Digital Commons Network^™

Chlamydia Pneumoniae Infection Of Monocytes In Vitro Stimulates Innate And Adaptive Immune Responses Relevant To Those In Alzheimer's Disease., Charles Lim, Christine Hammond, Susan Hingley, Brian J. Balin Phd

PCOM Scholarly Papers

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder in which infection with Chlamydia pneumoniae (Cpn) has been associated. Cpn is an obligate intracellular respiratory pathogen that may enter the central nervous system (CNS) following infection and trafficking of monocytes through the blood-brain barrier. Following this entry, these cells may secrete pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines that have been identified in the AD brain, which have been thought to contribute to AD neurodegeneration. The objectives of this work were: (i) to determine if Cpn infection influences monocyte gene transcript expression at 48 hours post-infection and (ii) to analyze whether pro-inflammatory cytokines …

A Combined Therapeutic Regimen Of Buspirone And Environmental Enrichment Is More Efficacrious Than Either Alone In Enhancing Spatial Learning In Brain-Injured Rats, Christina M. Monaco, Kory M. Gebhardt, Sarah M. Chlebowski, Kaitlyn E. Shaw, Jeffrey P. Cheng

PCOM Scholarly Papers

Abstract Buspirone, a 5-HT1A receptor agonist, and environmental enrichment (EE) enhance cognition and reduce histopathology after traumatic brain injury (TBI) in adult rats, but have not been fully evaluated after pediatric TBI, which is the leading cause of death in children. Hence, the aims of this study were to assess the efficacy of buspirone alone (Experiment 1) and in combination with EE (Experiment 2) in TBI postnatal day-17 male rats. The hypothesis was that both therapies would confer cognitive and histological benefits when provided singly, but their combination would be more efficacious. Anesthetized rats received a cortical impact or sham …

Detection Of Bacterial Antigens And Alzheimer's Disease-Like Pathology In The Central Nervous System Of Balb/C Mice Following Intranasal Infection With A Laboratory Isolate Of Chlamydia Pneumoniae, C. Scott Little Phd, Timothy A. Joyce, Christine Hammond, Hazem Matta, David Cahn, Denah Appelt, Brian J. Balin Phd

PCOM Scholarly Papers

Pathology consistent with that observed in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has previously been documented following intranasal infection of normal wild-type mice with Chlamydia pneumoniae (Cpn) isolated from an AD brain (96-41). In the current study, BALB/c mice were intranasally infected with a laboratory strain of Cpn, AR-39, and brain and olfactory bulbs were obtained at 1-4 months post-infection (pi). Immunohistochemistry for amyloid beta or Cpn antigens was performed on sections from brains of infected or mock-infected mice. Chlamydia-specific immunolabeling was identified in olfactory bulb tissues and in cerebrum of AR-39 infected mice. The Cpn specific labeling was most prominent at 1 …

Rethinking The Core List Of Journals For Libraries That Serve Schools And Colleges Of Pharmacy., Robert D Beckett, Sabrina W. Cole, Hannah K Rogers, Skye Bickett, Christina Seeger, Jennifer A Mcdaniel

PCOM Scholarly Papers

The Core List of Journals for Libraries that Serve Schools and Colleges of Pharmacy is a guide for developing and maintaining pharmacy-affiliated library collections. A work group was created to update the list and design a process for updating that will streamline future revisions. Work group members searched the National Library of Medicine catalog for an initial list of journals and then applied inclusion criteria to narrow the list. The work group finalized the fifth edition of the list with 225 diverse publications and produced a sustainable set of criteria for journal inclusion, providing a structured, objective process for future …

Tbx5 Is Required For Avian And Mammalian Epicardial Formation And Coronary Vasculogenesis., Nata Y Diman, Gabriel Brooks, Boudewijn P Kruithof, Olivier Elemento, Jonathan G Seidman, Christine Seidman, Craig T Basson, Cathy J. Hatcher

PCOM Scholarly Papers

Rationale: Holt-Oram syndrome (HOS) is an autosomal dominant heart-hand syndrome caused by mutations in the TBX5 gene. Overexpression of Tbx5 in the chick proepicardial organ (PEO) impaired coronary blood vessel formation. However, the potential activity of Tbx5 in the epicardium itself, and Tbx5's role in mammalian coronary vasculogenesis, remains largely unknown. Objective: To evaluate the consequences of altered Tbx5 gene dosage during PEO and epicardial development in the embryonic chick and mouse. Methods and Results: Retroviral-mediated knockdown or upregulation of Tbx5 expression in the embryonic chick PEO as well as proepicardial-specific deletion of Tbx5 in the embryonic mouse (Tbx5(epi-/-)) impaired …

Web-Based Objective Structured Clinical Examination With Remote Standardized Patients And Skype: Resident Experience, Erik E. Langenau, Elizabeth Kachur, Dot Horber

PCOM Scholarly Papers

OBJECTIVE: Using Skype and remote standardized patients (RSPs), investigators sought to evaluate user acceptance of a web-based objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) among resident physicians.

METHODS: After participating in four web-based clinical encounters addressing pain with RSPs, 59 residents from different training programs, disciplines and geographic locations completed a 52-item questionnaire regarding their experience with Skype and RSPs. Open-ended responses were solicited as well.

RESULTS: The majority of participants (97%) agreed or strongly agreed the web-based format was convenient and a practical learning exercise, and 90% agreed or strongly agreed the format was effective in teaching communication …

Browzine: A Review, Skye Bickett

PCOM Scholarly Papers

BrowZine, an app designed for tablets, allows users to browse, save, organize, and read journals and journal articles from open source or subscribed journals. This article will highlight some of the features of the product.

Immediate Return To Ambulation And Improved Functional Capacity For Rehabilition In Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Following Early Implantation Of A Spinal Cord Stimulation System, Brandon Jesse Goff, Jeremy Wingseng Naber, John Patrick Mccallin, Edward Michael Lopez, Kevin Brant Guthmiller, Karl Alan Lautenschlager, Tristan Toll Lai, Dean Harry Hommer, Gonzalez Raul Marin

PCOM Scholarly Papers

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a neuropathic pain condition that is characterized by vasomotor, sensory, sudomotor, and motor symptoms. Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) has been successfully utilized for the treatment of pain refractory to conventional therapies. We present a case of a previously highly functioning 54-year-old female who developed a rarely reported case of idiopathic CRPS of the right ankle which spontaneously occurred four months after an uncomplicated anterior cervical disc fusion. This condition resulted in severe pain and functional impairment that was unresponsive to pharmacological management. The patient's rehabilitation was severely stymied by her excruciating pain. However, with …

Egonet: Identification Of Human Disease Ego-Network Modules, Rendong Yang, Yun Bai, Zhaohui Qin, Tianwei Yu

PCOM Scholarly Papers

Background: Mining novel biomarkers from gene expression profiles for accurate disease classification is challenging due to small sample size and high noise in gene expression measurements. Several studies have proposed integrated analyses of microarray data and protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks to find diagnostic subnetwork markers. However, the neighborhood relationship among network member genes has not been fully considered by those methods, leaving many potential gene markers unidentified. The main idea of this study is to take full advantage of the biological observation that genes associated with the same or similar diseases commonly reside in the same neighborhood of molecular networks.Results: …

Phenotype Of Transgenic Mice Carrying A Very Low Copy Number Of The Mutant Human G93a Superoxide Dismutase-1 Gene Associated With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Jeffrey S. Deitch, Guillermo M. Alexander, Andrew Bensinger, Steven Yang, Juliann T. Jiang, Terry D. Heiman-Patterson

PCOM Scholarly Papers

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease of the motor neuron. While most cases of ALS are sporadic, 10% are familial (FALS) with 20% of FALS caused by a mutation in the gene that codes for the enzyme Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1). There is variability in sporadic ALS as well as FALS where even within the same family some siblings with the same mutation do not manifest disease. A transgenic (Tg) mouse model of FALS containing 25 copies of the mutant human SOD1 gene demonstrates motor neuron pathology and progressive weakness similar to ALS patients, leading to death …

Chewing Through The Miocene: An Examination Of The Feeding Musculature In The Ground Sloth Hapalops From South America (Mammalia: Pilosa), Virginia L Naples, Robert Mcafee

PCOM Scholarly Papers

Hapalops, a smaller-sized and early sloth of the Megatheroidea, appeared in the middle Miocene Santa Cruz formation of Argentina. This genus is part of the group from which later, larger megatheroids arose, i.e., Nothrotheriops and Megatherium. Many cranial characters support this idea; however Hapalops is not merely a smaller antecedent of the later forms. Specifically, Hapalops retains short anterior caniniform teeth, and a temporomandibular joint elevated above the cheek tooth row; a combination distinct among sloths. An elevated temporomandibular joint occurs in Bradypus, a tree sloth with anterior chisel-shaped teeth instead of caniniforms, and the tree sloth Choloepus, which is …

Safety And Efficacy Of Ceftaroline Fosamil In The Management Of Community-Acquired Bacterial Pneumonia, Heather F. Debellis, Kimberly L. Barefield

PCOM Scholarly Papers

Ceftaroline fosamil is a new fifth-generation cephalosporin indicated for the treatment of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP). It possesses antimicrobial effects against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), but not against anaerobes. Organisms covered by this novel agent that are commonly associated with CABP are Streptococcus pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Haemophilus influenzae, Moraxella catarrhalis, and Klebsiella pneumoniae; however, ceftaroline fosamil lacks antimicrobial activity against Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter species. FOCUS 1 and FOCUS 2 clinical trials evaluated the use of ceftaroline fosamil in the treatment of CABP as compared to ceftriaxone. These non-inferiority trials provided evidence that ceftaroline fosamil …

Alternative Splicing In The Variable Domain Of Camkiiβ Affects The Level Of F-Actin Association In Developing Neurons., Jun Zheng, Lori R. Hardy, Chengshi Xu, Jing Kuang, Weijing Liao

PCOM Scholarly Papers

The Ca(2+)/calmodulin (CaM)-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) β has an essential function in dendritic spines via binding to and reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton during plasticity events not shared by CaMKIIα isoform. CaMKIIβ and CaMKIIα isoforms have remarkable structural differences within the variable region. Three exons (E1, E3, and E4) are present in CaMKIIβ but not in CaMKIIα gene. Four splice variants of CaMKIIβ isoforms (CaMKIIβ, β', βe and β'e) were discovered in embryonic and adult brains. Exons E1 (lacked in βe and β'e) and E4 (lacked in β' and β'e) are subject to differential alternative splicing. We hypothesized that …

Myo/Nog Cells: Targets For Preventing The Accumulation Of Skeletal Muscle-Like Cells In The Human Lens, Jacquelyn Gerhart, M. Greenbaum, V. Scheinfeld, P. Fitzgerald, M. Crawford, Arturo Bravo Nuevo, M. Pitts, Mindy George-Weinstein

PCOM Scholarly Papers

Posterior capsule opacification (PCO) is a vision impairing condition that arises in some patients following cataract surgery. The fibrotic form of PCO is caused by myofibroblasts that may emerge in the lens years after surgery. In the chick embryo lens, myofibroblasts are derived from Myo/Nog cells that are identified by their expression of the skeletal muscle specific transcription factor MyoD, the bone morphogenetic protein inhibitor Noggin, and the epitope recognized by the G8 monoclonal antibody. The goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that depletion of Myo/Nog cells will prevent the accumulation of myofibroblasts in human lens tissue. …

Meglumine Exerts Protective Effects Against Features Of Metabolic Syndrome And Type Ii Diabetes, Arturo Bravo Nuevo, Alice Marcy, Minzhou Huang, Frank Kappler, Jennifer Mulgrew, Lisa Laury-Kleintop, Melvin Reichman, Annette Tobia, George C Prendergast

PCOM Scholarly Papers

Metabolic syndrome, diabetes and diabetes complications pose a growing medical challenge worldwide, accentuating the need of safe and effective strategies for their clinical management. Here we present preclinical evidence that the sorbitol derivative meglumine (N-methyl-D-glucamine) can safely protect against several features of metabolic syndrome and diabetes, as well as elicit enhancement in muscle stamina. Meglumine is a compound routinely used as an approved excipient to improve drug absorption that has not been ascribed any direct biological effects in vivo. Normal mice (SV129) administered 18 mM meglumine orally for six weeks did not display any gastrointestinal or other observable adverse effects, …

Genome-Wide Sequencing Of Small Rnas Reveals A Tissue-Specific Loss Of Conserved Microrna Families In Echinococcus Granulosus, Yun Bai, Zhuangzhi Zhang, Lei Jin, Hui Kang, Yongquiang Zhu, Lu Zhang, Xia Li, Fengshou Ma, Li Zhao, Et Al.

PCOM Scholarly Papers

Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important post-transcriptional regulators which control growth and development in eukaryotes. The cestode Echinococcus granulosus has a complex life-cycle involving different development stages but the mechanisms underpinning this development, including the involvement of miRNAs, remain unknown. Results: Using Illumina next generation sequencing technology, we sequenced at the genome-wide level three small RNA populations from the adult, protoscolex and cyst membrane of E. granulosus. A total of 94 pre-miRNA candidates (coding 91 mature miRNAs and 39 miRNA stars) were in silico predicted. Through comparison of expression profiles, we found 42 mature miRNAs and 23 miRNA stars expressed with …