Airborne microbial transport limitation to isolated Antarctic soil habitats.

Dispersal is a critical yet poorly understood factor underlying macroecological patterns in microbial communities. Airborne microbial transport is assumed to occupy a central role in determining dispersal outcomes, and extra-range dispersal has important implications for predicting ecosystem resilience and response to environmental change. One of the most pertinent biomes in this regard is Antarctica, given its geographic isolation and vulnerability to climate change and human disturbance.

Rapid Response Team-Quality Champion Registered Nurse: Observations and Perceptions.

Background: Operationalization of the rapid response team (RRT) and its quality champion (QC) nurses at a community hospital is unique and provides benefits not entirely captured by analysis of mortality data.

Purpose: The purpose was to determine the perceived benefits of the RRT at the facility and behaviors and activities observed during actual RRT responses. Also examined was the timeliness of the RRT calls.

Conceptual framework for living with and beyond cancer: A systematic review and narrative synthesis.

Objective: The concept of living with and beyond cancer is now emerging in policy and literature. Rather than viewing this notion simply as a linear timeline, developing an agreed understanding of the lived experience of people affected by cancer will aid the development of person-centred models of care.

Methods: A systematic review was conducted.

Circadian regulation in human white adipose tissue revealed by transcriptome and metabolic network analysis.

Studying circadian rhythms in most human tissues is hampered by difficulty in collecting serial samples. Here we reveal circadian rhythms in the transcriptome and metabolic pathways of human white adipose tissue. Subcutaneous adipose tissue was taken from seven healthy males under highly controlled 'constant routine' conditions.

Clinical Practice Guideline: Tonsillectomy in Children (Update).

Objective: This update of a 2011 guideline developed by the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation provides evidence-based recommendations on the pre-, intra-, and postoperative care and management of children 1 to 18 years of age under consideration for tonsillectomy. Tonsillectomy is defined as a surgical procedure performed with or without adenoidectomy that completely removes the tonsil, including its capsule, by dissecting the peritonsillar space between the tonsil capsule and the muscular wall. Tonsillectomy is one of the most common surgical procedures in the United States, with 289,000 ambulatory procedures performed annually in children <15 years of age based on the most recent published data.

Pathophysiology, incidence, management, and consequences of cardiac arrhythmia in pulmonary arterial hypertension and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.

Arrhythmias are increasingly recognized as serious, end-stage complications of pre-capillary pulmonary hypertension, including pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). Although arrhythmias contribute to symptoms, morbidity, in-hospital mortality, and possibly sudden death in PAH/CTEPH, there remains a paucity of epidemiologic, pathophysiologic, and outcome data to guide management of these patients. This review summarizes the most current evidence on the topic: from the molecular mechanisms driving arrhythmia in the hypertrophied or failing right heart, to the clinical aspects of epidemiology, diagnosis, and management.

Biventricular Increases in Mitochondrial Fission Mediator (MiD51) and Proglycolytic Pyruvate Kinase (PKM2) Isoform in Experimental Group 2 Pulmonary Hypertension-Novel Mitochondrial Abnormalities.

Group 2 pulmonary hypertension (PH), defined as a mean pulmonary arterial pressure ≥25 mmHg with elevated pulmonary capillary wedge pressure >15 mmHg, has no approved therapy and patients often die from right ventricular failure (RVF). Alterations in mitochondrial metabolism, notably impaired glucose oxidation, and increased mitochondrial fission, contribute to right ventricle (RV) dysfunction in PH. We hypothesized that the impairment of RV and left ventricular (LV) function in group 2 PH results in part from a proglycolytic isoform switch from pyruvate kinase muscle (PKM) isoform 1 to 2 and from increased mitochondrial fission, due either to upregulation of expression of dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1) or its binding partners, mitochondrial dynamics protein of 49 or 51 kDa (MiD49 or 51).

Informing the Consent Process for Surgeons: A Survey Study of Patient Preferences, Perceptions, and Risk Tolerance.

Background: Despite the ethical and statutory requirement to obtain consent for surgical procedures, the actual process itself is less well defined. The degree of disclosure and detail expected may vary greatly. A recent shift toward a more patient-centered approach in both clinical and medico-legal practice has significant implications for ensuring appropriate and legal practice in obtaining informed consent before surgery.

Clinical Determinants and Prognostic Implications of Right Ventricular Dysfunction in Pulmonary Hypertension Caused by Chronic Lung Disease.

Background Patients with pulmonary hypertension caused by chronic lung disease (Group 3 PH ) have disproportionate right ventricle ( RV ) dysfunction, but the correlates and clinical implications of RV dysfunction in Group 3 PH are not well defined. Methods and Results We performed a cohort study of 147 Group 3 PH patients evaluated at the University of Minnesota. RV systolic function was quantified using right ventricular fractional area change ( RVFAC ) and dP /dt/instantaneous pressure.

Genetic determinants of risk in pulmonary arterial hypertension: international genome-wide association studies and meta-analysis.

Background: Rare genetic variants cause pulmonary arterial hypertension, but the contribution of common genetic variation to disease risk and natural history is poorly characterised. We tested for genome-wide association for pulmonary arterial hypertension in large international cohorts and assessed the contribution of associated regions to outcomes.

Methods: We did two separate genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and a meta-analysis of pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Left Atrial Stenosis Induced Pulmonary Venous Arterialization and Group 2 Pulmonary Hypertension in Rat.

The mechanism of mitral stenosis-induced pulmonary venous arterialization and group 2 pulmonary hypertension (PH) is unclear. There is no rodent model of group 2 PH, due to mitral stenosis (MS), to facilitate the investigation of disease mechanisms and potential therapeutic strategies. We present a novel rat model of pulmonary venous congestion-induced pulmonary venous arterialization and group 2 PH caused by left atrial stenosis (LAS).

Metformin intervention prevents cardiac dysfunction in a murine model of adult congenital heart disease.

Objective: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most frequent birth defect worldwide. The number of adult patients with CHD, now referred to as ACHD, is increasing with improved surgical and treatment interventions. However the mechanisms whereby ACHD predisposes patients to heart dysfunction are still unclear.

Obesity Drives STAT-1-Dependent NASH and STAT-3-Dependent HCC.

Obesity is a major driver of cancer, especially hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The prevailing view is that non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and fibrosis or cirrhosis are required for HCC in obesity. Here, we report that NASH and fibrosis and HCC in obesity can be dissociated.

Stochastic and Deterministic Effects of a Moisture Gradient on Soil Microbial Communities in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica.

Antarctic soil supports surface microbial communities that are dependent on ephemeral moisture. Understanding the response to availability of this resource is essential to predicting how the system will respond to climate change. The McMurdo Dry Valleys are the largest ice-free soil region in Antarctica.

Survival in pulmonary hypertension due to chronic lung disease: Influence of low diffusion capacity of the lungs for carbon monoxide.

Background: Patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) due to chronic lung disease (Group 3 PH) have poor long-term outcomes. However, predictors of survival in Group 3 PH are not well described.

Methods: We performed a cohort study of Group 3 PH patients (n = 143; mean age 65 ± 12 years, 52% female) evaluated at the University of Minnesota.

Impact of male partner characteristics and semen parameters on in vitro fertilization and obstetric outcomes in a frozen oocyte donor model.

Objective: To examine the degree to which paternal variables of age, body mass index (BMI), and sperm parameters affect vitrified donor oocyte IVF outcomes. Previous studies examining the impact of male partner characteristics on in-vitro fertilization (IVF) have found conflicting results. Concerns are rising over the potential effects of paternal factors, such as age and obesity, on pregnancy and child health.

Identifying and validating blood mRNA biomarkers for acute and chronic insufficient sleep in humans: a machine learning approach.

Acute and chronic insufficient sleep are associated with adverse health outcomes and risk of accidents. There is therefore a need for biomarkers to monitor sleep debt status. None are currently available.

Transcriptomic Signature of Right Ventricular Failure in Experimental Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: Deep Sequencing Demonstrates Mitochondrial, Fibrotic, Inflammatory and Angiogenic Abnormalities.

Right ventricular failure (RVF) remains the leading cause of death in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). We investigated the transcriptomic signature of RVF in hemodynamically well-phenotyped monocrotaline (MCT)-treated, male, Sprague-Dawley rats with severe PAH and decompensated RVF (increased right ventricular (RV) end diastolic volume (EDV), decreased cardiac output (CO), tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) and ventricular-arterial decoupling). RNA sequencing revealed 2547 differentially regulated transcripts in MCT-RVF RVs.

Shrub encroachment into grasslands: end of an era?

Shifts in the abundance of grasses and woody plants in drylands have occurred several times during the Holocene. However, our understanding of the rates and dynamics of this state-change in recent decades is limited to scattered studies conducted at disparate spatial and temporal scales; the potential misperceptions of shrub cover change could be remedied using cross spatiotemporal scale analyses that link field observations, repeat ground-level photography and remote sensing perspectives. The study was conducted across a semi-arid landscape in southern Arizona.

Surgical Management of Ophthalmoplegia.

Surgical management-depending upon the severity of the ophthalmoplegia-ranges from restorative to palliative. In paresis with reasonable residual muscle function and ductions, the goal of the surgery is not only to restore single vision in primary position but also to provide a relatively normal field of single binocular vision. With complete paralysis of a single muscle or more than one muscle served by a single cranial nerve (third), in addition to conventional recess or resect surgery, the transposition of still-functioning muscles is often needed to obtain a durable result and restore at least some field of single binocular vision.