Veterinary Science Career Development Online Study Guide Improves Student Performance

The Online FFA Veterinary Science Career Development Event (CDE) Study Website was created to better prepare FFA members for the Veterinary Science CDE but is useful to Extension educators as well. The website provides resources for students who may not have access to hands-on study materials for the CDE. These resources include (a) instructional videos of clinical and handling and restraint practicums, (b) photographic identification examples, and (c) practice examinations. Students indicated that they felt more prepared for the CDE after using the online study guide. Because of the types of materials on the website, the site can be used in various ways by Extension educators working with youths interested in animal sciences

Tryphostin (AG 879): A Potential Drug to Treat Glioblastoma

https://digitalcommons.unmc.edu/surp2023/1014/thumbnail.jp

Sample designs for measuring the health of small racial/ethnic subgroups

Most national health surveys do not permit precise measurement of the health of racial/ethnic subgroups that comprise <1 per cent of the U.S. population. We identify three potentially promising sample design strategies for increasing the accuracy of national health estimates for a small target subgroup when used to supplement a small probability sample of that group and apply these strategies to American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/AN) and Chinese using National Health Interview Survey data. These sample design strategies include (1) complete sampling of targets within households, (2) oversampling selected macrogeographic units, and (3) oversampling from an incomplete list frame. Stage (1) is promising for Chinese and AI/AN; (2) works for both groups, but it would be more cost-effective for AI/AN because of their greater residential concentration; (3) is somewhat effective for groups like Chinese with viable surname lists, but not for AI/AN. Both (2) and (3) efficiently improve measurement precision when the supplement is the same size as the existing core sample, with diminishing additional returns as the supplement grows relative to the core sample, especially for (3). To avoid large design effects, the oversampled geographic areas or lists must have good coverage of the target population. To reduce costs, oversampled geographic tracts and lists must consist primarily of targets. These techniques can be used simultaneously to substantially increase effective sample sizes (ESSs). For example, (1) and (2) in combination can be used to multiply the nominal sample size of AI/AN or Chinese by 8 and the ESS by 4. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/60911/1/3244_ftp.pd

Recon 2.2: from reconstruction to model of human metabolism.

IntroductionThe human genome-scale metabolic reconstruction details all known metabolic reactions occurring in humans, and thereby holds substantial promise for studying complex diseases and phenotypes. Capturing the whole human metabolic reconstruction is an on-going task and since the last community effort generated a consensus reconstruction, several updates have been developed.ObjectivesWe report a new consensus version, Recon 2.2, which integrates various alternative versions with significant additional updates. In addition to re-establishing a consensus reconstruction, further key objectives included providing more comprehensive annotation of metabolites and genes, ensuring full mass and charge balance in all reactions, and developing a model that correctly predicts ATP production on a range of carbon sources.MethodsRecon 2.2 has been developed through a combination of manual curation and automated error checking. Specific and significant manual updates include a respecification of fatty acid metabolism, oxidative phosphorylation and a coupling of the electron transport chain to ATP synthase activity. All metabolites have definitive chemical formulae and charges specified, and these are used to ensure full mass and charge reaction balancing through an automated linear programming approach. Additionally, improved integration with transcriptomics and proteomics data has been facilitated with the updated curation of relationships between genes, proteins and reactions.ResultsRecon 2.2 now represents the most predictive model of human metabolism to date as demonstrated here. Extensive manual curation has increased the reconstruction size to 5324 metabolites, 7785 reactions and 1675 associated genes, which now are mapped to a single standard. The focus upon mass and charge balancing of all reactions, along with better representation of energy generation, has produced a flux model that correctly predicts ATP yield on different carbon sources.ConclusionThrough these updates we have achieved the most complete and best annotated consensus human metabolic reconstruction available, thereby increasing the ability of this resource to provide novel insights into normal and disease states in human. The model is freely available from the Biomodels database (http://identifiers.org/biomodels.db/MODEL1603150001)

Observation of dose-rate dependence in a Fricke dosimeter irradiated at low dose rates with monoenergetic X-rays

<p>Absolute measurements of the radiolytic yield of Fe3+ in a ferrous sulphate dosimeter formulation (6 mM Fe2+), with a 20 keV x-ray monoenergetic beam, are reported. Dose-rate suppression of the radiolytic yield was observed at dose rates lower than and different in nature to those previously reported with x-rays. We present evidence that this effect is most likely to be due to recombination of free radicals radiolytically produced from water. The method used to make these measurements is also new and it provides radiolytic yields which are directly traceable to the SI standards system. The data presented provides new and exacting tests of radiation chemistry codes.</p

West-Nile virus replicon particles infect 293T cells expressing DC-SIGNR

West-Nile virus (WNV) is an arbovirus usually transmitted to humans via a mosquito vector. Infections commonly result in febrile symptoms while rare severe neuroinvasive cases may result in encephalitis or meningitis. Studies have shown that WNV infection efficiency is enhanced by expression of DC-SIGNR on target cells, which normally do not express DC-SIGNR. To investigate WNV tropism, we established 293T kidney epithelial cell lines that stably express vector, DC-SIGNR and mutants of DC-SIGNR that lack the entire carbohydrate-recognition domain (CRD) or lack the C-terminal half of the CRD. We demonstrate successful surface expression of DC-SIGNR and its mutants from stablytransfected 293T cells, but not vector-transfected 293T cells. Further, we show that monoclonal antibody 120604 which binds specifically to the DC-SIGNR CRD binds to DCSIGNR expressing 293T cells, but not to vector nor any of the DC-SIGNR mutants expressing cells. Virus replicon particles (VRPs), replication-incompetent viral particles containing necessary structural proteins for infection and a viral plasmid including a GFP reporter are used to safely and conveniently study viral entry. Entry assays using WNV (NY99) VRPs as well as a variant of WNV (NY99) which contains the beta-lactamase enzyme show significant entry into DC-SIGNR expressing cell lines, but not in controls that do not express DC-SIGNR. Additionally, we show that WNV VRPs do not enter DC-SIGNR expressing cells that lack the CRD or the C-terminal half of the CRD suggesting that the Cterminal half of the CRD is required for successful entry of WNV via DC-SIGNR. Future experiments may be able to shed light on which amino acids are required for entryhttps://openriver.winona.edu/urc2018/1057/thumbnail.jp

The Physical Activity 4 Everyone Cluster Randomized Trial : 2-Year Outcomes of a School Physical Activity Intervention Among Adolescents

Acknowledgments The Physical Activity 4 Everyone intervention trial was funded by the New South Wales Ministry of Health through the New South Wales Health Promotion Demonstration Research Grants Scheme and conducted by Hunter New England Population Health (a unit of the Hunter New England Local Health District), in collaboration with the University of Newcastle and University of Wollongong. Infrastructure support was provided by Hunter Medical Research Institute. The research team acknowledges the importance of making research data publically available. Access to the accelerometer data from this study may be made available to external collaborators following the development of data transfer agreements. Further results arising from the study can be found at www.goodforkids.nsw.gov.au/high-schools/. No financial disclosures were reported by the authors of this paper.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Combined Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Therapy and ECMO in ARDS:A Controlled Experimental Study in Sheep

Rationale: Mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) therapy is a promising intervention for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), although trials to date have not investigated its use alongside extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Recent preclinical studies have suggested that combining these interventions may attenuate the efficacy of ECMO. Objectives: To determine the safety and efficacy of MSC therapy in a model of ARDS and ECMO. Methods: ARDS was induced in 14 sheep, after which they were established on venovenous ECMO. Subsequently, they received either endobronchial induced pluripotent stem cell-derived human MSCs (hMSCs) (n = 7) or cell-free carrier vehicle (vehicle control; n = 7). During ECMO, a low VT ventilation strategy was employed in addition to protocolized hemodynamic support. Animals were monitored and supported for 24 hours. Lung tissue, bronchoalveolar fluid, and plasma were analyzed, in addition to continuous respiratory and hemodynamic monitoring. Measurements and Main Results: The administration of hMSCs did not improve oxygenation (PaO2/FIO2 mean difference =2146mmHg; P= 0.076) or pulmonary function.However, histological evidence of lung injury(lung injuryscoremeandifference=20.07;P=0.04) and BALIL-8 were reduced. In addition, hMSC-treated animals had a significantly lower cumulative requirement for vasopressor. Despite endobronchial administration, animals treated with hMSCs had a significant elevation in transmembrane oxygenator pressure gradients. Thiswas accompanied by more pulmonary artery thromboses and adherent hMSCs found on explanted oxygenator fibers. Conclusions: Endobronchial hMSC therapy in an ovine model of ARDS and ECMO can impair membrane oxygenator function and does not improve oxygenation. These data do not recommend the safe use of hMSCs during venovenous ECMO. </p

The ecology and epidemiology of malaria parasitism in wild chimpanzee reservoirs

This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health R01AI091595, R01AI120810, R01AI050529, and P30AI045008 (B.H.H.); R01HL139337 (M.T.D.), the National Geographic Society (E.J.S.), the International Primatological Society (E.J.S.), and the American Society of Primatologists (E.J.S.), as well as fellowships from Harvard University (E.J.S.) and the National Science Foundation (E.J.S.).Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) harbor rich assemblages of malaria parasites, including three species closely related to P. falciparum (sub-genus Laverania), the most malignant human malaria parasite. Here, we characterize the ecology and epidemiology of malaria infection in wild chimpanzee reservoirs. We used molecular assays to screen chimpanzee fecal samples, collected longitudinally and cross-sectionally from wild populations, for malaria parasite mitochondrial DNA. We found that chimpanzee malaria parasitism has an early age of onset and varies seasonally in prevalence. A subset of samples revealed Hepatocystis mitochondrial DNA, with phylogenetic analyses suggesting that Hepatocystis appears to cross species barriers more easily than Laverania. Longitudinal and cross-sectional sampling independently support the hypothesis that mean ambient temperature drives spatiotemporal variation in chimpanzee Laverania infection. Infection probability peaked at ~24.5 °C, consistent with the empirical transmission optimum of P. falciparum in humans. Forest cover was also positively correlated with spatial variation in Laverania prevalence, consistent with the observation that forest-dwelling Anophelines are the primary vectors. Extrapolating these relationships across equatorial Africa, we map spatiotemporal variation in the suitability of chimpanzee habitat for Laverania transmission, offering a hypothetical baseline indicator of human exposure risk.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

The ecology and epidemiology of malaria parasitism in wild chimpanzee reservoirs

Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) harbor rich assemblages of malaria parasites, including three species closely related to P. falciparum (sub-genus Laverania), the most malignant human malaria parasite. Here, we characterize the ecology and epidemiology of malaria infection in wild chimpanzee reservoirs. We used molecular assays to screen chimpanzee fecal samples, collected longitudinally and cross-sectionally from wild populations, for malaria parasite mitochondrial DNA. We found that chimpanzee malaria parasitism has an early age of onset and varies seasonally in prevalence. A subset of samples revealed Hepatocystis mitochondrial DNA, with phylogenetic analyses suggesting that Hepatocystis appears to cross species barriers more easily than Laverania. Longitudinal and cross-sectional sampling independently support the hypothesis that mean ambient temperature drives spatiotemporal variation in chimpanzee Laverania infection. Infection probability peaked at similar to 24.5 degrees C, consistent with the empirical transmission optimum of P. falciparum in humans. Forest cover was also positively correlated with spatial variation in Laverania prevalence, consistent with the observation that forest-dwelling Anophelines are the primary vectors. Extrapolating these relationships across equatorial Africa, we map spatiotemporal variation in the suitability of chimpanzee habitat for Laverania transmission, offering a hypothetical baseline indicator of human exposure risk