Effects of Pre- Exercise Massage on Muscle Soreness

Muscle soreness is common after intense exercise and alternative therapies are always being investigated. Some have indicated possible benefits of massage therapy but this needs to be explored further. Purpose: To determine if a pre-workout massage will help reduce muscle soreness. Methods: Twenty participants (age=30.3±6.3 yrs, ht.=167.6±11.4 cm, wt.=82.5±15.5 kg) were provided five minutes of massage on the right anterior leg and five minutes of massage on the right posterior leg. After completion of the massage, participants performed two sets of squats to a chair, first with an 8lb weight (males) or a 5 lb weight (females) to a metronome that was set to 60 beats per minute. All participants were then instructed to fill out a pain scale over a 24-hour and 48-hour period. Repeated measures ANOVA was used to determine differences in soreness with alpha set at .05. Results: There was no interaction between legs among time points, F(3, 17) = 2.52, p = .092. There was however, a main effect the massaged leg when time was combined, with a lower soreness rating in the massaged leg (5.0±2.4 units) compared to the non-massaged leg (5.8±2.1 units), p = .024. Conclusion: There is potential of reduced soreness after strenuous exercise if massage is obtained prior to activity. Future research should also look at the interactive effect of performance when receiving massage before exercise with intent on reducing soreness

Susceptibility of carrion crows to experimental infection with lineage 1 and 2 West Nile viruses

West Nile virus (WNV) outbreaks in North America have been characterized by substantial die-offs of American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos). In contrast, a low incidence of bird deaths has been observed during WNV epidemic activity in Europe. To examine the susceptibility of the western European counterpart of American crows, we inoculated carrion crows (Corvus corone) with WNV strains isolated in Greece (Gr-10), Italy (FIN and Ita09), and Hungary (578/10) and with the highly virulent North American genotype strain (NY99). We also inoculated American crows with a selection of these strains to examine the strains’ virulence in a highly susceptible bird species. Infection with all strains, except WNV FIN, resulted in high rates of death and high-level viremia in both bird species and virus dissemination to several organs. These results suggest that carrion crows are highly susceptible to WNV and may potentially be useful as part of dead bird surveillance for early warning of WNV activity in Europe

Molecular analysis of the genetic determinants that contribute to virulence in lineage 2 West Nile virus

2017 Spring.Includes bibliographical references.The ability of arboviruses to impart significant global disease burdens is related to the corresponding capacity of arboviruses to emerge in naïve environments or re-emerge in endemic environments. The introduction of West Nile virus (WNV) into North America was marked by rapid spread across the continent, high rates of neuroinvasive disease in humans and horses, and subsequent displacement by newer evolved genotypes. In the last 12 years, an underrepresented lineage of WNV, lineage 2 (L2) has similarly emerged from sub-Saharan Africa into areas of Europe and Russia, causing widespread neurological disease and recurrent enzootic transmission. Given the potential for further geographic spread of L2 WNV and to understand mechanisms that drive emergence events for WNV, I sought to characterize L2 WNV in a comprehensive and comparative manner by investigating potential molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis in mosquitoes, birds, and mice (as models for human disease). A more thorough understanding of the mechanisms that dictate rapid dispersal and endemic maintenance of arboviruses will improve our ability to predict emergence events, increase the effectiveness of surveillance mechanisms, and develop effective intervention strategies. Within lineage 1 (L1) WNV, the role of the NS3-249P amino acid in modulating severe virogenesis in American Crows (AMCRs) has been well established and is predicted to be involved in facilitating the emergent capacity of L1 WNV. The evolution of a proline at the same NS3-249 locus in L2 WNV was initially observed during the first L2 WNV associated outbreak in Europe. However, no bird mortality was observed during the NS3-249P associated L2 WNV outbreak, and the extent of L2 WNV pathogenesis in birds is unclear. In this aim, I examined the viremia titers and mortality profiles of North American AMCRs and house sparrows following infection with African and European L2 WNV strains with and without amino acid mutations at the NS3-249 locus. Our results demonstrate that L2 WNV strains can elicit severe virogenic and fatal outcomes in AMCRs and HOSPs. Additionally, I found that the NS3-249 locus is modulating AMCR viremia titer outcomes, similar to what has been previously observed for the NS3-249 locus in L1 WNV strains. I also demonstrated the 3' UTR of NS10 reduces viremia titers of AMCRs at later time points. The vast majority of our understanding regarding the vector competence of Culex mosquitoes for WNV originates from studies performed with L1 WNV strains, and as such, little information is available regarding the competency of Culex mosquitoes for L2 WNV. To remediate this, I assessed the vector competence phenotypes of two different North American Culex mosquito species for multiple L2 WNV strains. Our results demonstrate that Culex pipiens and Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes can effectively transmit L2 WNV. I also identified a L2 strain harboring an NS3-249P mutation (NS10) that limited infection to the midgut of Culex pipiens mosquitoes. The competence of North American Culex mosquitoes to transmit L2 WNV taken together with the ability of AMCRs and HOSPs to serve as reservoir hosts for L2 WNV demonstrates the capacity for L2 WNV transmission in the Western Hemisphere. Previous studies generated in this dissertation demonstrated that high viral titers in AMCRs were modulated by the NS3-249P mutation in the NS10 L2 WNV strain and that this same strain also generated lower infection rates in Culex pipiens compared to other L2 WNV strains, suggesting that the NS3-249 locus might be involved in concurrently modulating vector competence in Culex pipiens and viral titers in AMCRs. To conclusively determine the role the NS3-249P mutation in facilitating emergence of L2 WNV, I examined the phenotype of NS3-249P and NS3-249H L2 WNV mutations in a transmission cycle inclusive manner. Specifically, I found that the NS3-249P mutation was directly involved in decreasing fitness in Culex pipiens. Furthermore, I found that following infection in mice, the NS3-249 residue did not modulate neuroinvasive disease phenotypes and suggests that the emergence of L2 WNV in Greece was potentially facilitated by increases in force of transmission related to the occurrence of the NS3-249P mutation, rather than the emergence of a more neuroinvasive L2 genotype

Restriction of Zika virus infection and transmission in Aedes aegypti mediated by an insect-specific flavivirus

Abstract Previous studies demonstrated an insect-specific flavivirus, Nhumirim virus (NHUV), can suppress growth of West Nile virus (WNV) and decrease transmission rates in NHUV/WNV co-inoculated Culex quinquefasciatus. To assess whether NHUV might interfere with transmission of other medically important flaviviruses, the ability of NHUV to suppress viral growth of Zika virus (ZIKV) and dengue-2 virus (DENV-2) was assessed in Aedes albopictus cells. Significant reductions in ZIKV (100,000-fold) and DENV-2 (10,000-fold) were observed in either cells concurrently inoculated with NHUV or pre-inoculated with NHUV. In contrast, only a transient 10-fold titer reduction was observed with an alphavirus, chikungunya virus. Additionally, restricted in vitro mosquito growth of ZIKV was associated with lowered levels of intracellular ZIKV RNA in NHUV co-inoculated cultures. To assess whether NHUV could modulate vector competence for ZIKV, NHUV-inoculated Aedes aegypti were orally exposed to ZIKV. NHUV-inoculated mosquitoes demonstrated significantly lower ZIKV infection rates (18%) compared to NHUV unexposed mosquitoes (51%) (p < 0.002). Similarly, lower ZIKV transmission rates were observed for NHUV/ZIKV dually intrathoracically inoculated mosquitoes (41%) compared to ZIKV only inoculated mosquitoes (78%) (p < 0.0001), suggesting that NHUV can interfere with both midgut infection and salivary gland infection of ZIKV in Ae. aegypti. These results indicate NHUV could be utilized to model superinfection exclusion mechanism(s) and to study the potential for the mosquito virome to impact transmission of medically important flaviviruses

Geographic Distribution of Hantaviruses Associated with Neotomine and Sigmodontine Rodents, Mexico

To increase our knowledge of the geographic distribution of hantaviruses associated with neotomine or sigmodontine rodents in Mexico, we tested 876 cricetid rodents captured in 18 Mexican states (representing at least 44 species in the subfamily Neotominae and 10 species in the subfamily Sigmodontinae) for anti-hantavirus IgG. We found antibodies against hantavirus in 35 (4.0%) rodents. Nucleotide sequence data from 5 antibody-positive rodents indicated that Sin Nombre virus (the major cause of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome [HPS] in the United States) is enzootic in the Mexican states of Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, and Veracruz. However, HPS has not been reported from these states, which suggests that in northeastern Mexico, HPS has been confused with other rapidly progressive, life-threatening respiratory diseases. Analyses of nucleotide sequence data from 19 other antibody-positive rodents indicated that El Moro Canyon virus and Limestone Canyon virus are geographically widely distributed in Mexico

Complex Oncological Decision-Making Utilizing Fast-and-Frugal Trees in a Community Setting-Role of Academic and Hybrid Modeling.

Non-small cell lung cancer is a devastating disease and with the advent of targeted therapies and molecular testing, the decision-making process has become complex. While established guidelines and pathways offer some guidance, they are difficult to utilize in a busy community practice and are not always implemented in the community. The rationale of the study was to identify a cohort of patients with lung adenocarcinoma at a City of Hope community site (n = 11) and utilize their case studies to develop a decision-making framework utilizing fast-and-frugal tree (FFT) heuristics. Most patients had stage IV (N = 9, 81.8%) disease at the time of the first consultation. The most common symptoms at initial presentation were cough (N = 5, 45.5%), shortness of breath (N = 3, 27.2%), and weight loss (N = 3, 27.2%). The Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status ranged from 0-1 in all patients in this study. Distribution of molecular drivers among the patients were as follows: EGFR (N = 5, 45.5%), KRAS (N = 2, 18.2%), ALK (N = 2, 18.2%), MET (N = 2, 18.2%), and RET (N = 1, 9.1%). Seven initial FFTs were developed for the various case scenarios, but ultimately the decisions were condensed into one FFT, a molecular stage IV FFT, that arrived at accurate decisions without sacrificing initial information. While these FFT decision trees may seem arbitrary to an experienced oncologist at an academic site, the simplicity of their utility is essential for community practice where patients often do not get molecular testing and are not assigned proper therapy