Outcomes of pregnant and post-partum patients admitted to the intensive care unit with COVID-19 in Australia: An analysis of SPRINT-SARI Australia.

Background: Pregnant and post-partum (collectively peri-partum) women may be at increased risk of severe COVID-19 disease.

Aims: To describe the characteristics, interventions, and outcomes of peri-partum patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) in Australia with COVID-19.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a prospective, multicentre observational study using the SPRINT-SARI Australia database across 63 ICUs in Australia.

Replication stress marker phospho-RPA2 predicts response to platinum and PARP inhibitors in homologous recombination-proficient ovarian cancer.

Background: Ovarian cancer treatment includes cytoreductive surgery, platinum-based chemotherapy, and often poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors. Homologous recombination (HR)-deficiency is a well-established predictor of therapy sensitivity. However, over 50% of HR-proficient tumors also exhibit sensitivity to standard-of-care treatments.

The association between first trimester physical activity levels and perinatal outcomes.

Objective: Physical activity in pregnancy decreases the risk of adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes. This study evaluates the association between first trimester physical activity, assessed by Kaiser Physical Activity Survey (KPAS) scores, and adverse perinatal outcomes.

Study Design: This is a secondary analysis of a prospective cohort study in which patients were administered the KPAS in each trimester.

Complications associated with prone positioning in mechanically ventilated COVID-19 patients: A multicentre, retrospective observational study.

Background And Aims: Prone positioning is commonly applied to improve gas exchange in mechanically ventilated patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Whilst prone positioning is effective, specific complications may arise. We aimed to assess the prevalence of specific complications related to prone positioning in patients mechanically ventilated for COVID-19-related ARDS.

Single-cell transcriptomics reveals the cellular identity of a novel progenitor population crucial for murine neural tube closure.

Neural tube closure in vertebrates is achieved through a highly dynamic and coordinated series of morphogenic events involving neuroepithelium, surface ectoderm, and neural plate border. Failure of this process in the caudal region causes spina bifida. Grainyhead-like 3 (GRHL3) is an indispensable transcription factor for neural tube closure as constitutive inactivation of the gene in mice leads to fully penetrant spina bifida.

The association between maternal sleep and circadian rhythms during pregnancy and infant sleep and socioemotional outcomes.

Studies have established that maternal sleep and circadian rhythm disturbances during pregnancy are associated with poor prenatal and perinatal outcomes for mothers and offspring. However, little work has explored its effects on infant sleep or socioemotional outcomes. The current study examined the relationship between maternal sleep and circadian rhythm disturbances during pregnancy and infant sleep and socioemotional outcomes in a diverse sample of N = 193 mothers and their infants (51% White; 52% Female; M = 11.

Individual-Level and Community-Level Predictors of Healthy Pregnancy Outcomes in Multigravid Black Women.

Objective: To identify individual- and community-level factors that predict the odds of multigravid Black women having consecutive pregnancies without adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of 515 multigravid Black women from a longitudinal observational study (2017-2019). We assessed the presence of adverse pregnancy outcomes (hypertensive disorders, gestational diabetes, preterm birth, fetal growth restriction, placental abruption, and pregnancy loss) for the index and prior pregnancies.

Quantification of Cervical Elasticity During Pregnancy Based on Transvaginal Ultrasound Imaging and Stress Measurement.

Unlabelled: Strain elastography and shear wave elastography are commonly used to quantify cervical elasticity. However, the absence of stress information in strain elastography causes difficulty in inter-session elasticity comparison, and the robustness of shear wave elastography is compromised by cervical tissue's high inhomogeneity.

Objective: To overcome these limitations, we develop a quantitative cervical elastography system by adding a stress sensor to a clinically used transvaginal ultrasound imaging system.

Preoperative prolapse phenotype is predictive of surgical outcome with minimally invasive sacrocolpopexy.

Background: The gold-standard treatment for advanced pelvic organ prolapse is sacrocolpopexy. However, the preoperative features of prolapse that predict optimal outcomes are unknown.

Objective: This study aimed to develop a clinical prediction model that uses preoperative scores on the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification examination to predict outcomes after minimally invasive sacrocolpopexy for stages 2, 3, and 4 uterovaginal prolapse and vaginal vault prolapse.

Computational repurposing of oncology drugs through off-target drug binding interactions from pharmacological databases.

Purpose: Systematic repurposing of approved medicines for another indication may accelerate drug development in oncology. We present a strategy combining biomarker testing with drug repurposing to identify new treatments for patients with advanced cancer.

Methods: Tumours were sequenced with the Illumina TruSight Oncology 500 (TSO-500) platform or the FoundationOne CDx panel.

Dietary risk factors for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.

Objective: To assess whether diet quality and specific dietary components are associated with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP).

Study Design: Nested case control study in a prospectively collected cohort of 450 participants with singleton pregnancies who completed the National Institutes of Health Diet Health Questionnaire II (DHQ-II) in the third trimester or within 3 months of delivery. Patients with fetal anomalies, conception by in-vitro fertilization, and deliveries at outside hospitals were excluded from the original prospective cohort study.

DDR2-regulated arginase activity in ovarian cancer-associated fibroblasts promotes collagen production and tumor progression.

Ovarian cancer has poor survival outcomes particularly for advanced stage, metastatic disease. Metastasis is promoted by interactions of stromal cells, such as cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in the tumor microenvironment (TME), with tumor cells. CAFs play a key role in tumor progression by remodeling the TME and extracellular matrix (ECM) to result in a more permissive environment for tumor progression.

Risk of pre-term birth as a function of sleep quality and obesity: prospective analysis in a large Prematurity Research Cohort.

Study Objective: To investigate whether poor sleep quality is associated with pre-term birth (PTB) risk, overall and independent of sleep apnea and habitual snoring.

Methods: We used longitudinal data from the Washington University Prematurity Research Cohort to investigate the association between poor sleep quality (defined as a Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index > 5) and PTB, overall and independent of sleep apnea and snoring (defined by the Berlin questionnaire and prior sleep clinic attendance). Associations were investigated for sleep quality early and throughout pregnancy.

Sleep and circadian rhythms during pregnancy, social disadvantage, and alterations in brain development in neonates.

Pregnant women in poverty may be especially likely to experience sleep and circadian rhythm disturbances, which may have downstream effects on fetal neurodevelopment. However, the associations between sleep and circadian rhythm disturbances, social disadvantage during pregnancy, and neonatal brain structure remains poorly understood. The current study explored the association between maternal sleep and circadian rhythm disturbances during pregnancy and neonatal brain outcomes, examining sleep and circadian rhythm disturbances as a mediator of the effect of social disadvantage during pregnancy on infant structural brain outcomes.

The Association Between Maternal Cortisol and Infant Amygdala Volume Is Moderated by Socioeconomic Status.

Background: It has been well established that socioeconomic status is associated with mental and physical health as well as brain development, with emerging data suggesting that these relationships begin in utero. However, less is known about how prenatal socioeconomic environments interact with the gestational environment to affect neonatal brain volume.

Methods: Maternal cortisol output measured at each trimester of pregnancy and neonatal brain structure were assessed in 241 mother-infant dyads.

Deep representation learning identifies associations between physical activity and sleep patterns during pregnancy and prematurity.

Preterm birth (PTB) is the leading cause of infant mortality globally. Research has focused on developing predictive models for PTB without prioritizing cost-effective interventions. Physical activity and sleep present unique opportunities for interventions in low- and middle-income populations (LMICs).

Stromal DDR2 Promotes Ovarian Cancer Metastasis through Regulation of Metabolism and Secretion of Extracellular Matrix Proteins.

Unlabelled: Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of gynecologic cancer-related deaths. The propensity for metastasis within the peritoneal cavity is a driving factor for the poor outcomes associated with this disease, but there is currently no effective therapy targeting metastasis. In this study, we investigate the contribution of stromal cells to ovarian cancer metastasis and identify normal stromal cell expression of the collagen receptor, discoidin domain receptor 2 (DDR2), that acts to facilitate ovarian cancer metastasis.

Integrative analysis reveals marker genes for intestinal mucosa barrier repairing in clinical patients.

This study aims to identify biomarkers of intestinal repair and provide potential therapeutic clues for improving functional recovery and prognostic performance after intestinal inflammation or injury. Here, we conducted a large-scale screening of multiple transcriptomic and scRNA-seq datasets of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and identified 10 marker genes that potentially contribute to intestinal barrier repairing: and . Analysis of a published scRNA-seq dataset revealed that expression of these healing markers were specific to absorptive cell types in intestinal epithelium.

RAD51 Foci as a Biomarker Predictive of Platinum Chemotherapy Response in Ovarian Cancer.

Purpose: To determine the ability of RAD51 foci to predict platinum chemotherapy response in high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) patient-derived samples.

Experimental Design: RAD51 and γH2AX nuclear foci were evaluated by immunofluorescence in HGSOC patient-derived cell lines (n = 5), organoids (n = 11), and formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor samples (discovery n = 31, validation n = 148). Samples were defined as RAD51-High if >10% of geminin-positive cells had ≥5 RAD51 foci.

Noninvasive electromyometrial imaging of human uterine maturation during term labor.

Electromyometrial imaging (EMMI) was recently developed to image the three-dimensional (3D) uterine electrical activation during contractions noninvasively and accurately in sheep. Herein we describe the development and application of a human EMMI system to image and evaluate 3D uterine electrical activation patterns at high spatial and temporal resolution during human term labor. We demonstrate the successful integration of the human EMMI system during subjects' clinical visits to generate noninvasively the uterine surface electrical potential maps, electrograms, and activation sequence through an inverse solution using up to 192 electrodes distributed around the abdomen surface.

UHRF1/UBE2L6/UBR4-mediated ubiquitination regulates EZH2 abundance and thereby melanocytic differentiation phenotypes in melanoma.

Cellular heterogeneity in cancer is linked to disease progression and therapy response, although mechanisms regulating distinct cellular states within tumors are not well understood. We identified melanin pigment content as a major source of cellular heterogeneity in melanoma and compared RNAseq data from high-pigmented (HPCs) and low-pigmented melanoma cells (LPCs), suggesting EZH2 as a master regulator of these states. EZH2 protein was found to be upregulated in LPCs and inversely correlated with melanin deposition in pigmented patient melanomas.

Cystathionine gamma-lyase (Cth) induces efferocytosis in macrophages via ERK1/2 to modulate intestinal barrier repair.

Background: The inflammatory response induced by intestinal ischaemia‒reperfusion injury (I/R) is closely associated with infectious complications and mortality in critically ill patients, and the timely and effective clearance of apoptotic cells is an important part of reducing the inflammatory response. Studies have shown that the efferocytosis by phagocytes plays an important role. Recently, studies using small intestine organoid models showed that macrophage efferocytosis could promote the repair capacity of the intestinal epithelium.