Background: Research in the neurosciences has highlighted the importance of intersubjective relationships in promoting neuromental development of the child. Children's learning in early childhood occurs mainly in a dyadic context of an interaction with their parents: from this perspective, good dialogic parent-child communication is required to be promoted also through good educational practices. Dialogic Book-Sharing (DBS), a dialogic form of parent-child communication through the use of wordless picture books, provides a privileged 'intersubjective' space and is highly effective in promoting communication, language, attention, behavioural development and the parent-child relationship.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntibodies can block immune receptor engagement or trigger the receptor machinery to initiate signaling. We hypothesized that antibody agonists trigger signaling by sterically excluding large receptor-type protein tyrosine phosphatases (RPTPs) such as CD45 from sites of receptor engagement. An agonist targeting the costimulatory receptor CD28 produced signals that depended on antibody immobilization and were sensitive to the sizes of the receptor, the RPTPs, and the antibody itself.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol
March 2024
Small airway disease (SAD) is a key early-stage pathology of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD is associated with cellular senescence whereby cells undergo growth arrest and express the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) leading to chronic inflammation and tissue remodeling. Parenchymal-derived fibroblasts have been shown to display senescent properties in COPD, however small airway fibroblasts (SAFs) have not been investigated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Investigating the effects of breaking up sedentary behavior with short bouts of Yoga and Tai-Chi on glycemic control, concentration, and well-being in healthy individuals.
Methods: In this randomized balanced incomplete block study, 15 adults (age = 26 [2.50] y, 8 females) completed 2 of 3 protocols: uninterrupted sitting (Control), sitting interrupted with 3 minutes of Yoga every 30 minutes, or with 3 minutes of Tai-Chi every 30 minutes.
Objectives: To determine the concordance between activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) and anti-factor-Xa (anti-Xa) in adults undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and to identify the factors associated with discordant paired aPTT/anti-Xa.
Design: Pre-planned secondary analysis of the Low-Dose Heparin in Critically Ill Patients Undergoing Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation pilot randomized unblinded, parallel-group controlled trial.
Setting: Two ICUs in two university hospitals.
Objective: Evidence shows that dialogic book-sharing improves language development in young children in low-middle income countries (LMICs), particularly receptive and expressive language. It is unclear whether this intervention also boosts development of other neurocognitive and socio-emotional domains in children. Using a randomized controlled trial (RCT) nested in the Drakenstein Child Health Study (DCHS), a book-sharing intervention was implemented in caregivers of 3.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is highly prevalent in low-income and middle-income countries and has been a major obstacle towards reaching global health targets for women and children. We aimed to investigate cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between IPV victimisation and maternal parenting practices of young children in a population-based birth cohort study in Brazil.
Methods: The 2015 Pelotas Birth Cohort is an ongoing, prospective cohort, including all hospital births occurring between Jan 1 and Dec 31, 2015, in the city of Pelotas, Brazil.
Repeated injury of the lung epithelium is proposed to be the main driver of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). However, available therapies do not specifically target the epithelium and human models of fibrotic epithelial damage with suitability for drug discovery are lacking. We developed a model of the aberrant epithelial reprogramming observed in IPF using alveolar organoids derived from human-induced pluripotent stem cells stimulated with a cocktail of pro-fibrotic and inflammatory cytokines.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSeveral reports have highlighted a potential role of autoreactive B-cells and autoantibodies that correlates with increased disease severity in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Here we show that patients with IPF have an altered B-cell phenotype and that those subjects who have autoantibodies against the intermediate filament protein periplakin (PPL) have a significantly worse outcome in terms of progression-free survival. Using a mouse model of lung fibrosis, we demonstrate that introducing antibodies targeting the endogenous protein PPL (mimicking naturally occurring autoantibodies seen in patients) directly in the lung increases lung injury, inflammation, collagen and fibronectin expression through direct activation of follicular dendritic cells, which in turn activates and drives proliferation of fibroblasts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic lung disease that affects 3 million people worldwide. Senescence and small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of IPF, although how sEVs promote disease remains unclear. Here, we profile sEVs from bronchial epithelial cells and determine small RNA (smRNA) content.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe respiratory epithelium consists of multiple, functionally distinct cell types and is maintained by regionally specific progenitor populations that repair the epithelium following injury. Several in vitro methods exist for studying lung epithelial repair using primary murine lung cells, but isolation methods are hampered by a lack of surface markers distinguishing epithelial progenitors along the respiratory epithelium. Here, we developed a 3D printed lobe divider (3DLD) to aid in simultaneous isolation of proximal versus distal lung epithelial progenitors from individual mice that give rise to differentiated epithelia in multiple in vitro assays.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIdiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic disease of unmet medical need. It is characterized by formation of scar tissue leading to a progressive and irreversible decline in lung function. IPF is associated with repeated injury, which may alter the composition of the extracellular matrix (ECM).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMonitoring and optimisation of brain tissue oxygen tension (PbtO) has been associated with improved neurological outcome and survival in observational studies of severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). We carried out a systematic review of randomized controlled trials to determine if PbtO-guided management is associated with differential neurological outcomes, survival, and adverse events. Searches were carried out to 10 February 2022 in Medline (OvidSP), 11 February in EMBASE (OvidSP) and 8 February in Cochrane library.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParental reading to young children is well-established as being positively associated with child cognitive development, particularly their language development. Research indicates that a particular, "intersubjective," form of using books with children, "Dialogic Book-sharing" (DBS), is especially beneficial to infants and pre-school aged children, particularly when using picture books. The work on DBS to date has paid little attention to the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of the approach.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe unfolded protein response (UPR) is a direct consequence of cellular endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and a key disease driving mechanism in IPF. The resolution of the UPR is directed by PPP1R15A (GADD34) and leads to the restoration of normal ribosomal activity. While the role of PPP1R15A has been explored in lung epithelial cells, the role of this UPR resolving factor has yet to be explored in lung mesenchymal cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study evaluated the impact of a parenting intervention on children's cognitive and socioemotional development in a group of caregivers and their 21-to-28-month-old children in a low-income South African township. A randomized controlled trial compared an experimental group (n = 70) receiving training in dialogic book-sharing (8 weekly group sessions) with a wait-list control group (n = 70). They were assessed before the intervention, immediately following it, and at a six month follow-up.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Child cognitive development is often compromised in contexts of poverty and adversity, and these deficits tend to endure and affect the child across the life course. In the conditions of poverty and violence that characterise many low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), the capacity of parents to provide the kind of care that promotes good child development may be severely compromised, especially where caregivers suffer from depression. One avenue of early intervention focuses on the quality of the early mother-infant relationship.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground & Aims: Prophylactic hypothermia, often used in critically ill patients with traumatic brain injury, reduces energy expenditure and may affect energy delivered by nutrition therapy. The primary objective of this study was to measure energy expenditure in hypothermic patients over the first 3 days after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Secondary objectives included comparison of measured energy expenditure and nutrition delivery to day 7.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIdiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a fatal interstitial lung disease with limited therapeutic options. Current evidence suggests that IPF may be initiated by repeated epithelial injuries in the distal lung, which are followed by abnormal wound healing responses that occur because of intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Mechanisms contributing to chronic damage of the alveolar epithelium in IPF include dysregulated cellular processes such as apoptosis, senescence, abnormal activation of the developmental pathways, aging, and genetic mutations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIdiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is characterized by aberrant repair that diminishes lung function via mechanisms that remain poorly understood. CC chemokine receptor (CCR10) and its ligand CCL28 were both elevated in IPF compared with normal donors. CCR10 was highly expressed by various cells from IPF lungs, most notably stage-specific embryonic antigen-4-positive mesenchymal progenitor cells (MPCs).
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