CoeViz 2: Protein Graphs Derived from Amino Acid Covariance.

Proteins by and large carry out their molecular functions in a folded state when residues, distant in sequence, assemble together in 3D space to bind a ligand, catalyze a reaction, form a channel, or exert another concerted macromolecular interaction. It has been long recognized that covariance of amino acids between distant positions within a protein sequence allows for the inference of long range contacts to facilitate 3D structure modeling. In this work, we investigated whether covariance analysis may reveal residues involved in the same molecular function.

Association of Heavy Drinking With Deviant Fiber Tract Development in Frontal Brain Systems in Adolescents.

Importance: Maturation of white matter fiber systems subserves cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and motor development during adolescence. Hazardous drinking during this active neurodevelopmental period may alter the trajectory of white matter microstructural development, potentially increasing risk for developing alcohol-related dysfunction and alcohol use disorder in adulthood.

Objective: To identify disrupted adolescent microstructural brain development linked to drinking onset and to assess whether the disruption is more pronounced in younger rather than older adolescents.

Resource assessment in trials undertaken in residential care homes: Experiences from the Australian MIDDEL cluster randomised controlled trial research team.

Background: The resources involved in delivering a clinical trial in residential aged care facilities (RACFs) are significant and the success of a trial is dependent upon adequate planning, including appropriate timelines for each component of the study and the required budget. This paper describes process and resource assessment during recruitment, collection of outcome measures and intervention delivery, and presents learnings and considerations for conducting trials in RACFs with people living with dementia.

Methods: Data were collected across 24 clusters in 12 RACFs over 18 months during a cluster randomised controlled trial which was testing the effectiveness of music interventions in people living with dementia.

The Yield of Ileoscopy: Does Indication Matter?

Background: While the routine performance of terminal ileum (TI) intubation during colonoscopy procedures is perceived to have a low yield, its utility during colonoscopies performed for specific indications have not been well studied.

Objectives: To assess the diagnostic yield of an indication-based ileoscopy in real-life practice.

Methods: The authors reviewed endoscopic reports of patients who underwent colonoscopies over an 8-year period (2011-2018) and had routine ileoscopy during these procedures.

How the COVID-19 pandemic has changed our lives: A study of psychological correlates across 59 countries.

Objective: This study examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent social restrictions or quarantines on the mental health of the global adult population.

Method: A sample of 6,882 individuals (M  = 42.30; 78.

Temperature regulation in women: Effects of the menstrual cycle.

Core body temperature changes across the ovulatory menstrual cycle, such that it is 0.3°C to 0.7°C higher in the post-ovulatory luteal phase when progesterone is high compared with the pre-ovulatory follicular phase.

Effects of forehead cooling and supportive care on menopause-related sleep difficulties, hot flashes and menopausal symptoms: a pilot study.

Objective/background: This pilot study explored the efficacy of a novel forehead cooling device for perceived sleep difficulties and hot flashes in menopausal-age women.

Participants: 20 women (55.1 ± 4.

Performance of a commercial multi-sensor wearable (Fitbit Charge HR) in measuring physical activity and sleep in healthy children.

Purpose: This study sought to assess the performance of the Fitbit Charge HR, a consumer-level multi-sensor activity tracker, to measure physical activity and sleep in children.

Methods: 59 healthy boys and girls aged 9-11 years old wore a Fitbit Charge HR, and accuracy of physical activity measures were evaluated relative to research-grade measures taken during a combination of 14 standardized laboratory- and field-based assessments of sitting, stationary cycling, treadmill walking or jogging, stair walking, outdoor walking, and agility drills. Accuracy of sleep measures were evaluated relative to polysomnography (PSG) in 26 boys and girls during an at-home unattended PSG overnight recording.

A standardized framework for testing the performance of sleep-tracking technology: step-by-step guidelines and open-source code.

Sleep-tracking devices, particularly within the consumer sleep technology (CST) space, are increasingly used in both research and clinical settings, providing new opportunities for large-scale data collection in highly ecological conditions. Due to the fast pace of the CST industry combined with the lack of a standardized framework to evaluate the performance of sleep trackers, their accuracy and reliability in measuring sleep remains largely unknown. Here, we provide a step-by-step analytical framework for evaluating the performance of sleep trackers (including standard actigraphy), as compared with gold-standard polysomnography (PSG) or other reference methods.

"It's Feasible to Write a Song": A Feasibility Study Examining Group Therapeutic Songwriting for People Living With Dementia and Their Family Caregivers.

Background: Psychosocial interventions for people with dementia and their family caregivers together may sustain relationship quality and social connection. No previous music therapy research has examined the effects of group therapeutic songwriting (TSW) attended by people with dementia/family caregiver dyads.

Methods: This pre-post feasibility study aimed to examine the acceptability of a group TSW intervention for people with dementia/family caregiver dyads and test the sensitivity of the following outcomes: Quality of the Caregiver-Patient Relationship (QCPR, primary); Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD) and Quality of Life-Alzheimer's Dementia for people with dementia, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Assessment of Quality of Life-8 Dimensions (AQoL-8D); and Zarit Burden Interview for family caregivers.

The effects of β and β adrenergic receptor blockade on the exercise-induced mobilization and ex vivo expansion of virus-specific T cells: implications for cellular therapy and the anti-viral immune effects of exercise.

The adoptive transfer of donor-derived virus-specific T cells (VSTs) is an effective treatment for infections following allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. Acute exercise mobilizes effector lymphocytes and VSTs to the circulation and augments the ex vivo manufacture of VSTs. This study determined if β adrenergic receptor (AR) signaling precipitated the VST response to acute exercise.

Stress, sleep, and autonomic function in healthy adolescent girls and boys: Findings from the NCANDA study.

Objectives: Starting in adolescence, female sex is a strong risk factor for the development of insomnia. Reasons for this are unclear but could involve altered stress reactivity and/or autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysregulation, which are strongly associated with the pathophysiology of insomnia. We investigated sex differences in the effect of stress on sleep and ANS activity in adolescents, using the first night in the laboratory as an experimental sleep-related stressor.

Ethnic disparities in colorectal cancer outcomes a population study from Israel.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Clear ethnic disparities in the incidence of CRC and its outcomes have been observed globally, but only few research efforts have been invested so far in the unique ethnic scene of Israeli population. This study aims to compare the clinico-pathologic features, tumor's characteristics and prognosis between Arab and Jewish CRC patients as well as among Jewish subgroups living within the same central coastal region in Israel.

Obstructive colon cancers at endoscopy are associated with advanced tumor stage and poor patient outcome. A retrospective study on 398 patients.

Background: The detection of obstructive colorectal cancer (CRC) masses during endoscopic examination hindering the passage of endoscope and precluding complete examination is not uncommon. The significance and implications of this finding on patients' prognosis and outcomes were not fully investigated and will be addressed in this study.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we reviewed endoscopy, surgery, pathology and oncology reports of patients diagnosed with CRC over a 10-year period (2007-2016).

Impact of evening alcohol consumption on nocturnal autonomic and cardiovascular function in adult men and women: a dose-response laboratory investigation.

Study Objectives: To investigate the dose-dependent impact of moderate alcohol intake on sleep-related cardiovascular (CV) function, in adult men and women.

Methods: A total of 26 healthy adults (30-60 years; 11 women) underwent 3 nights of laboratory polysomnographic (PSG) recordings in which different doses of alcohol (low: 1 standard drink for women and 2 drinks for men; high: 3 standard drinks for women and 4 drinks for men; placebo: no alcohol) were administered in counterbalanced order before bedtime. These led to bedtime average breath alcohol levels of up to 0.

ParkinSong: Outcomes of a 12-Month Controlled Trial of Therapeutic Singing Groups in Parkinson's Disease.

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) frequently causes progressive deterioration in speech, voice and cognitive aspects of communication. These affect wellbeing and quality of life and are associated with caregiver strain and burden. Therapeutic singing groups can ameliorate PD-related communication disorders and increase social interaction and wellbeing for caregivers and care recipients.

Benign Hepatic Tumors: From Incidental Imaging Finding to Clinical Management.

Benign hepatic tumors (BHTs) are commonly detected as incidental finding mainly due to the frequent utilization of imaging modalities, including ultrasound (US), computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Rigorous clinical evaluation, with a particular focus on chronic liver disease (CLD) or risk factors for CLD, medication history, physical examination for signs of CLD, blood tests, and a review of past liver radiology constitute the initial steps in the evaluation of a new liver lesion. Further, contrast-enhanced imaging using US, CT and MRI, can be used depending on the clinical scenario and their availability.

Adolescent alcohol use disrupts functional neurodevelopment in sensation seeking girls.

Exogenous causes, such as alcohol use, and endogenous factors, such as temperament and sex, can modulate developmental trajectories of adolescent neurofunctional maturation. We examined how these factors affect sexual dimorphism in brain functional networks in youth drinking below diagnostic threshold for alcohol use disorder (AUD). Based on the 3-year, annually acquired, longitudinal resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data of 526 adolescents (12-21 years at baseline) from the National Consortium on Alcohol and Neurodevelopment in Adolescence (NCANDA) cohort, developmental trajectories of 23 intrinsic functional networks (IFNs) were analyzed for (1) sexual dimorphism in 259 participants who were no-to-low drinkers throughout this period; (2) sex-alcohol interactions in two age- and sex-matched NCANDA subgroups (N = 76 each), half no-to-low, and half moderate-to-heavy drinkers; and (3) moderating effects of gender-specific alcohol dose effects and a multifactorial impulsivity measure on IFN connectivity in all NCANDA participants.

The Role of Pre-Operative Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio in Predicting Post Bariatric Surgery Related Complications.

Background: Bariatric surgery has become the most common and effective therapeutic option for obesity. However, it is associated with morbidity and complications. Identification of predictors for surgical complications is an unmet need.

Pre-endoscopic tachycardia predicts increased sedation dose and lower adenoma detection rate in patients undergoing endoscopic procedures: a case control study.

Background: Tachycardia prior to endoscopic procedures is commonly encountered which reflect patient anxiety status. Despite this frequent occurrence, it is unclear if in a patient with tachycardia sedation dose should be modified. The aim of our study was to assess the effect of pre-endoscopic tachycardia on sedation dose.

The Evolving Role of Gut Microbiota in the Management of Irritable Bowel Syndrome: An Overview of the Current Knowledge.

The intestinal microbiota is one of the most rapidly evolving areas in biology and medicine. Extensive research in the last decade has escalated our understanding of the role of the microbiota in the pathogenesis of several intestinal and extra-intestinal disorders. Marked by high prevalence, substantial morbidity, and enormous costs, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is an important chronic gastrointestinal disorder that is widely encountered by gastroenterologists.

Can microscopic ileitis in patients with clinically suspected inflammatory bowel disease predict the future?

Background: The implication of microscopic ileitis finding in patients referred for ileocolonoscopy for clinically suspected inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is not well defined, and its correlation with clinical outcome has not been fully studied. The current study aims to determine the prognostic yield of biopsies in this setting, and to evaluate the correlation of microscopic ileitis with long-term clinical outcome.

Methods: We reviewed endoscopic reports of patients referred to our department for ileocolonoscopy in the years 2010-2016, as part of a diagnostic work-up for suspected IBD.