Many modified or degraded blanket bogs in the UK have been undergoing restoration by different rewetting strategies. While testate amoebae (TA), well-known as hydrology-sensitive species, have been increasingly applied to assess and monitor peatland restoration success, we still do not know the most appropriate sampling strategy of TA in heather-dominated peatlands. In this study, TA communities were taken from two modified blanket bog sites and one intact border mire across a strong hydrological gradient to explore the optimal sampling strategy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMyocardial infarction with non-obstructive coronary arteries (MINOCA) is defined by the presence of positive cardiac biomarkers with clinical evidence of infarction, the absence of significant coronary stenosis (≥50%) on angiography, and the lack of alternative diagnosis for the index presentation. MINOCA poses a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge due to the various pathophysiologic mechanisms underlying its presentation. Coronary artery plaque disruption is recognized as a crucial mechanism contributing to MINOCA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCardiovasc Diabetol
July 2024
Objective: Investigate the role of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) - which funds services for vulnerable and historically disadvantaged populations with HIV - in reducing health inequities among people with HIV over a 10-year horizon.
Design: We use an agent-based microsimulation model to incorporate the complexity of the program and long-time horizon.
Methods: We use a composite measure (the Theil index) to evaluate the health equity implications of the RWHAP for each of four subgroups (based on race and ethnicity, age, gender, and HIV transmission category) and two outcomes (probability of being in care and treatment and probability of being virally suppressed).
Aims: In patients with heart failure (HF), concomitant sinus node dysfunction (SND) is an important predictor of mortality, yet its molecular underpinnings are poorly understood. Using proteomics, this study aimed to dissect the protein and phosphorylation remodelling within the sinus node in an animal model of HF with concurrent SND.
Methods And Results: We acquired deep sinus node proteomes and phosphoproteomes in mice with heart failure and SND and report extensive remodelling.
Background: (zinc finger homeobox 3), a gene that encodes a large transcription factor, is at the second-most significantly associated locus with atrial fibrillation (AF), but its function in the heart is unknown. This study aims to identify causative genetic variation related to AF at the locus and examine the impact of loss on cardiac function in mice.
Methods: CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing, chromatin immunoprecipitation, and luciferase assays in pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes were used to identify causative genetic variation related to AF at the locus.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by heterogeneous cognitive, behavioral and communication impairments. Disruption of the gut-brain axis (GBA) has been implicated in ASD although with limited reproducibility across studies. In this study, we developed a Bayesian differential ranking algorithm to identify ASD-associated molecular and taxa profiles across 10 cross-sectional microbiome datasets and 15 other datasets, including dietary patterns, metabolomics, cytokine profiles and human brain gene expression profiles.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAs people with HIV increasingly access affordable health care coverage-enabling them to obtain medical care from private providers-understanding how they use the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP), and their unmet health care needs, can enhance their overall care. We analyzed RWHAP client-level data and interviewed staff and clients at 29 provider organizations to identify trends in health care coverage and service use for clients who received medical care from private providers. The RWHAP helps cover the cost of premiums and copays for these clients and provides medical and support services that help them stay engaged in care and virally suppressed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiets rich in cruciferous vegetables have been associated with a lower risk of incidence and progression of prostate cancer. Sulforaphane, an isothiocyanate derived from 4-methylsulphinylbutyl glucosinolate (glucoraphanin) that accumulates in certain of these vegetables, notably broccoli, has been implicated in their protective effects. Likewise, the consumption of garlic and its sulphur-containing compounds such as alliin have been associated with a reduction in risk of prostate cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Crohn's disease (CD), an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) subtype, results from pathologic interactions between host cells and its resident gut microbes. CD manifests in both isolated disease locations (ileum or colon) or a combination of locations (ileocolonic). To date, a comprehensive understanding of how isolated CD subtypes influence molecular profiles remains outstanding.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEur Urol
June 2023
Background: Adjuvant intravesical chemotherapy following tumour resection is recommended for intermediate-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC).
Objective: To assess the efficacy and safety of adjuvant intravesical chemohyperthermia (CHT) for intermediate-risk NMIBC.
Design, Setting, And Participants: HIVEC-II is an open-label, phase 2 randomised controlled trial of CHT versus chemotherapy alone in patients with intermediate-risk NMIBC recruited at 15 centres between May 2014 and December 2017 (ISRCTN 23639415).
The need for reliable communications in industrial systems becomes more evident as industries strive to increase reliance on automation. This trend has sustained the adoption of WirelessHART communications as a key enabling technology and its operational integrity must be ensured. This paper focuses on demonstrating pre-deployment counterfeit detection using active 2D Distinct Native Attribute (2D-DNA) fingerprinting.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Bacteria play a suspected role in the development of several cancer types, and associations between the presence of particular bacteria and prostate cancer have been reported.
Objective: To provide improved characterisation of the prostate and urine microbiome and to investigate the prognostic potential of the bacteria present.
Design, Setting, And Participants: Microbiome profiles were interrogated in sample collections of patient urine (sediment microscopy: n = 318, 16S ribosomal amplicon sequencing: n = 46; and extracellular vesicle RNA-seq: n = 40) and cancer tissue (n = 204).
Background & Aims: Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is a promising treatment for moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis. However, our current understanding of the host and microbial response to HBOT remains unclear. This study examined the molecular mechanisms underpinning HBOT using a multi-omic strategy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUlcerative colitis (UC) is driven by disruptions in host-microbiota homoeostasis, but current treatments exclusively target host inflammatory pathways. To understand how host-microbiota interactions become disrupted in UC, we collected and analysed six faecal- or serum-based omic datasets (metaproteomic, metabolomic, metagenomic, metapeptidomic and amplicon sequencing profiles of faecal samples and proteomic profiles of serum samples) from 40 UC patients at a single inflammatory bowel disease centre, as well as various clinical, endoscopic and histologic measures of disease activity. A validation cohort of 210 samples (73 UC, 117 Crohn's disease, 20 healthy controls) was collected and analysed separately and independently.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe explored opportunities for personalized and predictive health care by collecting serial clinical measurements, health surveys, genomics, proteomics, autoantibodies, metabolomics, and gut microbiome data from 96 individuals who participated in a data-driven health coaching program over a 16-month period with continuous digital monitoring of activity and sleep. We generated a resource of >20,000 biological samples from this study and a compendium of >53 million primary data points for 558,032 distinct features. Multiomics factor analysis revealed distinct and independent molecular factors linked to obesity, diabetes, liver function, cardiovascular disease, inflammation, immunity, exercise, diet, and hormonal effects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSchizophrenia is a devastating psychiatric illness that detrimentally affects a significant portion of the worldwide population. Aging of schizophrenia patients is associated with reduced longevity, but the potential biological factors associated with aging in this population have not yet been investigated in a global manner. To address this gap in knowledge, the present study assesses proteomics and metabolomics profiles in the plasma of subjects afflicted with schizophrenia compared to non-psychiatric control patients over six decades of life.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMethicillin-resistant (MRSP) is an important emerging zoonotic pathogen that causes severe skin infections. To combat infections from drug-resistant bacteria, the transplantation of commensal antimicrobial bacteria as a therapeutic has shown clinical promise. We screened a collection of diverse staphylococcus species from domestic dogs and cats for antimicrobial activity against MRSP.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Ibrutinib is a protein kinase inhibitor that has been widely successful in treating multiple common variations of B-cell cancers. However, an unfortunate side effect of ibrutinib is that it predisposes patients to development of atrial fibrillation.
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess other commonly prescribed protein kinase inhibitors for similar pro-arrhythmic liability.
The objective is to develop a multivariable risk model for the non-invasive detection of prostate cancer prior to biopsy by integrating information from clinically available parameters, Engrailed-2 (EN2) whole-urine protein levels and data from urinary cell-free RNA. Post-digital-rectal examination urine samples collected as part of the Movember Global Action Plan 1 study which has been analysed for both cell-free-RNA and EN2 protein levels were chosen to be integrated with clinical parameters ( = 207). A previously described robust feature selection framework incorporating bootstrap resampling and permutation was applied to the data to generate an optimal feature set for use in Random Forest models for prediction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDelineating human cardiac pathologies and their basic molecular mechanisms relies on research conducted in model organisms. Yet translating findings from preclinical models to humans present a significant challenge, in part due to differences in cardiac protein expression between humans and model organisms. Proteins immediately determine cellular function, yet their large-scale investigation in hearts has lagged behind those of genes and transcripts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Vancomycin is commonly used as a first line therapy for gram positive organisms such as methicillin resistant . Vancomycin-induced acute kidney injury (V-AKI) has been reported in up to 43% of patients, especially in those with higher targeted trough concentrations. The precise mechanism of injury in humans remains elusive, with recent evidence directed towards proximal tubule cell apoptosis.
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