Publications by authors named "James McCann"

Objective: The maternal metabolic environment in early pregnancy can influence fetal growth trajectories. Our objective was to identify interventions initiated in early pregnancy (<20 weeks gestation) in pregnant individuals with risk factors for hyperglycemia and report their impact on primary (neonatal adiposity, small for gestational age, large for gestational age, macrosomia) and secondary outcomes (gestational weight gain, maternal hypertensive disorder, birth injury, NICU admission, preterm delivery, emergency cesarean section).

Data Sources: We searched Cochrane Central database, Medline, Embase, CINAHL databases, and clinicaltrials.

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  • Mosquitoes and other biting insects transmit diseases that lead to over 700,000 deaths and costs around 3 billion USD each year, particularly affecting Aedes species.
  • The modern textiles currently available are not effective at preventing mosquito bites, highlighting the need for better solutions.
  • The study introduces three innovative knitted designs that significantly reduce mosquito bites and can be mass-produced using automation, ensuring comfort while allowing individuals to protect themselves from insect bites during daily activities without harming the environment.
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B cells and the antibodies they produce are critical in host defense against pathogens and contribute to various immune-mediated diseases. B cells responding to activating signals in vitro release extracellular vesicles (EV) that carry surface antibodies, yet B cell production of EVs that express antibodies and their function in vivo is incompletely understood. Using transgenic mice expressing the Cre recombinase in B cells switching to IgG1 to induce expression of fusion proteins between emerald green fluorescent protein (emGFP) and the EV tetraspanin CD63 as a model, we identify emGFP expression in B cells responding to foreign antigen in vivo and characterize the emGFP EVs they release.

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Quantum defects in single-walled carbon nanotubes promote exciton localization, which enables potential applications in biodevices and quantum light sources. However, the effects of local electric fields on the emissive energy states of quantum defects and how they can be controlled are unexplored. Here, we investigate quantum defect sensitization by engineering an intrinsically disordered protein to undergo a phase change at a quantum defect site.

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  • Cancer cell spread to sentinel lymph nodes worsens outcomes in breast cancer, influenced by interactions with stromal cells, particularly periostin-expressing cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs).* -
  • Although periostin+ CAFs were linked to increased tumor recurrence, their removal surprisingly sped up tumor growth while disrupting collagen structure and reducing lymphatic metastases.* -
  • The study suggests that highly metastatic breast cancer cells enhance periostin+ CAF activity, facilitating collagen remodeling and aiding cancer cell invasion into lymphatic vessels, ultimately leading to lymph node colonization.*
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Ancestral metabolic processes involve the reversible oxidation of molecular hydrogen by hydrogenase. Extant hydrogenase enzymes are complex, comprising hundreds of amino acids and multiple cofactors. We designed a 13-amino acid nickel-binding peptide capable of robustly producing molecular hydrogen from protons under a wide variety of conditions.

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The VX nerve agent is one of the deadliest chemical warfare agents. Specific, sensitive, real-time detection methods for this neurotoxin have not been reported. The creation of proteins that use biological recognition to fulfill these requirements using directed evolution or library screening methods has been hampered because its toxicity makes laboratory experimentation extraordinarily expensive.

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Critical temporal changes such as weekly fluctuations in surveillance systems often reflect changes in laboratory testing capacity, access to testing or healthcare facilities, or testing preferences. Many studies have noted but few have described day-of-the-week (DoW) effects in SARS-CoV-2 surveillance over the major waves of the novel coronavirus 2019 pandemic (COVID-19). We examined DoW effects by non-pharmaceutical intervention phases adjusting for wave-specific signatures using the John Hopkins University's (JHU's) Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) COVID-19 data repository from 2 March 2020 through 7 November 2021 in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA.

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Purpose This case study describes the language evaluation and treatment of a 5-year-old boy, Lucas, who is Deaf, uses American Sign Language (ASL), and presented with a language disorder despite native access to ASL and no additional diagnosis that would explain the language difficulties. Method Lucas participated in an evaluation where his nonverbal IQ, fine motor, and receptive/expressive language skills were assessed. Language assessment included both formal and informal evaluation procedures.

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Background: Evidence suggests that changes in dietary acid load may influence body weight, body composition, and insulin sensitivity.

Methods: Participants (n = 244) were randomly assigned to an intervention (vegan) (n = 122) or control group (n = 122) for 16 weeks. Before and after the intervention period, body composition was measured by dual X-ray absorptiometry.

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Knitting can efficiently fabricate stretchable and durable soft surfaces. These surfaces are often designed to be worn on solid objects as covers, garments, and accessories. Given a 3D model, we consider a knit for it wearable if the knit not only reproduces the shape of the 3D model but also can be put on and taken off from the model without deforming the model.

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Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are abundant, lipid-enclosed vectors that contain nucleic acids and proteins, they can be secreted from donor cells and freely circulate, and they can be engulfed by recipient cells thus enabling systemic communication between heterotypic cell types. However, genetic tools for labeling, isolating, and auditing cell type-specific EVs in vivo, without prior in vitro manipulation, are lacking. We have used CRISPR-Cas9-mediated genome editing to generate mice bearing a CD63-emGFP knock-in cassette that enables the specific labeling of circulating CD63 vesicles from any cell type when crossed with lineage-specific Cre recombinase driver mice.

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Extracellular vesicles (EVs) play important roles in tumor progression by altering immune surveillance, promoting vascular dysfunction, and priming distant sites for organotropic metastases. The miRNA expression patterns in circulating EVs are important diagnostic tools in cancer. However, multiple cell types within the tumor microenvironment (TME) including cancer cells and stromal cells (e.

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Angiogenesis is critical to cancer development and metastasis. However, anti-angiogenic agents have only had modest therapeutic success, partly due to an incomplete understanding of tumor endothelial cell (EC) biology. We previously reported that the microRNA (miR)-200 family inhibits metastasis through regulation of tumor angiogenesis, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are poorly characterized.

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In tumors, extravascular fibrin forms provisional scaffolds for endothelial cell (EC) growth and motility during angiogenesis. We report that fibrin-mediated angiogenesis was inhibited and tumor growth delayed following postnatal deletion of Tgfbr2 in the endothelium of Cdh5-CreERT2 Tgfbr2fl/fl mice (Tgfbr2iECKO mice). ECs from Tgfbr2iECKO mice failed to upregulate the fibrinolysis inhibitor plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (Serpine1, also known as PAI-1), due in part to uncoupled TGF-β-mediated suppression of miR-30c.

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Although significant achievements in human health have been made globally, progress has been made possible, in part, through unconstrained use of natural resources. As the health of our planet worsens, human health is also endangered. Scholars and policymakers from diverse disciplines highlighted complex, multisectoral approaches for addressing poor dietary intake, over- and undernutrition, and chronic diseases in sub-Saharan Africa at the Conference held at Harvard University on 6-7 November 2017.

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This paper was originally published under standard Springer Nature copyright. As of the date of this correction, the Analysis is available online as an open-access paper with a CC-BY license. No other part of the paper has been changed.

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Single-molecule Förster resonance energy transfer (smFRET) is increasingly being used to determine distances, structures, and dynamics of biomolecules in vitro and in vivo. However, generalized protocols and FRET standards to ensure the reproducibility and accuracy of measurements of FRET efficiencies are currently lacking. Here we report the results of a comparative blind study in which 20 labs determined the FRET efficiencies (E) of several dye-labeled DNA duplexes.

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Stromal cells within the tumor microenvironment play a supportive role in tumor growth, progression, and treatment resistance; therefore, these nonmalignant cells are potential therapeutic targets. In this issue of the JCI, Szot et al. devised a strategy to exploit the cell-surface marker TEM8 (also known as ANTXR1), which is expressed by cancer-associated stromal cells, as a zip code to deliver an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) linked to the potent cancer-killing drug monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE).

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Otitis media (OM) is the most common infectious disease of children under six, causing more antibiotic prescriptions and surgical procedures than any other pediatric condition. By screening a bacteriophage (phage) library genetically engineered to express random peptides on their surfaces, we discovered unique peptides that actively transport phage particles across the intact tympanic membrane (TM) and into the middle ear (ME). Herein our goals were to characterize the physiochemical peptide features that may underlie trans-TM phage transport; assess morphological and functional effects of phage peptides on the ME and inner ear (IE); and determine whether peptide-bearing phage transmigrate from the ME into the IE.

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Unlabelled: Electrical generation units (EGUs) are important sources of nitrogen oxides (NOx) that contribute to ozone air pollution. A dynamic management system can anticipate high ozone and dispatch EGU generation on a daily basis to attempt to avoid violations, temporarily scaling back or shutting down EGUs that most influence the high ozone while compensating for that generation elsewhere. Here we investigate the contributions of NOx from individual EGUs to high daily ozone, with the goal of informing the design of a dynamic management system.

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Freshly isolated tumor-specific endothelial cells (TEC) can be used to explore molecular mechanisms of tumor angiogenesis and serve as an in vitro model for developing new angiogenesis inhibitors for cancer. However, long-term in vitro expansion of murine endothelial cells (EC) is challenging due to phenotypic drift in culture (endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition) and contamination with non-EC. This is especially true for TEC which are readily outcompeted by co-purified fibroblasts or tumor cells in culture.

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An 18 year old male presented with worsening headaches, pain with ocular movement and swelling that involved the left anterior periorbital and frontal sinus region. Radiographic images revealed a polypoid bony mass of mixed radiodensity extending into the left and right frontal sinuses. Histologic examination of the resection material resulted in the diagnosis of an osteoma with osteoblastoma-like features, an osteoma variant that has zones indistinguishable from an osteoblastoma.

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