A 1-Year Weight Management Program for Difficult-to-Treat Asthma With Obesity: A Randomized Controlled Study.

Background: Obesity-associated asthma results in increased morbidity and mortality. We report 1-year asthma outcomes with a weight management regimen, the Counterweight-Plus Programme (CWP), compared with usual care (UC) in a single-center, randomized controlled trial in patients with difficult-to-treat asthma and obesity.

Research Question: Can use of the CWP result in improved asthma control and quality of life compared with UC at 1 year in patients with difficult-to-treat asthma and obesity?

Study Design And Methods: Adults with difficult-to-treat asthma and BMI ≥ 30 kg/m were randomized (1:1 CWP:UC) to treatment.

Retrospective Multicenter Cohort Study on Safety and Electroencephalographic Response to Lacosamide for Neonatal Seizures.

Background: There is growing evidence supporting the safety and effectiveness of lacosamide in older children. However, minimal data are available for neonates. We aimed to determine the incidence of adverse events associated with lacosamide use and explore the electroencephalographic seizure response to lacosamide in neonates.

Aptamers as Functional Modules for DNA Nanostructures.

Watson-Crick base-pairing of DNA allows the nanoscale fabrication of biocompatible synthetic nanostructures for diagnostic and therapeutic biomedical purposes. DNA nanostructure design elicits exquisite control of shape and conformation compared to other nanoparticles. Furthermore, nucleic acid aptamers can be coupled to DNA nanostructures to allow interaction and response to a plethora of biomolecules beyond nucleic acids.

Can we buffer them? Supporting healthy levels of stress and anxiety in first year international students.

First-year international tertiary students face numerous challenges, with the COVID-19 pandemic shifting many to online learning. These challenges can lead to higher than ideal stress and anxiety, negatively impacting mental health. Applying a 'writing across curriculum' approach this study examines whether a 'writing in discipline' intervention influences stress/anxiety for such students studying Tourism, Hospitality and Events in Australia.

Effect of Long-Term Semiarid Pasture Management on Soil Hydraulic and Thermal Properties.

Semiarid pasture management strategies can affect soil hydraulic and thermal properties that determine water fluxes and storage, and heat flow in unsaturated soils. We evaluated long-term (>10 years) perennial and annual semiarid pasture system effects on saturated hydraulic conductivity (), soil water retention curves (SWRCs), soil water thresholds (i.e.

Utilization of a cell-penetrating peptide-adaptor for delivery of human papillomavirus protein E2 into cervical cancer cells to arrest cell growth and promote cell death.

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the causative agent of nearly all forms of cervical cancer, which can arise upon viral integration into the host genome and concurrent loss of viral regulatory gene E2. Gene-based delivery approaches show that E2 reintroduction reduces proliferative capacity and promotes apoptosis in vitro.

Aims: This work explored if our calcium-dependent protein-based delivery system, TAT-CaM, could deliver functional E2 protein directly into cervical cancer cells to limit proliferative capacity and induce cell death.

A Total Diet Replacement Weight Management Program for Difficult-to-Treat Asthma Associated With Obesity: A Randomized Controlled Feasibility Trial.

Background: Obesity is often associated with uncontrolled, difficult-to-treat asthma and increased morbidity and mortality. Previous studies suggest that weight loss may improve asthma outcomes, but with heterogenous asthma populations studied and unclear consensus on the optimal method of weight management. The Counterweight-Plus Programme (CWP) for weight management is an evidence-based, dietitian-led total diet replacement (TDR) program.

Using neural networks to support high-quality evidence mapping.

Background: The Living Evidence Map Project at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) gives an updated overview of research results and publications. As part of NIPH's mandate to inform evidence-based infection prevention, control and treatment, a large group of experts are continously monitoring, assessing, coding and summarising new COVID-19 publications. Screening tools, coding practice and workflow are incrementally improved, but remain largely manual.

Optimization of on-bead emulsion polymerase chain reaction based on single particle analysis.

Emulsion polymerase chain reaction (ePCR) enables parallel amplification of millions of different DNA molecules while avoiding bias and chimeric byproducts, essential criteria for applications including next generation sequencing, aptamer selection, and protein-DNA interaction studies. Despite these advantages, ePCR remains underused due to the lack of optimal starting conditions, straightforward methods to evaluate success, and guidelines for tuning the reaction. This knowledge has been elusive for bulk emulsion generation methods, such as stirring and vortexing, the only methods that can emulsify libraries of ≥10 sequences within minutes, because these emulsions have not been characterized in ways that preserve the heterogeneity that defines successful ePCR.

Tall Fescue and Genetics Influence Root-Associated Soil Fungi in a Temperate Grassland.

A constitutive, host-specific symbiosis exists between the aboveground fungal endophyte (Morgan-Jones & W. Gams) and the cool-season grass tall fescue ( (Schreb.) Darbysh.

Neonatal Antiepileptic Medication Treatment Patterns: A Decade of Change.

Objective: This study aims to describe the frequency and characteristics of anticonvulsant medication treatments initiated in the neonatal period.

Study Design: We analyzed a cohort of neonates with a seizure diagnosis who were discharged from institutions in the Pediatric Health Information System between 2007 and 2016. Adjusted risk ratios and 95% confidence intervals for characteristics associated with neonatal (≤ 28 days postnatal) anticonvulsant initiation were calculated via modified Poisson regression.

Seeing the whole picture: integrated pre-surgery reports with PreOptique.

Background: Information technology has transformed the way healthcare is conducted. There is a deluge of patient data dispersed in different systems that are commonly not interoperable. As a result, access to patient data has become a major bottleneck for healthcare professionals that struggle to find the relevant information in a timely way and without missing critical clinical information.

Status Epilepticus in the Neonate: Updates in Treatment Strategies.

Purpose Of Review: The purpose of this review is to report recent advances in treatment of neonatal seizures, with a specific focus on new literature since a 2013 systematic review performed by this author (Slaughter) and others. There is a paucity of data with regard to well-defined status epilepticus (SE) in neonates, so treatment of recurrent seizures was also included in this inquiry. We aimed to summarize the efficacy and safety profiles of current therapeutic options as well as describe trends in medication selection in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) setting.

Patterning of supported gold monolayers via chemical lift-off lithography.

The supported monolayer of Au that accompanies alkanethiolate molecules removed by polymer stamps during chemical lift-off lithography is a scarcely studied hybrid material. We show that these Au-alkanethiolate layers on poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) are transparent, functional, hybrid interfaces that can be patterned over nanometer, micrometer, and millimeter length scales. Unlike other ultrathin Au films and nanoparticles, lifted-off Au-alkanethiolate thin films lack a measurable optical signature.

Neonatal Vein of Labbé Infarction Size is Associated With Long-Term Language Outcomes.

Background: The vein of Labbé is a superficial cortical vein, which drains the lateral surface of the temporal lobe. Thrombosis of the vein of Labbé can occur in the neonatal period. The developmental outcomes of infants who had vein of Labbé thrombosis are unknown as few studies of outcomes exist.

Polymer-Pen Chemical Lift-Off Lithography.

We designed and fabricated large arrays of polymer pens having sub-20 nm tips to perform chemical lift-off lithography (CLL). As such, we developed a hybrid patterning strategy called polymer-pen chemical lift-off lithography (PPCLL). We demonstrated PPCLL patterning using pyramidal and v-shaped polymer-pen arrays.

Tetracyclic dihydronaphthalene derivatives via gold-catalyzed aminative homodimerization of ortho-alkynylbenzaldehydes.

Gold(i) catalyzes domino homodimerization of o-alkynylbenzaldehydes via a sequence of 6-endo-dig-cyclization, amine addition, and [4+2] cycloaddition involving two bicyclic intermediates. The resulting products integrate medicinally relevant 1,2-dihydronaphthalene and isochromene moieties into a single amine-substituted tetracyclic framework.

Competing amination and C-H arylation pathways in Pd/xantphos-catalyzed transformations of binaphthyl triflates: switchable routes to chiral amines and helicene derivatives.

A Pd(OAc)2/xantphos catalyst system was found effective for benzylaminations of binaphthyl 2-triflates bearing a variety of alkyl, benzyl, and substituted phenyl substituents at the 2'-position. With 2'-aryl substituents, an intramolecular Pd-catalyzed C-H arylation was observed as a competing side reaction under some conditions. By adjusting the solvent and quantity of the amine, the reaction was optimized to favor either the amination or the C-H arylation pathway, affording two distinct and potentially useful sets of products.

Aboveground Epichloë coenophiala-Grass Associations Do Not Affect Belowground Fungal Symbionts or Associated Plant, Soil Parameters.

Cool season grasses host multiple fungal symbionts, such as aboveground Epichloë endophytes and belowground arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and dark septate endophytes (DSEs). Asexual Epichloë endophytes can influence root colonization by AMF, but the type of interaction-whether antagonistic or beneficial-varies. In Schedonorus arundinaceus (tall fescue), Epichloë coenophiala can negatively affect AMF, which may impact soil properties and ecosystem function.

Early Conventional MRI for Prediction of Neurodevelopmental Impairment in Extremely-Low-Birth-Weight Infants.

Background: Extremely-low-birth-weight (ELBW; ≤1,000 g) infants are at high risk for neurodevelopmental impairments. Conventional brain MRI at term-equivalent age is increasingly used for prediction of outcomes. However, optimal prediction models remain to be determined, especially for cognitive outcomes.

Determination of the interconversion energy barrier of three novel pentahelicene derivative enantiomers by dynamic high resolution liquid chromatography.

Dynamic high resolution liquid chromatography (DHPLC) was used to determine the kinetic and thermodynamic activation parameters of interconversion of three novel pentahelicene derivatives {3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)benzo[i]pentahelicene, naphtho[1,2-i]pentahelicene and 4-methoxybenzo[i]pentahelicene}. DHPLC was performed on a chiral isopropyl - carbamate cyclofructan 6 (LARIHC CF6-P) column under normal phase conditions. Variation of the column temperature and flow rate was used to study the interconversion process.

Computer-Interpretable Clinical Guidelines: A Review and Analysis of Evaluation Criteria for Authoring Methods.

There are a variety of authoring tools and methods for producing computer-interpretable clinical guideline (CIG). This work is a review of the evaluation of tools and methods currently in use to author CIGs. The aim of this paper is to present the results of a literature review on the evaluation criteria.