A 2-year Review of the Diagnostic Performance of Serum and Bronchoalveolar Lavage Galactomannan Testing in Lung Transplant Recipients in a National Heart and Lung Transplant Centre.

Background: The 2015 International Society for Heart and Lung Transplant (ISHLT) fungal guidelines recommend the use of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) galactomannan over serum galactomannan for the diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis (IA) in lung transplant (LTx) recipients, based on limited evidence. Galactomannan testing is costly.

Methods: A single-center, retrospective cohort study reviewing all 814 serum and BAL galactomannan samples received from 184 LTx recipients in our center between 2021 and 2022 and assessing their diagnostic performance in the diagnosis of IA.

Oesophageal stasis is a risk factor for chronic lung allograft dysfunction and allograft failure in lung transplant recipients.

Background: Morbidity and mortality in lung transplant recipients are often triggered by recurrent aspiration events, potentiated by oesophageal and gastric disorders. Previous small studies have shown conflicting associations between oesophageal function and the development of chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD). Herein, we sought to investigate the relationship between oesophageal motility disorders and long-term outcomes in a large retrospective cohort of lung transplant recipients.

Donor and recipient human leukocyte antigen-G polymorphisms modulate the risk of adverse immunologic events following lung transplantation.

The long-term benefits of lung transplantation (LTx) are limited by pathogenic alloimmune responses that drive injury, inflammation, and chronic dysfunction. Human leukocyte antigen-G (HLA-G) plays a key role in the modulation of these pathways. This study assesses the impact of the HLA-G genotype on immunologic risk and survival following LTx.

Phenotyping CLAD after single lung transplant: Limits and prognostic assessment of the 2019 ISHLT classification system.

Background: Phenotyping chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) in single lung transplant (SLTX) is challenging, due to the native lung contribution to pulmonary function test (PFT). We aimed to assess the applicability and prognostic performance of International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) classification in SLTX.

Methods: In this retrospective study of adult, first, SLTX performed 2009-2017, patients with persistent drop in FEV1≥20% were assessed by 2 independent adjudicators to determine CLAD status and phenotype.

Development of Visual Acuity in Children: Assessing the Contributions of Cognition and Age in LEA Chart Acuity Readings.

Significance: The development of visual acuity has often been looked upon as a function of age. This study considers whether cognition might also be a predictor of acuity in children. The results indicate that cognition is a predictor of acuity and therefore should play a role in vision evaluations and developmental research.

A simplified strategy for donor-recipient size-matching in lung transplant for interstitial lung disease.

Background: Donor-recipient size-matching has been repeatedly reported to improve outcomes following lung transplantation (LTx). However, there is significant variability in practice and the optimal strategy for size-matching is yet to be defined. For recipients with ILD, size-matching decisions are complicated by concerns regarding the potential impact of pre-LTx pulmonary restriction.

Appeasing Pheromones for the Management of Stress and Aggression during Conservation of Wild Canids: Could the Solution Be Right under Our Nose?

Thirty-six species of canid exist globally, two are classified as critically endangered, three as endangered, and five as near threatened. Human expansion and the coinciding habitat fragmentation necessitate conservation interventions to mitigate concurrent population deterioration. The current conservation management of wild canids includes animal translocation and artificial pack formation.

Effects of daily consumption of wild blueberry on cognition and urinary metabolites in school-aged children: a pilot study.

Purpose: Acute intervention with wild blueberry (WBB) has previously revealed positive cognitive and mood effects in typically developing children; however, it is unclear whether effects persist after daily supplementation. In addition, no data have been published exploring the metabolite profiles of children following berry consumption, to our knowledge. A study of this kind could provide insight into a mechanism of action for the cognitive and mood improvements observed previously in children.

Lung transplantation for late-onset non-infectious chronic pulmonary complications of allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplant.

Background: Late onset non-infectious pulmonary complications (LONIPCs) following allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) confer a significant mortality risk. Lung transplantation (LTx) has the potential to provide survival benefit but the impact of prior allo-HSCT on post-LTx outcomes is not well studied.

Methods: This retrospective, single-centre cohort study assessed the post-LTx outcomes of adults with LONIPCs of allo-HSCT.

IL-6 receptor blockade for allograft dysfunction after lung transplantation in a patient with COPA syndrome.

Objective: COPA syndrome is a genetic disorder of retrograde cis-Golgi vesicle transport that leads to upregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines (mainly IL-1β and IL-6) and the development of interstitial lung disease (ILD). The impact of COPA syndrome on post-lung transplant (LTx) outcome is unknown but potentially detrimental. In this case report, we describe progressive allograft dysfunction following LTx for COPA-ILD.

No evidence for a relationship between social closeness and similarity in resting-state functional brain connectivity in schoolchildren.

Previous research suggests that the proximity of individuals in a social network predicts how similarly their brains respond to naturalistic stimuli. However, the relationship between social connectedness and brain connectivity in the absence of external stimuli has not been examined. To investigate whether neural homophily between friends exists at rest we collected resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from 68 school-aged girls, along with social network information from all pupils in their year groups (total 5,066 social dyads).

The effect of asymmetrical accommodation on anisometropic amblyopia treatment outcomes.

Background: Previous research has revealed that the majority of children with anisometropic amblyopia have asymmetrical accommodation. The aim of this preliminary study was to determine whether the type of accommodation response was associated with a poor amblyopia treatment outcome in the same patients.

Methods: The type of accommodation response of 26 children with anisometropic amblyopia was determined in a previous study.

Sensitivity to Inflectional Morphemes in the Absence of Meaning: Evidence from a Novel Task.

A number of studies in different languages have shown that speakers may be sensitive to the presence of inflectional morphology in the absence of verb meaning (Caramazza et al. in Cognition 28(3):297-332, 1988; Clahsen in Behav Brain Sci 22(06):991-1013, 1999; Post et al. in Cognition 109(1):1-17, 2008).

Delivery of nucleic acids to ex vivo porcine airways using electrospray.

Aim Of The Study: Nucleic acid-based therapies have the potential to provide clinically meaningful benefit across a wide spectrum of lung disease. However, in vivo delivery remains a challenge. Here we examined the feasibility of using electrospray to deliver nucleic acids to both porcine tracheal tissue sections and whole lung ex vivo.

The role of noninitial clusters in the Children's Test of Nonword Repetition: Evidence from children with language impairment and typically developing children.

The Children's Test of Nonword Repetition (CNRep) is one of the most popular tests of nonword repetition. The test is composed of nonwords of different length, and normative data suggest that children experience more difficulties in repeating long nonwords. An analysis of the distribution of phonological clusters in the test shows that noninitial clusters are unequally distributed in the test: They only appear in long nonwords (four and five syllables).

The effects of acute wild blueberry supplementation on the cognition of 7-10-year-old schoolchildren.

Purpose: Previous evidence suggests consumption of flavonoids, a sub-class of polyphenols, is associated with improved cognitive function across the lifespan. In particular, acute intervention of a flavonoid-rich wild blueberry (WBB) drink has been shown to boost executive function (EF), short-term memory and mood 2-6 h post-consumption in 7-10-year-old children. However, confirmation of the aspects of EF and memory susceptible to WBB ingestion is required, particularly during childhood, a critical period of neurological development.

MDA-5 associated rapidly progressive interstitial lung disease with recurrent Pneumothoraces: a case report.

Background: Clinically hypomyopathic dermatomyositis is a rare disease that is important to recognize, investigate and treat early as it is associated with poor prognosis. In a proportion of patients, myositis specific antibodies could be negative, but with high clinical suspicion, myositis associated antibodies should be ordered. Anti-MDA-5 antibodies was reported in literature to be associated with severe and rapidly progressive interstitial lung disease, with few case reports of pneumothorax and/or pneumomediastinum.

Asymmetrical accommodation in hyperopic anisometropic amblyopia.

Background/aims: To investigate the presence of asymmetrical accommodation in hyperopic anisometropic amblyopia.

Methods: Accommodation in each eye and binocular vergence were measured simultaneously using a PlusoptiX SO4 photorefractor in 26 children aged 4-8 years with hyperopic anisometropic amblyopia and 13 controls (group age-matched) while they viewed a detailed target moving in depth.

Results: Without spectacles, only 5 (19%) anisometropes demonstrated symmetrical accommodation (within the 95% CI of the mean gain of the sound eye of the anisometropic group), whereas 21 (81%) demonstrated asymmetrical accommodation.

Children's Accommodation to a Variety of Targets - A Pilot Study.

Background: Previous research indicates that a significant proportion of children underaccommodate at 1/3 m. Accommodation may vary with task demand, so children may accommodate appropriately if required, for example, when reading small print. This study explores the range of accommodative responses elicited in typical children, under naturalistic conditions, to a range of targets.

A rare cause of cystic lung disease - Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome.

Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome, initially described in 1977, is an autosomal dominant inherited condition characterised by basal pulmonary cysts often resulting in pneumothorax, renal tumours and cutaneous involvement. Lung cysts have been described in up to 90% of patients with a corresponding risk of pneumothorax of 50 times greater than the normal population. We describe here a case of Birt-Hogg-Dubé diagnosed in the 9th decade of life and discuss the radiological findings and clinical implications.

Irradiation Decreases the Neuroendocrine Biomarker Pro-Opiomelanocortin in Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells In Vitro and In Vivo.

Background: Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an extremely aggressive disease, commonly displaying therapy-resistant relapse. We have previously identified neuroendocrine and epithelial phenotypes in SCLC tumours and the neuroendocrine marker, pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC), correlated with worse overall survival in patients. However, the effect of treatment on these phenotypes is not understood.