Interferon gamma protects neonatal neural stem/progenitor cells during measles virus infection of the brain.

Background: In the developing brain, self-renewing neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPC) give rise to neuronal and glial lineages. NSPC survival and differentiation can be altered by neurotropic viruses and by the anti-viral immune response. Several neurotropic viruses specifically target and infect NSPCs, in addition to inducing neuronal loss, which makes it difficult to distinguish between effects on NSPCs that are due to direct viral infection or due to the anti-viral immune response.

Assessing Patient Exposure to a Video-Based Intervention in STD Clinic Waiting Rooms: Findings From the Safe in the City Trial.

Safe in the City, a video intervention for clinic waiting rooms, was previously shown to reduce sexually transmitted disease (STD) incidence. However, little is known about patients' recall of exposure to the intervention. Using data from a nested study of patients attending clinics during the trial, we assessed whether participants recalled Safe in the City, and, if so, how the intervention affected subsequent attitudes and behaviors.

The microbiome associated with equine periodontitis and oral health.

Equine periodontal disease is a common and painful condition and its severe form, periodontitis, can lead to tooth loss. Its aetiopathogenesis remains poorly understood despite recent increased awareness of this disorder amongst the veterinary profession. Bacteria have been found to be causative agents of the disease in other species, but current understanding of their role in equine periodontitis is extremely limited.

One step closer to understanding the role of bacteria in diabetic foot ulcers: characterising the microbiome of ulcers.

Background: The aim of this study was to characterise the microbiome of new and recurrent diabetic foot ulcers using 16S amplicon sequencing (16S AS), allowing the identification of a wider range of bacterial species that may be important in the development of chronicity in these debilitating wounds. Twenty patients not receiving antibiotics for the past three months were selected, with swabs taken from each individual for culture and 16S AS. DNA was isolated using a combination of bead beating and kit extraction.

Right inferior longitudinal fasciculus lesions disrupt visual-emotional integration.

The mechanism by which the brain integrates visual and emotional information remains incompletely understood, and can be studied through focal lesions that selectively disrupt this process. To date, three reported cases of visual hypoemotionality, a vision-specific form of derealization, have resulted from lesions of the temporo-occipital junction. We present a fourth case of this rare phenomenon, and investigate the role of the inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF) in the underlying pathophysiology.

Q-space trajectory imaging for multidimensional diffusion MRI of the human brain.

This work describes a new diffusion MR framework for imaging and modeling of microstructure that we call q-space trajectory imaging (QTI). The QTI framework consists of two parts: encoding and modeling. First we propose q-space trajectory encoding, which uses time-varying gradients to probe a trajectory in q-space, in contrast to traditional pulsed field gradient sequences that attempt to probe a point in q-space.

Hepatitis C virus infection in the 1945-1965 birth cohort (baby boomers) in a large urban ED.

Introduction: The US Preventive Services Task Force recommends one-time screening of the 1945-1965 birth cohort (baby boomers) for hepatitis C (HCV) infection. New York State legislation mandates screening of baby boomers for HCV in most patient care settings except the emergency department (ED). This cross-sectional study explores baby boomer knowledge of HCV, prevalence of HCV infection, and linkage to care from a large urban ED.

Corticospinal tract modeling for neurosurgical planning by tracking through regions of peritumoral edema and crossing fibers using two-tensor unscented Kalman filter tractography.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to present a tractography algorithm using a two-tensor unscented Kalman filter (UKF) to improve the modeling of the corticospinal tract (CST) by tracking through regions of peritumoral edema and crossing fibers.

Methods: Ten patients with brain tumors in the vicinity of motor cortex and evidence of significant peritumoral edema were retrospectively selected for the study. All patients underwent 3-T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) including functional MRI (fMRI) and a diffusion-weighted data set with 31 directions.

The Emerging Microbe Project: Developing Clinical Care Plans Based on Pathogen Identification and Clinical Case Studies.

For many students in the health sciences, including doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) students, basic and clinical sciences often appear detached from each other. In the infectious disease field, PharmD students additionally struggle with mastering the diversity of microorganisms and the corresponding therapies. The objective of this study was to design an interdisciplinary project that integrates fundamental microbiology with clinical research and decision-making skills.

Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor-Mobilized Allografts Contain Activated Immune Cell Subsets Associated with Risk of Acute and Chronic Graft-versus-Host Disease.

We defined associations among immune cell subsets in granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)-mobilized allografts and clinical outcomes after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (alloHCT). Fresh peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) aliquots from 238 G-CSF-mobilized allografts were extensively characterized by immunophenotype. Subset-specific transplanted cells were correlated with acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD), chronic GVHD (cGVHD), malignant disease relapse, nonrelapse mortality, and overall survival.

BioGRID: A Resource for Studying Biological Interactions in Yeast.

The Biological General Repository for Interaction Datasets (BioGRID) is a freely available public database that provides the biological and biomedical research communities with curated protein and genetic interaction data. Structured experimental evidence codes, an intuitive search interface, and visualization tools enable the discovery of individual gene, protein, or biological network function. BioGRID houses interaction data for the major model organism species--including yeast, nematode, fly, zebrafish, mouse, and human--with particular emphasis on the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe as pioneer eukaryotic models for network biology.

Use of the BioGRID Database for Analysis of Yeast Protein and Genetic Interactions.

The BioGRID database is an extensive repository of curated genetic and protein interactions for the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, and the yeast Candida albicans SC5314, as well as for several other model organisms and humans. This protocol describes how to use the BioGRID website to query genetic or protein interactions for any gene of interest, how to visualize the associated interactions using an embedded interactive network viewer, and how to download data files for either selected interactions or the entire BioGRID interaction data set.

Sexual abstinence and other behaviours immediately following a new STI diagnosis among STI clinic patients: Findings from the Safe in the City trial.

Background: Few studies have assessed patients' sexual behaviours during the period immediately following a new diagnosis of a curable sexually transmitted infection (STI).

Methods: Data were analysed from a behavioural study nested within the Safe in the City trial, which evaluated a video-based STI/HIV prevention intervention in three urban STI clinics. We studied 450 patients who reported having received a new STI diagnosis, or STI treatment, 3 months earlier.

Sparse Reconstruction Challenge for diffusion MRI: Validation on a physical phantom to determine which acquisition scheme and analysis method to use?

Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) is the modality of choice for investigating in-vivo white matter connectivity and neural tissue architecture of the brain. The diffusion-weighted signal in dMRI reflects the diffusivity of water molecules in brain tissue and can be utilized to produce image-based biomarkers for clinical research. Due to the constraints on scanning time, a limited number of measurements can be acquired within a clinically feasible scan time.

Teaching Pharmacology Graduate Students how to Write an NIH Grant Application.

To fill the gap in grant writing training in pharmacology graduate education using an active-learning strategy. Graduate students wrote subsections of a grant according to NIH guidelines. Students revised their applications based on multiple rounds of critiques from professors and peers throughout a semester-long scientific writing course.

The genomic sequence of lymphocryptovirus from cynomolgus macaque.

Lymphocryptoviruses such as Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) cause persistent infections in human and non-human primates, and suppression of the immune system can increase the risk of lymphocryptovirus (LCV)-associated tumor development in both human and non-human primates. To enable LCV infection as a non-clinical model to study effects of therapeutics on EBV immunity, we determined the genomic DNA sequence of the LCV from cynomolgus macaque, a species commonly used for non-clinical testing. Comparison to rhesus macaque LCV and human EBV sequences indicates that LCV from the cynomolgus macaque has the same genomic arrangement and a high degree of similarity in most genes, especially with rhesus macaque LCV.

Integration of Light and Photoperiodic Signaling in Transcriptional Nuclear Foci.

Light regulates major plant developmental transitions by orchestrating a series of nuclear events. This study uncovers the molecular function of the natural variant, TZP (Tandem Zinc-finger-Plus3), as a signal integrator of light and photoperiodic pathways in transcriptional nuclear foci. We report that TZP acts as a positive regulator of photoperiodic flowering via physical interactions with the red-light receptor phytochrome B (phyB).

Uncoupling of transcription and translation of Fanconi anemia (FANC) complex proteins during spermatogenesis.

Male germ cell genome integrity is critical for spermatogenesis, fertility and normal development of the offspring. Several DNA repair pathways exist in male germ cells. One such important pathway is the Fanconi anemia (FANC) pathway.

The Oral Microbiome of Denture Wearers Is Influenced by Levels of Natural Dentition.

Objectives: The composition of dental plaque has been well defined, whereas currently there is limited understanding of the composition of denture plaque and how it directly influences denture related stomatitis (DS). The aims of this study were to compare the microbiomes of denture wearers, and to understand the implications of these towards inter-kingdom and host-pathogen interactions within the oral cavity.

Methods: Swab samples were obtained from 123 participants wearing either a complete or partial denture; the bacterial composition of each sample was determined using bar-coded illumina MiSeq sequencing of the bacterial hypervariable V4 region of 16S rDNA.

Polymicrobial Candida biofilms: friends and foe in the oral cavity.

The role of polymicrobial biofilm infections in medicine is becoming more apparent. Increasing number of microbiome studies and deep sequencing has enabled us to develop a greater understanding of how positive and negative microbial interactions influence disease outcomes. An environment where this is particularly pertinent is within the oral cavity, a rich and diverse ecosystem inhabited by both bacteria and yeasts, which collectively occupy and coexist within various niches as biofilm communities.

Predicting Hemagglutinin MHC-II Ligand Analogues in Anti-TNFα Biologics: Implications for Immunogenicity of Pharmaceutical Proteins.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent of overlapping immunogenic peptides between three pharmaceutical biologics and influenza viruses. Clinical studies have shown that subsets of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) develop anti-drug antibodies towards anti-TNFα biologics. We postulate that common infectious pathogens, including influenza viruses, may sensitize RA patients toward recombinant proteins.