Assessing a Novel Adaptation to CCI Devices to Model Human Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Background: Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs) are a health crisis with over a million people suffering injuries each year in the United States. The majority of TBIs are mild injuries which often produce no period of unconsciousness and no gross damage to the brain or skull. A range of TBI animal models exist but many produce injuries too severe to characterize as mild. One TBI induction method commonly used is Controlled Cortical Impact (CCI) devices. New Method: The purpose of this study is to assess a novel adaptation to CCI devices that allows for the induction of mild injuries that mimic human mild TBI (mTBI). In this apparatus, the mouse is placed on an elevated platform which utilizes a sensor to collapse the platform as the impactor hits the head. Results: On the first day of injury, the repetitive dropping platform group had a significantly lower Time to Righting (TTR) than both control and single hit stationary platform groups. Additionally, on the first day of injury the single-hit stationary group had a significantly increased Time to Ambulation (TTA) compared to all other groups. Furthermore, this adaptation produces significantly less GFAP than CCI injuries performed without the falling platform. Comparison with existing models: This model incorporates the high control of the CCI device that may be lost in weight-drop models of mild injury while also producing translational mild injuries. Conclusion: This adaptation can be used in any CCI research lab to translationally study mild injuries. This will facilitate murine research into mTBI

Human mucosal associated invariant T cells detect bacterially infected cells

Control of infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) requires Th1-type immunity, of which CD8+ T cells play a unique role. High frequency Mtb-reactive CD8+ T cells are present in both Mtb-infected and uninfected humans. We show by limiting dilution analysis that nonclassically restricted CD8+ T cells are universally present, but predominate in Mtbuninfected individuals. Interestingly, these Mtb-reactive cells expressed the Va7.2 T-cell receptor (TCR), were restricted by the nonclassical MHC (HLA-Ib) molecule MR1, and were activated in a transporter associated with antigen processing and presentation (TAP) independent manner. These properties are all characteristics of mucosal associated invariant T cells (MAIT), an "innate" T-cell population of previously unknown function. These MAIT cells also detect cells infected with other bacteria. Direct ex vivo analysis demonstrates that Mtb-reactive MAIT cells are decreased in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from individuals with active tuberculosis, are enriched in human lung, and respond to Mtb-infected MR1-expressing lung epithelial cells. Overall, these findings suggest a generalized role for MAIT cells in the detection of bacterially infected cells, and potentially in the control of bacterial infection. © 2010 Gold et al

Suspension fluorescence in situ hybridization (S-FISH) combined with automatic detection and laser microdissection for STR profiling of male cells in male/female mixtures

Laser microdissection is a valuable tool for isolating specific cells from mixtures, such as male cells in a mixture with female cells, e.g., in cases of sexual assault. These cells can be stained with Y-chromosome-specific probes. We developed an automatic screening method to detect male cells after fluorescence in situ hybridization in suspension (S-FISH). To simulate forensic casework, the method was tested on female saliva after cataglottis (a kiss involving tongue-to-tongue contact) and on licking traces (swabs of dried male saliva on female skin) even after drying. After isolation of the detected cells, short tandem repeat profiling was performed. Full DNA profiles could consistently be obtained from as little as ten buccal cells. Isolation of five cells resulted in a mean of 98% (SD of 3.4%) of the alleles detected, showing that the developed S-FISH staining had no significant negative influence on DNA recovery and can be used in forensic casework

Precise measurement of the W-boson mass with the CDF II detector

We have measured the W-boson mass MW using data corresponding to 2.2/fb of integrated luminosity collected in proton-antiproton collisions at 1.96 TeV with the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. Samples consisting of 470126 W->enu candidates and 624708 W->munu candidates yield the measurement MW = 80387 +- 12 (stat) +- 15 (syst) = 80387 +- 19 MeV. This is the most precise measurement of the W-boson mass to date and significantly exceeds the precision of all previous measurements combined

Constraints on the χ_(c1) versus χ_(c2) polarizations in proton-proton collisions at √s = 8 TeV

The polarizations of promptly produced χ_(c1) and χ_(c2) mesons are studied using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, in proton-proton collisions at √s=8  TeV. The χ_c states are reconstructed via their radiative decays χ_c → J/ψγ, with the photons being measured through conversions to e⁺e⁻, which allows the two states to be well resolved. The polarizations are measured in the helicity frame, through the analysis of the χ_(c2) to χ_(c1) yield ratio as a function of the polar or azimuthal angle of the positive muon emitted in the J/ψ → μ⁺μ⁻ decay, in three bins of J/ψ transverse momentum. While no differences are seen between the two states in terms of azimuthal decay angle distributions, they are observed to have significantly different polar anisotropies. The measurement favors a scenario where at least one of the two states is strongly polarized along the helicity quantization axis, in agreement with nonrelativistic quantum chromodynamics predictions. This is the first measurement of significantly polarized quarkonia produced at high transverse momentum