1.A randomized controlled trial comparing water exchange and air insufflation during colonoscopy without sedation.
Arai M1, Okimoto K2, Ishigami H2, Taida T2, Oyamada A2, Minemura S2, Saito K2, Tsuboi M2, Maruoka D2, Matsumura T2, Nakagawa T2, Katsuno T2, Mitsuhashi K3, Nakagawa Y3, Yamaguchi K3, Yokosuka O2. Int J Colorectal Dis. 2016 Apr 8. [Epub ahead of print]
OBJECTIVES: Previous studies have shown that water exchange is superior to air insufflation in attenuating insertion pain during colonoscopy. We conducted a randomized controlled trial with head-to-head comparison of these methods to assess their effectiveness in colonoscopy without sedation.
2.Molecular Mapping of Stripe Rust Resistance Gene Yr76 in Winter Club Wheat Cultivar Tyee.
Xiang C1, Feng J2, Wang M3, Chen X4, See DR5, Wan A6, Wang T7. Phytopathology. 2016 Apr 6. [Epub ahead of print]
Tyee, one of the wheat cultivars used to differentiate races of Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst) in the United States, was identified to have a single gene for all-stage resistance, tentatively named YrTye. To map the gene, Tyee was crossed with 'Avocet Susceptible' (AvS). Genetic analysis of the F1, F2, F2:3, and BC1 progenies confirmed a single dominant gene for resistance to race PSTv-37 that is avirulent to YrTye. A mapping population of 135 F2 plants was phenotyped with PSTv-37 and the derived F2:3 lines were tested with races PSTv-37, PSTv-40, and PSTv-79. The F2 mapping population was genotyped with simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. A genetic map comprising thirteen SSR markers located YrTye in chromosome 3AS flanked distally by SSR marker wmc11 and proximally by wmc532 at 2.6 and 3.4 cM, respectively. Amplification of Chinese Spring 3A deletion lines placed the gene in the distal bin 3AS4-0.45-1.00. As YrTye is different from all formally named Yr genes in chromosomal location, we permanently name the gene Yr76.
3.The Role of Nursing Homes in the Spread of Antimicrobial Resistance Over the Healthcare Network.
van den Dool C1, Haenen A1, Leenstra T1, Wallinga J1. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2016 Apr 7:1-7. [Epub ahead of print]
OBJECTIVE Recerntly, the role of the healthcare network, defined as a set of hospitals linked by patient transfers, has been increasingly considered in the control of antimicrobial resistance. Here, we investigate the potential impact of nursing homes on the spread of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens across the healthcare network and its importance for control strategies. METHODS Based on patient transfer data, we designed a network model representing the Dutch healthcare system of hospitals and nursing homes. We simulated the spread of an antimicrobial-resistant pathogen across the healthcare network, and we modeled transmission within institutions using a stochastic susceptible-infected-susceptible (SIS) epidemic model. Transmission between institutions followed transfers. We identified the contribution of nursing homes to the dispersal of the pathogen by comparing simulations of the network with and without nursing homes. RESULTS Our results strongly suggest that nursing homes in the Netherlands have the potential to drive and sustain epidemics across the healthcare network.
4.Optimized second-generation CRY2-CIB dimerizers and photoactivatable Cre recombinase.
Taslimi A1, Zoltowski B2, Miranda JG1, Pathak GP1, Hughes RM3, Tucker CL1. Nat Chem Biol. 2016 Apr 11. doi: 10.1038/nchembio.2063. [Epub ahead of print]
Arabidopsis thaliana cryptochrome 2 (AtCRY2), a light-sensitive photosensory protein, was previously adapted for use in controlling protein-protein interactions through light-dependent binding to a partner protein, CIB1. While the existing CRY2-CIB dimerization system has been used extensively for optogenetic applications, some limitations exist. Here, we set out to optimize function of the CRY2-CIB system by identifying versions of CRY2-CIB that are smaller, show reduced dark interaction, and maintain longer or shorter signaling states in response to a pulse of light. We describe minimal functional CRY2 and CIB1 domains maintaining light-dependent interaction and new signaling mutations affecting AtCRY2 photocycle kinetics. The latter work implicates an α13-α14 turn motif within plant CRYs whose perturbation alters signaling-state lifetime. Using a long-lived L348F photocycle mutant, we engineered a second-generation photoactivatable Cre recombinase, PA-Cre2.
