Shellfish and shorebirds from the East-Asian Australian flyway as bioindicators for unknown per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances using the total oxidizable precursor assay.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have gained significant global attention due to their extensive industrial use and harmful effects on various organisms. Among these, perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) are well-studied, but their diverse precursors remain challenging to monitor. The Total Oxidizable Precursor (TOP) assay offers a powerful approach to converting these precursors into detectable PFAAs.

Induction of Antigen-Specific Tolerance in a Multiple Sclerosis Model without Broad Immunosuppression.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a severe autoimmune disorder that wreaks havoc on the central nervous system, leading to a spectrum of motor and cognitive impairments. There is no cure, and current treatment strategies rely on broad immunosuppression, leaving patients vulnerable to infections. To address this problem, our approach aims to induce antigen-specific tolerance, a much-needed shift in MS therapy.

Carbonic anhydrase 2-derived drug-responsive domain regulates membrane-bound cytokine expression and function in engineered T cells.

Adoptive cell therapies (ACT) have shown reduced efficacy against solid tumor malignancies compared to hematologic malignancies, partly due to the immunosuppressive nature of the tumor microenvironment (TME). ACT efficacy may be enhanced with pleiotropic cytokines that remodel the TME; however, their expression needs to be tightly controlled to avoid systemic toxicities. Here we show T cells can be armored with membrane-bound cytokines with surface expression regulated using drug-responsive domains (DRDs) developed from the 260-amino acid protein human carbonic anhydrase 2 (CA2).

High dose inactivated influenza vaccine inconsistently improves heterologous antibody responses in an elderly human cohort.

Background: Older adults often mount a weak immune response to standard inactivated influenza vaccines. To induce a stronger response and better protection, a high-dose (HD) version of the inactivated Fluzone vaccine is recommended for individuals >65 years of age. While better immunogenicity and protection against the vaccine strain has been shown, it is not known if the HD vaccine also induces a robust antibody response to heterologous strains.

Delay of innate immune responses following influenza B virus infection affects the development of a robust antibody response in ferrets.

Unlabelled: Due to its natural influenza susceptibility, clinical signs, transmission, and similar sialic acid residue distribution, the ferret is the primary animal model for human influenza research. Antibodies generated following infection of ferrets with human influenza viruses are used in surveillance to detect antigenic drift and cross-reactivity with vaccine viruses and circulating strains. Inoculation of ferrets, with over 1,500 human clinical influenza isolates (1998-2019) resulted in lower antibody responses (HI <1:160) to 86% (387 out of 448) influenza B viruses (IBVs) compared to 2.

Computationally Optimized Hemagglutinin Proteins Adjuvanted with Infectimune Generate Broadly Protective Antibody Responses in Mice and Ferrets.

Standard-of-care influenza vaccines contain antigens that are typically derived from components of wild type (WT) influenza viruses. Often, these antigens elicit strain-specific immune responses and are susceptible to mismatch in seasons where antigenic drift is prevalent. Thanks to advances in viral surveillance and sequencing, influenza vaccine antigens can now be optimized using computationally derived methodologies and algorithms to enhance their immunogenicity.

Simple and effective filtration system for drinking water production from harvested rainwater in rural areas.

Rainwater harvesting (RWH) for drinking water production has been a potential solution to mitigate water scarcity in rural areas. There was limited research focusing on the quality of treated rainwater. This study developed and tested the quality of a drinking water filtration system (DWFS) for treating harvested rainwater to support rural communities.

Longitudinal changes in reinforcement learning during smoking cessation: a computational analysis using a probabilistic reward task.

Despite progress in smoking reduction in the past several decades, cigarette smoking remains a significant public health concern world-wide, with many smokers attempting but ultimately failing to maintain abstinence. However, little is known about how decision-making evolves in quitting smokers. Based on preregistered hypotheses and analysis plan ( https://osf.

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of a GHSR blocker in people with alcohol use disorder.

BACKGROUNDStudies have demonstrated the role of ghrelin in alcohol-related behaviors and consumption. Blockade of the growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHSR), which is the ghrelin receptor, has been shown to decrease alcohol drinking and reward-related behaviors across several animal models. We previously conducted a human study testing a GHSR inverse agonist/competitive antagonist, PF-5190457, in individuals who are heavy drinkers and showed its safety when coadministered with alcohol.

Insights into the 2023 ACR/EULAR Antiphospholipid Syndrome Classification Criteria: findings from a cohort of 205 patients with primary APS.

Objectives: The 2023 ACR/EULAR antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) classification criteria distinguish between anticardiolipin (aCL) or anti-β2-glycoprotein I (aβ2GPI) IgG vs IgM isotypes, having isolate IgM positivity a low weight, insufficient for APS classification, and define aCL and aβ2GPI thresholds based on fixed cut-off values. We aimed to assess the performance of the 2023 ACR/EULAR criteria in a cohort of primary vascular APS patients (PAPS), previously classified according to the Sydney criteria. Additionally, we evaluated the risk of thrombotic recurrence in patients re-classified or not according to the new criteria.

Estimating standard-dose and high-dose Fluzone vaccine efficacies for influenza A based on HAI titers.

Background: The high-dose (HD) Fluzone influenza vaccine is currently recommended for individuals 65 and older, since it was shown in past studies to improve antibody responses and vaccine efficacy (VE) compared to a standard-dose (SD) formulation. Since influenza vaccines are frequently reformulated, monitoring any potential changes in VE is crucial. Traditional efficacy trials can be costly and time-consuming.

Catecholaminergic Modulation of Large-Scale Network Dynamics Is Tied to the Reconfiguration of Corticostriatal Connectivity.

Large-scale brain network function is critical for healthy cognition, yet links between such network function, neurochemistry, and smaller-scale neurocircuitry are unclear. Here, we evaluated 59 healthy individuals using resting-state fMRI to determine how network-level temporal dynamics were impacted by two well-characterized pharmacotherapies targeting catecholamines: methylphenidate (20 mg) and haloperidol (2 mg)-administered via randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled design. Network temporal dynamic changes were tested for links with drug-induced alterations in complex corticostriatal connections as this circuit is a primary site of action for both drugs.

Outcomes after critical care admission in people with a learning disability.

Introduction: People with learning disabilities experience worse healthcare outcomes than the general population. There is evidence that they are more likely to experience avoidable mortality and less likely to receive critical care interventions during an acute illness. Decisions regarding critical care admission or intervention must be based on evidence of whether a patient will receive lasting benefit from a critical care admission.

Implementation of an HIV Prevention Intervention at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Predominantly Black Institutions.

Black Americans and the Southern United States are disproportionately represented in the HIV epidemic. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs), often located in communities that have been historically underserved, are uniquely positioned to implement HIV prevention interventions focused on Black young adults. The purpose of the current study was to conduct a qualitative study, using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) model as a guide, to identify the barriers and facilitators to implementing an HIV intervention pre- and post-implementation.

Correction: Huang et al. Next Generation of Computationally Optimized Broadly Reactive HA Vaccines Elicited Cross-Reactive Immune Responses and Provided Protection against H1N1 Virus Infection. 2021, , 793.

The authors would like to make the following corrections to this published paper [...

Factors Predicting COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness and Longevity of Humoral Immune Responses.

The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, prompted global efforts to develop vaccines to control the disease. Various vaccines, including mRNA (BNT162b2, mRNA-1273), adenoviral vector (ChAdOx1, Ad26.COV2.

Turns around periodic spatial boundaries facilitate increasing event segmentation over time.

Event segmentation is a neurocognitive process bridging perception and episodic memory. To our knowledge, almost all segmentation work is framed towards humans, yet evolutionarily conserved mechanisms in event cognition exist across species. Here, we addressed segmentation in a way that is applicable to humans and non-human animals, inspired by research in rats; specifically, the fragmentation of grid-cell spatial representations following the insertion of boundaries into an environment (forming a corridor maze).

Institutional influence on length of stay in German forensic hospitals: a multilevel analysis of patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

Introduction: Scientific studies have focused on patient-related characteristics as predictors of length of stay in forensic psychiatry. However, little attention has been paid to the specificities of forensic psychiatric settings. This study aims to test whether differences in forensic admissions transcend individual factors by comparing length of stay between different psychiatric units, controlling for hospital characteristics and patient characteristics.

Metabolic interplay drives population cycles in a cross-feeding microbial community.

Population cycles are prevalent in ecosystems and play key roles in determining their functions. While multiple mechanisms have been theoretically shown to generate population cycles, there are limited examples of mutualisms driving self-sustained oscillations. Using an engineered microbial community that cross-feeds essential amino acids, we experimentally demonstrate cycles in strain abundance that are robust across environmental conditions.

HOUSING TEMPERATURE ALTERS BURN-INDUCED HYPERMETABOLISM IN MICE.

Mice used in biomedical research are typically housed at ambient temperatures (22°C-24°C) below thermoneutrality (26°C-31°C). This chronic cold stress triggers a hypermetabolic response that may limit the utility of mice in modeling hypermetabolism in response to burns. To evaluate the effect of housing temperature on burn-induced hypermetabolism, mice were randomly assigned to receive sham, small, or large scald burns.

Interferon as an immunoadjuvant to enhance antibodies following influenza B infection and vaccination in ferrets.

Despite annual vaccination, influenza B viruses (IBV) continue to cause significant morbidity and mortality in humans. We have found that IBV infection resulted in a weaker innate and adaptive immune response than influenza A viruses (IAV) in ferrets. To understand and overcome the weak immune responses to IBV in ferrets, we administered type-I or type-III interferon (IFN) to ferrets following infection or vaccination and evaluated their effects on the immune response.

Multiplexed Antibody Sequencing and Profiling of the Human Hemagglutinin-specific Memory B Cell Response following Influenza Vaccination.

Influenza virus is a highly contagious respiratory pathogen causing between 9.4 and 41 million infections per year in the United States in the last decade. Annual vaccination is recommended by the World Health Organization, with the goal to reduce influenza severity and transmission.