Assessing equity in preventing central line-associated bloodstream infections and surgical site infections in pediatric patients.

Background: Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) and surgical site infections (SSIs) are major healthcare-associated infections that can be prevented by consistently applying evidence-based infection prevention practices.

Objective: To assess equity in preventing CLABSIs and SSIs in pediatric patients at a free-standing pediatric hospital, where evidence-based infection prevention practices are consistently implemented.

Methods: This observational study evaluated 2 cohorts of pediatric patients under 18 years.

Evaluation of phenotypic risk indicators for the development of alopecia X (hair cycle arrest) in Pomeranian dogs in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Background: Alopecia X (AX) is a common noninflammatory alopecic condition of Pomeranian dogs with an unknown cause. While a genetic aetiology is suspected, no current tests can predict the development of this disorder or confirm the aetiology. Therefore, identifying potential risk indicators for the development of AX would be of value in this breed.

Towards a flexible and personalised development of veterinarians and veterinary nurses working in a companion animal referral care setting.

In the Netherlands, the demand for veterinarians and veterinary nurses (VNs) working within referral care is rapidly growing and currently exceeds the amount of available board-certified specialists. Simultaneously, a transparent structure to guide training and development and to assess quality of non-specialist veterinarians and VNs working in a referral setting is lacking. In response, we developed learning pathways guided by an entrustable professional activity (EPA) framework and programmatic assessment to support personalised development and competence of veterinarians and VNs working in referral settings.

The age-specific microbiome of children with milk, egg, and peanut allergy.

Background: Immune regulation by gut microbiota is affected by dysbiosis and may precede food allergy onset. Prior studies lacked comparisons stratified by age and clinical phenotype.

Objective: To assess the microbiome of children with food allergy (<3 years, 3-18 years) compared with similar aged children without food allergy.

RAS/RAF Comutation and ERBB2 Copy Number Modulates HER2 Heterogeneity and Responsiveness to HER2-directed Therapy in Colorectal Cancer.

Purpose: ERBB2-amplified colorectal cancer is a distinct molecular subtype with expanding treatments. Implications of concurrent oncogenic RAS/RAF alterations are not known.

Experimental Design: Dana-Farber and Foundation Medicine Inc.

Trimester and severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy and risk of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy.

Objective: SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy has been linked with an increased risk of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP). The aim of this study was to examine how both trimester and severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection impact HDP.

Methods: We conducted a cohort study of SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals during pregnancy ( = 205) and examined the association between trimester and severity of infection with incidence of HDP using modified Poisson regression models to calculate risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Profiling Immunological Phenotypes in Individuals During the First Year After Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury: A Longitudinal Analysis.

Individuals with SCI are severely affected by immune system changes, resulting in increased risk of infections and persistent systemic inflammation. While recent data support that immunological changes after SCI differ in the acute and chronic phases of living with SCI, only limited immunological phenotyping in humans is available. To characterize dynamic molecular and cellular immune phenotypes over the first year, we assess RNA (bulk-RNA sequencing), protein, and flow cytometry (FACS) profiles of blood samples from 12 individuals with SCI at 0-3 days and at 3, 6, and 12 months post injury (MPI) compared to 23 uninjured individuals (controls).

Efficacy of short-term combination of intralymphatic allergen immunotherapy and lokivetmab treatment in canine atopic dermatitis: A double-blinded, controlled, randomised study.

Background: Allergen-specific immunotherapy (ASIT) is an effective therapy for canine atopic dermatitis (cAD). Intralymphatic immunotherapy (ILIT) is potentially beneficial in decreasing time to clinical effectiveness.

Objective: To compare clinical efficacy of six monthly ILIT injections combined with three monthly injections of lokivetmab (LVM) with monthly LVM monotherapy at Day (D)168.

Evidence-base for the beneficial effect of nutraceuticals in canine dermatological immune-mediated inflammatory diseases - A literature review.

Background: Immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) are associated with an abnormal immune response, resulting in a disturbed homeostasis and chronic inflammation. Most canine dermatological IMIDs (cDIMIDs), such as allergies, autoimmune and immune-mediated diseases, require long-term treatment with immunosuppressive drugs with potential adverse effects. In general, nutraceuticals are thought to be safe.

Predictive molecular biomarkers for determining neoadjuvant chemosensitivity in muscle invasive bladder cancer.

Introduction: Identifying neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) response in patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) has had limited success based on clinicopathological features and molecular subtyping. Identification of chemotherapy responsive cohorts would facilitate delivery to those most likely to benefit.

Objective: Develop a molecular signature that can identify MIBC NAC responders (R) and non-responders (NR) using a cohort of known NAC response phenotypes, and better understand differences in molecular pathways and subtype classifications between NAC R and NR.

Single-cell analysis of menstrual endometrial tissues defines phenotypes associated with endometriosis.

Background: Endometriosis is a common, complex disorder which is underrecognized and subject to prolonged delays in diagnosis. It is accompanied by significant changes in the eutopic endometrial lining.

Methods: We have undertaken the first single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-Seq) comparison of endometrial tissues in freshly collected menstrual effluent (ME) from 33 subjects, including confirmed endometriosis patients (cases) and controls as well as symptomatic subjects (who have chronic symptoms suggestive of endometriosis but have not been diagnosed).

47XXY and 47XXX in Scleroderma and Myositis.

Objective: We undertook this study to examine the X chromosome complement in participants with systemic sclerosis (SSc) as well as idiopathic inflammatory myopathies.

Methods: The participants met classification criteria for the diseases. All participants underwent single-nucleotide polymorphism typing.

The Relationship between Social Support and Postnatal Anxiety and Depression: Results from the Listening to Mothers in California Survey.

Background: Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) impact multiple domains of maternal and child well-being. Estimates of postpartum depressive symptoms range from 6.5% to 12.

Single-Cell Sequencing in Genitourinary Malignancies.

Single-cell sequencing (SCS) is a powerful new tool that applies Next Generation Sequencing at the cellular level. SCS has revolutionized our understanding of tumor heterogeneity and the tumor microenvironment, immune infiltration, cancer stem cells (CSCs), circulating tumor cells (CTCs), and clonal evolution. The following chapter highlights the current literature on SCS in genitourinary (GU) malignancies and discusses future applications of SCS technology.

Prognostic Molecular Signatures for Metastatic Potential in Clinically Low-Risk Stage I and II Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinomas.

For patients with localized node-negative (Stage I and II) clear cell renal cell carcinomas (ccRCC), current clinicopathological staging has limited predictive capability because of their low risk. Analyzing molecular signatures at the time of nephrectomy can aid in understanding future metastatic potential. Develop a molecular signature that can stratify patients who have clinically low risk ccRCC, but have high risk genetic changes driving an aggressive metastatic phenotype.

Multicentric, prospective observational data show sperm capacitation predicts male fertility, and cohort comparison reveals a high prevalence of impaired capacitation in men questioning their fertility.

Research Questions: Can a previously defined relationship between sperm capacitation and the probability of a man generating pregnancy within three cycles, prospectively predict male fertility in diverse clinical settings? A second study asked, what is the prevalence of impaired sperm fertilizing ability in men questioning their fertility (MQF), and does this relate to traditional semen analysis metrics?

Design: In the multicentric, prospective observational study, data (n = 128; six clinics) were analysed to test a published relationship between the percentage of fertilization-competent, capacitated spermatozoa (Cap-Score) and probability of generating pregnancy (PGP) within three cycles of intrauterine insemination. Logistic regression of total pregnancy outcomes (n = 252) assessed fit. In the cohort comparison, Cap-Scores of MQF (n = 2155; 22 clinics) were compared with those of 76 fertile men.

Relative Ratios Enhance the Diagnostic Power of Phospholipids in Distinguishing Benign and Cancerous Ovarian Masses.

Ovarian cancer remains a highly lethal disease due to its late clinical presentation and lack of reliable early biomarkers. Protein-based diagnostic markers have presented limitations in identifying ovarian cancer. We tested the potential of phospholipids as markers of ovarian cancer by utilizing inter-related regulation of phospholipids, a unique property that allows the use of ratios between phospholipid species for quantitation.

Determinants of the lung microbiome in intubated premature infants at risk for bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Background: Airway dysbiosis in premature infants may be associated with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Early oropharyngeal colostrum (OPC) administration alters the oral microbiome, which may impact the lung microbiome. We aim to compare the oral and tracheal microbiota during the first week of life, and to determine whether early OPC administration affects microbial diversity or leukocyte inflammatory activity in the lung.

Focused HLA analysis in Caucasians with myositis identifies significant associations with autoantibody subgroups.

Objectives: Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) are a spectrum of rare autoimmune diseases characterised clinically by muscle weakness and heterogeneous systemic organ involvement. The strongest genetic risk is within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). Since autoantibody presence defines specific clinical subgroups of IIM, we aimed to correlate serotype and genotype, to identify novel risk variants in the MHC region that co-occur with IIM autoantibodies.

BRCA1 and BRCA2 pathogenic sequence variants in women of African origin or ancestry.

BRCA1 and BRCA2 (BRCA1/2) pathogenic sequence variants (PSVs) confer elevated risks of multiple cancers. However, most BRCA1/2 PSVs reports focus on European ancestry individuals. Knowledge of the PSV distribution in African descent individuals is poorly understood.

Challenges and Inconsistencies in Using Lysophosphatidic Acid as a Biomarker for Ovarian Cancer.

Increased detection of plasma lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) has been proposed as a potential diagnostic biomarker in ovarian cancer, but inconsistency exists in these reports. It has been shown that LPA can undergo an artificial increase during sample processing and analysis, which has not been accounted for in ovarian cancer research. The aim of this study is to provide a potential explanation about how the artificial increase in LPA may have interfered with previous LPA analysis in ovarian cancer research.

Correction: Identification of grade and origin specific cell populations in serous epithelial ovarian cancer by single cell RNA-seq.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Identification of grade and origin specific cell populations in serous epithelial ovarian cancer by single cell RNA-seq.

Here we investigated different cell populations within ovarian cancer using single-cell RNA seq: fourteen samples from nine patients with differing grades (high grade, low grade and benign) as well as different origin sites (primary and metastatic tumor site, ovarian in origin and fallopian in origin). We were able to identify sixteen distinct cell populations with specific cells correlated to high grade tumors, low grade tumors, benign and one population unique to a patient with a breast cancer relapse. Furthermore the proportion of these populations changes from primary to metastatic in a shift from mainly epithelial cells to leukocytes with few cancer epithelial cells in the metastases.