GIS Use in Oral Rabies Vaccine Programs

Frequent human and domestic animal exposures to rabid wildlife have raised the public\u27s awareness, leading to an increase in the number of wildlife submissions for rabies testing as well as an increase in the number of people requiring post exposure prophylaxis treatment. During 1998 and 1999, the Health and Human Services Department of a densely populated urban/suburban county in Virginia received a total of 955 animal submissions for rabies testing. Wildlife accounted for 714 of the submissions. Seventy-nine of the submitted wildlife were found dead, 445 were killed or euthanized for testing (190 unknown). Of the wildlife submissions,152 (21%) were positive, including 100 of 178 raccoons submitted. Human exposure, potentially requiring post-exposure prophylaxis, was recorded in 22 positive and 334 negative rabies submissions. Information was not available for 9 positive and 135 negative submissions; human exposure did not occur with the remaining submissions. To reduce the public\u27s risk of exposure to rabid animals, the County is developing a program to distribute oral rabies vaccine to raccoons. To increase the precision of vaccine delivery to raccoons, we propose the use of geographical information systems (GIS) as a method for selecting vaccination sites. Results from trapping and tracking studies, along with hydrographic and vegetation data, were utilized in the development of GIS generated vaccine distribution maps. Also factored in was human activity, commerce, residential housing density, competition by companion animals for vaccine bait, the location of refuse facilities, and property ownership. It is expected that this GIS supported approach will improve the efficiency of the program by lessening the cost while increasing the number of raccoons immunized. The resulting decrease in the incidence of rabies will lead to fewer human exposures to rabid wildlife, a decrease in the number of healthy wildlife euthanized for testing, and a decrease in the number of people requiring post-exposure prophylaxis treatment

In B cells, phosphatidylinositol 5-phosphate 4-kinase-α synthesizes PI(4,5)P2 to impact mTORC2 and Akt signaling.

Phosphatidylinositol 5-phosphate 4-kinases (PI5P4Ks) are enigmatic lipid kinases with physiological functions that are incompletely understood, not the least because genetic deletion and cell transfection have led to contradictory data. Here, we used the genetic tractability of DT40 cells to create cell lines in which endogenous PI5P4Kα was removed, either stably by genetic deletion or transiently (within 1 h) by tagging the endogenous protein genomically with the auxin degron. In both cases, removal impacted Akt phosphorylation, and by leaving one PI5P4Kα allele present but mutating it to be kinase-dead or have PI4P 5-kinase activity, we show that all of the effects on Akt phosphorylation were dependent on the ability of PI5P4Kα to synthesize phosphatidylinositol (4,5)-bisphosphate [PI(4,5)P2] rather than to remove PI5P. Although stable removal of PI5P4Kα resulted in a pronounced decrease in Akt phosphorylation at Thr308 and Ser473, in part because of reduced plasma membrane PIP3, its acute removal led to an increase in Akt phosphorylation only at Ser473. This process invokes activation primarily of mammalian target of rapamycin complex 2 (mTORC2), which was confirmed by increased phosphorylation of other mTORC2 substrates. These findings establish PI5P4Kα as a kinase that synthesizes a physiologically relevant pool of PI(4,5)P2 and as a regulator of mTORC2, and show a phenomenon similar to the "butterfly effect" described for phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase Iα [Hart JR, et al. (2015) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 112(4):1131-1136], whereby through apparently the same underlying mechanism, the removal of a protein's activity from a cell can have widely divergent effects depending on the time course of that removal.S.J.B. was supported by an A.J. Clark Studentship from the British Pharmacological Society, A.D. by Sidney Sussex College, the Cambridge Overseas Trust and the Säid Foundation, and J.H.C by the MRC (Grant RG64071).This is the author accepted manuscript. It is currently under an indefinite embargo pending publication by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)

A user-centred approach to developing bWell, a mobile app for arm and shoulder exercises after breast cancer treatment

Purpose: The study aim was to develop a mobile application (app) supported by user preferences to optimise self-management of arm and shoulder exercises for upper-limb dysfunction (ULD) after breast cancer treatment. Methods: Focus groups with breast cancer patients were held to identify user needs and requirements. Behaviour change techniques were explored by researchers and discussed during the focus groups. Concepts for content were identified by thematic analysis. A rapid review was conducted to inform the exercise programme. Preliminary testing was carried out to obtain user feedback from breast cancer patients who used the app for 8 weeks post-surgery. Results: Breast cancer patients’ experiences with ULD and exercise advice and routines varied widely. They identified and prioritised several app features: tailored information, video demonstrations of the exercises, push notifications, and tracking and progress features. An evidence-based programme was developed with a physiotherapist with progressive exercises for passive and active mobilisation, stretching and strengthening. The exercise demonstration videos were filmed with a breast cancer patient. Early user testing demonstrated ease of use, and clear and motivating app content. Conclusions: bWell, a novel app for arm and shoulder exercises was developed by breast cancer patients, health care professionals and academics. Further research is warranted to confirm its clinical effectiveness. Implications for Cancer Survivors: Mobile health has great potential to provide patients with information specific to their needs. bWell is a promising way to support breast cancer patients with exercise routines after treatment and may improve future self-management of clinical care

Ascorbate Biosynthesis during Early Fruit Development Is the Main Reason for Its Accumulation in Kiwi

Background: Ascorbic acid (AsA) is a unique antioxidant as well as an enzyme cofactor. Although it has multiple roles in plants, it is unclear how its accumulation is controlled at the expression level, especially in sink tissues. Kiwifruit (Actinidia) is well-known for its high ascorbate content. Our objective was to determine whether AsA accumulates in the fruits primarily through biosynthesis or because it is imported from the foliage. Methodology/Principal Findings: We systematically investigated AsA levels, biosynthetic capacity, and mRNA expression of genes involved in AsA biosynthesis in kiwi (A. deliciosa cv. Qinmei). Recycling and AsA localization were also monitored during fruit development and among different tissue types. Over time, the amount of AsA, with its capacity for higher biosynthesis and lower recycling, peaked at 30 days after anthesis (DAA), and then decreased markedly up to 60 DAA before declining more slowly. Expression of key genes showed similar patterns of change, except for L-galactono-1,4-lactone dehydrogenase and L-galactose-1-phosphate phosphatase (GPP). However, GPP had good correlation with the rate of AsA accumulation. The expression of these genes could be detected in phloem of stem as well as petiole of leaf and fruit. Additionally, fruit petioles had greater ascorbate amounts, although that was the site of lowest expression by most genes. Fruit microtubule tissues also had higher AsA. However, exogenous applications of AsA to those petioles did not lead to its transport into fruits, and distribution of ascorbate was cell-specific in the fruits, with more accumulation occurring in large

Registered Replication Report: Dijksterhuis and van Knippenberg (1998)

Dijksterhuis and van Knippenberg (1998) reported that participants primed with a category associated with intelligence ("professor") subsequently performed 13% better on a trivia test than participants primed with a category associated with a lack of intelligence ("soccer hooligans"). In two unpublished replications of this study designed to verify the appropriate testing procedures, Dijksterhuis, van Knippenberg, and Holland observed a smaller difference between conditions (2%-3%) as well as a gender difference: Men showed the effect (9.3% and 7.6%), but women did not (0.3% and -0.3%). The procedure used in those replications served as the basis for this multilab Registered Replication Report. A total of 40 laboratories collected data for this project, and 23 of these laboratories met all inclusion criteria. Here we report the meta-analytic results for those 23 direct replications (total N = 4,493), which tested whether performance on a 30-item general-knowledge trivia task differed between these two priming conditions (results of supplementary analyses of the data from all 40 labs, N = 6,454, are also reported). We observed no overall difference in trivia performance between participants primed with the "professor" category and those primed with the "hooligan" category (0.14%) and no moderation by gender