Deep Learning MRI Models for the Differential Diagnosis of Tumefactive Demyelination versus Wild-Type Glioblastoma.

Background And Purpose: Diagnosis of tumefactive demyelination can be challenging. The diagnosis of indeterminate brain lesions on MRI often requires tissue confirmation via brain biopsy. Noninvasive methods for accurate diagnosis of tumor and nontumor etiologies allows for tailored therapy, optimal tumor control, and a reduced risk of iatrogenic morbidity and mortality.

HoSeIn: A Workflow for Integrating Various Homology Search Results from Metagenomic and Metatranscriptomic Sequence Datasets.

Data generated by metagenomic and metatranscriptomic experiments is both enormous and inherently noisy. When using taxonomy-dependent alignment-based methods to classify and label reads, the first step consists in performing homology searches against sequence databases. To obtain the most information from the samples, nucleotide sequences are usually compared to various databases (nucleotide and protein) using local sequence aligners such as BLASTN and BLASTX.

Signatures of cell stress and altered bioenergetics in skin fibroblasts from patients with multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a central nervous system inflammatory demyelinating disease and the most common cause of non-traumatic disability in young adults. Despite progress in the treatment of the active relapsing disease, therapeutic options targeting irreversible progressive decline remain limited. Studies using skin fibroblasts derived from patients with neurodegenerative disorders demonstrate that cell stress pathways and bioenergetics are altered when compared to healthy individuals.

Inflammatory cytokine-induced changes in neural network activity measured by waveform analysis of high-content calcium imaging in murine cortical neurons.

During acute neuroinflammation, increased levels of cytokines within the brain may contribute to synaptic reorganization that results in long-term changes in network hyperexcitability. Indeed, inflammatory cytokines are implicated in synaptic dysfunction in epilepsy and in an array of degenerative and autoimmune diseases of the central nervous system. Current tools for studying the impact of inflammatory factors on neural networks are either insufficiently fast and sensitive or require complicated and costly experimental rigs.

NFκB signaling drives pro-granulocytic astroglial responses to neuromyelitis optica patient IgG.

Background: Astrocytes expressing the aquaporin-4 water channel are a primary target of pathogenic, disease-specific immunoglobulins (IgG) found in patients with neuromyelitis optica (NMO). Immunopathological analyses of active NMO lesions highlight a unique inflammatory phenotype marked by infiltration of granulocytes. Previous studies characterized this granulocytic infiltrate as a response to vasculocentric complement activation and localized tissue destruction.

Soil Metagenomes from Different Pristine Environments of Northwest Argentina.

This is the first study to use a high-throughput metagenomic shotgun approach to explore the biosynthetic potential of soil metagenomes from different pristine environments of northwest Argentina. Our data sets characterize these metagenomes and provide information on the possible effect these ecosystems have on their diversity and biosynthetic potential.

Metatranscriptomic Analysis of Larval Guts from Field-Collected and Laboratory-Reared Spodoptera frugiperda from the South American Subtropical Region.

This is the first study to report a high-throughput approach integrating gene expression data from Spodoptera frugiperda guts and their associated metatranscriptomes. Our datasets provide information on the potential effects of environmental conditions on the expression profile of S. frugiperda larval guts, their associated metatranscriptome, and putative interactions between them.

Development of a recombination system for the generation of occlusion positive genetically modified Anticarsia gemmatalis multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus.

Anticarsia gemmatalis is an important pest in legume crops in South America and it has been successfully controlled using Anticarsia gemmatalis Multiple Nucleopolyhedrovirus (AgMNPV) in subtropical climate zones. Nevertheless, in temperate climates its speed of kill is too slow. Taking this into account, genetic modification of AgMNPV could lead to improvements of its biopesticidal properties.

Polymerase chain reaction-based assay for the detection and identification of sand fly gregarines in Lutzomyia longipalpis, a vector of visceral leishmaniasis.

Gregarines that parasitise phlebotomine sand flies belong to the genus Psychodiella and, even though they are highly host-specific, only five species have been described to date. Their most outstanding features include the unique localisation of the oocysts in the accessory glands of the female host, which ensures contamination of the egg surface during oviposition, and the fact that they naturally parasitise the vectors of Leishmania, causal agent of leishmaniasis. The type species, Ps.

Noise minimisation in gene expression switches.

Gene expression is subject to stochastic variation which leads to fluctuations in the rate of protein production. Recently, a study in yeast at a genomic scale showed that, in some cases, gene expression variability alters phenotypes while, in other cases, these remain unchanged despite fluctuations in the expression of other genes. These studies suggested that noise in gene expression is a physiologically relevant trait and, to prevent harmful stochastic variation in the expression levels of some genes, it can be subject to minimisation.

First comparative transcriptomic analysis of wild adult male and female Lutzomyia longipalpis, vector of visceral leishmaniasis.

Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease with a complex epidemiology and ecology. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is its most severe clinical form as it results in death if not treated. In Latin America VL is caused by the protist parasite Leishmania infantum (syn.

Metagenomic analysis of taxa associated with Lutzomyia longipalpis, vector of visceral leishmaniasis, using an unbiased high-throughput approach.

Background: Leishmaniasis is one of the most diverse and complex of all vector-borne diseases worldwide. It is caused by parasites of the genus Leishmania, obligate intramacrophage protists characterised by diversity and complexity. Its most severe form is visceral leishmaniasis (VL), a systemic disease that is fatal if left untreated.

AcMNPV ac143 (odv-e18) is essential for mediating budded virus production and is the 30th baculovirus core gene.

Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) ac143 (odv-e18) is a late gene that encodes for a predicted 9.6 kDa structural protein that locates to the occlusion derived viral envelope and viral induced intranuclear microvesicles [Braunagel, S.C.

A simplified method for the extraction of baculoviral DNA for PCR analysis: a practical application.

There are two major strategies to genetically modify baculoviruses. One uses a bacmid-based system which replicates in Escherichia coli using a bacterial origin of replication. The other employs a transfer vector and viral DNA which are co-transfected into insect cells and utilise host enzyme-mediated homologous recombination.

Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus ac142, a core gene that is essential for BV production and ODV envelopment.

Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) ac142 is a baculovirus core gene and encodes a protein previously shown to associate with occlusion-derived virus (ODV). To determine its role in the baculovirus life cycle, we used the AcMNPV bacmid system to generate an ac142 deletion virus (AcBAC(ac142KO-PH-GFP)). Fluorescence and light microscopy revealed that AcBAC(ac142KO-PH-GFP) exhibits a single-cell infection phenotype.