Pre-treatment chest X-ray stability duration and tuberculosis disease in San Diego, California, 2012-2017.

Background: Overseas screening for tuberculosis (TB) has sought to reduce the burden of active TB in the United States. The duration of time between two unchanged, or stable, chest X-rays (CXRs) taken four to six months apart has been considered clinically useful in the evaluation of suspected pulmonary TB disease, but this relationship has not been previously quantified.

Objective: To investigate the association between pre-treatment CXR stability duration and future clinical or culture-confirmed (Class 3) diagnosis of pulmonary TB in San Diego, California, USA.

IgE-neutralizing UB-221 mAb, distinct from omalizumab and ligelizumab, exhibits CD23-mediated IgE downregulation and relieves urticaria symptoms.

Over the last 2 decades, omalizumab is the only anti-IgE antibody that has been approved for asthma and chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU). Ligelizumab, a higher-affinity anti-IgE mAb and the only rival viable candidate in late-stage clinical trials, showed anti-CSU efficacy superior to that of omalizumab in phase IIb but not in phase III. This report features the antigenic-functional characteristics of UB-221, an anti-IgE mAb of a newer class that is distinct from omalizumab and ligelizumab.

Inhibitory effect of PPARγ on NLRP3 inflammasome activation.

Stimulation of the NLRP3 inflammasome by metabolic byproducts is known to result in inflammatory responses and metabolic diseases. However, how the host controls aberrant NLRP3 inflammasome activation remains unclear. PPARγ, a known regulator of energy metabolism, plays an anti-inflammatory role through the inhibition of NF-κB activation and additionally attenuates NLRP3-dependent IL-1β and IL-18 production.

Loss of EGR-1 uncouples compensatory responses of pancreatic β cells.

: Subjects unable to sustain β-cell compensation develop type 2 diabetes. Early growth response-1 protein (EGR-1), implicated in the regulation of cell differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis, is induced by diverse metabolic challenges, such as glucose or other nutrients. Therefore, we hypothesized that deficiency of EGR-1 might influence β-cell compensation in response to metabolic overload.

Outcomes of Pediatric Central Nervous System Tuberculosis in California, 1993-2011.

Background: Our goal was to describe the characteristics and posttreatment outcomes of pediatric patients with central nervous system (CNS) tuberculosis (TB) and to identify factors associated with poor outcome.

Methods: We included children aged 0 to 18 years with CNS TB reported to the California TB registry between 1993 and 2011. Demographics, clinical characteristics, severity of disease at presentation (Modified Medical Research Council stage I, II, or III [III is most severe]), treatment, and outcomes during the year after treatment completion were abstracted systematically from the medical and public health records.

Complete mitochondrial genome sequence for the Taiwan Blue Magpie (Passeriformes: Corvidae).

Taiwan Blue Magpie () is endemic to Taiwan and listed as threatened species protected by law. In this study, we first determined and described the complete mitochondrial genome of Taiwan Blue Magpie. The circle genome is 16,928 bp in length, and contains 13 protein coding, 22 tRNA, two rRNA genes, and one non-coding control region (CR).

Clinical Impact on Tuberculosis Treatment Outcomes of Discordance Between Molecular and Growth-Based Assays for Rifampin Resistance, California 2003-2013.

 Data from international settings suggest that isolates of with mutations testing phenotypically susceptible to rifampin (RIF) may have clinical significance. We analyzed treatment outcomes of California patients with discordant molecular-phenotypic RIF results.  We included tuberculosis (TB) patients, during 2003-2013, whose specimens tested RIF susceptible phenotypically but had a mutation determined by pyrosequencing.

Loss of Egr-1 sensitizes pancreatic β-cells to palmitate-induced ER stress and apoptosis.

Unlabelled: Pancreatic β-cells are particularly susceptible to fatty-acid-induced endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and apoptosis. To understand how β-cells sense fatty acid stimuli and translate into a long-term adaptive response, we investigated whether palmitic acid (PA) regulates early growth response-1 (Egr-1), an immediate-early transcription factor, which is induced by many environmental stimuli and implicated in cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. We found that Egr-1 was rapidly and transiently induced by PA in MIN6 insulinoma cells, which was accompanied by calcium influx and ERK1/2 phosphorylation.

Ras modulates Myc activity to repress thrombospondin-1 expression and increase tumor angiogenesis.

Tumor angiogenesis is postulated to be regulated by the balance between pro- and anti-angiogenic factors. We demonstrate that the critical step in establishing the angiogenic capability of human cells is the repression of the critical anti-angiogenic factor, thrombospondin-1 (Tsp-1). This repression is essential for tumor formation by mammary epithelial cells and kidney cells engineered to express SV40 early region proteins, hTERT, and H-RasV12.