Traumatic brain injury rehabilitation: analysis of common data elements.

Physical medicine rehabilitation interventions for post-acute traumatic brain injury (TBI) are heterogeneous and subject to differences based on multi-disciplinary treatment plans [1]. There is no universal knowledge representation (KR) model for TBI rehabilitation which impedes data collection, aggregation, computation, and sharing. This paper describes results of an analysis of the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) TBI "Common Data Elements" (CDE) clinical data standardization set. We conducted this to understand current TBI rehabilitation KR and as a foundational step toward the creation of a domain ontology. A content coverage study was performed on the "Treatment/Intervention" sub-set of CDEs. Results show that coverage of the CDEs is broad but lacks depth to represent the context of data collection in the TBI rehabilitation process. Next steps will be development of a KR model and identification and validation of domain concepts for a foundational ontology.

Plant-mediated alteration of the peritrophic matrix and baculovirus infection in lepidopteran larvae.

The peritrophic matrix (PM) lines the midgut of most insects, providing protection to the midgut epithelial cells while permitting passage of nutrients and water. Herein, we provide evidence that plant-mediated alteration of the PM contributes to the well-documented inhibition of fatal infection by Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) of Heliothis virescens F. larvae fed cotton foliage. We examined the impact of the PM on pathogenesis using a viral construct expressing a reporter gene (AcMNPV-hsp70/lacZ) orally inoculated into larvae with either intact PMs or PMs disrupted by Trichoplusia ni granulovirus occlusion bodies containing enhancin, known to degrade insect intestinal mucin. Larvae possessing disrupted PMs displayed infection foci (lacZ signaling) earlier than those with intact PMs. We then examined PMs from larvae fed artificial diet or plant foliage using electron microscopy; foliage-fed larvae had significantly thicker PMs than diet-fed larvae. Moreover, mean PM width was inversely related to both the proportion of larvae with lacZ signaling at 18h post-inoculation and the final percentage mortality from virus. Thus, feeding on foliage altered PM structure, and these foliage-mediated changes reduced baculoviral efficacy. These data indicate that the PM is an important factor determining the success of an ingested pathogen in foliage-fed lepidopteran larvae.