Kidney epithelial targeted mitochondrial transcription factor A deficiency results in progressive mitochondrial depletion associated with severe cystic disease.

Abnormal mitochondrial function is a well-recognized feature of acute and chronic kidney diseases. To gain insight into the role of mitochondria in kidney homeostasis and pathogenesis, we targeted mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM), a protein required for mitochondrial DNA replication and transcription that plays a critical part in the maintenance of mitochondrial mass and function. To examine the consequences of disrupted mitochondrial function in kidney epithelial cells, we inactivated TFAM in sine oculis-related homeobox 2-expressing kidney progenitor cells.

Site-specific spectroscopic measurement of spin and charge in (LuFeO)/(LuFeO) multiferroic superlattices.

Interface materials offer a means to achieve electrical control of ferrimagnetism at room temperature as was recently demonstrated in (LuFeO)/(LuFeO) superlattices. A challenge to understanding the inner workings of these complex magnetoelectric multiferroics is the multitude of distinct Fe centres and their associated environments. This is because macroscopic techniques characterize average responses rather than the role of individual iron centres.

Association Between Cardiac Surgeons' Number of Years in Practice and Surgical Outcomes in New York Cardiac Centers.

Importance: More than half of US cardiothoracic surgeons are older than 55 years, and the association between surgeon number of years in practice and surgical outcomes remains unclear.

Objective: To assess the association between cardiac surgeons' time in practice and operative outcomes for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and valve surgery.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Cross-sectional analysis performed of surgeon-level outcomes data from the 2014-2016 New York State Cardiac Data Reporting System across the 38 New York cardiac surgery centers.

Regulation of NF-κB, FHC and SOD2 in response to oxidative stress in the freeze tolerant wood frog, Rana sylvatica.

The wood frog, Rana sylvatica, is the primary model animal used for studying vertebrate freeze tolerance. Freeze tolerance adaptations by wood frogs are mediated by a set of well-tuned regulatory controls at the molecular level, starting from cell signal transduction and gene expression events that are ultimately reflected in protective responses by multiple cell systems. Previous studies provided excellent presumptive evidence for the involvement of the NF-κB transcription factor in freeze tolerance.

Association between coronary artery bypass graft center volume and year-to-year outcome variability: New York and California statewide analysis.

Objective: We evaluated whether volume-based, rather than time-based, annual reporting of center outcomes for coronary artery bypass grafting may improve inference of quality, assuming that large center-level year-to-year outcome variability is related to statistical noise.

Methods: We analyzed 2012 to 2016 data on isolated coronary artery bypass grafting using statewide outcome reports from New York and California. Annual changes in center-level observed-to-expected mortality ratio represented stability of year-to-year outcomes.

Isolated choroidal melanocytosis: clinical update on 37 cases.

Purpose: Isolated choroidal melanocytosis is a congenital melanocytic hyperpigmentation involving the choroid that is not associated with iridic or scleral features of ocular melanocytosis. The purpose of this work was to describe the clinical features and course of a relatively large series of patients with this disorder.

Methods: A retrospective clinical study of 37 patients with isolated choroidal melanocytosis encountered in a single practice 1986-2018 was done.

Protocol for project recovery after cardiac surgery: a single-center cohort study leveraging digital platform to characterise longitudinal patient-reported postoperative recovery patterns.

Introduction: Improving postoperative patient recovery after cardiac surgery is a priority, but our current understanding of individual variations in recovery and factors associated with poor recovery is limited. We are using a health-information exchange platform to collect patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and wearable device data to phenotype recovery patterns in the 30-day period after cardiac surgery hospital discharge, to identify factors associated with these phenotypes and to investigate phenotype associations with clinical outcomes.

Methods And Analysis: We designed a prospective cohort study to enrol 200 patients undergoing valve, coronary artery bypass graft or aortic surgery at a tertiary centre in the USA.

Adipose Stromal Cells Enhance Decellularized Adipose Tissue Remodeling Through Multimodal Mechanisms.

Decellularized adipose tissue (DAT) scaffolds represent a promising cell-instructive platform for soft tissue engineering. While recent work has highlighted that mesenchymal stromal cells, including adipose-derived stromal cells (ASCs), can be combined with decellularized scaffolds to augment tissue regeneration, the mechanisms involved require further study. The objective of this work was to probe the roles of syngeneic donor ASCs and host-derived macrophages in tissue remodeling of DAT scaffolds within an immunocompetent mouse model.

Trainee surgeons and patient outcomes in carotid endarterectomy: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: In Australia and New Zealand, more than 2000 carotid endarterectomies are performed annually. The major morbidities arising from this procedure are post-operative stroke, cranial nerve injury and death. Carotid endarterectomy surgery is a key component of the vascular surgical training programme.

Prevalence and factors associated with advanced care directives in a motor neuron disease multidisciplinary clinic in Australia.

Objectives: Motor neuron disease (MND) is a neurodegenerative disorder leading to functional decline and death. Multidisciplinary MND clinics provide an integrated approach to management and facilitate discussion on advanced care directives (ACDs). The study objectives are to analyse (1) the prevalence of ACD in our MND clinic, (2) the relationship between ACD and patient demographics and (3) the relationship between ACD decision-making and variables such as NIV, PEG, hospital admissions and location of death.

The oncogenic potential of a mutant TP53 gene explored in two spontaneous lung cancer mice models.

Background: Lung cancer is the number one cancer killer worldwide. A major drawback in the lung cancer treatment field is the lack of realistic mouse models that replicate the complexity of human malignancy and immune contexture within the tumor microenvironment. Such models are urgently needed.

Optical Quality and Tear Film Analysis Before and After Intranasal Stimulation in Patients with Dry Eye Syndrome.

Purpose: To evaluate the optical quality and tear film quality in patients with dry eye syndrome (DES) before and after using an intranasal neurostimulation device to stimulate tear production.

Methods: Cross-sectional review of 33 eyes in 21 patients with DES who underwent optical quality and tear film analysis as part of their routine dry eye evaluation pre- and post-neurostimulation trial in office. Optical quality was assessed by measuring the objective scattering index (OSI) and modulation transfer function (MTF).

Exploring pH Dependent Host/Guest Binding Affinities.

When the electrostatic environment surrounding binding partners changes between unbound and bound states, the net uptake or release of a proton is possible by either binding partner. This process is pH-dependent in that the free energy required to uptake or release the proton varies with pH. This pH-dependence is typically not considered in conventional free energy methods where the use of fixed protonation states is the norm.

Addressing Individual Values to Impact Prudent Antimicrobial Prescribing in Animal Agriculture.

Antimicrobial resistance is a growing public health threat driven by antimicrobial use-both judicious and injudicious-in people and animals. In animal agriculture, antimicrobials are used to treat, control, and prevent disease in herds of animals. While such use generally occurs under the broad supervision of a veterinarian, individual animals are often treated by farm owners or managers.

The Electrophysiological Determinants of Corticospinal Motor Neuron Vulnerability in ALS.

The brain is complex and heterogeneous. Even though numerous independent studies indicate cortical hyperexcitability as a potential contributor to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) pathology, the mechanisms that are responsible for upper motor neuron (UMN) vulnerability remain elusive. To reveal the electrophysiological determinants of corticospinal motor neuron (CSMN, a.

Plastid biogenesis in malaria parasites requires the interactions and catalytic activity of the Clp proteolytic system.

The human malaria parasite, , contains an essential plastid called the apicoplast. Most apicoplast proteins are encoded by the nuclear genome and it is unclear how the plastid proteome is regulated. Here, we study an apicoplast-localized caseinolytic-protease (Clp) system and how it regulates organelle proteostasis.

Accelerated CDOCKER with GPUs, Parallel Simulated Annealing, and Fast Fourier Transforms.

Fast Fourier transform (FFT)-based protein ligand docking together with parallel simulated annealing for both rigid and flexible receptor docking are implemented on graphical processing unit (GPU) accelerated platforms to significantly enhance the throughput of the CDOCKER and flexible CDOCKER - the docking algorithms in the CHARMM program for biomolecule modeling. The FFT-based approach for docking, first applied in protein-protein docking to efficiently search for the binding position and orientation of proteins, is adapted here to search ligand translational and rotational spaces given a ligand conformation in protein-ligand docking. Running on GPUs, our implementation of FFT docking in CDOCKER achieves a 15 000 fold speedup in the ligand translational and rotational space search in protein-ligand docking problems.

Management of a rhegmatogenous retinal detachment in a pregnant patient.

Purpose: To describe the management of a rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) in a pregnant patient.

Observations: A 30-year-old, 26-week pregnant female presented with curtain vision loss in the left eye. Exam findings were significant in the left eye for an inferior fovea-sparing RRD.

Progress towards a representative network of Southern Ocean protected areas.

Global threats to ocean biodiversity have generated a worldwide movement to take actions to improve conservation and management. Several international initiatives have recommended the adoption of marine protected areas (MPAs) in national and international waters. National governments and the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources have successfully adopted multiple MPAs in the Southern Ocean despite the challenging nature of establishing MPAs in international waters.