Tag: nevin manimala

Resusc Plus. 2022 May 24;10:100250. doi: 10.1016/j.resplu.2022.100250. eCollection 2022 Jun.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: If adolescents can teach each other cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) during school hours, this may be a cost-effective approach to CPR training. The aim of this study was to evaluate CPR quality among students trained by student instructors in CPR.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Three high schools participated. Recruited student instructors (SIs) were given a two-day course by professional instructors. Theoretic knowledge was acquired through an e-learning program. The SIs then trained fellow students in a 90-minute practical CPR session during physical education classes. All participants performed a 4-minutes test of CPR performance. Data was collected using Little Anne QCPR manikins with QCPR classroom software (Laerdal Medical Inc, Norway). Statistical equivalence in CPR performance was assessed applying the two one-sided tests (TOST)-procedure.

RESULTS: Eight professional instructors trained 76 SIs who trained approximately 2650 students in CPR. The number of available tests for analysis of student performance was 982. The compression rates were within guideline recommendations for SIs (mean 110.6, SD 5.4) and students (mean 118.6, SD 8.6). The corresponding numbers for mean compression depth were 7.2 cm (SD 0.7) and 7 cm (SD 1.0). Students demonstrated greater variation in mouth-to-mouth (MTM) skills, with only 41% performing at least 15 successful ventilations during the test. Except for the total number of MTM ventilations (mean difference -5.6), CPR performance was deemed statistically equivalent between professional instructors, SIs and students.

CONCLUSIONS: High school students can be trained as CPR instructors and teach fellow students CPR with good quality, with some variation in MTM-ventilation skills.

PMID:35647568 | PMC:PMC9130223 | DOI:10.1016/j.resplu.2022.100250

Brain Behav Immun Health. 2022 May 2;23:100458. doi: 10.1016/j.bbih.2022.100458. eCollection 2022 Aug.

ABSTRACT

Systemic and cerebral inflammation following antenatal infection (e.g. chorioamnionitis) and dysregulation of the blood brain barrier (BBB) are major risk factors for abnormal neonatal brain development. Administration of multipotent adult progenitor cells (MAPCs) represents an interesting pharmacological strategy as modulator of the peripheral and cerebral immune response and protector of BBB integrity. We studied the immunomodulatory and protective cerebrovascular potential of prenatally administered MAPCs in a preclinical ovine model for antenatal inflammation. Ovine fetuses were intra-amniotically (i.a.) exposed to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or saline at gestational day 125, followed by the intravenous administration of 1*10⁷ MAPCs or saline at gestational day 127. Circulating inflammation markers were measured. Fetal brains were examined immuno-histochemically post-mortem at gestational day 132. Fetal plasma IL-6 levels were elevated significantly 24 h after LPS administration. In utero systemic MAPC treatment after LPS exposure increased Annexin A1 (ANXA1) expression in the cerebrovascular endothelium, indicating enforcement of BBB integrity, and increased the number of leukocytes at brain barriers throughout the brain. Further characterisation of brain barrier-associated leukocytes showed that monocyte/choroid plexus macrophage (IBA-1⁺/CD206⁺) and neutrophil (MPO⁺) populations predominantly contributed to the LPS-MAPC-induced increase of CD45⁺cells. In the choroid plexus, the percentage of leukocytes expressing the proresolving mediator ANXA1 tended to be decreased after LPS-induced antenatal inflammation, an effect reversed by systemic MAPC treatment. Accordingly, expression levels of ANXA1 per leukocyte were decreased after LPS and restored after subsequent MAPC treatment. Increased expression of ANXA1 by the cerebrovasculature and immune cells at brain barriers following MAPC treatment in an infectious setting indicate a MAPC driven early defence mechanism to protect the neonatal brain against infection-driven inflammation and potential additional pro-inflammatory insults in the neonatal period.

PMID:35647567 | PMC:PMC9136278 | DOI:10.1016/j.bbih.2022.100458

SN Comput Sci. 2022;3(4):300. doi: 10.1007/s42979-022-01186-x. Epub 2022 May 21.

ABSTRACT

Gaussian process models (GPMs) are widely regarded as a prominent tool for learning statistical data models that enable interpolation, regression, and classification. These models are typically instantiated by a Gaussian Process with a zero-mean function and a radial basis covariance function. While these default instantiations yield acceptable analytical quality in terms of model accuracy, GPM inference algorithms automatically search for an application-specific model fitting a particular dataset. State-of-the-art methods for automated inference of GPMs are searching the space of possible models in a rather intricate way and thus result in super-quadratic computation time complexity for model selection and evaluation. Since these properties only enable processing small datasets with low statistical versatility, various methods and algorithms using global as well as local approximations have been proposed for efficient inference of large-scale GPMs. While the latter approximation relies on representing data via local sub-models, global approaches capture data’s inherent characteristics by means of an educated sample. In this paper, we investigate the current state-of-the-art in automated model inference for Gaussian processes and outline strengths and shortcomings of the respective approaches. A performance analysis backs our theoretical findings and provides further empirical evidence. It indicates that approximated inference algorithms, especially locally approximating ones, deliver superior runtime performance, while maintaining the quality level of those using non-approximative Gaussian processes.

PMID:35647556 | PMC:PMC9123926 | DOI:10.1007/s42979-022-01186-x

Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol X. 2022 May 20;15:100155. doi: 10.1016/j.eurox.2022.100155. eCollection 2022 Aug.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The level of activity in women who have given birth is very low despite the great benefits of exercise on their physical and mental health. There are some contradictories between the results of several preliminary studies on the effects of exercise on post-partum fatigue reduction. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the effects of exercise on decreasing postpartum fatigue in general and, specifically, in Iran using meta-analysis.

METHODS: In this study, the articles printed in international and national centres of SID, MagIran, IranMedex, IranDoc, Cochrane, Embase, ScienceDirect, Scopus, PubMed and Web of Science (WoS), were used to find the studies electronically published up to 2021. The studies’ heterogeneity was examined using the I² index, and subsequently, a random-effects model was applied. Data analysis was performed within the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software (version 2).

RESULTS: Finally, nine articles met the inclusion criteria in this systematic and meta-analysis review. The included samples were 456 patients in the intervention group and 446 in the control group. The mean score of fatigue after the intervention was 8.1 ± 1.1 lower than before intervention in the experimental group, and this difference was statistically significant (p ≤ 0.001).

CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that exercise reduces postpartum fatigue, which can be used for counseling and treatment by gynecologists. Reduce postpartum problems in women and increase the quality of life after childbirth.

PMID:35647520 | PMC:PMC9136263 | DOI:10.1016/j.eurox.2022.100155

Res Pract Thromb Haemost. 2022 May 25;6(4):e12733. doi: 10.1002/rth2.12733. eCollection 2022 May.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Research on venous thromboembolism (VTE) that relies only on the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) can misclassify outcomes. Our study aims to discover and validate an improved VTE computable phenotype for people with cancer.

METHODS: We used a cancer registry electronic health record (EHR)-linked longitudinal database. We derived three algorithms that were ICD/medication based, natural language processing (NLP) based, or all combined. We then randomly sampled 400 patients from patients with VTE codes (n = 1111) and 400 from those without VTE codes (n = 7396). Weighted sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) were calculated on the entire sample using inverse probability weighting, followed by bootstrapped receiver operating curve analysis to calculate the concordance statistic (c statistic).

RESULTS: Among 800 patients sampled, 280 had a confirmed acute VTE during the first year after cancer diagnosis. The ICD/medication algorithm had a weighted PPV of 95% and a weighted sensitivity of 81%, with a c statistic of 0.90 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.89-0.91). Adding Current Procedural Terminology codes for inferior vena cava filter removal or early death did not improve the performance. The NLP algorithm had a weighted PPV of 80% and a weighted sensitivity of 90%, with a c statistic of 0.93 (95% CI, 0.92-0.94). The combined algorithm had a weighted PPV of 98% at the higher cutoff and a weighted sensitivity of 96% at the lower cutoff, with a c statistic of 0.98 (95% CI, 0.97-0.98).

CONCLUSIONS: Our ICD/medication-based algorithm can accurately identify VTE phenotype among patients with cancer with a high PPV of 95%. The combined algorithm should be considered in EHR databases that have access to such capabilities.

PMID:35647478 | PMC:PMC9130880 | DOI:10.1002/rth2.12733

ACS Omega. 2022 May 12;7(20):17384-17392. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.2c01531. eCollection 2022 May 24.

ABSTRACT

In this study, a sapphire substrate with a patterned concave structure was used to prepare ZnO film/A-B glue, and the ZnO film/A-B glue with a patterned convex matrix was transferred onto a silicon wafer using the lift-off technology as the seed layer. Then, the hydrothermal method with different Zn(CH₃COO)₂ and C₆H₁₂N₄ concentrations as precursors was used to synthesize ZnO nanoflower arrays on the patterned convex ZnO seed layer. XRD pattern, FESEM, FIB, and photoluminescence (PL) spectrometry were employed to observe and analyze the properties of the synthesized ZnO nanoflower arrays. When Zn(CH₃COO)₂ and C₆H₁₂N₄ concentrations were 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, and 0.04 M, the average heights of the ZnO nanorods in the ZnO nanoflower arrays were 993, 1500, 1550, and 1650 nm, the average diameters of the ZnO nanorods were 50, 90, 105, and 225 nm, and the aspect ratios (H/D) of the ZnO nanorods were 19.9, 16.7, 14.8, and 7.33, respectively. A simple statistical and analytical method was investigated to estimate the densities (number of nanorods) of the ZnO nanoflower arrays in one 1 μm × 1 μm area. The total surface area (S) of the ZnO nanoflower arrays first increased from 5.05 × 10⁶ and then reached a maximum value of 1.20 × 10⁷ nm² as Zn(CH₃COO)₂ and C₆H₁₂N₄ concentrations increased from 0.01 to 0.02 M. For the systhesized ZnO nanoflower arrays, as the Zn(CH₃COO)₂ and C₆H₁₂N₄ concentrations increased from 0.01 to 0.04 M, their total volume (V) increased from the 6.23 × 10⁷ to 5.90 × 10⁸ nm³ and the S/V ratio decreased from 8.10 × 10^-2 to 1.84 × 10^-2. We found that ZnO nanoflower arrays with Zn(CH₃COO)₂ and C₆H₁₂N₄ concentrations of 0.2 M presented the maximum PL emission intensities. The calculated S/V ratios and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses are used to discuss the reasons for these results.

PMID:35647472 | PMC:PMC9134223 | DOI:10.1021/acsomega.2c01531

J Magn Reson Imaging. 2022 Jun 1. doi: 10.1002/jmri.28280. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Cardiac MRI plays an important role in the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with congenital heart disease (CHD). Gadolinium-based contrast agents are often needed to overcome flow-related and off-resonance artifacts that can impair the quality of conventional noncontrast 3D imaging. As serial imaging is often required in CHD, the development of robust noncontrast 3D MRI techniques is desirable.

PURPOSE: To assess the clinical utility of noncontrast enhanced magnetization transfer and inversion recovery prepared 3D free-breathing sequence (MTC-BOOST) compared to conventional 3D whole heart imaging in patients with CHD.

STUDY TYPE: Prospective, image quality.

POPULATION: A total of 27 adult patients (44% female, mean age 30.9 ± 14.8 years) with CHD.

FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE: A 1.5 T; free-breathing 3D MTC-BOOST sequence.

ASSESSMENT: MTC-BOOST was compared to diaphragmatic navigator-gated, noncontrast T2 prepared 3D whole-heart imaging sequence (T2prep-3DWH) for comparison of vessel dimensions, lumen-to-myocardium contrast ratio (CR), and image quality (vessel wall sharpness and presence and type of artifacts) assessed by two experienced cardiologists on a 5-point scale.

STATISTICAL TESTS: Mann-Whitney test, paired Wilcoxon signed-rank test, Bland-Altman plots. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

RESULTS: MTC-BOOST significantly improved image quality and CR of the right-sided pulmonary veins (PV): (CR: right upper PV 1.06 ± 0.50 vs. 0.58 ± 0.74; right lower PV 1.32 ± 0.38 vs. 0.81 ± 0.73) compared to conventional T2prep-3DWH imaging where the PVs were not visualized in some cases due to off-resonance effects. MTC-BOOST demonstrated resistance to degradation of luminal signal (assessed by CR) secondary to accelerated or turbulent flow conditions. T2prep-3DWH had higher image quality scores than MTC-BOOST for the aorta and coronary arteries; however, great vessel dimensions derived from MTC-BOOST showed excellent agreement with standard T2prep-3DWH imaging.

DATA CONCLUSION: MTC-BOOST allows for improved contrast-free imaging of pulmonary veins and regions characterized by accelerated or turbulent blood flow compared to standard T2prep-3DWH imaging, with excellent agreement of great vessel dimensions.

EVIDENCE LEVEL: 1 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 2.

PMID:35642573 | DOI:10.1002/jmri.28280

Nanomedicine (Lond). 2022 Jun 1. doi: 10.2217/nnm-2022-0043. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Background: Combination antiretroviral therapy has significantly advanced HIV-1 infection treatment. However, HIV-1 remains persistent in the brain; the inaccessibility of the blood-brain barrier allows for persistent HIV-1 infections and neuroinflammation. Nanotechnology-based drug carriers such as nanodiscoidal bicelles can provide a solution to combat this challenge. Methods: This study investigated the safety and extended release of a combination antiretroviral therapy drug (tenofovir)-loaded nanodiscs for HIV-1 treatment in the brain both in vitro and in vivo. Result: The nanodiscs entrapped the drug in their interior hydrophobic core and released the payload at the desired location and in a controlled release pattern. The study also included a comparative pharmacokinetic analysis of nanodisc formulations in in vitro and in vivo models. Conclusion: The study provides potential applications of nanodiscs for HIV-1 therapy development.

PMID:35642549 | DOI:10.2217/nnm-2022-0043

mSphere. 2022 Jun 1:e0002322. doi: 10.1128/msphere.00023-22. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Trypanosoma brucei, the causative agent of human and animal African trypanosomiasis, cycles between a mammalian host and a tsetse fly vector. The parasite undergoes huge changes in morphology and metabolism during adaptation to each host environment. These changes are reflected in the different transcriptomes of parasites living in each host. However, it remains unclear whether chromatin-interacting proteins help mediate these changes. Bromodomain proteins localize to transcription start sites in bloodstream parasites, but whether the localization of bromodomain proteins changes as parasites differentiate from bloodstream to insect stages remains unknown. To address this question, we performed cleavage under target and release using nuclease (CUT&RUN) against bromodomain protein 3 (Bdf3) in parasites differentiating from bloodstream to insect forms. We found that Bdf3 occupancy at most loci increased at 3 h following onset of differentiation and decreased thereafter. A number of sites with increased bromodomain protein occupancy lie proximal to genes with altered transcript levels during differentiation, such as procyclins, procyclin-associated genes, and invariant surface glycoproteins. Most Bdf3-occupied sites are observed throughout differentiation. However, one site appears de novo during differentiation and lies proximal to the procyclin gene locus housing genes essential for remodeling surface proteins following transition to the insect stage. These studies indicate that occupancy of chromatin-interacting proteins is dynamic during life cycle stage transitions and provide the groundwork for future studies on the effects of changes in bromodomain protein occupancy. Additionally, the adaptation of CUT&RUN for Trypanosoma brucei provides other researchers with an alternative to chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP). IMPORTANCE The parasite Trypanosoma brucei is the causative agent of human and animal African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness). Trypanosomiasis, which affects humans and cattle, is fatal if untreated. Existing drugs have significant side effects. Thus, these parasites impose a significant human and economic burden in sub-Saharan Africa, where trypanosomiasis is endemic. T. brucei cycles between the mammalian host and a tsetse fly vector, and parasites undergo huge changes in morphology and metabolism to adapt to different hosts. Here, we show that DNA-interacting bromodomain protein 3 (Bdf3) shows changes in occupancy at its binding sites as parasites transition from the bloodstream to the insect stage. Additionally, a new binding site appears near the locus responsible for remodeling of parasite surface proteins during transition to the insect stage. Understanding the mechanisms behind host adaptation is important for understanding the life cycle of the parasite.

PMID:35642518 | DOI:10.1128/msphere.00023-22

mSphere. 2022 Jun 1:e0091821. doi: 10.1128/msphere.00918-21. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

A fundamental question in biology is why some species tend to occur together in the same locations, while others are never observed coexisting. This question becomes particularly relevant for microorganisms thriving in the highly diluted waters of high mountain lakes, where biotic interactions might be required to make the most of an extreme environment. We studied a high-throughput gene data set of alpine lakes (>220 Pyrenean lakes) with cooccurrence network analysis to infer potential biotic interactions, using the combination of a probabilistic method for determining significant cooccurrences and coexclusions between pairs of species and a conceptual framework for classifying the nature of the observed cooccurrences and coexclusions. This computational approach (i) determined and quantified the importance of environmental variables and spatial distribution and (ii) defined potential interacting microbial assemblages. We determined the properties and relationships between these assemblages by examining node properties at the taxonomic level, indicating associations with their potential habitat sources (i.e., aquatic versus terrestrial) and their functional strategies (i.e., parasitic versus mixotrophic). Environmental variables explained fewer pairs in bacteria than in microbial eukaryotes for the alpine data set, with pH alone explaining the highest proportion of bacterial pairs. Nutrient composition was also relevant for explaining association pairs, particularly in microeukaryotes. We identified a reduced subset of pairs with the highest probability of species interactions (“interacting guilds”) that significantly reached higher occupancies and lower mean relative abundances in agreement with the carrying capacity hypothesis. The interacting bacterial guilds could be more related to habitat and microdispersal processes (i.e., aquatic versus soil microbes), whereas for microeukaryotes trophic roles (osmotrophs, mixotrophs, and parasitics) could potentially play a major role. Overall, our approach may add helpful information to guide further efforts for a mechanistic understanding of microbial interactions in situ. IMPORTANCE A fundamental question in biology is why some species tend to occur together in the same locations, while others are never observed to coexist. This question becomes particularly relevant for microorganisms thriving in the highly diluted waters of high mountain lakes, in which biotic interactions might be required to make the most of an extreme environment. Microbial metacommunities are too often only studied in terms of their environmental niches and geographic barriers since they show inherent difficulties to quantify biological interactions and their role as drivers of ecosystem functioning. Our study highlights that telling apart potential interactions from both environmental and geographic niches may help for the initial characterization of organisms with similar ecologies in a large scope of ecosystems, even when information about actual interactions is partial and limited. The multilayered statistical approach carried out here offers the possibility of going beyond taxonomy to understand microbiological behavior in situ.

PMID:35642514 | DOI:10.1128/msphere.00918-21