Phosphoinositides Regulate Ciliary Protein Trafficking to Modulate Hedgehog Signaling.

Primary cilia interpret vertebrate Hedgehog (Hh) signals. Why cilia are essential for signaling is unclear. One possibility is that some forms of signaling require a distinct membrane lipid composition, found at cilia.

Centriolar satellites assemble centrosomal microcephaly proteins to recruit CDK2 and promote centriole duplication.

Primary microcephaly (MCPH) associated proteins CDK5RAP2, CEP152, WDR62 and CEP63 colocalize at the centrosome. We found that they interact to promote centriole duplication and form a hierarchy in which each is required to localize another to the centrosome, with CDK5RAP2 at the apex, and CEP152, WDR62 and CEP63 at sequentially lower positions. MCPH proteins interact with distinct centriolar satellite proteins; CDK5RAP2 interacts with SPAG5 and CEP72, CEP152 with CEP131, WDR62 with MOONRAKER, and CEP63 with CEP90 and CCDC14.

A Nonparametric, Multiple Imputation-Based Method for the Retrospective Integration of Data Sets.

Complex research questions often cannot be addressed adequately with a single data set. One sensible alternative to the high cost and effort associated with the creation of large new data sets is to combine existing data sets containing variables related to the constructs of interest. The goal of the present research was to develop a flexible, broadly applicable approach to the integration of disparate data sets that is based on nonparametric multiple imputation and the collection of data from a convenient, de novo calibration sample.

Biological auctions with multiple rewards.

The competition for resources among cells, individuals or species is a fundamental characteristic of evolution. Biological all-pay auctions have been used to model situations where multiple individuals compete for a single resource. However, in many situations multiple resources with various values exist and single reward auctions are not applicable.

Multiple imputation for harmonizing longitudinal non-commensurate measures in individual participant data meta-analysis.

There are many advantages to individual participant data meta-analysis for combining data from multiple studies. These advantages include greater power to detect effects, increased sample heterogeneity, and the ability to perform more sophisticated analyses than meta-analyses that rely on published results. However, a fundamental challenge is that it is unlikely that variables of interest are measured the same way in all of the studies to be combined.

TMEM231, mutated in orofaciodigital and Meckel syndromes, organizes the ciliary transition zone.

The Meckel syndrome (MKS) complex functions at the transition zone, located between the basal body and axoneme, to regulate the localization of ciliary membrane proteins. We investigated the role of Tmem231, a two-pass transmembrane protein, in MKS complex formation and function. Consistent with a role in transition zone function, mutation of mouse Tmem231 disrupts the localization of proteins including Arl13b and Inpp5e to cilia, resulting in phenotypes characteristic of MKS such as polydactyly and kidney cysts.

Ciliary vesicle formation: a prelude to ciliogenesis.

Reporting recently in Nature Cell Biology, Lu et al. (2015) identify two Eps15-homology-domain-containing proteins as critical effectors of ciliary vesicle formation, an early event in ciliogenesis. Functional dissection reveals that one of them works to convert small vesicles associated with mother centriole distal appendages into a larger ciliary vesicle.

Resolving cognitive dissonance by acquisition of self-organizational skills may decrease drug-resistant seizures - A case report.

A recent review of psychobehavioral therapy for epilepsy recommends case reports as a research design to explore specific psychological mediators of psychobehavioral interventions for epilepsy that address the bidirectional relationship between psychological states and seizures. The report was prepared according to the consensus-based CARE guidelines for standardized clinical case reporting. This is a case of a 16-year-old male individual with a diagnosed seizure disorder and learning disability who continued to have daytime and nighttime seizures on a regular basis despite exhausting of available conventional treatment options.

Predictors of subclinical atherosclerosis in women with spinal cord injury.

Background: Chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) is associated with an increase in risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). In the general population, atherosclerosis in women occurs later than in men and usually presents differently. Associations between risk factors and incidence of CVD have not been studied in women with SCI.

Krüppel-like factor KLF10 regulates transforming growth factor receptor II expression and TGF-β signaling in CD8+ T lymphocytes.

KLF10 has recently elicited significant attention as a transcriptional regulator of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) signaling in CD4(+) T cells. In the current study, we demonstrate a novel role for KLF10 in the regulation of TGF-β receptor II (TGF-βRII) expression with functional relevance in antiviral immune response. Specifically, we show that KLF10-deficient mice have an increased number of effector/memory CD8(+) T cells, display higher levels of the T helper type 1 cell-associated transcription factor T-bet, and produce more IFN-γ following in vitro stimulation.

An advanced lithium-air battery exploiting an ionic liquid-based electrolyte.

A novel lithium-oxygen battery exploiting PYR14TFSI-LiTFSI as ionic liquid-based electrolyte medium is reported. The Li/PYR14TFSI-LiTFSI/O2 battery was fully characterized by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, capacity-limited cycling, field emission scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results of this extensive study demonstrate that this new Li/O2 cell is characterized by a stable electrode-electrolyte interface and a highly reversible charge-discharge cycling behavior.

Usefulness of a Nocturnal SOREMP for Diagnosing Narcolepsy with Cataplexy in a Pediatric Population.

Study Objectives: We investigated the diagnostic accuracy of a nocturnal sleep onset rapid eye movement sleep period (nSOREMP) for the identification of narcolepsy with cataplexy (N+C) among children and adolescents referred to the sleep laboratory for an overnight polysomnography (PSG) and multiple sleep latency test (MSLT).

Design: Retrospective chart review of sleep clinic notes and PSG and MSLT reports.

Setting: Boston Children's Hospital sleep laboratory and outpatient clinics.

Complex molecule formation around massive young stellar objects.

Interstellar complex organic molecules were first identified in the hot inner regions of massive young stellar objects (MYSOs), but have more recently been found in many colder sources, indicating that complex molecules can form at a range of temperatures. However, individually these observations provide limited constraints on how complex molecules form, and whether the same formation pathways dominate in cold, warm and hot environments. To address these questions, we use spatially resolved observations from the Submillimeter Array of three MYSOs together with mostly unresolved literature data to explore how molecular ratios depend on environmental parameters, especially temperature.

Alcohol Pharmacology Education Partnership: Using Chemistry and Biology Concepts To Educate High School Students about Alcohol.

We developed the Alcohol Pharmacology Education Partnership (APEP), a set of modules designed to integrate a topic of interest (alcohol) with concepts in chemistry and biology for high school students. Chemistry and biology teachers ( = 156) were recruited nationally to field-test APEP in a controlled study. Teachers obtained professional development either at a conference-based workshop (NSTA or NCSTA) or via distance learning to learn how to incorporate the APEP modules into their teaching.

Anxiety in first year medical students taking gross anatomy.

To study anxiety levels in first-year medical students taking gross anatomy. Thirty medical students per year, for 2 years, completed the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) 10 times during a 13-week gross anatomy course. In addition, behavioral observations were made by a psychiatrist during gross anatomy for demonstrations of assertive, destructive, neutral, or passive behavior.

C2cd3 is critical for centriolar distal appendage assembly and ciliary vesicle docking in mammals.

The primary cilium plays critical roles in vertebrate development and physiology, but the mechanisms underlying its biogenesis remain poorly understood. We investigated the molecular function of C2 calcium-dependent domain containing 3 (C2cd3), an essential regulator of primary cilium biogenesis. We show that C2cd3 is localized to the centriolar satellites in a microtubule- and Pcm1-dependent manner; however, C2cd3 is dispensable for centriolar satellite integrity.

A central region of Gli2 regulates its localization to the primary cilium and transcriptional activity.

Signaling through vertebrate Hedgehog (Hh) proteins depends on the primary cilium. In response to Hh signals, the transcriptional activator of the pathway, Gli2, accumulates at the ciliary tip, raising the possibility that ciliary localization is important for Gli2 activation. To test this hypothesis, we used the Floxin system to create knock-in Gli2 alleles in embryonic stem cells (ESCs) to allow methodical testing of which domains and residues are essential for the ciliary localization of Gli2.

Imputation of confidential data sets with spatial locations using disease mapping models.

Data that include fine geographic information, such as census tract or street block identifiers, can be difficult to release as public use files. Fine geography provides information that ill-intentioned data users can use to identify individuals. We propose to release data with simulated geographies, so as to enable spatial analyses while reducing disclosure risks.

Multiple-Shrinkage Multinomial Probit Models with Applications to Simulating Geographies in Public Use Data.

Multinomial outcomes with many levels can be challenging to model. Information typically accrues slowly with increasing sample size, yet the parameter space expands rapidly with additional covariates. Shrinking all regression parameters towards zero, as often done in models of continuous or binary response variables, is unsatisfactory, since setting parameters equal to zero in multinomial models does not necessarily imply "no effect.

Forgiver triumphs in alternating Prisoner's Dilemma.

Cooperative behavior, where one individual incurs a cost to help another, is a wide spread phenomenon. Here we study direct reciprocity in the context of the alternating Prisoner's Dilemma. We consider all strategies that can be implemented by one and two-state automata.

Hedgehog signaling controls T cell killing at the immunological synapse.

The centrosome is essential for cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) function, contacting the plasma membrane and directing cytotoxic granules for secretion at the immunological synapse. Centrosome docking at the plasma membrane also occurs during cilia formation. The primary cilium, formed in nonhematopoietic cells, is essential for vertebrate Hedgehog (Hh) signaling.

On the nature of pleural involvement in necrotizing pneumonia: a report of two cases of life threatening late complications.

Suppurative complications of pneumonia such as empyema, lung abscess, pyopneumothorax, and necrotizing pneumonia (NP) are uncommon in children. Over the last decade an increasing incidence of NP has been reported. Streptococcus pneumoniae continues to be the predominant causative organism of NP, and while sporadic cases were reported prior to routine administration of heptavalent pneumococcal vaccine, a marked increase in NP appears to relate to replacement pneumococcal strains.