Stroke-induced neuroplasticity in spiny mice in the absence of tissue regeneration.

Stroke is a major cause of disability for adults over 40 years of age. While research into animal models has prioritized treatments aimed at diminishing post-stroke damage, no studies have investigated the response to a severe stroke injury in a highly regenerative adult mammal. Here we investigate the effects of transient ischemia on adult spiny mice, Acomys cahirinus, due to their ability to regenerate multiple tissues without scarring.

Trends in the healthiness and nutrient composition of packaged products sold by major food and beverage companies in New Zealand 2015 to 2019.

Background: Dietary risk factors are the leading cause of death globally and in New Zealand (NZ). Processed packaged foods are prevalent in the food supply and contribute excess amounts of sodium, saturated fat, and sugar in diets. Improving the nutritional quality of these foods has the potential to reduce population chronic disease risk.

Awareness, support, and opinions of healthy food and drink policies: a survey of staff and visitors in New Zealand healthcare organisations.

Background: In 2016, a voluntary National Healthy Food and Drink Policy (hereafter, "the Policy") was released to encourage public hospitals in New Zealand to provide food and drink options in line with national dietary guidelines. Five years later, eight (of 20) organisations had adopted it, with several preferring to retain or update their own institutional-level version. This study assessed staff and visitors' awareness and support for and against the Policy, and collected feedback on perceived food environment changes since implementation of the Policy.

Sustainability of the Subspecialty of Anesthesiology Critical Care: An Expert Consensus and Review of the Literature.

While considerable literature exists with respect to clinical aspects of critical care anesthesiology (CCA) practice, few publications have focused on how anesthesiology-based critical care practices are organized and the challenges associated with the administration and management of anesthesiology critical care units. Currently, numerous challenges are affecting the sustainability of CCA practice, including decreased applications to fellowship positions and decreased reimbursement for critical care work. This review describes what is known about the subspecialty of CCA and leverages the experience of administrative leaders in adult critical care anesthesiologists in the United States to describe potential solutions.

CRISPRi-based circuits to control gene expression in plants.

The construction of synthetic gene circuits in plants has been limited by a lack of orthogonal and modular parts. Here, we implement a CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) interference (CRISPRi)-based reversible gene circuit platform in plants. We create a toolkit of engineered repressible promoters of different strengths and construct NOT and NOR gates in Arabidopsis thaliana protoplasts.

Framing Later Life Vulnerability during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Content Analysis of Newspaper Coverage in Canada and the United States.

This study explores vulnerability narratives used in relation to older adults and others during the COVID-19 pandemic. A mixed-method content analysis was conducted of 391 articles published in two major newspapers in Canada and the USA during the first wave of the pandemic. The findings indicated that during the early months of the pandemic, limited attention was directed towards its impact on older adults or other 'vulnerable' subpopulations in both countries.

Acute Effects of Growth Hormone on the Cellular Immunologic Landscape in Pediatric Patients.

Introduction: Growth hormone (GH) and the immune system have multiple bidirectional interactions. Data about the acute effects of GH on the immune system are lacking. The objective of our study was to evaluate the acute effects of GH on the immune system using time-of-flight mass cytometry.

A pilot study to explore patterns and predictors of delayed kidney decline after cardiopulmonary bypass.

There is no current consensus on the follow up of kidney function in patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). The main objectives of this pilot study is to collect preliminary data on kidney function decline encountered on the first postoperative visit of patients who have had CPB and to identify predictors of kidney function decline post hospital discharge. Design: Retrospective chart review.

Dramatic improvement in the "Bulk" hyperpolarization of Xe via spin exchange optical pumping probed using in situ low-field NMR.

We report on hyperpolarization of quadrupolar (I=3/2) Xe via spin-exchange optical pumping. Observations of the Xe polarization dynamics via in situ low-field NMR show that the estimated alkali-metal/Xe spin-exchange rates can be large enough to compete with Xe spin relaxation. Xe polarization up to 7.

Choroid plexus mis-splicing and altered cerebrospinal fluid composition in myotonic dystrophy type 1.

Myotonic dystrophy type 1 is a dominantly inherited multisystemic disease caused by CTG tandem repeat expansions in the DMPK 3' untranslated region. These expanded repeats are transcribed and produce toxic CUG RNAs that sequester and inhibit activities of the MBNL family of developmental RNA processing factors. Although myotonic dystrophy is classified as a muscular dystrophy, the brain is also severely affected by an unusual cohort of symptoms, including hypersomnia, executive dysfunction, as well as early onsets of tau/MAPT pathology and cerebral atrophy.

Coagulopathy and Emergent Reversal of Anticoagulation.

More patients than ever are presenting for urgent or emergent procedures while therapeutically anticoagulated for various medical indications. Medications including warfarin, antiplatelet agents such as clopidogrel, direct oral anticoagulants such as apixaban, and even heparin or heparinoids may be present. Each of these medication classes presents its own challenges when coagulopathy needs to be quickly corrected.

Cancer-associated fibroblasts are the main contributors to epithelial-to-mesenchymal signatures in the tumor microenvironment.

Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is associated with tumor initiation, metastasis, and drug resistance. However, the mechanisms underlying these associations are largely unknown. We studied several tumor types to identify the source of EMT gene expression signals and a potential mechanism of resistance to immuno-oncology treatment.

Hyperpolarizing DNA Nucleobases via NMR Signal Amplification by Reversible Exchange.

The present work investigates the potential for enhancing the NMR signals of DNA nucleobases by parahydrogen-based hyperpolarization. Signal amplification by reversible exchange (SABRE) and SABRE in Shield Enables Alignment Transfer to Heteronuclei (SABRE-SHEATH) of selected DNA nucleobases is demonstrated with the enhancement () of H, N, and/or C spins in 3-methyladenine, cytosine, and 6-O-guanine. Solutions of the standard SABRE homogenous catalyst Ir(1,5-cyclooctadeine)(1,3-bis(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)imidazolium)Cl ("IrIMes") and a given nucleobase in deuterated ethanol/water solutions yielded low H values (≤10), likely reflecting weak catalyst binding.

Osr1 Regulates Macrophage-mediated Liver Inflammation in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Progression.

Background & Aims: Liver macrophage-mediated inflammation contributes to the pathogenesis of the nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Odd skipped-related 1 (Osr1) is a putative transcription factor previously reported to be involved in NASH progression; however, the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. The current study focused on the role of Osr1 in macrophage polarization and metabolism and its associated functions in the inflammation-induced pathogenesis of NASH.

Federated Learning for Sparse Bayesian Models with Applications to Electronic Health Records and Genomics.

Federated learning is becoming increasingly more popular as the concern of privacy breaches rises across disciplines including the biological and biomedical fields. The main idea is to train models locally on each server using data that are only available to that server and aggregate the model (not data) information at the global level. While federated learning has made significant advancements for machine learning methods such as deep neural networks, to the best of our knowledge, its development in sparse Bayesian models is still lacking.

2021 Assessment of New Zealand district health boards' institutional healthy food and drink policies: the HealthY Policy Evaluation (HYPE) study.

Aim: To assess adoption of the voluntary National Healthy Food and Drink Policy (NHFDP) and the alignment of individual institutional healthy food and drink policies with the NHFDP.

Method: All 20 district health boards (DHBs) and two national government agencies participated. Policies of those organisations that had not fully adopted the NHFDP were assessed across three domains: nutrition standards; promotion of a healthy food and beverages environment; and policy communication, implementation and evaluation.

Synthetic memory circuits for stable cell reprogramming in plants.

Plant biotechnology predominantly relies on a restricted set of genetic parts with limited capability to customize spatiotemporal and conditional expression patterns. Synthetic gene circuits have the potential to integrate multiple customizable input signals through a processing unit constructed from biological parts to produce a predictable and programmable output. Here we present a suite of functional recombinase-based gene circuits for use in plants.

Central sensitisation in chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia; a case control study.

Introduction: Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and fibromyalgia (FM) are both complex conditions that are challenging to treat. This may be related to an incomplete understanding of their pathophysiology, itself obfuscated by their heterogeneity. The symptomatic overlap between them and their common comorbidity suggests a shared vulnerability, which might be explained by central sensitisation.

Cost and greenhouse gas emissions of current, healthy, flexitarian and vegan diets in Aotearoa (New Zealand).

Objective: To compare the costs and climate impact (greenhouse gas emissions) associated with current and healthy diets and two healthy and environmentally friendly dietary patterns: flexitarian and vegan.

Design: Modelling study.

Setting: Aotearoa (New Zealand).

Efficacy, Safety, and Strategies for Recombinant-Activated Factor VII in Cardiac Surgical Bleeding: A Narrative Review.

As perioperative bleeding continues to be a major source of morbidity and mortality in cardiac surgery, the search continues for an ideal hemostatic agent for use in this patient population. Transfusion of blood products has been associated both with increased costs and risks, such as infection, prolonged mechanical ventilation, increased length of stay, and decreased survival. Recombinant-activated factor VII (rFVIIa) first was approved for the US market in 1999 and since that time has been used in a variety of clinical settings.

Obstruction of the inferior vena cava following bicaval orthotopic heart transplantation: a case series.

Background: Inferior vena cava (IVC) obstruction is a rare complication of orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT) and is unique to bicaval surgical technique. The clinical significance, diagnosis, complications, and management of post-operative IVC anastomotic obstruction have not been adequately described.

Case Summary: Two patients with end-stage heart failure presented for bicaval OHT.

Medication adherence, utilization of healthcare services, and mortality of patients with epilepsy on opiate replacement therapy: A retrospective cohort study.

Introduction: Substance misuse is not uncommonly recognized in people with epilepsy (PWE). Mortality is significantly greater in those with comorbid substance misuse, but it remains unclear whether epilepsy care and management contribute to this. This cohort study aimed to compare the rates of mortality in PWE receiving opiate replacement therapy (ORT) and PWE alone, as well as evaluate their medication adherence, levels of engagement with epilepsy services as currently delivered, and utilization of unscheduled hospital care.

Foliar resistance to Rhizoctonia solani in Arabidopsis is compromised by simultaneous loss of ethylene, jasmonate and PEN2 mediated defense pathways.

Rhizoctonia solani causes damaging yield losses on most major food crops. R. solani isolates belonging to anastomosis group 8 (AG8) are soil-borne, root-infecting pathogens with a broad host range.