The energetic landscape of CH-π interactions in protein-carbohydrate binding.

CH-π interactions between carbohydrates and aromatic amino acids play an essential role in biological systems that span all domains of life. Quantifying the strength and importance of these CH-π interactions is challenging because these interactions involve several atoms and can exist in many distinct orientations. To identify an orientational landscape of CH-π interactions, we constructed a dataset of close contacts formed between β-d-galactose residues and the aromatic amino acids, tryptophan, tyrosine, and phenylalanine, across crystallographic structures deposited in the Protein Data Bank.

CH-π Interactions Are Required for Human Galectin-3 Function.

Glycan-binding proteins, or lectins, recognize distinct structural elements of polysaccharides, to mediate myriad biological functions. Targeting glycan-binding proteins involved in human disease has been challenging due to an incomplete understanding of the molecular mechanisms that govern protein-glycan interactions. Bioinformatics and structural studies of glycan-binding proteins indicate that aromatic residues with the potential for CH-π interactions are prevalent in glycan-binding sites.

Flexible bronchoscopy insufflated and high-flow nasal oxygen pilot trial (BUFFALO protocol pilot trial).

Background: Hypoxaemia occurs in approximately 30% of children during anaesthesia for flexible bronchoscopy. High-flow nasal oxygen (HFNO) can prolong safe apnoea time and be used in children with abnormal airways. During flexible bronchoscopy, there is limited evidence if HFNO confers advantages over current standard practice in avoiding hypoxaemia.

United Kingdom standards for non-invasive cardiac imaging: recommendations from the Imaging Council of the British Cardiovascular Society.

Heart and circulatory diseases affect more than seven million people in the UK. Non-invasive cardiac imaging is a critical element of contemporary cardiology practice. Progressive improvements in technology over the last 20 years have increased diagnostic accuracy in all modalities and led to the incorporation of non-invasive imaging into many standard cardiac clinical care pathways.

Joint British Societies' guideline on management of cardiac arrest in the cardiac catheter laboratory.

More than 300 000 procedures are performed in cardiac catheter laboratories in the UK each year. The variety and complexity of percutaneous cardiovascular procedures have both increased substantially since the early days of invasive cardiology, when it was largely focused on elective coronary angiography and single chamber (right ventricular) permanent pacemaker implantation. Modern-day invasive cardiology encompasses primary percutaneous coronary intervention, cardiac resynchronisation therapy, complex arrhythmia ablation and structural heart interventions.

Improving peripheral venous cannula insertion in children: a mixed methods study to develop the DIVA key.

Objective: To develop and validate a difficult intravenous access risk assessment and escalation pathway, to increase first time intravenous insertion success in paediatrics.

Methods: Mixed methods underpinned by literature and co-production principles. Iterative development of the instrument was informed through semi-structured interviews and stakeholder workshops.

Etiologies and Outcomes Associated With Tacrolimus Levels Out of a Typical Range That Lead to High Variability in Kidney Transplant Recipients.

Background: High tacrolimus intrapatient variability (tac IPV) is associated with poor outcomes in kidney transplantation, including rejection, donor-specific antibodies, and graft loss. A common cause of high tac IPV is related to patient nonadherence, but this is yet to be conclusively demonstrated.

Methods: This was a longitudinal cohort study comprising adult kidney recipients, who received transplants between 2015 and 2017, with follow-ups through February 2020.

2020 Update of the quality indicators for acute myocardial infarction: a position paper of the Association for Acute Cardiovascular Care: the study group for quality indicators from the ACVC and the NSTE-ACS guideline group.

Aims: Quality indicators (QIs) are tools to improve the delivery of evidence-base medicine. In 2017, the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Association for Acute Cardiovascular Care (ACVC) developed a set of QIs for acute myocardial infarction (AMI), which have been evaluated at national and international levels and across different populations. However, an update of these QIs is needed in light of the accumulated experience and the changes in the supporting evidence.

The effect of dexmedetomidine on postoperative behaviour change in children: a randomised controlled trial.

Children may develop changes in their behaviour following general anaesthesia. Some examples of negative behaviour include temper tantrums and nightmares, as well as sleep and eating disorders. The aim of this study was to determine whether dexmedetomidine reduces the incidence of negative behaviour change after anaesthesia for day case surgery in children aged two to seven years.

Homology modeling of TMPRSS2 yields candidate drugs that may inhibit entry of SARS-CoV-2 into human cells.

The most rapid path to discovering treatment options for the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is to find existing medications that are active against the virus. We have focused on identifying repurposing candidates for the transmembrane serine protease family member II (TMPRSS2), which is critical for entry of coronaviruses into cells. Using known 3D structures of close homologs, we created seven homology models.

Dr Ian Hamilton McDonald, MBBS, DA, FANZCA: The evolution of paediatric anaesthesia and intensive care at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne.

Dr Ian Hamilton McDonald (1923-2019) was a pioneer of paediatric anaesthesia and intensive care at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne. He first started working at the hospital in the 1940s, later doing further training from 1953-1955 at the Nuffield Department of Anaesthesia in Oxford under Sir Robert Macintosh. McDonald returned to Melbourne as assistant director supporting Dr Margaret (Gretta) McClelland as the director of anaesthesia, together pioneering the development of a major paediatric anaesthesia department.

The Myocardial Ischaemia National Audit Project (MINAP).

Aims: The Myocardial Ischaemia National Audit Project (MINAP) collects data from admissions in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland with Type 1 myocardial infarction (T1 MI). The project aims to improve clinical care through the audit process and to provide powerful high-resolution data for research.

Methods And Results: MINAP collects data spanning 130 data fields covering the course of patient care, from the moment the patient calls for professional help through to hospital discharge and rehabilitation.

Comprehensive, high-resolution binding energy landscapes reveal context dependencies of transcription factor binding.

Transcription factors (TFs) are primary regulators of gene expression in cells, where they bind specific genomic target sites to control transcription. Quantitative measurements of TF-DNA binding energies can improve the accuracy of predictions of TF occupancy and downstream gene expression in vivo and shed light on how transcriptional networks are rewired throughout evolution. Here, we present a sequencing-based TF binding assay and analysis pipeline (BET-seq, for Binding Energy Topography by sequencing) capable of providing quantitative estimates of binding energies for more than one million DNA sequences in parallel at high energetic resolution.

Contribution of Selective Conditions to Microbial Competition in Four Listeria Selective Enrichment Formulations.

Microbial competition during selective enrichment negatively affects Listeria monocytogenes populations and may hinder the subsequent detection or recovery of this organism. Competition assays among 10 selected strains of Listeria and Citrobacter braakii were performed in buffered Listeria enrichment broth, 3-(N-morpholino)propanesulfonic acid-buffered Listeria enrichment broth, University of Vermont medium-modified Listeria enrichment broth, and Fraser broth. The individual contributions of each selective agent in these media were also assessed, as well as the contribution of incubation temperature.

Applicability of Dynamic Facilitation Theory to Binary Hard Disk Systems.

We numerically investigate the applicability of dynamic facilitation (DF) theory for glass-forming binary hard disk systems where supercompression is controlled by pressure. By using novel efficient algorithms for hard disks, we are able to generate equilibrium supercompressed states in an additive nonequimolar binary mixture, where microcrystallization and size segregation do not emerge at high average packing fractions. Above an onset pressure where collective heterogeneous relaxation sets in, we find that relaxation times are well described by a "parabolic law" with pressure.

Evaluation of perioperative predictors of acute kidney injury post orthotopic liver transplantation.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication following orthotopic liver transplantation. It is associated with increased morbidity and mortality, as well as increased healthcare costs. The aetiology of AKI post liver transplantation is multifactorial and understanding these factors is pivotal in developing risk stratification and prevention strategies.

Using the s ensemble to probe glasses formed by cooling and aging.

From length scale distributions characterizing frozen amorphous domains, we relate the s ensemble method with standard cooling and aging protocols for forming glass. We show that in a class of models where space-time scaling is in harmony with that of experiment, the spatial distributions of excitations obtained with the s ensemble are identical to those obtained through cooling or aging, but the computational effort for applying the s ensemble is generally many orders of magnitude smaller than that of straightforward numerical simulation of cooling or aging. We find that in contrast to the equilibrium ergodic state, a nonequilibrium length scale characterizes the anticorrelation between excitations and encodes the preparation history of glass states.

Emotional reactions to pain predict psychological distress in adult patients with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD).

Differentiating somatic from emotional influences on the experience of chronic pain has been of interest to clinicians and researchers for many years. Although prior research has not well specified these pathways at the anatomical level, some evidence, both theoretical and empirical, suggest that emotional reactions influence the experience of disease and non-disease-related pains. Other studies suggest that treatments directed at negative emotional responses reduce suffering associated with pain.

Environmentally driven evolution of Rubisco and improved photosynthesis and growth within the C3 genus Limonium (Plumbaginaceae).

Carbon assimilation by most ecosystems requires ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco). Its kinetic parameters are likely to have evolved in parallel with intracellular CO2 availability, with the result that faster forms of Rubisco occur in species with CO2 -concentrating mechanisms. The Rubisco catalytic properties were determined and evaluated in relation to growth and carbon assimilation capacity in Mediterranean Limonium species, inhabiting severe stress environments.

Indices of relative weight and obesity.

Analyses are reported on the correlation with height and with subcutaneous fat thickness of relative weight expressed as per cent of average weight at given height, and of the ratios weight/height, weight/height squared, and the ponderal index (cube root of weight divided by height) in 7424 ‘healthy’ men in 12 cohorts in five countries. Analyses are also reported on the relationship of those indicators of relative weight to body density in 180 young men and in 248 men aged 49–59. Judged by the criteria of correlation with height (lowest is best) and to measures of body fatness (highest is best), the ponderal index is the poorest of the relative weight indices studied.

Expanding knowledge of the Rubisco kinetics variability in plant species: environmental and evolutionary trends.

The present study characterizes the kinetic properties of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) from 28 terrestrial plant species, representing different phylogenetic lineages, environmental adaptations and photosynthetic mechanisms. Our findings confirm that past atmospheric CO(2)/O(2) ratio changes and present environmental pressures have influenced Rubisco kinetics. One evolutionary adaptation to a decreasing atmospheric CO(2)/O(2) ratio has been an increase in the affinity of Rubisco for CO(2) (Kc falling), and a consequent decrease in the velocity of carboxylation (kcat (c)), which in turn has been ameliorated by an increase in the proportion of leaf protein accounted by Rubisco.

Postenrichment population differentials using buffered Listeria enrichment broth: implications of the presence of Listeria innocua on Listeria monocytogenes in food test samples.

The recovery of low levels of Listeria monocytogenes from foods is complicated by the presence of competing microorganisms. Nonpathogenic species of Listeria pose a particular problem because variation in growth rate during the enrichment step can produce more colonies of these nontarget cells on selective and/or differential media, resulting in a preferential recovery of nonpathogens, especially Listeria innocua. To gauge the extent of this statistical barrier to pathogen recovery, 10 isolates each of L.

Photosynthetic assimilation of ¹⁴C into amino acids in potato (Solanum tuberosum) and asparagine in the tubers.

Asparagine is the predominant free amino acid in potato tubers and the present study aimed to establish whether it is imported from the leaves or synthesised in situ. Free amino acid concentrations are important quality determinants for potato tubers because they react with reducing sugars at high temperatures in the Maillard reaction. This reaction produces melanoidin pigments and a host of aroma and flavour volatiles, but if free asparagine participates in the final stages, it results in the production of acrylamide, an undesirable contaminant.