Bioplastics: No solution to healthcare's plastic pollution problem.

As Canadian policy-makers recognize the urgency for concerted actions to reduce plastics (e.g., Canada's involvement in the international plastics treaty negotiations, zero plastic waste strategy, and single-use plastics regulations), the healthcare sector must also consider a more sustainable plastics system.

Reductions of Plastic Microbeads from Personal Care Products in Wastewater Effluents and Lake Waters Following Regulatory Actions.

Plastic microbeads were widely used as exfoliants in personal care products (PCPs; e.g., hand/body washes) in North America, but restrictions were imposed on their use in PCPs in the U.

Aerosolized aqueous dust extracts collected near a drying lake trigger acute neutrophilic pulmonary inflammation reminiscent of microbial innate immune ligands.

Background: A high incidence of asthma is prevalent among residents near the Salton Sea, a large inland terminal lake in southern California. This arid region has high levels of ambient particulate matter (PM); yet while high PM levels are often associated with asthma in many environments, it is possible that the rapidly retreating lake, and exposed playa or lakebed, may contribute components with a specific role in promoting asthma symptoms.

Objectives: Our hypothesis is that asthma may be higher in residents closest to the Salton Sea due to chronic exposures to playa dust.

A fit-for-purpose categorization scheme for microplastic morphologies.

Microplastic categorization schemes are diverse, thereby posing challenges for cross-study comparisons. Further, categorization schemes are not necessarily aligned with and, thus, useful for applications such as source reduction initiatives. To address these challenges, we propose a hierarchical categorization approach that is "fit for purpose" to enable the use of a scheme that is tailored to the study's purpose and contains categories, which, if adopted, would facilitate interstudy comparison.

CD9 blockade suppresses disease progression of high-risk pediatric B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia and enhances chemosensitivity.

CD9 has been implicated in cancer progression but its prognostic relevance and therapeutic potential in B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL) are largely unknown. In a cohort of pediatric BCP-ALL patients, we found that CD9 cases had a significantly lower 5-year relapse-free survival rate than CD9 cases. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that CD9 positivity independently predicted inferior survival outcomes, and could be applied with established prognostic features, including prednisone response and cytogenetic status, to refine patient stratification.

Testing the Actions of a Multi-action Emollient: Patient's Acceptability Determines Product Efficacy.

Aim: Eczema or Atopic Dermatitis (AD) is associated with itch, sleep disturbance, impaired life quality, reduced skin hydration, impaired epidermal barrier function and colonization by Staphylococcus aureus (SA). We investigated an emollient with claimed multi-actions on barrier repair, antihistaminergic and antimicrobial effects.

Methods: Consecutive AD patients were recruited.

Do we need another symptom score for childhood eczema?

Aim: It is important to objectively measure the severity of atopic dermatitis (AD). This study aims to investigate correlations among various clinical severity scores and determine how a severity score based on symptoms alone performs.

Methods: A Chinese-translated symptom score based on Patient-Oriented Eczema Measure (POEM, a short-term subjective-symptom score), Scoring Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD, a short-term subjective-symptom and objective-sign score), Nottingham Eczema Severity Score (NESS, a long-term subjective symptoms + objective signs), Children Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI, a short-term subjective-symptom score), skin hydration (SH) and transepidermal water loss (TEWL) were compared and Spearman's rho correlations was evaluated.

Emollient Acceptability in Childhood Atopic Dermatitis: Not All Emollients are Equal.

Background: Eczema or Atopic Dermatitis (AD) is a common chronic relapsing skin disease associated with impaired quality of life. Regular usage of moisturizer/emollient is the mainstay of management but acceptability of emollient is often suboptimal. We investigated if emollient acceptability is influenced by various clinical factors in AD.

Regulation of Circulating Hematopoietic Stem/Progenitor Cells in Preterm Infants with Septicemia.

Preterm infants are at high risk of developing severe sepsis. Circulating hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs; CD45CD34) have been suggested to play a vital role in the host immunological defense against invading pathogens. The objectives were to investigate the regulation of circulating HSPCs in preterm infants during infection episodes, and to assess the relationship of CD45CD34 cells with immunological mediators and differential leukocyte populations.

Dysregulated expression of arginine metabolic enzymes in human intestinal tissues of necrotizing enterocolitis and response of CaCO2 cells to bacterial components.

The small intestine is the exclusive site of arginine synthesis in neonates. Low levels of circulating arginine have been associated with the occurrence of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) but the mechanism of arginine dysregulation has not been fully elucidated. We aimed to investigate (i) expressional changes of arginine synthesizing and catabolic enzymes in human intestinal tissues of NEC, spontaneous intestinal perforation (SIP) and noninflammatory surgical conditions (Surg-CTL) and to investigate the (ii) mechanisms of arginine dysregulation and enterocyte proliferation upon stimulation by bacterial components, arginine depletion, ARG1 overexpression and nitric oxide (NO) supplementation.

Kinetics of signaling-DNA-aptamer-ATP binding.

DNA aptamers are molecular biosensors consisting of single functionalized DNA molecules, which can bind to specific targets or complementary DNA sequences. The binding kinetics of DNA aptamers is studied by fluorescence quenching at 23 degrees C . A kinetic model for the binding reaction of DNA aptamer, antisense DNA, and ATP target is developed to describe experimental observations.