Quantitative Analysis of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons at Part Per Billion Levels in Fish Oil by Headspace Solid-Phase Microextraction and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS).

Headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) was used in combination with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for the analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) at part per billion levels in fish oil samples collected from menhaden fish. The method was initially developed using fish oil from capsules spiked with a standard PAH mixture. The final HS-SPME-GC-MS method presented a linear range from 3 to 1,500 ng/g, with precision for most analytes <10% relative standard deviation.

NK cells for PD-1/PD-L1 blockade immunotherapy: pinning down the NK cell.

In spite of a very robust body of literature and definitive data demonstrating the importance of the programmed cell death receptor-1 (PD-1) pathway in T cells and their function, the data on NK cell PD-1 expression have been highly variable and, particularly in the case of mouse NK cells, scarce. In this issue of the JCI, Hsu et al. present data demonstrating PD-1 expression on mouse NK cells only within tumors and show that PD-1 blockade elicits an antitumor NK cell-mediated response.

Storage after gamma irradiation affects in vivo oxygen delivery capacity of transfused red blood cells in preterm infants.

Background: Gamma irradiation of red blood cells (RBCs) is well recognized to exacerbate storage lesion formation, but the effect of storage after irradiation on in vivo oxygen delivery capacity of transfused RBCs is currently not known.

Study Design And Methods: In 24 preterm infants with anemia receiving nonurgent transfusion of irradiated RBCs, we examined cerebral regional tissue oxygenation (crSO ) and time spent with peripheral arterial saturation (SpO ) less than 88%. Physiologic data were obtained immediately before, immediately after, and 5 days after transfusion.

Association of macrophage and lymphocyte infiltration with outcome in canine osteosarcoma.

Immunotherapeutic strategies have shown promise for the treatment of canine osteosarcoma (cOSA). Very little is known about the immune microenvironment within cOSA, however, limiting our ability to identify potential immune targets and biomarkers of therapeutic response. We therefore prospectively assessed the disease-free interval (DFI) and overall survival time (ST) of 30 dogs with cOSA treated with amputation and six doses of adjuvant carboplatin.

A possible new pathway in natural killer cell activation also reveals the difficulty in determining human NK cell function in cancer.

Immunotherapy is rapidly becoming the fourth arm of cancer treatment, and breakthrough successes have been observed in multiple malignancies. However, despite the potential for impressive anti-tumor effects, on average, only 25% of patients respond, and barriers clearly remain. Hence, uncovering innovative ways to apply immunotherapy and overcome immune resistance remains an unmet need in immuno-oncology.

Customizable biomaterials as tools for advanced anti-angiogenic drug discovery.

The inhibition of angiogenesis is a critical element of cancer therapy, as cancer vasculature contributes to tumor expansion. While numerous drugs have proven to be effective at disrupting cancer vasculature, patient survival has not significantly improved as a result of anti-angiogenic drug treatment. Emerging evidence suggests that this is due to a combination of unintended side effects resulting from the application of anti-angiogenic compounds, including angiogenic rebound after treatment and the activation of metastasis in the tumor.

Horse Y chromosome assembly displays unique evolutionary features and putative stallion fertility genes.

Dynamic evolutionary processes and complex structure make the Y chromosome among the most diverse and least understood regions in mammalian genomes. Here, we present an annotated assembly of the male specific region of the horse Y chromosome (eMSY), representing the first comprehensive Y assembly in odd-toed ungulates. The eMSY comprises single-copy, equine specific multi-copy, PAR transposed, and novel ampliconic sequence classes.

Cost Savings in a Surgeon-Directed BPCI Program for Total Joint Arthroplasty.

Background: There are few studies available on the savings generated and strategies employed for cost reduction in total joint arthroplasty. In this study, our organization-a group of private practices partnering with a consultant-aimed to analyze the impact of a preoperative protocol on overall cost savings.

Materials And Methods: Using administrative data from the Medicare Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI) initiative, 771 consecutive total joint arthroplasty patients from 2009-2014 were compared with 408 consecutive BPCI patients from 2014-2017.

Distinct immune signatures in directly treated and distant tumors result from TLR adjuvants and focal ablation.

Both adjuvants and focal ablation can alter the local innate immune system and trigger a highly effective systemic response. Our goal is to determine the impact of these treatments on directly treated and distant disease and the mechanisms for the enhanced response obtained by combinatorial treatments. We combined RNA-sequencing, flow cytometry and TCR-sequencing to dissect the impact of immunotherapy and of immunotherapy combined with ablation on local and systemic immune components.

Microparticles Locally Deliver Active Interleukin-1 Receptor Antagonist In Vivo.

Despite significant research in therapeutic protein delivery, localized and sustained delivery of active therapeutic proteins remains a challenge. Delivery is a particular challenge for therapeutic proteins with a short half-life. Herein, localized delivery of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) by mineral coated microparticles (MPs) is assessed in a healing rat medial collateral ligament (MCL).

Two Methods for Decellularization of Plant Tissues for Tissue Engineering Applications.

The autologous, synthetic, and animal-derived grafts currently used as scaffolds for tissue replacement have limitations due to low availability, poor biocompatibility, and cost. Plant tissues have favorable characteristics that make them uniquely suited for use as scaffolds, such as high surface area, excellent water transport and retention, interconnected porosity, preexisting vascular networks, and a wide range of mechanical properties. Two successful methods of plant decellularization for tissue engineering applications are described here.

Stereotactic Ablative Radiation Therapy Induces Systemic Differences in Peripheral Blood Immunophenotype Dependent on Irradiated Site.

Purpose: Despite the strong interest in combining stereotactic ablative radiation therapy (SAR) with immunotherapy, limited data characterizing the systemic immune response after SAR are available. We hypothesized that the systemic immune response to SAR would differ by irradiated site owing to inherent differences in the microenvironment of various organs.

Methods And Materials: Patients receiving SAR to any organ underwent prospective blood banking before and 1 to 2 weeks after SAR.

Author Correction: Applications and efficiencies of the first cat 63K DNA array.

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has been fixed in the paper.

Multi-color flow cytometry for evaluating age-related changes in memory lymphocyte subsets in dogs.

While dogs are increasingly being utilized as large-animal models of disease, important features of age-related immunosenescence in the dog have yet to be evaluated due to the lack of defined naïve vs. memory T lymphocyte phenotypes. We therefore performed multi-color flow cytometry on peripheral blood mononuclear cells from young and aged beagles, and determined the differential cytokine production by proposed memory subsets.

Obesity as an immune-modifying factor in cancer immunotherapy.

Immunotherapy has achieved breakthrough status in many advanced stage malignancies and is rapidly becoming the fourth arm of cancer treatment. Although cancer immunotherapy has generated significant excitement because of the potential for complete and sometimes durable responses, there is also the potential for severe and occasionally life-threatening toxicities, including cytokine release syndrome and severe autoimmunity. A large body of work also points to a "metainflammatory" state in obesity associated with impairment of immune responses.

Applications and efficiencies of the first cat 63K DNA array.

The development of high throughput SNP genotyping technologies has improved the genetic dissection of simple and complex traits in many species including cats. The properties of feline 62,897 SNPs Illumina Infinium iSelect DNA array are described using a dataset of over 2,000 feline samples, the most extensive to date, representing 41 cat breeds, a random bred population, and four wild felid species. Accuracy and efficiency of the array's genotypes and its utility in performing population-based analyses were evaluated.

Kröhnke pyridines: Rapid and facile access to Mcl-1 inhibitors.

The tumorigenic activity of upregulated Mcl-1 is manifested by binding the BH3 α-helical death domains of opposing Bcl-2 family members, neutralizing them and preventing apoptosis. Accordingly, the development of Mcl-1 inhibitors largely focuses on synthetic BH3 mimicry. The condensation of α-pyridinium methyl ketone salts and α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds in the presence of a source of ammonia, or the Kröhnke pyridine synthesis, is a simple approach to afford highly functionalized pyridines.

Obesity induced T cell dysfunction and implications for cancer immunotherapy.

Obesity has been shown to increase risk for a number of different disorders, including cancer. In addition, obesity is also associated with immune dysfunction, which could contribute to its strong association with other comorbidities. Recently, the immune system has been found to be heavily regulated by changes in metabolism.

Improving classification of melanocytic nevi: Association of BRAF V600E expression with distinct histomorphologic features.

Background: A subset of melanomas carrying a B-Raf proto-oncogene, serine/threonine kinase gene (BRAF) V600E mutation, which is the most common targetable mutation in melanoma, arise in association with a melanocytic nevus that is also harboring a BRAF V600E mutation. The detailed histomorphologic characteristics of nevi positive for BRAF V600E have not been systematically documented.

Objective: To identify histomorphologic features correlating with BRAF V600E status in nevi.

Fracture risk prediction using FRAX in patients following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Unlabelled: We aimed to study the utility of the FRAX tool in predicting fractures in patient's receiving a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Our results indicate that the FRAX tool has modest fracture predictive ability in patients greater than 50 years of age at the time of HSCT.

Purpose: Identifying patients at high risk of osteoporotic fractures following HSCT is challenging.

The Birth and Death of Olfactory Receptor Gene Families in Mammalian Niche Adaptation.

The olfactory receptor (OR) gene families, which govern mammalian olfaction, have undergone extensive expansion and contraction through duplication and pseudogenization. Previous studies have shown that broadly defined environmental adaptations (e.g.

Olfaction written in bone: cribriform plate size parallels olfactory receptor gene repertoires in Mammalia.

The evolution of mammalian olfaction is manifested in a remarkable diversity of gene repertoires, neuroanatomy and skull morphology across living species. Olfactory receptor genes (ORGs), which initiate the conversion of odorant molecules into odour perceptions and help an animal resolve the olfactory world, range in number from a mere handful to several thousand genes across species. Within the snout, each of these ORGs is exclusively expressed by a discrete population of olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs), suggesting that newly evolved ORGs may be coupled with new OSN populations in the nasal epithelium.

The Safe Zone Range for Cup Anteversion Is Narrower Than for Inclination in THA.

Background: Cup malposition is a common cause of impingement, limitation of ROM, acceleration of bearing wear, liner fracture, and instability in THA. Previous studies of the safe zone based on plain radiographs have limitations inherent to measuring angles from two-dimensional projections. The current study uses CT to measure component position in stable and unstable hips to assess the presence of a safe zone for cup position in THA.