The Effect of Extended Continuous Positive Airway Pressure on Changes in Lung Volumes in Stable Premature Infants: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: To compare changes in lung volumes, as measured by functional residual capacity (FRC), through to discharge in stable infants randomized to 2 weeks of extended continuous positive airway pressure CPAP (eCPAP) vs CPAP discontinuation (dCPAP).

Study Design: Infants born at ≤32 weeks of gestation requiring ≥24 hours of CPAP were randomized to 2 weeks of eCPAP vs dCPAP when meeting CPAP stability criteria. FRC was measured with the nitrogen washout technique.

Suppressive and Gut-Reparative Functions of Human Type 1 T Regulatory Cells.

Background & Aims: T-regulatory (Treg) cells suppress the immune response to maintain homeostasis. There are 2 main subsets of Treg cells: FOXP3 (forkhead box protein 3)-positive Treg cells, which do not produce high levels of effector cytokines, and type 1 Treg (Tr1) cells, which are FOXP3-negative and secrete interleukin (IL) 10. IL10 is an anti-inflammatory cytokine, so Tr1 cells might be used in the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases.

Febrile neutropenia hospitalization due to pegfilgrastim on-body injector failure compared to single-injection pegfilgrastim and daily injections with reference and biosimilar filgrastim: US cost simulation for lung cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Guidelines recommend febrile neutropenia (FN) prophylaxis following myelotoxic chemotherapy with either daily injections of filgrastim (Neupogen) or biosimilar filgrastim-sndz (Zarzio/Zarxio), single-injection pegfilgrastim (Neulasta), or pegfilgrastim administered through an on-body injector (PEG-OBI; Neulasta Onpro). PEG-OBI failure rates up to 6.9% have been reported, putting patients at incremental risk for FN and FN-related hospitalization.

Short communication: Milk fat payment affects the relative profitability of Jersey and Holstein-Friesian cows at optimal comparative stocking rate.

Choice of stocking rate and breed of cow are 2 strategic decisions that affect the profitability of pasture-based dairy farm businesses. This study sought to analyze the effects of a range of fat and protein prices on the profitability of the Jersey (J) and Holstein-Friesian (HF) breeds at 2 comparative stocking rates (CSR): 80 kg of body weight (BW) per tonne of dry matter (DM) of feed (CSR80), and 100 kg of BW per tonne of DM of feed (CSR100). Data were obtained from a recently published study, and equations constructed to determine the values for fat and protein at which each breed broke even (profit = NZ$0/ha; at time of writing, NZ$1 = US$0.

Correction: The value of diagnostic testing for parents of children with rare genetic diseases.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

The value of diagnostic testing for parents of children with rare genetic diseases.

Purpose: Exome sequencing (ES) can rapidly identify disease-causing variants responsible for rare, single-gene diseases, and potentially reduce the duration of the diagnostic odyssey. Our study examines how parents and families value ES.

Methods: We developed a discrete choice experiment (DCE) survey that was administered to parents of children with rare diseases.

Transplantation of donor grafts with defined ratio of conventional and regulatory T cells in HLA-matched recipients.

BACKGROUNDIn preclinical murine and early clinical studies of hematopoietic cell transplantation, engineering of donor grafts with defined ratios of CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ Tregs to conventional T cells (Tcons) results in the prevention of graft-versus-host disease and improved immune reconstitution. The use of highly purified primary graft Tregs for direct cell infusion has potential advantages over impure immunomagnetic selection or culture expansion, but has not been tested clinically. We performed a phase I study of the timed addition of CD34-selected hematopoietic stem cells and Tregs, followed by Tcons for the treatment of patients with high-risk hematological malignancies.

Complement receptor C3aR1 controls neutrophil mobilization following spinal cord injury through physiological antagonism of CXCR2.

Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) triggers an acute-phase response that leads to systemic inflammation and rapid mobilization of bone marrow (BM) neutrophils into the blood. These mobilized neutrophils then accumulate in visceral organs and the injured spinal cord where they cause inflammatory tissue damage. The receptor for complement activation product 3a, C3aR1, has been implicated in negatively regulating the BM neutrophil response to tissue injury.

A Dene First Nation's community readiness assessment to take action against HIV/AIDS: a pilot project.

Background: Among Indigenous people in Canada the incidence of HIV is 3.5 times higher than other ethnicities. In Manitoba First Nations, Metis and Inuit people are disproportionately represented (40%) among people who are new to HIV care.

Effectiveness and Tolerability of Vildagliptin and the Single Pill Combination of Vildagliptin and Metformin in "Real-World" Management of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: The G-FORCE Study.

Introduction: Randomized clinical trials showed that vildagliptin is well tolerated and leads to clinically meaningful decreases in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) both in monotherapy and as add-on therapy in inadequately controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. Nevertheless, there is an increased interest for real-life studies to confirm the clinical trial findings in the setting of a daily clinical practice. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and tolerability of vildagliptin in a real-life clinical setting and to explore factors determining drug adherence and T2DM management.

Methods to manufacture regulatory T cells for cell therapy.

Regulatory T cell (T ) therapy has shown promise in early clinical trials for treating graft-versus-host disease, transplant rejection and autoimmune disorders. A challenge has been to isolate sufficiently pure T and expand them to a clinical dose. However, there has been considerable progress in the development and optimization of these methods, resulting in a variety of manufacturing protocols being tested in clinical trials.

Innate Control of Tissue-Reparative Human Regulatory T Cells.

Regulatory T cell (Treg) therapy is a potential curative approach for a variety of immune-mediated conditions, including autoimmunity and transplantation, in which there is pathological tissue damage. In mice, IL-33R (ST2)-expressing Tregs mediate tissue repair by producing the growth factor amphiregulin, but whether similar tissue-reparative Tregs exist in humans remains unclear. We show that human Tregs in blood and multiple tissue types produced amphiregulin, but this was neither a unique feature of Tregs nor selectively upregulated in tissues.

Potential life-years gained over a 5-year period by correcting DOPPS-identified modifiable practices in haemodialysis: results from the European MONITOR-CKD5 study.

Background: DOPPS reported that thousands of life-years could be gained in the US and Europe over 5 years by correcting six modifiable haemodialysis practices. We estimated potential life-years gained across 10 European countries using MONITOR-CKD5 study data.

Methods: The DOPPS-based target ranges were used, except for haemoglobin due to label changes, as well as DOPPS-derived relative mortality risks.

Chemotherapy-induced neutropenia/febrile neutropenia prophylaxis with biosimilar filgrastim in solid tumors versus hematological malignancies: MONITOR-GCSF study.

Aim: This study aimed to report patterns of biosimilar filgrastim prophylaxis and outcomes of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia (CIN)/febrile neutropenia (FN) in patients with hematological malignancies or solid tumors.

Patients & Methods: MONITOR-GCSF is a real-world study of 1447 cancer patients receiving CIN/FN prophylaxis with biosimilar filgrastim (solid tumors: 77.2%; hematological malignancies: 22.

Expansion of IL-17A-secreting CD8 mucosa-associated invariant T cells in peripheral blood following stem cell mobilization.

Stem cell mobilization with G-CSF promotes IL-17A secretion by donor CD8 MAIT cells. Tbet and RORγt coexpression identifies potential IL-17A–secreting proinflammatory populations after allogeneic stem cell transplantation.

An individualized patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) based patient decision aid and surgeon report for patients considering total knee arthroplasty: protocol for a pragmatic randomized controlled trial.

Background: While the rates of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) continue to rise worldwide, there are concerns about whether all surgeries are appropriate. Guidelines for appropriateness suggest that patients should have realistic expectations for total knee arthroplasty (TKA), and that the patient and their surgeon should agree that the potential benefits outweigh the potential harms. The objective of this study is to evaluate whether routinely collected pre- and post-TKA patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) could be integrated into a patient decision aid to better inform these appropriateness criteria.

Stoichiometric Engineering of Chalcogenide Semiconductor Alloys for Nanophotonic Applications.

A variety of alternative plasmonic and dielectric material platforms-among them nitrides, semiconductors, and conductive oxides-have come to prominence in recent years as means to address the shortcomings of noble metals (including Joule losses, cost, and passive character) in certain nanophotonic and optical-frequency metamaterial applications. Here, it is shown that chalcogenide semiconductor alloys offer a uniquely broad pallet of optical properties, complementary to those of existing material platforms, which can be controlled by stoichiometric design. Using combinatorial high-throughput techniques, the extraordinary epsilon-near-zero, plasmonic, and low/high-index characteristics of Bi:Sb:Te alloys are explored.

Short- and long-term real-world effectiveness of omalizumab in severe allergic asthma: systematic review of 42 studies published 2008-2018.

Omalizumab is a recombinant monoclonal anti-IgE antibody approved in the US as add-on treatment in moderate-to-severe allergic asthma (in severe allergic asthma [SAA] in Europe). A 2016 review of 24 real-world effectiveness studies in SAA published between 2008-2015 concluded that omalizumab was associated with significant improvements in objective and subjective outcomes with benefits extending beyond 2 years. Several new real-world studies have been published since, bringing the total to 42 studies.

Australian modified Lawton's Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale contributes to diagnosing older adults with cognitive impairment.

Objective: To assess the ability of the Australian Modified Lawton's Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) Scale (Modified Lawton's Scale) to screen for cognitive impairment in patients without physical or sensory deficits.

Methods: Prospective single-blind study of diagnostic accuracy.

Results: Data were available for 249 patients.

Targeting PI3Kδ function for amelioration of murine chronic graft-versus-host disease.

Chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality following allotransplant. Activated donor effector T cells can differentiate into pathogenic T helper (Th)-17 cells and germinal center (GC)-promoting T follicular helper (Tfh) cells, resulting in cGVHD. Phosphoinositide-3-kinase-δ (PI3Kδ), a lipid kinase, is critical for activated T cell survival, proliferation, differentiation, and metabolism.

Reconfigurable Ultraviolet and High-Energy Visible Dielectric Metamaterials.

Photonic materials with tunable and switchable ultraviolet (UV) to high-energy visible (HEV) optical properties may benefit applications such as sensing, high-density optical memory, beam-steering, adaptive optics, and light modulation. Here, for the first time we demonstrate a nonvolatile switchable dielectric metamaterial operating in the UV-HEV spectral range. Nanograting metamaterials in a layered composite of low-loss ZnS/SiO and the chalcogenide phase-change medium germanium-antimony-telluride (GeSbTe or GST) exhibit reflection resonances at UV-HEV wavelengths that are substantially modified by light-induced (amorphous-crystalline) phase transitions in the chalcogenide layer.

Building evidence around ghost gear: Global trends and analysis for sustainable solutions at scale.

Abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) comprises a significant amount of global marine debris, with diverse impacts to marine environments, wildlife, and the fishing industry. Building evidence on ALDFG is critical to holistically understand the marine debris issue, and to inform the development of solutions that reduce amounts of ALDFG sources and recover existing gear. Substantial work has been and continues to be undertaken around the world to collect data on ALDFG, much of which remains unpublished.

Hot topic: Selecting cattle for low residual feed intake did not affect daily methane production but increased methane yield.

Reducing enteric methane (CH) production and improving feed conversion efficiency of dairy cows is of high importance. Residual feed intake (RFI) is one measure of feed efficiency, with low RFI animals being more efficient in feed conversion. Enteric CH is an important source of digestible energy loss in ruminants and, because research in beef cattle has reported a positive relationship between RFI and daily CH production, we hypothesized that low RFI dairy heifers, which are more feed efficient, would produce less CH/d.

childes-db: A flexible and reproducible interface to the child language data exchange system.

The Child Language Data Exchange System (CHILDES) has played a critical role in research on child language development, particularly in characterizing the early language learning environment. Access to these data can be both complex for novices and difficult to automate for advanced users, however. To address these issues, we introduce childes-db, a database-formatted mirror of CHILDES that improves data accessibility and usability by offering novel interfaces, including browsable web applications and an R application programming interface (API).

Sleep restriction alters reactive aggressive behavior and its relationship with sex hormones.

Few studies have experimentally manipulated sleep to study its effect on aggressive behavior. The current study examined how reactive aggression was affected by having sleep restricted to 4-hours on a single night, a level of disruption commonly experienced. Both rested and sleep-restricted participants completed the Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm (PSAP), a laboratory task in which participants seek to earn points, are provoked by a fictitious opponent stealing their points, and may choose to steal points in response.