Category: Featured Database

Author: Crandall, Christian S.; Eshleman, Amy; O’Brien, Laurie Description: The authors studied social norms and prejudice using M. Sherif and C. W. Sherif’s (1953) group norm theory of attitudes. In 7 studies (N = 1,504), social norms were measured and manipulated to examine their effects on prejudice; both normatively proscribed and normatively prescribed forms of prejudice were included. The public expression of prejudice toward 105 social groups was very highly correlated with social approval of that expression. Participants closely adhere to social norms when expressing prejudice, evaluating scenarios of discrimination,…

Author: Lee, I.-Min; Shiroma, Eric J.; Kamada, Masamitsu; Bassett, David R.; Matthews, Charles E.; Buring, Julie E. Description: Importance: A goal of 10,000 steps/day is commonly believed by the public to be necessary for health, but this number has limited scientific basis. Additionally, it is unknown whether greater stepping intensity is associated with health benefits, independent of steps taken per day. Objective: To examine associations of number of steps per day and stepping intensity with all-cause mortality. Design, Setting, and Participants: This prospective cohort study included 18,289 US women from…

Author: Imran, Md; Das, Kirti Ranjan; Naik, Milind Mohan Description: Misuse/over use of antibiotics increases the threats to human health since this is a main reason behind evolution of antibiotic resistant bacterial pathogens. However, metals such as mercury, lead, zinc, copper and cadmium are accumulating to critical concentration in the environment and triggering co-selection of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. The co-selection of metal driven antibiotic resistance in bacteria is achieved through co-resistance or cross resistance. Metal driven antibiotic resistant determinants evolved in bacteria and present on same mobile genetic elements…

Author: Hirad, Adnan A.; Bazarian, Jeffrey J.; Merchant-Borna, Kian; Garcea, Frank E.; Heilbronner, Sarah; Paul, David; Hintz, Eric B.; van Wijngaarden, Edwin; Schifitto, Giovanni; Wright, David W.; Espinoza, Tamara R.; Mahon, Bradford Z. Description: The midbrain is biomechanically susceptible to force loading from repetitive subconcussive head impacts (RSHI), is a site of tauopathy in chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), and regulates functions (e.g., eye movements) often disrupted in concussion. In a prospective longitudinal design, we demonstrate there are reductions in midbrain white matter integrity due to a single season of collegiate…

Author: Xu, Ping; Chen, Fang; Mannas, Jonathan P.; Feldman, Tracy; Sumner, Lloyd W.; Roossinck, Marilyn J. Description: Viruses are obligate intracellular symbionts. Plant viruses are often discovered and studied as pathogenic parasites that cause diseases in agricultural plants. However, here it is shown that viruses can extend survival of their hosts under conditions of abiotic stress that could benefit hosts if they subsequently recover and reproduce. Various plant species were inoculated with four different RNA viruses, Brome mosaic virus (BMV), Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), Tobacco mosaic virus and Tobacco rattle…

Author: Miest, Tanner S.; Cattaneo, Roberto Description: Oncolytic virotherapy re-engineers and repurposes replicating viruses for the treatment of cancer. Therapeutic viruses specifically infect and spread within cancer tissue, causing cell death.  In recent years, an increasing number of viruses have been developed as cancer therapeutics. There are nine virus families that are currently used in virotherapy clinical trials. Different viruses have evolved tissue specificities that can be exploited to preferentially destroy certain tumor types. Engineering strategies to improve the therapeutic potential of oncolytic viruses include protection from neutralizing immunity, restriction…

Author: Roossinck, Marilyn J. Description: Viruses have traditionally been thought of as pathogens, but many confer a benefit to their hosts and some are essential for the host life cycle. The polydnaviruses of endoparasitoid wasps have evolved with their hosts to become essential. Many of the viral genes are now encoded in the host nucleus. Endogenous retroviruses are abundant in many genomes of higher eukaryotes, and some have been involved in the evolution of their hosts, such as placental mammals. Some mammalian viruses can protect their hosts from infection by…

Author: Roossinck, Marilyn J. Description: The phytobiome, defined as plants and all the entities that interact with them, is rich in viruses, but with the exception of plant viruses of crop plants, most of the phytobiome viruses remain very understudied. This review focuses on the neglected portions of the phytobiome, including viruses of other microbes interacting with plants, viruses in the soil, viruses of wild plants, and relationships between viruses and the vectors of plant viruses. Subject headings: Phytobiome; Virus; Plants; Crops; Microbes; Soil Publication year: 2019 Journal or book…

Author: Cattaneo, Roberto; Miest, Tanner; Shashkova, Elena V.; Barry, Michael A. Description: Viruses are reprogrammed into vectors for cancer treatment based on three types of modification: targeting, arming and shielding. Viruses that are turned into therapeutics are beginning to find their place in cancer clinical practice, in combination with chemotherapy and radiation.The principles of virus reprogramming are illustrated in this article using adenovirus, a DNA virus with a naked icosahedral capsid, and measles virus, an enveloped RNA virus with a helical capsid. Targeting introduces multiple layers of cancer specificity, thereby…

Author: Chuong, Edward B. Description: The co-option of endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) is increasingly recognized as a recurrent theme in placental biology, which has far-reaching implications for our understanding of mammalian evolution and reproductive health. Most research in this area has focused on ERV-derived proteins, which have been repeatedly co-opted to promote cell-cell fusion and immune modulation in the placenta. ERVs also harbor regulatory sequences that can potentially control placental gene expression, but there has been limited evidence to support this role. In a recent study, Dunn-Fletcher and colleagues discover a…