Implementing Mass Cytometry at the Bedside to Study the Immunological Basis of Human Diseases: Distinctive Immune Features in Patients with a History of Term or Preterm Birth.

Single-cell technologies have immense potential to shed light on molecular and biological processes that drive human diseases. Mass cytometry (or Cytometry by Time Of Flight mass spectrometry, CyTOF) has already been employed in clinical studies to comprehensively survey patients' circulating immune system. As interest in the "bedside" application of mass cytometry is growing, the delineation of relevant methodological issues is called for.

Spatial and temporal patterns in preterm birth in the United States.

Background: Despite years of research, the etiologies of preterm birth remain unclear. In order to help generate new research hypotheses, this study explored spatial and temporal patterns of preterm birth in a large, total-population dataset.

Methods: Data on 145 million US births in 3,000 counties from the Natality Files of the National Center for Health Statistics for 1971-2011 were examined.

Risk of bronchopulmonary dysplasia by second-trimester maternal serum levels of α-fetoprotein, human chorionic gonadotropin, and unconjugated estriol.

Introduction: Although maternal serum α-fetoprotein (AFP), human chorionic gonandotropin (hCG), and estriol play important roles in immunomodulation and immunoregulation during pregnancy, their relationship with the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in young infants is unknown despite BPD being associated with pre- and postnatal inflammatory factors.

Results: We found that these serum biomarkers were associated with an increased risk of BPD. Risks were especially high when AFP and/or hCG levels were above the 95th percentile and/or when unconjugated estriol (uE3) levels were below the 5th percentile (relative risks (RRs) 3.