A Life-Size Three-Dimensional Phantom for Periodontal Imaging Development and Treatment-Planning.

Rationale And Objectives: This study aims to (1) describe a periodontal and implant ultrasound imaging phantom designed for training of common periodontal and peri-implant soft- and hard-tissue deficiencies, and (2) detail the specific anatomical phantom features and showcase imaging data obtained from intraoral scans, cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) as well as ultrasound.

Materials And Methods: A prototype, full-sized, three-dimensional (3D), periodontal ultrasound phantom was created. To mimic periodontal and peri-implant soft-tissue, a phantom material similar to soft-tissue was attached.

Application of a bespoke monoclonal antibody panel to characterize immune cell populations in cave nectar bats.

Among their many unique biological features, bats are increasingly recognized as a key reservoir of many emerging viruses that cause massive morbidity and mortality in humans. Bats are capable of harboring many of these deadly viruses without any apparent signs of pathology, in a mechanism known as viral disease tolerance. However, the immunological mechanisms behind viral tolerance remain poorly understood.

Treatment with Antihistamines and the Risk of Liver Cancer in Patients with Viral Hepatitis: A Multi-Center Cohort Study.

The effects of antihistamines on cancer risk and prognosis have been inconsistent across cancers. The aim of this multi-center cohort study was to investigate the association between antihistamine use and the risk of liver cancer in individuals with viral hepatitis. This multi-center cohort study included individuals diagnosed with hepatitis B or hepatitis C between January 2008 and March 2022.

Retinal Dystrophies Associated With Peripherin-2: Genetic Spectrum and Novel Clinical Observations in 241 Patients.

Purpose: To describe the clinical, electrophysiological and genetic spectrum of inherited retinal diseases associated with variants in the PRPH2 gene.

Methods: A total of 241 patients from 168 families across 15 sites in 9 countries with pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants in PRPH2 were included. Records were reviewed for age at symptom onset, visual acuity, full-field ERG, fundus colour photography, fundus autofluorescence (FAF), and SD-OCT.

Effect of Cangrelor on Infarct Size in ST-Segment-Elevation Myocardial Infarction Treated by Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: A Randomized Controlled Trial (The PITRI Trial).

Background: The administration of intravenous cangrelor at reperfusion achieves faster onset of platelet P2Y12 inhibition than oral ticagrelor and has been shown to reduce myocardial infarction (MI) size in the preclinical setting. We hypothesized that the administration of cangrelor at reperfusion will reduce MI size and prevent microvascular obstruction in patients with ST-segment-elevation MI undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention.

Methods: This was a phase 2, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial conducted between November 2017 to November 2021 in 6 cardiac centers in Singapore.

Isolation of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) from endometriotic mice model and their immunomodulatory functions.

Endometriosis is a chronic, painful disease whose etiology remains unknown. The development of novel therapies and diagnostic tools for endometriosis has been limited due in part to challenges in studying the disease. Recently, a few reports have shown that immunosuppressive cells, such as myeloid-derived suppressor cell (MDSC), may promote the progression of endometriosis.

Risk of Incident Thyroid Dysfunction in the Post-Acute Phase of COVID-19: A Population-Based Cohort Study in Hong Kong.

Objective: The evidence of thyroid dysfunction in the post-acute phase of SARS-CoV-2 infection is limited. This study aimed to evaluate the risk of incident thyroid dysfunction in the post-acute phase of COVID-19.

Methods: This retrospective, propensity-score matched, population-based study included COVID-19 patients and non-COVID-19 individuals between January 2020 and March 2022, identified from the electronic medical records of the Hong Kong Hospital Authority.

COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness against the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 in multimorbidity: A territory-wide case-control study.

Multimorbidity entails a higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 complications. We examined vaccine effectiveness (VE) stratified by multimorbidity using a case-control study of territory-wide electronic health records in Hong Kong. Cases of infection (testing positive), hospitalization, and mortality were identified from January to March 2022.

Risks of incident major osteoporotic fractures following SARS-CoV-2 infection among older individuals: a population-based cohort study in Hong Kong.

Population-based epidemiological studies on post-acute phase coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19)-related fractures in older adults are lacking. This study aims to examine the risk of incident major osteoporotic fractures following SARS-CoV-2 infection among individuals aged ≥50, compared to individuals without COVID-19. It was a retrospective, propensity-score matched, population-based cohort study of COVID-19 patients and non-COVID individuals identified from the electronic database of the Hong Kong Hospital Authority from January 2020 to March 2022.

Persistence in risk and effect of COVID-19 vaccination on long-term health consequences after SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The persisting risk of long-term health consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infection and the protection against such risk conferred by COVID-19 vaccination remains unclear. Here we conducted a retrospective territory-wide cohort study on 1,175,277 patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection stratified by their vaccination status and non-infected controls to evaluate the risk of clinical sequelae, cardiovascular and all-cause mortality using a territory-wide public healthcare database with population-based vaccination records in Hong Kong. A progressive reduction in risk of all-cause mortality was observed over one year between patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection and controls.

Risk of carditis among adolescents after extending the interdose intervals of BNT162b2.

Previous studies indicate an increased carditis risk among adolescents following the two-dose messenger RNA COVID-19 vaccine. Several jurisdictions have extended the interdose interval between the first and second doses to reduce the risk. However, the effectiveness of such an extension policy remains inconclusive.

Pulmonary primary oxysterol and bile acid synthesis as a predictor of outcomes in pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare and fatal vascular disease with heterogeneous clinical manifestations. To date, molecular determinants underlying the development of PAH and related outcomes remain poorly understood. Herein, we identify pulmonary primary oxysterol and bile acid synthesis (PPOBAS) as a previously unrecognized pathway central to PAH pathophysiology.

Comparing Low- or Standard-Dose Alteplase in Endovascular Thrombectomy: Insights From a Nationwide Registry.

Background: Timely intravenous thrombolysis and endovascular thrombectomy are the standard reperfusion treatments for large vessel occlusion stroke. Currently, it is unknown whether a low-dose thrombolytic agent (0.6 mg/kg alteplase) can offer similar efficacy to the standard dose (0.

CURATE.AI-assisted dose titration for anti-hypertensive personalized therapy: study protocol for a multi-arm, randomized, pilot feasibility trial using CURATE.AI (CURATE.AI ADAPT trial).

Aims: Artificial intelligence-driven small data platforms such as CURATE.AI hold potential for personalized hypertension care by assisting physicians in identifying personalized anti-hypertensive doses for titration. This trial aims to assess the feasibility of a larger randomized controlled trial (RCT), evaluating the efficacy of CURATE.

Outcomes of Telerehabilitation Versus In-Office Training With Magnification Devices for Low Vision: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Purpose: An evidence basis is lacking but needed to compare reading ability outcomes after magnification device training remotely via telerehabilitation versus in office.

Methods: A multicenter randomized controlled trial at academic centers and vision rehabilitation private practices randomized 61 visually impaired adults to telerehabilitation or in-office training 1 to 4 months after dispensing new portable electronic, hand-held, or stand optical magnifiers. Telerehabilitation included loaner equipment for Zoom videoconferencing with remote control access software.

Coronary CT Angiography-based Morphologic Index for Predicting Hemodynamically Significant Coronary Stenosis.

Purpose To develop a new coronary CT angiography (CCTA)-based index, α×LL/MLD, that considers lesion entrance angle (α) in addition to lesion length (LL) and minimal lumen diameter (MLD) and to evaluate its efficacy in predicting hemodynamically significant coronary stenosis compared with invasive coronary angiography (ICA)-derived fractional flow reserve (FFR). Materials and Methods This prospective study enrolled participants (September 2016-March 2020) from two centers who underwent CCTA followed by ICA (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03054324).

A systematic review of genome-wide analyses of methylation changes associated with assisted reproductive technologies in various tissues.

Importance: Because analytic technologies improve, increasing amounts of data on methylation differences between assisted reproductive technology (ART) and unassisted conceptions are available. However, various studies use different tissue types and different populations in their analyses, making data comparison and integration difficult.

Objective: To compare and integrate data on genome-wide analyses of methylation differences due to ART, allowing exposure of overarching themes.

Association between BNT162b2 and CoronaVac vaccination and risk of CVD and mortality after COVID-19 infection: A population-based cohort study.

It is unknown if vaccination affects the risk of post-COVID-19 cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Therefore, this retrospective cohort study examines the short-term and long-term risks of post-infection CVD among COVID-19 patients with different vaccination status utilizing data from electronic health databases in Hong Kong. Cox proportional hazards regression adjusted with inverse probability of treatment weighting is used to evaluate the risks of incident CVD (coronary heart disease, stroke, heart failure) and all-cause mortality in COVID-19 patients.

Towards a Rapid-Turnaround Low-Depth Unbiased Metagenomics Sequencing Workflow on the Illumina Platforms.

Unbiased metagenomic sequencing is conceptually well-suited for first-line diagnosis as all known and unknown infectious entities can be detected, but costs, turnaround time and human background reads in complex biofluids, such as plasma, hinder widespread deployment. Separate preparations of DNA and RNA also increases costs. In this study, we developed a rapid unbiased metagenomics next-generation sequencing (mNGS) workflow with a human background depletion method (HostEL) and a combined DNA/RNA library preparation kit (AmpRE) to address this issue.

A Combination of Distinct Vascular Stem/Progenitor Cells for Neovascularization and Ischemic Rescue.

Background: Peripheral vascular disease remains a leading cause of vascular morbidity and mortality worldwide despite advances in medical and surgical therapy. Besides traditional approaches, which can only restore blood flow to native arteries, an alternative approach is to enhance the growth of new vessels, thereby facilitating the physiological response to ischemia.

Methods: The Actin/R26 Rainbow reporter mouse was used for unbiased in vivo survey of injury-responsive vasculogenic clonal formation.

Transplantation-based screen identifies inducers of muscle progenitor cell engraftment across vertebrate species.

Stem cell transplantation presents a potentially curative strategy for genetic disorders of skeletal muscle, but this approach is limited by the deleterious effects of cell expansion in vitro and consequent poor engraftment efficiency. In an effort to overcome this limitation, we sought to identify molecular signals that enhance the myogenic activity of cultured muscle progenitors. Here, we report the development and application of a cross-species small-molecule screening platform employing zebrafish and mice, which enables rapid, direct evaluation of the effects of chemical compounds on the engraftment of transplanted muscle precursor cells.