Analysis of nuclear receptor expression in head and neck cancer.

Objective: Studies of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (HNSCC) have demonstrated the importance of nuclear receptors and their associated coregulators in the development and treatment of HNSCC. We sought to characterize members of the nuclear receptor super family through interrogation of RNA-Seq and microarray data.

Materials And Methods: TCGA RNA-Seq data within the cBioportal platform comparing HNSCC samples (n = 515 patients with RNA-Seq data) to normal tissue (n = 82 patients) was interrogated for significant differences in nuclear receptor expression.

Spatial polarimetric second harmonic generation evaluation of collagen in a hypophosphatasia mouse model.

Polarization-resolved second harmonic generation (pSHG) is a label-free method that has been used in a range of tissue types to describe collagen orientation. In this work, we develop pSHG analysis techniques for investigating cranial bone collagen assembly defects occurring in a mouse model of hypophosphatasia (HPP), a metabolic bone disease characterized by a lack of bone mineralization. After observing differences in bone collagen lamellar sheet structures using scanning electron microscopy, we found similar alterations with pSHG between the healthy and HPP mouse collagen lamellar sheet organization.

Excess Mortality and its Determinants During the COVID-19 Pandemic in 21 Countries: An Ecological Study from the C-MOR Project, 2020 and 2021.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic overwhelmed health systems, resulting in a surge in excess deaths. This study clustered countries based on excess mortality to understand their response to the pandemic and the influence of various factors on excess mortality within each cluster.

Materials And Methods: This ecological study is part of the COVID-19 MORtality (C-MOR) Consortium.

Use of modified human hemangioma tissue cultures and human umbilical vein endothelial cell cultures to gain mechanistic insights into imiquimod treatment for infantile hemangioma.

Infantile hemangiomas (IH) are a common entity encountered by dermatologists, otolaryngologists, and other surgeons. Oral propranolol is a mainstay of treatment for IH and is well-tolerated, though propranolol-refractory IH and other drug-related adverse events are documented and can limit its usage. There are few in vitro testing systems for putative treatment agents.

UV-induced reactive oxygen species and transcriptional control of 3-deoxyanthocyanidin biosynthesis in black sorghum pericarp.

Black pericarp sorghum has notable value due to the biosynthesis of 3-deoxyanthocyanidins (3-DOAs), a rare class of bioactive polyphenols valued as antioxidant food additives and as bioactive compounds with cytotoxicity to human cancer cells. A metabolic and transcriptomic study was conducted to ascertain the cellular events leading to the activation of 3-DOA biosynthesis in black sorghum pericarp. Prolonged exposure of pericarp during grain maturation to high-fluence ultraviolet (UV) light resulted in elevated levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the activation of 3-DOA biosynthesis in pericarp tissues.

Educational and income inequalities across diseases in Denmark: a register-based cohort study.

Background: Educational attainment and income are often, but not always, associated with disease incidence. Existing research typically examines single diseases, resulting in disparate analyses with little comparability. In this study, we aimed to assess educational and income inequalities across diseases in Denmark.

Improving Functional Muscle Regeneration in Volumetric Muscle Loss Injuries by Shifting the Balance of Inflammatory and Pro-Resolving Lipid Mediators.

Severe tissue loss resulting from extremity trauma, such as volumetric muscle loss (VML), poses significant clinical challenges for both general and military populations. VML disrupts the endogenous tissue repair mechanisms, resulting in acute and unresolved chronic inflammation and immune cell presence, impaired muscle healing, scar tissue formation, persistent pain, and permanent functional deficits. The aberrant healing response is preceded by acute inflammation and immune cell infiltration which does not resolve.

Recognition of schizophrenia and quality of treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic: A Danish nationwide study.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic may have exacerbated the state of ill-health among patients with schizophrenia. We examined the number of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia, the number of hospital admissions and outpatient contacts and the quality of treatment during the pandemic in comparison with the previous years.

Methods: We identified patients ≥18 years old registered in the Danish Schizophrenia Registry from 2016 to 2022.

Uncovering the heritable components of multimorbidities and disease trajectories using a nationwide cohort.

Quantifying the contribution of genetics and environmental effects on disease initiation and progression, as well as the shared genetics of different diseases, is vital for the understanding of the disease etiology of multimorbidities. In this study, we leverage nationwide Danish registries to provide a granular atlas of the genetic origin of disease phenotypes for a cohort of all Danes 1978-2018 with partially known pedigree (n = 6.3 million).

Perovskites as Multiphoton Fluorescence Contrast Agents for In Vivo Imaging.

Multiphoton fluorescence microscopy is a powerful tool for imaging and exploring biological tissue at subcellular spatial resolution while minimizing photobleaching and autofluorescence. For optimal performance in multiphoton microscopy, materials exhibiting a large multiphoton absorption cross section (σ) and fluorescence quantum yield are desired. Notably, perovskite nanocrystals (CsPbX, PNCs) exhibit exceptionally large two-, three-, up to five photon absorption cross section (σ ∼ 10 GM, σ ∼ 10 cms photon, σ ∼ 10 cms photon), along with near unity fluorescence quantum yield, making them desirable for deep tissue applications.

High-resolution epidemiological landscape from ~290,000 SARS-CoV-2 genomes from Denmark.

Vast amounts of pathogen genomic, demographic and spatial data are transforming our understanding of SARS-CoV-2 emergence and spread. We examined the drivers of molecular evolution and spread of 291,791 SARS-CoV-2 genomes from Denmark in 2021. With a sequencing rate consistently exceeding 60%, and up to 80% of PCR-positive samples between March and November, the viral genome set is broadly whole-epidemic representative.

Investigation of MSC potency metrics via integration of imaging modalities with lipidomic characterization.

Mesenchymal stem/stromal cell (MSC) therapies have had limited success so far in clinical trials due in part to heterogeneity in immune-responsive phenotypes. Therefore, techniques to characterize these properties of MSCs are needed during biomanufacturing. Imaging cell shape, or morphology, has been found to be associated with MSC immune responsivity-but a direct relationship between single-cell morphology and function has not been established.

Neonatal Mortality Disparities by Gestational Age in European Countries.

Importance: There are wide disparities in neonatal mortality rates (NMRs, deaths <28 days of life after live birth per 1000 live births) between countries in Europe, indicating potential for improvement. Comparing country-specific patterns of births and deaths with countries with low mortality rates can facilitate the development of effective intervention strategies.

Objective: To investigate how these disparities are associated with the distribution of gestational age (GA) and GA-specific mortality rates.

Longitudinal metabolite and protein trajectories prior to diabetes mellitus diagnosis in Danish blood donors: a nested case-control study.

Aims/hypothesis: Metabolic risk factors and plasma biomarkers for diabetes have previously been shown to change prior to a clinical diabetes diagnosis. However, these markers only cover a small subset of molecular biomarkers linked to the disease. In this study, we aimed to profile a more comprehensive set of molecular biomarkers and explore their temporal association with incident diabetes.

Long-term exposure to road traffic noise and acute lower respiratory infections in the Danish Nurse Cohort.

Background: Long-term exposure to road traffic noise is associated with cardiovascular disease, but the evidence on respiratory diseases is just emerging. We aimed to examine the association between long-term exposure to road traffic noise and the incidence of acute lower respiratory infections (ALRIs) in adults.

Methods: We followed 23,141 female nurses (age ≥ 44 years) from the Danish Nurse Cohort from baseline (1993 or 1999) to their first hospital contact (inpatient, outpatient, or emergency room) for ALRI, death, emigration or the end of 2015.

Socioeconomic disparities in changes to preterm birth and stillbirth rates during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic: a study of 21 European countries.

Background: Despite concerns about worsening pregnancy outcomes resulting from healthcare restrictions, economic difficulties and increased stress during the COVID-19 pandemic, preterm birth (PTB) rates declined in some countries in 2020, while stillbirth rates appeared stable. Like other shocks, the pandemic may have exacerbated existing socioeconomic disparities in pregnancy, but this remains to be established. Our objective was to investigate changes in PTB and stillbirth by socioeconomic status (SES) in European countries.

The and fimbrial loci influence gene expression and virulence in enterohemorrhagic O157:H7.

Fimbriae are essential virulence factors for many bacterial pathogens. Fimbriae are extracellular structures that attach bacteria to surfaces. Thus, fimbriae mediate a critical step required for any pathogen to establish infection by anchoring a bacterium to host tissue.

Modelling the spatial risk pattern of dementia in Denmark using residential location data: A registry-based national cohort.

Dementia is a major global public health concern that is increasingly leading to morbidity and mortality among older adults. While studies have focused on the risk factors and care provision, there is currently limited knowledge about the spatial risk pattern of the disease. In this study, we employ Bayesian spatial modelling with a stochastic partial differential equation (SPDE) approach to model the spatial risk using complete residential history data from the Danish population and health registers.

Multi-cancer risk stratification based on national health data: a retrospective modelling and validation study.

Background: Health care is experiencing a drive towards digitisation, and many countries are implementing national health data resources. Although a range of cancer risk models exists, the utility on a population level for risk stratification across cancer types has not been fully explored. We aimed to close this gap by evaluating pan-cancer risk models built on electronic health records across the Danish population with validation in the UK Biobank.