Effect of HIV infection and antiretroviral therapy on hepatitis B virus (HBV)-specific T cell responses in patients who have resolved HBV infection

Coinfection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a common occurrence in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)–positive patients and an increasing cause of morbidity and mortality. The CD8+ T cell response is critical for long-term control of HBV in patients resolving acute infection. Here, we examine the effect of HIV on HBV-specific CD8+ T cell responses in patients who have resolved HBV infection. A cross-sectional study showed a reduction in HBV-specific CD8+ T cell responses in HIV-positive, HBV-immune patients, compared with those in HIV-negative, HBV-immune patients. A longitudinal study of a subgroup of patients examined whether this attrition could be reversed by effective antiretroviral therapy. The introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) resulted in reconstitution of some HBV-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses, in association with restoration of CD4+ T cell counts. These data provide a mechanism to account for the observed impairment of control of HBV infection in the setting of HIV infection and support the ability of HAART to reconstitute functionally active T cell responses

Alternative RNA Splicing of the NMDA Receptor NR1 mRNA in the Neurons of the Teleost Electrosensory System

The sequence for cDNA encoding the NMDA receptor subunit 1 (aptNR1) of the weakly electric fish Apteronotus leptorhynchus has been determined. The deduced amino acid sequence is approximately 88% identical to other vertebrate NR1 proteins, with sequence homology extending to the alternatively spliced cassettes N1 and C1. The fish and mammalian N1 and C1 splice cassettes are identical at 20 of 21 and 30 of 37 amino acid positions, respectively. We did not detect a C2 splice cassette in aptNR1 mRNA, but we did find two novel C-terminal alternative splice cassettes labeled C1' and C1". The relative levels of NR1 transcripts containing the N1 and C1 splice cassettes were determined by using RNase protection and in situ hybridization analysis. N1-containing mRNAs are more abundant in caudal brain regions, similar to the patterns reported for mammalian brain. In contrast, the relative levels of transcripts containing the C1 splice cassette are much lower in fish than in mammals, averaging only 9% for the whole brain. The levels of C1 splicing increased in more rostral brain regions. In situ hybridizations with N1- and C1-specific probes demonstrated that N1 cassette splicing occurs in most neurons but that C1 splicing is heterogeneous and is restricted to a subset of neuronal types in the electrosensory system

Surface water flood forecasting for urban communities

Key findings and recommendations: • This research has addressed the challenge of surface water flood forecasting by producing the UK’s first operational surface water flood risk forecast with a 24-hour lead time. This was successfully used in Glasgow at the Commonwealth Games in 2014. • The methodology of the Glasgow Pilot has been developed to use nationally available datasets and a transferrable approach which will help urban areas in Scotland improve their resilience to and preparedness for future flooding. • It also delivered a novel method for forecasting the impacts of flooding in real-time and increased knowledge on communicating uncertainties in flood risk. • A real-time forecasting system for surface water flooding from intense rainfall needs to use models that represent surface runoff production, surface water inundation and movement, and how water travels via surface and sub-surface pathways, including urban sewerage and drainage networks. Ensemble rainfall prediction models are key to quantifying uncertainty in forecasting the rainfall that causes surface water flooding. • Detailed surface water flood inundation models exist and are widely used in design and research activities, but none were found to be ready for real-time use. The Grid-to-Grid (G2G) distributed hydrological model was chosen for used in the Glasgow Pilot as it can provide ensemble forecasts of surface water flooding, and takes account of the intensity and pattern of rainfall, land cover and slope, and antecedent conditions. • The research developed a novel methodology for impact assessment that links surface runoff to the severity of flooding impacts on people, property and transport. Use is made of a library of information based on SEPA’s Regional Pluvial (rainfall-related) Flood Hazard maps. • For the Glasgow Pilot, G2G was operated over a 10km by 10km area encompassing Glasgow’s East End and the main areas of activity for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. The research team developed an operational application, called FEWS Glasgow, to support running the model in real-time and reporting on the likely impacts of surface water flooding. A new Daily Glasgow Daily Surface Water Flood Forecast was designed and produced based on operational requirements and emergency responder feedback

Creativity in savant artists with autism

Background: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often display impairments in creativity, yet savant artists with ASD can produce highly novel and original artistic outputs. To date, there have been no systematic attempts to explore creativity in savant artists with ASD. Methods: Nine savant artists with ASD were compared with nine talented artists, nine non-artistically talented individuals with ASD, and nine individuals with moderate learning difficulties (MLD), on tasks in and out of their domain of expertise. This was to ascertain whether the performance of the savant artists was related to their artistic ability, their diagnosis of ASD or their level of intellectual functioning. Results: On a drawing task (the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking; Torrance, 1974), the responses of the art students were more creative (scoring higher on measures of fluency, originality, elaboration and flexibility) than the savant, ASD and MLD groups. However, the savants did produce more elaborative responses than the ASD and MLD groups. On a non-drawing construction task (figural synthesis; Finke & Slayton, 1988), the savants produced more original outputs than the ASD and MLD groups (scoring similarly to the art students). No group differences were found regarding fluency on this task. Conclusions: On standardised creativity tasks, savant artists with ASD display high levels of elaboration (on drawing tasks) and originality (on non-drawing construction tasks), relative to groups with ASD or MLD. High elaboration and originality may result from a local processing bias, coupled with artistic talent, in this group

An Intact Kidney Slice Model to Investigate Vasa Recta Properties and Function in situ

Background: Medullary blood flow is via vasa recta capillaries, which possess contractile pericytes. In vitro studies using isolated descending vasa recta show that pericytes can constrict/dilate descending vasa recta when vasoactive substances are present. We describe a live kidney slice model in which pericyte-mediated vasa recta constriction/dilation can be visualized in situ. Methods: Confocal microscopy was used to image calcein, propidium iodide and Hoechst labelling in ‘live’ kidney slices, to determine tubular and vascular cell viability and morphology. DIC video-imaging of live kidney slices was employed to investigate pericyte-mediated real-time changes in vasa recta diameter. Results: Pericytes were identified on vasa recta and their morphology and density were characterized in the medulla. Pericyte-mediated changes in vasa recta diameter (10–30%) were evoked in response to bath application of vasoactive agents (norepinephrine, endothelin-1, angiotensin-II and prostaglandin E2) or by manipulating endogenous vasoactive signalling pathways (using tyramine, L-NAME, a cyclo-oxygenase (COX-1) inhibitor indomethacin, and ATP release). Conclusions: The live kidney slice model is a valid complementary technique for investigating vasa recta function in situ and the role of pericytes as regulators of vasa recta diameter. This technique may also be useful in exploring the role of tubulovascular crosstalk in regulation of medullary blood flow

Stress induced grooming in the rat -- An endorphin mediated syndrome

Exposure of adult male Sprague--Dawley rats to a non-traumatic noise-light stress procedure subsequently increased grooming behavior in a novel environment. The grooming syndrome was marginally facilitated by adrenalectomy and by hypophysectomy. Opiate blockade by naltrexone returned grooming to basal levels. This suggests that stress induced grooming is not dependent upon pituitary-adrenal integrity for its expression, although it may be modulated by the latter. On the other hand this form of grooming may depend upon an endogenous opiate system.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/23542/1/0000501.pd

Post-weaning environmental enrichment in male CD-1 mice: Impact on social behaviors, corticosterone levels and prefrontal cytokine expression in adulthood

Environmental enrichment is typically associated with enhanced well-being, improved cognitive function and stress resilience. However, in some instances grouping adult male mice in enriched conditions promoted a stressful environment, which resulted in elevated endocrine, monoamine and inflammatory outcomes in response to subsequent stressor exposure. The current investigation examined whether raising male mice in an enriched environment (EE) would modulate social and anxiety-like behaviors in early adulthood and i

Multiwavelength studies of MHD waves in the solar chromosphere: An overview of recent results

The chromosphere is a thin layer of the solar atmosphere that bridges the relatively cool photosphere and the intensely heated transition region and corona. Compressible and incompressible waves propagating through the chromosphere can supply significant amounts of energy to the interface region and corona. In recent years an abundance of high-resolution observations from state-of-the-art facilities have provided new and exciting ways of disentangling the characteristics of oscillatory phenomena propagating through the dynamic chromosphere. Coupled with rapid advancements in magnetohydrodynamic wave theory, we are now in an ideal position to thoroughly investigate the role waves play in supplying energy to sustain chromospheric and coronal heating. Here, we review the recent progress made in characterising, categorising and interpreting oscillations manifesting in the solar chromosphere, with an impetus placed on their intrinsic energetics.Comment: 48 pages, 25 figures, accepted into Space Science Review

Experimental Study of the Shortest Reset Word of Random Automata

In this paper we describe an approach to finding the shortest reset word of a finite synchronizing automaton by using a SAT solver. We use this approach to perform an experimental study of the length of the shortest reset word of a finite synchronizing automaton. The largest automata we considered had 100 states. The results of the experiments allow us to formulate a hypothesis that the length of the shortest reset word of a random finite automaton with $n$ states and 2 input letters with high probability is sublinear with respect to $n$ and can be estimated as $1.95 n^{0.55}.

Two-proton correlations from 158 AGeV Pb+Pb central collisions

The two-proton correlation function at midrapidity from Pb+Pb central collisions at 158 AGeV has been measured by the NA49 experiment. The results are compared to model predictions from static thermal Gaussian proton source distributions and transport models RQMD and VENUS. An effective proton source size is determined by minimizing CHI-square/ndf between the correlation functions of the data and those calculated for the Gaussian sources, yielding 3.85 +-0.15(stat.) +0.60-0.25(syst.) fm. Both the RQMD and the VENUS model are consistent with the data within the error in the correlation peak region.Comment: RevTeX style, 6 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. More discussion are added about the structure on the tail of the correlation function. The systematic error is revised. To appear in Phys. Lett.