Test-Retest Reliability and Learning Effect of the Modified CTSIB Balance Protocol in a Geriatric Population

Please click the pdf icon to download the abstracts

Rectal Microbiome Composition Correlates with Humoral Immunity to HIV-1 in Vaccinated Rhesus Macaques.

The microbiome is an integral and dynamic component of the host and is emerging as a critical determinant of immune responses; however, its influence on vaccine immunogenicity is largely not well understood. Here, we examined the pivotal relationship between the mucosal microbiome and vaccine-induced immune responses by assessing longitudinal changes in vaginal and rectal microbiome profiles after intradermal immunization with a human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) DNA vaccine in adult rhesus macaques that received two prior DNA primes. We report that both vaginal and rectal microbiomes were dominated by Firmicutes but were composed of distinct genera, denoting microbiome specialization across mucosal tissues. Following immunization, the vaginal microbiome was resilient, except for a transient decrease in Streptococcus In contrast, the rectal microbiome was far more responsive to vaccination, exhibiting an increase in the ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes Within Bacteroidetes, multiple genera were significantly decreased, including Prevotella, Alloprevotella, Bacteroides, Acetobacteroides, Falsiporphyromonas, and Anaerocella. Decreased abundance of Prevotella correlated with induction of gut-homing α4β7 + effector CD4 T cells. Prevotella abundance also negatively correlated with rectal HIV-1 specific IgG levels. While rectal Lactobacillus was unaltered following DNA vaccination, baseline Lactobacillus abundance showed strong associations with higher rectal HIV-1 gp140 IgA induced following a protein boost. Similarly, the abundance of Clostridium in cluster IV was associated with higher rectal HIV-1 gp140 IgG responses. Collectively, these data reveal that the temporal stability of bacterial communities following DNA immunization is site dependent and highlight the importance of host-microbiome interactions in shaping HIV-1 vaccine responses. Our findings have significant implications for microbial manipulation as a strategy to enhance HIV vaccine-induced mucosal immunity.IMPORTANCE There is considerable effort directed toward evaluating HIV-1 vaccine platforms to select the most promising candidates for enhancing mucosal HIV-1 antibody. The most successful thus far, the RV144 trial provided partial protection due to waning HIV-1 antibody titers. In order to develop an effective HIV vaccine, it may therefore be important to understand how biological factors, such as the microbiome, modulate host immune responses. Furthermore, as intestinal microbiota antigens may generate antibodies cross-reactive to the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein, understanding the relationship between gut microbiota composition and HIV-1 envelope antibody responses after vaccination is important. Here, we demonstrate for the first time in rhesus macaques that the rectal microbiome composition can influence HIV-1 vaccine immunogenicity, and we report temporal changes in the mucosal microbiome profile following HIV-1 vaccination. Our results could inform findings from the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) vaccine studies and contribute to an understanding of how the microbiome influences HIV-1 antibody responses

Testing general relativity using golden black-hole binaries

The coalescences of stellar-mass black-hole binaries through their inspiral, merger, and ringdown are among the most promising sources for ground-based gravitational-wave (GW) detectors. If a GW signal is observed with sufficient signal-to-noise ratio, the masses and spins of the black holes can be estimated from just the inspiral part of the signal. Using these estimates of the initial parameters of the binary, the mass and spin of the final black hole can be uniquely predicted making use of general-relativistic numerical simulations. In addition, the mass and spin of the final black hole can be independently estimated from the merger--ringdown part of the signal. If the binary black hole dynamics is correctly described by general relativity (GR), these independent estimates have to be consistent with each other. We present a Bayesian implementation of such a test of general relativity, which allows us to combine the constraints from multiple observations. Using kludge modified GR waveforms, we demonstrate that this test can detect sufficiently large deviations from GR, and outline the expected constraints from upcoming GW observations using the second-generation of ground-based GW detectors.Comment: 5 pages, 2 fig

Benefits of Turbid River Plume Habitat for Lake Erie Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens) Recruitment Determined by Juvenile to Larval Genotype Assignment

Nutrient-rich, turbid river plumes that are common to large lakes and coastal marine ecosystems have been hypothesized to benefit survival of fish during early life stages by increasing food availability and (or) reducing vulnerability to visual predators. However, evidence that river plumes truly benefit the recruitment process remains meager for both freshwater and marine fishes. Here, we use genotype assignment between juvenile and larval yellow perch (Perca flavescens) from western Lake Erie to estimate and compare recruitment to the age-0 juvenile stage for larvae residing inside the highly turbid, south-shore Maumee River plume versus those occupying the less turbid, more northerly Detroit River plume. Bayesian genotype assignment of a mixed assemblage of juvenile (age-0) yellow perch to putative larval source populations established that recruitment of larvae was higher from the turbid Maumee River plume than for the less turbid Detroit River plume during 2006 and 2007, but not in 2008. Our findings add to the growing evidence that turbid river plumes can indeed enhance survival of fish larvae to recruited life stages, and also demonstrate how novel population genetic analyses of early life stages can contribute to determining critical early life stage processes in the fish recruitment process

Beaked whales echolocate on prey

Author Posting. © Royal Society, 2004. This article is posted here by permission of Royal Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Biology Letters 271: Supplement 6 (2004): S383-S386, doi:10.1098/rsbl.2004.0208.Beaked whales (Cetacea: Ziphiidea) of the genera Ziphius and Mesoplodon are so difficult to study that they are mostly known from strandings. How these elusive toothed whales use and react to sound is of concern because they mass strand during naval sonar exercises. A new non-invasive acoustic recording tag was attached to four beaked whales (two Mesoplodon densirostris and two Ziphius cavirostris) and recorded high-frequency clicks during deep dives. The tagged whales only clicked at depths below 200 m, down to a maximum depth of 1267 m. Both species produced a large number of short, directional, ultrasonic clicks with no significant energy below 20 kHz. The tags recorded echoes from prey items; to our knowledge, a first for any animal echolocating in the wild. As far as we are aware, these echoes provide the first direct evidence on how free-ranging toothed whales use echolocation in foraging. The strength of these echoes suggests that the source level of Mesoplodon clicks is in the range of 200-220 dB re 1 μPa at 1 m. This paper presents conclusive data on the normal vocalizations of these beaked whale species, which may enable acoustic monitoring to mitigate exposure to sounds intense enough to harm them.Tag development was funded by a Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Award and the US Office of Naval Research. Fieldwork was funded by the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) under program CS-1188, the Packard Foundation, and the Council of Environment of the Canary Islands, and was supported by University of La Laguna, BluWest, SACLANT Undersea Research Centre, and the Government of El Hierro

Neurophysiology

Contains reports on four research projects.Bell Telephone Laboratories, IncorporatedThe Teagle Foundation, IncorporatedNational Science Foundatio

Radiocarbon dating of methane and carbon dioxide evaded from a temperate peatland stream

Streams draining peatlands export large quantities of carbon in different chemical forms and are an important part of the carbon cycle. Radiocarbon (14C) analysis/dating provides unique information on the source and rate that carbon is cycled through ecosystems, as has recently been demonstrated at the air-water interface through analysis of carbon dioxide (CO2) lost from peatland streams by evasion (degassing). Peatland streams also have the potential to release large amounts of methane (CH4) and, though 14C analysis of CH4 emitted by ebullition (bubbling) has been previously reported, diffusive emissions have not. We describe methods that enable the 14C analysis of CH4 evaded from peatland streams. Using these methods, we investigated the 14C age and stable carbon isotope composition of both CH4 and CO2 evaded from a small peatland stream draining a temperate raised mire. Methane was aged between 1617-1987 years BP, and was much older than CO2 which had an age range of 303-521 years BP. Isotope mass balance modelling of the results indicated that the CO2 and CH4 evaded from the stream were derived from different source areas, with most evaded CO2 originating from younger layers located nearer the peat surface compared to CH4. The study demonstrates the insight that can be gained into peatland carbon cycling from a methodological development which enables dual isotope (14C and 13C) analysis of both CH4 and CO2 collected at the same time and in the same way

Chandra localisation and optical/NIR follow-up of Galactic X-ray sources

We investigate a sample of eleven Galactic X-ray sources recently discovered with INTEGRAL or RXTE with the goal of identifying their optical and/or near-infrared (NIR) counterpart. For this purpose new Chandra positions of nine objects are presented together with follow-up observations of all the targets in the optical and NIR. For the four sources IGR J16194-2810, IGRJ 16479-4514, IGR J16500-3307 and IGR J19308+530, the Chandra position confirms an existing association with an optical/NIR object, while for two sources (XTE J1716-389 and 18490-0000) it rules out previously proposed counterparts indicating new ones. In the case of IGR J17597-220, a counterpart is selected out of the several possibilities proposed in the literature and we present the first association with an optical/NIR source for J16293-4603 and XTE J1743-363. Moreover, optical/NIR observations are reported for XTE J1710-281 and IGR J17254-3257: we investigate the counterpart to the X-ray sources based on their XMM-Newton positions. We discuss the nature of each system considering its optical/NIR and X-ray properties.Comment: 15 pages,14 figures. Accepted for publication on MNRA

Gas, Stars, and Star Formation in ALFALFA Dwarf Galaxies

We examine the global properties of the stellar and H I components of 229 low H_I mass dwarf galaxies extracted from the ALFALFA survey, including a complete sample of 176 galaxies with H_I masses <10^(7.7) M_☉ and H_I line widths <80 km s^(–1). Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data are combined with photometric properties derived from Galaxy Evolution Explorer to derive stellar masses (M_*) and star formation rates (SFRs) by fitting their UV-optical spectral energy distributions (SEDs). In optical images, many of the ALFALFA dwarfs are faint and of low surface brightness; only 56% of those within the SDSS footprint have a counterpart in the SDSS spectroscopic survey. A large fraction of the dwarfs have high specific star formation rates (SSFRs), and estimates of their SFRs and M_* obtained by SED fitting are systematically smaller than ones derived via standard formulae assuming a constant SFR. The increased dispersion of the SSFR distribution at M_* ≲ 10^8 M_☉ is driven by a set of dwarf galaxies that have low gas fractions and SSFRs; some of these are dE/dSphs in the Virgo Cluster. The imposition of an upper H_I mass limit yields the selection of a sample with lower gas fractions for their M_* than found for the overall ALFALFA population. Many of the ALFALFA dwarfs, particularly the Virgo members, have H_I depletion timescales shorter than a Hubble time. An examination of the dwarf galaxies within the full ALFALFA population in the context of global star formation (SF) laws is consistent with the general assumptions that gas-rich galaxies have lower SF efficiencies than do optically selected populations and that H_I disks are more extended than stellar ones