RNA interference as a next-generation control method for suppressing Varroa destructor reproduction in honey bee (Apis mellifera) hives.

Background: The Varroa mite (Varroa destructor) is considered to be the greatest threat to apiculture worldwide. RNA interference (RNAi) using double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) as a gene silencing mechanism has emerged as a next-generation strategy for mite control.

Results: We explored the impact of a dsRNA biopesticide, named vadescana, designed to silence the calmodulin gene in Varroa, on mite fitness in mini-hives housed in a laboratory.

Prebiotic Colloidal Oat Supports the Growth of Cutaneous Commensal Bacteria Including and Enhances the Production of Lactic Acid.

Background: Multiple skin conditions have been associated with alterations in the diversity and composition of the skin microbiome, including dry skin and atopic dermatitis. In these conditions, a number of commensal skin bacteria have been implicated in supporting a healthy skin barrier, including . Recent clinical studies in patients with mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis and dry/itchy skin have shown significantly improved skin barrier function and microbial diversity upon treatment with moisturizers containing 1% colloidal oat.

Discovery of PEGylated 6-Benzhydryl-4-amino-quinazolines as Peripherally Restricted CBR Inverse Agonists.

The 6-benzhydryl-4-amino-quinolin-2-ones are peripherally restricted CB receptor inverse agonists (CBRIAs) that have been reported to attenuate obesity and improve insulin sensitivity in the diet-induced obese (DIO) mouse model. However, chronic dosing of select compounds from the series showed time-dependent brain accumulation despite a low brain/plasma exposure ratio. To address this issue, a PEGylation approach was employed to identify a novel series of homodimeric 6-benzhydryl-4-amino-quinazoline-PEG conjugates with an extended half-life.

Inter-laboratory reproducibility of an untargeted metabolomics GC-MS assay for analysis of human plasma.

There is a long-standing concern for the lack of reproducibility of the untargeted metabolomic approaches used in pharmaceutical research. Two types of human plasma samples were split into two batches and analyzed in two individual labs for untargeted GC-MS metabolomic profiling. The two labs used the same silylation sample preparation protocols but different instrumentation, data processing software, and database.

Antibody-based methods for the measurement of α-synuclein concentration in human cerebrospinal fluid - method comparison and round robin study.

α-Synuclein is the major component of Lewy bodies and a candidate biomarker for neurodegenerative diseases in which Lewy bodies are common, including Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. A large body of literature suggests that these disorders are characterized by reduced concentrations of α-synuclein in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), with overlapping concentrations compared to healthy controls and variability across studies. Several reasons can account for this variability, including technical ones, such as inter-assay and inter-laboratory variation (reproducibility).