Hypertension, antihypertensive use and the delayed onset of Huntington's Disease

Background: Hypertension is a modifiable cardiovascular risk factor implicated in neurodegeneration and dementia risk. In Huntington's disease, a monogenic neurodegenerative disease, autonomic and vascular abnormalities have been reported. This study's objective was to examine the relationship between hypertension and disease severity and progression in Huntington's disease. Methods: Using longitudinal data from the largest worldwide observational study of Huntington's disease (n = 14,534), we assessed the relationship between hypertension, disease severity, and rate of clinical progression in Huntington's disease mutation carriers. Propensity score matching was used to statistically match normotensive and hypertensive participants for age, sex, body mass index, ethnicity, and CAG length. Results: Huntington's disease patients had a lower prevalence of hypertension compared with age‐matched gene‐negative controls. Huntington's disease patients with hypertension had worse cognitive function, a higher depression score, and more marked motor progression over time compared with Huntington's disease patients without hypertension. However, hypertensive patients taking antihypertensive medication had less motor, cognitive, and functional impairment than Huntington's disease patients with untreated hypertension and a later age of clinical onset compared with untreated hypertensive patients and normotensive individuals with Huntington's disease. Conclusions: We report the novel finding that hypertension and antihypertensive medication use are associated with altered disease severity, progression, and clinical onset in patients with Huntington's disease. These findings have implications for the management of hypertension in Huntington's disease and suggest that prospective studies of the symptomatic or disease‐modifying potential of antihypertensives in neurodegenerative diseases are warranted

Building an eScience Thesaurus for Librarians: A Collaboration Between the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, New England Region and an Associate Fellow at the National Library of Medicine

Objective: In response to the growing interest and adoption of eScience roles by librarians, those from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, New England Region (NN/LM NER) and an Associate Fellow from the National Library of Medicine collaborated to build an eScience Thesaurus. The Thesaurus will introduce librarians to terminology and concepts in eScience, point to relevant literature and resources on data and digital research topics, and provide links to interviews with librarians and experts working in eScience-related roles. The eScience Thesaurus is a starting place for librarians to find the vocabulary to research the background, resources, and tools necessary for developing their capacity to provide eScience-related services. Methods: The Associate Fellow completed a review of eScience-related literature to identify the seminal publications for the originations of these terms and concepts as they apply to libraries. Next, the Associate Fellow worked with the NN/LM NER to compile an environmental scan of resources that would be useful and applicable for librarians, and created a scope document and record structure. The team interviewed prominent librarians working in eScience roles and experts that have created digital tools and services used by the library community. Finally, the team sent the Thesaurus records out to five members of the advisory and editorial review boards from the eScience Portal for New England Librarians for evaluation. Results: The eScience Thesaurus is now hosted on the eScience Portal for New England Librarians’ website. It provides a comprehensive list of more than 50 different terminologies and concepts, with links to seminal and relevant literature, resources, grants, and interviews on a variety of eScience-related topics. Conclusion: The eScience Thesaurus is an evolving resource; as the field expands and more eScience-related terms are adopted by the library and information science community, the Portal will enable its users to electronically submit new vocabulary and records to the Thesuarus, thus preserving it as a go-to eScience resource for librarians

IL-10 Immunomodulation of Myeloid Cells Regulates a Murine Model of Ovarian Cancer

Elevated levels of IL-10 in the microenvironment of human ovarian cancer and murine models of ovarian cancer are well established and correlate with poor clinical prognosis. However, amongst a myriad of immunosuppressive factors, the actual contribution of IL-10 to the ovarian tumor microenvironment, the mechanisms by which it acts, and its possible functional redundancy are unknown. We previously demonstrated that elimination of the myeloid-derived suppressor cell (MDSC) compartment within the ovarian tumor ascites inhibited tumor progression and, intriguingly, significantly decreased local IL-10 levels. Here we identify a novel pathway in which the tumor-infiltrating MDSC are the predominant producers of IL-10 and, importantly, require it to develop their immunosuppressive function in vivo. Importantly, we demonstrate that the role of IL-10 is critical, and not redundant with other immunosuppressive molecules, to in vivo tumor progression: blockade of the IL-10 signaling network results in alleviation of MDSC-mediated immunosuppression, altered T cell phenotype and activity, and improved survival. These studies define IL-10 as a fundamental modulator of both MDSC and T cells within the ovarian tumor microenvironment. Importantly, IL-10 signaling is shown to be necessary to the development and maintenance of a permissive tumor microenvironment and represents a viable target for anti-tumor strategies

α8β1 integrin regulates nutrient absorption through an Mfge8-PTEN dependent mechanism.

Coordinated gastrointestinal smooth muscle contraction is critical for proper nutrient absorption and is altered in a number of medical disorders. In this work, we demonstrate a critical role for the RGD-binding integrin α8β1 in promoting nutrient absorption through regulation of gastrointestinal motility. Smooth muscle-specific deletion and antibody blockade of α8 in mice result in enhanced gastric antral smooth muscle contraction, more rapid gastric emptying, and more rapid transit of food through the small intestine leading to malabsorption of dietary fats and carbohydrates as well as protection from weight gain in a diet-induced model of obesity. Mechanistically, ligation of α8β1 by the milk protein Mfge8 reduces antral smooth muscle contractile force by preventing RhoA activation through a PTEN-dependent mechanism. Collectively, our results identify a role for α8β1 in regulating gastrointestinal motility and identify α8 as a potential target for disorders characterized by hypo- or hyper-motility

Galaxy Zoo: star formation versus spiral arm number

Spiral arms are common features in low-redshift disc galaxies, and are prominent sites of star formation and dust obscuration. However, spiral structure can take many forms: from galaxies displaying two strong ‘grand design’ arms to those with many ‘flocculent’ arms. We investigate how these different arm types are related to a galaxy's star formation and gas properties by making use of visual spiral arm number measurements from Galaxy Zoo 2. We combine ultraviolet and mid-infrared (MIR) photometry from GALEX and WISE to measure the rates and relative fractions of obscured and unobscured star formation in a sample of low-redshift SDSS spirals. Total star formation rate has little dependence on spiral arm multiplicity, but two-armed spirals convert their gas to stars more efficiently. We find significant differences in the fraction of obscured star formation: an additional ∼10 per cent of star formation in two-armed galaxies is identified via MIR dust emission, compared to that in many-armed galaxies. The latter are also significantly offset below the IRX–β relation for low-redshift star-forming galaxies. We present several explanations for these differences versus arm number: variations in the spatial distribution, sizes or clearing time-scales of star-forming regions (i.e. molecular clouds), or contrasting recent star formation histories

Multidimensional collaboration; reflections on action research in a clinical context

This paper reflects on the challenges and benefits of multidimensional collaboration in an action research study to evaluate and improve preoperative education for patients awaiting colorectal surgery. Three cycles of planning, acting,observing and reflecting were designed to evaluate practice and implement change in this interactive setting, calling for specific and distinct collaborations. Data collection includes: observing educational interactions; administering patient evaluation questionnaires; interviewing healthcare staff, patients and carers; patient and carer focus groups; and examining written and audiovisual educational materials. The study revolves around and depends on multi-dimensional collaborations. Reflecting on these collaborations highlights the diversity of perspectives held by all those engaged in the study and enhances the action research lessons. Successfully maintaining the collaborations recognises the need for negotiation, inclusivity, comprehension, brokerage,and problem-solving. Managing the potential tensions is crucial to the successful implementation of changes introduced to practice and thus has important implications for patients’ well-being. This paper describes the experiences from an action research project involving new and specific collaborations, focusing on a particular healthcare setting. It exemplifies the challenges of the collaborative action research process and examines how both researchers and practitioners might reflect on the translation of theory into educational practices within a hospital colorectal department. Despite its context-specific features, the reflections on the types of challenges faced and lessons learned provide implications for action researchers in diverse healthcare settings across the world

Enamel-based mark performance for marking Chinese mystery snail \u3ci\u3eBellamya chinensis\u3c/i\u3e

The exoskeleton of gastropods provides a convenient surface for carrying marks, and in the interest of improving future marking methods our laboratory assessed the performance of an enamel paint. The endurance of the paint was also compared to other marking methods assessed in the past. We marked the shells of 30 adult Chinese mystery snails Bellamya chinensis and held them in an aquarium for 181 days. We observed no complete degradation of any enamel-paint mark during the 181 days. The enamel-paint mark was superior to a nail-polish mark, which lasted a median of 100 days. Enamel-paint marks also have a lower rate of loss (0.00 month-1 181 days) than plastic bee tags (0.01 month-1, 57 days), gouache paint (0.07 month-1, 18.5 days), or car body paint from studies found in scientific literature. Legibility of enamelpaint marks had a median lifetime of 102 days. The use of enamel paint on the shells of gastropods is a viable option for studies lasting up to 6 months. Furthermore, visits to a capture-mark-recapture site 1 year after application of enamel-paint marks on B. chinensis shells produced several individuals on which the enamel paint was still visible, although further testing is required to clarify durability over longer periods