Unlabelled: Background A limited number of studies have investigated the effects of lifestyle interventions in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). This study evaluated the effect of a novel lifestyle intervention incorporating physical activity (PA) and dietary nitrate supplementation on heart rate variability (HRV) and haemodynamic measures in HCM.
Methods: Twenty-eight individuals with HCM were randomised into either the intervention or control group.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
October 2024
Posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression by RNA-binding proteins can enhance the speed and robustness of cell state transitions by controlling RNA stability, localization, or if, when, or where mRNAs are translated. The RNA helicase YTHDC2 is required to shut down components of the mitotic program to facilitate a proper switch from mitosis to meiosis in mouse germ cells. Here, we show that YTHDC2 has a second essential role in promoting meiotic progression in late spermatocytes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHeart rate variability (HRV) is a non-invasive measure of cardiac autonomic function. A clearer understanding as to whether resting autonomic function represented by HRV could be associated with changes in peak exercise cardiac function remains unanswered. This study evaluated the effect of age and sex on HRV, cardiometabolic function, and determined the correlation between HRV and cardiac function in healthy individuals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImportance: Maternal milk feeding of extremely preterm infants during the birth hospitalization has been associated with better neurodevelopmental outcomes compared with preterm formula. For infants receiving no or minimal maternal milk, it is unknown whether donor human milk conveys similar neurodevelopmental advantages vs preterm formula.
Objective: To determine if nutrient-fortified, pasteurized donor human milk improves neurodevelopmental outcomes at 22 to 26 months' corrected age compared with preterm infant formula among extremely preterm infants who received minimal maternal milk.
Phys Rev Lett
February 2024
Physical activity presents an important cornerstone in the management and care of individuals with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Twenty-one individuals with HCM (age: 52±15 years old, body mass index (BMI): 30±7 kg/m) completed 7-day monitoring using wrist-worn triaxial accelerometers (GENEActiv, ActivInsights Ltd, UK) and were compared to age and sex-matched healthy controls (age: 51±14 years old, BMI: 25±4 kg/m). For individuals with HCM, clinical parameters (left atrial diameter and volume, peak oxygen consumption, NTproBNP and Minnesota Living with Heart Failure (MLHF)) were correlated with accelerometry.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Anti-PD-1 therapy provides clinical benefit in 40-50% of patients with relapsed and/or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (RM-HNSCC). Selection of anti- PD-1 therapy is typically based on patient PD-L1 immunohistochemistry (IHC) which has low specificity for predicting disease control. Therefore, there is a critical need for a clinical biomarker that will predict clinical benefit to anti-PD-1 treatment with high specificity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Extremely preterm (EP) impairment rates are likely underestimated using the Bayley III norm-based thresholds scores and may be better assessed relative to concurrent healthy term reference (TR) infants born in the same hospital.
Study Design: Blinded, certified examiners in the Neonatal Research Network (NRN) evaluated EP survivors and a sample of healthy TR infants recruited near the 2-year assessment age.
Results: We assessed 1452 EP infants and 183 TR infants.
Clin Physiol Funct Imaging
November 2023
Objectives: Heart rate variability (HRV) is a measure of cardiac autonomic function. This study: (1) evaluated the differences in HRV and haemodynamic function between individuals with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and healthy controls, and (2) determined the relationship between HRV and haemodynamic variables in individuals with HCM.
Methods: Twenty-eight individuals with HCM (n = 7, females; age 54 ± 15 years; body mass index: 29 ± 5 kg/m ) and 28 matched healthy individuals (n = 7 females; age 54 ± 16 years; body mass index: 29 ± 5 kg/m ) completed 5-min HRV and haemodynamic measurements under resting (supine) conditions using bioimpedance technology.
We present avidity sequencing, a sequencing chemistry that separately optimizes the processes of stepping along a DNA template and that of identifying each nucleotide within the template. Nucleotide identification uses multivalent nucleotide ligands on dye-labeled cores to form polymerase-polymer-nucleotide complexes bound to clonal copies of DNA targets. These polymer-nucleotide substrates, termed avidites, decrease the required concentration of reporting nucleotides from micromolar to nanomolar and yield negligible dissociation rates.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThird-dose coronavirus disease 2019 vaccines are being deployed widely but their efficacy has not been assessed adequately in vulnerable older people who exhibit suboptimal responses after primary vaccination series. This observational study, which was carried out by the VIVALDI study based in England, looked at spike-specific immune responses in 341 staff and residents in long-term care facilities who received an mRNA vaccine following dual primary series vaccination with BNT162b2 or ChAdOx1. Third-dose vaccination strongly increased antibody responses with preferential relative enhancement in older people and was required to elicit neutralization of Omicron.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPost-transcriptional regulation of gene expression by RNA-binding proteins can enhance the speed and robustness of cell state transitions by controlling RNA stability, localization, or if, when or where mRNAs are translated. The RNA helicase YTHDC2 is required to shut down components of the mitotic program to facilitate a proper switch from mitosis to meiosis in mouse germ cells. Here we show that YTHDC2 has a second essential role in promoting meiotic progression in late spermatocytes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIEEE Trans Biomed Circuits Syst
December 2022
This work reports the first CMOS molecular electronics chip. It is configured as a biosensor, where the primary sensing element is a single molecule "molecular wire" consisting of a ∼100 GΩ, 25 nm long alpha-helical peptide integrated into a current monitoring circuit. The engineered peptide contains a central conjugation site for attachment of various probe molecules, such as DNA, proteins, enzymes, or antibodies, which program the biosensor to detect interactions with a specific target molecule.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDuring development, cells must quickly switch from one cell state to the next to execute precise and timely differentiation. One method to ensure fast transitions in cell states is by controlling gene expression at the post-transcriptional level through action of RNA-binding proteins on mRNAs. The ability to accurately identify the RNA targets of RNA-binding proteins at specific stages is key to understanding the functional role of RNA-binding proteins during development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImportance: Despite improvement during recent decades, extremely preterm infants continue to contribute disproportionately to neonatal mortality and childhood morbidity.
Objective: To review survival, in-hospital morbidities, care practices, and neurodevelopmental and functional outcomes at 22-26 months' corrected age for extremely preterm infants.
Design, Setting, And Participants: Prospective registry for extremely preterm infants born at 19 US academic centers that are part of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Neonatal Research Network.
We have used the pig, a large natural host animal for influenza with many physiological similarities to humans, to characterize αβ, γδ T cell and antibody (Ab) immune responses to the 2009 pandemic H1N1 virus infection. We evaluated the kinetic of virus infection and associated response in inbred Babraham pigs with identical MHC (Swine Leucocyte Antigen) and compared them to commercial outbred animals. High level of nasal virus shedding continued up to days 4 to 5 post infection followed by a steep decline and clearance of virus by day 9.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Midline sternotomy remains the most common access incision for cardiac operations. Traditionally, the sternum is closed with stainless steel wires. Wires are well known to stretch and break, however, leading to pain, nonunion, and potential deep sternal wound infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThere is increasing evidence that induction of local immune responses is a key component of effective vaccines. For respiratory pathogens, for example tuberculosis and influenza, aerosol delivery is being actively explored as a method to administer vaccine antigens. Current animal models used to study respiratory pathogens suffer from anatomical disparity with humans.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Clin Oncol
July 2018
Purpose Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is a brainstem malignancy with a median survival of < 1 year. The International and European Society for Pediatric Oncology DIPG Registries collaborated to compare clinical, radiologic, and histomolecular characteristics between short-term survivors (STSs) and long-term survivors (LTSs). Materials and Methods Data abstracted from registry databases included patients from North America, Australia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, and Croatia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe switch from mitosis to meiosis is the key event marking onset of differentiation in the germline stem cell lineage. In , the translational repressor Bgcn is required for spermatogonia to stop mitosis and transition to meiotic prophase and the spermatocyte state. Here we show that the mammalian Bgcn homolog YTHDC2 facilitates a clean switch from mitosis to meiosis in mouse germ cells, revealing a conserved role for YTHDC2 in this critical cell fate transition.
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