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Maturation rates of malaria parasites within red blood cells (RBCs) can be influenced by host nutrient status and circadian rhythm; whether host inflammatory responses can also influence maturation remains less clear. Here, we observed that systemic host inflammation induced in mice by an innate immune stimulus, lipopolysaccharide (LPS), or by ongoing acute Plasmodium infection, slowed the progression of a single cohort of parasites from one generation of RBC to the next. Importantly, plasma from LPS-conditioned or acutely infected mice directly inhibited parasite maturation during in vitro culture, which was not rescued by supplementation, suggesting the emergence of inhibitory factors in plasma. Metabolomic assessments confirmed substantial alterations to the plasma of LPS-conditioned and acutely infected mice, and identified a small number of candidate inhibitory metabolites. Finally, we confirmed rapid parasite responses to systemic host inflammation in vivo using parasite scRNA-seq, noting broad impairment in transcriptional activity and translational capacity specifically in trophozoites but not rings or schizonts. Thus, we provide evidence that systemic host inflammation rapidly triggered transcriptional alterations in circulating blood-stage Plasmodium trophozoites and predict candidate inhibitory metabolites in the plasma that may impair parasite maturation in vivo. IMPORTANCE Malaria parasites cyclically invade, multiply, and burst out of red blood cells. We found that a strong inflammatory response can cause changes to the composition of host plasma, which directly slows down parasite maturation. Thus, our work highlights a new mechanism that limits malaria parasite growth in the bloodstream.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to analyze athlete-specific psychological strain among Olympic athletes following the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A survey that comprised three sub-sections (Psychological Strain Questionnaire (APSQ), Patient Health Questionnaire-Depression Module (PHQ-8) and Participant characteristic) concerning mental health, performance issues and concerns about the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics, was distributed online and sent to 102 Olympic athletes. RESULTS: A total of 85 participants from 11 Olympic sports were enrolled. Results indicated that most athletes showed psychological strain related to concerns regarding the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics. Depression severity was positively associated with maladaptive avoidance coping patterns, negative effects in training, worries and fear. Depression severity was also negatively associated with motivation and adaptive factors such as chances and opportunities that can be drawn from the pandemic. CONCLUSION: The present sample of Olympic athletes reported suffering from psychological uncertainty associated with the postponement of the Olympic games. Sports federations should therefore, provide ongoing wellbeing support to athletes and offer them, for example, sports psychological support in order to be able to better deal with pandemic-related uncertainties and changes.

PURPOSE: To identify glucocorticoid-responsive proteins measurable in human serum that may have clinical utility in therapeutic drug monitoring and the diagnosis of cortisol excess or deficiency. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: A phased biomarker discovery strategy was conducted in two cohorts. Secretome from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) isolated from six volunteers after ex vivo incubation ± dexamethasone (DEX) 100 ng/mL for 4 h and 24 h was used for candidate discovery and qualification using untargeted proteomics and a custom multiple reaction monitoring mass spectrometry (MRM-MS) assay, respectively. For validation, five candidates were measured by immunoassay in serum from an independent cohort (n = 20), sampled at 1200 h before and after 4 mg oral DEX. RESULTS: The discovery secretome proteomics data generated a shortlist of 45 candidates, with 43 measured in the final MRM-MS assay. Differential analysis revealed 16 proteins that were significant in at least one of two time points. In the validation cohort, 3/5 serum proteins were DEX-responsive, two significantly decreased: lysozyme C (p < 0.0001) and nucleophosmin-1 (p < 0.01), while high mobility group box 2 significantly increased (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Using an ex vivo proteomic approach in PBMC, we have identified circulating glucocorticoid-responsive proteins which may have potential as serum biomarkers of glucocorticoid activity.

BACKGROUND: Multiple myeloma (MM) is a hematological malignancy characterized by the clonal expansion of malignant plasma cells. Though durable remissions are possible, MM is considered incurable, with relapse occurring in almost all patients. There has been limited data reported on the lipid metabolism changes in plasma cells during MM progression. Here, we evaluated the feasibility of concurrent lipidomics and proteomics analyses from patient plasma cells, and report these data on a limited number of patient samples, demonstrating the feasibility of the method, and establishing hypotheses to be evaluated in the future. METHODS: Plasma cells were purified from fresh bone marrow aspirates using CD138 microbeads. Proteins and lipids were extracted using a bi-phasic solvent system with methanol, methyl tert-butyl ether, and water. Untargeted proteomics, untargeted and targeted lipidomics were performed on 7 patient samples using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Two comparisons were conducted: high versus low risk; relapse versus newly diagnosed. Proteins and pathways enriched in the relapsed group was compared to a public transcriptomic dataset from Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium reference collection (n = 222) at gene and pathways level. RESULTS: From one million purified plasma cells, we were able to extract material and complete untargeted (~6000 and ~3600 features in positive and negative mode respectively) and targeted lipidomics (313 lipids), as well as untargeted proteomics analysis (~4100 reviewed proteins). Comparative analyses revealed limited differences between high and low risk groups (according to the standard clinical criteria), hence we focused on drawing comparisons between the relapsed and newly diagnosed patients. Untargeted and targeted lipidomics indicated significant down-regulation of phosphatidylcholines (PCs) in relapsed MM. Although there was limited overlap of the differential proteins/transcripts, 76 significantly enriched path

One of today's megatrends in the industrial environment is additive manufacturing. Faster prototyping, customized products like hearing devices, integrated functions like heatsinks and many other opportunities are offered by this technological development. The opportunity of using different materials and build up 3-D structures is virtually infinite. Another one is the digitalization of almost any product to build up a smart world. This trend leads to a tremendously rising amount of data to be transferred from one place to another. If a wireless transmission is not possible and if the distance is over 100 m glass fiber is the fastest and most secure way for these requirements. In case of most short-range applications up to 100 m primary copper cables or circuit paths are in use because the electrical data transfer is well known. The limited bandwidth of copper asks for new inventions to meet the demands of tomorrow. Regarding both megatrends, the solution for this upcoming bottleneck could be 3-D printed photonic packages. This paper shows a new and innovative way for the customized fabricating of short-range data transmission networks. By Aerosol Jet Printing (AJP) the so called polymer optical waveguides (POW), it is possible to build up 3-D printed light guiding structures with low attenuation on almost any three-dimensional surface. The main advantages of the here presented research are high flexibility, low weight and low costs. After three years of intensive studies the most important key facts (machine settings, geometry, performance) are summarized in this publication. © 2018 SPIE.

Objectives: The fungus Pyrenophora tritici-repentis is a major pathogen of wheat worldwide, causing the leaf spotting disease tan spot. To best inform approaches for plant genetic resistance, an understanding of the biology and pathogenicity mechanisms of this fungal pathogen is essential. Here, intracellular and extracellular proteins of P. tritici-repentis were extracted, and peptides analysed via high-resolution mass spectrometry. Our objective was to generate a useful proteomics resource for P. tritici-repentis. A survey of proteins secreted by the pathogen into culture filtrate is especially useful, as these are likely to come in direct contact with the wheat host and may play important roles in infection/pathogenicity. The peptide data presented herein, has also been used to successfully verify and refine in silico predicted P. tritici-repentis gene annotations, through the validation of alternative splicing and reading frame shifts. Data description: The data sets presented consist of peptide spectra of the extracellular and intracellular proteomes of three P. tritici-repentis isolates. Peptide matches to translated transcripts of the North American reference isolate Pt-1C-BFP are also provided.

Objective. To determine whether initial damage, disease duration, age, initial health status, average disease activity over the 5 yr or an average medication score covering the follow-up period would predict an increase in damage in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) within the next 5 yr. Methods. A 5-yr prospective longitudinal study of a cohort of 141 consecutive patients with SLE attending a specialist lupus out-patient clinic in London from their first assessment between July 1994 and February 1995. Disease activity was assessed using the BILAG system, initial health status by the Medical Outcome Survey Short Form 20 with an extra question about fatigue (SF-20+) and damage by the SLICC/ACR Damage Index (SDI). Damage was reassessed 5 yr later. Statistical analysis was carried out using multiple logistic regression analysis (logXact). Results. One hundred and thirty-three female and eight male SLE patients (97 Caucasians, 16 Afro-Caribbeans, 22 Asians and 6 others) were included, their age at inclusion was 41.1 ± 12.5 yr and their disease duration 10.2 ± 6.3 yr. The mean measures at inclusion were: total BILAG 5.2 (range 0-17), total SDI 1.2 (0-7) and medication score 1.2 (0-3). Six patients were lost to follow-up because they had moved. Of the remaining 135 patients total damage had increased in 40 patients and 10 patients had died. At the end of the study, at 4.63 ± 0.19 yr, the total SDI had increased to 1.6 ± 1.7. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that death and increase in damage were strongly predicted by a high total disease activity over the entire study period (P<0.001) as we had hypothesized. When the total BILAG score was replaced by the average number of A-flares the prediction of accrual of damage during the study period was again highly significant (P = 0.004). Conclusions. In this first prospective study of its type a highly significant impact of total disease activity, as measured over 5 yr using the BILAG system, on the

We investigated the Systemic Lupus International Collaborative Clinics/American College of Rheumatology (SLICC/ACR) Damage Index as a predictor of severe outcome and an indicator of morbidity in different ethnic groups, and in regard to its validity. We retrospectively studied disease course within 10 yr of diagnosis in an inception cohort of 80 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The mean renal damage score (DS) at 1 yr after diagnosis was a significant predictor of endstage renal failure and the mean pulmonary DS at 1 yr significantly predicted death within 10 yr of diagnosis. Compared to Caucasians, Afro-Caribbeans and Asians had significantly higher mean total DS at 5 and 10 yr, and higher mean renal DS at 10 yr. At 5 yr, the mean renal DS in Afro-Caribbeans and the mean neuropsychiatric DS in Asians were significantly higher than in Caucasians. The rate of endstage renal failure in Caucasians was significantly lower than in the other ethnic groups. Our results confirm the validity of the SLICC/ACR Damage Index

© 2016. Rhizoctonia solani is an important root infecting pathogen of a range of food staples worldwide including wheat, rice, maize, soybean, potato, legumes and others. Conventional resistance breeding strategies are hindered by the absence of tractable genetic resistance in any crop host. Understanding the biology and pathogenicity mechanisms of this fungus is important for addressing these disease issues, however, little is known about how R. solani causes disease. The data described in this article is derived from applying mass spectrometry based proteomics to identify soluble, membrane-bound and culture filtrate proteins produced under wheat infection and vegetative growth conditions. Comparisons of the data for sample types in this set will be useful to identify metabolic pathway changes as the fungus switches from saprophytic to a pathogenic lifestyle or pathogenicity related proteins contributing to the ability to cause disease on wheat. The data set is deposited in the PRIDE archive under identifier PRIDE: PXD002806.