Acute Modulation of Toll-Like Receptors by Insulin

OBJECTIVE—Low-dose insulin infusion has been shown to exert a prompt and powerful anti-inflammatory effect. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are major determinants of the inflammatory response to viral and bacterial pathogens. We have now hypothesized that low-dose insulin infusion in obese type 2 diabetic patients suppresses TLR expression

Immunoprotectivity of HLA-A2 CTL Peptides Derived from Respiratory Syncytial Virus Fusion Protein in HLA-A2 Transgenic Mouse

Identification of HLA-restricted CD8+ T cell epitopes is important to study RSV-induced immunity and illness. We algorithmically analyzed the sequence of the fusion protein (F) of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and generated synthetic peptides that can potentially bind to HLA-A*0201. Four out of the twenty-five 9-mer peptides tested: peptides 3 (F33–41), 13 (F214–222), 14 (F273–281), and 23 (F559–567), were found to bind to HLA-A*0201 with moderate to high affinity and were capable of inducing IFN-γ and IL-2 secretion in lymphocytes from HLA-A*0201 transgenic (HLA-Tg) mice pre-immunized with RSV or recombinant adenovirus expressing RSV F. HLA-Tg mice were immunized with these four peptides and were found to induce both Th1 and CD8+ T cell responses in in vitro secondary recall. Effector responses induced by these peptides were observed to confer differential protection against live RSV challenge. These peptides also caused better recovery of body weight loss induced by RSV. A significant reduction of lung viral load was observed in mice immunized with peptide 23, which appeared to enhance the levels of inflammatory chemokines (CCL17, CCL22, and IL-18) but did not increase eosinophil infiltration in the lungs. Whereas, significant reduction of infiltrated eosinophils induced by RSV infection was found in mice pre-immunized with peptide 13. Our results suggest that HLA-A2-restricted epitopes of RSV F protein could be useful for the development of epitope-based RSV vaccine

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Prototype development for real-time epilepsy seizures detector using three parameters

This paper proposes a prototype for real-time epilepsy seizures detection using skin conductance, temperature and sense movement. This proposed work is expected to help epilepsy patients to receive immediate help from the people around when seizures happen. This prototype is wearable and developed using Arduino Nano, Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) sensor, accelerometer, temperature sensor and pulse sensor. Epilepsy patients can wear this prototype just like a watch. The prototype is connected to the mobile application via Bluetooth and can alert the people around by buzzing alarm as well as sending text message to the doctor or family member. Details development and results are discussed in this paper

Prototype development for real-time epilepsy seizures detector using three parameters

This paper proposes a prototype for real-time epilepsy seizures detection using skin conductance, temperature and sense movement. This proposed work is expected to help epilepsy patients to receive immediate help from the people around when seizures happen. This prototype is wearable and developed using Arduino Nano, Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) sensor, accelerometer, temperature sensor and pulse sensor. Epilepsy patients can wear this prototype just like a watch. The prototype is connected to the mobile application via Bluetooth and can alert the people around by buzzing alarm as well as sending text message to the doctor or family member. Details development and results are discussed in this paper