Coordination of anti-CTLA-4 with whole-brain radiation therapy decreases tumor burden during treatment in a novel syngeneic model of lung cancer brain metastasis.

Lung cancer is the most common primary tumor to metastasize to the brain. Although advances in lung cancer therapy have increased rates of survival over the past few decades, control and treatment of lung cancer brain metastasis remains an urgent clinical need. Herein, we examine the temporal coordination of α-CTLA-4 administration in combination with whole-brain radiation therapy in a syngeneic preclinical model of lung cancer brain metastasis in both C57Bl/6 and athymic nude mice.

Effects of whole-brain radiation therapy on the blood-brain barrier in immunocompetent and immunocompromised mouse models.

Background: Approximately 20% of all cancer patients will develop brain metastases in their lifespan. The standard of care for patients with multiple brain metastases is whole-brain radiation therapy, which disrupts the blood-brain barrier. Previous studies have shown inflammatory mediators play a role in the radiation-mediated increase in permeability.

Individual variation in Black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) foraging behavior in response to a predator model.

Birds that forage at feeders must balance the risk of predation with the benefit of food acquisition. We color-banded black-capped chickadees () in a wild population and investigated their responses to a predator (Cooper's hawk, ) model placed 1 m or 5 m from a feeding platform. Over 40 trials, we recorded a total of 3,576 chickadee visits to a feeder.

Analysis of Postdoctoral Training Outcomes That Broaden Participation in Science Careers.

Postdoctoral training is an optimal time to expand research skills, develop independence, and shape career trajectories, making this training period important to study in the context of career development. Seeding Postdoctoral Innovators in Research and Education (SPIRE) is a training program that balances research, teaching, and professional development. This study examines the factors that promote the transition of postdocs into academic careers and increase diversity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Examination of cocaine dose in a preclinical model of natural reward devaluation by cocaine.

In a preclinical model of natural reward devaluation by cocaine, taste cues elicit aversive taste reactivity when they predict impending but delayed cocaine self-administration. Here, we investigated this negative affective state as a function of cocaine dose. Male, Sprague-Dawley rats were given 45 brief intraoral infusions of a 0.