter, several plant ALS constructs were made containing successive in-frame truncations from the 5' end of the coding region. Functional complementation by these plant ALS constructs of a S.