Hodgestroud6873

CONCLUSION The proposed wearable device can accurately estimate knee flexion/extension angles during locomotion at various walking speeds. SIGNIFICANCE We believe that our novel wearable technology has great potential to enable joint kinematic monitoring in ambulatory settings and thus provide clinicians with an opportunity to closely monitor joint recovery, develop optimal, personalized rehabilitation programs, and ultimately maximize therapeutic outcomes.The basal ganglia have been implicated in action selection and timing, but the relative contributions of the striatonigral (direct) and striatopallidal (indirect) pathways to these functions remain unclear. We investigated the effects of optogenetic stimulation of D1+ (direct) and A2A+ (indirect) neurons in the ventrolateral striatum in head-fixed mice on a fixed time reinforcement schedule. Direct pathway stimulation initiates licking, whereas indirect pathway stimulation suppresses licking and results in rebound licking after stimulation. Moreover, direct and indirect pathways also play distinct roles in timing. Direct pathway stimulation produced a resetting of the internal timing process, whereas indirect pathway stimulation transiently paused timing, and proportionally delayed the next bout of licking. Our results provide evidence for the continuous and opposing contributions of the direct and indirect pathways in the production and timing of reward-guided behavior. © 2020, Bakhurin et al.Neuroligins (Nlgns) are adhesion proteins mediating trans-synaptic contacts in neurons. However, conflicting results around their role in synaptic differentiation arise from the various techniques used to manipulate Nlgn expression level. Orthogonally to these approaches, we triggered here the phosphorylation of endogenous Nlgn1 in CA1 mouse hippocampal neurons using a photoactivatable tyrosine kinase receptor (optoFGFR1). Light stimulation for 24 hr selectively increased dendritic spine density and AMPA-receptor-mediated EPSCs in wild-type neurons, but not in Nlgn1 knock-out neurons or when endogenous Nlgn1 was replaced by a non-phosphorylatable mutant (Y782F). Moreover, light stimulation of optoFGFR1 partially occluded LTP in a Nlgn1-dependent manner. Combined with computer simulations, our data support a model by which Nlgn1 tyrosine phosphorylation promotes the assembly of an excitatory post-synaptic scaffold that captures surface AMPA receptors. This optogenetic strategy highlights the impact of Nlgn1 intracellular signaling in synaptic differentiation and potentiation, while enabling an acute control of these mechanisms. © 2020, Letellier et al.The presented work summarizes the results of studies underlining the crucial role of estrogen receptor (ER) signaling in both innate and adaptive immune responses as well as in tissue repairing processes during respiratory virus infection. Experimental studies justify that among respiratory virus infected mice, a weaker ER signaling leads to increased morbidity and mortality in both males and females. In animal experiments, estrogen treatment silences the inflammatory reactions and decreases virus titers leading to improved survival rate; it seems to be an ideal prevention and therapy against COVID-19. We should overcome the widespread reluctance to estrogen therapy as we have a unique estrogen formula; conjugated estrogens, or conjugated equine estrogens available under the brand name of Premarin deriving from natural sources. Premarin can exert similar ER upregulative and gene repairing power like endogenous estrogen without any risk for adverse reactions. Premarin is capable of stopping the COVID-19 pandemic.Public health agencies are often faced with difficult decisions about where and how to allocate funding and resources. This question of resource allocation is central to public health policy; however, decisions related to resource allocation are sometimes made via informal or subjective approaches. We walk readers through a process of identifying needs across different neighborhoods in New York City (NYC) by examining community district-level health outcomes using data from published Community Health Profile reports released by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) in 2015. In NYC, community districts are represented by community boards that provide a forum for addressing the needs of the community, making them a useful geographic unit for examining health information and turning data into action. We examined prevalence estimates and 95% confidence intervals of health indicators in each community district to identify significant disparities and calculated relative disparities in rates or prevalence to understand the relative magnitude of each disparity. Lastly, we demonstrate an application of this approach by identifying a cluster of neighborhoods with a high chance of being overlooked for public health interventions by conventional methods because of the relative number of disparities that exist in these neighborhoods. We present information on the disparity profile (number of disparities and relative disparity) for each neighborhood within the cluster and discuss potential public health implications. This approach can be applied to other jurisdictions to inform public health planning and resource allocation.We describe the epidemiology of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in a call center in South Korea. We obtained information on demographic characteristics by using standardized epidemiologic investigation forms. We performed descriptive analyses and reported the results as frequencies and proportions for categoric variables. Of 1,143 persons who were tested for COVID-19, a total of 97 (8.5%, 95% CI 7.0%-10.3%) had confirmed cases. Of these, 94 were working in an 11th-floor call center with 216 employees, translating to an attack rate of 43.5% (95% CI 36.9%-50.4%). The household secondary attack rate among symptomatic case-patients was 16.2% (95% CI 11.6%- 22.0%). Of the 97 persons with confirmed COVID-19, only 4 (1.9%) remained asymptomatic within 14 days of quarantine, and none of their household contacts acquired secondary infections. find more Extensive contact tracing, testing all contacts, and early quarantine blocked further transmission and might be effective for containing rapid outbreaks in crowded work settings.A range of bacteria and archaea produce gas vesicles as a means to facilitate flotation. These gas vesicles have been purified from a number of species and their applications in biotechnology and medicine are reviewed here. Halobacterium sp. NRC-1 gas vesicles have been engineered to display antigens from eukaryotic, bacterial and viral pathogens. The ability of these recombinant nanoparticles to generate an immune response has been quantified both in vitro and in vivo. These gas vesicles, along with those purified from Anabaena flos-aquae and Bacillus megaterium, have been developed as an acoustic reporter system. This system utilizes the ability of gas vesicles to retain gas within a stable, rigid structure to produce contrast upon exposure to ultrasound. The susceptibility of gas vesicles to collapse when exposed to excess pressure has also been proposed as a biocontrol mechanism to disperse cyanobacterial blooms, providing an environmental function for these structures.Acinetobacter baumannii, a Gram-negative coccobacillus, is notorious for its involvement in opportunistic infections around the world. Its resistance to antibiotics makes treatment of infections challenging. In this study, we describe a novel response regulator protein, AvnR (A1S_2006) that regulates virulence-related traits in A. baumannii ATCC17978. Sequence analysis suggests that AvnR is a CheY-like response regulator and contains the RNA-binding ANTAR (AmiR and NasR transcription anti-termination regulators) domain. We show that AvnR plays a role in regulating biofilm formation (on glass and plastic surfaces), surface motility, adhesion to A549 cells as well as in nitrogen metabolism in A. baumannii. RNA-Seq analysis revealed that avnR deletion results in altered expression of more than 150 genes (116 upregulated and 42 downregulated). RNA-Seq data suggest that altered biofilm formation and surface motility observed in the avnR deletion mutant is likely mediated by previously unknown pathways. Of note, was the altered expression of genes predicted to be involved in amino acid transport and metabolism in avnR deletion mutant. Biolog phenotypic array showed that deletion of avnR hampered A. baumannii ATCC17978's ability to metabolize various nitrogen sources, particularly that of glutamic acid, serine, histidine, aspartic acid, isoleucine and arginine. Taken together our data show that AvnR, the first ANTAR protein described in A. baumannii, affects virulence phenotypes as well as its ability to metabolize nitrogen sources.BACKGROUND Apples often experience postharvest damage due to being attacked by mold organisms. Several groups of molds such as Aspergillus sp., Penicilium expansum, Botrytis cinerea, and Venturia sp. can cause a serious postharvest disease exhibited as watery regions where areas of blue-green tufts of spores develop. Current methods using fungicides to control pathogenic fungi can cause resistance if applied in long term. An alternative procedure using yeast as a biological agent has been found. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to screen potential yeast which has ability to inhibit the growth of Aspergillus brasielensis (isolate A1) and Aspergillus flavus section flavi (isolate A17) isolated from apple fruits. METHODS Antagonism test using YMA dual culture medium using in vitro assays and ITS rDNA identification were performed. RESULTS The result showed that 3 out of 19 yeast isolated from Cerbera manghas L, T1, T3 and T4, demonstrated the potential ability as biocontrol agent. ITS rDNA identification demonstrated that T1 has similarity to Rhodotorula mucilaginosa while T3 and T4 were identified as Aureobasidium sp. nov.. The 3 isolates exhibited the ability to reduce the growth of A. brasiliensis sensu lato better than dithane 0.3% with a disease incidence (DI) of 100% and a disease severity (DS) value of 45%. Only isolate T1 and T3 were able to reduce decay symptoms in apples inoculated with A. flavus sensu lato (with DO and DS were 100% and 25%, respectively) compared to dithane pesticides 0.3%. CONCLUSION This study indicated that competition between nutrients occurs between pathogenic molds and under-yeast in vitro and in vivo conditions. However, further studies in the future might be able to elucidate the 'killer' activity and interaction with the pathogen cells and the bio-product production using Rhodotorula mucilaginosa and Aureoubasidium namibiae strains to control postharvest diseases. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.Pancreatitis is a fibro-inflammatory disorder of the pancreas that can occur acutely or chronically as a result of activation of digestive enzymes that damage pancreatic cells which promotes inflammation. Chronic pancreatitis with persistent inflammation of the pancreas progresses to pancreatic cancer, which is the fourth leading causes of cancer deaths across the globe. Pancreatic cancer involves cross-talk of inflammatory, proliferative, migratory, and fibrotic mechanisms. In this review, we discuss the role of cytokines in the inflammatory cell storm in pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer and their role in the activation of SDF1α/CXCR4, SOCS3, inflammasome, and NF-κB signaling. The aberrant immune reactions contribute to pathological damage of acinar and ductal cells, and activation of pancreatic stellate cells to a myofibroblast-like phenotype. We summarize several aspects involved in promotion of pancreatic cancer by inflammation and include a number of regulatory molecules that inhibit that process. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.