Notes

Ultralow sidelobe midinfrared optical phased assortment using a broadband metasurface.
Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology.Purpose Transgender women experience significant health disparities, including increased risk of HIV infection. In this study, we examined the sexual health needs of transgender women in the context of their overall health and well-being and to identify overarching content framing strategies and content for a mobile health intervention. Methods We conducted four focus groups and 20 individual in-depth interviews in the United States with racially and geographically diverse transgender women. Results Four key themes were identified structural factors as a central part of health; prioritization of transition-related care and mental health; the need for sexual health beyond preventing sexually transmitted infections and HIV; and the importance of connection and community. Conclusions These themes can help inform the development of HIV prevention and sexual health promotion interventions for transgender women. The results suggest that the HIV and sexual health needs of transgender women should be addressed within the context of structural factors with a focus on resilience, community connection, and social support. © Christina J. Sun et al. 2019 Published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.Introduction Cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug in the US, and cannabis use among young adults continues to rise. Previous studies have shown that chronic administration of delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive component of cannabis, induces dependence in animal models. Because smoking is the most frequent route of THC self-administration, it is critical to investigate the effects of cannabis smoke inhalation. The goal of the current study was to develop a rat model to characterize the pharmacokinetics (PKs) of THC after cannabis smoke inhalation, and to determine if chronic cannabis smoke inhalation leads to the development of cannabis dependence. Materials and Methods For the PK study, male Wistar rats were administered THC intravenously (1 mg/kg) or exposed to smoke from 5 or 10 sequentially smoked cannabis cigarettes (5.3% THC) in an automated smoking machine. Plasma samples were collected from 10 min to 10 hours post smoke exposure (or intravenous administration) and analyzen THC concentrations and changes in ICSS thresholds after cannabis smoke exposure. Copyright 2019, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.Objective To determine the genetic underpinnings of slowly progressive spinocerebellar ataxia, autosomal recessive (SCAR), we performed exome analysis and examined the relationship between clinical severity and functional change induced by the mutation. TW-37 Methods Homozygosity fingerprinting and exome sequencing were performed to identify causative mutations in 2 consanguineous families. We assessed the expression of D-bifunctional protein (DBP) and the amount of dimerized DBP in fibroblasts by immunoblot and quantitative reverse transcription PCR. The pathogenicity of the mutation was evaluated using the Combined Annotation-Dependent Depletion (CADD) scores; these results were compared with the scores of previously reported mutations. Results We identified a homozygous mutation as causative of middle age-onset SCAR p.Ala175Thr, which is located in HSD17B4 that encodes peroxisomal DBP. The patients developed cerebellar ataxia, and the subsequent progression was slow. The symptoms presented were milder than those in previously reported cases. The messenger RNA expression levels were normal, but protein levels were diminished. Dimerization of DBP was also reduced. The CADD score of the identified mutation was lower than those of previously reported mutations. Conclusions This is the report of middle age-onset DBP deficiency. Residual functional DBP caused relatively mild symptoms in the affected patients, i.e., slowly progressive ataxia and hearing loss. This study broadens the scope of DBP deficiency phenotypes and indicates that CADD scores may be used to estimate the severity of DBP deficiencies. Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the American Academy of Neurology.Objective To present the postmortem neuropathologic report of a patient with a CHCHD10 mutation exhibiting an amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) clinical phenotype. Methods A 54-year-old man without significant medical history or family history presented with arm weakness, slowly progressed over 19 years to meet the El Escorial criteria for clinically probable ALS with bulbar and respiratory involvement, and was found to have a CHCHD10 p.R15L mutation. Postmortem neuropathologic examination took place including immunohistochemical staining with CHCHD10, and double immunofluorescence combining CHCHD10 with TDP43 and neurofilament was performed and the results were compared with normal controls and sporadic ALS cases. Results Postmortem examination of the CHCHD10 mutation carrier showed severe loss of hypoglossal and anterior horn motor neurons, mild corticospinal tract degeneration, and a relative lack of TDP43 immunopathology. CHCHD10 immunohistochemistry for the 3 controls and the 5 sporadic ALS cases showed strong neuronal cytoplasmic and axonal labeling, with the CHCHD10 mutation carrier also having numerous CHCHD10 aggregates within their anterior horns. These aggregates may be related to the CHCHD10 aggregates recently described to cause mitochondrial degeneration and disease in a tissue-selective toxic gain-of-function fashion in a CHCHD10 knock-in mouse model. The CHCHD10 aggregates did not colocalize with TDP43 and were predominantly extracellular on double immunofluorescence labeling with neurofilament. Conclusions The neuropathology of CHCHD10 mutated ALS includes predominantly lower motor neuron degeneration, absent TDP43 immunopathology, and aggregates of predominantly extracellular CHCHD10, which do not contain TDP43. Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the American Academy of Neurology.Objective To delineate the phenotypic and genotypic spectrum in carriers of mitochondrial MT-ATP6 mutations in a large international cohort. Methods We analyzed in detail the clinical, genetical, and neuroimaging data from 132 mutation carriers from national registries and local databases from Europe, USA, Japan, and China. Results We identified 113 clinically affected and 19 asymptomatic individuals with a known pathogenic MT-ATP6 mutation. The most frequent mutations were m.8993 T > G (53/132, 40%), m.8993 T > C (30/132, 23%), m.9176 T > C (30/132, 23%), and m.9185 T > C (12/132, 9%). The degree of heteroplasmy was high both in affected (mean 95%, range 20%-100%) and unaffected individuals (mean 73%, range 20%-100%). Age at onset ranged from prenatal to the age of 75 years, but almost half of the patients (49/103, 48%) became symptomatic before their first birthday. In 28 deceased patients, the median age of death was 14 months. The most frequent symptoms were ataxia (81%), cognitive dysfunction (49%), neuropathy (48%), seizures (37%), and retinopathy (14%).
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