Epigenetic signature of human immune aging in the GESTALT study.

Age-associated DNA methylation in blood cells convey information on health status. However, the mechanisms that drive these changes in circulating cells and their relationships to gene regulation are unknown. We identified age-associated DNA methylation sites in six purified blood-borne immune cell types (naive B, naive CD4 and CD8 T cells, granulocytes, monocytes, and NK cells) collected from healthy individuals interspersed over a wide age range.

Aberrant corticospinal tract characteristics in prodromal PD: A diffusion tensor imaging study.

Introduction: Parkinson's disease (PD) is typically diagnosed when motor symptoms first occur. However, PD-related non-motor symptoms may appear several years before diagnosis. REM sleep behaviour disorder (RBD) and olfactory deficits (hyposmia) are risk factors, but they are not specific for predicting progression towards PD.

Cytomegalovirus infection reduced CD70 expression, signaling and expansion of viral specific memory CD8 T cells in healthy human adults.

Background: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection leads to effector memory CD8 T cell expansion and is associated with immune dysfunction in older adults. However, the molecular alterations of CMV-specific CD8 T cells in CMV infected healthy young and middle-aged adults has not been fully characterized.

Results: We compared CD8 T cells specific for a CMV epitope (pp65, NLV) and an influenza A virus (IAV) epitope (M1, GIL) from the same young and middle-aged healthy adults with serum positive for anti-CMV IgG.

Olfactory Function and Diffusion Tensor Imaging as Markers of Mild Cognitive Impairment in Early Stages of Parkinson's Disease.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that is typified by motor signs and symptoms but can also lead to significant cognitive impairment and dementia Parkinson's Disease Dementia (PDD). While dementia is considered a nonmotor feature of PD that typically occurs later, individuals with PD may experience mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI) earlier in the disease course. Olfactory deficit (OD) is considered another nonmotor symptom of PD and often presents even before the motor signs and diagnosis of PD.

DNA methylation signatures reveal that distinct combinations of transcription factors specify human immune cell epigenetic identity.

Epigenetic reprogramming underlies specification of immune cell lineages, but patterns that uniquely define immune cell types and the mechanisms by which they are established remain unclear. Here, we identified lineage-specific DNA methylation signatures of six immune cell types from human peripheral blood and determined their relationship to other epigenetic and transcriptomic patterns. Sites of lineage-specific hypomethylation were associated with distinct combinations of transcription factors in each cell type.

Opportunities for improving opioid disposal practices in the Veterans Health Administration.

Purpose: The potentially vast supply of unused opioids in Americans' homes has long been a public health concern. We conducted a needs assessment of how Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities address and manage disposal of unused opioid medications to identify opportunities for improvement.

Methods: We used rapid qualitative content analysis methods with team consensus to synthesize findings.

Modelling disease risk for amyloid A (AA) amyloidosis in non-human primates using machine learning.

Amyloid A (AA) amyloidosis is found in humans and non-human primates, but quantifying disease risk prior to clinical symptoms is challenging. We applied machine learning to identify the best predictors of amyloidosis in rhesus macaques from available clinical and pathology records. To explore potential biomarkers, we also assessed whether changes in circulating serum amyloid A (SAA) or lipoprotein profiles accompany the disease.

Complex PTSD in ICD-11: A Case Report on a New Diagnosis.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has included complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD) in the final draft of the 11th edition of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-11), which was published in June, 2018 and is scheduled to be submitted to WHO's World Health Assembly for official endorsement in 2019. Mental health providers will want to be informed about this diagnosis in order to provide effective treatment. Complex PTSD, or developmental PTSD as it is also called, refers to the constellation of symptoms that may result from prolonged, chronic exposure to traumatic experiences, especially in childhood, as opposed to PTSD which is more typically associated with a discrete traumatic incident or set of traumatic events.

Expanding the role of clinical pharmacists on interdisciplinary primary care teams for chronic pain and opioid management.

Background: Facilitating appropriate and safe prescribing of opioid medications for chronic pain management in primary care is a pressing public health concern. Interdisciplinary team-based models of primary care are exploring the expansion of clinical pharmacist roles to support disease management for chronic conditions, e.g.

Effects of Estrogen, Nitric Oxide, and Dopamine on Behavioral Locomotor Activities in the Embryonic Zebrafish: A Pharmacological Study.

Nitric oxide (NO) has been shown to affect motor function. Specifically, NO has been shown to act through regulation of dopamine (DA) release, transporter function, and the elicitation of neuroprotection/neurodegeneration of neurons. Recently, zebrafish have been proposed to be a new model for the study of various types of motor dysfunctions, since neurotoxin damage to their nigrostriatal-like neurons exhibit motor anomalies similar to those of mammalian models and human patients.

Lateralized microstructural changes in early-stage Parkinson's disease in anterior olfactory structures, but not in substantia nigra.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurological disorder characterized by motor symptoms as well as severe deficits in olfactory function and microstructural changes in olfactory brain regions. Because of the evidence of asymmetric neuropathological features in early-stage PD, we examined whether lateralized microstructural changes occur in olfactory brain regions and the substantia nigra in a group of early-stage PD patients. Using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT), we assessed 24 early-stage PD patients (Hoehn and Yahr stage 1 or 2) and 26 healthy controls (HC).

Comparison of Thermal and Non-Thermal Processing of Swine Feed and the Use of Selected Feed Additives on Inactivation of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV).

Infection with porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) causes diarrhea, vomiting, and high mortality in suckling pigs. Contaminated feed has been suggested as a vehicle of transmission for PEDV. The objective of this study was to compare thermal and electron beam processing, and the inclusion of feed additives on the inactivation of PEDV in feed.

Emotional awareness and delusions in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder.

Background And Objectives: Emotion plays a significant role in schizophrenia. Emotional awareness (i.e.

Salmonella enterica serovar enteritidis antimicrobial peptide resistance genes aid in defense against chicken innate immunity, fecal shedding, and egg deposition.

Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis (S. Enteritidis) is a major etiologic agent of nontyphoid salmonellosis in the United States. S.

Cultivable bacterial microbiota of northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus): a new reservoir of antimicrobial resistance?

The northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) is an ecologically and economically important avian species. At the present time, little is known about the microbial communities associated with these birds. As the first step to create a quail microbiology knowledge base, the current study conducted an inventory of cultivable quail tracheal, crop, cecal, and cloacal microbiota and associated antimicrobial resistance using a combined bacteriology and DNA sequencing approach.

The tangled trail from Topeka to Houston: the Menninger Clinic-mid-1999 to mid-2003: a personal recollection.

This article traces many of the key events during the move of the Menninger Clinic from Topeka, Kansas, to Houston, Texas, and the affiliation with the Baylor College of Medicine and the Methodist Hospital in Houston. It is based on the personal recollections of John McKelvey, who was involved, in some form, in almost all aspects of the decision to move, the selection of the Houston location, the affiliation negotiations, and the final implementation of the relocation.

Diffusion tensor imaging and olfactory identification testing in early-stage Parkinson's disease.

Evidence from imaging, clinical studies, and pathology suggests that Parkinson's disease is preceded by a prodromal stage that predates clinical diagnosis by several years but there is no established method for detecting this stage. Olfactory impairment, which is common in Parkinson's disease and often predates clinical diagnosis, may be a useful biomarker for early Parkinson's. Evidence is emerging that diffusion imaging parameters might be altered in olfactory tract and substantia nigra in the early stages of clinical Parkinson's disease, possibly reflecting pathological changes.

Ethnicity and symptom expression in patients with acute schizophrenia.

Chinese patients have been largely ignored in the literature examining ethnic differences in schizophrenia. This study examined demographics and symptom profiles of Euro-, African-, Chinese-American, and Latino inpatients with schizophrenia. Chinese-American patients had fewer symptoms, hospitalizations, and least amount of education compared to other groups.

Immunity from smallpox vaccine persists for decades: a longitudinal study.

Purpose: The threat of smallpox resulting from bioterrorist action has prompted a reassessment of the level of immunity in current populations.

Methods: We have examined the magnitude and duration of antiviral antibody immunity conferred by smallpox vaccination in 246 participants of the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. Of this population, 209 subjects were vaccinated one or more times 13 to 88 years before this evaluation, and stored serum samples were available at various intervals after vaccination.

Blockade of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors in the ventral tegmental area prevents acquisition of food-rewarded operant responding in rats.

Rationale: We recently found that muscarinic receptor (mAChR) stimulation in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) is involved in the acquisition of a feeding task.

Objective: To investigate the involvement of VTA mAChR and nicotinic receptors (nAChR) in the acquisition and performance of a food-rewarded lever-pressing task.

Methods: In experiment 1 (N=54), rats were trained under a fixed ratio 1 schedule of reinforcement and received bilateral intra-VTA microinjections of scopolamine (0, 2.

Serum erythropoietin and aging: a longitudinal analysis.

Objectives: To determine the changes in serum erythropoietin with age in patients with and without anemia and to assess the importance of certain comorbidities on changes in erythropoietin level and the development of anemia.

Design: Clinical history, hematological parameters, and serum erythropoietin levels were examined at 1- to 2-year intervals for 8 to 30 years.

Setting: Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging (BLSA), National Institute on Aging.

Mechanisms of dressing apraxia: a case study.

Objective: To investigate the neural mechanisms that differentiate dressing apraxia from other forms of apraxia such as ideomotor apraxia. Hypotheses examined included (1) that dressing is more sensitive to alternations in body schema, (2) that dressing is a demanding bimanual task, and (3) that clothing represents a particularly complex spatial problem.

Background: A focal degenerative condition can specifically target a function such as dressing, allowing a unique approach to its study.