Lethal use of force surveillance: practical considerations for open-source database linkage.

Currently, there remains no reliable and timely government tracking in the USA of deaths caused by law enforcement. Federal efforts to track these events are insufficient, generally missing as many as half of community deaths that occur annually because of law enforcement's lethal use of force. The dearth of accurate data on these events limits the ability to accurately quantify their burden and effectively identify opportunities for intervention and policy change.

The Impact of Recreational Marijuana Legalization on Simple Assault in Oregon.

There has been heightened public concern about the implications of recreational marijuana legalization to public safety. Prior research on this issue has primarily focused on Colorado and Washington State-the two states that first legalized recreational marijuana in the U.S.

The adverse effects of policing on population health: A conceptual model.

While negative encounters between police and the community are not a new trend, recent high profile deaths of unarmed people of color have gained widespread national attention and ignited new movements demanding reform, accountability, and progress. Increasingly over the past few decades, researchers have examined the most extreme cases of lethal use of force, describing the context of these violent encounters, situational and personal characteristics, and underlying risk factors. More recent research has aimed to define the broader and more nuanced adverse effects that policing can have on population health.

Development of a genetic system for the archaeal virus Sulfolobus turreted icosahedral virus (STIV).

Our understanding of archaeal viruses has been limited by the lack of genetic systems for examining viral function. We describe the construction of an infectious clone for the archaeal virus Sulfolobus turreted icosahedral virus (STIV). STIV was isolated from a high temperature (82°C) acidic (pH 2.

Protein cage nanoparticles bearing the LyP-1 peptide for enhanced imaging of macrophage-rich vascular lesions.

Cage-like protein nanoparticles are promising platforms for cell- and tissue-specific targeted delivery of imaging and therapeutic agents. Here, we have successfully modified the 12 nm small heat shock protein from Methanococcus jannaschii (MjHsp) to detect atherosclerotic plaque lesions in a mouse model system. As macrophages are centrally involved in the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis, targeted imaging of macrophages is valuable to assess the biologic status of the blood vessel wall.

Monitoring structural transitions in icosahedral virus protein cages by site-directed spin labeling.

This work describes an approach for calculating and measuring dipolar interactions in multispin systems to monitor conformational changes in icosahedral protein cages using site-directed spin labeling. Cowpea chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV) is used as a template that undergoes a pH-dependent reversible capsid expansion wherein the protein cage swells by 10%. The sequence-position-dependent geometric presentation of attached spin-label groups provides a strategy for targeting amino acid residues most probative of structural change.

Synergistic effects of mutations and nanoparticle templating in the self-assembly of cowpea chlorotic mottle virus capsids.

A study of the in vitro nanoparticle-templated assembly of a mutant of cowpea chlorotic mottle virus lacking most of the N-terminal domain (residues 4-37), NDelta34, is presented. Mutant empty proteins assemble into empty capsids with a much broader distribution of sizes than the wild-type virus. This increased flexibility in the assembly outcomes is known to be detrimental for the assembly process in the presence of molecular polyanions.

A human ferritin iron oxide nano-composite magnetic resonance contrast agent.

Macrophages play important roles in the immunological defense system, but at the same time they are involved in inflammatory diseases such as atherosclerosis. Therefore, imaging macrophages is critical to assessing the status of these diseases. Toward this goal, a recombinant human H chain ferritin (rHFn)-iron oxide nano composite has been investigated as an MRI contrast agent for labeling macrophages.

Polymerase Chain Reaction Detection of Ustilago hordei in Leaves of Susceptible and Resistant Barley Varieties.

ABSTRACT Although Ustilago hordei infects barley seedlings, symptoms of the disease covered smut are not visible until heading. Natural or artificial inoculation usually results in inconsistent infection, even in highly susceptible lines. Thus, breeding for resistance to covered smut is time consuming and difficult.

Plant viruses as biotemplates for materials and their use in nanotechnology.

In recent years, plant virus capsids, the protein shells that form the surface of a typical plant virus particle, have emerged as useful biotemplates for material synthesis. All virus capsids are assembled from virus-coded protein subunits. Many plant viruses assemble capsids with precise 3D structures providing nanoscale architectures that are highly homogeneous and can be produced in large quantities.

Viral capsids as MRI contrast agents.

Viral capsids have the potential for combined cell/tissue targeting, drug delivery, and imaging. Described here is the development of a viral capsid as an efficient and potentially relevant MRI contrast agent. Two approaches are outlined to fuse high affinity Gd(3+) chelating moieties to the surface of the cowpea chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV) capsid.

Targeting of cancer cells with ferrimagnetic ferritin cage nanoparticles.

Protein cage architectures such as virus capsids and ferritins are versatile nanoscale platforms amenable to both genetic and chemical modification. Incorporation of multiple functionalities within these nanometer-sized protein architectures demonstrate their potential to serve as functional nanomaterials with applications in medical imaging and therapy. In the present study, we synthesized an iron oxide (magnetite) nanoparticle within the interior cavity of a genetically engineered human H-chain ferritin (HFn).

Enhanced local symmetry interactions globally stabilize a mutant virus capsid that maintains infectivity and capsid dynamics.

Structural transitions in viral capsids play a critical role in the virus life cycle, including assembly, disassembly, and release of the packaged nucleic acid. Cowpea chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV) undergoes a well-studied reversible structural expansion in vitro in which the capsid expands by 10%. The swollen form of the particle can be completely disassembled by increasing the salt concentration to 1 M.

Melanoma and lymphocyte cell-specific targeting incorporated into a heat shock protein cage architecture.

Protein cages, including viral capsids, ferritins, and heat shock proteins (Hsps), can serve as nanocontainers for biomedical applications. They are genetically and chemically malleable platforms, with potential as therapeutic and imaging agent delivery systems. Here, both genetic and chemical strategies were used to impart cell-specific targeting to the Hsp cage from Methanococcus jannaschii.

An archaeal antioxidant: characterization of a Dps-like protein from Sulfolobus solfataricus.

Evolution of an oxygenic atmosphere required primordial life to accommodate the toxicity associated with reactive oxygen species. We have characterized an archaeal antioxidant from the hyperthermophilic acidophile Sulfolobus solfataricus. The amino acid sequence of this approximately 22-kDa protein shares little sequence similarity with proteins with known function.

Regulating self-assembly of spherical oligomers.

In multistep reactions, stability of intermediates is critical to the rate of product formation and a significant factor in generating kinetic traps. The capsid protein of cowpea chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV) can be induced to assemble into spherical particles of 30, 60, and 90 dimers. Based on examining assembly kinetics and reaction end points, we find that formation of uniform, ordered structures is not always a result of reactions that reach equilibrium.

Selective attachment and release of a chemotherapeutic agent from the interior of a protein cage architecture.

The antitumor agent doxorubicin was covalently bound and selectively released in a pH dependent manner from the interior surface of a genetically modified small heat shock protein (Hsp) cage.

Utilization of treated swine wastewater for greenhouse tomato production.

An integrated system has been developed to recycle waste organics and treated wastewater from a swine farm to make value-added products and to protect the environment from potential contamination. The farm is a farrow-to-wean swine operation with approximately 4,000 sows. A high-strength wastewater (chemical oxygen demand, 18,000 mg/l; total Khejdal nitrogen, 1,600 mg/l; total phosphorus, 360 mg/l) is produced from the swine operation.

Heterologous expression of the modified coat protein of Cowpea chlorotic mottle bromovirus results in the assembly of protein cages with altered architectures and function.

We have developed methods for producing viral-based protein cages in high yield that are amenable to genetic modification. Expression of the structural protein of Cowpea chlorotic mottle bromovirus (CCMV) using the yeast-based Pichia pastoris heterologous expression system resulted in the assembly of particles that were visibly indistinguishable from virus particles produced in the natural host. We have shown that a collection of non-infectious CCMV coat protein mutants expressed in the P.

Comparative genomic analysis of hyperthermophilic archaeal Fuselloviridae viruses.

The complete genome sequences of two Sulfolobus spindle-shaped viruses (SSVs) from acidic hot springs in Kamchatka (Russia) and Yellowstone National Park (United States) have been determined. These nonlytic temperate viruses were isolated from hyperthermophilic Sulfolobus hosts, and both viruses share the spindle-shaped morphology characteristic of the Fuselloviridae family. These two genomes, in combination with the previously determined SSV1 genome from Japan and the SSV2 genome from Iceland, have allowed us to carry out a phylogenetic comparison of these geographically distributed hyperthermal viruses.

Interaction with capsid protein alters RNA structure and the pathway for in vitro assembly of cowpea chlorotic mottle virus.

Viruses use sophisticated mechanisms to allow the specific packaging of their genome over that of host nucleic acids. We examined the in vitro assembly of the Cowpea chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV) and observed that assembly with viral RNA follows two different mechanisms. Initially, CCMV capsid protein (CP) dimers bind RNA with low cooperativity and form virus-like particles of 90 CP dimers and one copy of RNA.

Constrained synthesis of cobalt oxide nanomaterials in the 12-subunit protein cage from Listeria innocua.

The protein cage of the 12-subunit ferritin-like protein from Listeria innocua has been utilized as a size and shape constrained reaction environment for the synthesis of two cobalt oxide minerals, Co(3)O(4) and Co(O)OH. Reaction of Co(II) with H(2)O(2) at pH 8.5 under either elevated temperature (65 degrees C) or ambient temperature (23 degrees C) resulted in the formation of cobalt oxide nanoparticles encapsulated within the protein cage.

Metal binding to cowpea chlorotic mottle virus using terbium(III) fluorescence.

Metals are thought to play a role in the structure of many viruses. The crystal structure of the T=3 icosahedral cowpea chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV) suggests the presence of 180 unique metal-binding sites in the assembled protein cage. Each of these sites is thought to involve the coordination of the metal by five amino acids contributed from two adjacent coat protein subunits.

2-D array formation of genetically engineered viral cages on au surfaces and imaging by atomic force microscopy.

The preparation and subsequent imaging of a two-dimensional array of a genetically and chemically modified cowpea chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV) is described. The genetic mutation provides symmetrically dispersed exposed thiol groups on the outer surface of the virus capsid. These functional groups can be used to covalently bind the capsid to smooth Au substrate.