Concomitant Aspirin and Anticoagulation Is Associated With Increased Risk for Major Bleeding in Surgical Patients Requiring Postoperative Intensive Care.

Objectives: Critically ill surgical patients may receive concomitant aspirin and therapeutic anticoagulation postoperatively, yet the safety of this practice remains unknown. We evaluated the risk of major bleeding with concomitant therapy compared with anticoagulation alone.

Design: Observational cohort study.

Thioproline formation as a driver of formaldehyde toxicity in Escherichia coli.

Formaldehyde (HCHO) is a reactive carbonyl compound that formylates and cross-links proteins, DNA, and small molecules. It is of specific concern as a toxic intermediate in the design of engineered pathways involving methanol oxidation or formate reduction. The interest in engineering these pathways is not, however, matched by engineering-relevant information on precisely why HCHO is toxic or on what damage-control mechanisms cells deploy to manage HCHO toxicity.

Differentially expressed mRNAs and lncRNAs shared between activated human hepatic stellate cells and nash fibrosis.

We previously reported dysregulated expression of liver-derived messenger RNA (mRNA) and long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) in patients with advanced fibrosis resulting from nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Here we sought to identify changes in mRNA and lncRNA levels associated with activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), the predominant source of extracellular matrix production in the liver and key to NAFLD-related fibrogenesis. We performed expression profiling of mRNA and lncRNA from LX-2 cells, an immortalized human HSC cell line, treated to induce phenotypes resembling quiescent and myofibroblastic states.

Dose profiles and x-ray energy optimization for microbeam radiation therapy by high-dose, high resolution dosimetry using Sm-doped fluoroaluminate glass plates and Monte Carlo transport simulation.

Microbeam radiation therapy (MRT) utilizes highly collimated synchrotron generated x-rays to create narrow planes of high dose radiation for the treatment of tumors. Individual microbeams have a typical width of 30-50 µm and are separated by a distance of 200-500 µm. The dose delivered at the center of the beam is lethal to cells in the microbeam path, on the order of hundreds of Grays (Gy).

Exposure to surgery with general anaesthesia during adult life is not associated with increased brain amyloid deposition in older adults.

Background: Exposure to surgery with general anaesthesia (surgery/GA) is associated with cortical atrophy, but the aetiology remains unknown. Amyloid-β (Aβ) deposition is one of the hallmark pathological characteristics of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We examined brain Aβ burden in study participants exposed to surgery/GA.

Altered Repertoire Diversity and Disease-Associated Clonal Expansions Revealed by T Cell Receptor Immunosequencing in Ankylosing Spondylitis Patients.

Objective: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a common spondyloarthropathy primarily affecting the axial skeleton and strongly associated with HLA-B*27 carriage. Genetic evidence implicates both autoinflammatory processes and autoimmunity against an HLA-B*27-restricted autoantigen in immunopathology. In addition to articular symptoms, up to 70% of AS patients present with concurrent bowel inflammation, suggesting that adverse interactions between a genetically primed host immune system and the gut microbiome contribute to the disease.

Fam83d modulates MAP kinase and AKT signaling and is induced during neurogenic skeletal muscle atrophy.

Skeletal muscle atrophy is a serious health condition that can arise due to aging, cancer, corticosteroid exposure, and denervation. Previous work comparing gene expression profiles in control and denervated muscle tissue revealed for the first time that Fam83d is expressed in skeletal muscle and is significantly induced in response to denervation. Quantitative PCR and Western blot analysis found that Fam83d is more highly expressed in proliferating myoblasts compared to differentiated myotubes.

Rate of Formaldehyde Condensation with Tetrahydrofolate.

Formaldehyde is a highly reactive compound that participates in multiple spontaneous reactions, but these are mostly deleterious and damage cellular components. In contrast, the spontaneous condensation of formaldehyde with tetrahydrofolate (THF) has been proposed to contribute to the assimilation of this intermediate during growth on C carbon sources such as methanol. However, the rate of this condensation reaction is unknown and its possible contribution to growth remains elusive.

Utilizing Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing to Increase Efficiency in Ultrasound-Guided Breast Biopsy Practice.

Purpose: In this study, we used time-driven activity-based costing to increase efficiency in our ultrasound-guided breast biopsy practice by understanding costs associated with this procedure.

Methods: We assembled a multidisciplinary team of all relevant stakeholders involved in ultrasound-guided breast biopsies, including a radiologist, a lead technologist, a clinical assistant, a licensed practical nurse, and a procedural support assistant. The team mapped each step in an ultrasound-guided breast biopsy from the time of scheduling a biopsy to patient checkout.

Cerebrospinal fluid lipidomics: effects of an intravenous triglyceride infusion and apoE status.

Introduction: High-fat diets increase risk for Alzheimer's disease, but individuals with the risk gene APOE ε4 (E4) paradoxically have improved memory soon after high fat feeding. Little is known about how dietary lipids affect CNS lipids, especially in older adults.

Objectives: We analyzed the lipidomic signature of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in older adults who underwent both a saline and TG infusion.

Anti-proliferative transcriptional effects of medroxyprogesterone acetate in estrogen receptor positive breast cancer cells are predominantly mediated by the progesterone receptor.

Medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) is a first generation progestin that has been in clinical use for various hormonal conditions in women since the 1960s. Although developed as a progesterone receptor (PR) agonist, MPA also has strong binding affinity for other steroid receptors. This promiscuity confounds the mechanistic action of MPA in target cells that express multiple steroid receptors.

Nitrogen isotope fractionation in a continuous culture system containing phytoplankton and blue mussels.

An experiment was conducted to examine the fractionation of nitrogen stable isotopes in a continuous culture system containing field collected estuarine phytoplankton and blue mussels, Mytilus edulis. Nitrate and phosphate were added to culture vessels at concentrations above ambient levels and nitrogen isotope ratios (δN) were measured in particulate matter (PM) and blue mussels over the course of the 15-day experiment. The added nutrients resulted in large productivity and chlorophyll increases in the system.

Intrathoracic hybrid lesion: an incidental finding in a patient with PHACE syndrome.

Hybrid lesions (HLs) are unique, congenital lung malformations with both cystic and solid components and vascular supply consistent with bronchopulmonary sequestration. Increase of HLs reported in recent literature suggest a common pathological mechanism occurring during embryogenesis, leading to occurrence of both malformations within a single lesion. Due to the unusual nature of HLs, gold standard approach for diagnosis is not very well-defined in the literature.

Revolutionizing agriculture with synthetic biology.

Synthetic biology is here to stay and will transform agriculture if given the chance. The huge challenges facing food, fuel and chemical production make it vital to give synthetic biology that chance-notwithstanding the shifts in mindset, training and infrastructure investment this demands. Here, we assess opportunities for agricultural synthetic biology and ways to remove barriers to their realization.

Views of wheelchair users and caregivers regarding a passive safety monitoring system for electric powered wheelchair operators with cognitive impairment.

The opinions of cognitively intact current wheelchair users and their professional caregivers were solicited to explore acceptability of the concept of a passive electric wheelchair-mounted movement monitor to track driving safety and cognitive impairment. Two focus groups of electric wheelchair users (N = 9), and two focus groups of staff caregivers (N = 8) were conducted at a congregate care facility. Participants also completed a questionnaire examining their perceptions of the concept.

Using a Reflexive Process to Investigate Organizational Change: The Use of the Research Spider Matrix.

Academic health sciences libraries increasingly are urged to develop research support services for faculty and students. However, moving to a research-centric culture is not easy. It requires assessment of existing competencies (defined as knowledge, experience, and skills) to identify capacity and gaps and to inform individualized and unit-level professional development activities.

Anesthesia With and Without Nitrous Oxide and Long-term Cognitive Trajectories in Older Adults.

Background: We evaluated the hypothesis that the rate of postoperative decline in global cognition is greater in older adults exposed to general anesthesia with nitrous oxide (N2O) compared to general anesthesia without N2O.

Methods: Longitudinal measures of cognitive function were analyzed in nondemented adults, 70-91 years of age, enrolled in the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging. Linear mixed-effects models with time-varying covariates assessed the relationship between exposure to surgery with general anesthesia (surgery/GA) with or without N2O and the rate of long-term cognitive changes.

Exposure to surgery under general anaesthesia and brain magnetic resonance imaging changes in older adults.

Background: Preclinical studies suggest that exposure to general anaesthesia (GA) could cause neurodegeneration consistent with Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is useful to study structural brain changes. We tested the hypothesis that exposure to surgery with GA (surgery/GA) is associated with greater cortical thinning and increased frequency of white matter lesions.

Construction and applications of a B vitamin genetic resource for investigation of vitamin-dependent metabolism in maize.

The B vitamins provide essential co-factors for central metabolism in all organisms. In plants, B vitamins have surprising emerging roles in development, stress tolerance and pathogen resistance. Hence, there is a paramount interest in understanding the regulation of vitamin biosynthesis as well as the consequences of vitamin deficiency in crop species.

Cognitive function after surgery with regional or general anesthesia: A population-based study.

Introduction: Our aim was to examine whether surgery with regional anesthesia (RA) is associated with accelerated long-term cognitive decline comparable with that previously reported after general anesthesia (GA).

Methods: Longitudinal cognitive function was analyzed in a cohort of 1819 older adults. Models assessed the rate of change in global and domain-specific cognition over time in participants exposed to RA or GA.

Rethinking the PDH Bypass and GABA Shunt as Thiamin-Deficiency Workarounds.

The PDH bypass and the GABA shunt serve to maintain mainline metabolic fluxes during episodes of organellar thiamin diphosphate deficiency.

Cooking and Meal Planning as Predictors of Fruit and Vegetable Intake and BMI in First-Year College Students.

The objective was to determine if cooking skills and meal planning behaviors are associated with greater fruit and vegetable intake and lower body mass index (BMI) in first-year college students who are at risk for excessive weight gain. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using baseline data from a multi-state research project aimed at preventing weight gain in first-year college students. Cooking type, frequency and confidence, self-instruction for healthful mealtime behavior intention, self-regulation of healthful mealtime behavior, and cup equivalents of fruits and vegetables (FV) were measured using validated surveys.

Chemokine ligand 20 (CCL20) expression increases with NAFLD stage and hepatic stellate cell activation and is regulated by miR-590-5p.

CCL20 (CC chemokine ligand 20) is emerging as an important regulatory molecule in a pathway common to virus infection, alcoholic hepatitis, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) leading to the development of hepatic fibrosis. We previously observed upregulation of CCL20 in patients with NAFLD fibrosis and human hepatic stellate cells (LX-2 cells) in response to lipid loading. To date, the mechanisms mediating the relationship between CCL20 and hepatic fibrogenesis remain unknown.