Catalogue Search | MBRL
Are you sure you want to remove the book from the shelf?
{{itemTitle}}
4,349
result(s) for
"MELISSA WALKER"
Sort by:
Why can't I be you
\"Claire Ladd knows that this summer is going to be special. She and her two best friends, Ronan and Brianna, are turning twelve ... She feels everything starting to change. But things don't always change for the better. With Brianna's cousin Eden visiting for the summer, Claire feels like a third wheel. Even though she is only a year older, Eden seems so much more sophisticated and glamorous ... But that doesn't explain why things have felt awkward with Brianna ever since she moved to a fancy new house, or why Ronan, who lives in the trailer next to Claire's, has started acting moody anytime anyone mentions his dad. Claire has always been happy with her life just as it is, but as the summer wears on and the issues with her friends start to grow, she can't help but wonder: Would everything be better if she could just be someone else?\"--Amazon.com.
Book
Systemic Bisperoxovanadium Activates Akt/mTOR, Reduces Autophagy, and Enhances Recovery following Cervical Spinal Cord Injury
Secondary damage following primary spinal cord injury extends pathology beyond the site of initial trauma, and effective management is imperative for maximizing anatomical and functional recovery. Bisperoxovanadium compounds have proven neuroprotective effects in several central nervous system injury/disease models, however, no mechanism has been linked to such neuroprotection from bisperoxovanadium treatment following spinal trauma. The goal of this study was to assess acute bisperoxovanadium treatment effects on neuroprotection and functional recovery following cervical unilateral contusive spinal cord injury, and investigate a potential mechanism of the compound's action. Two experimental groups of rats were established to 1) assess twice-daily 7 day treatment of the compound, potassium bisperoxo (picolinato) vanadium, on long-term recovery of skilled forelimb activity using a novel food manipulation test, and neuroprotection 6 weeks following injury and 2) elucidate an acute mechanistic link for the action of the drug post-injury. Immunofluorescence and Western blotting were performed to assess cellular signaling 1 day following SCI, and histochemistry and forelimb functional analysis were utilized to assess neuroprotection and recovery 6 weeks after injury. Bisperoxovanadium promoted significant neuroprotection through reduced motorneuron death, increased tissue sparing, and minimized cavity formation in rats. Enhanced forelimb functional ability during a treat-eating assessment was also observed. Additionally, bisperoxovanadium significantly enhanced downstream Akt and mammalian target of rapamycin signaling and reduced autophagic activity, suggesting inhibition of the phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome ten as a potential mechanism of bisperoxovanadium action following traumatic spinal cord injury. Overall, this study demonstrates the efficacy of a clinically applicable pharmacological therapy for rapid initiation of neuroprotection post-spinal cord injury, and sheds light on the signaling involved in its action.
Journal Article
Let's pretend we never met
\"If it were up to Mattie Markham, there would be a law that said your family wasn't allowed to move in the middle of the school year. After all, sixth grade is hard enough without wondering if you'll be able to make new friends or worrying that the kids in Pennsylvania won't like your North Carolina accent. But when Mattie meets her next-door neighbor and classmate, she begins to think maybe she was silly to fear being the 'new girl' ... [until she realizes that] at school Agnes is known as the weird girl who no one likes\"--Amazon.com.
Book
Skeleton keys in the phage world
The viruses infecting bacteria, known as phages, carry a wondrous diversity of enzymes known as endolysins, which are responsible for opening cellular doors, like the membrane or wall, so that newly minted phages are set free. In a recent study, Oechslin and colleagues explored the evolutionary mystery of lactococcal endolysin biodiversity, suggesting that these endolysins are flexible and can be used as kinds of skeleton keys to open a broad range of cellular doors.
Journal Article
Circulating markers of NADH-reductive stress correlate with mitochondrial disease severity
Mitochondrial disorders represent a large collection of rare syndromes that are difficult to manage both because we do not fully understand biochemical pathogenesis and because we currently lack facile markers of severity. The m.3243A>G variant is the most common heteroplasmic mitochondrial DNA mutation and underlies a spectrum of diseases, notably mitochondrial encephalomyopathy lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes (MELAS). To identify robust circulating markers of m.3243A>G disease, we first performed discovery proteomics, targeted metabolomics, and untargeted metabolomics on plasma from a deeply phenotyped cohort (102 patients, 32 controls). In a validation phase, we measured concentrations of prioritized metabolites in an independent cohort using distinct methods. We validated 20 analytes (1 protein, 19 metabolites) that distinguish patients with MELAS from controls. The collection includes classic (lactate, alanine) and more recently identified (GDF-15, α-hydroxybutyrate) mitochondrial markers. By mining untargeted mass-spectra we uncovered 3 less well-studied metabolite families: N-lactoyl-amino acids, β-hydroxy acylcarnitines, and β-hydroxy fatty acids. Many of these 20 analytes correlate strongly with established measures of severity, including Karnofsky status, and mechanistically, nearly all markers are attributable to an elevated NADH/NAD+ ratio, or NADH-reductive stress. Our work defines a panel of organelle function tests related to NADH-reductive stress that should enable classification and monitoring of mitochondrial disease.
Journal Article
Purifying Selection against Pathogenic Mitochondrial DNA in Human T Cells
Many mitochondrial diseases are caused by mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Patients' cells contain a mixture of mutant and nonmutant mtDNA (a phenomenon called heteroplasmy). The proportion of mutant mtDNA varies across patients and among tissues within a patient. We simultaneously assayed single-cell heteroplasmy and cell state in thousands of blood cells obtained from three unrelated patients who had A3243G-associated mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, lactic acidosis, and strokelike episodes. We observed a broad range of heteroplasmy across all cell types but also found markedly reduced heteroplasmy in T cells, a finding consistent with purifying selection within this lineage. We observed this pattern in six additional patients who had heteroplasmic A3243G without strokelike episodes. (Funded by the Marriott Foundation and others.).
Journal Article
Case 12-2024: A 58-Year-Old Woman with Confusion, Aphasia, and Abnormal Head Imaging
A Woman with Confusion, Aphasia, and Abnormal Head ImagingA 58-year-old woman was transferred to the hospital after 16 months of waxing and waning confusion and aphasia and evolving changes on MRI of the head. A diagnosis was made.
Journal Article
‘Master My Demons’: art therapy montage paintings by active-duty military service members with traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress
This study involved a thematic analysis of montage paintings and of related clinical records of 240 active-duty military service members collected during their art therapy treatment for traumatic brain injury and underlying psychological health concerns, including post-traumatic stress, at the National Intrepid Center of Excellence, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. Congruent with other research findings, the qualitative analyses of this study suggest that the group art therapy experiences fostered improvement in interpersonal relatedness, hopefulness and gratification for the service members in treatment, aiding in externalisation, progressive exposure and construction of a trauma narrative imperative for recovery. The mixed media nature of the montage painting supported the expression of a range of postcombat symptoms. Results from this study highlighted the complexity of military culture, necessitating a broader scope of analyses for how art therapy helps service members express and communicate their challenges to care providers, peers and family as well as regulate emotion in the short and long term.
Journal Article
Caenorhabditis elegans methionine/S-adenosylmethionine cycle activity is sensed and adjusted by a nuclear hormone receptor
Vitamin B12 is an essential micronutrient that functions in two metabolic pathways: the canonical propionate breakdown pathway and the methionine/S-adenosylmethionine (Met/SAM) cycle. In Caenorhabditis elegans, low vitamin B12, or genetic perturbation of the canonical propionate breakdown pathway results in propionate accumulation and the transcriptional activation of a propionate shunt pathway. This propionate-dependent mechanism requires nhr-10 and is referred to as ‘B12-mechanism-I’. Here, we report that vitamin B12 represses the expression of Met/SAM cycle genes by a propionate-independent mechanism we refer to as ‘B12-mechanism-II’. This mechanism is activated by perturbations in the Met/SAM cycle, genetically or due to low dietary vitamin B12. B12-mechanism-II requires nhr-114 to activate Met/SAM cycle gene expression, the vitamin B12 transporter, pmp-5 , and adjust influx and efflux of the cycle by activating msra-1 and repressing cbs-1 , respectively. Taken together, Met/SAM cycle activity is sensed and transcriptionally adjusted to be in a tight metabolic regime.
Journal Article
Energetic Costs of Extreme Heat: High Temperatures Elevate Daytime Activity and Suppress Nighttime Foraging in Flying‐Foxes
Extreme heat weather events can lead to energy deficits by increasing thermoregulatory energy costs while reducing energy intake because of limits to dissipating the metabolic heat generated by foraging activity. Understanding the consequences of exposure to extreme heat is increasingly important under ongoing climate warming. We measured acceleration forces using collar‐mounted loggers to gain indices of activity and energy expenditure in grey‐headed flying‐foxes (Pteropus poliocephalus) during mild and hot summer conditions. Overall dynamic body acceleration (ODBA) is positively correlated with energy expenditure in a wide range of animals. During the daytime rest phase, air temperatures above 30°C decreased low‐level activity indicative of rest, whereas during the nocturnal active phase, temperatures above 21°C reduced high‐level activity indicative of flight. On hot days (maximum Ta: 40.6°C ± 3.1°C), ODBA increased threefold during the daytime and decreased by one‐third during the first 2 h of the night, compared to milder summer conditions. These patterns indicate that extreme heat simultaneously elevates energy expenditure and constrains foraging activity. Our data support the hypothesis that heat‐induced energetic deficits are an important component of the negative effects of extreme heat exposure. Such energy deficits could reduce survival and population growth, especially as heat events become more frequent and severe under climate change. Extreme heat can create an energy deficit in animals by increasing thermoregulatory costs while limiting foraging activity, making its impacts increasingly important under global warming. Using collar‐mounted accelerometers, we quantified activity and energy expenditure in grey‐headed flying‐foxes across mild and hot summer conditions, finding that high temperatures increase rest‐phase daytime activity but reduce active‐phase nighttime flight. These actitivy shifts indicate a heat‐related energetic deficit that may negatively impact population growth and survival as extreme heat events become more frequent.
Journal Article