Bacteria-responsive microRNAs regulate plant innate immunity by modulating plant hormone networks

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are key regulators of gene expression in development and stress responses in most eukaryotes. We globally profiled plant miRNAs in response to infection of bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato (Pst). We sequenced 13 small-RNA libraries constructed from Arabidopsis at 6 and 14 h post infection of non-pathogenic, virulent and avirulent strains of Pst. We identified 15, 27 and 20 miRNA families being differentially expressed upon Pst DC3000 hrcC, Pst DC3000 EV and Pst DC3000 avrRpt2 infections, respectively. In particular, a group of bacteria-regulated miRNAs targets protein-coding genes that are involved in plant hormone biosynthesis and signaling pathways, including those in auxin, abscisic acid, and jasmonic acid pathways. Our results suggest important roles of miRNAs in plant defense signaling by regulating and fine-tuning multiple plant hormone pathways. In addition, we compared the results from sequencing-based profiling of a small set of miRNAs with the results from small RNA Northern blot and that from miRNA quantitative RT-PCR. Our results showed that although the deep-sequencing profiling results are highly reproducible across technical and biological replicates, the results from deep sequencing may not always be consistent with the results from Northern blot or miRNA quantitative RT-PCR. We discussed the procedural differences between these techniques that may cause the inconsistency

Tele-education model for primary care providers to advance diabetes equity: Findings from Project ECHO Diabetes

IntroductionIn the US, many individuals with diabetes do not have consistent access to endocrinologists and therefore rely on primary care providers (PCPs) for their diabetes management. Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) Diabetes, a tele-education model, was developed to empower PCPs to independently manage diabetes, including education on diabetes technology initiation and use, to bridge disparities in diabetes.MethodsPCPs (n=116) who participated in Project ECHO Diabetes and completed pre- and post-intervention surveys were included in this analysis. The survey was administered in California and Florida to participating PCPs via REDCap and paper surveys. This survey aimed to evaluate practice demographics, protocols with adult and pediatric T1D management, challenges, resources, and provider knowledge and confidence in diabetes management. Differences and statistical significance in pre- and post-intervention responses were evaluated via McNemar’s tests.ResultsPCPs reported improvement in all domains of diabetes education and management. From baseline, PCPs reported improvement in their confidence to serve as the T1D provider for their community (pre vs post: 43.8% vs 68.8%, p=0.005), manage insulin therapy (pre vs post: 62.8% vs 84.3%, p=0.002), and identify symptoms of diabetes distress (pre vs post: 62.8% vs 84.3%, p=0.002) post-intervention. Compared to pre-intervention, providers reported significant improvement in their confidence in all aspects of diabetes technology including prescribing technology (41.2% vs 68.6%, p=0.001), managing insulin pumps (41.2% vs 68.6%, p=0.001) and hybrid closed loop (10.2% vs 26.5%, p=0.033), and interpreting sensor data (41.2% vs 68.6%, p=0.001) post-intervention.DiscussionPCPs who participated in Project ECHO Diabetes reported increased confidence in diabetes management, with notable improvement in their ability to prescribe, manage, and troubleshoot diabetes technology. These data support the use of tele-education of PCPs to increase confidence in diabetes technology management as a feasible strategy to advance equity in diabetes management and outcomes

A System for Assessing Cervical Readiness Using Analytics and Non-Invasive Evaluation (Crane)

Current cervical spine assessment methodologies focus solely on subjective measures, such as pain reports, and range-of-motion (ROM) testing that only measures maximum head excursion and reach (i.e., not dynamic motion). Due to report bias and the potential for negative outcomes of self-reported pain, current clinical assessment methods fail to provide valid, reliable data for medical practitioners to effectively manage long-term cervical health. Furthermore, commercial systems capable of quantitative assessment of cervical spine function are generally sparse and often immature. This paper highlights both the need and a path towards a clinical tool for objective measurement of cervical spine health and functionality. Lastly, a novel solution concept is presented to objectively assess Cervical Readiness using Analytics and Non-invasive Evaluation (CRANE). This solution concept combines cervical spine instrumentation, novel virtual reality (VR) game-based test protocols, robust analytical algorithms, and intuitive presentation of health metrics

Anesthetic Vaporizer Mount Malfunction Resulting in Oxygenation Failure after Initiating Cardiopulmonary Bypass: Specific Recommendations for the Pre-Bypass Checklist

Modern technologic advances in medicine have allowed commonly used machines to perform safely with very low risk and a high degree of success. To detect or prevent poten-tial malfunctions, professionals routinely perform pre-use checks for equipment such as anesthesia machines and cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) machines. These machine checklists are not only critical for a safe operation but also have large impacts on outcomes. For example, when malfunctions are encountered that could have potential negative ramifications or adverse outcomes, multi-approach strategies should be used to identify rectifiable causes and find solutions that are practical. This information can be used to promulgate safe practice guidelines. This case report identifies a machine-based contributing factor to precipitous hypoxia on initiation of bypass in one of our patients. After a detailed approach to identify preventable root causes, we made simple additions to our pre-bypass checklist and recom mend these changes to other institutions

Rykalová, Gabriela (2009): Entwicklung in der Tagespresse : dargestellt an journalistischen Textsorten der deutschsprachigen Zeitungen

Submarine channels have been important throughout geologic time for feeding globally significant volumes of sediment from land to the deep sea. Modern observations show that submarine channels can be sculpted by supercritical turbidity currents (seafloor sediment flows) that can generate upstream-migrating bedforms with a crescentic planform. In order to accurately interpret supercritical flows and depositional environments in the geologic record, it is important to be able to recognize the depositional signature of crescentic bedforms. Field geologists commonly link scour fills containing massive sands to crescentic bedforms, whereas models of turbidity currents produce deposits dominated by back-stepping beds. Here we reconcile this apparent contradiction by presenting the most detailed study yet that combines direct flow observations, time-lapse seabed mapping, and sediment cores, thus providing the link from flow process to depositional product. These data were collected within the proximal part of a submarine channel on the Squamish Delta, Canada. We demonstrate that bedform migration initially produces back-stepping beds of sand. However, these back-stepping beds are partially eroded by further bedform migration during subsequent flows, resulting in scour fills containing massive sand. As a result, our observations better match the depositional architecture of upstream-migrating bedforms produced by fluvial models, despite the fact that they formed beneath turbidity currents

Direct monitoring reveals initiation of turbidity currents from extremely dilute river plumes

Rivers (on land) and turbidity currents (in the ocean) are the most important sediment transport processes on Earth. Yet, how rivers generate turbidity currents as they enter the coastal ocean remains poorly understood. The current paradigm, based on laboratory experiments, is that turbidity currents are triggered when river plumes exceed a threshold sediment concentration of ~1 kg.m‐3. Here we present direct observations of an exceptionally dilute river‐plume, with sediment concentrations one order of magnitude below this threshold (0.07 kg.m‐3), which generated a fast (1.5 m.s‐1), erosive, short‐lived (6 min) turbidity current. However, no turbidity current occurred during subsequent river‐plumes. We infer that turbidity currents are generated when fine‐sediment, accumulating in a tidal turbidity maximum, is released during spring tide. This means that very dilute river‐plumes can generate turbidity currents more frequently and in a wider range of locations, than previously thought

Direct monitoring reveals initiation of turbidity currents from extremely dilute river plumes

Rivers (on land) and turbidity currents (in the ocean) are the most important sediment transport processes on Earth. Yet, how rivers generate turbidity currents as they enter the coastal ocean remains poorly understood. The current paradigm, based on laboratory experiments, is that turbidity currents are triggered when river plumes exceed a threshold sediment concentration of ~1 kg.m‐3. Here we present direct observations of an exceptionally dilute river‐plume, with sediment concentrations one order of magnitude below this threshold (0.07 kg.m‐3), which generated a fast (1.5 m.s‐1), erosive, short‐lived (6 min) turbidity current. However, no turbidity current occurred during subsequent river‐plumes. We infer that turbidity currents are generated when fine‐sediment, accumulating in a tidal turbidity maximum, is released during spring tide. This means that very dilute river‐plumes can generate turbidity currents more frequently and in a wider range of locations, than previously thought

Interferon γ–Induced Human Guanylate Binding Protein 1 Inhibits Mammary Tumor Growth in Mice

Interferon γ (IFN-γ) has recently been implicated in cancer immunosurveillance. Among the most abundant proteins induced by IFN-γ are guanylate binding proteins (GBPs), which belong to the superfamily of large GTPases and are widely expressed in various species. Here, we investigated whether the well-known human GBP-1 (hGBP-1), which has been shown to exert antiangiogenic activities and was described as a prognostic marker in colorectal carcinomas, may contribute to an IFN-γ–mediated tumor defense. To this end, an IFN-independent, inducible hGBP-1 expression system was established in murine mammary carcinoma (TS/A) cells, which were then transplanted into syngeneic immune-competent Balb/c mice. Animals carrying TS/A cells that had been given doxycycline for induction of hGBP-1 expression revealed a significantly reduced tumor growth compared with mock-treated mice. Immunohistochemical analysis of the respective tumors demonstrated a tightly regulated, high-level expression of hGBP-1. No signs of an enhanced immunosurveillance were observed by investigating the number of infiltrating B and T cells. However, hemoglobin levels as well as the number of proliferating tumor cells were shown to be significantly reduced in hGBP-1–expressing tumors. This finding corresponded to reduced amounts of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) released by hGBP-1–expressing TS/A cells in vitro and reduced VEGF-A protein levels in the corresponding mammary tumors in vivo. The results suggest that hGBP-1 may contribute to IFN-γ–mediated antitumorigenic activities by inhibiting paracrine effects of tumor cells on angiogenesis. Consequently, owing to these activities GBPs might be considered as potent members in an innate, IFN-γ–induced antitumoral defense system