Long-term yogurt consumption and risk of incident hypertension in adults

The Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study cohorts are supported by grants UM1 CA186107, UM1 CA176726, and UM1 CA167552 from the National Institutes of Health. The current analyses were supported by small grants from the National Dairy Council, the General Mills Bell Institute for Health and Nutrition, and the Boston Nutrition and Obesity Research Center. The Boston Nutrition Obesity Research Center is administratively based at Boston Medical Center and is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH/NIDDK) grant P30DK046200. (UM1 CA186107 - National Institutes of Health; UM1 CA176726 - National Institutes of Health; UM1 CA167552 - National Institutes of Health; small grants from the National Dairy Council; General Mills Bell Institute for Health and Nutrition; Boston Nutrition and Obesity Research Center; P30DK046200 - National Institutes of Health (NIH/NIDDK))Accepted manuscrip

\u3ci\u3eVarroa destructor\u3c/i\u3e Mites Vector and Transmit Pathogenic Honey Bee Viruses Acquired From an Artificial Diet

The ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructoris one of the most destructive pests of the honey bee (Apis mellifera) and the primary biotic cause of colony collapse in many regions of the world. These mites inflict physical injury on their honey bee hosts from feeding on host hemolymph and fat body cells/cellular components, and serve as the vector for deadly honey bee viruses, including Deformed wing virus (DWV) and the related Varroa destructor virus-1 (VDV-1) (i.e., DWV-like viruses). Studies focused on elucidating the dynamics of Varroa-mediated vectoring and transmission of DWV-like viruses may be confounded by viruses present in ingested host tissues or the mites themselves. Here we describe a system that includes an artificial diet free of insect tissue-derived components for maintaining Varroa mites for in vitro experimentation. Using this system, together with the novel engineered cDNA clone-derived genetically tagged VDV-1 and wild-type DWV, we demonstrated for the first time that Varroa mites provided an artificial diet supplemented with engineered viruses for 36 hours could acquire and transmit sufficient numbers of virus particles to establish an infection in virus-naïve hosts. While the in vitro system described herein provides for only up to five days of mite survival, precluding study of the long-term impacts of viruses on mite health, the system allows for extensive insights into the dynamics of Varroa-mediated vectoring and transmission of honey bee viruses

Assessing the utilization of high-resolution 2-field HLA typing in solid organ transplantation.

HLA typing in solid organ transplantation (SOT) is necessary for determining HLA-matching status between donor-recipient pairs and assessing patients\u27 anti-HLA antibody profiles. Histocompatibility has traditionally been evaluated based on serologically defined HLA antigens. The evolution of HLA typing and antibody identification technologies, however, has revealed many limitations with using serologic equivalents for assessing compatibility in SOT. The significant improvements to HLA typing introduced by next-generation sequencing (NGS) require an assessment of the impact of this technology on SOT. We have assessed the role of high-resolution 2-field HLA typing (HR-2F) in SOT by retrospectively evaluating NGS-typed pre- and post-SOT cases. HR-2F typing was highly instructive or necessary in 41% (156/385) of the cases. Several pre- and posttransplant scenarios were identified as being better served by HR-2F typing. Five different categories are presented with specific case examples. The experience of another center (Temple University Hospital) is also included, whereby 21% of the cases required HR-2F typing by Sanger sequencing, as supported by other legacy methods, to properly address posttransplant anti-HLA antibody issues

Acetylsalicylic Acid Reduces the Severity of Dextran Sodium Sulfate-Induced Colitis and Increases the Formation of Anti-Inflammatory Lipid Mediators

The role of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in inflammatory bowel disease is controversial, as they have been implicated in disease aggravation. Different from other cyclooxygenase inhibitors, acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) enhances the formation of anti-inflammatory and proresolution lipoxins derived from arachidonic acid as well as resolvins from omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids such as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). In this study, we examined the effect of ASA on murine dextran sodium sulfate colitis. A mouse magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocol and post mortem assessment were used to assess disease severity, and lipid metabolites were measured using liquid chromatography-coupled tandem mass spectrometry. Decreased colitis activity was demonstrated by phenotype and MRI assessment in mice treated with ASA, and confirmed in postmortem analysis. Analysis of lipid mediators showed sustained formation of lipoxin A4 and an increase of DHA-derived 17-hydroxydocosahexaenoic acid (17-HDHA) after treatment with ASA. Furthermore, in vitro experiments in RAW264.7 murine macrophages demonstrated significantly increased phagocytosis activity after incubation with 17-HDHA, supporting its proresolution effect. These results show a protective effect of ASA in a murine colitis model and could give a rationale for a careful reassessment of ASA therapy in patients with inflammatory bowel disease and particularly ulcerative colitis, possibly combined with DHA supplementation

Three-dimensional correlated-fermion phase separation from analysis of the geometric mean of the individual susceptibilities

A quasi-Gaussian approximation scheme is formulated to study the strongly correlated imbalanced fermions thermodynamics, where the mean-field theory is not applicable. The non-Gaussian correlation effects are understood to be captured by the statistical geometric mean of the individual susceptibilities. In the three-dimensional unitary fermions ground state, an {\em universal} non-linear scaling transformation relates the physical chemical potentials with the individual Fermi kinetic energies. For the partial polarization phase separation to full polarization, the calculated critical polarization ratio is $P_C={[1-(1-\xi)^{6/5}]}/{[1+(1-\xi)^{6/5}]}\doteq 0.34$. The $\xi=4/9$ defines the ratio of the symmetric ground state energy density to that of the ideal fermion gas.Comment: Minor changes with typos correcte

Two-year longitudinal evaluation of a second-generation thin-strut sirolimus-eluting bioresorbable coronary scaffold with hybrid cell design in porcine coronary arteries

Background: The first commercially available bioresorbable scaffold (BRS) had a strut thickness of 156 microns. As such, it had the potential for delivery challenges and higher thrombogenicity. The aim herein, is to evaluate biomechanical performance, pharmacokinetics and vascular healing of a novel thin strut (100 μm) sirolimus eluting BRS (MeRes-100, Meril Life Sciences, Gujarat, India) against the once clinically used BRS (Absorb BVS, Abbott, Santa Clara, CA) in porcine coronary arteries. Methods: Following device implantation, angiographic and optical coherence tomography (OCT) evaluation were performed at 45, 90, 180 days, 1 year and 2 years. Histological evaluation was per­formed at 30, 90 and 180 days. Results: At 2 years, both lumen (MeRes-100 7.07 ± 1.82 mm2 vs. Absorb BVS 7.57 ± 1.39 mm2, p = NS) and scaffold areas (MeRes-100 9.73 ± 1.80 mm2 vs. Absorb BVS 9.67 ± 1.25 mm2, p = NS) were comparable between tested and control scaffolds. Also, the late lumen area gain at 2 years was similar in both groups tested (MeRes-100 1.03 ± 1.98 mm2 vs. Absorb BVS 0.85 ± 1.56 mm2, p = NS). Histologic examination up to 6 months showed comparable healing and inflammation profiles for both devices. Conclusions: The novel sirolimus-eluting BRS with thinner struts and hybrid cell design showed similar biomechanical durability and equivalent inhibition of neointimal proliferation when compared to the first-ever Absorb BVS up to 2 years in normal porcine coronary arteries

iMaNGA: mock MaNGA galaxies based on IllustrisTNG and MaStar SSPs. -- III. Stellar metallicity drivers in MaNGA and TNG50

The iMaNGA project uses a forward-modelling approach to compare the predictions of cosmological simulations with observations from SDSS-IV/MaNGA. We investigate the dependency of age and metallicity radial gradients on galaxy morphology, stellar mass, stellar surface mass density ($\Sigma_*$), and environment. The key of our analysis is that observational biases affecting the interpretation of MaNGA data are emulated in the theoretical iMaNGA sample. The simulations reproduce the observed global stellar population scaling relations with positive correlations between galaxy mass and age/metallicity quite well and also produce younger stellar populations in late-type in agreement with observations. We do find interesting discrepancies, though, that can inform the physics and further development of the simulations. Ages of spiral galaxies and low-mass ellipticals are overestimated by about 2-4 Gyr. Radial metallicity gradients are steeper in iMaNGA than in MaNGA, a discrepancy most prominent in spiral and lenticular galaxies. Also, the observed steepening of metallicity gradients with increasing galaxy mass is not well matched by the simulations. We find that the theoretical radial profiles of surface mass density $\Sigma_*$ are steeper than in observations except for the most massive galaxies. In both MaNGA and iMaNGA [Z/H] correlates with $\Sigma_*$, however, the simulations systematically predict lower [Z/H] by almost a factor of 2 at any $\Sigma_*$. Most interestingly, for galaxies with stellar mass $\log M_*\leq 10.80 M_\odot$ the MaNGA data reveal a positive correlation between galaxy radius and [Z/H] at fixed $\Sigma_*$, which is not recovered in iMaNGA. Finally, the dependence on environmental density is negligible in both the theoretical iMaNGA and the observed MaNGA data

Comparative transcriptomics of the irradiated melon fly (Zeugodacus cucurbitae) reveal key developmental genes

Irradiation can be used as an insect pest management technique to reduce post-harvest yield losses. It causes major physiological changes, impairing insect development and leading to mortality. This technique is used to control the melon fly Zeugodacus cucurbitae, a major pest of Cucurbitaceae in Asia. Here, we applied irradiation to melon fly eggs, and the larvae emerged from irradiated eggs were used to conduct comparative transcriptomics and thereby identify key genes involved in the development and survival. We found 561 upregulated and 532 downregulated genes in irradiated flies compared to non-irradiated flies. We also observed abnormal small-body phenotypes in irradiated flies. By screening the 532 downregulated genes, we selected eight candidate genes putatively involved in development based in described functions in public databases and in the literature. We first established the expression profile of each candidate gene. Using RNA interference (RNAi), we individually knocked down each gene in third instar larvae and measured the effects on development. The knockdown of ImpE2 ecdysone-inducible gene controlling life stage transitions–led to major body size reductions in both pupae and adults. The knockdown of the tyrosine-protein kinase-like tok (Tpk-tok) caused severe body damage to larvae, characterized by swollen and black body parts. Adults subject to knockdown of the eclosion hormone (Eh_1) failed to shed their old cuticle which remained attached to their bodies. However, no obvious developmental defects were observed following the knockdown of the heat shock protein 67B1-like (Hsp67), the insulin receptor (Insr), the serine/threonine-protein kinase Nek4 (Nek4), the tyrosine-protein kinase transmembrane receptor Ror (Ror_1) and the probable insulin-like peptide 1 (Insp_1). We argue that irradiation can be successfully used not only as a pest management technique but also for the screening of essential developmental genes in insects via comparative transcriptomics. Our results demonstrate that ImpE2 and Eh_1 are essential for the development of melon fly and could therefore be promising candidates for the development of RNAi-based pest control strategies