Characterization of the Temporomandibular Joint of Southern Sea Otters (Enhydra lutris nereis).

The structure-function relationship of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) of southern sea otter has largely not been described. This study aims to describe the histological, biochemical, and biomechanical features of the TMJ disk in the southern sea otter. The TMJ disks from fresh cadaver heads of southern sea otter adult males (n = 8) and females (n = 8) acquired from strandings were examined. Following macroscopical evaluation, the TMJs were investigated for their histological, mechanical, and biochemical properties. We found that the sea otter TMJ disks are, in general, similar to other carnivores. Macroscopically, the TMJ disk was highly congruent, and the mandibular head was encased tightly by the mandibular fossa with a thin disk separating the joint into two compartments. Histologically, the articular surfaces were lined with dense fibrous connective tissue that gradually transitioned into one to two cell thick layer of hyaline-like cartilage. The disk fibers were aligned primarily in the rostrocaudal direction and had occasional lacuna with chondrocyte-like cells. The disk was composed primarily of collagen type 1. Biochemical analysis indicates sulfated glycosaminoglycan content lower than other mammals, but significantly higher in male sea otters than female sea otters. Finally, mechanical analysis demonstrated a disk that was not only stronger and stiffer in the rostrocaudal direction than the mediolateral direction but also significantly stronger and stiffer in females than males. We conclude that the congruent design of the TMJ, thin disk, biochemical content, and mechanical properties all reflect a structure-function relationship within the TMJ disk that is likely designed for the sea otter's hard diet and continuous food intake

Innocent until Primed: Mock Jurors’ Racially Biased Response to the Presumption of Innocence

Background: Research has shown that crime concepts can activate attentional bias to Black faces. This study investigates the possibility that some legal concepts hold similar implicit racial cues. Presumption of innocence instructions, a core legal principle specifically designed to eliminate bias, may instead serve as an implicit racial cue resulting in attentional bias. Methodology/Principal findings: The experiment was conducted in a courtroom with participants seated in the jury box. Participants first watched a video of a federal judge reading jury instructions that contained presumption of innocence instructions, or matched length alternative instructions. Immediately following this video a dot-probe task was administered to assess the priming effect of the jury instructions. Presumption of innocence instructions, but not the alternative instructions, led to significantly faster response times to Black faces when compared with White faces. Conclusions/Significance: These findings suggest that the core principle designed to ensure fairness in the legal system actually primes attention for Black faces, indicating that this supposedly fundamental protection could trigger racial stereotypes

Academic-Community Partnership to Explore High-Smoking Prevalence in Filipina Girls

Smoking prevalence for Asian-Americans (AA) is low compared to non-AAs; however in Hawai`, the prevalence of smoking among Filipina high school girls is more than double that of Japanese high school girls. This study explored socio-cultural factors facilitating or serving as barriers against tobacco use among Filipina girls. Representatives from four community organizations, recognized for their work with Filipinos, were engaged throughout the research to facilitate the project and to ensure cultural relevance. Eleven focus groups (n=88), led by peer facilitators, discussed smoking. Twelve cultural key informants interpreted results presented from the transcripts. Results: Self-reported reasons why Filipina girls may smoke included the need to cope and to fit in. School and family responsibilities were commonly stated as barriers to smoking among Filipina girls. Nonetheless, many girls said they were given cigarettes from family members who smoked. Cultural key informants recommended conducting research on a larger sample of Filipina girls and offering family and school-based tobacco prevention programs. Conclusion: Collaboration with a variety of community partners helped provide rich qualitative data and findings regarding socio-cultural factors associated with smoking and recommendations to prevent smoking among Filipina girls. The role of family in preventing and promoting tobacco use needs further exploration. Family appears to be a promising area to explore future interventions to prevent smoking among Filipina girls

Radio Continuum and Star Formation in CO-rich Early Type Galaxies

In this paper we present new high resolution VLA 1.4 GHz radio continuum observations of five FIR bright CO-rich early-type galaxies and two dwarf early-type galaxies. The position on the radio-FIR correlation combined with striking agreements in morphology between high resolution CO and radio maps show that the radio continuum is associated with star formation in at least four of the eight galaxies. The average star formation rate for the sample galaxies detected in radio is approximately 2 solar masses per year. There is no evidence of a luminous AGN in any of our sample galaxies. We estimate Toomre Q values and find that the gas disks may well be gravitationally unstable, consistent with the above evidence for star formation activity. The radio continuum emission thus corroborates other recent suggestions that star formation in early type galaxies may not be uncommon.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figures, to be published in the Astronomical Journa

Cutaneous adverse reactions in B-RAF positive metastatic melanoma following sequential treatment with B-RAF/MEK inhibitors and immune checkpoint blockade or vice versa. A single-institutional case-series

Background With the advent of immune-checkpoint inhibitors and targeted treatments (TT), there have been unprecedented response rates and survival in advanced melanoma, but the optimal sequencing of these two treatments modalities is unknown. Combining or sequencing these agents could potentially result in unique toxicities. Cutaneous adverse events (CAE) after sequential exposure to these agents represents one toxicity that needs further description. Methods After retrospectively reviewing charts of patients from 2015 to 2018, we identified six patients who experienced CAEs after recent exposure to sequential immunotherapy and TT or vice versa for the treatment for metastatic melanoma at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Skin biopsies were available in five patients. Results Five patients received TT after immunotherapy, and one patient received immunotherapy after TT. TT consisted of vemurafenib/cobimetinib (V/C) in five patients with four patients starting V/C immediately before manifesting with a CAE. In patients receiving V/C after immunotherapy, the median time from beginning V/C to development of CAE was 14.5 days. The clinical presentation of diffuse morbilliform rash, fevers, hypotension, and end-organ damage raised concern for Drug Reaction with Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptoms (DRESS) syndrome. Histopathological features of lympho-eosinophilic infiltrate were supportive of a drug eruption. Immunotherapy or TT were re-initiated in five patients within 1–8 weeks after resolution of the index CAE. This resulted in two patients re-experiencing the CAE. Both of these patients were off prednisone at the time of therapy re-initiation, whereas none of the patients who were restarted on targeted therapy with a steroid overlap had a rash recurrence. Conclusions Sequential treatment using immunotherapy and TT, especially the sequence of V/C after immunotherapy appears to be the most common trigger for CAE with a median time to onset of approximately 2 weeks. Although the clinical presentation of these CAEs can be dramatic, they respond well to prednisone therapy. This unique presentation suggests that it may be reasonably safe to re-challenge certain patients with a steroid overlap after rash resolution

9G4 Autoreactivity Is Increased in HIV-Infected Patients and Correlates with HIV Broadly Neutralizing Serum Activity

The induction of a broadly neutralizing antibody (BNAb) response against HIV-1 would be a desirable feature of a protective vaccine. Vaccine strategies thus far have failed to elicit broadly neutralizing antibody responses; however a minority of HIV-infected patients do develop circulating BNAbs, from which several potent broadly neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have been isolated. The findings that several BNmAbs exhibit autoreactivity and that autoreactive serum antibodies are observed in some HIV patients have advanced the possibility that enforcement of self-tolerance may contribute to the rarity of BNAbs. To examine the possible breakdown of tolerance in HIV patients, we utilized the 9G4 anti-idiotype antibody system, enabling resolution of both autoreactive VH4-34 gene-expressing B cells and serum antibodies. Compared with healthy controls, HIV patients had significantly elevated 9G4+ serum IgG antibody concentrations and frequencies of 9G4+ B cells, a finding characteristic of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients, both of which positively correlated with HIV viral load. Compared to the global 9G4−IgD− memory B cell population, the 9G4+IgD− memory fraction in HIV patients was dominated by isotype switched IgG+ B cells, but had a more prominent bias toward “IgM only" memory. HIV envelope reactivity was observed both in the 9G4+ serum antibody and 9G4+ B cell population. 9G4+ IgG serum antibody levels positively correlated (r = 0.403, p = 0.0019) with the serum HIV BNAbs. Interestingly, other serum autoantibodies commonly found in SLE (anti-dsDNA, ANA, anti-CL) did not correlate with serum HIV BNAbs. 9G4-associated autoreactivity is preferentially expanded in chronic HIV infection as compared to other SLE autoreactivities. Therefore, the 9G4 system provides an effective tool to examine autoreactivity in HIV patients. Our results suggest that the development of HIV BNAbs is not merely a consequence of a general breakdown in tolerance, but rather a more intricate expansion of selective autoreactive B cells and antibodies

The LEAD study protocol: a mixed-method cohort study evaluating the lung cancer diagnostic and pre-treatment pathways of patients from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds compared to patients from Anglo-Australian backgrounds.

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Early diagnosis and treatment is a key factor in reducing mortality and improving patient outcomes. To achieve this, it is important to understand the diagnostic pathways of cancer patients. Patients from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) are a vulnerable group for lung cancer with higher mortality rates than Caucasian patients. The aim of this study is to explore differences in the lung cancer diagnostic pathways between CALD and Anglo-Australian patients and factors underlying these differences. METHODS: This is a prospective, observational cohort study using a mixed-method approach. Quantitative data regarding time intervals in the lung cancer diagnostic pathways will be gathered via patient surveys, General practitioner (GP) review of general practice records, and case-note analysis of hospital records. Qualitative data will be gathered via structured interviews with lung cancer patients, GPs, and hospital specialists. The study will be conducted in five study sites across three states in Australia. Anglo-Australian patients and patients from five CALD groups (i.e., Arabic, Chinese, Greek, Italian and Vietnamese communities) will mainly be identified through the list of new cases presented at lung multidisciplinary team meetings. For the quantitative component, it is anticipated that 724 patients (362 Anglo-Australian and 362 CALD patients) will be recruited to obtain a final sample of 290 (145 per group) assuming a 50% patient survey completion rate and a 80% GP record review completion rate. For the qualitative component, 60 interviews with lung cancer patients (10 Anglo-Australian and 10 patients per CALD group), 20 interviews with GPs, and 20 interviews with specialists will be conducted. DISCUSSION: This is the first Australian study to compare the time intervals along the lung cancer diagnostic pathway between CALD and Anglo-Australian patients. The study will also explore the underlying patient, healthcare provider, and health system factors that influence the time intervals in the two groups. This information will improve our understanding of the effect of ethnicity on health outcomes among lung cancer patients and will inform future interventions aimed at early diagnosis and treatment for lung cancer, particularly patients from CALD backgrounds. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The project was retrospectively registered with Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (registration number: ACTRN12617000957392 , date registered: 4th July 2017).The project is funded by Cancer Council Australia with the assistance of Cancer Australia through the 2015 round of the Priority-driven Collaborative Cancer Research Scheme