Digital Commons Network^™

Association Of Ambient Fine Particulate Matter Air Pollution With Kidney Transplant Outcomes, Su-Hsin Chang, Massini Merzkani, Haris Murad, Mei Wang, Benjamin Bowe, Krista L. Lentine, Ziyad Al-Aly, Tarek Alhamad

Open Access Publications

Importance: Increased levels of ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution are associated with increased risks for detrimental health outcomes, but risks for patients with kidney transplants (KTs) remain unknown.

Objective: To investigate the association of PM2.5 exposure with KT outcomes.

Design, Setting, and Participants: This retrospective cohort study was conducted using data on patients who received KTs from 2004 to 2016 who were identified in the national US transplant registry and followed up through March 2021. Multiple databases were linked to obtain data on PM2.5 concentration, KT outcomes, and patient clinical, transplant, and contextual factors. Data were analyzed from …

Circulating Cd5l Is Associated With Cardiovascular Events And All-Cause Mortality In Individuals With Chronic Kidney Disease, Esmeralda Castelblanco, Maria R. Sarrias, Àngels Betriu, Berta Soldevila, Maria Barranco-Altirriba, Josep Franch-Nadal, Jose M. Valdivielso, Marcelino Bermudez-Lopez, Per-Henrik Groop, Elvira Fernández, Núria Alonso, Didac Mauricio

Open Access Publications

This study assessed the association of CD5L and soluble CD36 (sCD36) with the risk of a cardiovascular event (CVE), including CV death and all-cause mortality in CKD. We evaluated the association of CD5L and sCD36 with a predefined composite CV endpoint (unstable angina, myocardial infarction, transient ischemic attack, cerebrovascular accident, congestive heart failure, arrhythmia, peripheral arterial disease [PAD] or amputation by PAD, aortic aneurysm, or death from CV causes) and all-cause mortality using Cox proportional hazards regression, adjusted for CV risk factors. The analysis included 1,516 participants free from pre-existing CV disease followed up for 4 years. The median age …

Comparison Of Methods To Estimate Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol In Patients With High Triglyceride Levels, Aparna Sajja, Anne Goldberg, Et Al

Open Access Publications

Importance: Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is typically estimated with the Friedewald or Martin/Hopkins equation; however, if triglyceride levels are 400 mg/dL or greater, laboratories reflexively perform direct LDL-C (dLDL-C) measurement. The use of direct chemical LDL-C assays and estimation of LDL-C via the National Institutes of Health Sampson equation are not well validated, and data on the accuracy of LDL-C estimation at higher triglyceride levels are limited.

Objective: To compare an extended Martin/Hopkins equation for triglyceride values of 400 to 799 mg/dL with the Friedewald and Sampson equations.

Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study evaluated consecutive patients at clinical …

Comprehensive Assessment Of A Nationwide Simulation-Based Course For Artificial Life Support, Mateusz Puslecki, Ahmed S Said, Et Al

Open Access Publications

BACKGROUND: Successful implementation of medical technologies applied in life-threatening conditions, including extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) requires appropriate preparation and training of medical personnel. The pandemic has accelerated the creation of new ECMO centers and has highlighted continuous training in adapting to new pandemic standards. To reach high standards of patients' care, we created the first of its kind, National Education Centre for Artificial Life Support (NEC-ALS) in 40 million inhabitants' country in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The role of the Center is to test and promote the novel or commonly used procedures as well as to develop staff …

The Kanyakla Study: Randomized Controlled Trial Of A Microclinic Social Network Intervention For Promoting Engagement And Retention In Hiv Care In Rural Western Kenya, Matthew D. Hickey, Elvin H. Geng, Et Al

Open Access Publications

BACKGROUND: Existing social relationships are a potential source of "social capital" that can enhance support for sustained retention in HIV care. A previous pilot study of a social network-based 'microclinic' intervention, including group health education and facilitated HIV status disclosure, reduced disengagement from HIV care. We conducted a pragmatic randomized trial to evaluate microclinic effectiveness.

METHODS: In nine rural health facilities in western Kenya, we randomized HIV-positive adults with a recent missed clinic visit to either participation in a microclinic or usual care (NCT02474992). We collected visit data at all clinics where participants accessed care and evaluated intervention effect on …

Intestinal Goblet Cells Sample And Deliver Lumenal Antigens By Regulated Endocytic Uptake And Transcytosis, Jenny K. Gustafsson, Jazmyne E. Davis, Tracy Rappai, Keely G. Mcdonald, Devesha H. Kulkarni, Kathryn A. Knoop, Simon P. Hogan, James A.J. Fitzpatrick, Wayne I. Lencer, Rodney D. Newberry

Open Access Publications

Intestinal goblet cells maintain the protective epithelial barrier through mucus secretion and yet sample lumenal substances for immune processing through formation of goblet cell associated antigen passages (GAPs). The cellular biology of GAPs and how these divergent processes are balanced and regulated by goblet cells remains unknown. Using high-resolution light and electron microscopy, we found that in mice, GAPs were formed by an acetylcholine (ACh)-dependent endocytic event remarkable for delivery of fluid-phase cargo retrograde into the trans-golgi network and across the cell by transcytosis - in addition to the expected transport of fluid-phase cargo by endosomes to multi-vesicular bodies and …

A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial Assessing The Effect Of Visbiome Es Probiotic In People With Hiv On Antiretroviral Therapy, Rachel M. Presti, Et Al

Open Access Publications

Background: A5350, a phase II, randomized, double-blind study, evaluated the safety and tolerability of the probiotic Visbiome Extra Strength (ES) over 24 weeks and measured effects on inflammation and intestinal barrier function.

Methods: The primary outcome was change in soluble CD14 (sCD14) levels; secondary outcomes included safety and tolerability, markers of inflammation and cellular activation, and microbiome. In a substudy, gut permeability was assessed by paired colonic biopsies measuring the area of lamina propria occupied by CD4+ cells, interleukin (IL)-17+ cells, and myeloperoxidase (MPO). Changes between arms were compared with the 2-sample

Results: Overall, 93 participants enrolled: 86% male, median …

Cell Death And Transcriptional Responses Induced In Larvae Of The Nematode Haemonchus Contortus By Toxins/Toxicants With Broad Phylogenetic Efficacy, Douglas P Jasmer, Bruce A Rosa, Makedonka Mitreva

Open Access Publications

Establishing methods to investigate treatments that induce cell death in parasitic nematodes will promote experimental approaches to elucidate mechanisms and to identify prospective anthelmintics capable of inducing this outcome. Here, we extended recent progress on a method to monitor cell death and to identify small molecule inhibitors in

A Comprehensive Review Of Tic Disorders In Children, Keisuke Ueda, Kevin J. Black

Open Access Publications

Tics are characterized by sudden, rapid, recurrent, nonrhythmic movement or vocalization, and are the most common movement disorders in children. Their onset is usually in childhood and tics often will diminish within one year. However, some of the tics can persist and cause various problems such as social embarrassment, physical discomfort, or emotional impairments, which could interfere with daily activities and school performance. Furthermore, tic disorders are frequently associated with comorbid neuropsychiatric symptoms, which can become more problematic than tic symptoms. Unfortunately, misunderstanding and misconceptions of tic disorders still exist among the general population. Understanding tic disorders and their comorbidities …

Flexor Tendon Injury And Repair: The Influence Of Synovial Environment On The Early Healing Response In A Canine Mode, Hua Shen, Susumu Yoneda, Shelly E Sakiyama-Elbert, Qiang Zhang, Stavros Thomopoulos, Richard H Gelberman

Open Access Publications

BACKGROUND: Environmental conditions strongly influence the healing capacity of connective tissues. Well-vascularized extrasynovial tendons typically undergo a robust wound-healing process following transection and repair. In contrast, avascular intrasynovial tendons do not mount an effective repair response. The current study tests the hypothesis that flexor tendons, as a function of their synovial environment, exhibit unique inflammatory, angiogenic, and metabolic responses to injury and repair.

METHODS: Flexor tendons present a distinct opportunity to test the study hypothesis, as they have proximal regions that are extrasynovial and distal regions that are intrasynovial. In an internally controlled study design, the second and fifth forepaw …

Identifying The Impact Of Intimate Partner Violence In Humanitarian Settings: Using An Ecological Framework To Review 15 Years Of Evidence, Melissa Meinhart, Ilana Seff, Katrina Troy, Samantha Mcnelly, Luissa Vahedi, Catherine Poulton, Lindsay Stark

Open Access Publications

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a pervasive form of gender-based violence that exacerbates in humanitarian settings. This systematic review examined the myriad IPV impacts and the quality of existing evidence of IPV in humanitarian settings. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) procedures, a total of 51 articles were included from the 3924 screened. We identified the impact of IPV across two levels of the ecological framework: individual and microsystem. Our findings corroborated previous evidence that indicated IPV to be associated with adverse physical and mental health for survivors. Our findings also uniquely synthesized the intergenerational …

Bictegravir-Based Antiretroviral Therapy-Associated Accelerated Hyperglycemia And Diabetes Mellitus, Nathanial S. Nolan, Samantha Adamson, Dominic Reeds, Jane A. O'Halloran

Open Access Publications

Integrase strand transfer inhibitor (INSTI)-based antiretroviral therapy (ART) is first line for treatment of people with human immunodeficiency virus (PWH). Emerging data suggest the possibility of adverse metabolic effects of these medications. We describe 3 cases in which PWH developed hyperglycemia and ketoacidosis within months of being switched to bictegravir-based ART.

Effects Of Gynura Bicolor On Glycemic Control And Antioxidant Ability In Prediabetes, Chu-Hsuan Hsia, Yu-Tang Tung, Yu-Sheng Yeh, Yi-Wen Chien

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

Mri Radiomic Signature Of White Matter Hyperintensities Is Associated With Clinical Phenotypes, Martin Bretzner, Laura Heitsch, Chia-Ling Phuah, Et Al

Open Access Publications

Objective: Neuroimaging measurements of brain structural integrity are thought to be surrogates for brain health, but precise assessments require dedicated advanced image acquisitions. By means of quantitatively describing conventional images, radiomic analyses hold potential for evaluating brain health. We sought to: (1) evaluate radiomics to assess brain structural integrity by predicting white matter hyperintensities burdens (WMH) and (2) uncover associations between predictive radiomic features and clinical phenotypes.

Methods: We analyzed a multi-site cohort of 4,163 acute ischemic strokes (AIS) patients with T2-FLAIR MR images with total brain and WMH segmentations. Radiomic features were extracted from normal-appearing brain tissue (brain mask-WMH …

Disentangling The Complexity Of The Rumen Microbial Diversity Through Fractionation Using A Sucrose Density Gradient, Ruth Hernández, Hugo Jimenez, Cesar Vargas-Garcia, Alejandro Caro-Quintero, Alejandro Reyes

Open Access Publications

The ruminal microbial community is an important element in health, nutrition, livestock productivity, and climate impact. Despite the historic and current efforts to characterize this microbial diversity, many of its members remain unidentified, making it challenging to associate microbial groups with functions. Here we present a low-cost methodology for rumen sample treatment that separates the microbial community based on cell size, allowing for the identification of subtle compositional changes. In brief, the sample is centrifuged through a series of sucrose density gradients, and cells migrate to their corresponding density fraction. From each fraction, DNA is extracted and

The Top 100 Cited Papers In The Field Of Iron Deficiency In Humans: A Bibliometric Study, John L. Frater

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

Stk39 Promotes Breast Cancer Invasion And Metastasis By Increasing Snai1 Activity Upon Phosphorylation, Zhaoping Qiu, Bo Dong, Weijie Guo, Rychahou Piotr, Greg Longmore, Xiuwei Yang, Zhiyong Yu, Jiong Deng, B. Mark Evers, Yadi Wu

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

Gene Therapy For Aromatic L-Amino Acid Decarboxylase Deficiency By Mr-Guided Direct Delivery Of Aav2-Aadc To Midbrain Dopaminergic Neurons, Toni S. Pearson, Et Al.

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

Adipose Tissue Hyaluronan Production Improves Systemic Glucose Homeostasis And Primes Adipocytes For Cl 316,243-Stimulated Lipolysis, Yi Zhu, Gordon I. Smith, Samuel Klein, Et Al

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

Structure And Function Of Pancreatic Lipase-Related Protein 2 And Its Relationship With Pathological States, Guoying Zhu, Qing Fang, Fengshang Zhu, Dongping Huang, Changqing Yang

Open Access Publications

Pancreatic lipase is critical for the digestion and absorption of dietary fats. The most abundant lipolytic enzymes secreted by the pancreas are pancreatic triglyceride lipase (PTL or PNLIP) and its family members, pancreatic lipase-related protein 1 (PNLIPRP1or PLRP1) and pancreatic lipase-related protein 2 (PNLIPRP2 or PLRP2). Unlike the family's other members, PNLIPRP2 plays an elemental role in lipid digestion, especially for newborns. Therefore, if genetic factors cause gene mutation, or other factors lead to non-expression, it may have an effect on fat digestion and absorption, on the susceptibility to pancreas and intestinal pathogens. In this review, we will summarize what …

The Sulfur Microbial Diet And Risk Of Colorectal Cancer By Molecular Subtypes And Intratumoral Microbial Species In Adult Men, Daniel R. Sikavi, Yin Cao, Et Al

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

Association Between Smoking And Molecular Subtypes Of Colorectal Cancer, Xiaoliang Wang, Yin Cao, Et Al

Open Access Publications

Background: Smoking is associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) risk. Previous studies suggested this association may be restricted to certain molecular subtypes of CRC, but large-scale comprehensive analysis is lacking.

Methods: A total of 9789 CRC cases and 11 231 controls of European ancestry from 11 observational studies were included. We harmonized smoking variables across studies and derived sex study-specific quartiles of pack-years of smoking for analysis. Four somatic colorectal tumor markers were assessed individually and in combination, including

Results: Heavier smoking was associated with higher risk of CRC overall and stratified by individual markers (

Conclusion: Smoking was associated with …

Cardiac Performance In The First Year Of Age Among Preterm Infants Fed Maternal Breast Milk, Afif El-Khuffash, Adam J. Lewandowski, Amish Jain, Aaron Hamvas, Gautam K. Singh, Philip T. Levy

Open Access Publications

Importance: There is a beneficial association between human breast milk exposure in the neonatal period and cardiac mechanics in adults who were born preterm. It is unknown whether this benefit is apparent in infants in the first year of age.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that higher consumption of mother's own milk in preterm infants is associated with enhanced cardiac performance during the first year of age.

Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study of cardiac and nutritional data at an academic medical center included 80 individuals born preterm and 100 individuals in the control group born full-term. All births …

Home Hazard Removal To Reduce Falls Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial, Susan Stark, Marian Keglovits, Emily Somerville, Yi-Ling Hu, Abigail Barker, Dave Sykora, Yan Yan

Open Access Publications

Importance: Falls are the leading preventable cause of morbidity, mortality, and premature institutionalization for community-dwelling older adults.

Objective: To test the effectiveness of a behavioral intervention on fall risk among older adults receiving services from an Area Agency on Aging.

Design, Setting, and Participants: This randomized clinical trial examined a home hazard removal intervention in the community using a race- and sex-stratified randomization design. Older adults receiving services from the Area Agency on Aging in urban St Louis, Missouri, were assigned to a home hazard removal intervention delivered over 2 weeks with a 6-month booster or usual care control. Eligible …

Ngn3-Positive Cells Arise From Pancreatic Duct Cells, Chiemi Kimura-Nakajima, Kousuke Sakaguchi, Yoshiko Hatano, Masahito Matsumoto, Yasushi Okazaki, Keisuke Tanaka, Takumi Yamane, Yuichi Oishi, Kenji Kamimoto, Ken Iwatsuki

Open Access Publications

The production of pancreatic β cells is the most challenging step for curing diabetes using next-generation treatments. Adult pancreatic endocrine cells are thought to be maintained by the self-duplication of differentiated cells, and pancreatic endocrine neogenesis can only be observed when the tissue is severely damaged. Experimentally, this can be performed using a method named partial duct ligation (PDL). As the success rate of PDL surgery is low because of difficulties in identifying the pancreatic duct, we previously proposed a method for fluorescently labeling the duct in live animals. Using this method, we performed PDL on neurogenin3 (Ngn3)-GFP transgenic mice …

Emerging Genotype-Phenotype Relationships In Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia, Steven K Brennan, Thomas W Ferkol, Stephanie D Davis

Open Access Publications

Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a rare inherited condition affecting motile cilia and leading to organ laterality defects, recurrent sino-pulmonary infections, bronchiectasis, and severe lung disease. Research over the past twenty years has revealed variability in clinical presentations, ranging from mild to more severe phenotypes. Genotype and phenotype relationships have emerged. The increasing availability of genetic panels for PCD continue to redefine these genotype-phenotype relationships and reveal milder forms of disease that had previously gone unrecognized.

Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Rv3160c Is Atetr‑Like Transcriptional Repressor That Regulates Expression Of The Putative Oxygenase Rv3161c, Hasan Tükenmez, Souvik Sarkar, Saber Anoosheh, Anastasiia Kruchanova, Isabel Edström, Gregory A. Harrison, Christina L. Stallings, Fredrik Almqvist, Christer Larsson

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

Genome-Wide Meta-Analysis Of Muscle Weakness Identifies 15 Susceptibility Loci In Older Men And Women, Garan Jones, Mary K. Wojczynski, Et Al.

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of The Neonatal Sequential Organ Failure Assessment And Mortality Risk In Preterm Infants With Late-Onset Infection, Noa Fleiss, Angela N. Lewis, Krista E. Cooksey, Ameena N. Husain, Misty Good, Et Al

Open Access Publications

Importance: Infection in neonates remains a substantial problem. Advances for this population are hindered by the absence of a consensus definition for sepsis. In adults, the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) operationalizes mortality risk with infection and defines sepsis. The generalizability of the neonatal SOFA (nSOFA) for neonatal late-onset infection-related mortality remains unknown.

Objective: To determine the generalizability of the nSOFA for neonatal late-onset infection-related mortality across multiple sites.

Design, Setting, and Participants: A multicenter retrospective cohort study was conducted at 7 academic neonatal intensive care units between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2019. Participants included 653 preterm ( …

Effects Of Dietary Restriction On Neuroinflammation In Neurodegenerative Diseases, Luigi Fontana, Laura Ghezzi, Anne H. Cross, Laura Piccio

Open Access Publications

Recent and accumulating work in experimental animal models and humans shows that diet has a much more pervasive and prominent role than previously thought in modulating neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative mechanisms leading to some of the most common chronic central nervous system (CNS) diseases. Chronic or intermittent food restriction has profound effects in shaping brain and peripheral metabolism, immunity, and gut microbiome biology. Interactions among calorie intake, meal frequency, diet quality, and the gut microbiome modulate specific metabolic and molecular pathways that regulate cellular, tissue, and organ homeostasis as well as inflammation during normal brain aging and CNS neurodegenerative diseases, including …