How COVID-19 Hijacks the Cytoskeleton: Therapeutic Implications.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus invades and replicates within host cells by "hijacking" biomolecular machinery, gaining control of the microtubule cytoskeleton. After attaching to membrane receptors and entering cells, the SARS-CoV-2 virus co-opts the dynamic intra-cellular cytoskeletal network of microtubules, actin, and the microtubule-organizing center, enabling three factors that lead to clinical pathology: (1) viral load due to intra-cellular trafficking, (2) cell-to-cell spread by filopodia, and (3) immune dysfunction, ranging from hyper-inflammatory cytokine storm to ineffective or absent response. These factors all depend directly on microtubules and the microtubule-organizing center, as do cell functions such as mitosis and immune cell movement.

Evaluation of HIV-specific T-cell responses in HIV-infected older patients with controlled viremia on long-term antiretroviral therapy.

HIV-infected older individuals may have a diminished immune response because of exhaustion/immune aging of T-cells. Therefore, we have investigated HIV-specific CD4 and CD8 T-cell responses in 100 HIV-infected patients (HIV+) who have aged on long-term antiretroviral therapy (ART) and achieved controlled viremia (mostly undetectable viral load; 92 patients with <20 to <40 HIV RNA copies/mL and 8 <60 to <100) and improved CD4 T-cell counts. We show that the median frequencies of HIV-specific CD4+ and CD8+ IFN-γ T-cells were higher in HIV+ than uninfected individuals (HIV-), including increasing levels of IFN-γproduced by CD4+ T-cells and decreasing levels by CD8+ T-cells with increasing CD4 T-cell counts in HIV+.

Physician nurse care: A new use of UMLS to measure professional contribution: Are we talking about the same patient a new graph matching algorithm?

Background: Physician and nurses have worked together for generations; however, their language and training are vastly different; comparing and contrasting their work and their joint impact on patient outcomes is difficult in light of this difference. At the same time, the EHR only includes the physician perspective via the physician-authored discharge summary, but not nurse documentation. Prior research in this area has focused on collaboration and the usage of similar terminology.

Anesthetic Alterations of Collective Terahertz Oscillations in Tubulin Correlate with Clinical Potency: Implications for Anesthetic Action and Post-Operative Cognitive Dysfunction.

Anesthesia blocks consciousness and memory while sparing non-conscious brain activities. While the exact mechanisms of anesthetic action are unknown, the Meyer-Overton correlation provides a link between anesthetic potency and solubility in a lipid-like, non-polar medium. Anesthetic action is also related to an anesthetic's hydrophobicity, permanent dipole, and polarizability, and is accepted to occur in lipid-like, non-polar regions within brain proteins.

Features of Maternal HIV-1 Associated with Lack of Vertical Transmission.

HIV-1 is transmitted from mother-to-child (vertical transmission) at an estimated rate of approximately 30% without any antiretroviral therapy (ART). However, administration of ART during pregnancy considerably diminishes the rate of mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1, which has become a standard of perinatal care in HIV-infected pregnant females in developed countries. Moreover, a majority of children born to HIV-infected mothers are uninfected without any ART.

Association Study of Genotype by Depressive Response during Tryptophan Depletion in Subjects Recovered from Major Depression.

Purpose: The brief and reversible mood response to acute tryptophan (TRP) depletion (ATD) is being studied as a trait marker in subjects considered at risk for major depression (MD).

Procedures: ATD was administered to 64 subjects (54 European-Americans, and10 from other races) with personal and family history of MD. They were in remission and had been medication-free for at least three months.

Metrics and tools for consistent cohort discovery and financial analyses post-transition to ICD-10-CM.

In the United States, International Classification of Disease Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM, the ninth revision) diagnosis codes are commonly used to identify patient cohorts and to conduct financial analyses related to disease. In October 2015, the healthcare system of the United States will transition to ICD-10-CM (the tenth revision) diagnosis codes. One challenge posed to clinical researchers and other analysts is conducting diagnosis-related queries across datasets containing both coding schemes.

The feasibility of coherent energy transfer in microtubules.

It was once purported that biological systems were far too 'warm and wet' to support quantum phenomena mainly owing to thermal effects disrupting quantum coherence. However, recent experimental results and theoretical analyses have shown that thermal energy may assist, rather than disrupt, quantum coherent transport, especially in the 'dry' hydrophobic interiors of biomolecules. Specifically, evidence has been accumulating for the necessary involvement of quantum coherent energy transfer between uniquely arranged chromophores in light harvesting photosynthetic complexes.

Acute hand ischemia after radial artery cannulation resulting in amputation.

Although radial artery cannulation is a common procedure, in rare cases, it can cause thrombosis leading to severe ischemia of the hand and potentially subsequent gangrene resulting in tissue loss. In this case report, a patient who developed a severely ischemic left hand subsequent to radial artery cannulation is presented. Doppler ultrasound studies showed adequate flow in the patient's hand, however complete thrombosis of the radial artery and significant low flow of the ulnar artery were found using arterial angiogram.

Cardiovascular drug delivery with ultrasound and microbubbles.

Microbubbles lower the threshold for cavitation of ultrasound and have multiple potential therapeutic applications in the cardiovascular system. One of the first therapeutic applications to enter into clinical trials has been microbubble-enhanced sonothrombolysis. Trials were conducted in acute ischemic stroke and clinical trials are currently underway for sonothrombolysis in treatment of acute myocardial infarction.

Transcranial ultrasound (TUS) effects on mental states: a pilot study.

Background/objective: Transcranial ultrasound (TUS) can modulate brain function. To assess possible TUS modulation of mental states, we investigated effects on subjective reports of pain and mood of sub-thermal TUS versus placebo applied to frontal scalp and brain of chronic pain patient volunteers.

Methods: With IRB approval and informed consent, subjects with chronic pain completed two visual analog scales for pain (NRS) and mood (VAMS/Global Affect), and their vital signs were recorded 10 min prior to, and 10 min and 40 min following exposure to either subthermal TUS (8 MHz) or placebo (in a double blind crossover study) using the 12L-RS probe of a LOGIQe ultrasound imaging machine (General Electric, USA).

Critical evaluation of endovascular surgery for limb salvage.

Rest pain, tissue loss, and gangrene are manifestations of critical limb ischemia caused by peripheral arterial disease and define a patient subgroup at highest risk for major limb amputation. Patients with nonhealing lower extremity wounds should be screened for the risk factors for peripheral arterial disease and offered noninvasive vascular testing. The diagnosis of critical limb ischemia mandates prompt institution of medical and surgical management to achieve the best chance of limb salvage.

"Memory bytes" - molecular match for CaMKII phosphorylation encoding of microtubule lattices.

Learning, memory and long-term potentiation (LTP) are supported by factors including post-synaptic calcium ion flux activating and transforming the hexagonal calcium-calmodulin kinase II (CaMKII) holoenzyme. Upon calcium-induced activation, up to six kinase domains extend upward, and up to six kinase domains extend downward from the CaMKII association domain, the fully activated holoenzyme resembling a robotic insect 20 nanometers in length. Each extended kinase domain can be phosphorylated, and able to phosphorylate other proteins, thus potentially further encoding synaptic information at intraneuronal molecular sites for memory storage, processing and distribution.

Role of hydroquinone-thiol conjugates in benzene-mediated toxicity.

Hydroquinone (HQ) is a metabolite of benzene, and in combination with phenol (PHE), reproduces benzene myelotoxicity. HQ readily oxidizes to 1,4-benzoquinone (1,4-BQ) followed by the reductive addition of glutathione (GSH). Subsequent cycles of oxidation and GSH addition give rise to a variety of mono-, and multi-GSH substituted conjugates.

CSF neurochemicals during tryptophan depletion in individuals with remitted depression and healthy controls.

The purpose of this study was to examine the differential effects of acute tryptophan (TRP) depletion vs. sham condition on plasma, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biochemical parameters, and mood in the following three subject groups: (1) nine antidepressant-free individuals with remitted depression, (2) eight paroxetine-treated individuals with recently remitted depression, and (3) seven healthy controls. Plasma TRP decreased during TRP depletion and increased during sham condition (p<.

Imaging characteristics of diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis with an emphasis on acute spinal fractures: self-assessment module.

The educational objectives for this self-assessment module are for the participant to exercise, self-assess, and improve his or her understanding of the imaging of diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH).

Imaging characteristics of diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis with an emphasis on acute spinal fractures: review.

Objective: The educational objectives of this self-assessment module are for the participant to exercise, self-assess, and improve his or her understanding of the imaging of diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH), with emphasis on acute spinal fractures.

Conclusion: Understanding the pathomechanics of the fractures in the ankylosed spine is important in the differentiation of the acute spinal fractures in DISH and ankylosing spondylitis. This article emphasizes the imaging features of spinal DISH and acute spinal fractures in DISH, distinguishing them specifically from those in ankylosing spondylitis.

Sustained morphine treatment augments capsaicin-evoked calcitonin gene-related peptide release from primary sensory neurons in a protein kinase A- and Raf-1-dependent manner.

Studies have shown that long-term (5alpha,6alpha)-7,8-didehydro-4,5-epoxy-17-methylmorphinan-3,6-diol (morphine) treatment increases the sensitivity to painful heat stimuli (thermal hyperalgesia). The cellular adaptations contributing to sustained morphine-mediated pain sensitization are not fully understood. It was shown previously (J Neurosci 22:6747-6755, 2002) that sustained morphine exposure augments pain neurotransmitter [such as calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP)] release in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord in response to the heat-sensing transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 receptor agonist 8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide (capsaicin).

Comparison of the effects of open and endovascular aortic aneurysm repair on long-term renal function using chronic kidney disease staging based on glomerular filtration rate.

Objective: It has been suggested that endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) in concert with serial contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) surveillance adversely impacts renal function. Our primary objectives were to assess serial renal function in patients undergoing EVAR and open repair (OR) and to evaluate the relative effects of method of repair on renal function.

Methods: A thorough retrospective chart review was performed on 223 consecutive patients (103 EVAR, 120 OR) who underwent abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair.

Genetic characterization of HIV type 1 long terminal repeat following vertical transmission.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) long terminal repeat (LTR) sequences were characterized from six mother-infant pairs following vertical transmission. The LTR sequences exhibited a low degree of heterogeneity within mothers, within infants, and between epidemiologically linked mother-infant pairs. However, LTR sequences were more heterogeneous between epidemiologically unlinked individuals compared with linked mother-infant pairs.

Pancreatitis-associated splenic vein thrombosis with intrasplenic venous thrombosis: a case report.

Splenic vein thrombosis most often results from pancreatic disease and can result in gastrointestinal bleeding due to gastric varices. The diagnosis is becoming more frequent with the increasing utilization of imaging. This case report will review the imaging findings of splenic vein thrombosis with an illustration of the involvement of intrasplenic segmental venous branches.