Low-pass nanopore sequencing for measurement of global methylation levels in plants.

Nanopore sequencing enables detection of DNA methylation at the same time as identification of canonical sequence. A recent study validated low-pass nanopore sequencing to accurately estimate global methylation levels in vertebrates with sequencing coverage as low as 0.01x.

Development of a family-level intervention for families with transgender and/or nonbinary youth: Lessons and recommendations.

Family support plays an important role in promoting resilience and health among transgender and/or nonbinary youth (TNBY), but family members often experience barriers to supporting their TNBY, including minority-adjacent stress stemming from exposure to structural stigma and antitransgender legislation. TNBY and their families need effective family-level interventions developed using community-based participatory research (CBPR), which integrates community members (e.g.

A Rare Case of Extraction of Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt From the Left Main Bronchus.

We present the case of a 40-year-old female who underwent several insertions of ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunts as a part of the treatment for idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH). Several years after the insertion of the last VP shunt, the patient started experiencing shortness of breath (SOB) and cough; after further assessment, it was noted on computed tomography (CT) scan that the VP shunt had migrated into the right lower lobe of the lung and perforated the distal left main bronchus. The shunt was successfully retrieved using bronchoscopy under general anesthesia, after which the patient had a complete resolution of symptoms.

Foreign Body Misdiagnosed as Mucus Plugging After Percutaneous Tracheostomy.

We report a case of a 59-year-old male who presented with a persistent cough for a year after being discharged from critical care following a subarachnoid haemorrhage. As part of his initial critical care management and in order to allow full neurological assessment, the patient required a period of prolonged mechanical ventilation, which necessitated a percutaneous tracheostomy. Following recovery and subsequent discharge, the patient presented on multiple occasions with cough, undergoing serial computed tomography (CT) scans which reported mucus plugging as a possible cause of the cough.

Integrated Advanced Molecular Tools Predict In Situ cVOC Degradation Rates: Field Demonstration.

Chlorinated volatile organic compound (cVOC) degradation rate constants are crucial information for site management. Conventional approaches generate rate estimates from the monitoring and modeling of cVOC concentrations. This requires time series data collected along the flow path of the plume.

Ease of Use ratings and real-world child restraint system errors from Safe Kids Illinois seat checks, 2015-2019.

Background: Child restraint systems (CRSs) significantly reduce risk of crash-related injury, however installation and use errors undermine their benefits. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) created the Ease of Use (EOU) rating system to help guide consumers and incentivize manufacturers to improve their products. The EOU rating system assigns one to five stars to four CRS features and overall.

How healthy and affordable are foods and beverages sold in school canteens? A cross-sectional study comparing menus from Victorian primary schools.

Objective: Government policy guidance in Victoria, Australia, encourages schools to provide affordable, healthy foods in canteens. This study analysed the healthiness and price of items available in canteens in Victorian primary schools and associations with school characteristics.

Design: Dietitians classified menu items (main, snack and beverage) using the red, amber and green traffic light system defined in the Victorian government's School Canteens and Other School Food Services Policy.

Is Buying Local Less Expensive? Debunking a Myth-Assessing the Price Competitiveness of Local Food Products in Canada.

It is well known that many consumers believe local foods are more expensive than comparative products coming from other markets. The aim of this study was to measure the price competitiveness of products certified by the Aliments du Québec program, a well-known program in the Canadian province of Quebec. Using machine-learning, artificial intelligence and targeted data mining, the report identifies local products and comparator products, to consider whether locally certified products are more expensive than comparative products coming from outside Quebec.

Pediatric Ventilation Liberation: Bundled Extubation Readiness and Analgosedation Pathways Decrease Mechanical Ventilation Duration and Benzodiazepine Exposure.

Background: Recent studies reported that children on mechanical ventilation who were managed with an analgosedation approach and standardized extubation readiness testing experienced better outcomes, including decreased delirium and invasive mechanical ventilation duration.

Methods: This was a quality improvement project in a 24-bed pediatric ICU within a single center, including subjects ≤ 18 years old who required invasive mechanical ventilation via an oral or nasal endotracheal tube. The aim was to decrease the invasive mechanical ventilation duration for all the subjects by 25% within 9 months through the development and implementation of bundled benzodiazepine-sparing analgosedation and extubation readiness testing clinical pathways.

Systematic review of the effectiveness of health promotion interventions targeting obesity prevention in school-based staff.

School-based employee interventions can benefit the health of staff and have the potential to influence the health of school students through role-modelling. However, interventions within schools typically focus on students, with very few studies addressing obesity and related health behaviours among school staff. A systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature published between January 2000 and May 2020 was undertaken to synthesize the evidence on the impact that school-based obesity prevention programmes have on the staff they employ.

Challenging Convention: Daytime Versus Nighttime Extubation in the Pediatric ICU.

Background: The majority of pediatric extubations occur during day shift hours. There is a time-dependent relationship between mechanical ventilation duration and complications. It is not known if extubation shift (day vs night) correlates with pediatric extubation outcomes.

Quality Improvement Methodology to Optimize Safe Early Mobility in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

Unlabelled: Utilization of robust quality improvement methodology in conjunction with traditional interventions to enhance an Early Mobility program (EMP) in a tertiary pediatric intensive care unit (PICU).

Methods: EMP was implemented in our PICU in May 2017. The percentage of appropriate physical and occupational therapist consults were determined.

Use of a male antioxidant nutraceutical is associated with superior live birth rates during IVF treatment.

Oxidative stress is prevalent among infertile men and is a significant cause of sperm DNA damage. Since sperm DNA damage may reduce embryo quality and increase miscarriage rates, it is possible that untreated sperm oxidative stress may impair in vitro fertilization (IVF) live birth rates. Given that the antioxidant Menevit is reported to reduce sperm DNA damage, it was hypothesized that men's consumption of this supplement may alter IVF outcomes.

Tuberculosis transmission across three states: The story of a solid organ donor born in an endemic country, 2018.

Transmission of tuberculosis (TB) from a deceased solid organ donor to recipients can result in severe morbidity and mortality. In 2018, four solid organ transplant recipients residing in three states but sharing a common organ donor were diagnosed with TB disease. Two recipients were hospitalized and none died.

Microbial gas vesicles as nanotechnology tools: exploiting intracellular organelles for translational utility in biotechnology, medicine and the environment.

A range of bacteria and archaea produce gas vesicles as a means to facilitate flotation. These gas vesicles have been purified from a number of species and their applications in biotechnology and medicine are reviewed here. sp.

Mechanistic insights into the aetiology of post-prandial decline in testosterone in reproductive-aged men.

Obesity is known to be associated with impaired testicular function potentially resulting in androgen deficiency and subfertility. While the underlying cause of obesity-related male hypogonadism is multi-factorial, here, we investigated the impact of dietary fat on testicular endocrine function. Ingestion of a high-fat "fast food" mixed meal, a common practice for obese men, produced a 25% fall in serum testosterone within an hour of eating, with levels remaining suppressed below fasting baseline for up to 4 hr.

Obesity related metabolic endotoxemia is associated with oxidative stress and impaired sperm DNA integrity.

Background: Obesity is known to be associated with inflammation, oxidative stress and a resulting reduction in sperm DNA integrity. Importantly, obesity is also reported to be associated with an increase in intestinal permeability with the passage of intestinal bacteria into the circulation (metabolic endotoxemia) that triggers a systemic state of inflammation and resultant oxidative stress. Therefore, we hypothesised that this obesity related increase in intestinal permeability and resultant metabolic endotoxemia (ME) may activate inflammation within the male reproductive tract, leading to increased reactive oxygen species production, sperm oxidative stress and a decline in DNA integrity.

Racioethnic differences in the biomechanical response of the lamina cribrosa.

Glaucoma is the second leading cause of irreversible blindness in the world with a higher prevalence in those of African Descent (AD) and Hispanic Ethnicity (HE) than in those of European Descent (ED). The objective of this study was to investigate the pressure dependent biomechanical response of the lamina cribrosa (LC) in normal human donor tissues from these racioethnic backgrounds. Pressure inflation tests were performed on 24 human LCs (n = 9 AD, n = 6 ED, and n = 9 HE) capturing the second harmonic generation (SHG) signal of collagen at 5, 15, 30, and 45 mmHg from an anterior view.

Agrichemicals and antibiotics in combination increase antibiotic resistance evolution.

Antibiotic resistance in our pathogens is medicine's climate change: caused by human activity, and resulting in more extreme outcomes. Resistance emerges in microbial populations when antibiotics act on phenotypic variance within the population. This can arise from either genotypic diversity (resulting from a mutation or horizontal gene transfer), or from differences in gene expression due to environmental variation, referred to as adaptive resistance.

Implementing Landscape Scale Conservation across Organizational Boundaries: Lessons from the Central Appalachian Region, United States.

Natural resources across the United States are increasingly managed at the landscape scale through cooperation among multiple organizations and landowners. United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service (USFS) agency leaders have widely promoted this approach since 2009 when Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack called for "all lands" management. Landscape scale projects have been undertaken to address multiple goals such as single species conservation, resilience to fire, invasive species eradication, and others.

Reducing antibiotic utilization rate in preterm infants: a quality improvement initiative.

Background: Judicious use of antibiotic therapy in preterm infants is necessary as prolonged and unwarranted use of antibiotics have been associated with adverse short-term and long-term outcomes.

Local Problem: Our baseline data review revealed overuse and unnecessary prolonged antibiotic exposure among preterm infants despite a low suspicion for sepsis.

Methods And Interventions: The baseline overall AUR was calculated retrospectively from our pharmacy database for a period of 4 months prior to the quality improvement (QI) initiative (pre-QI phase).