Digital Commons Network^™

Igg4 Antibodies To The Recombinant Filarial Antigen Wb-Bhp-1 Decrease Dramatically Following Treatment Of Lymphatic Filariasis, Sarah E. Greene, Yuefang Huang, Kurt C. Curtis, Christopher L. King, Peter U. Fischer, Gary J. Weil

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is a neglected tropical disease and a major cause of chronic disability. Improved diagnostic tests are needed because of long-term persistence of anti-filarial antibodies or circulating filarial antigenemia after treatments that clear microfilaremia. Here, we assess changes in levels of antibodies to the recombinant filarial antigens Wb-Bhp-1, Wb123, and Bm14 after anti-filarial treatment.

METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: IgG4 antibodies to recombinant filarial antigens were assessed by ELISA. We tested serial plasma samples from a clinical trial in Papua New Guinea. Before treatment, 90%, 71% and 99% of participants had antibodies to Wb-Bhp-1, Wb123, and Bm14, respectively. Antibodies to …

Terrorist Attacks Against Sports Venues: Emerging Trends And Characteristics Spanning 50 Years, Grace R Rahman, Gregory N Jasani, Stephen Y Liang

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: Sports venues foster community and support local economies. Due to their capacity to host hundreds to thousands of spectators, sports venues are vulnerable to becoming targets of terrorism. Types of venues targeted, regional trends, and methods of attack employed world-wide have not been well-described.

METHODS: A search of the Global Terrorism Database (GTD) was conducted from 1970 through the end of 2019. Pre-coded variables for target type "business" and target subtype "entertainment/cultural/stadium/casino" were used to identify attacks involving venues where sports events might be viewed by spectators as part of an audience. Sports venues were specifically identified using the …

Genomic Approaches To Cancer And Minimal Residual Disease Detection Using Circulating Tumor Dna, Nicholas P. Semenkovich, Jeffrey J. Szymanski, Noah Earland, Pradeep S. Chauhan, Bruna Pellini, Aadel A. Chaudhuri

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Liquid biopsies using cell-free circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) are being used frequently in both research and clinical settings. ctDNA can be used to identify actionable mutations to personalize systemic therapy, detect post-treatment minimal residual disease (MRD), and predict responses to immunotherapy. ctDNA can also be isolated from a range of different biofluids, with the possibility of detecting locoregional MRD with increased sensitivity if sampling more proximally than blood plasma. However, ctDNA detection remains challenging in early-stage and post-treatment MRD settings where ctDNA levels are minuscule giving a high risk for false negative results, which is balanced with the risk of …

Transcription Regulation By Card In Mycobacteria Is Guided By Basal Promoter Kinetics, Dennis X Zhu, Christina L Stallings

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Bacterial pathogens like Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) employ transcription factors to adapt their physiology to the diverse environments within their host. CarD is a conserved bacterial transcription factor that is essential for viability in Mtb. Unlike classical transcription factors that recognize promoters by binding to specific DNA sequence motifs, CarD binds directly to the RNA polymerase to stabilize the open complex intermediate (RP

Evaluating Motion Of Pancreatic Tumors And Anatomical Surrogates Using Cine Mri In 0.35t Mrgrt Under Free Breathing Conditions, Benjamin Lewis, Anamaria Guta, Jaeik Shin, Zhen Ji, Jin Sung Kim, Taeho Kim

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Treatment tolerability is a significant limitation to pancreatic cancer treatment with radiotherapy due to proximity to highly radiosensitive organs and respiratory motion necessitating expanded target margins. Further, pancreatic tumors are difficult to visualize on conventional radiotherapy systems. Surrogates are often used to locate the tumor but are often inconsistent and do not provide strong positional relations throughout the respiratory cycle. This work utilizes a retrospective dataset of 45 pancreatic cancer patients treated on an MR-Linac system with cine MRI acquired for real-time target tracking. We investigated intra-fraction motion of tumors and two abdominal surrogates, leading to prediction models between the …

The Mitophagy Receptor Bnip3 Is Critical For The Regulation Of Metabolic Homeostasis And Mitochondrial Function In The Nucleus Pulposus Cells Of The Intervertebral Disc, Vedavathi Madhu, Miriam Hernandez-Meadows, Paige K Boneski, Yunping Qiu, Anyonya R Guntur, Irwin J Kurland, Ruteja A Barve, Makarand V Risbud

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The contribution of mitochondria to the metabolic function of hypoxic NP cells has been overlooked. We have shown that NP cells contain networked mitochondria and that mitochondrial translocation of BNIP3 mediates hypoxia-induced mitophagy. However, whether BNIP3 also plays a role in governing mitochondrial function and metabolism in hypoxic NP cells is not known. BNIP3 knockdown altered mitochondrial morphology, and number, and increased mitophagy. Interestingly, BNIP3 deficiency in NP cells reduced glycolytic capacity reflected by lower production of lactate/H

Cortical Adaptation Of The Night Monkey To A Nocturnal Niche Environment: A Comparative Non-Invasive T1w/T2w Myelin Study, Takuro Ikeda, Joonas A Autio, Akihiro Kawasaki, Chiho Takeda, Takayuki Ose, Masahiko Takada, David C Van Essen, Matthew F Glasser, Takuya Hayashi

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Night monkeys (Aotus) are the only genus of monkeys within the Simian lineage that successfully occupy a nocturnal environmental niche. Their behavior is supported by their sensory organs' distinctive morphological features; however, little is known about their evolutionary adaptations in sensory regions of the cerebral cortex. Here, we investigate this question by exploring the cortical organization of night monkeys using high-resolution in-vivo brain MRI and comparative cortical-surface T1w/T2w myeloarchitectonic mapping. Our results show that the night monkey cerebral cortex has a qualitatively similar but quantitatively different pattern of cortical myelin compared to the diurnal macaque and marmoset monkeys. T1w/T2w myelin …

Toward Blood-Based Precision Medicine: Identifying Age-Sex-Specific Vascular Biomarker Quantities On Circulating Vascular Cells, Yingye Fang, Ling Chen, P I Imoukhuede

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: Abnormal angiogenesis is central to vascular disease and cancer, and noninvasive biomarkers of vascular origin are needed to evaluate patients and therapies. Vascular endothelial growth factor receptors (VEGFRs) are often dysregulated in these diseases, making them promising biomarkers, but the need for an invasive biopsy has limited biomarker research on VEGFRs. Here, we pioneer a blood biopsy approach to quantify VEGFR plasma membrane localization on two circulating vascular proxies: circulating endothelial cells (cECs) and circulating progenitor cells (cPCs).

METHODS: Using quantitative flow cytometry, we examined VEGFR expression on cECs and cPCs in four age-sex groups: peri/premenopausal females (aged < 50 years), menopausal/postmenopausal females (≥ 50 years), and younger and older males with the same age cut-off (50 years).

RESULTS: …

Biological Rhythms In Covid-19 Vaccine Effectiveness In An Observational Cohort Study Of 1.5 Million Patients, Guy Hazan, Or A. Duek, Hillel Alapi, Huram Mok, Alex Ganninger, Elaine Ostendorf, Carrie Gierasch, Gabriel Chodick, David Greenberg, Jeffrey A. Haspel

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUNDCircadian rhythms are evident in basic immune processes, but it is unclear if rhythms exist in clinical endpoints like vaccine protection. Here, we examined associations between COVID-19 vaccination timing and effectiveness.METHODSWe retrospectively analyzed a large Israeli cohort with timestamped COVID-19 vaccinations (n = 1,515,754 patients over 12 years old, 99.2% receiving BNT162b2). Endpoints included COVID-19 breakthrough infection and COVID-19-associated emergency department visits and hospitalizations. Our main comparison was among patients vaccinated during morning (800-1159 hours), afternoon (1200-1559 hours), or evening hours (1600-1959 hours). We employed Cox regression to adjust for differences in age, sex, and comorbidities.RESULTSBreakthrough infections differed based on …

American Academy Of Orthopaedic Surgeons Clinical Practice Guideline Summary: Management Of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries, Robert H. Brophy, Kent Jason Lowry

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Management of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries : Evidence-based Clinical Practice Guideline is based on a systematic review of published studies for the treatment of anterior cruciate ligament injurie in both skeletally mature and immature patients. This guideline contains eight recommendations and seven options to assist orthopaedic surgeons and all qualified physicians managing patients with ACL injuries based on the best current available evidence. It is also intended to serve as an information resource for professional healthcare practitioners and developers of practice guidelines and recommendations. In addition to providing pragmatic practice recommendations, this guideline also highlights gaps in the literature and …

Autophagy Prevents Early Proinflammatory Responses And Neutrophil Recruitment During Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Infection Without Affecting Pathogen Burden In Macrophages, Rachel L. Kinsella, Jacqueline M. Kimmey, Asya Smirnov, Reilly Woodson, Margaret R. Gaggioli, Sthefany M. Chavez, Darren Kreamalmeyer, Christina L. Stallings

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection determines tuberculosis disease outcomes, yet we have an incomplete understanding of what immune factors contribute to a protective immune response. Neutrophilic inflammation has been associated with poor disease prognosis in humans and in animal models during M. tuberculosis infection and, therefore, must be tightly regulated. ATG5 is an essential autophagy protein that is required in innate immune cells to control neutrophil-dominated inflammation and promote survival during M. tuberculosis infection; however, the mechanistic basis for how ATG5 regulates neutrophil recruitment is unknown. To interrogate what innate immune cells require ATG5 to control neutrophil recruitment …

Replicative Acinetobacter Baumannii Strains Interfere With Phagosomal Maturation By Modulating The Vacuolar Ph, Jesus S. Distel, Gisela Di Venanzio, Joseph J. Mackel, David A. Rosen, Mario F. Feldman

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Bacterial pneumonia is a common infection of the lower respiratory tract that can afflict patients of all ages. Multidrug-resistant strains of Acinetobacter baumannii are increasingly responsible for causing nosocomial pneumonias, thus posing an urgent threat. Alveolar macrophages play a critical role in overcoming respiratory infections caused by this pathogen. Recently, we and others have shown that new clinical isolates of A. baumannii, but not the common lab strain ATCC 19606 (19606), can persist and replicate in macrophages within spacious vacuoles that we called Acinetobacter Containing Vacuoles (ACV). In this work, we demonstrate that the modern A. baumannii clinical isolate 398, …

Finding Motifs Using Dna Images Derived From Sparse Representations, Shane K Chu, Gary D Stormo

2020-Current year OA Pubs

MOTIVATION: Motifs play a crucial role in computational biology, as they provide valuable information about the binding specificity of proteins. However, conventional motif discovery methods typically rely on simple combinatoric or probabilistic approaches, which can be biased by heuristics such as substring-masking for multiple motif discovery. In recent years, deep neural networks have become increasingly popular for motif discovery, as they are capable of capturing complex patterns in data. Nonetheless, inferring motifs from neural networks remains a challenging problem, both from a modeling and computational standpoint, despite the success of these networks in supervised learning tasks.

RESULTS: We present a …

Participant- And Disease-Related Factors As Independent Predictors Of Treatment Outcomes In The Restore-Imi 2 Clinical Trial: A Multivariable Regression Analysis, Ignacio Martin-Loeches, Andrew F Shorr, Marin H Kollef, Jiejun Du, Maria C Losada, Amanda Paschke, C Andrew Deryke, Michael Wong, Erin H Jensen, Luke F Chen

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: In the RESTORE-IMI 2 trial, imipenem/cilastatin/relebactam (IMI/REL) was noninferior to piperacillin/tazobactam in treating hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia/ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia. This post hoc analysis was conducted to determine independent predictors of efficacy outcomes in the RESTORE-IMI 2 trial, to assist in treatment decision making.

METHODS: A stepwise multivariable regression analysis was conducted to identify variables that were independently associated with day 28 all-cause mortality (ACM), favorable clinical response at early follow-up (EFU), and favorable microbiologic response at end of treatment (EOT). The analysis accounted for the number of baseline infecting pathogens and in vitro susceptibility to randomized treatment.

RESULTS: Vasopressor use, …

Improvements In Physical Function And Pain Interference And Changes In Mental Health Among Patients Seeking Musculoskeletal Care, Wei Zhang, Som P Singh, Amdiel Clement, Ryan P Calfee, Janine D Bijsterbosch, Abby L Cheng

2020-Current year OA Pubs

IMPORTANCE: Among patients seeking care for musculoskeletal conditions, there is mixed evidence regarding whether traditional, structure-based care is associated with improvement in patients' mental health.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether improvements in physical function and pain interference are associated with meaningful improvements in anxiety and depression symptoms among patients seeking musculoskeletal care.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cohort study included adult patients treated by an orthopedic department of a tertiary care US academic medical center from June 22, 2015, to February 9, 2022. Eligible participants presented between 4 and 6 times during the study period for 1 or more musculoskeletal conditions …

Central Carbon Flux Controls Growth/Damage Balance For Streptococcus Pyogenes, Joseph A. Merriman, Wei Xu, Michael G. Caparon

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Microbial pathogens balance growth against tissue damage to achieve maximum fitness. Central carbon metabolism is connected to growth, but how it influences growth/damage balance is largely unknown. Here we examined how carbon flux through the exclusively fermentative metabolism of the pathogenic lactic acid bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes impacts patterns of growth and tissue damage. Using a murine model of soft tissue infection, we systematically examined single and pair-wise mutants that constrained carbon flux through the three major pathways that S. pyogenes employs for reduction of the glycolytic intermediate pyruvate, revealing distinct disease outcomes. Its canonical lactic acid pathway (via lactate dehydrogenase) …

Tarlatamab, A First-In-Class Dll3-Targeted Bispecific T-Cell Engager, In Recurrent Small-Cell Lung Cancer: An Open-Label, Phase I Study, Luis Paz-Ares, Ramaswamy Govindan, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

PURPOSE: Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an aggressive malignancy with limited treatments. Delta-like ligand 3 (DLL3) is aberrantly expressed in most SCLC. Tarlatamab (AMG 757), a bispecific T-cell engager molecule, binds both DLL3 and CD3 leading to T-cellb-mediated tumor lysis. Herein, we report phase I results of tarlatamab in patients with SCLC.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study evaluated tarlatamab in patients with relapsed/refractory SCLC. The primary end point was safety. Secondary end points included antitumor activity by modified RECIST 1.1, overall survival, and pharmacokinetics.

RESULTS: By July 19, 2022, 107 patients received tarlatamab in dose exploration (0.003 to 100 mg; …

Associations Between Socioeconomic Status, Obesity, Cognition, And White Matter Microstructure In Children, Zhaolong Adrian Li, Yuqi Cai, Rita L Taylor, Sarah A Eisenstein, Deanna M Barch, Scott Marek, Tamara Hershey

2020-Current year OA Pubs

IMPORTANCE: Lower neighborhood and household socioeconomic status (SES) are associated with negative health outcomes and altered brain structure in children. It is unclear whether such findings extend to white matter and via what mechanisms.

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether and how neighborhood and household SES are independently associated with children's white matter microstructure and examine whether obesity and cognitive performance (reflecting environmental cognitive and sensory stimulation) are plausible mediators.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cross-sectional study used baseline data from participants in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. Data were collected at 21 US sites, and school-based recruitment was used …

Safety And Efficacy Of Vanzacaftor-Tezacaftor-Deutivacaftor In Adults With Cystic Fibrosis: Randomised, Double-Blind, Controlled, Phase 2 Trials, Ahmet Z Uluer, Ronald C Rubenstein, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Elexacaftor-tezacaftor-ivacaftor has been shown to be safe and efficacious in people with cystic fibrosis and at least one F508del allele. Our aim was to identify a novel cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) modulator combination capable of further increasing CFTR-mediated chloride transport, with the potential for once-daily dosing.

METHODS: We conducted two phase 2 clinical trials to assess the safety and efficacy of a once-daily combination of vanzacaftor-tezacaftor-deutivacaftor in participants with cystic fibrosis who were aged 18 years or older. A phase 2 randomised, double-blind, active-controlled study (VX18-561-101; April 17, 2019, to Aug 20, 2020) was carried out to …

Involucrin Modulates Vitamin D Receptor Activity In The Epidermis, Alina D Schmidt, Charlene Miciano, Qi Zheng, Mary Elizabeth Mathyer, Elizabeth A Grice, Cristina De Guzman Strong

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Terminally differentiated keratinocytes are critical for epidermal function and are surrounded by involucrin (IVL). Increased IVL expression is associated with a near-selective sweep in European populations compared with those in Africa. This positive selection for increased IVL in the epidermis identifies human adaptation outside of Africa. The functional significance is unclear. We hypothesize that IVL modulates the environmentally sensitive vitamin D receptor (VDR) in the epidermis. We investigated VDR activity in Ivl

Nonoperative Management Of Tibial Stress Fractures Result In Higher Return To Sport Rates Despite Increased Failure Versus Operative Management: A Systematic Review, Sabrina F Schundler, Garrett R Jackson, Johnathon R Mccormick, Trevor Tuthill, Jonathan S Lee, Anjay Batra, Harkirat Jawanda, Daniel J Kaplan, Jimmy Chan, Derrick M Knapik, Nikhil N Verma, Jorge Chahla

2020-Current year OA Pubs

PURPOSE: To compare return to sport (RTS) rates and complications after nonoperative versus operative management of tibial stress fractures.

METHODS: A literature search was conducted per the 2020 Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines using EMBASE, PubMed, and Scopus computerized data from database inception to February 2023. Studies evaluating RTS sport rates and complications after nonoperative or operative management of tibial stress fractures were included. Failure was defined as defined by persistent stress fracture line seen on radiographic imaging. Study quality was assessed using the Modified Coleman Methodology Score.

RESULTS: Twenty-two studies consisting of 341 patients …

Rare Dysfunctional Complement Factor I Genetic Variants And Progression To Advanced Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Johanna M Seddon, Bernard Rosner, Dikha De, Tianxiao Huan, Anuja Java, John Atkinson

2020-Current year OA Pubs

PURPOSE: To evaluate associations between rare dysfunctional

DESIGN: Prospective, longitudinal study.

PARTICIPANTS: Patients aged 55 to 80 years at baseline identifying as White with non-AAMD in 1 or both eyes at baseline were included. Follow-up grades were assigned as early, intermediate, or AAMD (GA or NV).

METHODS: Analyses were performed using the Seddon Longitudinal Cohort Study (N = 2116 subjects, 3901 eyes, and mean follow-up of 8.3 years) and the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (N = 2837 subjects, 5200 eyes, and mean follow-up of 9.2 years).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Progression to AAMD, GA, or NV.

RESULTS: In the prospective cohort …

Assessment And Management Of Older Adults Undergoing Pci, Part 1: A Jacc: Advances Expert Panel, Michael G Nanna, Michael W Rich, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

As the population ages, older adults represent an increasing proportion of patients referred to the cardiac catheterization laboratory. Older adults are the highest-risk group for morbidity and mortality, particularly after complex, high-risk percutaneous coronary interventions. Structured risk assessment plays a key role in differentiating patients who are likely to derive net benefit vs those who have disproportionate risks for harm. Conventional risk assessment tools from national cardiovascular societies typically rely on 3 pillars: 1) cardiovascular risk; 2) physiologic and hemodynamic risk; and 3) anatomic and procedural risks. We propose adding a fourth pillar: geriatric syndromes, as geriatric domains can supersede …

Longitudinal Analysis Of Change In Mammographic Density In Each Breast And Its Association With Breast Cancer Risk, Shu Jiang, Debbie L Bennett, Bernard A Rosner, Graham A Colditz

2020-Current year OA Pubs

IMPORTANCE: Although breast density is an established risk factor for breast cancer, longitudinal changes in breast density have not been extensively studied to determine whether this factor is associated with breast cancer risk.

OBJECTIVE: To prospectively evaluate the association between change in mammographic density in each breast over time and risk of subsequent breast cancer.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This nested case-control cohort study was sampled from the Joanne Knight Breast Health Cohort of 10 481 women free from cancer at entry and observed from November 3, 2008, to October 31, 2020, with routine screening mammograms every 1 to 2 …

Characterization Of Cell-Type Specific Circular Rnas Associated With Colorectal Cancer Metastasis, Sidi Zhao, Amy Ly, Jacqueline L Mudd, Emily B Rozycki, Jace Webster, Emily Coonrod, Ghofran Othoum, Jingqin Luo, Ha X Dang, Ryan C Fields, Christopher A Maher

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the most common gastrointestinal malignancy and a leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. More than half of CRC patients develop metastatic disease (mCRC) with an average 5-year survival rate of 13%. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have recently emerged as important tumorigenesis regulators; however, their role in mCRC progression remains poorly characterized. Further, little is known about their cell-type specificity to elucidate their functions in the tumor microenvironment (TME). To address this, we performed total RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) on 30 matched normal, primary and metastatic samples from 14 mCRC patients. Additionally, five CRC cell lines …

Neuron-Associated Macrophage Proliferation In The Sensory Ganglia Is Associated With Peripheral Nerve Injury-Induced Neuropathic Pain Involving Cx3cr1 Signaling, Rafaela M Guimarães, Conceição E Aníbal-Silva, Marcela Davoli-Ferreira, Francisco Isaac F Gomes, Atlante Mendes, Maria C M Cavallini, Miriam M Fonseca, Samara Damasceno, Larissa P Andrade, Marco Colonna, Cyril Rivat, Fernando Q Cunha, José C Alves-Filho, Thiago M Cunha

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Resident macrophages are distributed across all tissues and are highly heterogeneous due to adaptation to different tissue-specific environments. The resident macrophages of the sensory ganglia (sensory neuron-associated macrophages, sNAMs) are in close contact with the cell body of primary sensory neurons and might play physiological and pathophysiological roles. After peripheral nerve injury, there is an increase in the population of macrophages in the sensory ganglia, which have been implicated in different conditions, including neuropathic pain development. However, it is still under debate whether macrophage accumulation in the sensory ganglia after peripheral nerve injury is due to the local proliferation of …

Irritability Moderates The Association Between Cognitive Flexibility Task Performance And Related Prefrontal Cortex Activation In Young Children, Yanwei Li, Adam S Grabell, Susan B Perlman

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The association between cognitive flexibility and related neural functioning has been inconsistent. This is particularly true in young children, where previous studies have found heterogenous results linking behavior and neural function, raising the possibility of unexplored moderators. The current study explored the moderating role of dimensional irritability in the association between cognitive flexibility task performance and prefrontal activation in young children. A total of 106 3- to 7-year-old children were recruited to complete a custom-designed, child-adapted, cognitive flexibility task, and 98 of them were included in the data analysis. The children's dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activation was monitored using functional near-infrared …

Leukemia Relapse Via Genetic Immune Escape After Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, Simona Pagliuca, Francesca Ferraro, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Graft-versus-leukemia (GvL) reactions are responsible for the effectiveness of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation as a treatment modality for myeloid neoplasia, whereby donor T- effector cells recognize leukemia neoantigens. However, a substantial fraction of patients experiences relapses because of the failure of the immunological responses to control leukemic outgrowth. Here, through a broad immunogenetic study, we demonstrate that germline and somatic reduction of human leucocyte antigen (HLA) heterogeneity enhances the risk of leukemic recurrence. We show that preexistent germline-encoded low evolutionary divergence of class II HLA genotypes constitutes an independent factor associated with disease relapse and that acquisition of clonal somatic …

Healthcare Provider Perspectives On Hiv Cure Research In Ghana, Helena Lamptey, Benjamin Newcomb, Evelyn Y Bonney, James O Aboagye, Peter Puplampu, Vincent J Ganu, Gloria Ansa, Joseph Oliver-Commey, George B Kyei

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has reduced mortality and improved life expectancy among HIV patients but does not provide a cure. Patients must remain on lifelong medications and deal with drug resistance and side effects. This underscores the need for HIV cure research. However, participation in HIV cure research has risks without guaranteed benefits. We determined what HIV healthcare providers know about HIV cure research trials, the risks involved, and what kind of cure interventions they are likely to recommend for their patients.

METHODS: We conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with 39 HIV care providers consisting of 12 physicians, 8 counsellors, 14 …

Scanning Electron Microscopy Of Human Islet Cilia, Alexander J Polino, Sanja Sviben, Isabella Melena, David W Piston, Jing W Hughes

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Human islet primary cilia are vital glucose-regulating organelles whose structure remains uncharacterized. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is a useful technique for studying the surface morphology of membrane projections like cilia, but conventional sample preparation does not reveal the submembrane axonemal structure, which holds key implications for ciliary function. To overcome this challenge, we combined SEM with membrane-extraction techniques to examine primary cilia in native human islets. Our data show well-preserved cilia subdomains which demonstrate both expected and unexpected ultrastructural motifs. Morphometric features were quantified when possible, including axonemal length and diameter, microtubule conformations, and chirality. We further describe a ciliary …