West Nile virus (WNV) is a neurotropic flavivirus that has emerged globally as a significant cause of viral encephalitis in humans. The WNV-induced innate immune response, including production of antiviral cytokines, is critical for controlling virus infection. The adaptor protein ASC mediates a critical step in innate immune signaling by bridging the interaction between the pathogen recognitio...

BACKGROUND Although autism spectrum condition (ASC) is strongly genetic in origin, accumulating evidence points to the critical roles of various environmental influences on its emergence and subsequent developmental course. METHODS A developmental psychopathology framework was used to synthesise literature on environmental factors associated with the onset and course of ASC (based on a system...

Skin regeneration is an important area of research in the field of tissue-engineering, especially for cases involving loss of massive areas of skin, where current treatments are not capable of inducing permanent satisfying replacements. Human adipose-derived stem cells (ASC) have been shown to differentiate in-vitro into both mesenchymal lineages and non-mesenchymal lineages, confirming their t...

Pragmatic difficulties are considered a hallmark of autism spectrum conditions (ASC), but remain poorly understood. We discuss and evaluate existing hypotheses regarding the literalism ASC individuals, that is, their tendency for literal interpretations non-literal communicative intentions. present evidence reveals developmental stage at which neurotypical children also have suggest an explanat...

Individuals with autism spectrum condition (ASC) are known to excel in some perceptual cognitive tasks, but such developed functions have been often regarded as "islets of abilities" that do not significantly contribute to broader intellectual capacities. However, recent behavioral studies have reported that individuals with ASC have advantages for performing Raven's (Standard) Progressive Matr...

Orthopaedic tissues, such as bone, cartilage, intervertebral disc and tendon, contain cells that are difficult to culture and stimulate in vitro for repair of damaged tissue. Stem cells have the ability to self-renew and differentiate into many tissue types. Recent progress in stem cell research has led to an enthusiastic effort to utilize stem cells for orthopaedic tissue regeneration. Due to ...

In addition to difficulties in social communication, current diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum conditions (ASC) also incorporate sensorimotor difficulties, repetitive motor movements, and atypical reactivity to sensory input (1). This paper explores whether sensorimotor difficulties are associated with the development and maintenance of symptoms in ASC. First, studies have shown difficult...

Enhanced perception of detail has long been regarded a hallmark of autism spectrum conditions (ASC), but its origins are unknown. Normal sensitivity on all fundamental perceptual measures-visual acuity, contrast discrimination, and flicker detection-is strongly established in the literature. If individuals with ASC do not have superior low-level vision, how is perception of detail enhanced? We ...