Horses with equine recurrent uveitis have an activated CD4+ T-cell phenotype that can be modulated by mesenchymal stem cells in vitro.

Equine recurrent uveitis (ERU) is an immune-mediated disease causing repeated or persistent inflammatory episodes which can lead to blindness. Currently, there is no cure for horses with this disease. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are effective at reducing immune cell activation in vitro in many species, making them a potential therapeutic option for ERU. The objectives of this study were to define the lymphocyte phenotype of horses with ERU and to determine how MSCs alter T-cell phenotype in vitro. Whole blood was taken from 7 horses with ERU and 10 healthy horses and peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated. The markers CD21, CD3, CD4, and CD8 were used to identify lymphocyte subsets while CD25, CD62L, Foxp3, IFNγ, and IL10 were used to identify T-cell phenotype. Adipose-derived MSCs were expanded, irradiated (to control proliferation), and incubated with CD4+ T-cells from healthy horses, after which lymphocytes were collected and analyzed via flow cytometry. The percentages of T-cells and B-cells in horses with ERU were similar to normal horses. However, CD4+ T-cells from horses with ERU expressed higher amounts of IFNγ indicating a pro-inflammatory Th1 phenotype. When co-incubated with MSCs, activated CD4+ T-cells reduced expression of CD25, CD62L, Foxp3, and IFNγ. MSCs had a lesser ability to decrease activation when cell-cell contact or prostaglandin signaling was blocked. MSCs continue to show promise as a treatment for ERU as they decreased the CD4+ T-cell activation phenotype through a combination of cell-cell contact and prostaglandin signaling

Neurospora proteome 2000

The filamentous fungus, Neurospora crassa, has an eminent history as a central organism in the elucidation of the tenets of classical and biochemical genetics. Of particular significance are the experiments of George Beadle and Edward Tatum in the 1940s with N. crassa that led to the one gene-one enzyme hypothesis (Beadle and Tatum 1941 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 27:499 506). In six decades, over 1,000 genes have been mapped and characterized (Perkins, Radford and Sachs 2000 The Neurospora Compendium: Chromosomal Loci. Academic Press; Perkins 2000 Fungal Genet. Newsl., this volume), but that leaves perhaps 10,000 or more genes not yet identified by classical genetics. High-throughput, automated partial sequencing of cDNA libraries to generate expressed sequence tags (ESTs) allows for the rapid identification and characterization of preferentially expressed genes in different tissues, as well as the discovery of novel genes (Adams et al. 1991 Science252:1651-1656; Okubo et al. 1992 Nature Genet. 1:173-179)

Defining epitope coverage requirements for T cell-based HIV vaccines: Theoretical considerations and practical applications

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>HIV vaccine development must address the genetic diversity and plasticity of the virus that permits the presentation of diverse genetic forms to the immune system and subsequent escape from immune pressure. Assessment of potential HIV strain coverage by candidate T cell-based vaccines (whether natural sequence or computationally optimized products) is now a critical component in interpreting candidate vaccine suitability.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We have utilized an N-mer identity algorithm to represent T cell epitopes and explore potential coverage of the global HIV pandemic using natural sequences derived from candidate HIV vaccines. Breadth (the number of T cell epitopes generated) and depth (the variant coverage within a T cell epitope) analyses have been incorporated into the model to explore vaccine coverage requirements in terms of the number of discrete T cell epitopes generated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We show that when multiple epitope generation by a vaccine product is considered a far more nuanced appraisal of the potential HIV strain coverage of the vaccine product emerges. By considering epitope breadth and depth several important observations were made: (1) epitope breadth requirements to reach particular levels of vaccine coverage, even for natural sequence-based vaccine products is not necessarily an intractable problem for the immune system; (2) increasing the valency (number of T cell epitope variants present) of vaccine products dramatically decreases the epitope requirements to reach particular coverage levels for any epidemic; (3) considering multiple-hit models (more than one exact epitope match with an incoming HIV strain) places a significantly higher requirement upon epitope breadth in order to reach a given level of coverage, to the point where low valency natural sequence based products would not practically be able to generate sufficient epitopes.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>When HIV vaccine sequences are compared against datasets of potential incoming viruses important metrics such as the minimum epitope count required to reach a desired level of coverage can be easily calculated. We propose that such analyses can be applied early in the planning stages and during the execution phase of a vaccine trial to explore theoretical and empirical suitability of a vaccine product to a particular epidemic setting.</p

The effect of a brief, web-based animated video for improving comprehension and implementation feasibility for reducing anterior cruciate ligament injury: A three-arm randomized controlled trial

Neuromuscular injury prevention training (IPT) has been shown to reduce anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury risk by approximately 50%, but the implementation rate is low. One of the most important modifiable barriers for implementation is coaches’ comprehension of risk and intervention strategies. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a brief, web-based, animated video on ACL injury prevention comprehension and IPT implementation feasibility. Coaches in landing and cutting sports were recruited and randomized into three groups. (1) Intervention: brief multimedia animated video about ACL injury and prevention. (2) Active control: commonly accessed, text-based web resource about ACL injury and prevention. (3) Placebo control: brief multimedia video about concussions. Overall ACL comprehension—composed of basic ACL knowledge, risk knowledge, prevention knowledge, and severity knowledge—as well as implementation feasibility were all measured prior to and immediately following the interventions. Overall ACL comprehension improved the most in the animated video group (Cohen’s d = 0.86) and, to a lesser degree, in the active control web-based article group (Cohen’s d = 0.39). Both video and web-based article groups had greater implementation feasibility compared to the control group (p = 0.01). Overall, these initial results suggest that a brief, web-based, animated video has the potential to be a superior method for informing stakeholders in order to reduce traumatic injuries in sport

A provisional UniGene clone set based on ESTs from Neurospora crassa

We have constructed a list of N. crassa cDNA clones for which partial sequences exist, toward the goal of maximizing the number of genes represented while avoiding redundancy. This effort employed GenBank sequences from the combined N. crassa EST projects at the University of New Mexico, the University of Oklahoma and Dartmouth College (27,557 ESTs; Nelson et al. 1997 Fungal Genet. Biol.21:348-363; Zhu et al. 2001 Genetics 157: 1057-1065). The current list, subject to ongoing revision, includes 2842 clones and is available at the web site of the Neurospora Genome Project (NGP) at the University of New Mexico (http://www.unm.edu/~ngp/), along with details of its construction. Each cDNA clone in the list represents a unique gene. We have also assembled a UniGene set of cDNA clones for that portion of the UniGene set that is represented in libraries constructed by the NGP at UNM. This UniGene library is comprised of 1786 clones distributed in 20 96-well dishes, and it is available through the Fungal Genetics Stock Center

A Strategy for Electronic Dissemination of NASA Langley Technical Publications

To demonstrate NASA Langley Research Center\u27s relevance and to transfer technology to external customers in a timely and efficient manner, Langley has formed a working group to study and recommend a course of action for the electronic dissemination of technical reports (EDTR). The working group identified electronic report requirements (e.g., accessibility, file format, search requirements) of customers in U.S. industry through numerous site visits and personal contacts. Internal surveys were also used to determine commonalities in document preparation methods. From these surveys, a set of requirements for an electronic dissemination system was developed. Two candidate systems were identified and evaluated against the set of requirements: the Full-Text Electronic Documents System (FEDS), which is a full-text retrieval system based on the commercial document management package Interleaf, and the Langley Technical Report Server (LTRS), which is a Langley-developed system based on the publicly available World Wide Web (WWW) software system. Factors that led to the selection of LTRS as the vehicle for electronic dissemination included searching and viewing capability, current system operability, and client software availability for multiple platforms at no cost to industry. This report includes the survey results, evaluations, a description of the LTRS architecture, recommended policy statement, and suggestions for future implementations

Prospectus, December 5, 1979

MAC EXCITES CU; Canteen tries deli; Disposable lighters are like dynamite; Bad weather procedures; MTD raises prices; Across the globe; In the nation; Around the state; Letters to the editor: Response to Scott, Article clarified, Iran: no blackmail; Campus Question: Will MTD increase affect you; Ski Club celebrates; Promotion committee hopes to rejuvenate downtown Urbana; Tooth Buzz; \u27A Christmas Carol\u27 off key; Reviews: \u27Mac\u27 outclassed itself; Classifieds; Faculty Focus: Sex at high noon; Comebacks become cardiac Cobras trademark; Orange Fever catching CU; Women hit highs and lowshttps://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1979/1001/thumbnail.jp