A Perspective on Studies of Phage DNA Packaging Dynamics.

The Special Issue "DNA Packaging Dynamics of Bacteriophages" is focused on an event that is among the physically simplest known events with biological character. Thus, phage DNA (and RNA) packaging is used as a relatively accessible model for physical analysis of all biological events. A similar perspective motivated early phage-directed work, which was a major contributor to early molecular biology.

Red Blood Cell Distribution Width in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients.

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), is causing dramatic morbidity and mortality worldwide. The Red Blood Cell Distribution Width (RDW) has been strongly associated with increased morbidity and mortality in multiple diseases. To assess if elevated RDW is associated with unfavorable outcomes in hospitalized COVID-19.

Structural Studies of the Phage G Tail Demonstrate an Atypical Tail Contraction.

Phage G is recognized as having a remarkably large genome and capsid size among isolated, propagated phages. Negative stain electron microscopy of the host-phage G interaction reveals tail sheaths that are contracted towards the distal tip and decoupled from the head-neck region. This is different from the typical myophage tail contraction, where the sheath contracts upward, while being linked to the head-neck region.

Immune-pineal axis protects rat lungs exposed to polluted air.

Environmental pollution in the form of particulate matter <2.5 μm (PM ) is a major risk factor for diseases such as lung cancer, chronic respiratory infections, and major cardiovascular diseases. Our goal was to show that PM eliciting a proinflammatory response activates the immune-pineal axis, reducing the pineal synthesis and increasing the extrapineal synthesis of melatonin.

Skin vasoconstriction as a heat conservation thermoeffector.

Cold exposure stimulates heat production and conservation to protect internal temperature. Heat conservation is brought about via reductions in skin blood flow. The focus, here, is an exploration of the mechanisms, particularly in humans, leading to that cutaneous vasoconstriction.

Loop diuretics are K-sparing in the presence of a low-Na, high-K diet.

Under most conditions, loop diuretics are K-wasting, requiring potassium supplementation. In this issue, Wang and colleagues demonstrate that in mice fed a low-Na, high-K diet, loop diuretics, in contrast, are K-sparing. This observation suggests that possible elevations in plasma K should be monitored when using a loop diuretic with a low-Na, high-K diet, particularly when in combination with a potassium supplement.

Renal denervation: What happened, and why?

Despite promising results in initial trials, renal denervation failed to achieve its efficacy end points as a treatment for resistant hypertension in the SYMPLICITY HTN-3 trial, the largest trial of this treatment to date (N Engl J Med 2014; 370:1393-1401). Is renal denervation dead, or will future trials and newer technology revive it?

Diagnostic Accuracy of Somatosensory Evoked Potential Monitoring in Evaluating Neurological Complications During Endovascular Aneurysm Treatment.

Background: Somatosensory evoked potential (SSEP) monitoring is used extensively for early detection and prevention of neurological complications in patients undergoing many different neurosurgical procedures. However, the predictive ability of SSEP monitoring during endovascular treatment of cerebral aneurysms is not well detailed.

Objective: To evaluate the performance of intraoperative SSEP in the prediction postprocedural neurological deficits (PPNDs) after coil embolization of intracranial aneurysms.

Social cognition and prefrontal hemodynamic responses during a working memory task in schizophrenia.

Social cognition is an important determinant of functional impairment in schizophrenia, but its relationship with the prefrontal functional abnormalities associated with the condition is still unclear. The present study aimed to explore the relationship between social cognition and prefrontal function in patients with schizophrenia using 52-channel near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Twenty-six patients with schizophrenia and 26 age-, gender-, and intelligence quotient-matched healthy controls (HCs) participated in the study.

Defining the Intrinsically Disordered C-Terminal Domain of SSB Reveals DNA-Mediated Compaction.

The bacterial single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) binding protein SSB is a strictly conserved and essential protein involved in diverse functions of DNA metabolism, including replication and repair. SSB comprises a well-characterized tetrameric core of N-terminal oligonucleotide binding OB folds that bind ssDNA and four intrinsically disordered C-terminal domains of unknown structure that interact with partner proteins. The generally accepted, albeit speculative, mechanistic model in the field postulates that binding of ssDNA to the OB core induces the flexible, undefined C-terminal arms to expand outwards encouraging functional interactions with partner proteins.

Management of the Potential Organ Donor in the ICU: Society of Critical Care Medicine/American College of Chest Physicians/Association of Organ Procurement Organizations Consensus Statement.

This document was developed through the collaborative efforts of the Society of Critical Care Medicine, the American College of Chest Physicians, and the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations. Under the auspices of these societies, a multidisciplinary, multi-institutional task force was convened, incorporating expertise in critical care medicine, organ donor management, and transplantation. Members of the task force were divided into 13 subcommittees, each focused on one of the following general or organ-specific areas: death determination using neurologic criteria, donation after circulatory death determination, authorization process, general contraindications to donation, hemodynamic management, endocrine dysfunction and hormone replacement therapy, pediatric donor management, cardiac donation, lung donation, liver donation, kidney donation, small bowel donation, and pancreas donation.

Posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in newly diagnosed patients with head and neck cancer and their partners.

Background: Head and neck cancer is a life-threatening illness requiring aversive treatments. Despite clear potential for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in both patients and their partners, research is scant.

Methods: Newly diagnosed patients and partners (number of dyads = 42) completed questionnaires to assess symptoms of PTSD, anxiety, and depression, as well as demographic, medical, and attitudinal variables.

Perspectives on the dental school learning environment: putting theory X and theory Y into action in dental education.

Theory X and Theory Y are terms coined by Douglas McGregor to express the belief that managers' behaviors are shaped by their assumptions about the motivation of their subordinates. The theories were applied to dental education in a Perspectives article published in the August 2007 issue of the Journal of Dental Education. This article explains how those seemingly contradictory theories can be reconciled using the concept of the "emotional bank account" introduced by Stephen Covey in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

Postoperative pulmonary infections.

Introduction: Postoperative pulmonary infections are associated with cough, phlegm, shortness of breath, chest pain, temperature above 38 degrees C, and pulse rate above 100 a minute. Up to half of people may have asymptomatic chest signs after surgery, and up to a quarter develop symptomatic disease. The main risk factor is the type of surgery, with higher risks associated with surgery to the chest, abdomen, and head and neck compared with other operations.

Quantification of phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate-1 by HPLC-ESI-MS/MS.

Serine/threonine phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1) regulates the function and subsequent insulin signaling of this protein. Human IRS-1 has 1242 amino acid residues, including 182 serines and 60 threonines. The size, complexity, and relatively low abundance of this protein in biological samples make it difficult to map and quantify phosphorylation sites by conventional means.

Exercise training increases glycogen synthase activity and GLUT4 expression but not insulin signaling in overweight nondiabetic and type 2 diabetic subjects.

Exercise training improves insulin sensitivity in subjects with and without type 2 diabetes. However, the mechanism by which this occurs is unclear. The present study was undertaken to determine how improved insulin signaling, GLUT4 expression, and glycogen synthase activity contribute to this improvement.

Characterization and dissolution behavior of sputtered calcium phosphate coatings after different postdeposition heat treatment temperatures.

There is a lack of correlation between specific properties of hydroxyapatite coating surfaces, osseointegration processes, and implant success. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between well-characterized structural and chemical properties of radio-frequency sputtered calcium phosphate (CaP) coatings and their dissolution behavior. Sputtered CaP coatings were evaluated as-sputtered (non-heat treated) or after 1 hour of postsputter heat treatments at 400 degrees C or 600 degrees C.

The epidemiology of non-albicans Candida in oropharyngeal candidiasis in HIV patients.

Oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC) is the most common fungal infection in patients with HIV infection. Fluconazole has been proven to be very effective in treating this infection, but decreased susceptibility of Candida to this drug has emerged. Certain non-albicans species such as C.

Prostaglandins mediate the effects of titanium surface roughness on MG63 osteoblast-like cells and alter cell responsiveness to 1 alpha,25-(OH)2D3.

Surface roughness affects proliferation, differentiation (alkaline phosphatase and osteocalcin), local factor production (transforming growth factor (TGF beta) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2)], and response to 1,25-(OH)2D3 (1,25) of MG63 osteoblast-like cells. In this study, we examined whether the effect of surface roughness on MG63 cells is mediated by prostaglandins produced by the cells. Unalloyed titanium (Ti) disks were pretreated with HF/HNO3 (PT) and then machined and acid-etched (MA).

Isolation and characterization of a hemin-binding cell envelope protein from Porphyromonas gingivalis.

A 30 kDa (heated 24 kDa) hemin-binding protein whose expression is both hemin and iron regulated was identified and purified in Porphyromonas gingivalis 381. A strong hemin-binding function was found by LDS-PAGE and TMBZ staining when cells were grown under hemin (iron)-limited conditions. N-terminal amino acid sequence analysis of CNBr-digested 24 kDa hemin binding protein revealed that this protein belongs to a new, so far undescribed hemin-binding class of proteins.