Durable Immune Response and Long-term Efficacy of COVID-19 Vaccination in Children With Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Background: Children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) may have diminished serologic response to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccination and increased risk for subsequent severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. We sought to describe outcomes among those who developed SARS-CoV-2 infection following vaccination, characterize SARS-CoV-2 antibodies 1 year post-vaccination, and identify factors associated with durable serologic response.

Methods: We recruited children with IBD who received ≥2 doses of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and prospectively collected data on (1) demographics, IBD characteristics, and therapy and (2) SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, testing, and infection symptoms.

Racial and ethnic differences in the degree of participation and retention in a decentralized cohort study of COVID-19 immunization in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases.

Introduction: Disparities in the recruitment of minority populations in research are well-documented. However, the degree of participation and retention of minorities following enrollment is less known, particularly in decentralized studies. Although decentralized clinical research methods may allow researchers to engage broader study populations with less participation burden, they may present different retention challenges.

Long-Term Effectiveness and Durability of COVID-19 Vaccination Among Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Background And Aims: COVID-19 vaccination prevents severe disease in most patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but immunosuppressive medications can blunt serologic response. We followed adults with IBD for >1 year post-COVID-19 vaccination to describe factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection after vaccination, evaluate for a protective SARS-CoV-2 antibody level, characterize SARS-CoV-2 antibody persistence, and identify factors associated with humoral immune response durability.

Methods: Using a prospective cohort of COVID-19 immunized adults with IBD, we analyzed factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection after vaccination.

Distinct COPD subtypes in former smokers revealed by gene network perturbation analysis.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) varies significantly in symptomatic and physiologic presentation. Identifying disease subtypes from molecular data, collected from easily accessible blood samples, can help stratify patients and guide disease management and treatment.

Methods: Blood gene expression measured by RNA-sequencing in the COPDGene Study was analyzed using a network perturbation analysis method.

Humoral Immune Response and Safety of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination in Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Introduction: Children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) may respond differently to COVID-19 immunization as compared with healthy children or adults with IBD. Those younger than 12 years receive a lower vaccine dose than adults. We sought to describe the safety and humoral immune response to COVID-19 vaccine in children with IBD.

Association of Systemic Inflammation with Depressive Symptoms in Individuals with COPD.

Rationale: Depression is a prevalent comorbidity of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) that, along with COPD, has been associated with inflammation. An association between inflammation and depression in COPD has not been validated in a large COPD cohort.

Methods: Individuals from the University of Pittsburgh SCCOR cohort and the COPDGene cohort with tobacco use history and airway obstruction (FEV/FVC <0.

Improving clinical disease subtyping and future events prediction through a chest CT-based deep learning approach.

Purpose: To develop and evaluate a deep learning (DL) approach to extract rich information from high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Methods: We develop a DL-based model to learn a compact representation of a subject, which is predictive of COPD physiologic severity and other outcomes. Our DL model learned: (a) to extract informative regional image features from HRCT; (b) to adaptively weight these features and form an aggregate patient representation; and finally, (c) to predict several COPD outcomes.

Diagnosis and Outpatient Management of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Review.

Importance: There are 30 million adults (12%) in the United States who have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease accounts for 3.2% of all physician office visits annually and is the fourth leading cause of death (126 000 deaths per year).

Bronchoscopic device intervention in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Purpose Of Review: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a heterogeneous syndrome associated with varying degrees of parenchymal emphysema and airway inflammation resulting in decreased expiratory flow, lung hyperinflation, and symptoms leading to decreased exercise tolerance and quality of life. Impairment in lung function and quality of life persists following guideline-based medical therapy, thus surgical and minimally invasive bronchoscopic approaches were developed to address this unmet need. We offer a narrative review of the available technologies.

Clinical Implications of Having Reduced Mid Forced Expiratory Flow Rates (FEF25-75), Independently of FEV1, in Adult Patients with Asthma.

Introduction: FEF25-75 is one of the standard results provided in spirometry reports; however, in adult asthmatics there is limited information on how this physiological measure relates to clinical or biological outcomes independently of the FEV1 or the FEV1/FVC ratio.

Purpose: To determine the association between Hankinson's percent-predicted FEF25-75 (FEF25-75%) levels with changes in healthcare utilization, respiratory symptom frequency, and biomarkers of distal airway inflammation.

Methods: In participants enrolled in the Severe Asthma Research Program 1-2, we compared outcomes across FEF25-75% quartiles.

Dosimetric evaluation of the interplay effect in respiratory-gated RapidArc radiation therapy.

Purpose: Volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) with gating capability has had increasing adoption in many clinics in the United States. In this new technique, dose rate, gantry rotation speed, and the leaf motion speed of multileaf collimators (MLCs) are modulated dynamically during gated beam delivery to achieve highly conformal dose coverage of the target and normal tissue sparing. Compared with the traditional gated intensity-modulated radiation therapy technique, this complicated beam delivery technique may result in larger dose errors due to the intrafraction tumor motion.

Gel purification of radiolabeled nucleic acids via phosphorimaging: Dip-N-Dot.

RNA and DNA oligonucleotides radiolabeled with (32)P or (33)P often require gel electrophoresis to remove undesired side and/or degradation products. Common ways to visualize these molecules after electrophoresis are by ultraviolet (UV) shadowing, which necessarily reduces the specific activity of the oligonucleotide, and by autoradiography using film, which is cumbersome and increases the cost of generating the radiolabeled molecule. A more cost-effective method is to physically inject the gel with a "Dip-N-Dot" solution of dye and radionuclide after electrophoresis but prior to phosphorimaging.

Daily functioning and quality of life in children with sickle cell disease pain: relationship with family and neighborhood socioeconomic distress.

Unlabelled: The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between individual/family and neighborhood socioeconomic distress, pain, and functional outcomes in children with sickle cell disease (SCD). We hypothesized that both individual economic distress as well as residence in neighborhoods of severe economic distress would predict children's level of pain-related functional disability and health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Participants (mean age, 12.

RNA-directed construction of structurally complex and active ligase ribozymes through recombination.

RNA-directed recombination can be used to catalyze a disproportionation reaction among small RNA substrates to create new combinations of sequences. But the accommodation of secondary and tertiary structural constraints in the substrates by recombinase ribozymes has not been explored. Here, we show that the Azoarcus group I intron can recombine oligoribonucleotides to construct class I ligase ribozymes, which are catalytically active upon synthesis.

Generalized RNA-directed recombination of RNA.

RNA strand exchange through phosphor-nucleotidyl transfer reactions is an intrinsic chemistry promoted by group I intron ribozymes. We show here that Tetrahymena and Azoarcus ribozymes can promote RNA oligonucleotide recombination in either two-pot or one-pot schemes. These ribozymes bind one oligonucleotide, cleave following a guide sequence, transfer the 3' portion of the oligo to their own 3' end, bind a second oligo, and catalyze another transfer reaction to generate recombinant oligos.

Expanded divalent metal-ion tolerance of evolved ligase ribozymes.

Class I ligases are artificial ribozymes that catalyze the joining of two single-stranded RNAs. These ribozymes are between 120 and 160 nucleotides in length, making them intermediate in size for catalytic RNAs. Previous characterization of the b1-207 ribozyme suggests that it behaves similar to larger ribozymes in terms of divalent metal-ion dependence.