Cytometry masked autoencoder: An accurate and interpretable automated immunophenotyper.

Single-cell cytometry data are crucial for understanding the role of the immune system in diseases and responses to treatment. However, traditional methods for annotating cytometry data face challenges in scalability, robustness, and accuracy. We propose a cytometry masked autoencoder (cyMAE), which automates immunophenotyping tasks including cell type annotation.

Glee in threes: Positive affect synchrony in parent-infant triads is moderated by maternal hair cortisol and parenting stress.

Background: Positive affect synchrony, or the reciprocal exchange of positive affect during free play, can scaffold infants' socioemotional development. However, parental stress may compromise the expression and exchange of positive affect within families. The current study assesses whether parenting stress and hair cortisol are associated with positive affect synchrony during a triadic play interaction.

Deep phenotyping of the lipidomic response in COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 sepsis.

Background: Lipids may influence cellular penetrance by viral pathogens and the immune response that they evoke. We deeply phenotyped the lipidomic response to SARs-CoV-2 and compared that with infection with other pathogens in patients admitted with acute respiratory distress syndrome to an intensive care unit (ICU).

Methods: Mass spectrometry was used to characterise lipids and relate them to proteins, peripheral cell immunotypes and disease severity.

Deep Phenotyping of the Lipidomic Response in COVID and non-COVID Sepsis.

Lipids may influence cellular penetrance by pathogens and the immune response that they evoke. Here we find a broad based lipidomic storm driven predominantly by secretory (s) phospholipase A (sPLA ) dependent eicosanoid production occurs in patients with sepsis of viral and bacterial origin and relates to disease severity in COVID-19. Elevations in the cyclooxygenase (COX) products of arachidonic acid (AA), PGD and PGI , and the AA lipoxygenase (LOX) product, 12-HETE, and a reduction in the high abundance lipids, ChoE 18:3, LPC-O-16:0 and PC-O-30:0 exhibit relative specificity for COVID-19 amongst such patients, correlate with the inflammatory response and link to disease severity.

Patients' Perspectives on Life and Recovery 1 Year After COVID-19 Hospitalization.

Background: Many patients hospitalized for COVID-19 experience prolonged symptoms months after discharge. Little is known abou t patients' personal experiences recovering from COVID-19 in the United States (US), where medically underserved populations are at particular risk of adverse outcomes.

Objective: To explore patients' perspectives on the impact of COVID-19 hospitalization and barriers to and facilitators of recovery 1 year after hospital discharge in a predominantly Black American study population with high neighborhood-level socioeconomic disadvantage.

Validating a Proteomic Signature of Severe COVID-19.

Unlabelled: COVID-19 is a heterogenous disease. Biomarker-based approaches may identify patients at risk for severe disease, who may be more likely to benefit from specific therapies. Our objective was to identify and validate a plasma protein signature for severe COVID-19.

Association of vancomycin plus piperacillin-tazobactam with early changes in creatinine versus cystatin C in critically ill adults: a prospective cohort study.

Purpose: Although dozens of studies have associated vancomycin + piperacillin-tazobactam with increased acute kidney injury (AKI) risk, it is unclear whether the association represents true injury or a pseudotoxicity characterized by isolated effects on creatinine secretion. We tested this hypothesis by contrasting changes in creatinine concentration after antibiotic initiation with changes in cystatin C concentration, a kidney biomarker unaffected by tubular secretion.

Methods: We included patients enrolled in the Molecular Epidemiology of SepsiS in the ICU (MESSI) prospective cohort who were treated for ≥ 48 h with vancomycin + piperacillin-tazobactam or vancomycin + cefepime.

The Role of Implicit Bias in Surgical Resident Evaluations.

Background: Implicit bias is a key factor preventing the advancement and retention of women and underrepresented minorities in academic surgery.

Purpose: We examined the role of implicit bias in the technical component of the residency performance evaluation. The Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) score, an objective measure of technical performance, was compared to the subjective technical skills (TS) score given by attending surgeons.

Physical touch during father-infant interactions is associated with paternal oxytocin levels.

Introduction: Physical connection, particularly parent-to-infant touch, is critical for the well-being of infants and may support the development of the parent-infant bond. Physical touch has also been found to stimulate oxytocin levels. This study tested whether fathers' micro-coded touch behaviors during parent-child interaction predicted their subsequent oxytocin levels.

When are you too old to get a kidney transplants?

Purpose Of Review: With the increasing incidence and prevalence of ESRD in the elderly, we are now transplanting more elderly patients. Although we know from previous reports that transplantation provides increased survival advantage and/or quality of life when compared to being on dialysis, we also know that transplantation is not the best option for all patients. In this review, we try to identify the upper age limit (if any) for deceased donor renal transplantation, predictive factors that can identify the risks for transplant outcomes, frailty, and immunosenescence.

Expression and purification of tau protein and its frontotemporal dementia variants using a cleavable histidine tag.

Recombinant tau protein is widely used to study the biochemical, cellular and pathological aspects of tauopathies, including Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia with Parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17 (FTPD-17). Pure tau in high yield is a requirement for in vitro evaluation of the protein's physiological and toxic functions. However, the preparation of recombinant tau is complicated by the protein's propensity to aggregate and form truncation products, necessitating the use of multiple, time-consuming purification methods.

Extended distal pancreatectomy for pancreatic adenocarcinoma with splenic vein thrombosis and/or adjacent organ invasion.

Background: Patients with adenocarcinoma of the pancreatic body/tail and associated vascular thrombosis or adjacent organ invasion are suboptimal candidates for resection. We hypothesized that extended distal pancreatectomy (EDP) for locally advanced adenocarcinoma is associated with a survival benefit.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed a prospectively collected database of patients who underwent distal pancreatectomy (DP) for adenocarcinoma at a single academic institution (1996 to 2011) with greater than or equal to 2 years of follow-up.

Satisfaction following immediate breast reconstruction: Experiences in the early post-operative stage.

Objectives: This qualitative study aimed to achieve an understanding of women's experiences of immediate breast reconstruction following mastectomy, to better understand the factors influencing patient satisfaction.

Design: Nine women were recruited from a breast unit in the North West of England. Participants were 3-9 months post-reconstruction, had received either an implant-based or Latissimus Dorsi-based immediate reconstruction and were not receiving any adjuvant therapies.

Induction immunosuppression in liver transplantation: a review.

Antibody therapy for induction is seldom used in liver transplantation in the United States, but continues to be used in approximately 10% of patients. The most commonly used antibody at the current time is basiliximab (Simulect, Novartis) and is used in adults with renal dysfunction at the time of liver transplantation with the intention of delaying introduction of calcineurin-inhibitors. In children, the same antibody is commonly used in order to reduce rates of acute rejection.

LFA-1-specific therapy prolongs allograft survival in rhesus macaques.

Outcomes in transplantation have been limited by suboptimal long-term graft survival and toxicities associated with current immunosuppressive approaches. T cell costimulation blockade has shown promise as an alternative strategy to avoid the side effects of conventional immunosuppressive therapies, but targeting CD28-mediated costimulation alone has proven insufficient to prevent graft rejection in primates. Donor-specific memory T (TM) cells have been implicated in costimulation blockade-resistant transplant rejection, due to their enhanced effector function and decreased reliance on costimulatory signaling.

Can the outcome of open carpal tunnel release be predicted?: a review of the literature.

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common condition affecting 1% of the population. Open carpal tunnel release is the most commonly performed procedure for this condition. About 70-90% of patients have good to excellent long-term outcomes with open carpal tunnel release.

Alefacept promotes co-stimulation blockade based allograft survival in nonhuman primates.

Memory T cells promote allograft rejection particularly in co-stimulation blockade-based immunosuppressive regimens. Here we show that the CD2-specific fusion protein alefacept (lymphocyte function-associated antigen-3-Ig; LFA -3-Ig) selectively eliminates memory T cells and, when combined with a co-stimulation blockade-based regimen using cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4)-Ig, a CD80- and CD86-specific fusion protein, prevents renal allograft rejection and alloantibody formation in nonhuman primates. These results support the immediate translation of a regimen for the prevention of allograft rejection without the use of calcineurin inhibitors, steroids or pan-T cell depletion.

mTOR regulates memory CD8 T-cell differentiation.

Memory CD8 T cells are a critical component of protective immunity, and inducing effective memory T-cell responses is a major goal of vaccines against chronic infections and tumours. Considerable effort has gone into designing vaccine regimens that will increase the magnitude of the memory response, but there has been minimal emphasis on developing strategies to improve the functional qualities of memory T cells. Here we show that mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin, also known as FRAP1) is a major regulator of memory CD8 T-cell differentiation, and in contrast to what we expected, the immunosuppressive drug rapamycin has immunostimulatory effects on the generation of memory CD8 T cells.