Polyphenolic profiles of a variety of wild berries from the Pacific Northwest region of North America.

Polyphenols have been extensively profiled and quantified in commercially grown berries, but similar information is sparsely available for wild berries. Because polyphenolic contents are inherently associated with berries health benefits, determining phenolic profiles is an important step for strategizing potential uses by the industry and for health and nutrition outcomes. Here, we profiled phenolic compounds in wild berries commonly encountered and harvested in the Pacific Northwest region of North America.

Antibody-mediated inhibition of GDF15-GFRAL activity reverses cancer cachexia in mice.

Cancer cachexia is a highly prevalent condition associated with poor quality of life and reduced survival. Tumor-induced perturbations in the endocrine, immune and nervous systems drive anorexia and catabolic changes in adipose tissue and skeletal muscle, hallmarks of cancer cachexia. However, the molecular mechanisms driving cachexia remain poorly defined, and there are currently no approved drugs for the condition.

Estimating long-term pollution exposure effects through inverse probability weighting methods with Cox proportional hazards models.

Background: Fine particulate matter (PM) is associated with negative health outcomes in both the short and long term. However, the cohort studies that have produced many of the estimates of long-term exposure associations may fail to account for selection bias in pollution exposure as well as covariate imbalance in the study population; therefore, causal modeling techniques may be beneficial.

Methods: Twenty-nine years of data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) was compiled and linked to modeled annual average outdoor PM concentration and restricted-use mortality data.

Cancer mortality risk, fine particulate air pollution, and smoking in a large, representative cohort of US adults.

Purpose: Air pollution and smoking are associated with various types of mortality, including cancer. The current study utilizes a publicly accessible, nationally representative cohort to explore relationships between fine particulate matter (PM) exposure, smoking, and cancer mortality.

Methods: National Health Interview Survey and mortality follow-up data were combined to create a study population of 635,539 individuals surveyed from 1987 to 2014.

Air pollution and mortality in a large, representative U.S. cohort: multiple-pollutant analyses, and spatial and temporal decompositions.

Background: Cohort studies have documented associations between fine particulate matter air pollution (PM) and mortality risk. However, there remains uncertainty regarding the contribution of co-pollutants and the stability of pollution-mortality associations in models that include multiple air pollutants. Furthermore, it is unclear whether the PM-mortality relationship varies spatially, when exposures are decomposed according to scale of spatial variability, or temporally, when effect estimates are allowed to change between years.

Mortality Risk and Fine Particulate Air Pollution in a Large, Representative Cohort of U.S. Adults.

Background: Evidence indicates that air pollution contributes to cardiopulmonary mortality. There is ongoing debate regarding the size and shape of the pollution–mortality exposure–response relationship. There are also growing appeals for estimates of pollution–mortality relationships that use public data and are based on large, representative study cohorts.

Erratum: Non-homeostatic body weight regulation through a brainstem-restricted receptor for GDF15.

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/nature24042.

Non-homeostatic body weight regulation through a brainstem-restricted receptor for GDF15.

Under homeostatic conditions, animals use well-defined hypothalamic neural circuits to help maintain stable body weight, by integrating metabolic and hormonal signals from the periphery to balance food consumption and energy expenditure. In stressed or disease conditions, however, animals use alternative neuronal pathways to adapt to the metabolic challenges of altered energy demand. Recent studies have identified brain areas outside the hypothalamus that are activated under these 'non-homeostatic' conditions, but the molecular nature of the peripheral signals and brain-localized receptors that activate these circuits remains elusive.

Anti-PCSK9 antibody pharmacokinetics and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol pharmacodynamics in nonhuman primates are antigen affinity-dependent and exhibit limited sensitivity to neonatal Fc receptor-binding enhancement.

Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) has emerged as an attractive therapeutic target for cardiovascular disease. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that bind PCSK9 and prevent PCSK9:low-density lipoprotein receptor complex formation reduce serum low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) in vivo. PCSK9-mediated lysosomal degradation of bound mAb, however, dramatically reduces mAb exposure and limits duration of effect.

An inhibitory antibody against dipeptidyl peptidase IV improves glucose tolerance in vivo.

Dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV) degrades the incretin hormone glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1). Small molecule DPP-IV inhibitors have been used as treatments for type 2 diabetes to improve glucose tolerance. However, each of the marketed small molecule drugs has its own limitation in terms of efficacy and side effects.

A proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 neutralizing antibody reduces serum cholesterol in mice and nonhuman primates.

Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) regulates serum LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) by interacting with the LDL receptor (LDLR) and is an attractive therapeutic target for LDL-C lowering. We have generated a neutralizing anti-PCSK9 antibody, mAb1, that binds to an epitope on PCSK9 adjacent to the region required for LDLR interaction. In vitro, mAb1 inhibits PCSK9 binding to the LDLR and attenuates PCSK9-mediated reduction in LDLR protein levels, thereby increasing LDL uptake.

Diacylglycerol kinase iota regulates Ras guanyl-releasing protein 3 and inhibits Rap1 signaling.

To study the physiological function of diacylglycerol (DAG) kinase iota (DGKiota), which converts DAG to phosphatidic acid, we deleted this gene in mice. In contrast to previous studies showing that DGK isoforms decrease Ras activity, signaling downstream of Ras in embryonic fibroblasts was significantly reduced in cells lacking DGKiota. DGKs regulate Ras signaling by attenuating the function of the DAG-dependent Ras guanyl nucleotide-releasing proteins (RasGRPs).

Drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Korean isolates.

Tuberculosis is a common disease in developing countries. An increasing incidence of resistance to isoniazid (INH) and streptomycin in organisms isolated from patients who contracted their disease in these countries, particularly in the Far East, is well recognized. This drug resistance has led to the recommendation of empirically beginning a regimen in patients with tuberculosis from the Far East of INH, ethambutol, and rifampin.

Antibiotic susceptibilities of human isolates of Pasteurella multocida.

Seventeen human strains of Pasteurella multocida, biochemically similar to, if not identical with, isolates of animal origins, were tested for susceptibility to 16 antimicrobial agents utilizing a microtiter broth dilution technique. Ten of these isolates were also tested against 11 antibiotics by disk diffusion. The most active drugs with respect to the median minimal inhibitory concentration (micrograms per milliliter) were tetracycline (0.

Infections caused by Rhodochrous.

Organisms conforming to "rhodochrous taxon" were isolated from three immunocompromised patients, suggesting a pathogenic role for the organisms. The organisms are partially acid-fast, gram-positive catalase positive rods which form orange or red colonies aerobically in three or four days on Sabouraud, Mueller-Hinton and Middlebrook 7H-10 agars. They are differenitated from Nocardia by morphology and ability to degrade ethylene glycol in 7H-10 media.

Evaluation of the oxi/ferm tube system with selected Gram-negative bacteria.

The Oxi/Ferm test system was evaluated for accuracy and reliability for identification of nonfermentative and oxidase-positive fermentative bacteria by using 375 bacterial strains obtained from stock culture and clinical specimens. The Oxi/Ferm system is a compartmentalized tube containing eight media to provide nine biochemical test results. When combined with the oxidase test, the results corresponding to the positive reactions are totaled and the composite number is located in the coding manual to identify the organisms.

Acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis: a mixed virus outbreak among Vietnamese refugees on Guam.

In May 1975 the authors investigated an outbreak of acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis that affected an estimated 29,000 refugees from South Vietnam who stayed on Guam while en route to the United States. Illness usually lasted6-10 days and was characterized by conjunctival injection (100%), lid edema (84%), eye irritation (81%) and subconjunctival hemorrhages (45%). Conjunctival swabs and paired serum specimens on a limited number of patients implicated enterovirus 70 as a major etiologic agent and adenovirus 11 as a less frequent agent.

Amphetamine poisoning in dogs.

Amphetamine intoxication in dogs referred to the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory or the Veterinary Hospital of the University of Minnesota was characterized by excitement, agitation, hyperthermia, and convulsive episodes that could be confused with other convulsant poisonings. Extraction procedures on stomach contents or urine enabled indentification of the drug, using ultraviolet spectrophotometry.

Evaluation of the rapid decarboxylase and dihydrolase test for the differentiation of nonfermentative bacteria.

A rapid medium for the detection of lysine and ornithine decarboxylase and arginine dihydrolase activity of 439 strains of gram-negative, nonfermenting bacteria was evaluated and compared with Moeller decarboxylase medium. Results were obtained in 4 to 24 h using the rapid medium, whereas Moeller medium often required extended (3 to 7 days) incubation. There was 100% agreement in the lysine tests with both media and almost 100% agreement in the ornithine tests.