Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an important and underreported infectious disease, causing chronic infection in ~71 million people worldwide. The limited host range of HCV, which robustly infects only humans and chimpanzees, has made studying this virus in vivo challenging and hampered the development of a desperately needed vaccine. The restrictions and ethical concerns surrounding biomedical research in chimpanzees has made the search for an animal model all the more important. In this review, we discuss different approaches that are being pursued toward creating small animal models for HCV infection. Although efforts to use a nonhuman primate species besides chimpanzees have proven challenging, important advances have been achieved in a variety of humanized mouse models. However, such models still fall short of the overarching goal to have an immunocompetent, inheritably susceptible in vivo platform in which the immunopathology of HCV could be studied and putative vaccines development. Alternatives to overcome this include virus adaptation, such as murine-tropic HCV strains, or the use of related hepaciviruses, of which many have been recently identified. Of the latter, the rodent/rat hepacivirus from Rattus norvegicus species-1 (RHV-rn1) holds promise as a surrogate virus in fully immunocompetent rats that can inform our understanding of the interaction between the immune response and viral outcomes (i.e., clearance vs. persistence). However, further characterization of these animal models is necessary before their use for gaining new insights into the immunopathogenesis of HCV and for conceptualizing HCV vaccines.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:

The massa intermedia is a normal midline transventricular thalamic connection. Massa intermedia aberrations are common in schizophrenia, Chiari II malformation, X-linked hydrocephalus, Cornelia de Lange syndrome, and diencephalic-mesencephalic junction dysplasia, among others. We have noticed that massa intermedia abnormalities often accompany other midline malformations. The massa intermedia has never been formally evaluated in a group of exclusively pediatric patients, to our knowledge. We sought to compare and contrast the prevalence, size, and location of the massa intermedia in pediatric patients with and without congenital midline brain abnormalities.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:

Endovascular embolization only has been advocated for treatment of brain arteriovenous malformations in recent trials. Our aim was to evaluate the results of embolization only in a cohort of patients who were enrolled in the A Randomized Trial of Unruptured Brain Arteriovenous Malformations (ARUBA) study at 39 clinical sites in 9 countries.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:

Embolization is widely performed to treat brain arteriovenous malformations, but little has been reported on factors contributing to complications. We retrospectively reviewed a nationwide surveillance to identify risk factors contributing to complications and short-term clinical outcomes in the endovascular treatment of brain arteriovenous malformations.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:

Anoxic brain injury is a result of prolonged hypoxia. We sought to describe the nonquantitative arterial spin-labeling perfusion imaging patterns of anoxic brain injury, characterize the relationship of arterial spin-labeling and DWI, and evaluate the normalized diffusion-to-perfusion ratio to differentiate patients with anoxic brain injury from healthy controls.

Nintendo has released its latest hardware and software figures for the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo 3DS through March 31, 2020. Shipments figures for the Nintendo Switch reached 55.77 million units, while the Nintendo 3DS hit 75.77 million units shipped. As for lifetime software 356.24 million Switch games have been shipped and 383.11 million 3DS games. 

For the quarter Nintendo shipped 3.28 million Switch units and 45.59 million Switch games, as well as 0.07 million 3DS units and 0.89 million 3DS games. 

Nintendo forecasts it will ship 19 million Switch units in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021.

Here are the top 10 best-selling Switch first-party titles:

1. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 24.77 million
2. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 18.84 million
3. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – 17.41 million
4. Super Mario Odyssey – 17.41 million
5. Pokemon Sword / Pokemon Shield – 17.37 million
6. Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! / Pokemon: Let’s Go, Eevee! – 11.97 million
7. Animal Crossing: New Horizons – 11.77 million (first 11 days) / 13.41 million (first six weeks)
8. Splatoon 2 – 10.13 million
9. Super Mario Party – 10.10 million
10. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe – 6.60 million

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.

Full Article - https://www.vgchartz.com/article/443417/switch-shipments-reach-5577-million-units-as-of-march-31-animal-crossing-new-horizons-sells-12-million/

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Paris show features wildlife costumes to emphasise the label’s planet-friendly ethos

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The optics were fun, but the message was serious – that there are animals on almost every catwalk, it’s just that they are usually dead. The half-moon shoulder bag carried jauntily by a brown cow here was made from a vegan alternative to leather, while other bags were created from second-life plastic.

Could frilly satin and lace underwear, along with form-fitting ‘shapewear’, really replace the traditional vest and Y-fronts?

Decades ago, Prince sported high-cut, leather-look women’s briefs on stage, and Rod Stewart borrowed satin knickers from his then girlfriend, Britt Ekland, to wear under tight trousers while performing. Now, ranges of male lingerie are being launched for the man on the street to buy – raising the question: will it catch on?

One man thinks so. Jules Parker, 54, is a full-time metalworker who has set up Moot Lingerie, which combines traditional male underwear shapes with non-traditional lingerie flourishes and fabrics.

Complacency is not a word in Kelsey Wog’s vocabulary. Every season, the fourth-year Bisons swimmer finds a way to take her game to the next level and break records along the ...

A couple of weeks ago, we noted some new NPD numbers pointing to a very good March for the Switch. Nintendo’s financials this week bear out the predicted surge in popularity for the three-year-old console. The company has sold 21 million Switch units in the past year, handily beating a 19.5 million forecast; 6.2 million […]

Following China’s switch to a two-child policy, there has been a slight rise in congenital anomalies, perhaps because parents are older on average at conception

New Zealand is on track to eliminate covid-19 altogether, but keeping the virus out for good will be a challenge, and the economic impacts are likely to hurt

"I think people are seeing that there is a problem. It's whether they are prepared to take that political risk to actually do something about it."

Kiren Rijiju said coronavirus has changed everything and sports need to be conducted in a new way

Kiren Rijiju said coronavirus has changed everything and sports need to be conducted in a new way

Use our interactive checklist to help fill up your museum with all the dinosaur fossils in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

The novel coronavirus has been discovered in the semen of infected male individuals, according to Chinese researchers, potentially raising the prospect that the virus could potentially be sexually transmitted.

The 'My Boy Lollipop' hitmaker suffered a stroke, according to her friend and manager, Chris Blackwell, who also co-produced the 1964 hit, which became one of the top-selling ska songs of all time.

The House's special panel policing coronavirus spending demanded Friday that five large corporations return rescue money that was intended for small businesses.

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"Since your company is a public entity ...

So-called gynandromorphs are rare, but they can teach us a lot about development and evolution

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While COVID-19 stymies travel, help conserve those things—from cacti to manta rays—that will beckon you later

A new method for reliably identifying the presence of beer or other malted foodstuffs in archaeological finds is described in a new study.

In physics, thermalization, or the trend of sub-systems within a whole to gain a common temperature, is typically the norm. There are situations, however, where thermalization is slowed down or virtually suppressed; examples are when considering the dynamics of electron and nuclear spins in solids. Understanding why this happens and how it can be controlled is presently at the center of a broad effort, particularly for applications in the emerging field of quantum information technologies.

The life of a New York video game enthusiast who died from complications of the coronavirus was celebrated with a virtual service on Nintendo’s hit video game: “Animal Crossing: New Horizons.”

Equity markets rallied on Friday, hitting weekly highs, and oil prices gained as more governments around the world began gradually reopening their economies and Sino-American trade tensions eased.

The U.S. government's $660 billion program to rescue small businesses hit by the coronavirus pandemic thwarts the intention of Congress by making it hard for some borrowers to convert loans to grants and failing to prioritize the right businesses, a government watchdog said on Friday.

Follow our live coronavirus updates HERE Coronavirus: The symptoms

Up to 30 new marine species discovered on research expedition into underwater canyons

Follow our live coronavirus updates HERE Coronavirus: The symptoms

Former Home Office Permanent Secretary Sir Philip Rutnam has formally begun legal action against Home Secretary Priti Patel, claiming "constructive dismissal".

Carrie Symonds has signed a petition calling for a worldwide ban on live animal meat markets after coronavirus is thought to have emerged at a "wet market" in Wuhan, China.