Subcapsular sinus macrophages maximize germinal center development in non-draining lymph nodes during blood-borne viral infection.

Lymph node (LN) germinal centers (GCs) are critical sites for B cell activation and differentiation. GCs develop after specialized CD169+ macrophages residing in LN sinuses filter antigens (Ags) from the lymph and relay these Ags into proximal B cell follicles. Many viruses, however, first reach LNs through the blood during viremia (virus in the blood), rather than through lymph drainage from infected tissue. How LNs capture viral Ag from the blood to allow GC development is not known. Here, we followed Zika virus (ZIKV) dissemination in mice and subsequent GC formation in both infected tissue-draining and non-draining LNs. From the footpad, ZIKV initially disseminated through two LN chains, infecting LN macrophages and leading to GC formation. Despite rapid ZIKV viremia, non-draining LNs were not infected for several days. Non-draining LN infection correlated with virus-induced vascular leakage and neutralization of permeability reduced LN macrophage attrition. Depletion of non-draining LN macrophages significantly decreased GC B cells in these nodes. Thus, although LNs inefficiently captured viral Ag directly from the blood, GC formation in non-draining LNs proceeded similarly to draining LNs through LN sinus CD169+ macrophages. Together, our findings reveal a conserved pathway allowing LN macrophages to activate antiviral B cells in LNs distal from infected tissue after blood-borne viral infection.

Assessment of potential risks to human health associated with trace elements in three commercially important shark species captured in the Central Mexican Pacific.

Shark meat is a popular protein source worldwide. However, existing national control policies for ensuring the safety and quality of shark meat are minimal. There are concerns about the sustainability of shark populations, which bioaccumulate and biomagnify potentially toxic elements at higher rates than non-predatory fish, posing a risk to human health. In this study, the contributions of essential elements to the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) and potentially toxic elements to the Reference Dose (RfD) linked to shark consumption (200 g per week) were investigated for three shark species in the Central Mexican Pacific. We estimated risks and benefits for women, children, and men. Our results suggest that the three shark species are sources of Se, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, and Zn, but poor sources of Mn for women and men aged 19-50 years. A weekly ingestion of 200 g of shark meat exceeded the RfD-As by 4-14 times and the RfD-Pb by 1.1-1.7 times for adults, indicating a potential risk to human health. The three shark species were also significant sources of potentially toxic elements for children, including Hg, Cd, Cr, and Pb. An excessive intake of Se was observed, with levels at 8.4-10.6 and 4.3-5.3 times the RDA for children aged 1-8 and 9-13 years, respectively. Although shark meat can be a good source of essential nutrients, the lack of controls in the commercialization process indicates that it should be consumed in moderation due to the potential risks associated with excessive exposure to potentially toxic elements. This caution is particularly important for children and pregnant women, who are at higher risk of health complications from consuming contaminated food.

Zika virus spreads through infection of lymph node-resident macrophages.

To disseminate through the body, Zika virus (ZIKV) is thought to exploit the mobility of myeloid cells, in particular monocytes and dendritic cells. However, the timing and mechanisms underlying shuttling of the virus by immune cells remains unclear. To understand the early steps in ZIKV transit from the skin, at different time points, we spatially mapped ZIKV infection in lymph nodes (LNs), an intermediary site en route to the blood. Contrary to prevailing hypotheses, migratory immune cells are not required for the virus to reach the LNs or blood. Instead, ZIKV rapidly infects a subset of sessile CD169+ macrophages in the LNs, which release the virus to infect downstream LNs. Infection of CD169+ macrophages alone is sufficient to initiate viremia. Overall, our experiments indicate that macrophages that reside in the LNs contribute to initial ZIKV spread. These studies enhance our understanding of ZIKV dissemination and identify another anatomical site for potential antiviral intervention.

The use of performance validity tests among inpatient forensic monolingual Spanish-speakers.

Performance validity tests (PVTs) are an integral part of neuropsychological assessments. Yet no studies have examined how Spanish-speaking forensic inpatients perform on PVTs, making it difficult to interpret these tests in this population. The present study examined archival data collected from monolingual Spanish-speaking forensic inpatients (n = 55; Mage = 49.6 years, SD = 12.0; 84.9% male; 93.5% diagnosed with a Psychotic Spectrum Disorder) to determine how this population performs on several PVTs. Most participants' scores on the Dot Counting Test (DCT; 82.2%; n = 45), Repeatable Battery for Assessment of Neuropsychological Status-Effort Index (RBANS EI; 84.4%; n = 33), and Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM; 79.1%; n = 43) were indicative of valid performance. Few participants, however, had Rey-15 Item Test (FIT) scores in the valid range (24.5% to 48.0%; Recall n = 50 and Combined n = 49, respectively); although FIT Recall specificity was improved when cutoff scores were lowered. Total years of education, but not other educational factors, were significantly associated with performance on PVTs (r = .33-.40, p = .01-.03). Study results suggest the DCT, TOMM, and RBANS EI may be more appropriate PVTs for Spanish-speaking forensic inpatients compared to the FIT.

Immunogenetics associated with severe coccidioidomycosis.

Disseminated coccidioidomycosis (DCM) is caused by Coccidioides, pathogenic fungi endemic to the southwestern United States and Mexico. Illness occurs in approximately 30% of those infected, less than 1% of whom develop disseminated disease. To address why some individuals allow dissemination, we enrolled patients with DCM and performed whole-exome sequencing. In an exploratory set of 67 patients with DCM, 2 had haploinsufficient STAT3 mutations, and defects in ß-glucan sensing and response were seen in 34 of 67 cases. Damaging CLEC7A and PLCG2 variants were associated with impaired production of ß-glucan-stimulated TNF-α from PBMCs compared with healthy controls. Using ancestry-matched controls, damaging CLEC7A and PLCG2 variants were overrepresented in DCM, including CLEC7A Y238* and PLCG2 R268W. A validation cohort of 111 patients with DCM confirmed the PLCG2 R268W, CLEC7A I223S, and CLEC7A Y238* variants. Stimulation with a DECTIN-1 agonist induced DUOX1/DUOXA1-derived hydrogen peroxide [H2O2] in transfected cells. Heterozygous DUOX1 or DUOXA1 variants that impaired H2O2 production were overrepresented in discovery and validation cohorts. Patients with DCM have impaired ß-glucan sensing or response affecting TNF-α and H2O2 production. Impaired Coccidioides recognition and decreased cellular response are associated with disseminated coccidioidomycosis.

Remote Healthcare Program in Mexico in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

OBJECTIVES: Given the challenge of limiting the transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 while simultaneously continuing to provide medical care for other chronic and degenerative diseases and monitor therapy, a remote medical advice and guidance program was created to help individuals receive health services at their homes. METHODS: A descriptive, cross-sectional, and observational study was performed from April 13, 2020 to April 19, 2021 among Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) health services beneficiaries. Mobile text messages were used to assign patients throughout Mexico to a doctor, who coordinated a video call with the nursing service for advice and remote care. RESULTS: In total, 17,472 calls were registered, with an average duration of 10.28 minutes. Almost half (49.4%) of the people who requested attention through the remote program were workers, 31.5% were workers' relatives, and 19.1% were retired workers. The average age of the program users was 50.66 ± 18.02 years. A total of 144 doctors from 28 different specialties participated. In this program, 7,163 calls were made because of respiratory symptoms, 1,514 for therapeutic monitoring (prescriptions), and 8,183 because of other diseases, including mental health. CONCLUSIONS: Remote healthcare programs have shown the potential to support the health system. This program is the first to deploy real-time video calls with a health team utilizing institutional electronic clinical records in Mexico. The implementation of this pandemic management program impacted the number of consultations given remotely, resulting in effective triage.

Butyrate administration is not sufficient to improve immune reconstitution in antiretroviral-treated SIV-infected macaques.

Defective gastrointestinal barrier function and, in turn, microbial translocation have been identified as significant contributors to persistent inflammation in antiretroviral (ARV)-treated people living with HIV. Metabolic supplementation of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), generally produced by the commensal microbiome, may improve these outcomes. Butyrate is a SCFA that is essential for the development and maintenance of intestinal immunity and has a known role in supporting epithelial integrity. Herein we assessed whether supplementation with the dietary supplement sodium butyrate would improve immune reconstitution and reduce inflammation in ARV-treated, simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected rhesus macaques. We demonstrate that butyrate supplementation does not significantly improve immune reconstitution, with no differences observed in systemic CD4+ T-cell frequencies, T-cell functionality or immune activation, microbial translocation, or transcriptional regulation. Our findings demonstrate that oral administration of sodium butyrate is insufficient to reduce persistent inflammation and microbial translocation in ARV-treated, SIV-infected macaques, suggesting that this therapeutic may not reduce co-morbidities and co-mortalities in treated people living with HIV.

Remote Healthcare Program in Mexico in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic / 대한의료정보학회지

Objectives@#Given the challenge of limiting the transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 while simultaneously continuing to provide medical care for other chronic and degenerative diseases and monitor therapy, a remote medical advice and guidance program was created to help individuals receive health services at their homes. @*Methods@#A descriptive, cross-sectional, and observational study was performed from April 13, 2020 to April 19, 2021 among Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) health services beneficiaries. Mobile text messages were used to assign patients throughout Mexico to a doctor, who coordinated a video call with the nursing service for advice and remote care. @*Results@#In total, 17,472 calls were registered, with an average duration of 10.28 minutes. Almost half (49.4%) of the people who requested attention through the remote program were workers, 31.5% were workers’ relatives, and 19.1% were retired workers. The average age of the program users was 50.66 ± 18.02 years. A total of 144 doctors from 28 different specialties participated. In this program, 7,163 calls were made because of respiratory symptoms, 1,514 for therapeutic monitoring (prescriptions), and 8,183 because of other diseases, including mental health. @*Conclusions@#Remote healthcare programs have shown the potential to support the health system. This program is the first to deploy real-time video calls with a health team utilizing institutional electronic clinical records in Mexico. The implementation of this pandemic management program impacted the number of consultations given remotely, resulting in effective triage.

Asociación de sobrepeso u obesidad con trastornos del estado de ánimo en adolescentes / Association of overweight or obesity with mood disorders in adolescents Abstract

Determinar la asociación entre sobrepeso-obesidad y trastornos del estado de ánimo en adolescentes, específicamente depresión, ansiedad, baja autoestima y dismorfia corporal. Metodología: Diseño transversal comparativo en adolescentes de 12 a 14 años, se integraron dos grupos el primero con sobrepeso-obesidad y el segundo con normopeso. Los trastornos del estado de ánimo fueron evaluados con Inventario de Depresión de Beck-II, Escala de ansiedad de Hamilton, Escala de autoestima de Rosenberg y Cuestionario de forma corporal de Cooper. El análisis estadístico incluyó chi cuadrada y razón de momios. Resultados: Se encontró asociación de sobrepeso-obesidad con depresión RM 17,94 (IC 95%; 8,17-39,38), ansiedad RM 11,11 (IC 95%; 4,75-25,97), autoestima RM 8,40 (IC 95%; 4,08-17,24) y dismorfia corporal RM 9,64 (IC 95%; 2,14-43,17). Conclusión: Existe asociación entre sobrepeso-obesidad y trastornos del estado de ánimo en adolescentes(AU)

To determine the association between overweight-obesity and mood disorders in adolescents, specifically depression, anxiety, low self- esteem and body dysmorphism. Methodology: Comparative cross-sectional design in adolescents aged 12 to 14 years, two groups were integrated the first with overweight-obesity and the second with normal weight. Mood disorders were evaluated with Beck-II Depression Inventory, Hamilton Anxiety Scale, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and Cooper Body Form Questionnaire. The statistical analysis included chi square and odds ratio. Results: Overweight-obesity association with depression was found in OR 17,94 (IC 95% 8,17-39,38), OR 11,11 anxiety (IC 95% 4,75-25,97), OR self-esteem 8,40 (IC 95% 4.08-17.24) and body dysmorphism OR 9.64 (IC 95% 2.14-43.17). Conclusion: There is an association between overweight-obesity and mood disorders in adolescents(AU)

Photonic Crystal Characterization of the Cuticles of Chrysina chrysargyrea and Chrysina optima Jewel Scarab Beetles.

A unified description involving structural morphology and composition, dispersion of optical constants, modeled and measured reflection spectra and photonic crystal characterization is devised. Light reflection spectra by the cuticles of scarab beetles (Chrysina chrysargyrea and Chrysina optima), measured in the wavelength range 300-1000 nm, show spectrally structured broad bands. Scanning electron microscopy analysis shows that the pitches of the twisted structures responsible for the left-handed circularly polarized reflected light change monotonically with depth through the cuticles, making it possible to obtain the explicit depth-dependence for each cuticle arrangement considered. This variation is a key aspect, and it will be introduced in the context of Berreman's formalism, which allows us to evaluate reflection spectra whose main features coincide in those displayed in measurements. Through the dispersion relation obtained from the Helmholtz's equation satisfied by the circular components of the propagating fields, the presence of a photonic band gap is established for each case considered. These band gaps depend on depth through the cuticle, and their spectral positions change with depth. This explains the presence of broad bands in the reflection spectra, and their spectral features correlate with details in the variation of the pitch with depth. The twisted structures consist of chitin nanofibrils whose optical anisotropy is not large enough so as to be approached from modeling the measured reflection spectra. The presence of a high birefringence substance embedded in the chitin matrix is required. In this sense, the presence of uric acid crystallites through the cuticle is strongly suggested by frustrated attenuated total reflection and Raman spectroscopy analysis. The complete optical modeling is performed incorporating the wavelength-dependent optical constants of chitin and uric acid.

The Use of RBANS among Inpatient Forensic Monolingual Spanish Speakers.

OBJECTIVE: The Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) has been shown to be an effective screener for detecting neurocognitive impairments in English speaking forensic psychiatric inpatients, but no studies have examined whether the RBANS would have the same utility among monolingual Spanish speaking inpatients. This study sought to examine RBANS performance, as well as risk factors (i.e., educational, neurological, and medical) influencing RBANS performance, in that particular population. METHOD: The present study examined archival data collected from monolingual Spanish speaking inpatients (n = 34; mean age = 48.71, SD = 11.99; 85.3% men; 93.5% with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder). All participants must have RBANS data, and must not have a diagnosis of malingering or major neurocognitive disorder. Medical records of eligible participants were examined. RESULTS: Our findings indicated that most participants (75.8%) performed in the impaired range for the RBANS Total Index; however, the frequency of impaired performances varied on more specific RBANS indices (42.4%-72.7% of the participants). Although neurological and medical risk factors were not associated with RBANS Total Index performance (all p's = .26-.82), years of education appeared to be inversely associated with RBANS Total Index score (all p's = .04-.07). CONCLUSIONS: These findings can serve as the first step in helping to define "normative" cognition among Spanish speaking forensic psychiatric inpatients. Such findings can reduce the likelihood of over-pathologizing performance and increase the likelihood that treatment goals will be better tailored to the patient's cognitive ability.

Cortical atrophy in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis: in vivo imaging.

There are strong correlations between cortical atrophy observed by MRI and clinical disability and disease duration in multiple sclerosis (MS). The objective of this study was to evaluate the progression of cortical atrophy over time in vivo in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), the most commonly used animal model for MS. Volumetric changes in brains of EAE mice and matched healthy controls were quantified by collecting high-resolution T2-weighted magnetic resonance images in vivo and labeling anatomical structures on the images. In vivo scanning permitted us to evaluate brain structure volumes in individual animals over time and we observed that though brain atrophy progressed differently in each individual animal, all mice with EAE demonstrated significant atrophy in whole brain, cerebral cortex, and whole cerebellum compared to normal controls. Furthermore, we found a strong correlation between cerebellar atrophy and cumulative disease score in mice with EAE. Ex vivo MRI showed a significant decrease in brain and cerebellar volume and a trend that did not reach significance in cerebral cortex volume in mice with EAE compared to controls. Cross modality correlations revealed a significant association between neuronal loss on neuropathology and in vivo atrophy of the cerebral cortex by neuroimaging. These results demonstrate that longitudinal in vivo imaging is more sensitive to changes that occur in neurodegenerative disease models than cross-sectional ex vivo imaging. This is the first report of progressive cortical atrophy in vivo in a mouse model of MS.

Purkinje cell loss in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

Gray matter atrophy observed by brain MRI is an important correlate to clinical disability and disease duration in multiple sclerosis. The objective of this study was to link brain atrophy visualized by neuroimaging to its underlying neuropathology using the MS model, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Volumetric changes in brains of EAE mice, as well as matched healthy normal controls, were quantified by collecting post-mortem high-resolution T2-weighted magnetic resonance microscopy and actively stained magnetic resonance histology images. Anatomical delineations demonstrated a significant decrease in the volume of the whole cerebellum, cerebellar cortex, and molecular layer of the cerebellar cortex in EAE as compared to normal controls. The pro-apoptotic marker caspase-3 was detected in Purkinje cells and a significant decrease in Purkinje cell number was found in EAE. Cross modality and temporal correlations revealed a significant association between Purkinje cell loss on neuropathology and atrophy of the molecular layer of the cerebellar cortex by neuroimaging. These results demonstrate the power of using combined population atlasing and neuropathology approaches to discern novel insights underlying gray matter atrophy in animal models of neurodegenerative disease.

Cerebellar cortical atrophy in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

Brain atrophy measured by MRI is an important correlate with clinical disability and disease duration in multiple sclerosis (MS). Unfortunately, neuropathologic mechanisms which lead to this grey matter atrophy remain unknown. The objective of this study was to determine whether brain atrophy occurs in the mouse model, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Postmortem high-resolution T2-weighted magnetic resonance microscopy (MRM) images from 32 mouse brains (21 EAE and 11 control) were collected. A minimum deformation atlas was constructed and a deformable atlas approach was used to quantify volumetric changes in neuroanatomical structures. A significant decrease in the mean cerebellar cortex volume in mice with late EAE (48-56 days after disease induction) as compared to normal strain, gender, and age-matched controls was observed. There was a direct correlation between cerebellar cortical atrophy and disease duration. At an early time point in disease, 15 days after disease induction, cerebellar white matter lesions were detected by both histology and MRM. These data demonstrate that myelin-specific autoimmune responses can lead to grey matter atrophy in an otherwise normal CNS. The model described herein can now be used to investigate neuropathologic mechanisms that lead to the development of gray matter atrophy in this setting.