Outcomes of traumatically injured patients after nighttime transfer from the intensive care unit.

Background: Prior studies have associated nighttime transfer of patients from the intensive care unit (ICU) with increased morbidity. This study sought to examine this relationship in traumatically injured patients, as this has not been previously performed.

Methods: A retrospective review of traumatically injured patients admitted to a Level I Trauma Center's ICU from January 2021 to September 2022 was performed.

The Role of Procalcitonin in Predicting Failure of Non-operative Management in Bowel Obstructions.

Procalcitonin has been investigated as a marker for bowel ischemia. This study examined the role of procalcitonin in predicting failure of non-operative management (NOM) in bowel obstructions. Patients with bowel obstructions at a single center from August 2022 to January 2023 were prospectively enrolled (n = 79).

Using an electronic diary and wristband accelerometer to detect exacerbations and activity levels in COPD: a feasibility study.

Background: Early and accurate identification of acute exacerbations of COPD may lead to earlier treatment and prevent hospital admission. Electronic diaries have been developed for symptom monitoring and accelerometers to monitor activity. However, it is unclear whether this technology is usable in the COPD population.

Th2 high and mast cell gene signatures are associated with corticosteroid sensitivity in COPD.

Rationale: Severe asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) share common pathophysiological traits such as relative corticosteroid insensitivity. We recently published three transcriptome-associated clusters (TACs) using hierarchical analysis of the sputum transcriptome in asthmatics from the Unbiased Biomarkers for the Prediction of Respiratory Disease Outcomes (U-BIOPRED) cohort comprising one Th2-high inflammatory signature (TAC1) and two Th2-low signatures (TAC2 and TAC3).

Objective: We examined whether gene expression signatures obtained in asthma can be used to identify the subgroup of patients with COPD with steroid sensitivity.

Recommendations to improve use and reporting of statistics in animal experiments.

Flaws in experimental statistics are a major contributor to the poor reproducibility of animal experiments. Informed decisions about whether conclusions are justified requires clear reporting of experimental data and the statistical methods used to analyse them. When data are misinterpreted, manipulated or concealed to generate publications, it creates an illusion that chance observations are robust data which confirm the hypotheses presented.

A Retrospective Cohort Analysis of the Use of Enteral Nutrition Plus Pharmacologic Prophylaxis or Enteral Nutrition Alone.

Due to the risk of development of stress ulcers in intensive care unit (ICU) patients, pharmacologic prophylaxis is often utilized. However, some literature describes the use of enteral nutrition instead as stress ulcer prophylaxis. The purpose of this study is to determine if enteral nutrition is similar to pharmacologic stress ulcer prophylaxis (SUP) with enteral nutrition for reduction of gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding, perforation, or ulceration in ICU patients.

I_MDS: an inflammatory bowel disease molecular activity score to classify patients with differing disease-driving pathways and therapeutic response to anti-TNF treatment.

Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are driven by both common and distinct underlying mechanisms of pathobiology. Both diseases, exhibit heterogeneity underscored by the variable clinical responses to therapeutic interventions. We aimed to identify disease-driving pathways and classify individuals into subpopulations that differ in their pathobiology and response to treatment.

Data and knowledge management in translational research: implementation of the eTRIKS platform for the IMI OncoTrack consortium.

Background: For large international research consortia, such as those funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 programme or the Innovative Medicines Initiative, good data coordination practices and tools are essential for the successful collection, organization and analysis of the resulting data. Research consortia are attempting ever more ambitious science to better understand disease, by leveraging technologies such as whole genome sequencing, proteomics, patient-derived biological models and computer-based systems biology simulations.

Results: The IMI eTRIKS consortium is charged with the task of developing an integrated knowledge management platform capable of supporting the complexity of the data generated by such research programmes.

Stratification of asthma phenotypes by airway proteomic signatures.

Background: Stratification by eosinophil and neutrophil counts increases our understanding of asthma and helps target therapy, but there is room for improvement in our accuracy in prediction of treatment responses and a need for better understanding of the underlying mechanisms.

Objective: We sought to identify molecular subphenotypes of asthma defined by proteomic signatures for improved stratification.

Methods: Unbiased label-free quantitative mass spectrometry and topological data analysis were used to analyze the proteomes of sputum supernatants from 246 participants (206 asthmatic patients) as a novel means of asthma stratification.

Contribution of airway eosinophils in airway wall remodeling in asthma: Role of MMP-10 and MET.

Background: Eosinophils play an important role in the pathophysiology of asthma being implicated in airway epithelial damage and airway wall remodeling. We determined the genes associated with airway remodeling and eosinophilic inflammation in patients with asthma.

Methods: We analyzed the transcriptomic data from bronchial biopsies of 81 patients with moderate-to-severe asthma of the U-BIOPRED cohort.

Contrast-Induced Nephropathy in Ischemic Stroke Patients Undergoing Computed Tomography Angiography: CINISter Study.

Goal: Computed tomography angiography (CTA) is a well-tolerated, noninvasive study of the intracranial vascular circulation; however, contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) has been reported in 5%-7% of patients undergoing CTA. Limited studies have evaluated the risks of CIN in patients undergoing CTA. Our study was designed to evaluate the prevalence and risk factors for CIN in patients with ischemic stroke who receive a CTA.

U-BIOPRED: evaluation of the value of a public-private partnership to industry.

Unbiased Biomarkers for the Prediction of Respiratory Disease Outcomes (U-BIOPRED) was initiated in the first year of the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI). It was an ambitious plan to tackle the understanding of asthma through an integration of clinical and multi-'omics approaches that necessitated the bringing together of industry, academic, and patient representatives because it was too large to be managed by any one of the partners in isolation. It was a novel experience for all concerned.

A computational framework for complex disease stratification from multiple large-scale datasets.

Background: Multilevel data integration is becoming a major area of research in systems biology. Within this area, multi-'omics datasets on complex diseases are becoming more readily available and there is a need to set standards and good practices for integrated analysis of biological, clinical and environmental data. We present a framework to plan and generate single and multi-'omics signatures of disease states.

Large-Scale Label-Free Quantitative Mapping of the Sputum Proteome.

Analysis of induced sputum supernatant is a minimally invasive approach to study the epithelial lining fluid and, thereby, provide insight into normal lung biology and the pathobiology of lung diseases. We present here a novel proteomics approach to sputum analysis developed within the U-BIOPRED (unbiased biomarkers predictive of respiratory disease outcomes) international project. We present practical and analytical techniques to optimize the detection of robust biomarkers in proteomic studies.

Corrigendum: The RA-MAP Consortium: a working model for academia-industry collaboration.

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/nrrheum.2017.

The RA-MAP Consortium: a working model for academia-industry collaboration.

Collaboration can be challenging; nevertheless, the emerging successes of large, multi-partner, multi-national cooperatives and research networks in the biomedical sector have sustained the appetite of academics and industry partners for developing and fostering new research consortia. This model has percolated down to national funding agencies across the globe, leading to funding for projects that aim to realise the true potential of genomic medicine in the 21st century and to reap the rewards of 'big data'. In this Perspectives article, the experiences of the RA-MAP consortium, a group of more than 140 individuals affiliated with 21 academic and industry organizations that are focused on making genomic medicine in rheumatoid arthritis a reality are described.

Sputum transcriptomics reveal upregulation of IL-1 receptor family members in patients with severe asthma.

Background: Sputum analysis in asthmatic patients is used to define airway inflammatory processes and might guide therapy.

Objective: We sought to determine differential gene and protein expression in sputum samples from patients with severe asthma (SA) compared with nonsmoking patients with mild/moderate asthma.

Methods: Induced sputum was obtained from nonsmoking patients with SA, smokers/ex-smokers with severe asthma, nonsmoking patients with mild/moderate asthma (MMAs), and healthy nonsmoking control subjects.

T-helper cell type 2 (Th2) and non-Th2 molecular phenotypes of asthma using sputum transcriptomics in U-BIOPRED.

Asthma is characterised by heterogeneous clinical phenotypes. Our objective was to determine molecular phenotypes of asthma by analysing sputum cell transcriptomics from 104 moderate-to-severe asthmatic subjects and 16 nonasthmatic subjects.After filtering on the differentially expressed genes between eosinophil- and noneosinophil-associated sputum inflammation, we used unbiased hierarchical clustering on 508 differentially expressed genes and gene set variation analysis of specific gene sets.

A Severe Asthma Disease Signature from Gene Expression Profiling of Peripheral Blood from U-BIOPRED Cohorts.

Rationale: Stratification of asthma at the molecular level, especially using accessible biospecimens, could greatly enable patient selection for targeted therapy.

Objectives: To determine the value of blood analysis to identify transcriptional differences between clinically defined asthma and nonasthma groups, identify potential patient subgroups based on gene expression, and explore biological pathways associated with identified differences.

Methods: Transcriptomic profiles were generated by microarray analysis of blood from 610 patients with asthma and control participants in the U-BIOPRED (Unbiased Biomarkers in Prediction of Respiratory Disease Outcomes) study.

U-BIOPRED clinical adult asthma clusters linked to a subset of sputum omics.

Background: Asthma is a heterogeneous disease in which there is a differential response to asthma treatments. This heterogeneity needs to be evaluated so that a personalized management approach can be provided.

Objectives: We stratified patients with moderate-to-severe asthma based on clinicophysiologic parameters and performed an omics analysis of sputum.

Activated Prothrombin Complex Concentrate versus Plasma for Reversal of Warfarin-Associated Hemorrhage.

Study Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of an activated four-factor prothrombin complex concentrate (aPCC) versus plasma for the reversal of warfarin-associated hemorrhage.

Design: Single-center, retrospective cohort analysis of adult patients with warfarin-associated hemorrhage treated with either aPCC or plasma.

Patients: Patients received either aPCC or plasma as treatment for warfarin-associated hemorrhage between January 1, 2011, and July 1, 2013.

A Transcriptome-driven Analysis of Epithelial Brushings and Bronchial Biopsies to Define Asthma Phenotypes in U-BIOPRED.

Rationale: Asthma is a heterogeneous disease driven by diverse immunologic and inflammatory mechanisms.

Objectives: Using transcriptomic profiling of airway tissues, we sought to define the molecular phenotypes of severe asthma.

Methods: The transcriptome derived from bronchial biopsies and epithelial brushings of 107 subjects with moderate to severe asthma were annotated by gene set variation analysis using 42 gene signatures relevant to asthma, inflammation, and immune function.

Long-term exposure to commercially available sunscreens containing nanoparticles of TiO2 and ZnO revealed no biological impact in a hairless mouse model.

Background: The application of sunscreen is a critical component of a sun-safe strategy, however the possibility of unexpected, adverse outcomes resulting from long-term use of sunscreens containing nanoparticles of titanium dioxide (TiO2) and zinc oxide (ZnO) has not yet been examined. Here, immune-competent hairless mice were exposed over a 36-week period to weekly topical applications of sunscreens containing nanoparticles of ZnO or TiO2, or no metal oxide nanoparticles, with or without subsequent exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR). Control groups received no sunscreen applications, with or without UVR.